Discipleship Point
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.
In dealing with the connection between pure hearts and repentance before the Lord, we turn to the second of three key components in the life of a disciple, taken from Hope’s ABC’s of Discipleship:
Yielding to the Holy Spirit:
In seeking to grow as disciples of Jesus, there are three crucial components God uses to bring about spiritual growth: His Word, His Spirit, and His people. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would remind His disciples of what He taught; that Spirit helps us too. Today we use the original closing prayer for IMMERSION devotions that remind us to yield or submit to the Holy Spirit in both these devotions and in life itself.
Discipleship Prayer
Spirit of God, I pray that You use this time of devotion to shape and influence my thoughts and emotions as well as my actions and attitudes throughout the day. May all who encounter me also encounter You in me. Again, I yield my heart and mind, my soul and spirit, my will and imagination to You as I immerse myself in the rest of this day to God’s glory; In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Micro-Meditation
Psalm 119: Immersed in the Word of God
Psalm 119:97-104 13th letter: Mem (מ)
- Oh, how I love your law!
I meditate on it all day long. - Your commands are always with me
and make me wiser than my enemies. - I have more insight than all my teachers,
for I meditate on your statutes. - I have more understanding than the elders,
for I obey your precepts. - I have kept my feet from every evil path
so that I might obey your word. - I have not departed from your laws,
for you yourself have taught me. - How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth! - I gain understanding from your precepts;
therefore I hate every wrong path.
Read the verses of the Psalm.
Mark the words or phrases that catch your attention.
Meditate: talk (or better, write) with God about those words. Ask him to impress things upon your heart and mind; expect responses.
Teaching or Command of God
Psalm 34:8a
Taste and see that the Lord is good…
The Promise
Psalm 34:8b
…blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Pondering Point
The world of academia no longer views the Bible as a source of understanding in relation to life. Have about you? Is the bible a means to understand life for you?