"But He would often withdraw to desolate places and pray."
Luke 5:16
Exciting people claim to detest routine and habitual behaviour. They thumb their noses over their sidewalk skinny decaf soy lattés at those boring people whose lives are regulated by such plain things as habits. But, on behalf of the boring people of this world, I feel it is time to offer a defence of habits and say something positive on behalf of its boring cousin: routines. You see, Habits and its cousin Routines have saved my life more than once. I have them to thank for my amazement that I can get anything done.¶ Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.John 6:15
Jesus had two outstanding habits. He often went out by Himself to pray. Dr Luke tells us that He often went out at night to pray to His Father all night. Jesus made spiritual disciplines a habit. From about the age of 15, over these past 35 years I have tried to copy Christ's practice of making certain spiritual disciplines a habit. I honestly cannot recall a day in my life in all that time when I have neglected the habit of reading Scripture. I confess, there have been times when I have practiced this spiritual discipline because it was a habit rather than for more noble reasons. But I can also say that in not just a times I have received delightful illumination that has nourished both my soul and mind.Christ's other notable habit was to withdraw when He was crowded. Jesus made it a habit to be alone. He didn't build His identity or worth on what the crowds thought about Him. (I wonder if Jesus would have had a Facebook account if it was available then?) The Son of God withdrew when crowded by people to be alone, but not just alone - alone with His Father. This is a great habit to develop for those who feel their emotions are somehow determined by others."Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place."
John 5:13
DANIEL AND HOME
In the account of Daniel we learn that this exiled statesman developed habits which were well known. He habitually prayed. "Habitually" means that he adopted a certain place and a certain time to pray. His enemies knew it and attempted to use it for their advantage. This of course led to Daniel being thrown into the lions' den. But even with knowledge of this threat, Daniel maintained his habit of prayer - in public view (in front of his window!).I have a habit of Bible reading as a first thing in the morning practice. I have a habit of praying when I move. If you ever embark on a car trip with the Corbetts, you'll discover that we have a habit that we always practice (you'll have to ask my children what that is). The other day, my 22 year old son came home from University. He got in our family car and immediately initiated our family habit.¶ When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.
Daniel 6:10
At our family dinner we continue to welcome Habits into our home along with its cousin. In fact, we have made Routine an adopted member of our family! Each night at 6PM, Kim has our family dinner on our dining table. Our family assembles. We hold hands and give thanks to God for our food and blessings, and ask Him to provide for our sponsor children. Then we eat. Bt while we're eating we have Habits remind us of its presence at our dinner table. We then answer then 'the question of the day'. (If you're familiar with our Romans Bible Studies you will see that we have included many of our family's questions of the day at the start of each of these Bible Studies.)
BAD HABITS
The New Testament warns against bad habits. One in particular the writer of the Hebrews raises where he states that some believers had developed the habit of neglecting to assemble on Sunday for the church meeting. Conversely, he reminds his readers that attending church each Sunday was a spiritually good habit because it resulted in strengthening, encouraging, and ministry. He seems to say that some had made it a habit to neglect church because they were ruled by their feelings, whims, and energy levels - rather than by doing what was right. Attending church because we love Jesus and want to love what He loves is the noblest motive for church attendance, but attending it because its a good habit is commended by Scripture.
Jesus habitually withdrew when corwded in - but He habitally went to the synagogue each Sabbath to worship with God's people - even when that Synagogue was full of people who wanted to kill Him! (Luke 4:28-29) To follow Christ is to form the habit of attending church each week.not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:25
Good habits save you time (putting your keys in a regular place). Good routines save your life (washing your hands before eating, brushing your teeth after meals). The Bible encourages both. The Scriptures offer examples who developed good habits of prayer, Bible reading, and corporate worship.
As many of you know, I have a lot of demands upon my time: a live weekly radio program; production of a weekly audio podcast; a major sermon each week; an article each week; the producing of a documentary on FW Boreham; supervising dozens of Bible school students undertaking their diplomas and degrees; organising the Tasmanian tour of Dr Hugh Ross; coordinating the Launceston Easter Community Festival; hosting the Bass Meet Your Candidate Forum; managing105.3WayFM; pastoring our church; being involved in junior tennis development in Tasmania; completing a graduate course in Biblical Greek; and consulting to various organisations. The only way I can manage each of these is by developing habits and routines. The only way.
