Do We Need Spiritual Disciplines to be Intimate with God and Enjoy Jesus?

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We've really pulled away from legalism, which is awesome. We don't want to live under the bondage of having to do things for God, but in doing so,

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I'm afraid we've lost some of the very best practices we have to be near to Jesus. Most of the disciplines are activities that we do simply to help us integrate ourselves into the kingdom more fully.

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So the disciplines of the spiritual life bring us into the means of grace, for our growth in grace.

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I'm thinking of inward experiences like meditation, meditatio, the ability to hear

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God's voice and to obey His word. So my dream, our dream at Ifaquip is that we would come around the old awesome things that have been done in the church for centuries, that have brought people close to Jesus.

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The habits and patterns that open us to the transforming work of God are sometimes called spiritual disciplines.

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But through these sort of spiritual rhythms and the power of the Holy Spirit, we can be transformed to be people who love the

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Lord our God with all that we are and love our neighbors as ourselves. Prayer, that interactive life with God, in which we are working together with God to determine the outcome of events.

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These are not simply a list of things to do. They are a way of life, and in Christian tradition, there's a name for the kind of structure that supports us in our growing.

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It's called a rule of life. How do you form that inward person so that the whole life comes under the righteousness of Christ?

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And I know for some of you, it may feel a little bit scary to be silent or to even to rest.

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Or solitude, which creates an open, empty space where we can be found by God and where we can let go of competing loyalties.

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These spiritual leaders crafted a way of life as a guide for monks and nuns who were living together in community.

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It was simply a way of ordering their days, their regular routine schedule around spiritual disciplines that could help them to stay open to God.

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But these are going to be the most healing, beautiful practices, and we cannot wait to encourage you in these things that have caused us to know and love

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Jesus more. I'm also thinking of such outward experiences as simplicity, which is an inward reality that results in an outward lifestyle.

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Nothing changes us. Nothing changes our perspective, our views on this world, our relationships with each other.

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Nothing changes our sadness and our hope more than being near to Jesus. Experiences like guidance in which we begin to practice the presence of God with such clarity that it's like the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.

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Disciplines of the life. See, this is the righteousness of the kingdom of God through indirection.

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We undertake things we can do in order to receive from God power to do what we can.

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That's what a spiritual discipline is. Let me read to you real quick. This is the Lenten Baptist Confession as it relates to our spiritual growth.

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It says this in chapter 16, verse 3, that believers and their ability to do good works is not at all of themselves, but wholly from the

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Spirit of Christ. And the Westminster Shorter Catechism states, for we are not sanctified except by faith uniting us to Christ this way.

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So your salvation and your sanctification or your godliness are both the results of your faith in Christ.

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Let me put it to you in a biblical way. He who began to work in you will complete it. So we are saved by faith and we are not only saved, but sanctified and glorified by faith in Christ.

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Spiritual disciplines, are they biblical? And where did they come from? Don't go look in your

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Bible because you're not going to find them there. Welcome to the Thoroughly Equipped Podcast, where we compare the teachings from popular women's ministry, books, conferences,

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Bible studies, etc. to scripture. Our focus is 2 Timothy 3, 16 to 17, that all scripture is

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God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.

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So the man or woman of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

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I'm your host, Melba Toast. May this episode bless you and bring glory to God.

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Hey ladies, welcome back to another episode of Thoroughly Equipped. I have a question for you. What do you think is one of the most dangerous teachings entering the church today?

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Scratch that. Let me rephrase that. What do you think is one of the most dangerous beliefs that has already bewitched the church today?

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I watch and read a lot on the different forms of Christianity. And from what

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I can tell, there are three extremely popular gospels of Christianity. And I'm using the word

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Christianity very loosely here. Those are the social gospel, the purpose -driven gospel, and what

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I call the abundant life gospel, which has sort of two branches of Christianity in them.

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The prosperity teaching and the word of faith signs and wonders teaching. And what I have found is that there is this one common belief within them all.

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Now, there are other common beliefs, but this one I have found to be the most prevalent. And that is that an intimate relationship with God is accomplished by looking inward.

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In each of these forms of Christianity, one's relationship is determined to be intimate by either connecting with the divine, by arriving at the true self, or hearing from God who speaks from within.

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In today's episode, I want to look at this belief and see what scripture says about how we become intimate with God.

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And I especially want to present claims and teachings that undermine what scripture states about a relationship with God and how these certain claims lead women astray to what is called mysticism.

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And that's what we're going to tackle in the next short series. In this episode, I'm going to show you through one of Jenny Allen's IF Ministries so -called

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Bible study resources, one of the main teachings that lead women into this belief and can bring them to trust a different gospel through what is known as Christian mysticism.

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I think I mentioned before that I believe the IF gathering presents teachings that are more in line with the social gospel.

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This study is one of the reasons why I believe that. But the more I thought about it, the more

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I realized that the claims and teachings found within this study are really claims I hear over and over again.

