Tag Archives: Spiritual Discipline

Nathan Dooley

I CONFESS

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I confess, I’m not there yet. If I’m not sinning one way, it’s another. I know, “Welcome to the obvious Nathan.” Right? That bothers me though, because I believe that a sinful cycle is broken by the power of the Holy Spirit that puts the deeds of my flesh to death, but saying that doesn’t mean anything if there isn’t a result. I can say that I believe with all my heart that the issue of sin in me is broken as I confess “Jesus, my Lord,…”, and the Church in me says, “Through faith, it is, when Jesus returns.” But the Christian in me wonders why I still eat the fruit of sin that Christ took away? How can I eat something that’s been taken away? 

What I’m about to write might be controversial, but I’ll clean it up. 

The Holy Spirit teaches the Scripture for my understanding, not my local church (1 John 2:26-28). I’ve learned through my local church the meaning of fellowship and worship to God as a body within the Body, but the knowledge of the truth is learned by my personal relationship to the Holy Spirit who teaches me all things in Christ for discerning the nature of my spirit and the spirits of the body gathered around the preaching of the gospel. Why is that important? Christ the Lord has bought the world with His blood, and each person who remains faithful to believe in the Word of God is being saved by Him for an eternal life, which is a life in Him, the nature of Jesus Christ; as opposed to the nature of Satan, which is not a life, but an experience of eternal consequence that eternal beings—as such we are—will inevitably wake up to, if found guilty by maintaining the position of denying the very Person who bailed the world out of jail. That Person is Jesus Christ, the Son of the Eternal Father.

I guess the reason for my writing this is to hope for those who read and believe as I do to pray a prayer of righteousness over my soul, that my conscience guilty of sin will be forgiven and healed. Not that I would escape the necessary discipline as a son of God, on the contrary, I ask for the necessary discipline to overcome the fruit of my sin I desire even now… To eat.

Christian Soapbox

How Patience Is A Key Ingredient To Wisdom And Righteousness

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It’s subjective, but I find that the most difficult—yet effective—way to learn patience is to subject myself to counsel. What this looks like as a practice is actively pursuing the Lord, my wife and the-other about a decision. No… not ‘the-other’ as in, another wife—you know what happen to Solomon—but the-other, as in, another person. And it is ideal for the person not only to be knowledgeable about the nature of the decision, but to know me personally. I’m talkin: spiritually, psychologically, financially, the works. Because if those measures aren’t known by my counsel… then making an important decision before receiving counsel will result to chaos. The experience is excruciating!

For Laura and I to make the most out of our time, advance in our field, and accomplish the ultimate goal of persuasion that the world cannot deny being the freedom we have in Christ Jesus our Lord— well… then… I need a twenty-five hundred dollar laptop!

Okay while that was meant to be funny, the point is a decision to purchase a laptop that can handle video editing software at the budget of $2,500.00! Given my personality, I want the best and don’t want to wait, because… well, I can be an idiot. It’s really as simple as that! However, I do love God and desire to honor Him with all my heart.

Patience is a key ingredient to wisdom, and after listening to the Lord, my wife, and Ryan; you’d be real proud of me! I didn’t choose the $3,100 Razer from Micro Center (considering the awesome labor day deal they had for 0 interest)—which would have been convenient—and settled on a $2,584.00 ASUS from Amazon. We’ll see how it turns out, but I’m confident the value of this transaction was experienced in the eternal development of my character for righteousness by the process of procedure we executed together, not myself alone for some financial gain, material possession, or grandiose idea (not that those are wrong, bad, or evil). But the aim is not to miss the mark!

DISCLAIMER:
Nathan Psychology: The study of oneself for righteous behavior, and my written perspective on the experiential process of edification to sanctification. What does it mean to be born of God, overcome the world, and be made new through faith in believing Jesus Christ is the way of my salvation? I’m discovering the path through spiritual discipline—