Finding our first King – then Kingdom – then Church balance is important for our spirituality. Obviously we have given this much thought, but you should investigate this yourself. Our purpose for pursuing this was to make sure we were prioritizing how we invested our time, our talents (gifts), and our treasures (resources).
Having an effective and growing strategic plan for spiritual life it is imperative to set markers which come from the Word of God you can use as your compass throughout your journey. We’ve tweaked this allot through the years, but having a plan for cultivating deeper is key. Deeper can simply be defined as where we go in God. Because our Creator is unlimited we have plenty of room to go deeper, and this begins with finding our own Word compass. This is the intent of most spiritual training (church programs, Bible schools, and seminary training). It is interesting that the Jews were well educated at the time of Jesus, and yet here is what is said about His disciples (after Jesus had risen from the dead and ascended to Heaven):
“Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13
√ What were the observations about the disciples?
√ What was their primary qualifier?
√ How does this differ from men and women who want to follow Him in discipleship as well?
It seems that “being with” Jesus is what fuels Kingdom spirituality.
This is why we have churches, schools, and seminaries. It is why as they grew up the Jews were taught Torah (the Law and prophets and the Psalms), and then for life decisions as they came into adulthood. The religious leaders were all trained this way, yet Jesus’ conflict with them far exceeded His issues with Roman rulers.
This leads us to the conclusion that what made Jesus’ disciples effective for the Kingdom was predicated upon His Father being with Him. How can we duplicate such a growth environment? It seems we must dedicate a significant part of who we are to being “with” Him. This means we MUST go DEEPER into His Word to develop the kind of connectivity that is empowered by the relationship we have described in previous podcast sessions: through His Son Jesus, His Word, and through His Holy Spirit. This is the ultimate “God honor.”
To design a deeper plan for your spirituality you must include significant dedication to knowing the Word of God and allowing the Bible to interpret itself. When we learn to follow and consult the woven threads of scripture there is little wiggle room regarding proper interpretation (which addresses the “that’s just your interpretation” argument). This means a “scribe of the Kingdom” must not only be motivated but also learn and apply skills which allow best interpretation based upon original intent of language and context. Such context is both immediate (the chapter and book or letter in which you are reading) and panoramic, in that we take into account the context of the entire Word of God on a particular thread (such as obedience, faith, sin, hope, Jesus, the future, etc). Make sense?
If you have a desire to grow and hone such skills we offer a course in the Fourthstream nav bar titled Deeper. It comes with a number of video teachings and a workbook to allow this to happen for you, and to prepare you to help others do the same. We often refer to this process:
Encounter the Reference/take the time and have a plan.
Expose the Meaning/flow, words, context, and intent.
Enlighten Your Heart/What did it mean to them/what does it mean to you?
Once you have completed this course feel free to reach out at [email protected] with any questions, observations, or strategic conversations.
Here is the link to the course. You can print a pdf guide for free or order a printed booklet. The video teachings are in the section links within the course.
Enjoy the adventure! You won’t regret it.
Dave and Burnadette