“… discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily training is just slightly beneficial, but godliness is beneficial for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:7-8 NASB2020 https://bible.com/bible/2692/1ti.4.7-8.NASB2020
Brothers, I read a post about spiritual disciplines. Instead of making resolutions I pray we take inventory of our spiritual disciplines and set a strategy and tactics to center our lives on Christ by ordering our days and weeks with spiritual disciplines: worship, prayer, fasting, sabbath rest, and scripture reading, meditation, and study. I pray our spiritual disciplines will be the model and set the rhythm of our households to be centered on Christ.
“A life ordered by spiritual discipline is not a cramped life. It’s a free one… Spiritual discipline is freedom… In Genesis, [God] doesn’t leave the world a formless mess… disordered days slowly produce disordered souls. But when prayer, Scripture, worship, and rest are built into a man’s week, things start to settle… When your life is structured around [Christ], you stop fighting the grain of the universe. And that’s where freedom actually is.” Pastor Michael Foster https://x.com/thisisfoster/status/2009625345536803178?s=46&t=Ag2lESY3ntUopWo1gN17hw
“… discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily training is just slightly beneficial, but godliness is beneficial for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:7-8 NASB2020 https://bible.com/bible/2692/1ti.4.7-8.NASB2020
Worship – start your week on Sunday with Worship
“¶Ascribe to the Lord, you families of the peoples, Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name; Bring an offering and come into His courtyards. Worship the Lord in holy attire; Tremble before Him, all the earth. Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved; He will judge the peoples fairly.”” Psalm 96:7-10 NASB2020 https://bible.com/bible/2692/psa.96.7-10.NASB2020
“But a time is coming, and even now has arrived, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”” John 4:23-24 NASB2020 https://bible.com/bible/2692/jhn.4.23-24.NASB2020
Prayer What is prayer? How do I pray? – Dobra Family Ministry
“But as for you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:6 NASB2020 https://bible.com/bible/2692/mat.6.6.NASB2020
“With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints,” Ephesians 6:18 NASB2020 https://bible.com/bible/2692/eph.6.18.NASB2020
Fasting
““Now whenever you fast, do not make a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they distort their faces so that they will be noticed by people when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But as for you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that your fasting will not be noticed by people but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:16-18 NASB2020 https://bible.com/bible/2692/mat.6.16-18.NASB2020
“Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloth and with dirt upon them.” Nehemiah 9:1 NASB2020 https://bible.com/bible/2692/neh.9.1.NASB2020
“In each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and mourning rites; and many had sackcloth and ashes spread out as a bed.” Esther 4:3 NASB2020 https://bible.com/bible/2692/est.4.3.NASB2020
Sabbath – end your week with rest
““Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Exodus 20:8 NASB2020 https://bible.com/bible/2692/exo.20.8.NASB2020
“For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.” Exodus 31:15 NASB2020 https://bible.com/bible/2692/exo.31.15.NASB2020
“Consequently, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.” Hebrews 4:9-10 NASB2020 https://bible.com/bible/2692/heb.4.9-10.NASB2020
Scripture Household Prayer: Students of Scripture Build your House – Dobra Family Ministry
“For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Proverbs 2:6 NASB2020 https://bible.com/bible/2692/pro.2.6.NASB2020
Note: Prov. “2:6 His mouth. The words of His mouth are contained in Scripture. It is there that God speaks (cf. Heb 1:1, 2; 2Pe 1:20, 21). Wisdom comes only by revelation.”
“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the world.” Hebrews 1:1-2 NASB2020 https://bible.com/bible/2692/heb.1.1-2.NASB2020
“But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture becomes a matter of someone’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” 2 Peter 1:20-21 NASB2020 https://bible.com/bible/2692/2pe.1.20-21.NASB2020
“¶I shall remember the deeds of the Lord; I will certainly remember Your wonders of old. I will meditate on all Your work, And on Your deeds with thanksgiving.” Psalm 77:11-12 NASB2020 https://bible.com/bible/2692/psa.77.11-12.NASB2020
THE GOOD NEWS
There is a God that created the heavens and the earth. We humans are created in His image.
We are sinners, we have rebelled against Him, our Creator. Our rebellion has brought “all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice… envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness” to the world. Romans 1:29-31 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.1.29-31.ESV
Therefore we justly deserve our due punishment of death and damnation, “as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.’” Romans 3:10-12 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.3.10-12.ESV
But good news! God is merciful and loving. Jesus is God the only begotten Son and He took our punishment upon Himself in our place. Jesus rose from the dead, defeating death and securing the hope of our salvation.
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/1co.15.3-8.ESV
““Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”” Acts 2:36-38 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/act.2.36-38.ESV
We need only repent and believe it. Repent: turn away from our sins, proclaim Jesus is lord and savior, and we will be forgiven our sins and have life ever after! “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”” Romans 10:9-11 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.10.9-11.ESV
There is hope. Believe in Jesus! ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jhn.3.16.ESV
It doesn’t matter who you’ve been or what you’ve done, God stands with arms wide open, ready to forgive you. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/1jn.1.9.ESV
Dobra Family Ministry 