************************
"TuesdayReflection"
15th April 2025
'Dave Kiehn'
lead pastor, author and conference speaker
"Recovering Spiritual
Disciplines"
Slave trader turned pastor and hymn writer, John Newton, wrote,
I am not what I ought to be.
Ah! How imperfect and deficient!
I am not what I wish to be.
Newton was changed by the grace of God.
A slave trader to a pastor.
All godly change is only by grace.
Paul writes of his own calling as an apostle in 1 Corinthians 15,
"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain."
Paul knew that all that he did for the Lord has a gift from his hand, but that does not mean that Paul did not work hard.
Paul was an apostle by grace, but he laboured hard to grow in grace.
I pray that you will be challenged to labour hard to grow in grace.
Grace and work.
It may seem like a contradiction, but I pray you will see how grace fuelled effort will lead you to Christ.
The reason people do not like discipline because they forget the purpose of discipline.
Discipline can be hard, challenging, and tiresome, but it can produce something wonderful.
Paul wrote to a young Timothy while he was serving as his representative to the people of Ephesus on what to avoid and how to live.
He wrote in 1 Tim 4:8,
"Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come."
There were false teachers in Ephesus who were encouraging abstinence from marriage and the extreme practice of self-denial and abstinence from worldly pleasures.
As we approach the topic of spiritual disciplines
(the practices found in Scripture that promote spiritual growth among believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ),
it is important to remember the purpose.
We labour to grow in godliness.
We labour to grow in the knowledge and love for our Saviour.
Jesus died for us.
There is nothing more glorious than the gospel and the Saviour who brings it.
And if we want more of Jesus, than we should train ourselves for godliness.
Spiritual Disciplines are activities and habits that God uses to grow people in grace.
Grace is a gift.
We cannot earn it. Although we can't earn it, we can place ourselves in its path.
As Zacchaeus climbed the tree and Bartimaeus was on the road, we must place ourselves in the path of God's grace.
We cannot expect to grow and become like Christ without labour.
God is knowable, but he has provided us means to know him.
We must exercise the spiritual disciplines if we are going to grow in godliness.
The God of the Universe speaks to us in his Word.
His Word brought forth life in creation and now he creates new life through his Word. God speaks, and life happens.
One of the greatest resources for our spiritual growth is the Word of God.
The challenge for us today is we because we have unfettered access to God's Word, numerous study bibles, different versions, a plethora of electronic options that we are "tragically tempted to take it lightly."
We too easily and too often neglect the Word of God.
Now, we do not want to create some sort of legalistic Christian mandate that we must read the Bible every day, but when we neglect the word of God, we are turning our backs on a wonderful means of God's grace.
D.L. Moody's mother gave him a Bible and on the inside cover it was inscribed,
"The Bible will keep you from sin and sin will keep you from the Bible."
If we are honest, all of us have fallen into the sinful neglect of the Word of God.
Too often we simply blame busyness, but our busyness reveals our heart.
We do not make time for God's Word because we do not desire to know the Lord.
We may "want" too, but we all know we make time for things we really want.
Maybe the first thing we need to do is to repent of our neglect and turn back to the Lord.
Remember, discipline yourself for godliness.
Do not let guilt keep you from the Word.
Confess your neglect today and ask God for help by the Spirit to prioritize the Word of God.
><(((°>
This is a very edited version.
The full article and Bible references, are avaiable on request
Scroll down for the continuation of this discussion.
Dave Kiehn
is a lead pastor, author and conference speaker, passionate about sharing the transformative message of Jesus Christ.
More
I think David Mathis is right when he says,
"At the end of the day, there is simply no replacement for finding a regular time and place, blocking out distractions, putting your nose in the text, and letting your mind and heart be led and captured and thrilled by God himself communicating to us in his objective written word."
There is no substitute for unhindered time in the Word.
Set a time and put your nose in text.
There are times we simply rake over our Bibles.
We read for breadth, but there are times we must dig for diamonds.
Digging takes a lot more effort, but it is necessary if we want to penetrate the surface of our study.
Spend an hour reading the cross reference to different verses.
Get a good study Bible and read all the footnotes.
Trace a Biblical theme from Genesis to Revelation.
The greatest truths are the ones you discover yourself.
We must learn to meditate, and savour the beauty with all its different textures and nuances to fully appreciate its beauty.
Don Whitney defines meditation as,
"Deep thinking on the truths and spiritual realities revealed in Scripture for the purposes of understanding, application, and prayer."
Remember the Word of God is not an end, but a means to an end.
The Word leads us to God.
The reason we slow down and ponder, chew on, think hard on the Word is so that we would know Christ and become like him.
In our frantic, busy world, imagine the immense spiritual benefit by slowing down and savouring the beauty and majesty of our great Saviour in the Word of God.
During the Interregnum
March 2025 to ....
Contact the Benefice Office
E-mail:
thebeneficeofbhkandr at gmail dot com
Contact the Benefice Office
Sunday School Rooms, Church Lane,
BUGBROOKE, Northampton, NN7 3PB
Land Line: 01604 830373
E-mail:
thebeneficeofbhkandr at gmail dot com
Mon., Tues., Wed., Thur.
9:00am to 11:30am
For Baptism bookings (Christenings)
to arrange an appointment please contact
the Benefice Office.
For Wedding bookings:
please contact the Benefice Office to arrange
an appointment.
Who Made This?
Seeing as you asked, if you can give helpful
advice or report factual corrections and
'deliberate mistakes',email:-
regparker3 at gmail dot com
Email addresses shown using words in an
attempt to avoid 'spam',
Type the email address replacing 'at' with '@',
and 'dot' with '.'