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So I believe if I can expose these teachings and dissect them, you can pick them up from other ministries and other books and teachers and understand how the foundational belief actually undermines our faith in Christ and the work of the

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Holy Spirit in our lives. So let's dive into this. The study we will dive into is

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IF Equips Enjoying Jesus, which includes the book, a teacher's manual, and short video clips that can be found on RightNow Media or the

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IF Gathering app. It was released back in 2017 and advertised on Facebook, promoted by Jenny Allen, who states,

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The new IF Equips study, Enjoying Jesus, starts today, guys. You're going to love it.

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Grab your friends, download the IF Gathering app, and join us as we study how theology meets our everyday lives through spiritual disciplines like prayer, confession, silence, giving, and serving.

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Are you in? Enjoying Jesus is a seven -week study that is pretty simple and focused on what is known as spiritual disciplines or in other circles known as spiritual formation.

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In this episode, we will look at what is presented for why we need the teachings of this study.

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And in the next episode, we will look at the quote -unquote spiritual masters or spiritual teachers that they quote and use as examples to train us in these disciplines.

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So let's dive in. What are spiritual disciplines? Well, it depends on who you ask.

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Basically, they are practices that are implemented to strengthen one's character and grow one spiritually.

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Almost every religion has specified acts that are taught to help one grow in their religion.

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For Christianity, they can be acts like prayer, confession, worship, giving, etc. According to the

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IF Ministry, there are 12 practices they want to teach that will help you draw closer to Jesus.

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Here's the thing. Scripture talks about some of these things. It may even describe Jesus as getting away to pray alone, have instructions on what to do while fasting, even how to pray and when we should give and how to worship.

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So why would I warn any woman about doing these in their life or even practicing them?

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I'm not. I do believe that these things are good works. But they are only good works when done in faith.

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But not in faith to bring me close to God or to have an experience with Him or in faith that these practices will cause me to grow spiritually and make me more holy.

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That's the problem with a lot of the teaching surrounding spiritual disciplines and spiritual formation that is in the

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Evangelical Church today and even more prevalent in women's ministry.

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The problem lies with the arguments made for why we need to practice spiritual disciplines.

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And I want to show you how Ify Quip's Enjoying Jesus teaches just that. So let's start with week 1, day 2's video clip, which is titled,

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Why Practice Spiritual Disciplines, and go into the day's reading. So let's listen in.

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I think as believers sometimes we can think that these practices we're going to look at in these weeks are for the saints, the people that are in ministry or overseas in mission.

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These feel weighty, and they feel so serious, and they feel completely separate from the culture and the everyday world we live in.

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Why do these things matter? Why do we need to care about this in 2017? I think for me, when

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I think about spiritual disciplines, I really see them as access points to discover who God is.

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And the reason I say that is because sometimes when we think about who God is, He seems really abstract. He doesn't seem like He's close to us.

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And by having spiritual disciplines, it gives us small steps and opportunities to really understand who

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God is and experience Him in real ways. I know for me that when I've practiced just praying and meditating and fasting, those are the times when

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I felt God move the most powerfully in my life. And so I just feel like it's fundamental for us, when we know that God wants a relationship with us, to actually engage in some of these things.

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He's very clear, and He makes it easy for us to actually talk with and commune with this amazing, powerful

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God. And I feel like it's critical that we do that. I agree with Jenny. We may not always feel

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God's presence in our life, but it doesn't change the fact that He is right there. And these spiritual disciplines really feel like it's training for our soul.

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And just like you said, it's an access point for us to feel His nearness in our life, because these are an invitation to be with Him.

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And ultimately, our souls were built for God. And the anxiety that we feel, the sadness, the discontentment that we often wrestle with, there's a reason for that.

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Our souls were built to connect with God, and we're in a world where we really have to fight for it. It's not easy to cause these things to happen.

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Yeah, it's a real active seeking of the Lord that I think we need to really practice in our lives.

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And it doesn't mean that we have to do everything. It just means pick a few things, either meditating or studying the

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Word, praying, serving, worshiping. I mean, just listening to music, that could be an active spiritual discipline.

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And sometimes I think we're so busy doing all these other things that we don't realize. You know, sometimes the small things are the things that matter the most and can have the most profound impact in our relationship with the

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Lord. So true. I do think that those things that nobody sees, that is what shapes us more than anything else.

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It's not who we are in public. It's not who we are with our friends. It's who we are when we're alone with God. And if we're never alone with God, if we never cause these moments and connections to happen, then it's almost like we are a shallow version of who we could be.

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And actually, when you read throughout Scriptures, one of my favorite characters in the Bible is Nehemiah.

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And when he realized the wall around Jerusalem was broken down, he wept before God. He prayed and he fasted.

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And it was in that praying and fasting and emptying of himself to put himself before God that God gave him the power to actually be able to rebuild that wall.

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And so I think sometimes even when God calls us to do the really difficult things, we can't really do that unless we feel completely emptied of ourselves.

