As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“I’m also realizing that I too often take confession lightly. Maybe one of these quotes I’ve recently encountered will help you think about this important step in our Christian walk.” - Chuck Lawless
“When we copy Scripture and carry it with us throughout the day, reading it and memorizing it, we make God’s Word a part of us. As Paul said, ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly’ (Colossians 3:16).” - Randy Alcorn
“Resolutions have yielded a mixed bag of successes and flops over the course of Christian history.” - BPNews
“We don’t always pray from proper feelings. However, when we pray the Scriptures, we pray ignited prayers—even if they begin with indifferent hearts.” - TGC
Reposted from The Cripplegate.
Today I want to share with you a simple way to deepen your prayer life. It requires discipline, time to pray (of course), and a desire to grow in godliness.
“There’s a back and forth—there is a role that we play in our relational life with God. That role is, as Paul puts it, that we are to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice. Now, how do you do that? I’d say primarily—not exclusively, but primarily—through the classical disciplines of the spiritual life.” - CToday
“Apparently, this discipline was good enough for us as children, but not important enough for us as adults.” BPNews
As an exercise in remembering, Memorial Day has a specific focus. My purpose is not to detract from remembrance of our nation’s warriors who have lost their lives in the defense of liberty. Rather, I want to put this particular act of remembrance in the larger context of remembering as a feature of the Christian way of life.
Deuteronomy 8 helps us do that. Here we find that the Bible not only speaks powerfully to us in times of trouble but that it has equally important things to say to us after troubled times have passed and things are going well again. What it calls us to do in this “good times after bad” scenario is intentionally look back and remember the struggle.
Some context: Deuteronomy is a series of sermons Moses delivered in the plains of Moab before Israel crossed over into the land of promise. The “children of Israel” have endured four decades of wilderness life, and though they are about to face hardship of a different kind during the conquest, they are also going to experience unparalleled prosperity.
“[O]ur Bibles don’t read themselves, our prayer times don’t come pre-scheduled in our calendars, and our fasting, memorization, or meditation doesn’t occur spontaneously without our concerted effort.” Sweaty Sanctification
Discussion