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». (2nd 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

Similar Posts

  • 26 points that confirm we need the revival!

    We do not love God as much as we used to in the past.We are more concerned about the things of this world than of those related to eternity.We prefer watching TV or reading secular books and magazines instead of reading the Bible or praying.We are hardly willing to pray or don´t want to do it at all.We rather make money than give it away.
  • The lordship of Jesus Christ V

    «All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…» (Mathew, 28:18-19).Jesus told us to walk through this life, being armed with the understanding that all God’s authority is behind us. The will of God for us contains prosperity, health, salvation (both for us personally and for our families), peace and harmony; the will of God is for all people to come to salvation and knowledge of truth. But too often we see discrepancies in many areas of our life. Those areas where the will of God is not fulfilled are actually ruled by the devil; somehow we have given him a place and control over these areas.
  • Organization of effective prayer life IV

    Prayer is meaningful time with God.I will explain what I mean by that. Quite often I use the word ‘time’. Prayer is one of the means of organizing and managing the time we have been given. What is the topic of our prayers is a very interesting question. We all talk about it. There are so many books written on prayer. But who is the person who prays truly effectively? This is a very serious question. God desires us to arrange our lives for effective prayer; it will take our ministry and our whole life to a much higher level.
  • God is the only one who knows the true meaning of human life

    We are saved by Jesus Christ not by our deeds, to be followed by good deeds God has determined for us. Once we realise that He created us, we understand that our life on this Earth is absolutely meaningless without Him, without relationship and collaboration with God. Without Him we would resemble those who lack brain, wandering in the desert, having no certain way to go. Therefore, such people walk in the dark without light, staggering like a drunken man.«He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, And causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. They grope in the dark without light. He makes them stagger like a drunken man.» (Job 12:24-25).
  • Why do people choose to be irresponsible? II

    Being responsible is connected to the condition of person’s heart. If the heart is wicked and the mind is not renewed, then it would be futile to expect responsible behaviour. The servant who buried his talent did not think highly of his lord. He considered his lord to be a cruel man who reaps where he has not sown and gathers where he has not scattered seed. Because of these ponderings in his heart he did not have the motivation to do his best
  • Do not focus of what you do not have; simply go ahead and use what you have! II

    God gives to us gifts according to our ability, so He does not call us to do the thigs we are not able to. If God has asked you to do something, it is only because He knows you are able to do it. He won’t give you more than you are able to bear. Simply use what you have.I once read a story about a woman who built a school for the needy. Before she began this, a desire was born in her heart to do it. It became her dream that she was thinking of consistently. At that moment she did not have a thing: no textbooks, no teachers, no building, and no money. But she did have a tremendous desire to fulfil her dream.

One Comment

  1. Awesome stuff, raising and uplifting my spiritual life.
    Amen.

Comments are closed.