God uses spiritual disciplines to form our character, disciple us in His Word, communicate with us, meld us with His Body, and keep us on His protective straight and narrow road (Mathew 7:13-14). God does not need us (Acts 17:25), but He created us as a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:15-20), and He desires us to live as a people who love Him with our whole heart (Matthew 22:37-40).
Ministry is not our attempt to please God, but our cooperation with Him as He serves others through us. We rest in Him, and we walk in His Spirit moment by moment throughout the day, and He uses us to further His Kingdom in the earth. This prevents us from burning out through human effort rather than reliance on Christ.
When we walk in the Spirit, we do not experience frustration, misgiving, insecurity, strife, and weariness, because we are drenched in God’s grace and filled through our entire being with all that fullness of God that equips us for every good deed that He inspires us to perform (Philippians 4:13).
We are acceptable to God through the work of Christ on Calvary, and not on our own efforts to earn His trust, love, and approval (Philippians 1:6; Ephesians 2:8-9). His grace saves us and transforms us through His sanctifying process, and His mercy toward us is new every single morning (Acts 3:19; Joel 2:13; Lamentations 3:22-23).
Prayer:
Father God, the only responsibility You lay on us is to show our love for You by obeying Your commandments and to enter into Your rest (1 John 5:3; Hebrews 4:3). You prefer our responsiveness to Your Spirit’s direction of each moment of our day, rather than us sacrificing for You through our own efforts to accomplish for You what we think You desire from us (Hebrews 13:21; James 2:17, 20, 26).
Remind us that we are branches to bear Your fruit, not by our own efforts (2 Corinthians 3:5), but through the Vine of Christ and the strength of Your Holy Spirit flowing into us from the Vine (John 15:5; Philippians 2:12-13, 4:13). Help us to live by faith in Your goodness and perfect plan for our life (Colossians 2:6-7). Teach us how to abide as a city set on a hill (Matthew 5:14-16). We want people to see our good works and to glorify You (Matthew 5:16).
Thought for the Day:
Spiritual disciplines such as prayer, Bible study, church attendance and involvement in its ministries, walking in the Spirit, sharing our testimony with others, showing our love for God by keeping His commandments, living life from a humble and generous spirit, etc. are all designed to increase our unity with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and our example to the people in our life.
- Romans 8:14; Philippians 1:6; Ephesians 2:10
