Being Conformed thru Discipline part 8

Here’s a few more disciplines to consider that we find in the New Testament.

Secrecy

Matthew 6:1 "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Confession

Psalm 32:5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah

Psalm 51:1-4 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Do not feel worried if you do not remember all your little peccadilloes in confession, for as you often fall imperceptibly, so you are often raised up imperceptibly. -Francis de Sales

 Listening

If you have trouble hearing God speak, you are in trouble at the very heart of your Christian experience. -Henry Blackaby

The Discipline of Listening (which includes Obedience: to hear is to obey in the New Testament) is often questioned in our secular way of thinking in America.  To think that God speaks to us, to you, is perhaps unbelievable, yet consider the words of Jesus.

John 10:25-30 Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.
I and the Father are one."

Proverbs 8:33-34 Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not ignore it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.
God did not address the call to Isaiah;  Isaiah overheard God saying, “Who will go for us?” 

The call of God is not for the special few, it is for everyone.  Whether or not I hear God’s call depends upon the state of my ears;  and what I hear depends upon my disposition. Oswald Chambers (MUFHH 1/14)

You have never heard the voice of God, and you say: “The day of miracles is past.  I am never disturbed.  I make my own plans and live where I please and do as I like.  What do you mean by a disturbing element?”  …Beloved, you are living still among the fleshpots and garlic of Egypt.  You are still in slavery…  You know no disturbing voice?  God never points out for you a pathway altogether different from the one you planned?  Then my brother, you are living still in the land of slavery, in the land of darkness. -G. Campbell Morgan