So here's my latest summary of my readings.
Day 49~How To Feast at the Lord's Table
This lesson had such a great overview of George Mueller's approach to reading God's word and prayer. Mr. Mueller used to start his mornings in prayer, but then he began to change his approach. Here's a snapshot glance of what Mr. Mueller was writing about:
The first thing I did, after having asked in a few words the Lord's blessing upon His precious Word, was to begin to meditate on the Word of God; searching, as it were, into every verse, to get blessing out of it; not for the sake of the public ministry of the Word; not for the sake of preaching on what I had meditated upon; but for the sake of obtaining food for my own soul. The result I have found to be almost invariably this, that after a very few minutes my soul has been led to confession, or to thanksgiving, or to intercession, or to supplication; so that though I did not, as it were, give myself to prayer, but to meditation, yet it turned almost immediately more or less into prayer... It is plain to me as anything, that the first thing the child of God has to do morning by morning is to obtain food for his inner man. TLT workbook pg 157-158
I thought this was such an interesting perspective. As we read, confession, intercession, thanksgiving and supplication all flow naturally as led by the Lord's word. We are drawn into prayer in the process of reading. I appreciated this perspective.
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Day 50~Be a Doer of the Word
I think I summed up this lesson and my response to it here.
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Day 51~Gluttony and Laziness
Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, or with gluttonous eaters of meat; for the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe one with rags. Prov. 23: 20, 21
I definitely don't struggle with drinking as I don't even drink alcohol. I really don't like the stuff.
Yet I definitely have my ups and downs in struggling with gluttony and laziness. I'm beginning to experience more victory with regards to gluttony. Laziness (lack of exercise) feels like a challenge for me right now. I need to get moving. I still haven't gotten consistent with that. In all honesty it takes some motivation to get moving with the kind of temperatures we have here during the winter! I'm looking forward to spring and jogging again:-) In the meantime I do find skipping rope a reasonable exercise routine for me in the winter months in particular.
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Day 52~Take Every Thought Captive
Of course this is based on 2 Corinthians 10:3-6
This whole concept has been BIG for me over the past couple months as I contemplated what lined the walls of my mind. I'd say TW was my introduction to really and truly examining my thoughts and beliefs more closely and getting into the practice and discipline of lining up with God's Word. Breaking Free touched on that further. And then this TLT study has further pushed me to use the Bible as my foundation for life.
If I fail to take every thought captive for Christ, *I* would be the one in bondage! But God wants it to be the other way around-the lies of Satan are to bound and taken captive and God's truth replace the lies! How awesome!
Here was a fantastic illustration from Max Lucado that I can't skip posting because it really is very good. It's lengthy, but a very worthwhile read!
...Your heart is a fertile greenhouse ready to produce good fruit. Your mind is the doorway to your heart-the strategic place where you determine which seeds are sown and which seeds are discarded. The Holy Spirit is ready to help you manage and filter the thoughts that try to enter. He can help you guard your heart. He stands with you ont he threshold. A thought approaches, a questionable thought. Do you throw open the door and let it enter? Of course not. You "fight to capture every thought until it acknowledges the authority of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5 Phillips Translation). You don't leave the door unguarded. You stand equipped with handcuffs and leg irons, ready to capture any thought not fit to enter. For the sake of dicussion, let's say a thought regarding your personal value approaches. With all the cockiness of a neighbourhood bully, the thought swaggers up to the door and says, "You're a loser. All your life you've been a loser. You've blown relationships and jobs and ambitions. you might as well write the word bum on your resume, for that
is what you are."
The ordinary person would throw open the door and let the thought in. Like a seed from a weed, it would find fertile soil and take root and bear thorns of inferiority. The average person would say, "You're right, I'm a bum. Come on in." But as a Christian, you aern't your verage person. You are led by the Spirit. So, rather than let the thought in, you take it captive. You handcuff it and march it down the street to the courthouse where you present the thought before the judgement seat of
Christ.
"'Jesus," this thoughts say, 'I'm a bum and a loser and I'll never amount to anything.' What do you think?" See what you are doing? You are submitting the thought to the authority of Jesus. If Jesus agrees with the thought, then let it in. If not, kick it out. In this case Jesus diagrees.
How do you know if Jesus agrees or disagrees? You open your Bible. What does God think about you? Eph. 2:10 is a good place to check: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (NIV). Or how about Romans 8:1: "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus"? Obviously any thought that says you are inferior or insignificant does not pass the test-and does not gain entrance. you have the right to give the bully a firm kick in the pants and watch him run.
