If You Hold to My Teaching

Sidney Dockery

Description

A thirty-day devotional, this spirituality book is meant to ignite and inspire you to change and take hold of the teachings of Christ.

Calling disciples back to Christ, If You Hold to My Teaching offers a thirty-day devotional to help you refocus and stay focused. Author Sidney Dockery reminds you to continue your pursuit of God and righteous living in his kingdom by putting scripture into practice in your life.

True discipleship is about educating the mind, heart, and soul to develop the conviction needed to hold to the teachings of Christ. This divine and spiritual education will produce genuine faith which is necessary to hold onto the word. Reading each day prompts you to act and build your relationship with God. It’s meant to encourage you to continue in the word, continue in discipleship, motivating you to protect your salvation in the Lord.

If You Hold to My Teaching focuses on ten key factors:

Understanding of the word.

Surrender to the word.

Commitment to the word.

Growing spiritually versus worldly.

Fleeing from sin.

Embracing freedom in Christ righteously and enjoying it.

Maintaining righteous behavior in all circumstances.

Pursuing God daily.

Growing in obedience with a joyful heart.

Honoring God with your life.

This devotional helps you reignite your fire, make you hot for God again, and be a step toward restoring your faith

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Spiritual Growth
• Christian Living
• Teaching
• Philosophie et théologie
• Jesús de Nazaret
• God
• Jesus
• Salvation
• Education
• Baptism
• Salut (religion)
• Authority
• Disciple
• Jésus de Nazareth

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 24 novembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664279698
• Langue: English

Extrait

If You HOLD To My TEACHING




Sidney Dockery









Copyright © 2022 Sidney Dockery.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.



WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
844-714-3454

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-7967-4 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7968-1 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7969-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022918174



WestBow Press rev. date: 11/23/2022









All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®

Scripture quotations marked (NASB) taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org

Scripture quotations marked (CEV) are from the Contemporary English Version Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (GNT) are from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version- Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.



Contents
Day 1 God’s Word
Day 2 If You Hold
Day 3 If You Hold
Day 4 To My Teachings
Day 5 Really My Disciples
Day 6 The Truth
Day 7 Set You Free
Day 8 Come After Me
Day 9 Must Deny
Day 10 The Cross Daily
Day 11 Follow Me
Day 12 Forgive
Day 13 Love One Another
Day 14 God Breathe
Day 15 Testing God
Day 16 Glory Thief
Day 17 Happy Obedience
Day 18 Will Not Abandon
Day 19 Choose Wisely
Day 20 Salt Is Good
Day 21 Beyond Flesh And Blood
Day 22 Stewardship
Day 23 Procrastination
Day 24 I’ve Got The Power
Day 25 Participate
Day 26 Reach Everyone
Day 27 Take Me To The Water
Day 28 Glory, Power, Wisdom
Day 29 Pass It On
Day 30 Never Forget

Bibliography



Day 1
GOD’S WORD
“If you hold to my teachings, you are really my disciples
And the truth will set you free.”
John 8:31
Understanding of the Word Brings Clarity
Holding to the teachings of Christ is a matter of life, death, freedom, and slavery. It is about making a choice either to live in the dark and never know the love that God wants to lavish on you, or to live in the light as a free person who is obedient to God. Jesus makes it clear that his teachings are not his own but that everything he teaches comes from God and God alone (John 7:16). The Word gives clarity to our lives, helping us make the right decisions based on the teachings of God and Christ (1Timothy 4:16) and not our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). The Word of God teaches us to love unconditionally, holding no parts of ourselves back, and giving God our all (Matthew 22:36–39). It teaches us to serve when asked and when not asked. It teaches us to seek him out wholeheartedly so that he may be found. It teaches us to commit to his plan of reconciliation so that all may know and hear the Word (2 Corinthians 5:18). God’s Word gives freedom from the bondage of sin. It clears up all confusion about him and helps to break the trap of frustration that we live in when we live apart from God and Christ.
Understanding the Word brings clarity to our lives and helps us to see all things clearly through God’s eyes and not our own. The Word will revive and breathe life into us, revealing our purposes on this planet and giving clarity to the eternity that awaits us. With God’s Word, we can win souls, change lives, and make a difference in this world. Holding on to the teachings of God that comes to us through Christ must be a priority in our lives. God has no interest in lip service, good intentions, or those who think maybe tomorrow I will change . God is looking for sold-out believers who bear the name of Christ and do not waver. He is looking for sold-out disciples who acknowledge Jesus as Lord of their lives and are obedient to his lordship. His expectation of all believers is a sold-out attitude within their minds, hearts, souls, and strengths and who live such lives inside out. We cannot choose what parts of the Word we will abide by. With God, it is either all or nothing (Revelations 3:14–16).
God’s Word: This is a new year, a new day, a new beginning; our view must be that we will hold to the teachings of God, which is his Word. Why? Because it is a matter of life and death.
Pray: Ask God to draw you deeper into His Word so that you may see things clearly through his eyes and not your own, and so that His Word will be your standard for living.
Read: Hebrews 4:12–13, James 1:19–25, 1 Timothy 4:15–16, and John 12:47–48.



Questions of Conviction and Commitment
How does Day 1 makes it clear that God’s Word gives my life purpose?





How do I view the Word of God in my life?





What steps will I take to seek clear direction for my daily living from God’s Word?





How will I honor God in this life with his Word?



Lordship
Salvation
Free will



Day 2
IF YOU HOLD
“If you hold to my teachings, you are really my disciples
And the truth will set you free.”
John 8:31
Free Will
You have to love the God that we worship. Not only has he created our world, us, and everything in it, but he gave us his most prized possession—his one and only son, Christ. Christ, who is our Lord, demands obedience and loyalty. He is our Savior, granting us salvation through lordship. What an amazing gift God has given us. The scriptures say, “What is a man that you are mindful of him” (Psalms 8:4). It is mind-blowing that a creator would love his creation so much that he would sacrifice his own blood, his only child, to offer a life raft to a dying world that may or may not reach out for it. That is the true example of a father’s love for his children, loving us more than we love ourselves.
Free will—God is big on free will. Therefore, you will see many times in the gospel where Jesus often begins his conversations with the word if . Jesus always challenges us to exercise our free will in response to his teachings. The New Strong’s Concordance G 1437 translates if from the Greek text as “uncertain and conditional”. It is amazing how Jesus uses a two-letter word to convict us on the decisions that we will make when it comes to following him. Uncertainty is a part of human DNA. Regardless of our status in society, we all have been faced with decisions that we have not felt confident about. Yet Christ knew this would challenge us to overcome our uncertainty and to be confident in our decisions to follow him. Following Christ has always been, and will be, conditional. If we choose to follow Christ, then there are standards that we are required to live up to, live by, and live out. It is expected of us to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel (Philippians 1:27). Christ is clear in what he expects from anyone who picks up his or her cross and follows him. The conditions are laid out before us—all we must do is exercise our free will. Free will is truly one of God’s most awesome gifts to us. He doesn’t force himself on us, he didn’t make us robots, and he doesn’t require that we become Jewish. He empowers us with minds so that we can think for ourselves, hearts so that we can feel and connect, souls so that we may be convicted by his word, and strengths so that we may exercise our free will.
Free will: The choice is yours, so exercise it.
Pray: Ask God to help you exercise your free will when it comes to following and keeping his Word.
Read : Ephesians 5:15–17, 1 John 2:3–6, and Galatians 5:1.



Questions of Conviction and Commitment
How does Day 2 challenge me to understand and be