Week Three of Cultivate Delight, where we are actively planning our spiritual endeavors this coming week with the goal of a consistent time spent engaging our hearts with Christ in his word, in prayer, and in reflection. Below are some starting points for reflection, and I hope you find them helpful. The goal is to not rush through these and then get on with your day. Take your time and reflect throughout the week on these items. Come back often and let your heart be refreshed in the love of Christ for you.
“The whole Bible, properly understood, has this divine purpose and effect: to communicate or display the glory of God. And this pervasive aim of the Scriptures to glorify God, in what they teach and how they teach it, reveals the handiwork of God in the writing of the Bible.”
– John Piper
Bible Reading
Psalm 6-14
Old Testament
(Two-year plan)
Matthew 11-15
New Testament
(One-year plan)
Liturgy – Westminster Shorter Catechism
Question 3: What do the scriptures principally teach?
The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man. (2 Tim. 1:13, 2 Tim. 3:16)
2 Timothy 1:13
Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. (ESV)
Christians are called to make themselves do something they would not naturally do – pursue the spiritual disciplines – in order to become what they’ve always wanted to be, that is, like Jesus Christ. ‘Discipline yourself,’ says the Scripture, ‘for the purpose of godliness.’
Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
Prayer
You have written your glory upon the skies,
upon our hearts,
and in the pages of our holy book,
your Bible.
Just as all of creation declares your magnificence and glory,
so too do the pages of the Scriptures;
declaring your majesty and mercy,
your grace.
Lord, my heart must confess that I am at times ambivalent toward your Word.
I come to the Bible with an improper attitude.
I come with an attitude of feigning interest.
I come simply because I want to say that I have come.
Lord, change my heart.
Enlighten my heart to see the glorious richness of your Word.
Let my heart be wooed by the beauty of Christ.
The beauty of Christ found only in your written Word.
Father, I come to your Word just as I am.
Do not let me leave this time in your Word the same.
Take my heart and my mind and transform them.
Transform them to be more in love with Christ.
Jesus, meet with me in this quiet time of reflecting on this Word.
Put within me a hunger that is only satisfied by your Words.
Put within me a thirst that is only quenched by the Spirit being poured into me.
Satisfy me and enliven me to your holiness,
your mercy,
your grace,
your love.