A love relationship with God is more important than any other single factor in your life.

(Matthew 22:37–39) Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.

We tend to want God to speak to us so He will give us a heart-warming devotional thought to make us feel good for the rest of the day. If you want the God of the universe to speak to you, you need to be ready for Him to reveal what He is doing where you are. In Scripture God is not often seen coming and speaking to people just for conversation’s sake. He was always working to accomplish His purposes. When God speaks to you through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, the church, or another way, He has a specific purpose in mind.

Introduction: God has not changed. He still speaks to His people.

In the Old Testament God spoke at many times and in a variety of ways. Through Jesus, God spoke to His people. Now God speaks through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will teach you all things, call to your memory the things Jesus said, guide you into all truth, speak what He hears from the Father, tell you what is yet to come, and glorify Christ as He reveals Christ to you.

Introduction: Often, we want God to give us specifics—where to work, where to live, whom to marry, what car to buy. God allows us to make choices, but if we are connected to Him, He will help us from making wrong choices.

Introduction:

Part of the Book of Genesis is the record of God accomplishing His purposes through Abraham. It is not the record of Abraham’s walk with God. Can you see the difference in focus? The focus of the Bible is God. The essence of sin is a shift from God-centeredness to self-centeredness. The essence of salvation is denying self instead of affirming self. We must deny ourselves and return to God-centeredness in our lives. Then God has us in a place where He will accomplish His eternal purposes through us.

We often act as though God tells us what He wants us to do and then sends us off by ourselves to try and accomplish it to the best of our ability. Then anytime we need Him, we call on Him, and He comes to help us. That is not the biblical picture. When God is about to do something, He reveals it to His people. He wants to accomplish His work through His people.

God’s will- God's desire or plan for everything that exists

Satan- is described in the Bible as an angelic enemy of God and, by extension, the enemy and opponent of those who follow God.

Witness- A “witness” is someone who attests to a fact, so in order to be an effective witness for Christ, one must have firsthand knowledge of Him.

Calling- God's initiative to bring people to Christ and to participate in his redemptive work in the world.

Many things in life have good news and bad news associated with them. Emphasizing one side to the exclusion of the other is not the whole truth. The same is true of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Evangelism- is the act of a person sharing the gospel with another.

Humility-meekness, lowliness, and absence of self.

TEACHABILITY - a person able to learn by being taught.

ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER - An accountability partner is someone who supports another person to keep a commitment or maintain progress on a desired goal.

MEDITATION- focused solely on the Word of God and what it reveals about him.

Meditation in the Bible involves a pondering of God’s Word and a deep reflection upon its truths.

DEVOTIONAL READING - Lectio Divina is Latin for "divine reading," "spiritual reading," or "holy reading" and represents a method of prayer and scriptural reading intended to promote communion with God and provide special spiritual insights.

God is a God of COMMUNICATION AND WORDS. Throughout the ages he has spoken to us through the written Word, the spoken word, and the incarnate Word.

The H disciplines- address our need and desire to hear a word from God. Our world of printed as well as verbal noise can drown out the reality and wonder of God's Word. There are always other books to read and speakers to listen to. We know God does use books and people to speak to us. But Scripture is a primary way that the Holy Spirit opens us up to the God bond us.

What is Spiritual Discipline?

1. Discipline is defined as "training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior.

Introduction:

Fasting is mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments, let’s begin by defining the Hebrew and Greek words:

fast =

Hebrew sum = “to cover the mouth”

Greek nesteuo = “abstain”

Both words deal with abstaining from food. Some people would insist that unless your fast consists of abstaining from food “God would not approve. a Biblical fast could involve abstaining from things other than just food