Spiritual Discipline – The Key To Transformation

Spiritual Discipline – The Key To Transformation
Rev. Marty Blackwelder

Marty Blackwelder ministers in various Local Churches and Bible Schools around the world. He is a graduate of Samford University and Rhema Bible Training Center. He served on the staff of Kenneth Hagin Ministries for eleven years. Marty traveled as a member of  Kenneth E. Hagin’s Crusade Team from 1993 through May of 2004 assisting with the music ministry and teaching God’s Word. He and his wife, Lola, also served as associate pastors of Rhema Bible Church in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma under Pastor Kenneth Hagin Jr. In addition, Marty served as an instructor in Rhema Bible Training Center. He and Lola are the parents of two daughters. You can learn more about Marty’s ministry at www.blackwelderministries.org.

The Goal:

We have all heard the old adage: “the secret to a man’s future lies hidden in his daily routine.” This is certainly a reality. What one does today, greatly determines the success of his tomorrow. This truth holds great significance not only for our natural progression in life – but for our spiritual progression in Christ as well.

When I was an instructor at Rhema Bible Training Center, I taught a course entitled “The Disciplines of the Christian Life.” We looked at such disciplines as solitude, silence, worship, Bible study, prayer, fasting, meditation and other subsequent disciplines. We discovered that our Christian life is a journey and a process of development and growth and that these spiritual disciplines create the necessary environment in which God can effectively work in our lives. They are not be viewed as drudgery, but rather as a pathway that leads to a place of depth and inner transformation.

Our goal as children of God and ministers of the gospel is to be as effective for the Kingdom of God as possible and to enjoy the most intimate relationship with our heavenly Father on this side of heaven that we can.

In order to reach that goal, and to reach our full potential in Christ, a transformation into the image of Christ must occur – a maturing, developing, evolving process must take place in our lives spiritually. As Paul said “we are to be changed from one degree of glory to another – step by step, day by day.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

So many Christians struggle with truly being conformed into the image of Christ because they have failed to realize and to define their responsibility versus God’s responsibility in the transformation process.

The Transformation:

Philippians 2:13 says: “For it is God which works in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” What we must realize, is that our conformity to the image of Christ, this glorious spiritual evolution, is God’s work – not ours. It is He who creates within us both the desire to do His will and then graciously accomplishes it in our lives.

Let me clarify that statement by simply saying this: there are certain spiritual influences upon our lives that produce change. We would call them agents of change – things that actually produce an effect upon our lives.

By definition, an agent is a medium or avenue through which or by which something occurs. For example, many people enjoy the comfort of lying on the beach or by the pool during the summer months under the warm rays of the sun.

As a result of placing themselves under the influence of the sun consistently – a transformation begins to occur in the color and appearance of the skin. In reality, the sun is the actual transformer of the skin – it acts as the agent of change. The change occurs because the individuals placed themselves under its influence consistently. The same principle applies in our spiritual transformation into the image of Christ. God has certain spiritual influences such as His Word, His Spirit, His Divine Presence – that act as agents of change.

It is not my responsibility as a Christian to change myself through my own human will and struggle. My responsibility and yours is to place ourselves under the divine influence of God’s changing agents consistently so that the transformation can occur. The power of the transformation is resident within the agents of change.

The Agents Of Change:

There are various agents of change that we could talk about, but it will suffice to mention the following:

A. God’s Word

(John 8:31-32) Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you continue in my word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the
truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Notice the word “continue”. Jesus said – if you and I will remain under the influence of His word (being a doer and not a hearer only) – it will produce a change –it will make us free.

A good example of this principle is when you have finished drinking a glass of milk or juice and a small residue of the liquid remains in the bottom of the glass and you wish to wash it out. You simply place the glass under the faucet – turn on the water – and allow the water to continually run into the glass until all the residue of the milk or juice is displaced by the water.

God’s Word is likened unto water in Ephesians 5:26. His Word, as a changing agent, has the ability to wash and cleanse our lives of the carnal residue of the flesh if we will simply remain consistently under its influence – a divine displacement will occur.

