Can We Be Dedicated to 5?

Can we be dedicated to prayer?

Can we be dedicated to eating and drinking the life of Jesus?

Can we be dedicated to drenching our minds in Scripture?

Can we be dedicated to serving the less fortunate?

Can we be dedicated to silence and solitude?

This fall LivingZugos.com will be enthusiastically committed to providing creative experiments in these 5 essential disciplines. I really believe if we practice these at least as much as we eat ice cream, play tennis and jog around the block we will, by the Spirit of Jesus be more and more transformed into His glorious image. The World is waiting for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God. May we start to show up and make a difference in the name of Jesus.

Can we be dedicated to these disciplines? Is it too hard? Is it to crazy to ask that we put these disciplines into practice? Could a suburban group of people become disciples of Jesus and mean it? Would we be ashamed? Would we only talk about it with each other? Or could we share our lives with others who are desperately searching for something real and significant?

I wonder what would happen?

Prayer in the Middle of the Night

Galatians 2.20
20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Carrying your cross is not an easy thing. It can be painful. Galatian 2.20 is one of my favorite sayings of Paul. It says so clearly what happens when we submit our bodies to the cross; we slowly transform into the image of Jesus. Of course the whole question of how do I submit my body to a cross that is not literal may and should arise. That is what this blog is all about. It is about thinking creatively about ways we can deny our pleasures/passions/desires/flesh/self for the sake of Jesus.  So I have a great spiritual experiment for all of us to try this week.

Experiment 009: Prayer in the Middle of the Night (Approximately 2:20 am)

One night this week before you go to bed set your alarm clock to 2:20 am. The reason you set it for 2:20 am is to remind you to pray what Paul was saying in Galatians 2.20. So how is this taking up your cross? Well, your body at 2:20 am wants nothing else but sleep. So, when you wake up and get out of bed and get on your knees and begin praying, you are asking God to help you identify with the death of Jesus on the cross. It is a way of saying to God, "I am willing to give of my self to your cause, I am asking for you to change me Jesus." It is a way that you let God know that you are serious about following Him, your faith is more than words, it's acting and moving.

We don't possess the power to change ourselves into the image of Jesus; only the Spirit can do that. But we do have a little power in us to direct and say what we will do with our bodies. That means everything from sitting my butt in a chair and reading the gospel stories, using my feet to walk around downtown Dallas and pass out food and offer prayer to anyone who needs it, or using my mind and mouth to meditate on a scripture. Our body is what we have control over and this is what Jesus wants us to nail to the cross.

So, wake up at 2:20 am one night this week and make your prayer something like this: "Jesus, thank you for showing me how to die. I am asking you to help me crucify my flesh this very moment. Please transform my selfish heart into a more loving and selfless heart. Please come and drive out my old life and replace it with yours. Live in me Jesus. Show me how to live out your faith in my world. Thank you for forgiving me and now please free me!"

Then you can hop back in bed and have a good night's rest. Remember spiritual disciplines are not heroic; you don't have to stay up all night trying to prove something to God. You just simply talk with Him for a few minutes and then allow his Spirit to do the rest! I hope you have a great time with this experiment this week! I would love to hear how it goes.

Seek the Kingdom,
Jon

Fasting for Food

On Saturday I received an email alerting me to a day of prayer and fasting for the global food crisis.  You may not have known this was happening around the world because the majority of American suburbia doesn't feel the squeeze.  We can afford to pay an extra dollar or two for our food, however nearly half of the people in the world are living on less than $2 dollars a day.  Let me say that again, 50% of the world are living on less than $2 a day.

So when the price of food doubles in a year, you can see how half the world suffers and can barely provide for its basic necessities. Why is this crisis happening? There are always several reasons that make up a crisis of this magnitude, however the major contributors are the rising fuel costs, rising food demand from populous countries like India and China, and natural disasters that are eliminating major crop yields all over the world. (For more info visit this compassion link http://www.compassion.com/NR/exeres/A1BD84CB-1BBF-443A-B74D-829ABA8D15AB.htm )

So this week I am asking you to join with Compassion and pledge to pray and fast for our hungry brothers and sister all over the world. Pray that God will intervene with fuel costs, and that crop yields will be fruitful. Pray for the rich half of the world to donate money and goods to provide immediate relief to those who are starving. Pray that we will be willing to become less rich and less powerful in order to help people become less poor and less powerless. Pray that this crisis will open the eyes of the more affluent societies, pray that we can see and feel their need and become less selfish and more selfless.

So our experiment this week is to take up our crosses and fast from food on Wednesday June 25 and pray.

Experiment 008: Fasting for Food

I will let you know how I will be fasting on Wednesday so you can have an idea for yourself. I will not eat any food for breakfast, lunch and dinner; I will only drink liquids (water or juice). The following day I will eat a light breakfast maybe some fruit or yogurt so I ease myself back into food. I hope that you will practice this experiment this week. When you feel the pain, remember the hungry children of the world. Identify with them in their pain and ask God to help them. Pray that Jesus will come through His people and show His love for them. You can visit the compassion website and sign up to pray and fast with thousands of others if you like. Also you can donate your money to this cause via the web.

"If you can't feed a hundred people, than feed just one." Mother Teresa

Keep Seeking the Kingdom,
Jon