Our Beautiful Fight
“Spiritual transformation is not about trying harder but training wisely.” John Ortberg
Meditation - “The ultimate freedom we have as human beings is the power to select what we will allow our mind to dwell on” - Dallas Willard. To experience lectio divina, or sacred reading is to saturate our minds with scripture. Read the scriptures, Study the scriptures, Pray the scriptures, Act on the scriptures.
Prayer - The purpose of prayer is worship and to nurture our relationship with God. Prayer is our response to what God has done and is doing in our lives.
Fasting - When we as Christ followers fast, we deny ourselves of something for a specific time, for a specific purpose in order to express the needs, concerns and desires of our heart to God. This includes expressing genuine brokenness over sin, concern for the poor, a longing to be more holy and an overall dependence on God.
Study - Through the study and reflection of scripture, we allow God to shape our minds and hearts so that the lives we live are reflective of Jesus’ life.
Simplicity - Simplicity is about eliminating the clutter in our lives so that we can come to a place of pure and singular devotion to God.
Solitude - When we build our lives around a framework of solitude, we mirror Christ’s own example of living. We allow God to speak through our hurried lives that so often distract us. Solitude helps us keep a healthy perspective.
Surrender - When we as Christ followers willfully and joyfully place our lives under God’s authority we offer up worship that honors God and allows Him to transform our lives and relationships.
Service- God created, saved, and transforms our lives so that we can serve one another in love. Service is about giving and investing ourselves into the lives that God has placed around us.
Confession- Confession between God and fellow Christ followers gives us the opportunity to be open and honest before God about our sin. As we admit our sin before God, we are able to claim His provision for it.
Guidance-. God’s guidance is personal and empowering but rarely logical, quick or easy. God is committed to making His wisdom available to us through Christ, scripture, prayer and counsel as we actively pursue God’s guidance and leadership in our lives.
Worship - Worship is about recognizing and giving up our whole being to God and aligning our lives in such a way that we allow the rhythm of worship to become a whole-life response to God. Only in worship will we find rest from the burdens of life.
Celebration - “Joy is the serious business of heaven” - C.S. Lewis. Just as we are called to fast and to quiet times so we are called to “loud” times of celebration. The joy rooted in God is compatible with any situation including pain and is to be a regular part of our lives.
These summaries were taken from Springdale’s Beautiful Fight message series.
