Psalms of Discipleship. Principle #42 (Worship). July 19, 2014

Hello my dear friends! Are you JOYful or joyLESS today? That is the theme of today's Psalms of Discipleship. One of the ways we can increase our joy is to increase our thankfulness.

This quote from Michael Hyatt frames our discussion:

The truth is that we will never have more of what we truly desire until we become fully thankful for what we have. —Michael Hyatt

A thankful heart always leads to a joyful one.

Learning with you,

Denny

Psalms of Discipleship—Principle #42

Life Principles For Those Who Choose To Follow Jesus And Live The Discipled Life

Key Scripture: Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth. Psalm 100:1

Core Value: Worship

Joy, exuberant joy, is a vital commodity for the disciple of Jesus Christ. There are some who simply endure their brand of Christianity. Their faith is nothing more than a mundane religious experience—a lot of activity but offers nothing that ever produces any measure of joy. How sad. How frequent. How come?

Often, it is because they have replaced a relationship with God founded upon love (grace) and embraced a religion based upon performance (works).

Those who “enJoy” the Lord have discovered the power behind their ability to experience joy, no matter how challenging the present circumstance may be. They experience His joy and receive His strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

Here is the takeaway: God never requires us to do something without first giving us all of the resources we need to obey Him. In this case, we are able to shout joyfully to the Lord because He has filled our heart with joy. He gives it. We give it right back to Him.

Principle #42 & Personal Application: Quality disciples shout joyfully to the Lord.

• When we are full of His joy we shout.

• When we are full of His joy we shout joyfully to the Lord.

• When we are full of His joy we shout joyfully to the Lord along with all the earth.

Reflect & Respond: Some Really Good Questions To Ponder…

How does it make you feel when you experience the joy of the Lord?

In what ways does His joy impact your worship of Him?

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, my worship of You is prompted by Your grace that fills my heart. Because of all You have done for me I will shout joyfully to You along with all the earth.

You can learn how to live as a Quality Disciple and a DiscipleMaker4Jesus by visiting my website at www.dennybates.com and my teaching blog at http://thequalitydisciple.blogspot.com

Psalms of Discipleship. Principle #12 (Evangelism). March 31, 2013

Hello dear friends! I write this edition of Psalms of Discipleship to you on Easter morning. As disciples of Jesus we know that the resurrection of our Lord gives meaning to EVERYTHING we believe and practice. The resurrection is a stark reminder that our lives do not belong to us but to Him. Because He lives, we do also. And because He lives in us, we need to be about the business of reaching out to those who have yet to embrace the Good News that Jesus loves them too.

He is Risen. He is Risen Indeed!

Denny

Psalms of Discipleship—Principle #12

Life Principles For Those Who Choose To Follow Jesus And Live The Discipled Life

Key Scripture: 9 Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, That glory may dwell in our land. 10 Lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Psalm 85:9-10

Core Value: Evangelism

For the disciple of Jesus, salvation occurs every day. No, I am not referring to having a daily “born again” experience. Once we receive God’s gift of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice for our sins, His Spirit seals us for the day of redemption. We are saved, forever. What I am suggesting is that there is also a salvation that is a daily sanctification where Jesus saves us from ourselves every day. Scripture refers to this as “working out our salvation.”

Here is where many people outside of the family of God miss it: this kind of work is to occur after the beginning of eternal life takes place, not before. There are some who think they can work themselves into a state of salvation by being good enough, being right enough, being disciplined enough, or being worthy enough to make it to heaven. It is called the way of works and this way will never allow a person to have a saving relationship with the One who is called the Way, the Truth, and the Life. On the other hand, as a result of responding to His grace and experiencing what the Bible describes as saving faith, there are others who embrace the teachings of Jesus and begin to work out their salvation—day by day.

Here is the take-a-way. Saved people, those who have experienced new life in Jesus and who are growing in their relationship with Him, seek to reach out to those who are still trying to work themselves to heaven.

Principle #12 & Personal Application: Quality disciples know how to share the precious message of the Gospel with those who are in need of His salvation.

• The good news is that His salvation is near to those who fear (greatly respect) Him. So, whoever calls upon the Name of the Lord will be saved.