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To really be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. And ultimately, the study is called Enjoying Jesus. That is what we hope happens through this.

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So spiritual disciplines are described as access points to discover who God is.

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Access points to discover who God is. Because it allows us to use small steps to experience

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God in real ways. To really understand who God is and experience Him in real ways. Spiritual disciplines really feel like it's training for our soul.

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And just like you said, it's an access point for us to feel His nearness in our life.

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We can't do the difficult things unless we empty ourselves to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.

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Even when God calls us to do the really difficult things, we can't really do that unless we feel completely emptied of ourselves.

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To really be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. Jenny implies that if we never use these to connect with God, that living without these practices makes us a shallow person.

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And if we're never alone with God, if we never cause these moments and connections to happen, then it's almost like we are a shallow version of who we could be.

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That we could be more if only we disciplined ourselves in this way. All of this undermines the truth that in Christ we have a deep relationship with God.

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Intimacy with Him. Discover who God is. For if we've seen Him, we have seen the

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Father, John 14, 9. And that we not only experience God in Christ, but are made whole in Him when we receive

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Him by faith. In Him we've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms,

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Ephesians 1, 3. Intimacy, Ephesians 2, 13. We have reconciliation, 2

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Corinthians 5, 18. Righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, 1 Corinthians 1, 30.

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All the fruits of the Spirit, Galatians 5, 22 -23. The mind of Christ, 1

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Corinthians 2, 16. The very words of God, 2 Timothy 3, 16.

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Truth itself and oneness with God through it, John 17, 6 -26.

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And so much more. These are the spiritual blessings that come with Christ.

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All of this is graciously given to us through faith, not spiritual disciplines.

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I will address these in more detail as we go into IF's goal and purpose for spiritual disciplines.

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These access points, or acts of faith as they will call them, are prayer, confession, meditation, study, fasting,

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Sabbath, seeking silence, solitude, simplicity, giving, service, and worship. I know some of course will ask, well, what's so bad about doing things?

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Most of these sound biblical. The problem is not with the practice itself. The problem again is with IF's teaching on why we need them.

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What they claim these practices do for us. That's the issue. So what

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I want to tackle is the teachings within the study that teach why we need what they are teaching.

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So let's get into the reading of week 1 day 2 where they will lay out more on the foundation for what our problem is.

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The purpose for this study. Now, I thought I'd do something different and had my convenient

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AI friend, Ava Multilingual, read the portions of this study I want us to challenge.

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I thought it'd be helpful to have these quotes read in a different voice to be able to differentiate between the critique and what is claimed in this study.

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So I'll let Ava read. Quote. So often we walk through life feeling isolated from God and others.

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We are a detached people longing for connection. But the busyness of life interrupts these thoughts.

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A crisis erupts at work. The dishwasher breaks. A family member falls sick.

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Any longings for something more get pushed back below the surface. The name for what lies at the heart of this disconnected ache is sin.

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We long for what was meant to be. Because sin has broken our world. God created us for relationship.

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When sin entered the world, our relationships with God, others, and ourselves shattered.

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We all innately feel this. That something is deeply wrong with the world. We see it on the news, and we experience it in our relationships.

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From bitter arguments with our dearest loved ones to whispered prayers in the night saying, Where are you

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God? We see how sin has corrupted every relationship in our lives. With God and others.

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End quote. Week 1 day, 2 page 10 to 11. Before we move on,

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I want to say that most of this is good and true. But there are two problematic teachings here.

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What this study claims we are made for, and how they describe sin. I'm sure you've heard what is now an axiom in Christianity today.

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Christianity is a relationship, not a religion. What is the problem with this statement?

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That the relationship is left open and not defined. This study perpetuates that ambiguity.

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God created us for relationship. Okay, let's dive into this.

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If you were brought up Reformed, you probably were catechized. If you are new to Reformed theology, a catechism would be most helpful in learning systematic theology.

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It's a set of theological questions that present answers that are derived from scripture.

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I highly encourage women to be catechized. Just make sure it's not the Catholic catechism. The first question of the

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Westminster Shorter Catechism is the question, What is the chief end of man? In other words, what did

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God create us for? Answer? Man's chief and highest end is to glorify

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God and to fully enjoy Him forever. Okay, so we might say that in glorifying

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God, we have a relationship with Him. The question is, what type of relationship?

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An unbeliever has a certain type of relationship with his creator, one of rebellion against him.

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And an unbeliever will still bring glory to God when God rightly brings justice to them.

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We typically think that when we enter into a relationship, we enter into it on equal terms.

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But that's not true when it comes to God, who is our creator. The type of relationship we have with God must take into account first and foremost that He is the righteous, holy creator, who in His right justice will pour out wrath on all who are unrighteous.

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Our relationship is one that needs reconciliation. And then we come to Him as Father, God, Savior, Redeemer, Comforter, Provider, and yes,

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Friend, as Jesus calls us. The names of God inform our relationship with Him and are brought to instruct our worship.

