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

  • Love is a weapon of victory of the last time III

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    The principle of love protects our hearts, emotions and our life from injuries and bruises. Hatred, evil, betrayal, cruelty and lack of understanding among people will multiply at the last days. Jesus never sinned, while people back-bit Him anyway. But, how Jesus reacted to that back-biting? He never replied with back-biting, never tried to overcome evil with evil. He knew it would not work this way, quite opposite it would have increased the amount of evil, pain, emotional injuries and hatred in the life of a person who tries to overcome evil with evil.

  • The chief hindrances that block God’s power from working for us

    AutorsMācītājs Rufus Adžiboije Reading Time: 3 minutes
    Jesus sometimes connects sickness with sins. This is not always the true for every sickness or situation (John 9:1-3), but very often our problems are connected to some unconfessed sins in our lives.“And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. 2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee” (Matthew 9:1-8).

  • In our lives we must reflect the life, the power and the nature of Christ

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    You should not forget that you are God’s ambassadors on earth. When you face a problem or a difficult situation, think of what Jesus would have done if He were in a similar situation. This will help you. Christ is the One we represent on this earth. Think of what He would say, how He would solve the problem, how He would go through the situation you are facing today. If you think about like Christ thinks and you develop or grow in the nature of God, then you will become a strong and influential ambassador of God in your sphere of influence; you will ‘salty’ and you will be bright light in this world.

  • The importance of ministry and the way it transforms a person himself and the quality of his life

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    Notice that by serving people we are not trying to take God’s place in their lives. Vice verse, via our ministry we desire to draw people to the only Person who is able to sincerely help them, and that is to God.That’s why the purpose of our ministry is drawing people to God, so that God can be glorified in their lives. God is the only one, who can help, comfort, heal and restore the destiny of people. We are just tools and channels He uses. Our task is to let God channel His love through our ministry to other people.

  • Worthy Goal for Life

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    Peace to you, my dear friends! I greet you on this wonderful day and pray for the Lord to help you in your walk and give you success in everything you will do today. Today I would like to start talking about „Worthy Goal for Life”.Every person has a goal, whether he talks about it or not. He is driven to do something. But if we talk about goals, it is important to determinewhether it is WORTHY or UNWORTHY.

  • The law of multiplication

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 3 minutes
    If we have seed and sow it in good ground, then we will definitely see a harvest. Seed will grow. Sown seed first gives blade, then head and then grain in the head. Multiplication and growth always imply process. It is unavoidable if we want to receive harvest. We just have to do our part. First, that we have to understand in order to receive harvest is that we need some seed. The truth is that we already have seed. If you want to see multiplication in some area of your life you should know that you already have seed from God.