For the Purpose of Godliness...

Here is a question for you all:  To what end are we disciplining ourselves?  Or, to what end are we simplifying our lives?  The answer to this question was the topic of our discussion last night.  Kathy R. lead us through a great discussion that reminded us why we are simplifying.  The answer?  For the purpose of godliness.  It is appropriate that these chapters are placed in the middle of the book, since we often need reminding...our purpose in all of our plans, goals and work is, for the purpose of godliness (yes...and to glorify God!).  Here were some of the main points of the evening:

• We need to pursue godliness.  We need to be intentional and disciplined.  If we put in the work, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will begin to see the disciplines woven into the fabric of our lives.
• We must avoid legalism in our pursuit of godliness.  We need to keep in mind that even though we all have the same goal, the way we go about achieving it may be different for all of us.
• As we evaluate whether we are incorporating these disciplines into our daily lives we must realize that we often practice more than one discipline at a time.  For example, we might be fellowshiping with other believers and at the same time remembering the word and asking good questions.
• Kathy talked about all the methods that she uses for remembering important things at work and at home.  She uses calendars, planners, post-it-notes etc.  And then she encouraged us to use all these methods to also remind us of our spiritual disciplines.  For example, that goal that we may have set to recite a memory verse 4 times a day...post it notes, cell-phone alarm, note in the bathroom?  All these could serve to remind us to work towards our spiritual goals.
• This took us to the topic of remembering to pray for others, which was of great concern to many.  Here were some suggestions:
• pray with people right away when they ask for prayer
• write it down write away...on your hand if need be :)
• use the TRBC prayer list given to us at the beginning of the year
• focus on just a few people and then pray for others as the Lord brings them to mind.

Thank you Kathy for leading us through such an edifying discussion!  It was so good to be back fellowshiping with one another!  May the Lord bless you all as you read through the next section...pages 153-162.