As we begin a new year, today is a great time to re-examine
our lives.
Great athletic coaches and teams repeatedly drill the “basics”…
and so do good “spiritual coaches.”
My question for you today is how are you doing with the
basics?
The Basics of Life
Physically Spiritually
Air ••• Prayer
Food ••• Time in the Word
Water ••• Christian Friends
Shelter ••• Church/Pastor to Shepherd
#1 Air.
(Time in Prayer).
Most people can go only about 3 minutes without air.
Prayer is talking to God. It is the basis of your
relationship with Him.
You can’t have a good relationship with a friend if you
don’t spend time talking.
The same principle applies to your relationship with God.
John 15:15 NIV I
no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's
business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned
from my Father I have made known to you.
We need to pray so we can deepen our relationship with
Jesus. (Friendships need communication)
Why should we pray?
The answer is simple because Jesus prayed.
Mark 1:35 NIV Very
early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and
went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
Matthew 14:23 NIV After
he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.
The success of Jesus’ prayer life was due to three factors:
It was planned – Jesus had a regular prayer time.
It was private – Jesus often got away by himself to pray.
It was prolonged – Jesus spent quality time in prayer.
Jesus often got up early to pray.
Jesus often got away from others to pray.
Jesus wasn’t in a hurry when He prayed.
When prayer is a priority, your prayer time becomes a daily
appointment with Jesus.
When prayer is prioritized as a daily appointment, you are
less likely to schedule something else of less importance.
There will be times that you will start to pray and you
won’t feel anything. This is normal.
You aren’t going to feel like God is listening all the time,
but remember He is, even during times that you
feel like you’re talking to the ceiling.
Pray daily whether you feel like it or not. Our relationship with Christ is not based
on feelings, but on commitment! So just keep doing it!
Remember: Right Choices
bring Right Feelings.
Toby Mac picture: “My secret in life is really simple. I pray.”
For those who lead, “If your prayer time doesn’t exceed your
stage time, you’ll be trouble all the time.”
#2 Food.
(Time in the Word).
The human body can only go 3 weeks without food (if you have
water and shelter).
John 6:35 NIV Then
Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go
hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Matthew 6:11 NIV Give
us today our daily bread.
John 1:1-4, 14 NIV84
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through
him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4
In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
14 The Word became flesh and made his
dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who
came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Psalm 119:11 NIV
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
A.) The Bible is our
spiritual food.
1 Corinthians 3:2 NIV
I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you
are still not ready.
In the same way our physical bodies need food to stay
healthy, so our “spiritual bodies” need “spiritual food” to stay spiritually healthy.
If you forget about the Bible, you’ll “starve” yourself!
B.) The Bible is
God’s Word to us.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting
and training in righteousness, 17
so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
C) The Bible gives direction.
Psalm 119:105 NIV
Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.
D) We need to hear
and take action
James 1:22-25 NIV
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the
word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a
mirror 24 and, after
looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks
intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not
forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they
do.
E) It’s Alive!
Hebrews 4:12 NIV For the word of God is alive and
active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing
soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the
heart.
#3 Water.
(Time with Christian
Friends).
The human body can only go about 3 days without water (if
you have shelter from harsh environments).
John 7:37-39 NIV On
the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud
voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers
of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed
in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given,
since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
When Jesus said “rivers of living water shall flow from
within them,”
He was declaring that those who believed in Him would have
the living water of the Holy Spirit flowing out of them.
This living water would satisfy not only them but also
others around them.
John points out that Jesus was referring to the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit produces an endless fountain that satisfies
our own thirst as well as the thirst of others we interact with.
This shows us the importance of being around other
Spirit-filled believers.
The Spirit refreshes us and uses us to refresh those with
whom we associate.
We’re better
together!
1 Corinthians 15:33
NIV Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."
Proverbs 27:17 NIV
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
Common Questions about
Friendships.
A) Now that I’m a
Christian what about my unsaved friends?
Invite them to church; share with them about your decision
to follow Christ.
You can still be friends, but remember —you become like the
people you hang around with!
“Show me your friends
and I’ll show you your future.”
In every relationship and situation, you will either be the
“missionary” or the “mission field”.
B) What if my friends
choose to reject Christ? Does that mean I can’t be friends with them anymore?
