Spiritual Disciplines or "church things" - Prayer, Fasting, Worship, Service, Study, Tithing, Fellowship - to name a few are all actions in our lives which can draw us closer to the heart of God.
Or they can distance us from Him.
We have standard prayers we pray. We have a set time of the year when fasting is suggested. We have a pattern to our worship time. We have specific committees which organize service activities. We have organized Bible Studies. We have a frame work on how we should give our tithe. And our times of fellowship are generally predetermined and set in motion.
With all of the pre-set ways of doing things, it can be very easy to "go through the motions" of our religious activities, without allowing the Spirit to motivate the activities. We can become so caught up with the "doing" of something that we forget the "motivation" for it. The "doing" becomes more important than God, and in the "doing" we actually step further away from God all while we are acting in His name.
In spiritual disciplines, as in all things in life, our underlying motivation should be, "What does God want?"
When we pray our focus should be on God and His desires - what His will is for us.
When we fast, we shouldn't make it about the food we are not eating, but about how God wants to use the fasting to draw us closer to Him.
Our worship should be focused on lifting up our praises to God and remembering with a thankful heart what He has done in our lives and in the lives of others.
Our service should be motivated out of being the hands and feet of Christ - wherever and whenever they are needed - not just when it is scheduled and organized.
Studying the Word of God should be an ongoing activity which happens throughout everyday of our lives - not just when someone organizes a study - to learn more about Who God is.
When we tithe, we should be giving from our best - not our leftovers. Tithing is more than giving money it is giving God our best.
And fellowship should be a constant activity for people of faith. Fellowship motivated by a spirit of charity and love is something which builds up the people of God and strengthens the Church, drawing the whole Body of Christ closer to Him.
God wants us to seek Him first in all things we do.
God doesn't want us to put regiments around everything we do - rather He wants us to focus on building our relationship with Him. He wants us to want to want to spend time with Him, working for Him, learning about Him, loving Him.
Discipleship takes practice - but it also takes a heart seeking out Jesus. As we draw nearer to God, the disciplines, the church things, will become less of a duty and more of a way of life; they will become the framework for an ongoing, deepening relationship with Jesus.
Scripture
Quote of the Day
"David wasn't thinking of being king when he was tending sheep; he was just doing what God sat before him."
John Fisher
Question of the Day
What is your favorite "church" thing to do and why?
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