Christian Disciplines and Why you don't have to do any of them.

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him” Colossians 2:6

Have you ever heard the term ‘Christian Disciplines’?  Christian disciplines usually refer to a list of things you have to do to maintain your Christian walk and to me it all sounds pretty boring. 

In my opinion, the Christian life should be anything but boring.  At the risk of being controversial, I will say that that a Christian doesn’t have to do a single thing in their walk with God.

We don’t have to read the Bible but we get to read words which are both God inspired and breathed.

We don’t have to go to church but we get to gather with other believers and celebrate Jesus together.

We don’t have to pray but we get to talk to our Daddy God and hear his voice.

We don’t have to worship Jesus but we get to lift his name on high.

We don’t have to do anything but we get to do everything.  And I reckon it makes our Daddy God’s heart sing when we come to him by choice and not because we feel we have to do it.

Thinking about the Lord’s Prayer – Kingdom Come

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever.

Amen

If we have been in church for more than a few years, we know the Lord’s Prayer by heart and often recite it by rote.  Lately I’ve been thinking about the different parts in the prayer and today I wanted to share my thoughts on the part in the prayer where we say “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”.

I wonder if any of us ever really stop and think what it means for God’s will to done and his kingdom to come in our lives.   

I personally think God’s will is for us to come in agreement with him about our standing in his sight.    Over and over in the Bible, he says we are his beautiful children; truly blessed, deeply loved and highly favoured.  I honestly believe God loves each of us so much that he willingly stretched out his hands, allowed nails to be driven into his palms, and took our sins on his body because he would rather suffer a torturous death than for any one of us to spend another minute out of his presence. 

To me, living each day in God’s presence is bringing his kingdom to earth.   

What do you think?

Thoughts on The Lord's Prayer: Daily Bread

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever.

Amen

If we have been in church for more than a few years, we know the Lord’s Prayer by heart and often recite it by rote.  Lately I’ve been thinking about the different parts in the prayer and I wanted to share my thoughts on the part in the prayer where we say “Give us this day our daily bread”.   

Most of us in Australia, have several days’ worth of food in our pantries or freezers so it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to ask God to give us food for today, when we already have enough for today, tomorrow and into next week in the cupboard. 

I reckon asking God for ‘daily bread’ means asking God to spend time with us, to hang out and to share life with us.    And I also reckon that is what God wants too, or otherwise he wouldn’t have gone to all the trouble to put those lines in the Lord’s Prayer.  Right through the Bible God talks about his desire to spend time with us and to lavish his love upon us. 

When you spend time with God every day, it changes how you view church.  Church no longer means an hour or so a week focusing on God but instead, our gathering turns into a celebration of the past week with our God and encouragement for the week ahead, to keep on keeping on, to continue meeting with God and enjoying being in his presence.

What do you think?