{"id":903,"date":"2009-12-10T01:00:23","date_gmt":"2009-12-10T08:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbcbeacon.wordpress.com\/?p=828"},"modified":"2009-12-10T01:00:23","modified_gmt":"2009-12-10T08:00:23","slug":"a-quiet-time-of-discipleship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/2009\/12\/10\/a-quiet-time-of-discipleship\/","title":{"rendered":"A Quiet Time of Discipleship"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Pastor JR Cuevas<\/em><\/p>\n

If you abide in My Word, then you are truly disciples of Mine<\/em><\/p>\n

The great men of the faith deemed it as the Christian soldier\u2019s most important activity. It\u2019s that activity in which a believer can experience strength, comfort, conviction, encouragement, and exhortation all at the same time. It\u2019s that activity in which, when one is engaged in it regularly and intimately, he finds himself exhibiting a sustained joy and strength even through the most painful of afflictions. And it\u2019s the one activity that, when you ask a seasoned pastor what the secret is to spiritual growth, you are counseled never to neglect. Yet, the failure to engage in this activity can lead to disastrous outcomes for even the believers whom we consider the strongest. It\u2019s the activity that, though is ever so vital to the believer\u2019s life, is so often neglected or pushed off to a more convenient time. I\u2019m referring to the hub of the Christian life. I\u2019m referring to the beliver\u2019s time alone with God. I\u2019m referring to the believer\u2019s \u201cquiet time.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a pastor, not only are constantly trying to help people fight their spiritual battles; you\u2019re busy trying to fight your own. Now, it would be fair to conclude that people don\u2019t always go through the same circumstances, and don\u2019t always respond to those circumstances in the same way. But one thing is certain; a lack of growth and fervor in the beliver\u2019s life can always be traced back to a lack of intimacy in his relationship with the Lord. And a lack of intimacy with the Lord can usually \u2013 if not always \u2013 be traced back to a consistent dryness in one\u2019s quiet times. If this time with God is so crucial, then why is it that Christians of all walks of life \u2013 from the neophytes to the church leaders \u2013 find themselves struggling staying fervent and faithful in this particular area of their lives? Perhaps it\u2019s because Satan understands the importance of it, and subtlely attacks it without the Christian knowing so. And perhaps he does it through seeping in faulty perspectives into the Christian\u2019s mind as to how to approach his time of solitude, whether it be in the morning or evening.<\/p>\n

Why is it that all Christians find it a struggle to maintain discipline in their times with God? Perhaps it\u2019s because they view their quiet times as that and only that \u2013 a discipline. Time spent in the Word and in prayer is viewed simply as an exercise of the mind and heart with the same type of discipline with which one exhibits when he goes for a jog or diligently completes his homework assignments. I\u2019m not here to say that having good quiet times doesn\u2019t involve discipline. It does \u2013 and requires more so than other endeavors. For others, the quiet time is a \u201cdevotional\u201d time \u2013 and just that. It is viewed simply as a time when a believer can channel the deepest of his emotions and desires towards God. Again, I\u2019m not here to say that having a good quiet times doesn\u2019t involve devotion, for it does indeed. Yet, while we often associate quiet times with the terms \u201cdiscipline\u201d and \u201cdevotion,\u201d one must ask: how often do we associate quiet times with the word \u201cdiscipleship?\u201d Simply put, when was the last time you referred to the hour you spent reading your Bible and praying to God as the hour of the day when Christ was discipling you? That we don\u2019t refer to quiet times as times of discipleship may be a result of our forgetting that the quiet time was meant to be a time in which two parties \u2013 not one \u2013 are present: you and God.<\/p>\n

But the quiet time should be viewed one\u2019s time of discipleship with the Lord because, simply put, that\u2019s exactly what it is. Discipleship involved two parties \u2013 the discipler and the disciplee. The quality of the discipleship, then, depends on both \u2013 not just one \u2013 of them. The discipleship will not take place when one party is absent. The quiet time for the Christian, similarly, involved two parties \u2013 himself and God. For during those times, God is present with you and you alone \u2013 comforting you, convicting you, encouraging you, and teaching you to conform more like His Son through the power of His Spirit. The Word of God is in fact living and active, not dead and static. Consider this change in perspective: It\u2019s not so much about what you\u2019re reading as it is what He\u2019s saying. It\u2019s not so much about what you\u2019re learning, as much as it is about what He\u2019s teaching you. It\u2019s not so much about your spending time with Him as much as it is His spending time with you. Let\u2019s humbly face the reality that the quality of our quiet times depends not on our personal discipline and resolve as much as it depends on God\u2019s faithfulness to opening up our hearts and inclining them to understand His Word. It\u2019s not about our works as it is about His grace. It\u2019s not so much about how we have focused our hearts on God as much as it is how He has inclined our hearts to want to listen to His Word. Thus, instead of asking yourself, \u201cwhat did I read today,\u201d ask yourself, \u201cwhat did He tell me today, through His word?\u201d Instead of asking, \u201chow have I been praying,\u201d start asking yourself, \u201chow has God been answering my prayers?\u201d View your reading Genesis as the time when God is reminding you of how things came to be. View your reading Proverbs as the time when God is imparting His wisdom onto you. View your time in 1 Peter as God\u2019s letter to you to remain steadfast through times of affliction and persecution.<\/p>\n

To conclude, I\u2019m not denying the reality of personal commitment and faithfulness in cultivating a quiet time. But I am advocating a change in perspective for many of us \u2013 including myself. It\u2019s time to start seeing this \u201chub\u201d of the Christian life as a time of discipleship between God and you. Acknowledge Him<\/em>. Revere Him<\/em>. Depend on Him<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Pastor JR Cuevas If you abide in My Word, then you are truly disciples of Mine The great men of the faith deemed it as the Christian soldier\u2019s most important activity. It\u2019s that activity in which a believer can experience strength, comfort, conviction, encouragement, and exhortation all at the same time. It\u2019s that activity […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":469,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastors-corner"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/469"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}