• The good news is that His lovingkindness and truth have met together. So, we have a salvation not based upon a myth and legalism but a salvation based upon love and truth.

• The good news is that righteousness and peace have kissed each other. So, we who are saved have been given right standing before a Holy and Righteous God finding a peace that only comes from knowing Jesus.

Reflect & Respond: Some Really Good Questions To Ponder…

Who in my inner circle of family and friends need to hear the Gospel from my lips?

Why is the peace of Christ so intimately related to my salvation?

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, because of Your love and grace to me I have experienced Your salvation. Continue to hold me near to You. I praise You for Your lovingkindness and truth: they have met together. I thank You that You have allowed righteousness and peace to have kissed each other, granting me right standing and peace with You.

The Essential Core Values Of The Quality Disciple Are…

Grace—Worship—Bible Study—Prayer—Community—Service—Evangelism

Dr. Denny Bates & Something New Christian Publishers © 2013 All rights reserved.

You can learn how to live as a Quality Disciple and a DiscipleMaker4Jesus by visiting my website at www.dennybates.com and my teaching blog at http://www.dennybates.com/#!blog/c1a4e

Psalms of Discipleship. Principle #8 (Grace) March 2, 2013

Hello my dear friends! There are many days I come to the end of my strength. Some call this experience "running on fumes." Jackson Browne wrote about it when he said,

Running on-running on empty
Running on-running blind
Running on-running into the sun
But I'm running behind

Here is what I am suggesting we need to consider. When we are running on empty, running in our own strength, we need to "run into the Son."

Just sayin,

Denny

Psalms of Discipleship—Principle #8

Life Principles For Those Who Choose To Follow Jesus And Live The Discipled Life

Key Scripture: 5 How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, In whose heart are the highways to Zion! 6 Passing through the valley of Baca they make it a spring; The early rain also covers it with blessings. 7 They go from strength to strength, Every one of them appears before God in Zion. Psalm 84:5-7

Core Value: Grace

Life can be hard, challenging, overwhelming, exhausting, and impossible to bear. And sometimes, it can seem to get even worse. During stressful times, the human response is most always to trust in our own strength, our own way of thinking, our own way, our own will. And for a season, it may even appear that we are succeeding in winning the game of life. But no one can sustain this approach for long. After awhile, we will give in, we will give up, and we will be even worse off than where we started. Works will always produce exhausted people. A works-driven mindset will never work for the disciple of Jesus.

On the other hand, the grace-driven mindset discovers a strength that is from the Lord. The believer who lives by grace experiences the blessing of being on God’s path for them. And even during our times in the valley, a place of spiritual dryness and fatigue, grace leads us through the valley into an oasis of His love that quenches our thirst. And here is the best part: when Jesus fills our tank with His grace, we are empowered, “we go from strength to strength,” to live in victory. Escorted, empowered by grace, we find ourselves in the presence of the One who makes our strength, our victory, possible because of the Cross.

Principle #8 & Personal Application: Quality disciples express a deep gratitude for God's sustaining strength.

• The disciple is blessed with God's sustaining strength: How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, In whose heart are the highways to Zion!

• The disciple finds a spiritual oasis during the driest of times: Passing through the valley of Baca they make it a spring; The early rain also covers it with blessings.

• The disciple lives out a habit of living in God's strength: They go from strength to strength, Every one of them appears before God in Zion.

Reflect & Respond: Some Really Good Questions To Ponder…

In what ways can I make it a habit to trust in the Lord's strength when I want to trust in mine?

For me, what does it look like in my life when I go from strength to strength?

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I am blessed because my strength is in You. When I experience spiritual dryness, may I be satisfied in the waters of Your blessing. And may I live my life, going from strength to strength.

The Essential Core Values Of The Quality Disciple Are…
Grace—Worship—Bible Study—Prayer—Community—Service—Evangelism

Dr. Denny Bates & Something New Christian Publishers © 2013 All rights reserved.

You can learn how to live as a Quality Disciple and a DiscipleMaker4Jesus by visiting my website at www.dennybates.com and my teaching blog at http://www.dennybates.com/#!blog/c1a4e

Psalms of Discipleship. Principle #1 (Prayer). January 5, 2013

Hello my dear friends and a very happy new year to you! Today's Psalms of Discipleship is a good lesson to remind us once again that there is power in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It does what we cannot do. Save us and forgive us.

