Day 7
This last day of our focus on habits of holiness looked at the discipline needed to reach the world…
Devotional Point 4 today: Our lives are the outcome of these daily decisions…
Scripture 4 today: “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” 1 Corinthians 9:25 NIV
Reflection 4 today: most of the western Christianity has severely misunderstood this passage. Of course we need strong disciplines to prevail as disciples of Jesus. However an even greater discipline is required to reach the world we live in every day. It is very easy for us to retreat to our enclaves, but that is not God’s plan. The daily discipline and intentional focus required to reach our neighbours and our world is much bigger…
I really hope you have enjoyed this last week looking at the habits of holiness, we will be looking more at these habits in a few weeks. In the next week we will be spending some focused on 7 days with one of the greatest Theologians of our time, AW Tozer… 
Day 6
Today we look at the most unnatural act that we could possibly be called to: forgiveness
Devotional Point 4 today: forgiveness really has nothing to do with the response of the other person. It is an intentional decision to treat them the same way that God, through Christ, has treated you…
Scripture 4 today: ““This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” Matthew 18:35 NIV
Reflection 4 today: people who were taught forgiveness from childhood are very fortunate. Unfortunately I was taught the exact opposite from childhood and had it drilled into my head from both my parents. I had no idea I was just how devastating that was for me for the rest of my life. Only Jesus has been able to rescue me from the deep dark hole that comes from no forgiveness. I can’t have any of that time back, I can make new time with the Holy Spirit whispering in my ear in every situation…
Day 5
Today we look at the most forbidden taboo in our world: repentance…
Devotional Point 4 today: Repentance is a radical change in direction…
Scripture 4 today: “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.” Psalms 51:3 NIV
Reflection 4 today: Interesting that when David is talking about his sin, he always seems to use the plural, as in lots of them. Possibly that is why I was given his name at birth, because my sins have always ben in the plural, and usually too many to count. Ironically, he did the 2 most forbidden things, and yet he was termed “a man after God’s own heart”… Sometimes I wonder, how could that be? His repentance was as total as his transgressions, he was “all in”, which God values a lot…
Day 4
Today we look at the incredible freedom we have been called into…
Devotional Point 4 today: Practice identifying and eliminating temptation today.
Scripture 4 today: “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!” Romans 6:20-21 NIV
Reflection 4 today: every day when we awake, we are given the opportunity to either be slaves to sin or slaves to Jesus. Paul reminds these people what the end result of being slaves to sin is. It seemed pretty cool at the time, but after a while it was worse than terrible, because it owns you. The great thing about obedience to Jesus is the incredible freedom from the bondage of sin that you have. You don’t have to be angry anymore, you don’t have to say things you regret, and you don’t have to do things you regret ever again.
Day 3
The focus of today is on the foundational habit we need to own: remembering who we are…
Devotional Point 4 today: Habit 1: Remember who you are…
Scripture 4 today: “The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3 NIV
Reflection 4 today:
Reflection 4 today: God has deep roots with us. I only have a few friends that I have had all my life, and who I have deep roots with. Whether we want to see it or not, God has very deep roots of love and commitment to each of us, in fact only he has infinitely deep roots of love for and with us. As Christians we get to experience this, which is something outsiders won’t know. Experiencing that changes everything for us, we just need to keep remembering it…
Day 2
This day we see the source of all the growth and development in discipleship that we will experience, it is all about Jesus…
Devotional Point 4 today: if you’ve given your life to Jesus, you are holy…
Scripture 4 today: “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2 NIV
Reflection 4 today: this verse is something that we rarely stop and think through. It is Jesus who “pioneered“ my faith, our faith didn’t come buy some rational deduction of the forces of the universe, it came because He pioneered our view of our life so that we could understand that it was only Him who could save us. And after saving us, He is the one who can “perfect“ everything about our growth and development as disciples. Our faith is not perfected by books, classes, seminars, or anything else. Not that these are any bad things, but Jesus himself is the one who actually perfects our faith into discipleship.
Day 1
Devotional Point 4 today: Holiness is not some magical destination we’re trying to get to; it’s the identity we get to live from…
Scripture 4 today: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9 NIV
Reflection 4 today: throughout history until just a few hundred years ago identity came 90% of the time from the family of your origin. today, the widely accepted identity is “what do you do?“. To be effective, what you do has to emerge out of who you are. This is the primary difference between us and all of the people from “the world“ that we will meet today. The world without Jesus has a true dissociative identity disorder, and it is not just imagined. Which is a core reason why Christians and non-Christians can’t make a life work together. Tasks yes, life no…