B. God’s Divine Presence

(II Corinthians 3:17-18) “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of theLord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

A second agent of change is the Divine presence of God. Many Christians have no idea of the transformation that can occur in their lives simply by placing themselves under the influence of God’s presence in times of personal worship and devotion.

One of my favorite things to do as a believer is to worship God privately and personally and sense his presence in the very atmosphere around me. I have personally experienced the liberty that comes from consistently being in that place.

Hebrews 12:29 says that “God is a consuming fire.” He is and will always be the greater influence. Anyone and anything that draws near to Him, is consumed and overshadowed by him. It’s as we mentioned earlier – lying under the influence of the warm sun. If you come consistently enough and place yourself under the influence of God’s divine presence – then that presence will have a profound influence upon you.

When I was a kid, we would always dye Easter eggs to put in our baskets. We would take the white eggs and dip them over and over into the cups of liquid containing the various colors of dye until the shells began to absorb the color. In reality, that’s what happens when we place ourselves under the influence of God’s presence. We begin to absorb His attributes of light, and life, freedom, etc. – for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Isaiah 10:27 says “the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.” The Spirit of God is the Spirit of freedom. Every bondage that comes in contact with Him is destroyed.
God is light – in Him and around Him – is no darkness at all. Therefore, the closer you come to Him, and the more consistently you remain – the freer you are.

The Pathway:

The pathway to transformation in our Christian lives is one of discipline. A discipline is an enforced conditioning or training incorporated in some arena of an individual’s life on a consistent basis. This discipline is performed with the anticipation of reaching a particular goal or desire.

When we think of an Olympic runner or gymnast – we naturally think of discipline. Why? Because we know it is the consistent physical training and conditioning day in and day out that brings those individuals to the Olympic competition. Not only do they have to possess a desire to achieve, but that desire has to be joined with tremendous discipline if the goal is to be realized.

The same principle holds true in our Christian lives. Without discipline (pushing ourselves to do what is necessary to maintain our spiritual fitness and progression – even when we don’t feel like it) – we will never reach the level of fruitfulness God intends.

Tom Landry, coach of the Dallas Cowboys football team for most of three decades said: “The job of a football coach is to make men do what they don’t want to do in order to achieve what they’ve always wanted to be.”

You see, in reality, discipline is the doorway to delight. It is the passage to true joy and freedom. Many times it takes doing something we dislike to create something we love.

Elton Trueblood once said: “We have not advanced very far in our spiritual lives if we have not encountered the basic paradox of freedom…that we are most free when we are bound. To one who would be an athlete, but who is unwilling to discipline his body by regular exercise and abstinence, is not free to excel on the field or the track. His failure to train rigorously denies him the freedom to run with the desired speed and endurance. With one concerted voice, the giants of the devotional life apply the same principle to the whole of life: Discipline is the price of freedom” – and I would add – “freedom is the reward of discipline.”

In Conclusion:

Spiritual discipline is actualized in our lives through the application of daily Bible study, devotion, meditation, prayer, worship, etc. all of which we term “Disciplines of the Christian Life.”

It is the daily and continual application and experience of these disciplines that bring consistency to our spiritual progress in that they place us in the proper environment for continual growth, development, and transformation into the image of Christ.

Richard Foster, the author of a wonderful book entitled: “The Celebration Of Discipline” made this valid observation: “A farmer can’t grow corn; all he can do is provide the right conditions for growing the corn. He can prepare the soil, plant the seed, water it properly – but the earth brings forth the fruit.”

This principle holds true for the believer as well. In reality, we cannot produce our own spiritual growth and development – we cannot produce our own fruit. But what we can do and must do is exercise ourselves diligently in the spiritual disciplines that place us in the ground so to speak – so that God can cultivate, nurture, and develop our lives and bring us to a place of fruitfulness.

Remember, discipline is not drudgery – it is the price of freedom, the passage to your divine purpose and the doorway to your inner joy and peace.

Keep pressing for the prize!

Marty