He is mighty to save.

Denny


Psalms of Discipleship—Principle #1

Life Principles For Those Who Choose To Follow Jesus And Live The Discipled Life

Key Scripture: Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; And deliver us and forgive our sins for Your name's sake. Psalm 79:9

Core Value: Prayer

There are some things we can fix, and there are some things that we cannot fix. The problem comes when we spend energy trying to fix the things we cannot fix and ignore the things we need to fix.

For example, we can fix our eyes on the unseen by having faith
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV)

We are to fix our eyes on His ways
I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. Psalm 119:15 (ESV)

We are to stay focused upon the right things
25 Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. 26 Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. 27 Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil. Proverbs 4:25-27 (NLT)

What we cannot fix is our own sin problem through works or trying to be better or to work harder. This is the message of the Gospel, the Good News: Only Jesus can deliver us and forgive us of our sins.

Principle #1 & Personal Application: Quality disciples look to Immanuel, God with us, for the cleansing power of His blood that not only delivers the sinner from the penalty of sin, but also forgives them of their sin.

• It is because of Jesus and His love for us that He is the God of our salvation

• It is because of Jesus and His great name that He is our deliverer

• It is because of Jesus and His shed blood that He is the forgiver and cleanser of our sins

Reflect & Respond: Some Really Good Questions To Ponder…

--> In what ways does the fact that Jesus is the God of my salvation cause me to live in obedience to Him?
 
Are there any sins that have entangled me where I need His deliverance and forgiveness?

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, help me, I pray; O God of my salvation. For the glory of Your name, deliver me from destructive habits and forgive me of my sins, for Your name’s sake.

The Essential Core Values Of The Quality Disciple Are…
Grace—Worship—Bible Study—Prayer—Community—Service—Evangelism

Dr. Denny Bates & Something New Christian Publishers © 2013 All rights reserved.

www.dennybates.com
http://thequalitydisciple.blogspot.com/

Are you looking for a helpful resource that will guide your spiritual growth in 2013? I'd like to recommend this book, "A One Year Journey With The Shepherd." Now in e-book and printed versions.

http://www.dennybates.com/#!a-one-year-journey-with-the-shepherd/c6pu

Psalms of Discipleship (Grace) Principle #9, March 10, 2012

Hello dear friends! I pray that all of you growing in your love for the Lord Jesus. This week's Psalms of Discipleship underscores just how important grace is when it comes to our spiritual vision. Without grace, all we see is a whole lot of legalism, works, and a wrong view of God. Grace allows us the best seat in the house. May we all enjoy the show.

In Christ,

Denny

Psalms of Discipleship—Principle #9

Life Principles For Those Who Choose To Follow Jesus And Live The Discipled Life

Key Scripture: 1 Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, For my soul takes refuge in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge Until destruction passes by. 2 I will cry to God Most High, To God who accomplishes all things for me. 3 He will send from heaven and save me; He reproaches him who tramples upon me. Selah. God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth. Psalm 57:1-3

Core Value: Grace

One way to look at the grace of God is to have a front row seat to the best show in town. From where we sit, no one is in the way to distract us, no one is in our line of sight. Contrast that view from having a seat at the back, behind a pillar, behind a person who has big hair. We hear what is going on and how the crowd is responding, but we can’t see a thing. Where we sit has huge implications in living the Christian life. The seat that the Lord provides us is free, undeserved, and is always the best seat in the house. It is all because of grace. This is what it means to be “in Christ”: (note the phrase “in Him)

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him 11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation -having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:2-14

How is the view from where you are sitting?

Principle #9 & Personal Application: Quality disciples are keenly aware of the need to run to God and take refuge in Him.

• Grace allows us to see God as a gracious God (vs. 1a)

• Grace allows us to find a safe place in God (vs. 1b)

• Grace allows us cry out to a Most High God who is working for our good (vs. 2)

• Grace allows us to trust Him for protection from those who are foes (vs. 3a)

• Grace allows us to be the recipients of His lovingkindess and His truth (vs. 3b)

Reflect & Respond: Some Really Good Questions To Ponder…

How has God been gracious to me?

What does it mean for me to take refuge in the Lord?

