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Search Quiet Times via a keyword or stringSearching for "against" in the Quiet Time Archive
Displaying results from "50" to "75". (126 found)
| 2010-04-01 - Life to the Full - Dead or Alive? (part 1) When we show favoritism, we are unlike God - James 2:1-4 You probably has heard that we should not judge Judging is a merely drawing a conclusion on evidence There are certain kinds of judging that are prohibited or discouraged:
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| 2010-04-04 - Life to the Full - Dead or Alive? (part 4) People are searching for a cause The perfect law forbids us to act out of anger or slander
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| 2010-04-13 - Life to the Full - Got to Pray (part 1) James addressed the rich who exploited the poor and those who failed to stand up to the sin - James 5:1-6 Withholding wages, even overnight - was considered cheating a labor by underpaying him - Deuteronomy 24:14-15 v5 - the "day of slaughter" was the day an animal was slaughtered and mostly all eaten since there was no refrigeration v6 - they were "condemning and murdering" innocent men Actively - cast their vote against the lower castes Passively - failed to defend them Am I passionate about advocating for the poor? |
| 2010-05-12 - Desire's Journey - Our Heart's Deepest Secret But I still haven't found what I am looking for - U2 We have a secret desire for life as it was meant to be Again and again the yearning of our heart cries for this life Life comes to all of us as a mystery We long to live a life we are not sure where to find The greatest human tragedy is to give up the search for life. Nothing is of greater importance than the life of our deep heart To lose heart is to lose everything - Proverbs 4:23 Who we really are and why we are here comes to us through our heart's desire Our heart yearns for things to be right is so strong that it overrides the logic and hopes against hope every time The heart has its reasons which reason knows not of - Proverbs 20:5 There are two things that pierce the human heart:
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| 2010-05-18 - Desire's Journey - Dare We Desire? Although the voice was kind, the question felt harsh How long can we sustain desire against continual disappointment? By asking him what he wanted, Jesus took him back into desire
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| 2010-05-30 - Desire's Journey - Assault on Desire Battle of desire is not something that just takes place with us or even between us - but against us Advirtisers play on our desire of creating an image that everyone who is anyone has the object for sale The evil one has two ploys:
Our addictions are our own worst enemies Like the rich, young ruler - we find we can not give up our treasures even though God has something much better |
| 2010-06-13 - Why Jesus Came (part 2) Validate the Way John 14:6
Explote the false teachers Matthew 23:1-38
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| 2010-06-29 - Our worst, His best Preached on 2003-03-16 Bad day? Being at your worse, need someone at their best |
| 2010-07-19 - Desire's Journey - Deeper Desire (part 6) From the section about Jesus' trial in the dessert 2. Trail comes after we determine not to take matters into our own hands By refusing to turn stones into bread, Jesus choose to trust God Satan tries to attack our sense of God's heart toward us If our thoughts are: "Do I really have to wait that long? Do you care me, God?" - Satan will jump all over this Jesus came to answer once and for all our question: "Do you love me?" We can stand firm on the ground of the cross against the doubt We don't need for God to prove his love for us - he has at the cross |
| 2010-07-31 - Desire's Journey - Keeping Heart (part 1) We have similar path we follow
Forgetfulness does not come against us like an enemy in battle formation It comes unnoticed We are warned about forgetfulness in the scriptures The pattern so predictable, we have come to expect it:
Be careful and watch yourself closely so that you don't forget the things your eyes have seen - Deuteronomy 4:9 |
| 2010-08-08 - Waking Dead - At War (part 3) Until we come to terms with war, we will not understand life We will misinterpret most of what is happening around us:
We have to realize we are part of a story and the situation we are in right now will change We won't understand our life until we see it as a battle - warring against your heart The issue is: we can not see things as clearly as we ought to - but we need to The attack on our hearts weighs down our lives and glory is being held back We don't see clearly because we don't see with the eyes of our heart |
| 2010-08-28 - Waking Dead - Wisdom and Heart Our heart has been made good by work of Christ but we haven't learned how to live from it Launching out with an untrained heart can bring disaster We can easily be shamed into sin management and think our heart is bad The church choose those who had both wisdom and the Spirit - Acts 6:3 We need both Wisdom is crying out
Solomon was so sharp because he had a wise and discerning heart - 1 Kings 3:9 But wisdom is not enough
The common sense life can be the enemy of the supernatural life |
| 2010-08-30 - Waking Dead - Pay Attention to our Heart Most of us have not been trained to pay attention to our heart It will take a little practice to tune in to it Many understand how to play the beautiful instrument of the heart
The enemy to distress you by throwing all sorts of thoughts your way and blaming you for it We must proceed with the assumption that your heart is good - Romans 7 Over time you will grow familiar with the movements of your heart Just like if any counsel or word that presents itself as being from God - must be checked against his word The flesh will try to use your freedom to get you to do things you shouldn't do Any discouragement, condemnation (Romans 8:1), accusation, confusion is not from God His conviction brings desire for repentance - 2 Corinthians 7:10 |
| 2010-09-08 - Waking Dead - Deep Restoration (part 5) Our sin give the enemy a certain claim to our lives - Romans 6:16 As we renounce any sin, we also renounce any claim we've given to Satan in our lives This often comes in the form of "agreements" - Satan has suggested something to us and we have said yes.
