Intro
We’re launching a new series today on the podcast called Breakthrough Disciplines. We’re going to dig into some spiritual disciplines that have been used for centuries. Today is going to be more of an introduction to the purpose and benefits of spiritual disciplines and then beginning in the next episode we’ll dig deeper into 4 specific spiritual disciplines you can implement to experience breakthrough – breakthrough in your relationships, breakthrough in areas of bondage, and breakthrough in finding your significance in Jesus.. This isn’t an exhaustive list. There are more than 4, but these are foundational and every man can develop and benefit from them. I think men are used to thinking about discipline. We want to exercise a certain amount of self control in our lives. Many of our listeners probably have a routine of going to the gym, or jogging. That’s discipline. Hopefully, you’re already engaging in some spiritual disciplines as well. If not, we hope this will give you the encouragement to get some started. It’s important to know that these disciplines aren’t the end goal. They are a means to an end. The end goal is to grow closer in our relationship with Jesus. It’s to be able to more clearly hear his leading. It’s to be quicker to submit to his will in our lives. It’s to grow in our understanding of just how much he loves us.
More Jesus
A spiritual discipline is a purposeful habit that draws us closer to Jesus. John 15:4-5, Galatians 5:22-23
To develop a spiritual discipline, it has to be purposeful. It won’t happen by accident. Disciplines, like habits, take time to form. Developing spiritual disciplines isn’t a quick fix to a problem you’re experiencing. It’s a new way of prioritizing. The goal of the discipline isn’t just to be disciplined. It’s to experience more of Jesus.
John 15:4-5. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. 5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.
- Jesus essentially repeats the same command in two verses in a row. It’s not only a command, it’s a word of encouragement. Verse 4 – Remain in me and I will remain in you. This is a promise from Jesus that he is never the one that seeks distance from us. If we remain in him, he will remain in us. Anytime you and I are feeling distant from Jesus, we’re the ones who have moved. We haven’t remained in him. He tells us that if we don’t remain in him we can’t be fruitful. He then repeats it in verse 5 and instead of emphasizing that we can’t bear fruit if we don’t remain in him, he says we will bear fruit if we do remain in him.
- I think a lot of us, particularly as men, want to get right to the fruit part. I just want to see the results. But this verse is such a powerful reminder to me that if I get the remaining part right, the fruit will come. It’s a natural by-product of being connected to the vine. The scary thing is that there is no promise that the reverse is true. No where in the Bible does it say if you just focus on bearing all the fruit you can, then you’ll be connected to Jesus. In fact Jesus says the opposite in Matthew 7 – On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’
What does this fruit look like that we bear when we’re connected to Jesus?
Galatians 5:22-23 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
- Who doesn’t want more of these things in their life? Imagine the breakthroughs you could have in your relationships if you had more love, joy, kindness, and patience. Imagine the breakthroughs you could have with addictions or bad habits if you had more self-control. Think about the breakthroughs you could have with anxiety or depression if you had more peace.
Spiritual disciplines aren’t about earning God’s favor. The intention is not to get something from God, but to experience the fullness of life that comes from Jesus.
Philippians 3:7-8 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ
- To put this in context, Paul has just listed all of the reasons he would have to be confident in his own efforts and in his own works. And he says I used to think these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless. Some translations say “I count them as loss”. Paul chose to count them as worthless. Our works aren’t bad things. They’re not loss in and of themselves, but if we’re doing them hoping to earn some sort of approval from God or to merit favor from him – they are completely worthless!
- Sometimes people equate developing spiritual disciplines as a way of indebting God to them. If I read my Bible, if I pray, if I give – God owes me. He’s going to bring more blessing in my life. God doesn’t owe us anything. Anytime we’re obedient to him or serving him, we’re simply doing what we’re obligated to do. He will bring more blessing into your life because more time with him, more experiencing his presence, is a blessing. But he’s not obligated to bring more material or physical blessings into your life just because you’re developing these spiritual disciplines. Look at Job. He had incorporated spiritual disciplines in his life. He regularly prayed for himself and his children. He regularly offered sacrifices to the Lord. In fact, the Bible said it was his practice to do these things. In other words, it was a regular habit. He was purposeful about it. In spite of that, he went through some incredibly difficult times that God allowed in his life.
- We have to guard our hearts against having the attitude of the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son, where we don’t recognize the love the father has lavished on us unless he is blessing us with a fattened calf and a party.
- James 4:8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.
- That is the blessing! The God of the universe promises to come close to us when we draw close to him. I hope we never take for granted what a miracle that is. How prideful do we have to be to think we have somehow earned an audience with Almighty God? If your favorite pro sports athlete called you up and wanted to play a pick up game with you, we’d never feel like we deserved that. Or if your favorite musician wanted to play a jam session with you. We would be in awe every minute of the time. How do we become so entitled with God?
Form a Habit
The secret of breakthrough is a lifestyle of preparation, not a momentary effort. Spiritual disciplines can help us retrain our automatic responses to everyday life.
- Disciplines take time to develop. I looked at several different articles on how long it takes to form a habit and unfortunately, there wasn’t a consensus. The study that had one of the larger test groups said it took 66 days of repetition to make something become almost automatic.
1 Timothy 4:7-8 Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. 8 “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”
- Paul goes on to say this is why we work hard and continue to struggle. It takes effort. We’re not struggling to earn approval. We already have approval through Christ. We’re struggling to develop these new habits. We’re struggling to put to death sin and the pleasures of our flesh because there is still a battle with our old nature even though we’re a new creation.
- Paul tells Timothy that there are benefits in this life and in the life to come. I think he’s talking about more than just salvation. There is something in the way we develop our relationship with God and our intimacy with him that impacts our experience in heaven.
- Just like we don’t see immediate results from our physical training, we typically won’t see immediate results when we begin developing our spiritual disciplines. Don’t be discouraged. Stick with it. Don’t forget that the primary goal is connected with the vine. The fruit will eventually come if we stay connected. Thank God for his longsuffering and patience.
- Practically, this means we’re going to have to be intentional about setting aside times for these disciplines. Just like if you don’t get the gym on your calendar, you probably won’t go that much, you need to set aside time to develop these spiritual disciplines.
Colossians 3:5,10 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.
- Countless studies have shown that when you’re trying to eliminate a bad habit, your chances of success go way up if you replace it with a good habit vs. just leaving a void. So we want to get rid of these earthly things that lurk within us, but we want to replace them with things that lead to life.
- These first four sins listed all deal with sexual immorality and sin. We’re supposed to put them to death. We shouldn’t tolerate little doses of them. Our hope is to completely eradicate them and recognize them for the horrible offense they are to a Holy God. It then shifts to greed or covetousness depending upon the translation you’re reading.
- The word picture Paul uses of putting on our new nature is like putting on a change of clothes. It should be obvious to all who look at us that something is different.
- We have this cool picture of being renewed as we learn to know our creator. As we get to know him, we become more like him. Again, when we’re connected, we’ll bear fruit.
Close
Spiritual disciplines take time to develop and some may even seem to contradict worldly wisdom. But we’re not trying to look more like the world, we’re trying to look more like Jesus.
Romans 12:2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
- There are lots of habits and behaviors we can copy from the world. It’s so easy to fall into just doing what everyone else is doing. We’re told to let God transform us into a new person by changing the way we think. Then we will know what God’s will is for us and his will is good and pleasing and perfect.
