Tag: Learning

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Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life: Book Review by Jeff Bush

By Donald S. Whitney 

  • Disciplines without direction equals drudgery. 
  • How can we pursue holiness? How can we be more like our Lord Jesus Christ? We must have discipline. 1 Timothy 4:7 — “exercise thyself rather unto godliness.”
  • Man arrives to maturity by way of spiritual discipline.
  • Our Lord modeled self-discipline for us.
  • Just as practicing to play an instrument requires discipline, so growing in your spiritual life requires discipline.
  • God’s Word.
        • No spiritual discipline is more important than the intake of God’s word.
        • Listen to the Word of God. Romans 10:17. 
        • Read the Word of God. How often do you need wisdom, encouragement, and strength? Every day! Then read God’s Word every day.
        • Discipline yourself to read the Word of God. Find a time. Find a plan. Find a word, verse, or thought to meditate on throughout the day.
        • What is one thing you can do to enhance your intake of God’s Word every day? 
        • Interview the text that you read. 
        • Consciously commit yourself to take at least one action from your daily intake of God’s Word.
  • Prayer. 
        • We learn to pray by meditating on the Scripture. 
        • Pray with others.
        • Where there is godliness, there is prayer.
        • Men and women of God are always people of prayer. 
        • Worship is responding to and focusing on God. 
        • Worship is a discipline to be cultivated.
  • Evangelism.
        • New Testament evangelism is presenting the gospel. 
        • Not every Christian should use the same means of evangelism, but every Christian should evangelize.
        • Evangelism is not a gift for a few, all of God’s children are to be ambassadors.
        • Before we make excuses, we should stop and ask ourselves, are we really too busy to fulfill the Great Commission?
  • Serving for Godliness.
        • If we don’t discipline ourselves for the purpose of God’s kingdom, we will probably never serve. 
        • Serving goes against two of our biggest fleshly enemies, our sloth and our pride.
        • We are to serve the Lord with gladness. It is a privilege, not a burden. 
        • Psalms 84:10 — “For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
        • If we are to be like Christ, we must learn to serve.
  • Stewardship. 
        • Unless we practice self control, our bodies will choose to please self more than please God. 
        • Evaluate your use of time. The time to value time is right now.
        • Decide to discipline yourself and use your time for godliness.
        • We value time at the moment of death. 
        • Realize God owns everything you have. We are just temporary stewards of the things God owns.
  • Fasting. 
        • There is fasting from food as well as times to fast from entertainment and other areas.
        • The Lord expects His children to fast. He doesn’t say “if” but “when” you fast. 
        • Before we fast, we must have purpose, a God-centered purpose.
        • Fasting is one of the best friends we can offer to our prayer. 
        • It is more rewarding to feast on God than food.
  • Silence and Solitude for the purpose of godliness. 
        • God used silence and solitude in the life of both Moses and the Apostle Paul. 
        • Jesus practiced silence and solitude. 
        • One of the biggest reasons to get alone is to better hear God speak. 
        • We have an addiction to noise, and it’s connected to a spiritual shallowness. 
  • Spiritual Discipline of Journaling. 
        • A personal writing of thoughts to the Lord. Prayers, joys, verse challenge you read, etc.
        • Consider the discipline of journaling for godliness, and to remember God‘s faithfulness.
  • Learning for the Purpose of Godliness.
        • Wise and righteous people are teachable and continue learning.
        • Wise men seek and store knowledge. 
        • Mark 12:29–30. Our Lord teaches us to love Him with all of our mind.
        • How can we know more about our Lord if we do not learn more about him?
        • Learning is mostly intentional by discipline instead of accidental.
        • Most students don’t learn because their parents don’t learn. When was the last time you read a book to your children?
        • Growing Christians are reading Christians.
        • Godly learning leads to godly living. 
  • Perseverance in Godly Discipline.
        • Laziness does not lead to godliness.
        • Even though self-discipline is not easy, it is not self-punishment. Self-discipline is actually doing what your spirit need you to do.
        • Just as the only way to God is through Christ, so the only way to godliness is through Christlike practice of spiritual disciplines.
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Out of The Cave Book Review by Jeff Bush

By Chris Hodges 

  • 1 out of 9 people in the US are on some form of anxiety medication. 1 out of 5 people have used it in the past. 
  • Depression has surpassed other diseases in our world such as cancer, etc.
  • Many things we tell someone that is depressed it’s not helpful – quit thinking about it, try harder, at least your problems are not as big as others, read your Bible more, etc. We should learn to listen and sympathize.
  • We need to stop talking about chemical imbalances and start talking about imbalances in our lifestyle. What we eat, how little we sleep, always on the run, not going outside, etc.
  • If we are burning the candle at both ends, we might not be as bright as we think we are. – Rick Warren
  • Motions are the precursors for emotions. When you feel …, you will… 
  • When someone throws up, the problem is a result of something happening in their body. And in the same manner, depression is not the problem, but a result of something that is happening within them.
  • An overwhelmed schedule produces an overwhelmed soul. Just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should. 
  • The comparison culture eats us alive. Proverbs 14:30
  • Experts agree that we’ve never been so connected yet so lonely at the same time.
  • The same social media that connects us also controls us, condemns us, manipulates us, and deceives us. 
  • Your social media very likely needs to be regulated and reduced. It is the number one reason for comparison and envy in the lives of most people.
  • If you want to come out of your cave, you have to stop comparing because God made you incomparable.
  • We cannot change our lives until we change the way we think.
  • The first problem was not sin but isolation. It was not good for Adam to be alone. We were not designed to be self-sufficient. 
  • In Exodus 17, Aaron and Hur held up the arms of Moses. Moses was used of God to open the Red Sea, but he needed help to keep his hands up. Who is helping you keep your hands lifted high?
  • Joy is an attitude that trusts God despite the circumstances. 
  • Instead of asking why to God, we should learn to ask what He wants to teach us through this situation.
  • Fight with light. The devil is dead set against you, but the good news is that the devil and demons are subject unto our God.
  • Prayer is both communion with God and confrontation against the devil.
  • If we want to win over depression, we must let God fill us. 
  • Perhaps our physical needs (rest and nutritious food) is more important then we think. God confronted Elijah‘s physical needs before his spiritual needs.
  • The opposite of depression is not happiness rather meaning and purpose in life.
  • Whether you like it or not, your ministry is strengthen by times you have been through. Your hard times can be either a prison of misery or schooling to help you learn.