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It is a religion, the worship of God, that informs our relationship with Him so we can walk in worship of our

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God. What this phrase does and has done is take the instruction from God on how we worship

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Him and replace them with inner feelings and subjective experiences. This is one claim that has misled people, and it breeds the following claims that we will see in this study because if God made us for a relationship,

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He made us to be intimate with Him. Which brings us to wonder, well then, how do we become intimate with God?

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This study builds up to explain. Quote, The good news is the story didn't end there.

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When Jesus entered our world, He stepped into our brokenness. He destroyed the power of sin on one dark afternoon by hanging on the cross.

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And when He walked out of the tomb, He began the work of restoring what was meant to be. Because of Him, our longing for nearness with God can now be fulfilled.

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We don't have to feel disconnected. End quote. Week 1 day, 2 page 11.

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Okay, so let's keep this in context. So we were created for a relationship, but sin ruined that relationship with God, others, and ourselves.

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Not quite seeing how sin ruined our relationship with oneself. And I think that's because it's a tiny seed to the false self, true self, false teaching found in mysticism.

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But Jesus destroyed the power of sin through His death on the cross. And after His resurrection,

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He has been restoring what was meant to be. That includes restoring our intimacy with God, others, and ourselves.

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First, there's a connection between discipleship as God's means by which He changes the world and what it believes is

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Jesus' work of restoring what was meant to be. This type of talk doesn't quite line up with scripture.

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And at this, I'm a bit confused. Restore means to bring back, to return something to its former condition.

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Now, I understand that God will one day create a new heavens and new earth. But scripture talks of this one passing away.

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For all that is in the world, the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and pride of life is not from the

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Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires.

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But whoever does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2, 16 -17.

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As a disciple of Christ, I'm not hoping for this world and its restoration, but hoping in the next one.

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So it's weird for me to think that God is restoring something He talks about as passing away.

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But notice what is in direct connection to being restored. Nearness to God.

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Paul, in his address to the men at the Areopagus, states this.

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The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is

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He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

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And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek

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God and perhaps feel their way towards Him and find Him. Yet He is actually not far from each one of us.

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For in Him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, for we are indeed

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His offspring. Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone or an image formed by the art and imagination of man.

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The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which

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He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed, and of this

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He has given assurance to all, by raising him from the dead. To the men of Athens, Gentiles, He explains that God is near to all of us, but the issue is, are we reconciled to Him?

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Because there will come a day of judgment for all men due to their sin, and we can have assurance that we are reconciled to God because we believe in the

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One who was raised from the dead for our justification. Romans 4, 22 -25

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Here's something important we need to keep in mind. Scripture describes Jesus' work as finished, that reconciliation between God and His people was completed at the cross.

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He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything

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He might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.

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And you who are once alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him.

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If indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which

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I, Paul, became a minister. Colossians 1, 18 -23 Using biblical terms matter, and restoration is scriptural, but it is taught about as to come.

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Listen to what Peter has to say to the men of Israel at Solomon's portico in Acts 3 verses 17 -21

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And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.

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But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, thus

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He fulfilled. Repent, therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the

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Lord, and that He may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive, until the time for restoring all the things about which

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God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets long ago. This is the time that God graciously gives in calling people to repent, turn back, that our sins may be blotted out, and that times of refreshing may come from His presence.

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That is how we as Christians live in this evil age, reconciled and refreshed because of Christ's work.

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I believe that If thinks that we are part of God's work in restoring this world, as expressed by discipleship as God's means by which

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He changes the world. The social gospel, progressive Christianity, and Christian mysticism, center the good news on the idea of restoration on this side of eternity.

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The prevailing idea is that restoration takes place first in the individual, restoring the relationship with God through these spiritual disciplines, to arrive at the

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Christ consciousness as the progressives describe it, or the divine within as taught in the little

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God's doctrine. But scripture talks of restoration coming when Christ returns, for Christ is in the heavens until that appointed time.

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On this side of His return, our ministry is this. If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come, the old has gone, the new is here.

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All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

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That God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them, and He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

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We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us.

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We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. God made

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Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

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2 Corinthians 5, 17 -21 Again, just keep this in mind as we go forward.

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Okay, so now we're starting to see where the spiritual disciplines are going to come in.

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And this is where we start to see a big problem. Spiritual disciplines are going to be touted as simple acts of faith, acts that bring us into intimacy with Himself.

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Saying that we need anything additional to bring us into intimacy with God undermines the completed work of Christ on the cross, reconciling all to Himself.

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And it undermines the claim that Jesus made that God's Word is what sanctifies us, makes us holy, and not simply intimate with God, but one with Him.

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John 17, 6 -26 There's a difference between acts of faith that make us intimate with God and acts of faith being a result of already being intimate with God.

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To believe the teaching surrounding spiritual disciplines is to say that these Christians that put those into practice are more intimate with God than those who don't.

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Let's continue in the reading. These small, simple acts are well known by God's people throughout all generations.

