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Spiritual exercises

Suffering, Step One

  • Basic
  • Edward T. Welch

What would you say is the first wise step when God visits you with suffering? Read this article for a helpful reflection on humility, as it finds biblical direction from 1 Peter 5:6–7.

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EMDR and the Meaning of Suffering

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  • Edward T. Welch

What is a godly way of working through suffering? This article begins by discussing a treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, yet it goes beyond promoting certain techniques by encouraging biblical ways of examining pain and suffering.

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Love One Another

  • Basic
  • Kaki Cobb

The author reflects on the true meaning of Christian brotherly love by comparing it to the love between a husband and wife. By referring to 1 John 3:16-18, she emphasizes that love is an action and not simply an emotion, and that it is based on commitment.

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The Second Great Commandment

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  • Philip E. Johnson

This article discusses how the second greatest commandment is like the first one. By quoting Matthew 5:43-45, it also explains what Jesus meant when he commanded us to love our neighbour as ourselves. The discussion of these questions is centred on the teaching of man as created in God's image.

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Practical Advice on Confession

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  • Bill Mounce

This article offers a few practical pointers about confession of sin: confess it early, confess it to one another, and at times, sit among the weeds to learn from them.

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The Cure for Spiritual Amnesia

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  • Reagan Rose

Do you notice how many times the Lord in Scripture commands his people to remember the things he has done for them? Our fallen nature results in us being plagued with spiritual amnesia, with forgetting who God is and what he commands of us. This article calls the believer to remember God's Word and works, and thereby be encouraged.

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Faith Hacking: Preaching the Gospel to Yourself

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  • Tim Challies

Learning to preach the gospel to yourself is important for every Christian. It is important for your Christian life and pursuing holiness.

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Piety, According to John Calvin

  • Basic
  • A. Baars

Looking at the time of John Calvin and his works, this article shows how Calvin understood piety to be a life of sacrifice dedicated in its totality to God in response to God's work. This is the secret to godliness.

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Seeking His Face

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  • D. Broughton Knox

This article is about seeking God daily through personal devotions, prayer, and church attendance.

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Training in Godliness

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  • A. Veldman

Working from the text of 1 Timothy 4:18, this article discusses the importance of godliness and the training in godliness. The author also looks at Bible reading and the purpose of training in piety.

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The Real Olympics

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  • Klaas Stam

This article is about the comparisons Paul makes between exercise and sacrifice and our spiritual training in godliness.

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What Does It Mean to Examine Yourself? Self-examination in the Christian Life

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  • A. N. Hendriks
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The Romans 8 Challenge

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  • Josh Buice

Memorizing Scripture is important for every Christian. This article provides two benefits of Scripture memorization and two techniques for Scripture memorization.

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Help! I'm a Spiritual Fake

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  • William Boekestein

This article discusses from 1 John four fruits of confession of your sins.

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Nine Ways to Guard Your Personal Relationship with God

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  • David Murray

Do you want to know how you can guard your relationship with God? The article provides nine ways.

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How to Confess Your Sins to God

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  • Christian McArthur

Do you want to know how to confess your sins to God? This article discusses four ways.

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Soul-Care in a Fitness-Crazed World

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  • Jonathan Landry Cruse

The world in which we live is obsessed with healthy bodies, while it ignores caring for the health of the soul. The article discusses the vanity of focus only on our earthly bodies in contrast to the great gain that comes through healthy souls.

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Eight Scriptural Questions to Ask Yourself Today

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  • Chuck Lawless

Self-examination, when done well, will lead to spiritual growth and joy. Here are eight questions you need to ask yourself in your spiritual examination.

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Twelve Questions for a Six-Month Spiritual Checkup

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  • Chuck Lawless

How is your spiritual life? Are you showing spiritual growth? How do you know if you are growing? This article provides twelve questions you can use for your spiritual examination.

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Confessing in the Bible

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  • P. L. D. Visser

How does the Bible speak about confessing? This article surveys some of the biblical data, and offers up some conclusions based on the data.

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Humility

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  • Cornelis Pronk

Christians are characterized by humility. What does it mean to be humble? This article gives the biblical explanation. It points to the responsibility of Christians and they call they have to follow Christ in being humble. It gives practical guidelines to the practice of humility in everyday life. 

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The Blessings of Forgiveness

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  • John MacArthur

Forgiveness is the soil in which spiritual fruits and divine blessings are cultivated. This article explains that extending forgiveness to others brings great blessings upon the Christian life.

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Hindrances to Growth in Grace

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  • Archibald Alexander

What hinders your spiritual growth? This article identifies four hindrances to spiritual growth. 

