Review of Week 19:
FREE: Serving a belief
system isn’t the same as serving a living God. There is a
difference between believing the Bible and believing the one whom the
Bible reveals.
COST: Can you pay the
price to follow Jesus? Absolutely, Jesus knew when He called you
that you were up to it. Don’t doubt it now.
UNWAVERING: God does the
aiming. Persevere through the stress and strain. His release, at
the right time, creates a mighty rush of purpose, during which we
must fly true. And yes, we’ll go through the process again and
again.
REVELATION: Without
revelation, the people cast off restraint. Without vision, they
perish. Without an understanding of God, we fall all over ourselves.
Facing life with ideals is good, but it doesn’t lead to the same
result as proceeding on revelation.
ADD: Pray for discernment
- leave God’s business God’s business. Take care of the business
He gives to you. Take the initiative.
ADD LOVE: You won’t
reach the love of God on tiptoe, no matter how tall you are. Allow
His life, and therefore love, to dwell IN you, and you won’t get
easily HUFFED
HABITS: Our habits aren’t
to be worshipped, God is.
May 13 -
CONSCIENCE
Acts 24:16 “...In
view of this, I also do my best to maintain always a
blameless conscience both before God and before men...”
Why was Paul telling
Felix this? Why did Paul do his best to maintain a blameless
conscience?
Acts 24:14 “...But
this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect
I do serve the God of our fathers, believing
everything that is in accordance with the Law
and that is written in the Prophets;..”
Acts 24:15 “...having
a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that
there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the
righteous and the wicked...”
He served God, believed
the law and the prophets, and hoped in God because there will be a
resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.
How’s your conscience?
What is conscience and
what does it do for you? [a right and wrong meter]
It convicts, bears
witness, it testifies.
It can be good, clear.
It can be weak, wounded,
seared, evil, defiled.
Without a good
conscience, you can shipwreck your faith.
The old covenant can’t
perfect the conscience. The blood of Christ can purify our
conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
Does everyone have a
conscience?
O.C. says conscience is
the eye of the soul that looks either toward God or towards what it
regards as the highest standard (revelation vs. Ideals)
Is it more than a belief
system? Do we recognize the difference between thoughts and
conscience?
It needs to be clean (by
the blood), it needs to be heard, and it needs to be immediately
followed.
What happens when it’s
ignored, or when more attention is paid to thoughts than conscience?
Improper action leads to weakening, searing, and defilement.
When has your conscience
been the most good and clear?
May 14th -
ADVERSITY
2 Cor. 4:7-10 ”...But
we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so
that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not
from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way,
but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;
persecuted, but not forsaken; struck
down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body
the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be
manifested in our body...”
Do we enjoy adversity?
Do we embrace adversity?
What is the difference
between choosing adversity and embracing adversity? [not looking for
it, but accepting it]
What opportunity presents
itself in adversity? [a chance to manifest the life of Jesus through
circumstances]
It isn’t being saved
from Hell that makes an impression on the world - its being saved
from self (maybe some similarities)
From what do you think
you need to be saved? Are you? Is it the kind of salvation others
can see and want?
What kind of disagreeable
things have tested your faith walk? Flat tires? Rebellious kids?
Inconsiderate people?
Is it realistic to think
we can enjoy the disagreeable?
May
15 - VITALITY
Eph.1:18 ”...I pray
that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened,
so that you will know what is the hope
of His calling, what are the riches of the glory
of His inheritance in the saints,...”
Paul’s prayer for the
Ephesians.
What does it mean to
“...work out your salvation with fear and trembling...”
(Phil.2:12)?
The Israelites were freed
from captivity, but had work to do to fulfill God’s intentions for
them - removing the giants.
What giants need
destroying in our lives?
- be right, look good,
stay in control.
- fear, incompetence,
unworthiness.
Is it easy to face our
giants? What is needed?
- David’s confidence
was in God as he faced Goliath.
- We need to know God’s
character, intentions, and expectations.
Did Jesus ever dictate to
God the Father the way things had to be? [No, He lived out His life
in obedience to the Father’s purposes]
What is necessary for us
to live with the same vitality that Jesus demonstrated?
- eyes of heart
enlightened.
- knowing the hope of His
calling.
- knowing the riches of
the glory of His inheritance
When people want what
people want - they never can be free.
When people want what the
Father wants, riches of the glory of His inheritance are available.
How does a clear
conscience that embraces adversity lead to vitality?
God can use fiery trials
to expose our selfishness.
The toughest stains take
the most elbow grease to remove.
Are we more likely to
demonstrate spiritual vitality or a complaining spirit?
May 16 - PARTAKERS
2 Pet.1:3,4 “...seeing
that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life
and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His
own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His
precious and magnificent promises, so that by
them you may become partakers of the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption that is in
the world by lust...”
Do we have all things
that pertain to life and godliness?
Are we partaking of the
divine nature?
Have we escaped the
corruption that is in the world by lust?
How do these things
happen?
- Everything pertaining
to life and godliness - through the true knowledge of Him
- Partakers of the divine
nature - by precious and magnificent promises.
- Escape from a lustful
world’s corruption - by His divine power.