"But Habits and Routines are boring!" you scoff. "Yes they are", I might reply. But sometimes 'boring' looks good compared to the ups and downs of trying to be "random" / "spontaneous" / "exciting". As Warren Buffett said, his method of saving and investing his money was way too boring for most people. Warren Buffett recently retired with a net worth of $60Billion! I think there is a similar spiritual application. It might be 'boring' to develop the habit of daily reading your Bible. But it will build the wealth of your soul. The routine of taking time to pray each day might seem to be tedious and dull, but it's what our Lord did and it too will add wealth to your spiritual bank account. This is why I say "Thank you" to everyone who compliments me with the accolade, "You're boring!" Of course, not everything I do is "boring". I'd like to say more about this, but I have to meet Bert at a routine meeting of The Button Collectors' Club so I'll just leave you at this point of exciting suspense in our conversation.
Ps. Andrew
Have you ever considered how differently someone would live if their life utterly loved God? Every decision they made would be filtered through their passoinate love for God. The use of their time, talent and treasure would be reprioritised to maximise their love of God. They would be difficult to offend and yet easy to disappoint. They would not be able to remain indifferent or even silent when others are being hurt because of God dishonouring decisions. They would rest in the knowledge that the God they love utterly is incomprehensively powerful and in sovereign control of His universe, and in particular: them. But there is a mystery that those who love God are often left to ponder.
How much of your life do you control? What, with circumstances, people, accidents, weather, opportunitites, all being often unpredictable variables in the shaping of your brief life, how much do you actually control? It's one of the great mysteries. How much of our life direction do you actually control? Our lives are not merely shaped by our actions and decisions, but by other even more immediate factors such as, upbringing. This is why sarcasm says a person must choose their parents well! Our lives are also shaped by the decisions of others, including corporations and governments. This is why sarcasm pipes up again and adds its sage advice:choose your country of birth and upbringing carefully! With so many factors not in our control how can we possibly order our lives in the direction and shape we want them to go and become? Here is part of the answer.
Jesus told us to enter into 'life' (eternal) by striving to enter through the narrow gate. When you love you strive. Christ didn't say to His followers, "Hope that you float on over and drift through the narrow gate." Jesus clearly demonstrated what striving looked like. He strove because He loved His Father.
While we strive to navigate our ship across the ocean of life, every wave, every obstacle, every storm is yielded to God's sovereignty. When the caterpillar strives shortly after making its cocoon, I have it on good authority that when it tries to then break free from its cocoon, it is an utterlyunenjoyable experience! yet, it is this very act of striving which builds the strength it needs for the use of its wings.
It's an undeniable fact because it's so obvious. At the height of the Evangelical Awakening, the period around the 1960s to the 1980s (known as The Charismatic Renewal) the Church lessened its striving to take the Gospel into the world and simultaneously ceased striving for the truth in the Public Square. Europe seemed to fair worst. The result of this apathy (lack of striving) was not immediately apparent, but twenty to forty years later it is now painfully obvious. The rise of militant secularism capturing the political and academic landscape where policy decisions were made so that the populace were hoodwinked into accepting the assumption that atheism meant: "rational", "unbiased", "reasonable" (and conversely "Christianity" meant "biased", "irrational", "unreasonable"). Thus, in the last few years atheists have been emboldend by believing their own irrationality and have launched brazen attacks against the Church. But God had not only foreseen this, He had designed this for His glory! What these atheists did not count on, was that the Sovereign God would stir in the sould of those few who utterly love Him, to strive for His glory.
Ever wondered why you feel more drained when you experience setbacks and/or people are letting you down? There is a little discussed connection between what we feel and how it makes us feel. Rather than being thanked for our efforts we are criticized causing us to feel hurt and leading to us feeling physically drained. Someone makes a mistake and looks to you for help and while you're helping them get out of their mess they do it again ... and again ... and you soon feel tired ... drained. But this connection between what we feel (emotionally) and how we feel (physically) goes two ways. Our physical energy levels are bolstered by positive emotional experiences.