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The Hidden World of Our Thoughts

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  • H. Hofman

God is concerned with not only your actions but also your thoughts. What does the Bible say about your mind and thinking? What should shape Christian thinking? This article answers this question.

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Four Ways to Get Spiritually Fit

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  • Leah Baugh

How do you become spiritually fit? You need healthy spiritual habits. This article lists four ways to build such habits.

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Failing of the Grace of God

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  • H. Hofman

In Hebrews 12:15 we read that one can fail of the grace of God. What does that mean? This article explains that it is a lack of spiritual growth and a life void of fellowship with God.

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The Joy of Confession

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  • Bill Mounce

This article underlines the joy that comes from confession of sin. It shows from passages like Psalm 103 the power of God's cleansing work.

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Four Reasons Every Christian Needs Time in Silence

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  • Brian Croft

This article considers the value of times of silence in the life of a Christian. Silence exposes the soul, confronts the voices that we face throughout our life, teaches us to listen, and tests our need for noise. The author calls Christians to embrace the quiet.

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Confusing Faith with Taking Big Risks for God

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  • Michael Horton

How should we think about the promises of God? God's promises should be received by faith. However, this article explains the difference between living by faith and taking risks.

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Take Up Your Cross, Put Down Your Phone, and Follow Me

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  • Scott Slayton

This article provides suggestions for eliminating digital distractions in our lives in order to develop our walk with the Lord. It suggests to cultivate a deep walk through time in God's Word, in prayer, by making time for people and corporate worship, and by knowing what is truly important.

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He's Memorized Forty-Two Books of the Bible and You Can, Too

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  • Donald S. Whitney

This article discusses one approach to memorizing books of the Bible, and how to retain them in memory.

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You Cannot Coast into Christlikeness

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  • Donald S. Whitney

This article discusses the importance of self-discipline in the Christian life, as we conform to Christ. The author argues that the only road to godliness is through the practice of the spiritual disciplines.

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Self-Examination

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  • Joel R. Beeke

According to 2 Corinthians 13:5, self-examination is the responsibility of each believer. How do you examine yourself? This article gives helpful questions you can ask for self-examination.

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Spiritual Disciplines: Our Local Church

  • Basic
  • Michael Trimble

How does the local church help in your spiritual growth? This article explains that growth comes through cultivating certain disciplines, such as church attendance, giving, and participation.

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Spiritual Disciplines: Silence and Solitude

  • Basic
  • Michael Trimble

This article shows how silence and solitude can be used as spiritual disciplines that serve as an aid for growing in godliness.

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Growth in Grace Advances Knowledge of Sin

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  • Ethan Smith

Growing in grace is what is expected of every Christian. How do you see your Christian growth and that you are becoming a mature Christian? This article explains that one of the signs of spiritual growth is seen in the extent to which you grow in your knowledge of sin in your life.

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Awakening Sin to Kill It

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  • Barry York

Mortification of sin can happen when you see sin for what it is. This article discusses five motivations for mortifying sin.

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How Not to Ask for Forgiveness

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  • Matthew Holst

Every Christian sins, so every Christian needs to ask forgiveness. Yet how we ask forgiveness speaks to the quality of our repentance. This article mentions five ways we can evaluate whether our repentance is sincere or not.

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Giving and Receiving Commendation

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  • Nicholas T. Batzig

This article provides some scriptural principles on how we are to give and receive commendation: praise is not for ourselves but for others, we must guard against all forms of flattery, and we must learn to honour others in the Lord.

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Forgiveness

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  • Jay Adams

Is there a condition to forgiving? This article argues that Christians are called to forgive as God forgave them. Therefore the condition of forgiveness is repentance.

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Laughing through Your Tears

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  • Joh. De Wolf

A biblical way for attaining happiness is through sorrow. This article shows how through sorrow for and confession of sin happiness is gained.

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Keep a Close Watch on Yourself!

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  • Tim Challies

Self-watch is the responsibility God charges every believer with. Such self-watching is in agreement with 1 Timothy 4:16. The article explains.

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The Training Ground of Sound Doctrine

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  • Tim Challies

Sound doctrine is essential to the Christian life. Therefore, every Christian has the responsibility to train himself in sound doctrine. How do you do such a training? This article discusses three means God has provided.

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5 Ways to Minister to Other Christians This Sunday

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  • Tim Challies

Serving one another as Christians should be our desire. However, at times we do not know how to minister to others even when we want to. This article offers five ways you can serve others.

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The Duty of Introspection

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  • Tim Challies

The biblical command for self-examination necessitates introspection. This article explains the purpose, pattern, danger, and duty of introspection.

