The spiritual disciplines, then, are actually “disciplines of the Spirit” that are revealed in the Word. All the disciplines, such as reading, studying, and memorizing Scripture while meditatively and prayerfully acting upon what the Lord shows us, are only energized through the same Spirit that raised our Lord from the dead. He joins us to Christ and seals us into him so that we share his death to the power of sin, his resurrection into new fresh life, and his reign (along with persecutions!) over all demonic rulers and authorities (Romans 6:1-14; Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 3:1-4).
Through these “like and precious promises” the Lord speaks authoritatively in his kind yet firm shepherd voice, calling us to follow him in his very footsteps (2 Peter 1:3-4; John 10:3-5). Peter says through the Spirit that we are to walk in the steps of Jesus, rejoicing in our testing and troubles just as he did (1 Peter 2:21). Jesus practiced the Spirit’s disciplines by rejoicing in his Father’s plan. Because his Abba (Father) was his greatest treasure, he cried out, “Yet not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).