My friends, below you will read a story shared by a first-time discipler about her discipleship group. It is wonderful to see the Lord's hand at work, intertwining the lives of 6 women, doing what Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls, "Life Together," and growing in their pursuit of God.
Thanks to Judie Carlson for sharing!
______________
I just have to tell you how amazing it is to be a part of this Discipleship group. Almost everything about us would, at the outset, seem incompatible, but there are no coincidences in God's plan, and He is certainly showing us THAT! We are loving, and bonding, and growing by leaps and bounds, after just a month of meeting each other.
Three of the five of us have given our Life Graphs, and this has opened up our prayer lives enormously. We pray for each other everyday, e-mail to keep up during the week, are on our 3rd memory verse, and are lovingly holding each other accountable. We have pledged to serve in a special capacity at least once a month (this month jackets for children in Mexico), and this week, instead of meeting, we are going to have dinner and then be a part of 'Sacred'.For the first time in my 63 years I can honestly feel the support and prayers, daily, of women who genuinely love me and care for me. I am humbled by this experience, and I thank Pete for tapping me on the shoulder and opening this door for me. Discipleship IS for everyone - and I am filled with joy to be a part of this. God Bless you - Judie Carlson
Monday, November 28, 2005
Friday, November 18, 2005
Discovering Divine Design
One of the guys in my discipleship group forwarded this devotional to me. I don't know where it came from but I would love to give credit to who wrote it. The fact of the matter is we need to develop spiritual disciplines within each of our lives in order to place ourselves in a position to hear the Lord speaking and sense His movement and reformation in our lives. RE
"As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me . . ."Genesis 24:27
We should be so one with God that we don’t need to ask continually for guidance. Sanctification means that we are made the children of God. A child’s life is normally obedient, until he chooses disobedience. But as soon as he chooses to disobey, an inherent inner conflict is produced. On the spiritual level, inner conflict is the warning of the Spirit of God. When He warns us in this way, we must stop at once and be renewed in the spirit of our mind to discern God’s will (see Romans 12:2 ). If we are born again by the Spirit of God, our devotion to Him is hindered, or even stopped, by continually asking Him to guide us here and there. ". . . the Lord led me . . ." and on looking back we see the presence of an amazing design. If we are born of God we will see His guiding hand and give Him the credit.
We can all see God in exceptional things, but it requires the growth of spiritual discipline to see God in every detail. Never believe that the so-called random events of life are anything less than God’s appointed order. Be ready to discover His divine designs anywhere and everywhere.
Beware of being obsessed with consistency to your own convictions instead of being devoted to God. If you are a saint and say, "I will never do this or that," in all probability this will be exactly what God will require of you. There was never a more inconsistent being on this earth than our Lord, but He was never inconsistent with His Father. The important consistency in a saint is not to a principle but to the divine life. It is the divine life that continually makes more and more discoveries about the divine mind. It is easier to be an excessive fanatic than it is to be consistently faithful, because God causes an amazing humbling of our religious conceit when we are faithful to Him.
"As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me . . ."Genesis 24:27
We should be so one with God that we don’t need to ask continually for guidance. Sanctification means that we are made the children of God. A child’s life is normally obedient, until he chooses disobedience. But as soon as he chooses to disobey, an inherent inner conflict is produced. On the spiritual level, inner conflict is the warning of the Spirit of God. When He warns us in this way, we must stop at once and be renewed in the spirit of our mind to discern God’s will (see Romans 12:2 ). If we are born again by the Spirit of God, our devotion to Him is hindered, or even stopped, by continually asking Him to guide us here and there. ". . . the Lord led me . . ." and on looking back we see the presence of an amazing design. If we are born of God we will see His guiding hand and give Him the credit.
We can all see God in exceptional things, but it requires the growth of spiritual discipline to see God in every detail. Never believe that the so-called random events of life are anything less than God’s appointed order. Be ready to discover His divine designs anywhere and everywhere.
Beware of being obsessed with consistency to your own convictions instead of being devoted to God. If you are a saint and say, "I will never do this or that," in all probability this will be exactly what God will require of you. There was never a more inconsistent being on this earth than our Lord, but He was never inconsistent with His Father. The important consistency in a saint is not to a principle but to the divine life. It is the divine life that continually makes more and more discoveries about the divine mind. It is easier to be an excessive fanatic than it is to be consistently faithful, because God causes an amazing humbling of our religious conceit when we are faithful to Him.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Spiritual Formation, Surfing and Stuff
The Journey I'm On
As I open my blog and enter into the blogosphere I thought it would be best if I share my background. You know, the stuff that has developed the person that types here today.
In our culture, there are so many things going on around us that affect us and form us. Things that involve family matters, morality, education, world events, love and so forth. All this I call, "stuff." In essence, I may write on some of the most random things, but this randomness is a reflection of the culture happening around me.
Secondly, I LOVE SURFING. To me there is nothing better than to ride on a wave (except for time with God and my lovely wife). To me, the ocean reflects two of the most incredible characteristics of God-- beauty and power. The ocean-- my "Garden of Gethsemane," my "Peniel," and my sanctuary. It is there that I truly spend time with God the Father and share my most intimate thoughts and it will be here where I try to place them in words.
And finally, feeding the soul and living the life Jesus has called us to-- what I refer to as spiritual formation, or spiritual reformation. I want to discover God's will and plan for me as a man, husband, father, friend, mentor and worker in a way that can only reveal the glory of God. It is a high calling, but a wonderful journey nonetheless. It is Romans 8:37-39 and Php 3:7-11 that inspire this "Pursuit of God" as A.W. Tozer calls it.
In any case, I don't know how this is going to be formed, but it is my hope that the Truth can be told through this surfer on a laptop. Let's do this journey together!
As I open my blog and enter into the blogosphere I thought it would be best if I share my background. You know, the stuff that has developed the person that types here today.
In our culture, there are so many things going on around us that affect us and form us. Things that involve family matters, morality, education, world events, love and so forth. All this I call, "stuff." In essence, I may write on some of the most random things, but this randomness is a reflection of the culture happening around me.
Secondly, I LOVE SURFING. To me there is nothing better than to ride on a wave (except for time with God and my lovely wife). To me, the ocean reflects two of the most incredible characteristics of God-- beauty and power. The ocean-- my "Garden of Gethsemane," my "Peniel," and my sanctuary. It is there that I truly spend time with God the Father and share my most intimate thoughts and it will be here where I try to place them in words.
And finally, feeding the soul and living the life Jesus has called us to-- what I refer to as spiritual formation, or spiritual reformation. I want to discover God's will and plan for me as a man, husband, father, friend, mentor and worker in a way that can only reveal the glory of God. It is a high calling, but a wonderful journey nonetheless. It is Romans 8:37-39 and Php 3:7-11 that inspire this "Pursuit of God" as A.W. Tozer calls it.
In any case, I don't know how this is going to be formed, but it is my hope that the Truth can be told through this surfer on a laptop. Let's do this journey together!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)