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They are tried and true practices called the spiritual disciplines. Those who have followed this ancient path have found freedom from self and sin.

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And they have found joy, the truest joy that only comes from enjoying Jesus. The more we enjoy

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Christ, the more we long to look like Him. The more we grow like Him through the practice of the disciplines in cooperation with the

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Holy Spirit, the more we enjoy Christ. End quote. Week 1, Day 2,

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Page 12 Notice what they're claiming here, that these ancient paths brought people freedom from self and sin, and through them they found joy.

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They are also claiming that by them we will come to enjoy Jesus, and in enjoying

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Him we will grow like Him through the practice of the disciplines in cooperation with the

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Holy Spirit. End quote. Note, remember what Jenny stated in the trailer of the study?

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She starts out expressing thankfulness that the church has removed legalism from its midst, but states that she fears we have lost certain acts that are blessings to the

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Christian. My question in regards to this is what does she mean by legalism? Because we clearly see in scripture what legalism is, the belief or claim that any work of ours commends us or justifies us before God.

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That would include works that are supposed to make us more intimate with God.

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This undermines the sufficiency of Christ, that we have been brought near to God by His blood.

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Ephesians 2 .13 We are not brought near to God through anything other than Christ.

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John 8 .31 -36 states this very clearly. So Jesus said to the

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Jews who had believed Him, If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

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They answered Him, We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone.

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How is it that you say you will become free? Jesus answered them, Truly, truly,

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I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever.

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The son remains forever. So if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

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This study's claim here leads women to believe there is something we must do to become more intimate with God so we can be set free from sin.

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While scripture is clear that it's because of what Christ did, the truth of His accomplished work, the gospel, that we are set free from sin.

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Urging women to adopt spiritual disciplines to help us conquer self and sin is a clear rejection of being set free from sin through Christ's accomplished work.

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It will end up putting a burden on women. In week one, day three, we begin to see this burden.

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Titled Jesus and the Disciplines, this if equipped study continues to undermine the sufficiency of Christ by promoting a false teaching given by Dallas Willard that I will call

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Jesus's yoke. This teaching comes from a twisting of Matthew 11, 28 to 29.

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We will get into this teaching in the next episode as we look at who are promoted as spiritual masters or the disciples of spiritual disciplines.

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Those who teach these practices as the means by which we can become more like Christ, which is an outright attack on the sufficiency of scripture.

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Quote, Jesus chose to live in a way that maintained nearness with God the Father. We see throughout the gospels how

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Jesus incorporated the spiritual disciplines into his daily life. He chose to seek silence and solitude, stepping away from the crowds to pray,

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Luke 5, verse 16, Matthew 14, verse 23. He fasted to draw near to the

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Father, Matthew 4, verse 2. He honored the Sabbath as a day of rest, Mark 2, verse 27.

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Jesus doesn't call us to simply put his teaching into practice by our own willpower. If we try to do that, we will fail.

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We will be utterly unprepared to turn the other cheek or to love our enemy if we haven't spent time with Christ in the unseen, everyday things.

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As Dallas Willard puts it, in this truth lies the secret of the easy yoke. The secret involves living as he lived in the entirety of his life, adopting his overall lifestyle.

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Following in his steps cannot be equated with behaving as he did when he was on the spot. To live as Christ lived is to live as he did all his life.

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End quote. Week 1, Day 3, page 15. This is a huge problem.

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This is teaching us that the willpower to put Christ's teachings into practice, basically to obey

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Christ, comes from the practice of these spiritual disciplines, not from faith in Christ who works in us by the

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Spirit. In essence, this is us using such disciplines, such as meditation, solitude, silence giving, etc.

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to perfect us. This is in stark contrast to what Paul is trying to urge the

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Galatians to turn from in Galatians 3, 1 -9. O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you?

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It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you this.

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Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish, having begun by the

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Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain?

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Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, the way

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Jesus lived in the entirety of his life, by the way, or by hearing with faith, just as Abraham believed

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God and it was counted to him as righteousness? Bottom line, these spiritual disciplines are not the easy yoke that Jesus was talking about.

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The yoke that Jesus was talking about was his righteousness that was received by faith in the

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Gospel. This is how we are justified and how we begin in the Spirit. And it's remaining and maturing in that faith that one is perfected or you could say sanctified in the flesh.

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Spiritually, we are in Christ and in Christ we are perfect as he is perfect. God sees us clothed in Christ, glorified as we will be.

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But on the side of glory, we still wrestle with the flesh. We still sin. We wait for our adoption, the redemption of our bodies,

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Romans 8, 23. For the perishable to put on the imperishable, 1 Corinthians 15, 53.

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The promise that is to come for all God's people. And no amount of spiritual disciplines, which really are a light form of asceticism, a depriving of the flesh, actually can control the flesh.

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Paul actually touches upon this in Colossians, which we will look at in a bit, but moving on. Quote, Jesus invites us to a different life.