As long as we have unhealed places in our hearts, it is next to impossible to live in freedom and victory No matter how much discipline we apply to it Our enemy knows them well and trying undermine us and uses it against us with a disabling effect |
| 2010-09-10 - Waking Dead - Spiritual Warfare (part 2) The question is not are we oppressed but where and how we are Why does every story have an enemy?
Satan lost the battle against Michael and his angels - was hurled to earth - Revelation 12:9 Satan's mood? He is filled with fury because he knows his time is short - Revelation 12:12 He is trying to steal your freedom, kill your heart, destroy your life We can go throughout our day and not even once wonder how the enemy might be attacking us All we know is that we aren't enjoying that abundant life Christ talked about Ignorance of spiritual warfare is the most native and dangerous thing a person can do You don't escape spiritual warfare by choosing not to believe it exists or refuse to fight The thief is trying to steal the life God wants to give - John 10:10 |
| 2010-09-17 - Waking Dead - Spiritual Warfare (part 5) The worldview has simply removed warfare as a practical category We shouldn't be surprised - we can not see spiritual strongholds after we say they really don't exist If you deny the battle raging against your heart, then the theif can just come and go as he pleases Satan says there is not war Lord Almighty = he who is sovereign over all the powers in heaven and on earth, especially over the armies of Israel The God of angel armies God is powerful and and in control but don't always think of of him taking up a sword and shield, breaking down gates to rescue us Big difference: Joe the good man who is in control vs Joe the Naval Seal |
| 2010-09-19 - Waking Dead - Setting the Heart Free All spiritual warfare follows a simple pattern - James 4:7 Submit and resist Submit ourselves to Christ and resist whatever has come against us or those we love Their needs to "dailyness" to our walk 1. We have to choose to abide in Christ Consecrate our whole body:
Take our place under the headship of Christ The faith of centurion, he understood authority - Matthew 8:10 Most sins fall under:
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| 2010-09-28 - Waking Dead - Devotion and War Caring for your heart is also how you protect your relationship with God Your heart is where life flows Whoever believes in me - streams of living water will flow from within him - John 7:27-38 God's friends care for their heart because they matter to Him What does your heart need? Some needs are common to all hearts like silence and solitude Very early Jesus went away to a solitary place - Mark 1:35 We need to make time to get away - our entire lives are ruled by the expectation of others and the heart is the first to go The enemy will tell you this is foolish "You have many more important things to do with your time" Caring for your heart is an act of obedience, faith and an act of war The first wave of any strike against us is to rob us of the heart to fight it Hyenas cannot bring down a lion in its prime - they run it, taunt it, and wear it down to the point of exhaustion The strategy of our Enemy in the age we live is busyness and drivenness Most will say when asked how they are doing is "really busy" That we way we are going to get burned out and lose touch with our hearts The empty heart is more vulnerable to temptation |
2010-10-13 - Dealing With Your Heart (Part II)
QUESTIONS
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2010-10-22 - God and Your Job
QUESTIONS
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| 2010-10-31 - Contagious Christian - Barriers to Relationships (part II) 1 Corinthians 15:33 - Bad company corrupts good character
Jesus not only risked his reputation but ruined it He was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard - Luke 7:34 Tells you want kind of people He was around Jesus said that He associated with sinners because they are sick people that need a doctor - Matthew 9:12-13 The danger was that the doctor may be mistaken as one of His patients The religious people mutter how inappropriate it was for Him to associate with such disreputable people Jesus cared much about the lost than his reputation |
