We have been talking about Spiritual Disciplines. Fasting is a spiritual discipline. Earlier, I had shared that we don't talk about much it in the church. Neither do we practice it much. But fasting is a discipline which has been a part of the Christian faith since the very beginning. The season of Lent is approaching. Ash Wednesday is now less than two weeks away. This is a … [Read more...] about Reasons for Fasting
Spiritual Disciplines
Going Deeper with Prayer
We continue our discussion from last week on the spiritual disciplines. Prayer is an essential spiritual discipline. There are so many facets of prayer. Entire books are written on the subject. You could make prayer a lifelong study and never get past the basics. There is a vast sea of knowledge and wisdom about it. The more you learn about it, the more you learn you don't … [Read more...] about Going Deeper with Prayer
Faith Comes by Hearing
God gave you two ears and only one mouth. Think about that for a moment. Let that fact sink in. God created us in such a way that listening takes priority over speaking. Two ears! One mouth! Hear twice. Speak once. But we are often not very good at listening. We are much more accomplished at speaking. It is more natural for us to hear once and speak twice. We don't value … [Read more...] about Faith Comes by Hearing
When You Fast
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.” (Matthew 6:16, ESV) I want you to notice that Jesus says “when you fast.” He does not say, “if you fast.” It is assumed his followers practiced fasting. It was not … [Read more...] about When You Fast
Growing Deeper with Christ
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5, ESV) Remain! Abide! Linger! God desires us to experience abundance. John 15 tells us that happens when we abide in Jesus. But we don’t do much abiding today. We quickly move on to the next thing. The latest and … [Read more...] about Growing Deeper with Christ