Reprogrammed by God

I’m lovin’ Richard J. Foster’s book, Life With God. In particular, the section about the importance of Spiritual Disciplines.  ‘Spiritual Disciplines’ might sound like a spiritual hoity-toity, no-fun-at-all religious term. But what it actually means is the many and varied ways we come before God: fasting and prayer, study and service, submission and solitude, confession and worship, meditation and silence, simplicity, frugality, secrecy, sacrifice, celebration, and the like.

Why is it so important to come before God by way of a spiritual discipline?  Because we cannot, by direct effort, make ourselves into the kind of people who can live full alive to God.  Only God can accomplish this in us.  Only God can incline our hearts to Him.  Only God can reprogram the deeply ingrained habit patterns of sin that constantly predispose us toward evil and transform them into even more deeply ingrained habit patterns of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

A Spiritual Discipline is an intentionally directed action by which we do what we can do in order to receive from God the ability (or power) to do what we cannot do by direct effort.

Spiritual Disciplines in and of themselves have no power whatsoever.  Their purpose – and their only purpose – is to place us before God. Then the grace of God steps in and takes this simple offering of ourselves and creates out of it the kind of person who embodies the goodness of God.  This is the process God uses to produce in us the kind of person who reflects His character to a broken and hurting world.

Thanks again, Mr. Foster.  Great stuff!