disciple, thursday

Thursday, October 1

Opening Prayer:  Help us, O Lord, to plant ourselves deeply in you, that we might be firmly rooted in your love, constantly drawing life-giving nourishment from your word, causing our leaves to always be green, and bearing fruit aplenty on our vines.  For your glory.  Amen.

Scripture: Psalm 1:1-6

Journal: What image are you most drawn to is this passage?  Why?  What image are you most disturbed by?  Why?  What words or images are most descriptive of your life these days?

Reflection:

 

     You’re capable of walking in all the things that Jesus said to do.  There isn’t anything that you can’t do by the grace of God if you are willing to go through the process of finding the roots of the behavior and changing the roots.  If you are stuck on changing behavior, you’ll kill yourself, and everyone else will hate you, because you’ll be a miserable person.  You’ll fail. They’ll say, “Aha!”

     But we can learn all the things Jesus taught if we go to the roots of the behavior.  Eventually, that means finding those areas of spirit, mind, soul, where the sources of the behavior come from.  And it isn’t just all negative.   I wish I had time to talk about positive things like the great Psalm 119: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. . . .Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:11, 105).

     We’re talking about knowledge.  We’re talking about learning what is the truth and living in that.  When we do that positively, we’re back to the Psalm 1 man.  The Psalm 1 man’s roots have gone down into the richness of the kingdom of God, and because of that, he brings forth fruit. (Living in Christ’s Presence by Dallas Willard)

Prayers

Closing Prayer: Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.  But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.  They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season.  Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.

     But not the wicked!  They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.  They will be condemned at the time of judgment.  Sinners will have no place among the godly.  For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction. (Psalm 1:1-6, NLT)