40 Days of Discipline

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2019 Posts


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40 Days of Discipline: Day 21 – Fellowship

10Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.  11If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God.  If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.  To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever.  Amen. (1 Peter 4:10 – 11)

 

As we continue to discuss the discipline of fellowship, we recognize that Biblical fellowship is about a lot more than coming together to have a good time. Of course, having a good time together as believers is important but there is a lot more to fellowship than that. A broader perspective must contemplate how God uses the combination of the gifts he has given us for his glory. Just think how much we miss out on when we refuse to play in an orchestra where the master conductor has perfect knowledge of our gifts.

Please read the passage above carefully and answer the following question.

 

Question

How are you using your gifts in fellowship to glorify God?


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40 Days of Discipline: Day 20 – Fellowship

20“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.  May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20 – 23)

17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:17 – 18)

 

Just as we are enjoying our time discussing worship, it’s time to switch to the discipline of Fellowship.  Let’s face it, many of us are not as committed to fellowship as we should be.  So, as we contemplate our theme of God’s glory, I am providing two passages of scripture to encourage us to a higher level of commitment.

In the first passage (from John 17) Jesus in His powerful prayer leading  up to His crucifixion says that He has given believers the glory He was given “that they may be one” as He is with the Father.  There is a clear premium on unity, and I would argue by extension, a clear premium on fellowship.  If we seek to live out the unity Jesus has with His Father, we must be committed fellowship.

The second passage (from 2 Corinthians 3) says we are being transformed into God’s image with “ever-increasing glory”.   As believers, we are all in an important growing process together.  I believe, therefore, that we should cherish the opportunity to do this transformation journey in fellowship, not as a lone wolf.

Please read the passages carefully and answer the following question.

 

Question:

How highly do you value fellowshipping with believers?


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40 Days of Discipline: Day 19 – Worship

21On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people.  22They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.”  23Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. (Acts 12:21 – 23)

 

We started our consideration of the discipline of worship this week with a reminder that God is passionate about His glory.  We will end our consideration with a sober warning.  God is jealous of His glory.

The kind of glory associated with worship should never be given to anything or anyone else but God. We should also be careful not to misappropriate God’s glory for ourselves.

Please read the passage above carefully and answer the following question.

 

Question:

How do you guard against misplaced worship?


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40 Days of Discipline: Day 18 – Worship

1Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.  2I cry out to God Most High, to God, who vindicates me.  3He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me—God sends forth his love and his faithfulness.  4I am in the midst of lions; I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts—men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.  5Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.  6They spread a net for my feet—I was bowed down in distress.  They dug a pit in my path—but they have fallen into it themselves.  7My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.  8Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre!  I will awaken the dawn.  9I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  10For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  11Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth. (Psalm 57)

 

David is appropriately held out as a model worshipper.  His contributions to the Book of Psalms have served as a timeless source of inspiration.  One very instructive aspect of David’s attitude to worship was his inclination to worship whether in good times or bad.  For example, the passage above was written when his life was threatened by King Saul and he was hiding in a cave.  Despite his adversity, he gives God glory!

Please read the passage above carefully and answer the following question.

 

Question:

Giving God glory should not depend on circumstances.  How do you maintain an attitude of worship even when things are not going your way?


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40 Days of Discipline: Day 17 – Worship

9Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever.  They lay their crowns before the throne and say: 11“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” (Revelation 4:9 – 11)

 

God is passionate about His glory and hopefully you have seen how Bible Study, Spiritual Warfare, Prayer and Fasting are conduits to giving Him the glory that is His alone.  This week we focus on the Disciplines of Worship and Fellowship, starting with Worship.

The concept of God’s glory brings the discipline of worship into very sharp focus.  Consider these two implications of internalizing God’s glory as the motivation for worship:

  1. We avoid the seduction of many activities that are labelled as worship but are really not.  For example, some so called worship activities are really just entertainment without substance.
  2. We avoid falling victim to what I consider the “exclusive zone of worship” syndrome.  This occurs when we believe we must be at church and in a worship service for worship to occur.  This “constrained” view of worship is unfortunately pervasive.

