Your Devotional Life – Forgetting Self and Remembering Christ

Minnesota District Teachers Conference

Martin Luther College

October 21, 2022

Rules

• Drink and drain at will
• Stand up, fluff your pillow as needed
• Comment, question at any point

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Getting Acquainted

• Tell us your name and where you serve

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• Share one thought, feeling, or question that you have about a devotional life today

John Boeder�Campus Pastor

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When you think of a devotional life, what comes to mind?

Forgetting Self

“ I had to learn the hard way (the only way?) that the gospel alone can free us from the addiction to being liked – that Jesus measured up for us so that we wouldn’t have to live under the enslaving pressures of measuring up for others – including ourselves. Because of Jesus’ finished work, I already had the justification, approval, acceptance, security, freedom, affection, cleansing, new beginning, righteousness, and rescue I longed for. There was nothing left to prove or protect, no one to impress or appease. I could be okay with not being okay.” T. Tchividjian

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How does a devotional life enable you to forget self and focus on what God thinks of you?��What makes that helpful for you in your various roles?

God Equips You for Everything

“God will not give me humility or patience or holiness or love as separate gifts of his grace. He is not a retailer dispensing grace to us in packets, measuring out some patience to the impatient, some love to the unloving, some meekness to the proud, in quantities that we take and work on as a kind of capital. He has given only one gift to meet our need: His Son Christ Jesus…It does not matter what your personal deficiency is, or whether it be a hundred and one different things, God always has one sufficient answer, His Son Jesus Christ, and he is the answer to every human need.” Watchman Nee

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Your Devotional Life

Why?

What?

Where?

When?

How?

Personal Spiritual Growth Plan

For your personal spiritual growth plan, you will evaluate your spiritual goals, set new goals for your spiritual growth, and implement strategies for growth.

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Reflect and Evaluate

Life with God

Life with Others

Inner Life

Life with God

• Study of and meditation on God’s Word
• Prayer
• Worship
• Group Bible study
• Service using one’s spiritual gifts
• Christian giving

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Life with Others

• Encouraging, comforting, admonishing Christian friends, students, co-workers, etc.
• Witnessing (in life and word) to non-Christian acquaintances
• Humility
• Charity/ Kindness
• Honesty/ Integrity
• Self-control (in the areas of anger, alcohol, etc.)

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Inner Life

• Peace
• Joy
• Forgiving and compassionate spirit
• Patience/ Hope
• Repentance

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Goals and Strategies

As a dearly loved child of God bought with the precious blood of Christ, you can set goals without the pressure of earning God’s love or favor. God loves you more than you know in Christ. You want to forget self and focus on Christ – his love and gifts to you.

Goals and Strategies

You will develop a specific goal, related to your reflection in Part 1. You will describe steps you want to take in order to reach your goal. You know God grows his people through the means of grace. How will you incorporate those? You might identify Christians who can serve as mentors or who will provide support and accountability. You could also list resources like books, podcasts, etc. that will be useful.

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Goals and Strategies

• S – Specific
• M – Measurable
• A – Achievable
• R – Relevant
• T – Time-bound

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Example Goal and Strategy

I would like to “bring out of my storeroom new

treasures as well as old.”

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Goals and Strategies

• S – Specific – read God’s Word
• M – Measurable – chapter/day
• A – Achievable – morning at home or classroom
• R – Relevant – “new treasures”
• T – Time-bound – daily, Mon-Fri?

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Daily Quiet Time with God

A quiet time is a daily time I set aside to be alone with God to grow closer to Him through Bible study and prayer.

Choose a specific time.

1. The best time to have quiet time is when I am at my best.

2. “The best time to tune your instrument is before you play the concert, not after!”

3. You remember 56% of the last thing you hear before you go to bed.

4. Whatever time you set, be consistent!

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Choose the amount of time

1. Start with ?? minutes and let it grow.

2. Don’t watch the clock.

3. Emphasize quality, not quantity.

Choose a Special Place

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Mark 1:35

Follow a Simple Plan: 5 R’s

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Relax (1 minute)

Read (4 minutes)

Reflect (4 minutes)

Record or Write (2 minutes)

Request (4 Minutes)

Reflect

• Use 3 Questions
• What does it say ?
• What does it mean ?
• What does it mean for me?

Reflect

• Use Luther’s Fourfold Strand
• Instruction – What is God teaching me?
• Thanksgiving – For what is God calling me to be thankful?
• Confession – What is God asking me to confess?
• Prayer – What is my response to God?

6 P’s

1. Picture it: visualize the scene in your mind
2. Pronounce it: speak verse out loud while emphasizing a different word each time
3. Paraphrase it: put it in your own words
4. Personalize it: replace personal pronouns with name of self or others
5. Pray it: say verse back to God
6. Probe it: ask questions of verse (SPACEPETS)

� S.P.A.C.E.P.E.T.S.

1. Sin to confess.
2. Promise to trust.
3. Attitude to change.
4. Christ to reveal.
5. Example to follow.
6. Prayer to pray.
7. Error to avoid.
8. Truth to tell.
9. Something to thank God for.

The Bible has 1 correct interpretation and many different applications.

Write Your Application

Most applications will focus on relationships:

1. With God.

2. Within myself.

3. With others.

Example Goal and Strategy

I would like to pray for my students “like jewels on my breastplate.”

Goals and Strategies

• S – Specific – prayer time
• M – Measurable – chose people to pray for
• A – Achievable – morning at home or classroom
• R – Relevant – “powerful and effective”
• T – Time-bound – daily, Mon-Fri?

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Daily Prayer Time

A daily prayer time is a daily time I set aside to be alone with God to love him and his people by praying for them.

Example Goal and Strategy

I would like daily forgiveness for besetting sins

which will empower me to fight those

temptations.

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Goals and Strategies

• S – Specific – read forgiveness verses, talk to a friend/pastor
• M – Measurable – once/week
• A – Achievable – special time set aside
• R – Relevant – forgiveness
• T – Time-bound – once/week when we both have uninterrupted time

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