| 2010-11-16 - Contagious Christian - Making the Message Clear (part I) Before you can bring the message to others, need to make sure we clearly understand we understand the message ourselves Making the message clear will need us to be able to illustrate it for those we talk to God Three aspects of God we need to look at:
God made us without sin but we abused our freedom and became evil Sin requires God to pronounce upon us the death penalty - both physical and spiritual This is separation from God via hell We are helpless to change this Christ God had the power and authority to devise a plan for our salvation Christ died and suffered the death penalty debt for us and
You don't deserve it, we didn't pay for it, we can not earn it He paid a debt He did not owe I owned a debt I could not pay |
| 2010-11-18 - Contagious Christian - Making the Message Clear (part III) The Bridge Illustration
Other times God has prepared their hearts through someone else We need to give them this freedom |
| 2011-02-01 - Gender Controversy - Intro We are told that the opposition is a recent phenomenon
They use examples: Jon/David, Ruth, Naomi Clear passages are "reinterpreted" so the "modern reader" can understand
Both sides claim the Bible supports their view - It is one way or the other Bible disapproves but offers hope Satan wants to call evil good and good evil Sodom and Gomorrah Genesis 13:13 - MEN were exceedingly wicked; rebelled against God |
| 2011-02-24 - The Church - Kansas City (part IV) Correction in the Body Matthew 18:15-18
Matthew 13:44-46
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| 2011-03-16 - One Another (part II) Some more scriptures about relationships:
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| 2011-03-17 - One Another (part III) One another scriptures continued:
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| 2011-06-07 - Fearing God - Beyond Compare (part I) Imagine the Red Sea waters divided - Exodus 14 Only a few hours you've experienced the highest degrees of fear, excitement, and relief. To fear him is to trust him God worked on their behave - power without love is terrifying, love without power is pitiable The events of Exodus was not only to gain to glory Himself but to stimulate and increase the faith of the Israelites |
| 2011-08-11 - Daughter Needs - Loving Kindness A daughter needs a father's gentleness, protective favor to intercede for her against those who would do her wrong Two tendencies to limit their kindness:
Do you give your daughter far more positive comments then negative? Say something positive, then say "do better" next time? |
| 2011-09-11 - Followup: Humility II (part II) What’s in store for the humble person?
Who is it hardest for you to be humble towards? Why? Are you willing to change these things so you can please God? How can I help? Isaiah 66:2 - God is excited about the humble person. How to be humble when you sin:
To clothe yourself with Christ is to clothe yourself with humility. |
| 2011-09-19 - Proverbs on Integrity (part II) Examples of great integrity.
#1. Integrity last forever Proverbs 12:19 - Truthful lips endure forever Integrity last forever (people lie to escape something) but no one can run from the truth
Whenever we lie we ruin a part of our character.
Men and take many things away from us but no one can take our integrity (its our choice). |
| 2011-09-20 - Proverbs on Integrity (part III) #2. Integrity pleases God Proverbs 12:22 - The Lord delights in men who are truthful God hates lies and loves the truth. God has never lied.
#3. Deception (lies) end in destruction Proverbs 17:20 - A man of perverse heart does not prosper Proverbs 19:5 - A false witness will not go unpunished At some point our lies will find us out, it might not happen in this life but it will happen. - 1 Timothy 5:24-25 Acts 5 - Ananias and Sapphira lied not only to God but to the people (church) Lessons:
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| 2011-09-23 - Proverbs on Pride (part III) Proverbs 13:10 - wise men and women listen to each other's counsel Proverbs 18:11 - The rich think their wealth protects them Illustration:
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| 2011-09-26 - Proverbs on Advice - Seek Help Proverbs 15:22 - Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. Gettysburg was the turning point of the Civil War.
