Listen to the audio lessons below:
In the midst of your daily life with its challenges Jesus has an easy yoke for you to walk in. Following Jesus is meant to be a life of ease, delight, character growth, and adventure! Of course, there are challenges and pains to overcome but we can learn to do so with grace.
This four-week class is based on Matthew 11:25-30 and Bill’s book, updated in 2016 as Your Best Life In Jesus’ Easy Yoke. We taught this series at Voyagers Bible Church in Irvine, CA in the Spring of 2012.
1: Apprentice Yourself to Jesus
To be Jesus’ apprentice is to be with him to become like him. “The Triangle of Soul Transformation” highlights three ways for us to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and grow in God’s grace: believe Jesus’ gospel of the availability of God’s kingdom, practice disciplines for the spiritual life, and learn from daily life trials.
As we learn to abide in Jesus we bear much fruit for God — naturally. We practiced a meditation on John 15:5.
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2: Rejoice in God’s Kingdom
Jesus’ Gospel is the best news ever! “Re-think your strategy for life in view of your opportunity to live in God’s kingdom right now” (Matthew 4:17, par). Rarely is the Gospel presented that way today.
We did a meditation and prayer exercise on the story of Jesus napping in the storm and then calming it with a word: “Peace! Be still.” (Mark 4:35-41).
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3: Don’t Try, Train
If you’re stuck in our spiritual growth listen to David: “With God’s help I can run through a wall!” (Psalm 18:29, par). The way to run through your wall is not by trying, but by training with Jesus. We discussed the most important disciplines for the spiritual life in Christ.
We meditated on Matthew 11:25-30 (MSG).
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4: How to Bless those who Curse You
We may throw away our trials, wishing we weren’t going through a hard time and holding on till it’s over. But the gift of a trial is that it shows us how we’re doing with being formed in the image of Jesus. For instance, do I bless those who curse me like Paul did when he was put in jail and persecuted in Philippi?
The only way to bless those who curse you is to become the kind of person who would do that. This requires a thought out plan for learning from Jesus and relying on his grace.
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You will love our award-winning Podcast: Soul Talks with Bill & Kristi Gaultiere. You can listen to these 20-minute conversations at our Podcast Archives.
