Becoming Like Jesus: Spiritual DisciplinesSample

Soul | Trusting God

A foundational element of any good, healthy relationship is trust.

You’ve probably heard that God wants a relationship with you, which is true—He totally does. But what kind of relationship does He want?

Here’s news that may surprise you. For one, He wants a friendship. God wants to be your friend. Pause and process that for a second. The thing about friends is that they trust each other. Have you ever considered how much God has entrusted to you? He’s entrusted you with His very Spirit to live inside of you, with His own image when He created you, and with the message of the gospel that has the power to save and set people free. With all of this, God trusts you.

Do you trust Him? Do you trust Him enough to go where He goes, do what He says, and love how He loves? Do you trust Him more than you trust yourself?

Let’s keep processing this together.

Pray …

Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus to save me. I’m different because of Him. Help me to never forget Your love and Your grace. Show me how to live for You. I want to make Jesus’ habits my habits so I can grow as a disciple. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Read …

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:1-4 NIV

Consider …

Today, we are taking a closer look at loving God with all our soul, and how spiritual disciplines reveal who or what we trust the most.

The passage we just read follows right after Jesus’ cousin John baptizes Him, the Spirit of God rests on Jesus, and God the Father speaks from heaven to publicly declare who Jesus is and how much He loves Him.

Right on the heels of this incredible moment, this same God who declared His affection for Jesus leads Jesus, by His Spirit, into the wilderness for a face-off with the devil.

And Jesus willingly follows. Talk about trust.

Jesus went into the wilderness, fully relying on the Spirit of God to sustain Him and the Word of God to equip Him. In this passage, we see another of Jesus’ habits—fasting.

Fasting: giving up food for a period of time so we can grow closer to God.

Fasting trains us to say no to what we want now (food) so that we can say yes to what we want most (God). Every craving for food is a reminder to pray. And the more we practice saying no to our physical desires, the more we prepare ourselves to say no to sinful desires.

When we practice spiritual disciplines, like fasting, we intentionally shine a light on those unconscious pathways and processes to reveal who or what we trust the most. Do we supremely trust ourselves and our desires to lead us to the good life? Or do we trust that life with Jesus is better than anything and follow Him wherever He leads?

Practice …

Let’s close out our time with another habit of Jesus evidenced in this passage—scripture memorization. We do this so God’s Word gets in us, transforms us, and comes out of us in what we say and how we live. Here’s the verse we’ll memorize today:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT

There’s no “one right way” to memorize Scripture. We all learn a little bit differently. Maybe you need to write this out a few times in a journal with different colored pens. Maybe you need to put it on a notecard, and every time you’re walking between classes today, pull it out and read while you walk. Maybe you need to make up a little tune and sing it to yourself. No matter your learning style, commit to getting God’s truth in so you can live the truth out!

Once you’ve got it down, pray and ask God to reveal any areas where you’re not yet fully trusting Him.

Now, head into your day looking for ways to love Him better and serve others.