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He calls us to the small, everyday things, prayer, silence, solitude, Sabbath.

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Because in doing them, we find the rest he speaks of. We learn to enjoy Jesus in the day to day and find that the life he has called us to, no matter what it brings, will feel easy and light.

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End quote. Week one, day three, page 15. Again, it's not in doing anything that we find rest, but faith in the one who did everything for us that we find rest.

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The rest Jesus speaks of is how one no longer has to keep the commandments perfectly to make reconciliation with God, to bring us into intimacy with him.

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Jesus lived and died so he could give us his righteousness and take the punishment for our sins so we can rest in his finished work.

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The easy yoke is not to adopt Jesus' overall lifestyle, to live as he lived in the entirety of his life, which places a huge burden on us.

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It will not actually bring rest like they claim because they don't understand what we have in Christ.

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The study and teachers like Dallas Willard teach that by living like Jesus did, we find rest and are set free.

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But scripture tells us by just believing in what Jesus did, we find rest and are set free.

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In week one, day four, titled, Why Do We Need Spiritual Disciplines? We'll expose this.

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For this day's study, Margaret Feinberg asked Lauren Chandler and Susie Davis about the benefits of putting the disciplines into practice.

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Let's listen to the video clip. We've been looking this week at how Jesus, the very son of God, he practiced spiritual disciplines too.

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I mean, we see him time and time again pulling away, being diligent about prayer, retreating into solitude.

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There's that moment after John the Baptist dies and he looks at his disciples and he says, come away to a lonely place and rest for a while.

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And I would love to hear from both of you simply just, why do we need spiritual disciplines?

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I think about just the son of God, if he needed it, how much do we? I mean, he's fully

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God and fully man. And so if he needed the spiritual disciplines to be connected to the father, to know what his mission would be, even that day, if he needed to do that, how much more do

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I need that? Do I need to have these spiritual disciplines in my life to remember who

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God is, remembering who he says he is and what he's done for me? And then also to know where do

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I go from here, Lord, to be connected to him in that way. So, you know, the spiritual disciplines, just if Jesus was doing it, then

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I for sure need it too. In the same way you might see like a snapshot of me and my husband on Instagram or something.

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We went to a restaurant, happy hour or whatever, took a picture. That's just like one little snippet of all kinds of time we've spent together and things that we've done together.

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And I think of spiritual disciplines as those quiet unpublished moments with God. Like maybe you see me here and you get an idea of my relationship with God, but those practices that I have daily with him are ways that he shows his affection and directs me in my life and how

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I'm really a daughter before him. So now we just heard Lauren Chandler claim that Jesus needed these spiritual disciplines.

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Jesus didn't need his time away with God as he was

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God himself, but in his humanity sustained himself with food and drink and the word of God.

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Man does not live by bread alone, by every word from the mouth of God. As Jesus loved

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God perfectly, he worshiped God perfectly. And I believe that what they see as disciplines being practiced by Jesus were actually the outworking of his love and worship.

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There's this weird thought in my mind with Lauren Chandler making the claim that if Jesus needed the spiritual disciplines, then we need them too.

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Even that day, if he needed to do that, how much more do I need that? Do I need to have these spiritual disciplines in my life to, you know, the spiritual disciplines just if Jesus was doing it, then

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I for sure need it too. Jesus performed every single law instructed by God.

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Now, what if these ladies were stating that Jesus being the son of God needed to refrain from eating pig?

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Well then, how much more do we need to refrain from eating pig? Jesus needed to be circumcised.

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How much more now do Christians need to be circumcised to be close to God? See the problem?

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The problem is with the argument itself that whatever Jesus needed, we need too.

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This gets at the heart of why Jesus came. Did he come to merely be our example?

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Or did he come to be the Messiah, the perfect sacrifice for God's people so they may be reconciled and be intimate with the

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Father through the work of the Son? We would immediately reject circumcision as an act that brings us intimacy with God.

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But all these ladies are doing is replacing one act or refraining from one act or another.

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Instead of not eating certain foods as needed, fasting itself becomes a need. Instead of circumcision or new moons or festival days as bringing us into remembrance, solitude, silence, and Sabbath are needed.

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Because, well, only because these women choose to perform these to connect with God and they choose to neglect all these other acts or disciplines that Christ performed.

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The good news is that Jesus Christ was fully man and fully God, perfectly performed all that was needed so that in him we may be the righteousness of God.

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There's me quoting Romans 8, 3 -4 again. Anything we need to bring God's direction and affection into our lives,

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Jesus performed it for us. They also claim that Jesus lived the way he lived because he knew the best way to live life.

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Well, that is true. He also lived the way he lived because, one, living that way is his nature.

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He is God and the law is rooted in his nature. Two, he lived that way because we instead couldn't live how we are supposed to.

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So he obeyed and lived perfectly so that we could have his life. His life wasn't only about showing us the best way to live, but being our only way of being reconciled to God so we may have a right relationship with him.

