spiritual discipline - confession (5)

Two things happen when we practice confession:
1). we’ll liberate from guilt.
2). Less likely to sin the same sin in the future.
Six steps:
1). Preparation: placing ourselves in the spirit for care and asking for help.
Psalm 19:12 
But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults.

2). self-examination: prayer, take time to reflect on our thoughts and deeds.

3). perception: new way to look at your sins.
How’s it in culture’s eyes? How’s through God’s eyes?
Confession should be concrete and particular
a). why did I do it?  b). what’s the consequence?
4). getting a new feeling: entering the God’s feeling, other’s pain.
James 4:8-9
8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.

5). New promise: for the future, acknowledge the past real repenting or else. How will you change in the future?
6). Healing Grace: not justify, release us from burden.

Living as if grace is reality/real matter/powerful way, move on and live free, not a vocal one, real move.

Some sins may not against the law or not even visible in some point. But think through it through God’s eyes, so should I be able to do it without anyone notice or harm others? Is that ok to do so?
Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), Short Form
You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make idols.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Honor your father and your mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet.
There are seven daily sins: lust, laziness, gluttony, greed, wrath, envy, pride

Don’t ever let sins or shame to distort our ability.

Guilt is different from shame. Guilt, a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense, crime, wrong, etc., whether real or imagined, while Shame, the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous, etc., done by oneself or another.

Confession your sins before God and let God heals your shame.

For me often time I confess to God but not people. I do sometimes write them down but hardly vocally.
 

spiritual discipline - servanthood (4)

The oldest sin is pride, vanity, stubbornness and exclusion.

What is a life of servanthood?

1). Ministry of mundane.

2). Ministry of being interrupted.

3). Knowledge our own weaknesses and limitations.

4). Ministry of holding our tongue.

5). ministry of bearing.

This week’s Sunday school, really open my eyes for the meaning of servanthood, before I always like to think servanthood involved in whole bunch of actions plus a willing heart.

And all that also entail a humble heart, put down your pride, vanity, stubbornness and exclusion.

Servanthood is not necessary be a huge work, it could be only a hug or a prayer or a listening ear or not be judgmental or accountable for each other or ready to be interrupted. Here the ministry of being interrupted, is you should be prepared to be interrupted in certain condition, for example, to serve your parent in need, when you are busy chatting with friends and so forth.

Knowing your weakness and limitations are crucial too for the servanthood, you cannot just say yes for every single service that you happen to know. Most of the cases, we need a group of people to serve together, take turns of cover for each other, that’s a servanthood also.

Philippians 2:1-30 

Imitating Christ’s Humility

 ¹ Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. ⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: ⁶ Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! ⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Do Everything without Grumbling

¹² Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. ¹⁴ Do everything without grumbling or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”^[c] Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky ¹⁶ as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. ¹⁷ But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. ¹⁸ So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

Timothy and Epaphroditus

¹⁹ I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. ²⁰ I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. ²¹ For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. ²² But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. ²³ I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. ²⁴ And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon. ²⁵ But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. ²⁶ For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. ²⁷ Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. ²⁸ Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. ²⁹ So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him, ³⁰ because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.

spiritual discipline - prayer (3)

You got to have a routine for praying, a place and a time, and make sure no one can bother you while you are praying.

Other than that prayer should be anytime, anywhere and for anything.

A simple prayer is, praying about what is ready on my mind, and not I am wishing on my heart. If your mind wonders when praying, don’t feel guilty.

An intercession prayer is, praying on behalf of others.

A prayer, the knitting of human’s heart together with God’s heart.

I am not used to pray aloud before, especially in front of people, then little by little, I learn from others and through live practicing. Just follow your heart and God will guide you through.

Prayers are powerful.

spiritual discipline - slowing (2)

Modern life is full of tight and rush schedule. It’s like you can never delay or slow down even one second otherwise you will lose a chance or something important or everything.

Hurry! Hurry! I don’t have time to talk now! We often heard about them. And the first idea about rush on things is, multitasking. Do you multitasking too?

Many times, I just cannot stand for doing one at a time.

I have to watch the TV while I am reading a book and when the commercial time come, I either switch to different channel or try to check on the news or email on my iPad.

I talk on the phone and reading the news from the computer and writing something plans and thinking about something else in my mind at the same time.

Even when I don’t have a tense schedule, I feel like that I just can not slow up. I talk fast and briefly to people and yes they don’t understand. Is that because I get used to it or I’m afraid to slow down just a bit?

By rushing end up fatigued, restless and miss something without knowing it. If we are always rushing, we cannot hear what God trying to communicate with us.

God is the one who creates Sabbath. Resting is not equal to lazy.

Genesis 2 

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

There are tons of methods that we can try to practice slowing, do one thing at a time, and talk slower, chew slower and a lot more.

Ever play the game, follow the leader. Yes! God is our leader. Slowing down, listen and follow Him, you may find something surprised, joy, contentment, relief, peace, find others’ needs and gain patience and so on.

spiritual discipline - Celebration (1)

Spiritual discipline, celebration is our first Sunday school lesson and discussion.

Christian is not equaled to solemn. We also can have fun and celebration whenever is needed. The past Friday, our fellowship just held a celebration for the Chinese New Year with delicious homemade food, drinks, performances and so forth.

John 15:11                       

I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!

In the bible mention a lot of celebrations in different occasions. The following example is just one of them.

Exodus 12:14-20

14 Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance. 15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be prepared by you. 17 You shall also observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance. 18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land. 20 You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’”

Celebrations are necessary only for special instances or has to be a huge one. Celebrations can simply be buying a nice outfit for not others but yourself.