A Spiritual Growth iPlan

This morning I taught on the importance of continued spiritual growth.  Spiritual growth is a lot like weight-training.  You start somewhere, with whatever you can do, and go from there, increasing the weight as you can.  But after two years, if you are still doing the same exercises with the same amount weight, something is wrong!

Like exercise, spiritual growth is natural, but it is not automatic, easy or quick.  In other words, if you are a follower of Jesus you should be growing- if you are not, something is wrong!  However, spiritual growth requires attention, effort, hard work and patience.  This is the school with no graduation!
 
I also talked about the various spiritual disciplines, or habits, that help us grow.  Someone later asked me for a copy of the full grid.  Here it is:

	Beginner	Novice	Intermediate	Advanced
Bible	Read	Meditate	Study	Teach
Prayer	Needs	Thanks & Praise	Intercession	Conversation
LIFE Group	Attend & Talk	Prepare & Contribute	Lead	Coach
Quiet Time	5 Minutes	15 Minutes	30 Minutes	1 Hour or Multiple
Ministry	As-needed	Regular	Leading	Overseeing
Giving	Donation	Regular	Tithing	Tithe Plus
Other	Journaling	Silence	Fasting	Direction
Sins	Outer sin	Omission	Inner Sins	Consistency
	Practices	Habits	Character	Destiny

 
  All of this is great and helpful, but doesn't bring change unless it is put into practice.  And you most likely will not put it into practice until you devise a plan.  How and when will you do which of these practices?

Here is a sample five-day plan that you can begin this week!  And for you iPhone folks, you can do most of it with your phone. 

Meditating  Mondays - No, we are not referring to the empty-your-mind kind of meditation, but rather, the fill-and-focus-your-mind kind, specifically with Scripture.  If you have not done so, download the free YouVersion Bible app (available at the iTunes app store, or at www.youversion.com) and read the Bible on your phone.  This handy app also features several Bible reading plans to help you get started!  How about filling your drive-time with the Word of God?  YouVersion will even read the Bible to you, just like if you were listening to a song!  So on Mondays, how about popping in your earbuds and filling your time with God's Word?

Teaching Tuesdays - The beauty of the internet is the availability of so much great material!  If you attend New Vision Church, you can listen to previous messages by visiting our iTunes Podcast page or just search for "Jason Matters New Vision Church" in iTunes.  I recently talked with one of our members who downloaded a previous teaching series on parenting and really appreciated it!  Also, check out other great teachers.  I subscribe to the podcasts of Andy Stanley at NorthPoint Church and Craig Groeschel of Life Church.  How about listening to some Bible teaching while commuting to and from work on Tuesdays?

Worship Wednesdays  - More drive-time help here.  Rather than listening to some random radio station with the same-old morning show, how about your favorite worship music? I typed "worship" in the search bar of the iTunes store, and the top 50 songs listed many of my favorites.  How about making your own worship playlist?  You could even find songs that you like but don't get to hear at church.

Thankful Thursdays - Sorry, no app here, but you still won't need to make an actual phone call on your, um, phone.  Think about 2 or 3 people for whom you are thankful.  Take some time and tell God why you are thankful for these people in your life.  Now grab your phone and send them a brief text message, telling them, in 140 characters, why you are thankful for them and what they mean to you.

Fasting & Feasting Fridays - Fasting is not weird.  It is merely taking something out of your life for a short time in order to replace it with something more important.  Like noise.  How about riding to work in absolute silence?  No music, radio or phone calls.  Just silence.  Maybe skip lunch to just sit quietly, and read more of the Bible and pray a while.  Then go home and feast!  Spend your Friday evening surrounded by family and friends, celebrating life with them!

There it is.  A sample plan, with enough alliteration to make even Rick Warren proud.  It is not the only plan, and it certainly is not the best plan.  But it is a place to start.  Try it and you will grow.