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The Duty of Devotion

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  • Tim Challies

Whether it be devotion to family or personal devotions, Christians should honour the virtue of devotion. This article explains the purpose, pattern, danger and duty of devotion.

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How to Lead a Small Group Bible Study

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  • Dave Jenkins

How to lead a Bible study? This article looks at the role of the leader in a small groups Bible study, and gives practical tips on leading the study. It also looks at common problems that arise during a Bible study.

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How We Engage in Self-Examination

  • Basic
  • Jack Schoeman

This article shows that being conscious of our sin and its wages, trusting God's promise of forgiveness, and living a life of thankfulness are crucial to spiritual self-examination.

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Repenting Always

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  • James Montgomery Boice

The only way to avoid the trap of self-righteousness is to always remember that the entirety of the Christian life is that of repentance. This article will explain.

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The Spiritual Discipline of Journaling

  • Basic
  • Sally Davey

This article looks at the practice of writing down your spiritual struggles and joys in a spiritual diary.

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Come to Me All Who Are Weary and Burdened, and I Will Give You Rest

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  • Andrew de Vries

Just as God rested after creation, so he calls his people to rest. This article shows how this rest can be obtained, especially on the Lord's Day.

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Three Exercises For the Soul

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  • Bob Burridge

For the soul to be healthy, the Christian must practice rejoicing, praying, and thanksgiving (spiritual exercises).

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The Book of Proverbs and Repetition

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  • Allen Brummel

Some things are worth repeating, that they might not be forgotten. The book of Proverbs uses repetition to teach us the importance of correction and hungering after wisdom, the danger of legalism, the value of Christian friendship, the need for sexual purity, and the reality of eternal life.

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Primer on Ash Wednesday

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  • Rich Lusk

This article discusses Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, a forty-day block that ends with Easter. It explains why it is worthwhile for Christians to observe this day in the church calendar.

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Disciplines of a Godly Man – Discipline for Godliness

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  • R. Kent Hughes

Formation of a Christian character includes cultivation of spiritual disciplines and exercises. Hughes' point of departure is Paul’s encouragement to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:7. Paul calls Timothy to “train yourself to be godly.” In Chapter 1 Hughes takes a look at what this training entails.

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Entrusted with the Oracles of God...

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  • R. Dean Anderson

Christians are entrusted with the word of God. This article makes a plea to believers to treat God's word with respect and honour by reading and obeying it.

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Sleepers, Awake!

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  • James Visscher

This article is about people sleeping during the worship service. How is this possible?

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Fifty Impediments to Growth in Grace

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  • Joel R. Beeke

Are you wandering why are you not growing in grace? Is it possible that one or more of these things can be the hindrance to your spiritual growth? Let the article list them for you.

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Yearning for God: The Potential and Poverty of the Catholic Spirituality of Francis de Sales

  • Semi-Technical
  • Glen G. Scorgie

This essay is about spiritual formation, spirituality, or personal transformation in the presence of God. Scorgie understands spirituality to be about experiencing the Triune God in a personally transforming way. He argues that intimacy with the holy God is necessarily purging and sanctifying.

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Hurry Up and Rest

  • Basic
  • Jayne Clark

The author reflects on Mark 6 and shows that this fast-paced gospel account describes a day full of activity while revealing Christ, the one who is rest himself.

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Evangelical Spirituality Reviewed

  • Technical
  • David Parker

This essay offers an analysis of the theology and structure of evangelical spirituality. It also reviews the present practice of spirituality in the light of contemporary trends. It wants to give a critical review of the practice and sources of evangelical spirituality, in order to show the strengths and weaknesses of evangelical spirituality. It also wants to determine whether other traditions of spirituality are compatible with it, and how they might be used to enrich it.

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The Duty and Benefits of Self-Examination

  • Semi-Technical
  • Geoff Thomas

This article considers the discipline of self-examination.

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Eight Ways to Practice Christianity Monday through Saturday

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  • Silverio Gonzalez

Christianity is not a Sunday-only issue. It is a daily matter. This article gives eight practical things to do in your daily Christian life.

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The Dead Letter? Psalm 119 and the Spirituality of the Bible in the Local Church

  • Technical
  • Benjamin Sargent

How does the Bible function in Christian spirituality and spiritual exercises? The article argues that the Bible's potential to facilitate an encounter with God is underestimated. The author reflects on the way Psalm 119 relates to the believer. The psalm is acknowledged as acting upon the reader and is not seen merely as a passive object of study. The article argues for a more central place for the Bible in spiritual practice and makes suggestions for how to put this into practice.

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Believers have joy and comfort – that joy that angels cannot give and devils cannot take. C. Fowler
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