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, O my God, I thank You that it is in Your holy character to be gracious to me. My soul does take refuge in You. In the shadow of Your protective wings, I hide in them. I cry out to You, my God Most High. You are the One who accomplishes all things for me. You send from heaven my deliverance and protection from those who are my foes. You send to me Your lovingkindness and truth.

The Essential Core Values Of The Quality Disciple Are…
Grace—Worship—Bible Study—Prayer—Community—Service—Evangelism

Denny Bates & Something New Christian Publishers © 2012 All rights reserved.

A One Year Journey With The Shepherd is now in its second printing. Thanks for your support!

It is now available in print and eBook formats. See http://www.dennybates.com/Home/OneYearJourney.html for how you can purchase your copy today!

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www.dennybates.com
http://thequalitydisciple.blogspot.com/

Psalms of Discipleship--Principle #39--Grace--October 8, 2011

Hello my friends! I have just returned from the Catalyst Leadership Conference in Atlanta with a full heart and a tired body. All that I experienced can be best described as drinking from a fire hydrant. I'm still processing what I have heard, but one quote I will share with you as it pertains to this week's Psalms of Discipleship. "We can become tired doing the wrong things instead of doing the things God puts before us to do." In other words, we often work in our own strength, wasting our energy, doing the things that wear us out to the point where we find ourselves not having the energy to do the things that God is directing us to do. The bottom line? We face the ongoing challenge of living by works or by grace.

Learning with you,

Denny

Psalms of Discipleship—Principle #39

Life Principles For Those Who Choose To Follow Jesus And Live The Discipled Life

Key Scripture: 4 You are my King, O God; Command victories [or salvation] for Jacob. 5 Through You we will push back our adversaries; Through Your name we will trample down those who rise up against us. 6 For I will not trust in my bow, Nor will my sword save me. 7 But You have saved us from our adversaries, And You have put to shame those who hate us. 8 In God we have boasted all day long, And we will give thanks to Your name forever. Selah. 9 Yet You have rejected us and brought us to dishonor, And do not go out with our armies. Psalm 44:4-9

Core Value: Grace

There are two ways that people seek to live out the Christian life. One way is to try as hard as one can to appear spiritual. This means we pray more, study more, and serve more in the attempt to make God like us more. This leads to an obvious question: how much is enough in order to gain God’s favor? The second way, the biblical way, is to pray more, study more, and serve more as a response to God’s great love for us. This is the path of a grace-driven life. Consider this wonderful, freeing truth: Before we do one thing for God, we have already experienced His favor because of the finished work of Christ.

A note of background here: Psalm 44 is a wonderful contrast between grace (unmerited favor) and works (or performance). When we live by grace (God does it all) we experience an outcome we do not deserve. When we deviate from grace and live by works (We do it all) we experience an outcome we do deserve. In the context of this Psalm, all is going well until verse 9. May we not repeat the mistakes of our spiritual forefathers.

Principle #39 & Personal Application: The quality disciple must live by grace and not by works or grace will become spoiled.

• It is by grace that we are saved.

• It is by grace that we are victorious in the Lord.

• It is by grace that we realize our own efforts (our bow and sword) will not save us.

• It is by grace that we can give thanks to the name of the Lord forever.

• It is by works that we reject God’s grace and suffer the results of our choice.

Reflect & Respond: Some Really Good Questions To Ponder…

In what ways have I noticed the grace of God strengthening my relationships with family and friends?

How can I guard myself from poisoning grace with my desire to take matters into my own hands?

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I am so grateful for Your grace. It has not only saved my soul, but has also empowered me to live the Christian life as Your disciple. May I never trust in my own bow and sword. May I always boast in Your ability to take care of my every need.

The Essential Core Values Of The Quality Disciple Are…
Grace—Worship—Bible Study—Prayer—Community—Service—Evangelism

Denny Bates & Something New Christian Publishers © 2011 All rights reserved.

Looking for practical and easy to devotional book and personal journal based upon the Psalms? Psalms of Discipleship: Growing in Grace may be a book for you! Click on the link for a free sample. Available in both print and ebook formats. http://www.dennybates.com/Home/PODGIG.html

www.dennybates.com
http://thequalitydisciple.blogspot.com/