Spiritual discipline

ByPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
Greetings to you, dear friends! Grace and peace to you from Father God and our Lord Jesus Christ! Today we’ll finish our discourse on the importance of spiritual discipline in the life of a believer. There are many verses in the Bible that describe spiritual discipline in the lives of Jesus and His apostles. They were all written for us to help us become successful in our ministry just as the Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples were successful. We discussed the spiritual habits of Jesus, particularly fasting , solitude, vigilance, prayer, intense study of God’s Word,meditation on the Word of God and His ways. Today too many Christians lack discipline, so they are not many spiritual fruit and expressions of spiritual authority. The paradox is that most Christians, who discipline themselves in other areas of their life in order to be successful – like job or carrier, do not believe they need to be disciplined in the area of godliness. We are talking about good Christians who are faithful members of the Church of the Living God. These are people who love God’s Word and often are very enthusiastic about the work of God. But because of the lack of discipline they do not reach their potential in God’s Kingdom. It is not enough to have breadth in God; it is important also that we have depth. If you do not possess strong spiritual habits in the area of fellowship with God, then it means you lack spiritual discipline. Superficial attitude towards life is the curse of our time. The doctrine of immediate satisfaction is one of the main spiritual problems of our generation. If you do not pay attention to this problem in the church, then the church can lose her power and influence in the world. When we underestimate spiritual discipline and its different facets mentioned above, we are in great danger. By neglecting spiritual discipline we are not able to produce or bring to God any commendable fruit. In conclusion of this series I want to show you that all aspects of spiritual discipline can be divided into two categories: I Spiritual disciplines that are connected to abstaining from something: a.       Abstaining from food for the sake of godliness – fasting. b.      Abstaining from social interaction for the sake of godliness – solitude. c.       Abstaining from sleep for the sake of godliness – night vigilance. d.      Abstaining from luxury for the sake of godliness — sacrificial living. Through these types of discipline we exercise our spiritual muscles in order to overcome our flesh and its desires. It is like weightlifting. By itself it may look like something silly, but it prepares a person for serious physical trials in the future. In the same way, the things we abstain from are not evil, but our abstinence from them is for the sake of godliness in order to prepare ourselves for real difficulties that we may face in the future. These types of discipline give us deep understanding of the struggle that goes on inside of us, which is the struggle between flesh and spirit. There are some crucial lessons we are able to learn only through practising of these spiritual disciplines and in no other way. I think it will be interesting for you to find out what tricks your flesh is ready to play after you say ‘no’ to it. The spiritual practices above will help you to know how strong the hold of the flesh is over you. The second category of spiritual discipline is: II  Disciplines that involve us in certain activities. a.       Prayer. You need to set apart some time for the purpose of prayer and fellowship with God. b.      Reading and studying of the Bible. In order to change you need not only to read but you also need to study the Bible; you need to become a student of the Word. c.       Meditation on the Word. d.      Witnessing. e.       Worship. It is a spiritual direction that requires of us to continually thank and praise God and it also takes some time and effort. f.        Christian fellowship. It requires having the right people around to encourage the fellowship and growth in God. I hope this give you something to think and meditate upon today and the grounds to evaluate your life. Learn to love these spiritual disciplines and start applying them in your life on a continual basis, – and your life will change drastically and you will be able to truly effective in God’s Kingdom!  May God bless you today abundantly! Pastor Rufus Ajiboye

Similar Posts

  • Sacrifice as a measure of love! II

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    Love is not feelings, it is self-sacrifice, but self-sacrifice – it is decision.Of course, there are feelings in love. But, if we love God, our mutual relationships with God do not consist of feelings alone.The Bible talks about people whom God calls His friends. Why were these people special? All of them proved their love for God with self-sacrifice. They did not afford themselves do many things only because they loved God and longed for friendship with Him.

  • The importance of having the right connection between your evenings and your mornings

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    What does this tell us? It tells us that God started His day in the evening. It is very important for us to borrow this wisdom from our Heavenly Father. If we get up in the morning and only then start thinking about what we need to do for the day, then we are already starting it in the wrong manner and have already starting too late. The last moment to start your day is the evening of the previous day. In the evening we need to have a composed idea of what we are doing the next day. We need to have a plan for the next day. Before we go to bed we need to have a vision for the next day. If we are too lazy to make any plans for the next day before going to bed then we are heading towards poverty both physical and spiritual. It is crucial for us to accept this wisdom from God to start the day in the evening of the previous day: «So the evening and the morning were the first day».

  • Value God’s Word! III

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    For several days now we have been talking about the role of God’s Word in our lives. We talked about the Word of God being our life and about the fact that our right attitude towards it can prolong our days. Also we learned that our attitude towards God’s Words determines how strong the foundation of our lives will be and how able we are to withstand the troubles of this life. Today I would like to look at another facet that demonstrates the significance of God’s Word for us.

  • Don’t serve those things over which you, suppose to dominate according to the will of God

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 2 minutes
    “ And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: 28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath”In this short statement of Jesus Christ there a very important lesson is hidden for us. God is saying here that the sabbath was made for manand not man for the sabbath.In life it is often possible to observe such a picture where by those things over which man is meant to dominate, are dominating over him instead. This distortion of the order established by God often result in many tragic problems in people’s life today.

  • Never be stopped by problems!

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    Satan wants to hit our spirit via hardships, trials and problems. When your spirit is strengthened, you can overcome any kind of weakness, get through all kind of hardships and trials. So how can we strengthen our spirit? God´s word and His promises strengthen our spirit and overcome weakness and sufferings. In order to not give up, we need to learn how to lean on the word of God and His promises – fully and unconditionally. We have to learn God´s faithfulness and realise that God will never forsake us unless we abandon Him ourselves.