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?

The Need for Speed

I once heard Dallas Willard say, "You must relentlessly remove hurry from your life." He went on to say this is one of the hidden hazards to our spiritual formation into Christlikeness. Hurry it seems, is certainly not as overtly evil as sexual lust or greed, but it lies at the surface of our lives and devours any kind of meaningful time with Jesus. We are always in a hurry. I am always in a hurry. Therefore being meaningfully present with Jesus is difficult. I am trying to squeeze one more page of my book before I get ready to go to work, or just fifteen more minutes of sleep before church. We squeeze and we squish, and now to make it anywhere on time we have to hurry because we were hurrying. It is a vicious cycle!

Why is a lifestyle of hurry so hazardous to our discipleship? Because it bleeds over into our time with Jesus and it rips us out of God's kingdom, thus we cannot fully seek it.

So a couple of years ago I began to get serious about thinking of ways I could practically take steps toward eliminating hurry from my life. The first I employed was driving the speed limit. One of the hard lessons I had to learn was, my car is not a time machine. It's funny, but how we drive our cars can be a reflection of what's going on in our minds. Are we angry, calm, worried, distracted, or in a hurry? If we are in a hurry our speedometer will be a good indicator. Have you ever noticed though, that you are not in any particular time-crunch but you are still driving fast? You may be cutting in and out of traffic, trying to beat a yellow light, rolling slowly through a stop sign or cutting someone off so you can advance further on the highway. We are so used to being in a hurry that now it is just what we do. Getting from point A to point B in the quickest possible time is the sole objective.

So driving the speed limit for a lot of us will be a crucifixion of our old nature that loves to hurry. I have found that a quiet car traveling the speed limit can be one of the greatest opportunities for prayer, silence and meditation.

So our experiment this week is to drive the speed limit one day this week.

Experiment 007: Crucifying Hurry

Now think about it, once you drive the speed limit you don't have to worry about getting ahead of the next car in front of you, making a red light, looking intently for cops on the horizon as you speed, or ride the bumper of the car in front of you to make a point. This will cut down on hurry and worry, which are big killers in discipleship. Perhaps you will feel a calming peace as you drive and enjoy it so thoroughly that you decide to drive the speed limit everyday.

I hope you enjoy this week's experiment and feel Jesus riding shot gun with you as he molds and shapes you into His image. Let go of hurry. Crucify yourself by driving the speed limit. It should hurt and that's a good thing!

Seek the Kingdom at all Cost,
Jon

Silence is Golden

Psalm 131:2
"But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me."

One of the most needed disciplines in our life is silence!  There is so much noise: TV, Radio, Podcast, iTunes, Blue Ray, HD, CDs, DVDs, etc.  With so much noise it makes it very difficult to set and keep our mind on Jesus.

 Jesus is our teacher and model.  One thing He models in the gospels is His need to be silent.  As you walk through Galilee and Judea with Jesus in the gospel stories, you may notice how often He finds quiet places. This is essential for us if we are going to be transformed into Christlikeness.  God spoke through David the great warrior poet and told us to "be still and know I am God." (Psalm 46:10)

So our experiment this week is to be still and silent. 

Experiment 001: Turn off the noise.

Almost all of us travel to work during the week. Most likely we are listening to the radio, CDs or the famous iPod.  Maybe it's sports radio, NPR, right-wing talk, country music, kidd kradick, rap music, praise & worship, or a sermon. One thing i've discovered over the past 2 years, is our cars, trucks, SUVs and vans turn out to be unique opportunities for silence. Our drive to work doesn't have to be a race, it can be a rest.  So, i am proposing that one morning this week we turn off the noise as we journey to work.  This may mean 10 minutes or 45 minutes, it doesn't matter how much, it just matters that we do it.  

What do i do while i am driving? i have two suggestions. meditate on one of your favorite scripture verses, or pray for your family members & friends.  One of my favorites for meditation is Psalm 23, 'the Lord is my Shepherd..." or use the verses quoted in this blog.

If you find that this special time of silence helped set your mind on Jesus then think seriously about how you can incorporate it into your weekly schedule (Luke 14:28-33). Enjoy the silence this week! Let Jesus transform you and shape you as you set aside time in your car, truck, SUV or van  just for Him.

Remember please comment on your experiment this week. Let's create some community on this blog! We may not be able to see each other everyday or week, but at least we can stay in touch. Also, if you want to receive an email when a new experiment is posted please let me know by posting it in the comments section.

 

Seek the Kingdom,

Jon 

"If we desire to have a true understanding of His gospels, we must study to conform our life as nearly as we can to His"

Thomas A Kempis

The Imitation of Christ

(Brought to you by Zach Silvers study time on Monday morning. Thanks Zach!)