Let's take another example. The first thought was a bully; this next thougth is a groupie. She comes not to tell you how bad you are, but how good you are. She rushes to the doorway and gushes, "You are so good. You are so wonderful. The world is so lucky to have you," and on and on the groupie grovels.
Typically this is the type of thought you'd welcome. But you don't do things the typical way. You guard your heart. You walk in the Spirit. And you take every thought captive. So once again you go to Jesus. You submit this thought to the authority of Christ. As you unsheathe the sword of the Spirit, his Word, you learn that pride doesn't please God.
"Don't cherish exaggerated ideas of yourself or your importance" (romans 12:3 Phillips). "The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is my only reason for bragging" (Gal. 6:14). As much as you'd like to welceom this thought of conceit into the greenhouse, you can't. You only allow what Christ allows.
One more example. This time the thought is not one of criticsm or flattery but one of temptation. If you're a fellow the thought is dressed in flashy red. If you're a female, the thought is the hunk you've always wanted. There is the brush of the hand, the fragrance in teh air, and invitation. "Come on, it's all right. We're consenting
adults."
What do you do? Wel, if you aren't under the authority of Christ, you throw open the door. But if you have the mind of Christ, you step back and say, "Not so fast. You'll have to get permission from big brother." So you take this teamy act before Jesus and ask, "Yes or no?" nowhere does he answer more clearly than in 1 Cor. 6 and 7: "we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids committment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than every... Is it a good thing to have sexual relations? Certainly--but only within a certain context. It's good for a man to have a wife, and for
a woman to have a husband. Sexual drives are strong, but marriage is strong enough to contain them" (6:18; 7:1-2, MSG). Now armed with opinion of Christ and the sword of the Spirit, what do you do? Well, if the tempter is not your spouse, close the door. If the invitation is from your spouse then HUBBA, HUBBA, HUBBA.
The point is this. Guard the doorway of your heart. Submit your thoughts to the authority of Christ. The more selective you are about seeds, the more delighted you will be with the crop. Max Lucado "Just Like Jesus" as quoted in TLT workbook pg 168-169
Isn't that an amazing illustration?! I thought it was a great way of looking at taking each thought captive and making obedient to Christ.
I should finish my homework that I assigned myself way back here... I think I'll put together a whole new post for this.
The next amazing poing that Mike Cleveland pulls out is:
So we reject sinful thoughts, but here is the next step; we must also embrace good and godly thoughts. It's not enough to reject sinful thoughts, we must go on to fill our minds with good things. Notice this passage: "Finally bretheren, whatever i true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things" (Philippians 4:8). TLT workbook pg 169
So, my battle plan for actively thinking on Christ and the things that are good, right, noble and pure is: wake up with God as my alarm clock and spend time in His word and in prayer, read, pray, fellowship, play the piano and sing praise and worship to my Lord, memorize scripture... Those are a few things that came to mind.
So, here's a summary of what this lesson laid out...
- Take our thoughts captive to Christ.
- Meditate on what is good and right.
- Practise these things.
That last step is key. I need to apply and look into the mirror of God's word and not just ignore it, but actually be a doer of His word. I must BE living God's truth and DO His will.
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Day 53~Change Comes Through Seeing Jesus
Basically I must fix my eyes on Jesus. Don't let anything hinder me from doing this. God reveals Himself to me through the Bible, prayer, fellowship, music, books and His creation.
Looking to Jesus has filled me with things that are excellent and praiseworthy. Looking to Jesus has freed me to see who I truly am~sinful and powerless in my flesh. Looking to Jesus has allowed me to humbly depend on Him and His power, to be transformed into His image each day. Looking to Jesus has been realizing that CHRIST LIVES IN ME! That's powerful! I may be a weak and powerless clay vessel, but I have the Greatest Treasure that dwells inside me~Christ Jesus!! That's powerful! Looking to Jesus has equipped, inspired and empowered me. Looking to Jesus has taken my focus off self and deepened my love for God.
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Day 54~Psalm 23 and The Lord's Table
This lesson unpacked this psalm so beautifully. One quote that I really appreciated was, "We are not valley dwellers, but valley walkers." (Karen Wilkinson, TLT workbook pg 176)
I don't think I could ever do justice to this lesson in a snapshot! I just know there is so much meat in this one short passage that I could dwell on for a long time and keep learning from!
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