20140302 spiritual training

SPIRITUAL TRAININGBible readings: 1 Corinthians 9:19-27 (page 811)John 1:35-51 (page 750)

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1Wednesday, 19 March 2014

• 40 Days of Lent.

• Recalls the 40 days Jesus fasted in the wilderness.

• A time of spiritual cleansing and preparation through self denial, repentance and prayer.

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• The thing God most desires of us is that we live a Holy Spirit filled, God-centred life while living in this world.

• What is a God-centred life?

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• To be aware of God’s presence from waking to sleeping.

• The first thought is “what do You Lord want me to do today?”

• To do what the Lord requires joyfully.

• To be filled with His peace while rushing to work.

• To hear hear His voice among all the other voices of the day.

• To see people the way jesus sees them.

• To see others’ needs as important as your own.

• To be able to answer a difficult situation with wisdom, grace and truth.

• To see Jesus in every situation.

• To be so in touch with the mind of God that what you think or say or do is what Jesus would say or do.

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• “They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit;” (Acts 6:5, NIV84)

• “And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.” (Acts 6:8, NKJV)

• “And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.” (Acts 6:10, NKJV)

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What does a God-centred life look like?


• “When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him.” (Acts 7:54–60, NKJV)

• Stephen’s life was so centred on God that he continued to be aware of Jesus even while under great stress and being attacked.

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What does a God-centred life look like?


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Aiming to live a God-centred life


• The only things that stop a normal healthy person from running a marathon

• Training

• The will to do it

• A trainer

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Aiming to live a God-centred life


• Aiming to live a God-centred life.

• The only things that stop anyone living a God centred life every day:

• Training

• The will to do it

• A trainer - Holy Spirit

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• Spiritual Training

• There are three things the training must overcome

• The lust of the flesh

• The lust of the eyes

• The pride of Life

• “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.” (1 John 2:16, NKJV)

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• Overcoming the pressures.

• The challenge of the season of Lent is maintaining a training program to overcome the three forces that prevent us from living a God Centred life.10

Lust of the flesh

Lust of the eyes Pride of life

The circle represents the God-Centred life. Internal and external pressures can crush and distort.


• The flesh.

• “Flesh” has two meanings in Scripture:

• Human beings“A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All men (flesh) are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.” (Isaiah 40:6, NIV84)

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• The flesh.

• “Flesh” has two meanings in Scripture:

• Fallen human personality.

• The body, mind, and emotions operating outside the presence and influence of the Holy Spirit.

• “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)” (Ephesians 2:1–5, NLT)

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• The flesh.

• When we believe and become a Christian we do not suddenly become perfect.

• The direction of our life is changed but there is a lot within us that rises up to stop us living a God-centred life.

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• The flesh.

• When we believe and become a Christian we do not suddenly become perfect.

• The direction of our life is changed but there is a lot within us that rises up to stop us living a God-centred life.

• “I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.” (Romans 7:21–25, NLT)

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• What is sin?

• The ten commandments define sin by actions. Eg. “You shall not steal.”

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• What is sin?


• The deeper spiritual problem: spiritual amnesia-forgetting about God most of the day.

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• What is sin?



• Most don’t consciously rebel against God we just forget Him until we are reminded.

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• What is sin?



• Most don’t consciously rebel against God we just forget Him until we are reminded.

• Why? Because of patterns of thinking and behaviour that have been formed without reference to God.

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• What is sin?

• The ungodly patterns of thinking and behaving have been shaped by the desire (lust) of the flesh:

“I want to please myself.”“I want to do what makes me feel good.”

• “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” (Romans 8:5, NKJV)

• “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” (Romans 8:5, NIV84)

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• How Do We Overcome The Flesh?

• How do we create and maintain God-centred thinking and behaving?

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• Fasting. Self Denial.Giving up food is a simple and effective way of denying the desires of the flesh the “I want” of life.

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• Fasting. Self Denial.Giving up food is a simple and effective way of denying the desires of the flesh the “I want” of life.

• The principle of fasting: voluntarily giving up something you like for a spiritual reason.

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• How does fasting (giving up food) work spiritually?

• Every time we feel hungry and want to eat we remind ourselves, “I’m doing this for God.”

• We are reminded of God all through the day - because we are hungry.

• We begin to create a pattern of remembering God throughout the day.

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• How does fasting (giving up food) work spiritually?

• We resist the temptation to eat because of our commitment to the Lord.

• We create a pattern of saying “No” to the desires of the flesh and “Yes” to the Holy Spirit.

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• Fasting is not an option for Christians.

• Jesus said, “When you fast . . .” (Matthew 6:16, NIV84)

• The first Christians fasted and prayed.Acts 13:2, Acts 14:23, 1 Corinthians 7:5

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• Lent is the traditional time for all Christians to fast.

• The are many ways of fasting and practising self denial.

• Lent starts Wednesday 12 March.

• Our goal: to live a more God- centred life.

• The challenge is to allow the Holy Spirit to create and strengthen God centred thinking and behaving in our daily life.

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20140302 spiritual training

Spiritual

godcentred life

god centred life

god centred life

mind of god

glory of god

thing god

right hand of god

eyes pride of life