Proverbs 11:14 - For lack of guidance a nation falls but many advisers make victory sure. In the life of a disciple we need eyes all around us (we are in a spiritual battle, not against flesh and blood but against the dark forces of this world).
Five lessons to learn about advice... 1. Seek Advice Proverbs 14:12 - There is a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death Proverbs 18:15 - The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, the ears of the wise seek it out If we were going to buy a car for the 1st time, most of us would seek a lot of advice.
If we need help in other areas (that’s good) surely our spiritual life is more important because it has an eternal destination (good or bad)
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| 2011-11-20 - Getting Started (part II) Remember the battle you entered
Remember what you promised
The key to successful first few weeks as a disciple is relationships. Make some specific decisions about how you will stay close to God and the other disciples in your life. Decide as well to get to know some other disciples and start sharing your new-found love for God with those you know and love. You will find that you will have good days, but remember – you’re just getting started. |
| 2011-11-26 - Grace (part II) Grace continues to be yours after your baptism
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| 2011-12-05 - Day 2 - Tested and Tempted Matthew 3:16-4:11
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| 2011-12-18 - Day 15 - The Hope of Heaven Revelation 20:11-15
Application: Pray about what God promises in heaven! If there are any sins you need to confess and change, do it TODAY! |
| 2012-01-14 - Ministry - Driven By Zeal for God John 2:12-17; Romans 12:11; Numbers 25:6-13 Jesus faced many challenging situations in the ministry. He faced the overwhelming needs of the sick, the poor, the faithless and the empty but antagonizing religious leaders. He also faced an overwhelming sinful scene at the temple one day. Seeing that the temple worship had become simply a place to make money from others as they were sacrificing animals, Jesus decided to take action! After making a whip, he drove everyone from the temple area, overturning tables and scattering money everywhere! With many rebukes and challenges laid out to the religious crowd, the disciples thought of one word, "zeal." God blesses us when we take action against sin with our hearts full of zeal! Jesus was not afraid to be driven by zeal! Jesus was not holding back when challenged by sinful situations! He did not ignore, forget, and walk away thinking "tomorrow" or cowardly crumble with fear! Questions
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| 2012-01-16 - Ministry - Faith: The Generator of Miracles Mark 6:1-6; Mark 9:14-25; II Kings 20:1-11 Sometimes we think that miracles ended when the Bible was finished. Or if they do occur today, they happen to other people. Our faith becomes limited to what we can accomplish instead of what God can do through us. The call of the disciple is to believe the unbelievable. To live on the edge. To dream where there are no dreamers left. God is unlimited in what he can do. Often times he does do miracles but because we are not looking through the eyes of faith, we cannot see them occur. We learn from the Scriptures above that miracles will only occur where faith is present. We have to confront the unbelief in our lives and battle against past faithlessness. We cannot let past sin or discouragement set low expectations or low beliefs in our lives. God is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. Questions:
What miracles do you choose to believe God will do in your life or others lives? Dream big! Write down something you will pray to see God do this year. |
| 2012-01-21 - Ministry - Faith in God Moves Mountains Mark 11:22-24 Jesus makes a very simple short powerful statement; "Have faith in God." Believe in ME and you will be able to move mountains. Jesus had the faith to move mountains. Jesus calls each of us to have a faith that can move mountains.Each of us has mountains or obstacles in our lives. These obstacles take on many different forms. They may be character sins that never seem to change, family situations that seem to continue month after month, and financial debt that never seems to go away. These obstacles sometimes seem as large and permanent as mountains. But Jesus tells us to "Have faith in God", to believe in our hearts, and the mountains can be thrown into the sea. It is a very simple, but powerful statement, "Have faith in God." What mountain is secretly holding back your faith? How much have you put it before God? Decide today to lay it out before God and really believe that He can change it. Fight against cynicism and unbelief. |