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Now let's look at the week 1 day 4 reading. Quote, Generations of believers who have come before us have handed down these tried and true practices, known as spiritual disciplines.

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The twelve we will study are not new fads or the latest trends. They are ancient but simple traditions that help us remember

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God and grow spiritually. We see them throughout both scripture and church history.

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Each discipline can look slightly different in various cultures and time periods, but the basics remain the same.

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Those who have come before us point to these practices as the way to know God and enjoy him. End quote.

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While these may be traditions, the question is, are they traditions instructed to us by men and scriptures used to justify the practice, or does

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God actually instruct us to perform these and explain that these are practices that will bring us to know

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God and enjoy him? What does God say brings us to know and enjoy him?

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Will their scriptural support for these practices be drawn from actual instructions given by God or Christ, or will they be pulled from descriptive historical texts?

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Quote, Practices such as prayer, fasting, and solitude, among others, help us remove the distractions of our everyday lives, allowing us to hear the spirit and obey him.

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End quote. Week 1 Day 4, page 19. I agree that the spirit works in us making us holy, but, well, one, are we instructed to hear the spirit?

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This is a form of Gnosticism or personal revelation that is received apart from scripture.

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Two, if the spiritual disciplines are the means that allow us to hear the spirit and obey him, then the disciplines undermine the clear claim that scripture makes when it says that it is useful for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

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The scriptures speak to us and are the Holy Spirit's sufficient way of instructing and equipping the believer to obey him.

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Quote, Jesus told his disciples that he came so we may have life and have it abundantly.

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John 10, verse 10. If you were to take a good, hard look at your life, would you say you're experiencing the abundant life, the easy and light yoke

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Jesus spoke of? Matthew 11, verse 30. Would you say that no matter your circumstances, you have a deep -seated joy in Christ?

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Perhaps you've tried all the latest techniques, the list -making, the goal -setting, the calendaring system.

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While these may help you accomplish tasks, none of them can bring you the freedom and joy you long for in your soul.

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Instead, we invite you to try something simple and ancient, the spiritual practices that followers of Christ have pointed to for thousands of years as the way to know him better and enjoy him more.

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End quote. Week 1, Day 4. Page 19 -20. They make the claim that these practices will give the abundant life and easy yoke

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Jesus promised. But the abundant life and easy yoke are in relation to setting us free from the condemnation of sin and the knowledge of the wrath to come.

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Abundant life is in reference to eternal life with the Father that comes through the laying down of the shepherd's life for his sheep, not through spiritual disciplines.

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The easy yoke is in reference to those who repent in sackcloth and ashes, as that was what

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John the Baptist wore and was calling people to repentance. They repent because they understand how heavy a burden the law is to keep.

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They understand the rebellion of their sin and acknowledge the wrath of God that is against it.

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So Jesus calls out to them to take their burden in exchange for his, which is the fulfillment of the law through his active obedience.

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Notice that they claim that followers of Christ have been pointing to the spiritual disciplines for thousands of years as the way to know

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Christ better and enjoy him more. Well, we're going to take a look at some of these followers they include in the study.

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These followers are known as Christian mystics, and as I hope to expose, do not teach in line with the scriptures.

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Now you see how a simple study on spiritual disciplines will urge women to seek out the spiritual masters.

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People are urged to follow these masters because spiritual disciplines are not taught in scripture.

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The masters may take out scripture and twist it to make it seem like the disciplines are scriptural or that Jesus needed them, but compare it to what scripture is actually teaching and you realize that they are a distraction.

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Teachings from so -called masters to make you a disciple after them and not after Christ.

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We'll dive into that in the next episode of TE. At the heart of this teaching is the belief that if we act like Jesus and do what he did, we can know him.

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The problem is that Jesus himself said that it's not performing works, even works done in his name, prophesying in his name, casting out demons in his name, or performing mighty miracles in his name.

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Means that he knows us or we know him, only those who do the will of the father.

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And we find the father's will in scripture. And this is his commandment that we believe in the name of his son,

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Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God and God in him.

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And by this we know that he abides in us by the spirit whom he has given us.

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First John 3, 23 to 34. See, scripture is clear that spiritual disciplines such as solitude, silence, giving, fasting, etc.

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do not have the power to stop the indulgence of the flesh. They have the appearance of wisdom when their adherents tell you they are tools used to draw you closer to God, bring you to hear the spirit and grow more intimate with him.

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But notice that they do nothing to help us put to death the deeds of the flesh, the very proof that we are already intimate with God by giving us a spirit to dwell within us.

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New Age and other pagan religions perform these same acts to become intimate with a

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God that communicates within. What these other religions don't do is walk by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ, abide in his word, and obey his commands.

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Those commands, when obeyed in the spirit, put to death our flesh. The battle against our sinful desires are proof that the spirit resides within, not some feeling or experience of some presence or some receiving of some special revelation that comes from practicing these disciplines.

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Don't get me wrong, these disciplines can be comforting. Solitude and quiet time in the word of God is incredibly refreshing to me.

