Discipleship Point
Matthew 16:33
Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.
~ Jesus
As a follow-up of last week's discipleship point of becoming good soil, it's good to ask what it will take to put ourselves in a position for our souls to thrive, to allow God to put our souls in position to thrive. What follows is not an answer to create that environment, but a question to cause you to consider what it will take to provide such an environment. It is taken from Ransomed Heart Ministries prayer entitled Becoming Good Soil, particularly the line, “I confess that I need to live more deeply in a habitat that allows my soul to thrive.” Ask yourself: Have I built a habitat in my world that allows or even induces my soul to thrive? What could I do differently to help my soul further flourish and prosper?
Prayer for the Week
Father God, I want to flourish as Your child; I am willing to humble myself under Your mighty hand and let You shape my world, my “soil,” in order to better accommodate the presence of Your word in my life. Bring it on; bring it in; let it grow; let me grow in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Micro-Group Connections:
A Disciple’s Lifestyle
Micro-Group Moment:
Considering a life of VIGILANCE as
a case for participating in Micro-Groups:
Proverbs 4:23
Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
Pondering Point
Vigilance
The quality of being alert and watchful
There are positive and negative actions to remaining vigilant as followers of Jesus. From a positive or adding-into-life view, think of being in God’s Word, in worship and prayer, or in relationship with other people who are pursuing God. These are three necessities we speak about in following Jesus. From a negative or deleting-from-life perspective, think of limiting certain activities that vie for or get in the way of time with God, such as social media engagement, entertainment practices, or time-consuming habits (or addictions!?).
- Where are you currently being vigilant with added-in parts of the Christian life?
- Where have you been negligent rather than vigilant about God’s Word, prayer, and fostering relationships?
- Where are you currently being vigilant about managing the deleting or “negative” facet of the Christian life?
- Where have you been negligent rather than vigilant about letting things come between you and God?
Concluding Prayer Prompt
As is appropriate to your situation, thank God for your church family connections or ask Him to bring you into a church family through spiritual mentoring at Micro, Small and/or Large Group arenas.
Micro-Meditation
Psalm 51:1-2
- Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions. - Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
Teaching or Command of God:
Titus 3:4-5
When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit…
Ezekiel 36:25-26
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you;
Pondering Point
Though you are a sinner, you are clean.
This is the kindness and love of God in action through your Savior Jesus. In fact, you have a new heart and a new spirit with which to praise God. So PRAISE GOD in this moment.