Kingdom Lifestyles: The Way of Scripture
"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come." -2 Timothy 3:16-17; Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:11
Happy 2020! My first post of the new year, go figure, huh? It's the time of year when everyone is feeling cute, and unstoppable, on top of things; we've made our resolutions, determined to be better than we were two days ago, two months ago, two years ago. While I don't really make resolutions anymore, on a personal level I can tell you that I've made a lot of progress the past two years. It's not been easy, I believe life must be lived out intentionally, taking initiative and determination to achieve what we want to achieve. My life has seen healing, restoration, and redemption all by the grace and mercy of Jesus.
I don't know about you, but I want to be more disciplined in living life, a disciplined life is a pursuit of righteous living. This is the path to focus. As my ministry is "Living Above the Sun," the focused life I'm running towards is prioritizing God's kingdom, what He commands me to do, adoring His glory, and laying a foundation to His standard of living. There is a balance to keeping my feet on Earth, where I'm living now, and my head and thoughts in Heaven, where I'll be living someday soon. Living above the sun began as a pursuit in philosophy in the book of Ecclesiastes, but in the end is a truth wrapped in wisdom. There is nothing new under the sun, the wise King Solomon spoke over and over. The new of the new year will wear off, reality will hit, the holidays will be over and life as usual will resume. We will be pulled in all directions. Where do we turn when our perception begins to fall?
There's a saying that life doesn't come with an instruction book, if only there were a manual that could answer questions when life goes sideways, if only there were someone who could tell me what is right and wrong. What do I tell my children, and how do I raise them? If only there were words I could pray when I don't know what to pray. There is a book, and it's a best seller, The Bible. What does it mean to be 'disciplined?' It means to give instruction to. In the original Hebrew the word is musar rooted in yasar the definition is hearing, obey. Hear the Word of the Lord, and obey (do, act on) it. Not just parts of it that you agree with, or want to argue with others on, but the entirety of the Word. Over 20 times in the book of Proverbs 'musar' is used. I'm starting there.
I remember as a young child, first grade, I memorized the Bible verse, 2 Timothy 3:16-17. It has stayed with me all these years now as a grown adult.
What doctrine is being taught?
What sin (rebuke) is being pointed out in my life?
How can I correct the rebuke/sin?
What is the instruction?
What tools am I being given to be strengthened?
This all leads to HOPE! That's something we all want and seek after! Life is hopeless when you have nothing you're aiming at. When we allow ourselves to live any way we want. IT doesn't matter. Where is the hope in that, "it doesn't matter?!" We want to matter. I have seen in my life that I've been letting myself get away with not being accountable, and doing what I want to do. As we are in the last days, it should spur us on more to pursue the scriptures. We have been given examples, we have been given instruction, so zero in and focus, have hope, obey, and hear what God is saying. This is the way of scripture.
I hope you will follow me this year into a life of focused living. Living a life that is full of wisdom, and skillfully discerning.
Related posts:
Salvation Comes by Hearing
I just thought I would share that endurance running is a very powerful way to overcome stress or sadness. Rob Krar has battled depression using running and spoken about it in a few videos. It works, and I'm surprised more people don't know how incredibly potent running is. You can even start running by walking for a few weeks, then gradually running slowly for a minute or more alternating with walking, until you build up to running longer and longer.
ReplyDelete