As we have seen, the first discipline is a personal one\u2026<\/p>\n
1. A Private Time Daily in the Word and Prayer (quiet time)<\/p>\n
Having energized our lives privately in the Word and prayer, the next three disciplines are involved with other believers.<\/p>\n
We have looked at\u2026<\/p>\n
2. One Large Group Worship Experience Each Week<\/p>\n
3. One Small Group Interactive Bible Study Each Week<\/p>\n
The next one is\u2026<\/p>\n
4. Regular Meetings With One or More People For Accountability of One\u2019s Moral, Ethical and General Life Focus. (men with men; women with women)<\/p>\n
Ephesians 5:15-16 (NIV) says, \u201cBe very careful, then, how you live\u2014not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.\u201d<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t even begin to tell you how valuable my times of meeting with a small group of pastors has been to me.\u00a0 Over the years, it has help me stay focused on my calling. Our elders as well help me stay on track.<\/p>\n
Do you realize that the days are evil?<\/p>\n
Psalm 90:8 (ESV) say, \u201cYou have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Never has it been easier for a person to be involved with secret sins than it is today because of the Internet. Secret Sins are killing Christians today. What\u2019s so stupid is, our secret sins are not a secret to God. \u201cO God, you know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.\u201d Psalm 69:5 (ESV)<\/p>\n
Here is the reality:<\/p>\n
\u201cEcclesiastes 12:14 (ESV)<\/p>\n
For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hebrews 4:13 (NIV) tells us, \u201cNothing in all creation is hidden from God\u2019s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.\u201d<\/p>\n
The reason we want to give accountability to others now is so we won\u2019t have to give an account of those actions in judgement.<\/p>\n
I can hear some macho man saying, \u201cI don\u2019t answer to anyone by God.\u201d Why then does James admonish us to \u201cconfess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 (James 5:16 (ESV).<\/p>\n
I find it\u2019s hard to answer only to God in Spirit. When I voluntarily account to other believers, I think of it as answering to the Jesus in them. And when I find they still love me even though they know my very worst side, I am encouraged to believe that God still loves me too.<\/p>\n
Accountability is so crucial to Christian living.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As we have seen, the first discipline is a personal one\u2026 1. A Private Time Daily in the Word and Prayer (quiet time) Having energized our lives privately in the Word and prayer, the next three disciplines are involved with other believers. We have looked at\u2026 2. One Large Group Worship Experience Each Week 3. […]<\/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":"https:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3845"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3845"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3851,"href":"https:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3845\/revisions\/3851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}