| 2012-03-03 - Fear of Failure - Failure to speak the truth by Adesha Johnson - Ministry Intern: San Francisco Church of Christ Isaiah 59 Failure to speak the truth does not have to be fatal A character sin in my life is deceitfulness. I'm insecure and will often turn to something other than God to find security. Ironically, when I'm in this state, I really feel like I'm doing the right thing! Isaiah 59:1-21 opened up my eyes to the inner workings of deceit. Verse 13 shows how deceit begins and ends. First, I rebel against the Lord by having shorter prayer and bible study and not turning to him as soon as I've sinned. Second, I start lying about how I'm doing and feeling. It's at those times that I find myself easily embittered at people around me. My bitterness is a direct result of the guilt I feel because of my deceit. Here's the bottom line: The Lord loves the truth! Decision: To be truthful daily in regards to sin, guilt and how I am feeling and to continue studying out Truth in the scriptures. |
| 2012-10-29 - The Lost Life of the Heart Our years can be consumed with service and business But somewhere out there someone is saying, "There is something more" We just assume it is our imagination Then it speaks again, "Aren't you thirsty? There is something missing" This feeling might feel disloyal to our routine and against the program we are following We try to silence the voice with outward activity and redoubling our Christian service You long to be in a love affair, an adventure with God. You were made for something more. Samuel heard the voice of God calling to him in the night - 1 Samuel 3:4 It took him three time before he realized it was God Rather than ignoring the voice, Samuel finally listed In our lives, we can become frustrated by our heart's continuing sabotage of a dutiful Christian life But sometime at night, when our defenses are down, we still hear him calling us In the morning, activities scream for our attention and think we have won the battle of the "flesh" Satan loves to turn the truth upside down We try to lose ourselves in:
We create distance between ourselves and others; even distance between ourselves and our own heart... |
| 2013-03-21 - Prayer of the Righeous - Knowing God through His Word (part II) Bible Study Disciplines Mark up your Bible in to different themes: Example subjects:
Might circle references to God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit Read the whole Bible every year Foucused study on indivdual books and passages are good but it also important to have the broad picture of God's revelation ingrained in our hearts Read the Bible everyday Jesus lived on every word that came from the mouth of God - Matthew 4:4 Memorize key verses Memorizing scripture helps us to talk to God using quoted scripture (God's language) and keeps us pursuing righteousness
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| 2013-06-25 - Why we need men of resolution (part II) Our relationship with our father is very telling as to why we are and who we are. “What does my dad really think about me?” Lots of fathers don’t realize their vital role. Many issues come from fathers having lost their sense of purpose. Society is guiding boys to remain boys as long as possible— extending childhood into their thirties—while forcing girls to become women long before they are ready. Millions of young men are staying single. They want the privileges and rewards of manhood but only the responsibilities and moral requirements of boys. God has a special place in His heart for two specific groups of people: fatherless children and widows. Dad have good intention but there many things working against them:
Devil will never stop attacking what God prioritizes. |
| 2013-07-01 - Becoming a Chain Breaker (part I) Men need to realize how much is at stake We need to ask God to break the chains in our lives and from our past Children are not punished for the sins of their parents, they are definitely affected and negatively influenced by them. You matter the circumstances of your birth, you were not an accident - Acts 17:24-27 Chains present in all of our lives:
God is the ultimate Chain Breaker
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| 2013-08-27 - Hurtful Examples and Lies For some, hurtful things your father did and said to you over the years The question is whether or not you will allow it to hinder you or help you. We are to forgive like God forgives, completely - Ephesians 4:32 If you believe the same lies your father believed, you will also be bound by them. Truth doesn’t set you free if you only hear it and mentally understand it. Consider memorizing verses that stand against any lies you have believed. |
| 2014-02-11 - Loss of Heart Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger - Ephesians 6:4 If we lose their hearts, we lose everything. |
| 2014-03-21 - Train Them to Honor Authority (part I) Honor is attractive
The whole concept of authority comes from God. Earthly authority is His design and tool for creating order and for keeping us accountable and responsible, for honoring good and for punishing evil - Romans 13:1-4 Authorities on earth help keep us mindful of His superior, eternal authority God can turn the heart of anyone in a leadership position in any direction - Proverbs 21:1 We should be like Jesus and submit to our imperfect, human authorities knowing that God uses them to carry out His purposes - John 19:11 The only time we should not submit to them is when they are asking us to disobey God and sin - Acts 5:29 Notice that Scripture does not tell us to obey them only if we agree with their judgment - Hebrews 13:17-18 When dishonoring authority, you are not rebelling against an individual but against God Himself. Handling and responding to authority is serious business. |