2 Peter 1 then continues
with the call to be diligently increase in faith, moral excellence,
knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness,
and agape.
To miss this is to be
short sighted.
Think of an extremely
rich person. Think of being that person’s child. Can you imagine
considering yourself poor? You could only think that way if you
didn’t know your Father or you didn’t partake in his life.
Do we consider ourselves
to be lacking in things that pertain to life?
Have we taken on the
nature of God, being generous with what we have and who we are?
Have you ever had a pity
party and no one came? The only thing worse is one where people do
come - because the party goes on longer.
Self on the throne
obscures our knowledge of Him and we fail to habitually walk in His
divine nature.
May 17 - JESUS
Luke 24:51 - “...While
He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into
heaven...”
What is the story of
Jesus?
Birth - stable
Baptism - behold the lamb
of God
Ministry and Miracles -
taught with authority, even the demons obeyed
Transfiguration - met
with Moses/Elijah “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased”
Gethsemane - sweat blood
Cross - nailed up with
the thieves to die
Resurrection - defeated
death
Ascension - entered
heaven having accomplished all He was sent to do
William Parker wrote a
hymn for his Sunday School class in 1885
Tell me the stories of
Jesus I love to hear;
Things I would ask Him to
tell me if He were here;
Scenes by the wayside,
tales of the sea,
Stories of Jesus, tell
them to me.
First let me hear how the
children stood round His knee,
And I shall fancy His
blessing resting on me;
Words full of kindness,
deeds full of grace,
All in the love light of
Jesus’ face.
Tell me, in accents of
wonder, how rolled the sea,
Tossing the boat in a
tempest on Galilee;
And how the Maker, ready
and kind,
Chided the billows, and
hushed the wind.
Into the city I’d
follow the children’s band,
Waving a branch of the
palm tree high in my hand.
One of His heralds, yes,
I would sing
Loudest hosannas, “Jesus
is King!”
Show me that scene in the
garden, of bitter pain.
Show me the cross where
my Savior for me was slain.
Sad ones or bright ones,
so that they be
Stories of Jesus, tell
them to me.
Tell me the story of
Jesus, I love to hear.
Things I would ask Him to
tell me, if He were here
Was
this man Jesus normal?
-
No-one else lived, died, and rose like he did.
-
No-one else opened the door to heaven like he did and does.
-
No-one else was transfigured, revealing the glory that was His, then
left the glory to be crushed by the weight of human sin.
What
kind of life did He live? [The normal godly life]
Without
revelation, mankind stumbled all over themselves. Shouldn’t the
revelation of the Way, the Truth, and the Life, change humanity
forever?
Why
is so much of humanity still stumbling all over themselves?
We
must remember Him, know Him, and partake of His divine nature.
We
must be and build disciples of Christ Jesus. He’s our norm.
We
can’t be deceived by the father of lies. We can’t put our eyes
on another.
We
can’t hunger for anything like we hunger for His kingdom and His
righteousness.
May
18 -
KISS
Matt.6:26-28 “...Look
at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather
into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds
them. Are you not worth much more than they? "And who of you by
being worried can add a single hour to his life? "And why are
you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow;
they do not toil nor do they spin,...”
Context: A section of
scripture that reveals the cure for anxiety.
Does our world need a
cure for anxiety?
Is there a cure that is
more effective than anti-anxiety drugs?
How difficult is life for
a bird? Would your life be simpler if you were a bird?
How about the life of a
lily? Would you struggle if you were a lily?
Thirty eight years ago I
was asking questions like these. I’d hop on my ten-speed, peddle
away from campus, out into the country. I’d find a spot up on a
hill and contemplate what it would be like to be a cow.
No, I wasn’t on drugs.
I just had this awareness of the craziness and futility of the rest
of creation. This was the crack through which God reached into my
heart and started me on my pilgrimage toward His truth.
Are humans self absorbed?
Can a Christian be self absorbed in pursuit of spirituality?
- We are a created
people.
- He is the creator.
- Life is as simple as
looking to Him and having His life form in us.
May 19 -
INTEGRATION
Rom.8:35 “...Who
will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword?...”
I have a suspicion. No,
its more that a suspicion because I’ve seen it with my eyes. I
have an awareness of a condition that plagues us as Christians.
Segregation: Not a
separating of men from women, race from race, denomination from
denomination, but separation of spiritual life from the rest of life.
- In the right setting we
talk about God, we know the answers, we say the right things.
- In most of the other
settings of our lives we live differently.
Are there two worlds?
Are we two people?
James 1:8 “...being
a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways...”
Double-minded is a recipe
for instability.
Nothing can separate us
from the love of God? Can anything separate you from your spiritual
life, your eternal life, your knowing Him?
Do we face?
Tribulation? Severe trial
or suffering.
Distress? Great pain,
anxiety, or sorrow.
Persecution? A program or
campaign to subjugate a people because of their beliefs.
Famine? Extreme and
general scarcity.
Peril? Exposure to
injury, loss, or destruction.
Nakedness? Without the
customary covering or protection - exposure.
Sword? A symbol of war,
combat, violence, or aggression.
How do we live in the
face of these things?
