What kind of spiritual habits did Jesus exhibit while on earth

Welcome, dear children of God to the column of our «Daily word for spiritual strength»! I pray that your life today be filled with the mercy of God today as never before. Yesterday we began the conversation about the importance of spiritual discipline in the life of God’s children. We clarified that spiritual discipline is a set of habits (personal and corporate) that help us to develop in our spiritual growth, especially in the areas of full consecration of your life to God, fellowship with Him and daily practical Christian life. Spiritual discipline is something that makes us sensitive to God and His voice. We also concluded that God uses spiritual discipline to do His inward works inside of us first, so that he can transform us outwardly. Through spiritual discipline God works from inside outward. Jesus Himself calls us to spiritual discipline:

«… Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me» (Matthew 11:29).

«He said to all, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me”». (Luke 9:23).

These verses from the Scriptures explain what it means to be called a disciple of Jesus; – it means learning from Him and following His examples. To do this discipline is an absolutely necessity. You can’t call someone a true disciple if he or she only learns from his master sometimes or irregularly. We are called to follow Jesus consistently:

 «A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.». (Luke 6:40).

Just as Jesus Himself was always learning to become more and more perfect (see Hebrews 5:7-10), He is also calling us to seek perfection. we do not attain to perfection automatically, but through constant training. Godliness – is not a result of frequent attempts, but something that can be achieved as a result of serious and consistent training. We are not called to do some religious activities, but to train ourselves for the purpose of godliness. For example, it is possible to always be learning, yet never coming to the knowledge of the truth.

 «always learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth». (2^nd Timothy 3:7).

We don’t need to learn for the sake of learning,that is religion. Rather, we are to learn, study the Bible and pray for the purpose of transformation. Discipline is something that helps us to transform and acquire all the necessary skills and qualities of character that it takes to mature and grow into the image of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord, Jesus Christ does not just expect spiritual discipline from us, but He also set a model of it before us through His life. Jesus submitted Himself to discipline for the purpose of godliness. If we have the intention to become like Him, we have to live the way Jesus lived on this Earth. It’s possible for us to be like Jesus only if we will choose the same way of life that He chosed for Himself. If we believe in Jesus, we have to trust Him that He knows how we should live and then follow after His examples. What kind of spiritual habits did Jesus exhibit while on earth or how did He disciplined Himself?

• Fasting.

«When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterwards». (Matthew 4:2).

• Solitude.

«Early in the night, he rose up and went out, and departed into a deserted place, and prayed there». (Mark 1:35).

«But the report concerning him spread much more, and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities. But he withdrew himself into the desert, and prayed». (Luke 5:15-16).

• Night watch.

«It happened in these days, that he went out to the mountain to pray, and he continued all night in prayer to God» . (Luke 6:12).

• Prayer.

«It happened, that when he finished praying in a certain place, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”». (Luke 11:1).

• Intensive studying of the word , reasoning about the word and God’s ways.

« The Lord Yahweh has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words him who is weary: he wakens morning by morning, he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught». (Isaiah 50:4).

That’s what made Jesus strong and mighty as the Son of man. Jesus trained Himself and practised spiritual disciplines. We need some of these spiritual disciplines even more than Jesus did, because our needs are bigger than His.

«Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”». (Matthew 11:29-30).

Once you take His yoke upon yourself, you will be able to respond to the challenges of this life just as Jesus could do.

Peace be Multiplied!

Rufus Adjiboje, pastor