40 Days of Discipline

A study of Richard J. Foster’s Celebration of Discipline

“Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intellectual people, or gifted people, but for deep people. The classical Disciplines of the spiritual life call us to move beyond surface living into the depths. They invite us to explore the inner caverns of the spiritual realm. They urge us to be the answer to a hollow world.”                                   

                                           Richard J. Foster,  Celebration of Discipline

          When I was in college, I took a Spiritual Growth and Development class. The text we used for the class was Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster. I remember thinking that it was one of the most interesting and insightful texts I had ever read and that the principles in the book were things that I could really apply to my life. With all the different classes and textbooks I had to read at that time, I never got to fully immerse myself in the text of Celebration of Discipline. So, recently, as I scanned my bookshelf for something new to read and came across this text again, I knew that it was the right time to read it again.

          For some time now, I have felt that I have hit a wall in my spiritual walk. I keep trying to be better about getting in my quite time and living out the fruits of the spirit, but I just keep failing. I get so busy with my job, my singing career, my housework, and my relationships that I can’t hear God’s voice. All of a sudden, I don’t know what it is he wants me to do or who he really created me to be. I have let the cares of this world crowd him out. So, when I came across Celebration of Discipline again, I picked it up and started reading, and I could feel God speaking to me, challenging me to take this journey. He was prompting me to make a serious commitment to becoming a more disciplined person and allowing him to transform me.

“When we despair of gaining inner transformation through human powers of will and determination, we are open to a wonderful new realization: inner righteousness is a gift from God to be graciously received. The needed change within us is God’s work, not ours. The demand is for an inside job, and only God can work from the inside.”

                                   Richard J. Foster,   Celebration of Discipline

          So, here I am delving into the Scriptures and Celebration of Discipline. For the next forty days, I am going to attempt to put the spiritual disciplines into practice in my life and allow God to renovate my soul. I am sure that I will discover some ugly things about myself that I would rather not have to see, but I also know that I will discover some wonderful things about God that will astonish and amaze me! I hope you will join me on this journey, because, as Richard Foster wrote,“Our world is hungry for genuinely changed people.”

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.”                                              Ephesians 3:16-21

Come to “P.R.A.I.S.E. Youth Conference 2010: Survival Rock” Saturday, August 28 from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm. Learn how… http://fb.me/BX7h6sQ1

Bible study @ Adair Park is tonight @ 7:30. We will be discussing John 17

Come to “Wilderness Experience: Walker Sisters Home” Saturday, April 17 from 11:30 am to 3:30 pm. This hike is full… http://bit.ly/cv0ozz

Middle Man Ministries is hosting a Bible study every Monday @ Adair Park 7:30 pm. Tonight we are talking about Peter.

We have officially adopted Adair Park in Fountain City through Knoxville’s Adopt-a-Park Program. Check it out!! http://bit.ly/cfHCwC

God places much importance on the quality of our relationships with other people. In fact, half of the Ten Commandments are instructions for how we are to interact with our fellow man, and Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount also have a lot to say about how we should treat those around us. One of the most important relationships that we will ever have on this earth is our relationship with our spouse. Paul even uses the example of a marriage relationship to describe Christ’s relationship with us as the body of believers:

Ephesians 5: 25-33

  ²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶to make her holy, cleansing^[b] her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— ³⁰for we are members of his body.³¹“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” ³²This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Just as God wants us to get to know Him and love Him through communicating with Him in prayer and learning about Him in His Word, I believe that He also wants us to do the same with our spouse. So, I have created the following questionairre as way for us to reacquaint ourselves with our spouse and learn more about their hopes and dreams. No matter how long you have been married, this questionairre should help you start a meaningful converstion with your spouse !!

Husband/Wife Questionnaire

1)     Where is your most peaceful place?

2)     What are 2 of your fondest memories from our relationship?

3)     What are 2 things you would like to change about yourself?

4)     Name 2 local places you have never been, but would like to visit.

5)     What were the 2 best dates you’ve ever been on and what made them special?

6)     What are 5 simple wishes that you have?

7)     What are your 2 favorite childhood memories?

8)     When do you feel the most satisfied with yourself?

9)     What new hobby or hobbies would you like to try?

10)   What are the top 5 things you would like to accomplish before you die?

This is where I will be sharing devotional thoughts geared specifically toward women. You can also hear a Woman’s Heart Devotion weekly on the Kingdom Encounters Radio Braoadcast at 7pm Saturdays on Praise 96.3.

Listen to the February 15th Kingdom Encounters Podcast now. 

Right Click & Save Target As to Download (mp3) :: Call 865-765-4521 for more info about this show.

The Kingdom Encounters radio broadcast is moving to Saturdays at 7pm starting Saturday, March 20th!! Tune into to Praise 96.3 FM to hear us!