{"id":3832,"date":"2020-06-30T06:00:46","date_gmt":"2020-06-30T11:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/?p=3832"},"modified":"2020-06-30T07:45:52","modified_gmt":"2020-06-30T12:45:52","slug":"seven-disciplines-of-healthy-christian-living-continued","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/2020\/06\/seven-disciplines-of-healthy-christian-living-continued\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven Disciplines of Healthy Christian Living (continued)"},"content":{"rendered":"
There are many disciplines that we must do in order to follow Jesus.  Over the next few devotional thoughts, we are going to explore seven disciplines of healthy Christian living. <\/span><\/div>\n
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These disciplines must be learned and developed. They require a habitual process by constant repetition. Jesus said in Luke 9:23 that in order to follow Him, we must \u201ctake up our cross DAILY.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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The first discipline I want to discuss is what we must do when no one is looking.  Unless we do this in private, we will not be able to do the many public disciplines with personal integrity.<\/span><\/div>\n
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We must have\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
1. A Private Time Daily in the Word and Prayer (quiet time)<\/span><\/div>\n
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I\u2019ve place the Word and prayer together because I believe they go hand in hand: We should pray according to the will of God revealed in His Word. The Word of God when read should lead us to pray, even to praying the Word back to God.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Time in the Word and prayer could involve devotional reading, Scripture memory and even reading other encouraging spiritual books. This time should also involve worship in acts and in attitude.<\/span><\/div>\n
Psalm 119:11 (ESV) \u201cI have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.\u201d <\/span><\/div>\n
Acts 17:11 (NIV) \u201cNow the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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Luke 18:1 (ESV) \u201cAnd he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.\u201d <\/span><\/div>\n
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Jesus placed the discipline of prayer above ministry. <\/span><\/div>\n
Luke 5:15\u201316 (ESV)<\/span><\/div>\n
15 \u201cBut now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. 16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.\u201d <\/span><\/div>\n
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Did you get that?  There were times that Jesus would withdraw from people seeking Him.  He understood that unless He spent time with the Father in prayer, He could not effectively carry out the ministry He was called to do.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Our ministry must not be driven by need. There are always people who need us.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Our ministry is to be driven by our calling and our vision.<\/span><\/div>\n
We must learn to distinguish between urgent and important.<\/span><\/div>\n
Luke 22:39 (NIV) \u201cJesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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Luke 22:39 (ESV) \u201cAnd he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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Please look closely at these last two verses.  Jesus went out \u201cas usual,\u201d  He went \u201cas was his custom.\u201d  It was His lifestyle to go to the Mount of Olives to spend time with the Father in prayer.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Paul encouraged believers to maintain a prayer life.<\/span><\/div>\n
Colossians 4:2 \u201cDevote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.\u201d <\/span><\/div>\n
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Who we really are is who we are when no one is watching. Do you spend time with God in the Word and prayer on a regularly basis?<\/span><\/div>\n
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Tomorrow, we begin to look at the next three disciplines. Having energized our lives privately in the Word and prayer, we are ready to be actively involved with other believers.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are many disciplines that we must do in order to follow Jesus.  Over the next few devotional thoughts, we are going to explore seven disciplines of healthy Christian living.    These disciplines must be learned and developed. They require a habitual process by constant repetition. Jesus said in Luke 9:23 that in order to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[140],"tags":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3832"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3832"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3835,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3832\/revisions\/3835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}