In 1 Timothy 4:7-8 we read that we are to train, that is discipline, ourselves for Godliness. Furthermore, we are told in Philippians 2:12-13 that we are to work out our own salvation knowing that it is God Who is at work in us for our sanctification and for His will. Committed Christians must discipline themselves for the spiritual warfare that we will face daily. While Bible Study, Bible Reading, Bible Memorization, Bible Meditation, Bible Listening, and Prayer are absolutely the minimum requirements for those who choose to live as committed Christians, there are other spiritual disciplines which can help us draw closer to God.
The final four disciplines which we will address in the this study are fasting, silence/solitude, journaling, and redeeming the time. Like any spiritual discipline – and there are others that we haven’t studied – these activities are intended for one purpose – to draw closer to God. In fasting, we don’t eat and during that time we pray – i.e. we draw closer to God. In practicing silence and solitude we find a time and place where we can be alone with God and sit with Him in silence – i.e. we draw closer to God. As we write down the scriptures, lyrics, quotes and spiritual thoughts we remember the things that God has shown us and taught us – i.e. we draw closer to God. In redeeming the time, especially by observing our quiet time with God and by intentionally focusing on Him at different times of the day, we remember Who God is and who we are in Him – i.e. we draw closer to God.
We must discipline ourselves for Godliness. (1 Timothy 4:7-8)
We must work out our salvation knowing that it is God Who is at work in us for our sanctification. (Philippians 2:12-13)
This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, June 25, 2023. It is part of a series of Bible study sessions entitled Living the Agape Life – a Bible study curriculum developed by Bob Young with input from the members of the Agape Life Class. Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com .
Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .
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Email – fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com
“Waiting for the other shoe to drop.” You’re dozing off to sleep when you are jolted back to alertness with a reverberating thud coming from the apartment above you. In your grogginess you determine that it was nothing more than a shoe dropping on the floor. You are now fully awake – and you wait anxiously for the other shoe to drop. You don’t let yourself fall asleep because you don’t want to be in that never-never land between sleep and wakefulness when the next boulder falls.
On Saturday, following the crucifixion, the followers of Christ were waiting for the other shoe to drop. They had met Jesus, traveled with Him, listened to His teaching, believed His teaching, and believed in Him. Now their world was filled with silence and solicitude. They were in hiding behind locked doors waiting for the other shoe to drop. Jesus had told them He would rise again, but His death seemed like the final act of the play. What now?
In a sense, our lives parallel those of the earliest disciples of Jesus. We have met Him, traveled with Him, listened to His teaching, believed His teaching, and believed in Him. However, we often come to those times when all we hear is silence – when something has happened in our life that jerks us to full alert and we wait in silence and solicitude for the next blow. We question our faith and our very relationship with the One Who, even in silence, is with us every step of the way. It’s Saturday. Thursday started with a celebration of faith and ended in confusion. Friday began in confusion which devolved into pain and profound sadness. Now it’s Saturday. Silence. Solicitude. What’s next? You dare not say, “Could it get any worse?” because you fear it could.
It’s Saturday, but Sunday will soon be here. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5b) And the truly good news is that, just as Jesus rose on Sunday in victory over death and the grave, He will come again in victory – victory over the long “Saturday” that we call “life.” And, in the meantime, He has given us His Spirit so that in those temporary Saturdays of life – those days when all seems lost – we will not be alone. And that same Spirit guides us through the long Saturday of life on earth. We may not feel Him, but He is here and He is waiting for us to call out to Him from the silence and solicitude. He says, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3) “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” (Psalm 50:15)
“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” (John 14:15-21)
“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:25-27)
It’s Saturday, a day of silence and solicitude, but He is with you through all of your Saturdays . . .
and Sunday is coming. Hallelujah!
From The Back Porch 