2 Corinthians 6:14,17
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and
wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
17
"Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean
thing, and I will receive you."
Mark 2:15-16 NIV While
Jesus was having dinner at Leviʼs house, many tax collectors and sinners were
eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the
law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they
asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
The Gospels clearly teach us that Jesus often ate with the
outcasts of society. He spent time with people who needed Him the most.
We must remember, that Jesus’ purpose in spending time with
outcast was not simply social, His purpose was for their redemption.
As Christians we must remember Jesus prayer in John 17:
John 17:14-18 NIV I
have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the
world any more than I am of the world. 15
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them
from the evil one. 16 They
are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the
truth; your word is truth. 18
As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.
As we come into contact with unbelievers, our mission is to
keep our Christ like character and refuse to allow the world to force us to
change our values.
Acts 1:8 NLT But
you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my
witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea,
in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
C) So where do I find
the right kind of friends?
Hebrews 10:25 NLT And let us not neglect our meeting
together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the
day of his return is drawing near.
Matthew 28:19-20 NIV
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded
you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
#4 Shelter.
(A Church and a Pastor
to Shepherd).
The human body can survive for 3 hours without shelter in a
harsh environment (as long as you have food and water).
Deuteronomy 12:4-7
NLT “Do not worship the LORD your God in the way these pagan peoples
worship their gods. 5 Rather,
you must seek the LORD your God at the place of worship he himself will choose
from among all the tribes—the place where his name will be honored. 6 There you will bring your
burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your sacred offerings, your
offerings to fulfill a vow, your voluntary offerings, and your offerings of the
firstborn animals of your herds and flocks. 7 There you and your families will feast in the presence
of the LORD your God, and you will rejoice in all you have accomplished because
the LORD your God has blessed you.
Psalm 27:4 NLT The
one thing I ask of the LORD— the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of
the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the LORD’s perfections and
meditating in his Temple.
Psalm 84:1-2, 4 NIV How
lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty! 2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the
Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
4 Blessed
are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.
Psalm 84:10 NIV Better
is one day in your courts than a
thousand elsewhere; I would rather
be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than
dwell in the tents of the wicked.
Psalm 122:1 NLT I
was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the LORD.”
Hebrews 10:25 NLT And let us not neglect our meeting
together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the
day of his return is drawing near.
The church needs pastors to shepherd and teach to provide the
members opportunities to grow and mature in their faith.
1 Timothy 5:17 NIV The
elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor,
especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.
Ephesians 4:11-13 NIV
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors
and teachers, 12 to equip
his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity
in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature,
attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Acts 2:42 NIV They
devoted themselves to the apostlesʼ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking
of bread and to prayer.
Romans 10:17 NKJV So
then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
We need to be a part of a local church and we need to have a
pastor to shepherd our lives.
When we are part of a church and have a pastor to shepherd
us we benefit from the presence of God as we come together.
We receive fellowship, strength, encouragement and care from
other church members as well as from our pastor.
When we have a pastor to shepherd us, our pastor/shepherd
will lead us and guide us as we follow God’s will for our lives. Our
pastor/shepherd will warn us of impending danger and false teachings.
If we will listen our church and our pastor will keep us
safe during attacks form the enemy and during storms of life.
Without the shelter of a church and pastor, we are leaving
ourselves exposed to the elements of the world that can cause destruction and
devastation in our lives.
Here we have the
basics of life, the essentials of survival.
My challenge for you is to Focus on the 3’s:
Air – you can survive 3 minutes without air
Food – you can survive 3 weeks without food (If you have
water and shelter)
Water – you can survive 3 days without water (If sheltered
from harsh environment)
Shelter – you can survive 3 hours without shelter in a harsh
environment)
www.backcountrychronicles.com
My challenge for you is to Focus on the 3’s:
3 Minutes of prayer daily. (Air)
3 Chapters of Bible reading a day. (Food)
3 Christian friends you can build relationships with for
encouragement and support. (Water)
3 Sunday’s attending church each month. (Shelter)
By focusing on the 3’s, we will begin building the proper
Christ like foundation for our lives. As we focus on the 3’s, we will begin to
grow in certain areas and find that we desire more than 3’s.
Focusing on the 3’s is simply the basics of life.