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But apart from faith in Christ and the completed scriptures, they are mere self -made religion.

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I'll let Paul go into this as he addressed the Colossian church, who were being deceived by the philosophy and empty deceit that self -made religion taught.

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For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is

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Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasure of wisdom and knowledge.

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I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

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Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

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See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

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For in Him the wholefulness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in Him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

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Statement here. Ladies, there is no more intimate relationship than to be filled in Christ and He in us.

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As He prayed, we be one in Him and in the Father, as they are one. John 17, 20 -21

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Paul goes on to convey what it means to be filled in Him. In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised

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Him from the dead. And you who were dead in your trespasses, and the uncircumcision of your flesh

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God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands, this

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He set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him.

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Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a

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Sabbath. My side note here. These things listed were things instructed by God to cleanse men and bring their heart, the festivals, new moons, and Sabbath, into remembrance of who

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God is so they could worship Him rightly. That is another aspect of intimacy that spiritual disciplines wish to claim come from practicing them.

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These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the head for whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

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If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations, do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, referring to the things that all perish as they are used, according to human precepts and teachings.

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These have indeed an appearance of wisdom and promoting self -made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

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That was Colossians chapter 2. Paul is essentially saying that because we died with Christ and were raised to life in his resurrection, we do not need to submit ourselves to man -made regulations.

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You can also say disciplines. They appear to be wise and the teachers teaching these appear to be wise, but they do not lead to the spiritual discipline that is our spiritual act of worship.

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That he gets into the next chapter. If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

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Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ and God.

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When Christ, who is your life, appears, and you also will appear with him in glory.

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Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is adultery.

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On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked when you were living in them, but now you must put them all away.

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Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge, after the image of its creator.

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Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all.

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Put on, then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another, and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the

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Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony, and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which, indeed, you were called in one body, and be thankful.

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Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

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And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the

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Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. See now how these spiritual masters' ideas of spiritual disciplines are a far cry from what

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God instructs in his word, and how even the claims of why we need them will distract us from putting to death our flesh and putting on Christ, not by doing the supposed spiritual disciplines he did, but by simply trusting in all he did to bring us in reconciliation to God, and walking as if it were true, and seeking that which is above.

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So, ladies, I pray that this episode has helped you to see some of the main claims that undermine

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Christ's work and the sufficiency of Scripture, which urge people to take on the practices of spiritual formation.

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These claims are the hook to reel you in to dive deeper into them, because we love our

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God and desire to be intimate with him. We are misled when we gauge our relationship by how we feel.

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If we don't feel intimate, we're likely to search out that intimacy, and if we believe that intimacy is a feeling and not a position, for a

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Christian, the closeness that was accomplished through Christ, we will depend on acts, experiences, and inner knowledge to bring on the feeling, instead of trusting in his acts and depending on his word to deepen our knowledge of and relationship with him.

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After taking the bait, studies like this refer you to the spiritual masters, and the spiritual masters lead you to Christian mysticism.

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I pray that you understand and trust in Christ and his sufficiency, that instead of disciplining yourself to find solitude, fasting, to be silent, live simply, give, etc.,

01:01:01

that you are instead doing what God calls all his people to.

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I pray you trust in Christ's work, and walk by faith in the spirit, putting to death the deeds of the flesh, turning from sexual immorality.

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I pray you are hearing the words of Christ from the scriptures and obeying them, that you are praying without ceasing and doing all things in the name of Jesus, giving thanks to God the

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Father through him. I pray you are building up your neighbor in love and controlling your own body in holiness and honor.

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All of this is part of our sanctification, proof of our intimate, reconciled relationship with the creator whom we are made to glorify and worship.

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The scripture equips us for this, and Christ has brought us near to God through the forgiveness of our sins by his blood and has sealed us with the spirit when we receive

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Christ by faith. Faith in Christ is how we received the spirit.

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Faith is how we are perfected by the flesh. Faith is how one is connected and made intimate with God.

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And so, ladies, I pray you are intimate with him. I pray you are in his work.

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Ladies, thanks for listening or watching this episode of Thoroughly Equipped. If this episode blessed you, would you give it a rating or a thumbs up?

01:02:32

And if you think Thoroughly Equipped is a much -needed ministry, consider subscribing. It helps spread the word.

01:02:38

If you are interested to know more about Thoroughly Equipped, check out the blog, or just find some other great

01:02:44

Christian resources, you can go to my website at ttew .org.

01:02:50

You can connect with me on Facebook and Instagram, links in the description below, or email me at melbatost at ttew .org.

01:02:59

Thoroughly Equipped is part of Striving for Eternity's Christian Podcast Community, a one -stop resource for solid podcasts that can assist you in your

01:03:07

Christian walk. Check that out at christianpodcastcommunity .org. I pray the

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God of all grace grants you more and more knowledge and understanding of Jesus Christ, as the

01:03:19

Holy Spirit thoroughly equips you through his written word for every good work.