Please read the passage above prayerfully and consider the object, motivation and attitude of worship displayed.

 

Question:

What are some of the practical implications of seeing worship as a lifestyle rather than a church activity?


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40 Days of Discipline: Day 16 – Review

10David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, “Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.  11Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.  12Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things.  In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.  13Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.  (1 Chronicles 29:10 – 13)

 

Today is dedicated to reviewing what we have learned over the past five days.  We have covered the Disciplines of Prayer and Fasting.  Please reflect on what we have discussed regarding the two disciplines as they relate to God’s glory.  Again, I encourage you to check out the comments.

Ask God to help you to apply the lessons from his word to your life.

 

Question

What did you learn this week that you can apply?


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40 Days of Discipline: Day 15 – Fasting

3So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.  4I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: “Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.  6We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land. (Daniel 9:3 – 6)

 

Today we continue our focus on the Discipline of Fasting. Please consider a food fast for at least a portion of the day if you have no health concerns. Alternatively, you might want to go on a non-food fast by giving up something that consumes a lot of your attention/energy (e.g., social media) for at least a portion of the day.

During your time of fasting, spend as much time as you can in prayer and in God’s word, and focus especially on God’s glory (declaring it, experiencing more of it and praying for others to experience it through Jesus).  The passage above from Daniel should serve as inspiration.

 

Reflections:

Please post your comments at the end of your fast and share what you can about your experience.


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40 Days of Discipline: Day 14 – Fasting

4Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: 5“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?  6And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves? (Zechariah 7:4 – 6)

 

Today we turn our attention to the Discipline of Fasting.  Often, people fast when they want to get a special prayer answered.  Of course, the Bible does support fasting for special requests and for other objectives such as humility.  If we deeply consider the Biblical basis for fasting though, we come back to the question God asked in the passage above from Zechariah: “was it really for me that you fasted?”.  Like every other Discipline, Fasting must ultimately be for God’s glory.

Before we get to our question today, I want to give you a heads up that tomorrow will be dedicated to actually fasting (i.e., not just theory). You should of course only participate in a food fast as your health allows.  I am raising this today since the blog is read at varying times of the day around the world.

Bringing our focus back to today, please prayerfully reflect on the passage above and consider the following question.

 

Question:

When you fast (food fast or otherwise), what do you usually focus on and why?


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40 Days of Discipline: Day 13 – Prayer

3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.  4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  5For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:3 – 6)

 

As believers, we need to demonstrate love for those around us who have not experienced God’s glory in the person of His son Jesus Christ.  The passage above paints a clear contrast between those who have not seen the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ and those who have.  The more we learn about God’s glory the greater our desire should be for others to experience His glory, and our prayers should reflect this desire.  We cannot be selfish in this regard.

Please prayerfully reflect on the Bible verses above.

 

Questions:

  • Do you have a strong desire to see others experience God’s glory?
  • Who specifically can you pray for today that needs to “see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ”?


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40 Days of Discipline: Day 12 – Prayer

17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.  18I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. (Romans 8:17 – 18)

 6In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  7These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:6 – 7)

 12Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.  13But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:12 – 13)

 

We have provided three separate passages of scripture today to emphasize a very important relationship – the relationship between God’s glory and suffering.  Please read the passages above carefully and note the relationship between God’s glory and suffering in each passage.  What does this mean for our prayer life?  Suffering comes in too many stripes for anyone to offer a singular prescriptive prayer.  However, we need to recognize our natural inclination to avoid suffering, and ask God to help us see suffering in the context of His glory.

 

Questions

  • Do you struggle with praying about suffering?
  • How are your prayers impacted by the realization that God uses suffering for His glory?