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“Be determined in discipline; don’t slack off. Protect it, for it is your life.” Prov. 4:13.

Life Point Church was three-years-old. God was faithful to grow me as a man and a leader during the church planting journey. However, I realized that I was not doing enough on my own to get all God wanted to give me in my relationship with Him. I journaled sporadically but did not have a regular way of capturing God’s communications to me. God normally speaks to me through His word and circumstances, usually, by applying His word to the unique situations He leads me through. I realized most of those moments when God was revealing himself to me were lost because I was not capturing them. I decided to make an investment that cost me something. I found a Bible with really wide margins, but it cost exactly $99. I didn’t have extra money lying around, but I knew capturing God’s messages to me was the best investment I could make (Prov. 3:13-15). I bought the Bible. It was genuine leather and even had my name engraved on it. It was an exciting event just to open it each time! If I had all day, I could not tell you everything God revealed to me about Himself, me and, life that I wrote in the margins of that Bible. That one investment catalyzed a whole season of growth in my life.

Maybe you are like me and find yourself in a season of not paying close enough attention to God’s voice and activity in your life. The above verse says, “Don’t slack off!” “It is your life!” Our spiritual discipline and progress in knowing Jesus are all we have of value in our lives, and it is all we have to offer to our families, churches, and the lost world.

So friends, “Be determined in discipline!” Ask God what spiritual disciplines you need to re-engage to progress further in Him. The disciplines clear the fog around us, allowing us to see Jesus. I like Richard Foster’s list and description of spiritual disciplines in Celebration of Discipline. Amber likes Donald Whitney’s in Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Whatever you use, let’s be “determined in discipline…don’t slack off. It is our life.”

Scripture translation by Tremper Longman III