Church is a 'gym' for the soul, a 'fitness centre' for your spirit. It is in the assembling of the church that the believer joins in worship. This act of devotion is refreshing to the soul. We live in a world where individuality is prized. This can be healthy. But the way it is practised in the West, it is rarely good for our souls. It fosters self-centredness, selfishness, and hyper-introspection. These things are spiritually carcinogenic!
It's possible to be refreshed even in the midst of deep distress. In Acts 9, the Church was experiencing persecution and distress, yet it was refreshed bywalking in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. In actual fact, the best time to be refreshed (have your soul nourished, rested and restored) is in the midst of distress!
Christianity is often popularly thought of as being basically the same as all other religions. To the informed this assertion is literally: incredible. There are three outstanding reasons why Christianity is incredibly unique in the world of religious thought. The first is that Christianity alone has a divine Saviour. The second is that this divine Saviour graciously bestows God's favour on those He redeems. And the third is far less known outside of Christian circles...
All religions require devotion - a deep commitment to certain beliefs and practices. Christianity is certainly no exception in this regard. But there is a world of difference when it comes to how and why this devotion is done. Unlike every other religion, Christian devotion is supernaturally empowered by the Holy Spirit. The Christian is uniquely enabled to live their devotion in the Spirit. This is the secret of the Christian life. To be in the Spirit is to have "power" to be devoted to God.
The Christian journey begins uniquely. While other religions have "rights of passage" or "initiation rites" or ceremonies, Christianity begins with a profoundly supernatural transformation. It translates the redeemed from being lost, purposeless, and blind to in the Spirit. This causes the redeemed to be focussed, prioritised, and spiritually enabled to hear and see spiritual things.
When someone is in the Spirit their life is re-prioritised. The unappreciated important things now become appropriatedly important. People are no longer problems to be avoided but objects of consideration, care, and blessing. Difficult circumstances which previously determined our mood undergo a gaussian blur as they give-up their foreground position and retreat unnoticed into the background. Words offered thoughtlessly and uninvited increasingly become words of profundity, life and encouragement.
After John's time on Patmos, he was able to return to Jerusalem. Being in the Spirit his perspective of Jerusalem had now changed. He saw it as "Sodom and Egypt...where they crucified their Lord" (Rev. 11:8), and in the language of Jeremiah, as "Babylon...the Harlot" (Rev. 17:5). He was now aware of true reality. In this instance, what many people thought of as pure, holy, God-approved, John, in the Spirit, now saw for what it really was. Discernment is not just a special gift of the Spirit, it is theperspective of the Spirit. Being in the Spirit makes you aware of spiritual opposition so that you maintain your focus on worshipping God! People who discern evil at work and get distracted by it are not fully in the Spirit. John was made aware of Jerusalem's Spiritual Leaders being like a Prostitute who was full of 'blasphemous names' but he remained in the Spirit to continue to focus on God - His glory, and His plan of redemption.
While it seemed like 'all hell' was breaking loose against the Church of the Apostle John's day, he was able to be in the Spirit and thereby given a different perspective. Does life feel like 'all hell' is breaking loose at the moment? Walk in the Spirit. A major component of this is opening yourself up to God to be in the Spirit is others. When you arein the Spirit you adopt a concern for others despite what you are going through. Note what Paul the Apostle says happens when a believer 'prays in the Spirit' -
Ephesians 6:18 starts off in the Spirit and ends with supplication for all the saints. Once in the Spirit the believer becomes focussed on God and His glory, reprioritised to worship, and spiritually aware. They way they speak becomes life-giving. Their acts of kindness for others become divinely-timed - all because they are in the Spirit. This is the incredible difference between Christianity and all of the world's religions. While Christianity is a unique religion because it is birthed and lived out in the Spirit, what is largely unknown, is that this unique difference can only be accepted by someone when there is a work of the Spirit in their heart. And while we can see that following Christ is religiously unique and a profoundly divinely-spiritual enterprise, this does not justify the redeemed taking a posture of arrogance. On the contrary, the incredible difference that Christianity makes to a human soul also tames pride and infuses child-like humility.