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\u201cAs the Father has loved me,\xa0so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.\xa0If you keep my commands,\xa0you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father\u2019s commands and remain in his love.\xa0I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.\xa0My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.\xa0 (John 15:9-12)

Over these past weeks I have walked through many spiritual disciplines in my Wilderness Wanderings.\xa0 Perhaps some of them resonated with you.\xa0 Perhaps others did not.\xa0 Each person has certain disciplines that you may be drawn to more than others.\xa0 And that is important to take note of in your own life.\xa0 Another important part in looking at spiritual disciplines is to allow yourself to step outside of what is comfortable and known into a place where you allow the Holy Spirit to grow up in you certain areas that are weaker in order that He will continue to mold you and form you into the person that He created you to be.

Practicing disciplines creates an attentiveness to the Holy Spirit and what He is doing in our lives. When we submit to God and we allow His Spirit to lead us, we open the way for Him to also transform us into disciples that walk more closely with God, with others and for others too.\xa0 Robert Mulholland Jr. in his book \u201cInvitation for a Journey\u201d wrote that spiritual formation is \u201cthe process of being formed in the image of Christ for the sake of others.\u201d

Practicing disciplines moves us into a deeper relationship with Christ as we begin to speak and act the way Jesus would.\xa0 The saying \u201cWhat Would Jesus Do?\u201d starts to become a part of who we are.\xa0 Not because we constantly bring up the WWJD image in our mind, but because His way of life, starts to become our way of life. We become \u201cdoers of the word, and not hearers only\u201d (James 1:22), in the way we interact with and respond to circumstances in our own life. And also, how we interact with and respond to others, to the world, to the gift of God in Jesus Christ.

Jesus calls us to a transformed life in order that we can live for others, just as He did.\xa0 Are you willing to step out of your comfort zone in order to take a step toward Jesus?\xa0 Disciplines nurture us, and they also stretch us, and transform us.\xa0 They reveal where our true love and values lie.\xa0 They force us to remove the blinders that we often wear and ask God to help us see ourselves and the world as He does.\xa0 What will he find in your heart when you invite Him in?\xa0 Are you willing to follow Him where He leads?

\u201cBut Jennifer\u201d, you might say, \u201cthis sounds a lot like discipleship.\u201d\xa0 And I\u2019d have to say, \u201cyou\u2019re right.\u201d\xa0 Because practicing spiritual disciplines is an act of discipleship, a journey towards Jesus.\xa0 And so I\u2019ll be shifting my focus onto our call to discipleship in my Wilderness Wanderings starting next week.\xa0 For this weekend, think on what it means to love each other as Christ has loved us.\xa0 What does it mean to remain in His love?\xa0 How can we give it away, and how can we invite others to journey in that life of love with us?