| 2014-04-04 - Disciplining Your Children (part I) A major part of your role as a father is to disciple your kids Discipling your kids requires discipline on our part Discipline doesn’t feel good, nor should it - Hebrews 12:11 Discipline should be more on the father’s shoulders than the mother’s because of who we represent. Loving discipline prepares our kids to respect and obey their heavenly Father We had earthly fathers to discipline us, for they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good - Hebrews 12:9-10 It is the father’s job is to take the long view, not the short one. Withheld discipline may seem momentarily pleasant to the child and the parent but it takes no skill or courage to be a passive father Not disciplining guarantees that uncorrected sin will follow his child into adulthood and follow his family into the coming generations Its momentary discomfort - knowing that sin will harm a child in far worse ways than even the painful discipline of a loving father. He who loves him disciplines him promptly - Proverbs 13:24 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it - Proverbs 22:6 IT is a lie from the Enemy to believe that rebelling against and dishonoring authority brings more freedom and peace Bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord - Ephesians 6:4
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| 2015-02-03 - Suffering with Benefits Take pleasure in my weakness; when I am weak, I am strong - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 Paul did much of his writting in prison and enduring arrests, beatings, threats against his life because of Jesus People who take pleasure in suffering are usually the ones who need mental help. Paul knew his suffering wouldn't last forever and that God had something better He remembered his suffering would last a moment, while the glory to come would last forever Suffering can:
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| 2015-02-26 - God enables us You must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you - Jeremiah 1:7-8 Lord called Jeremiah to prophesy against the rebellious nation of Isreal - God chose him to be God's mouthpiece He lacked confidence because Jeremiah hadn't grasped the truth that God never calls us to do something without first equipping that person first God wants us to see our own weakness and his need for God's empowerment Jeremiah was the right person for the call because he was God called and God enabled The Lord has you where he wants you - in a place of humility and dependence on Him for the power you need to succeed. |
| 2015-03-05 - Negative Example Diotresphes refuses to have anything to do with us and has evil accusation against us - 3 John 1:9-10 Diotresphes was a gifted man interested in moving himself up the church's pecking order Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant - Matthew 20:26 John did not beat around the bush: don't let this bad example influence you, only follow what is good - 3 John 1:11 Diotresphes' me-first mentality put him last in God's scheme of things |
| 2015-03-30 - Women in Jesus' Life But go find my brothers and tell them, "I am ascending to my Father" - John 20:17 Jesus treated women with a tehn unheard-of respect:
Jesus swam strongly against the tide of popular culture of the day and treated woman with respect
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| 2015-04-03 - God's Intervention Bless you for keeping me from murder and from carrying out vengeance with my own hands - 1 Samuel 25:33 David found himself on the verge of comming a terrible sin because of human anger:
Nabal's wife, Abigail, kept David from commiting a terrible sin She did not defend her terrible husband but reminded David that killing Nabal would be a grave sin against God - 1 Samuel 25 God has given you ears to hear what your loved ones have to say to you |
| 2015-05-09 - Watch and Pray Jesus returned and found the disciples sleeping - Mark 14:37 He knew their weaknesses Jesus told his disciples eariler that evening that they would all abadon him As Jesus prayed in the garden that night, Peter fell fast asleep leaving him defenseless against the coming temptation The big fisherman failed Jesus miserably because he relied on his own strength and courage When you remain prayerfully on alert for those temptations, God can give you the strength and wisdom you need |
| 2015-05-28 - Contrary to Popular Opinion Leaders plotted to kill Zechariah and King Joash order that they stone him to death - 2 Chronicles 24:21 Sometimes we must stand against even the strongest public opinion Zechariah encourages Joash and the people to return to the LOrd and warned them of the consequences of their idolity You have abandoned the Lord, and now he has abandoned you! - 2 Chronicles 24:21 That wasn't what the king or his subjects wanted to hear Zechariah paid with his life for his willingness to buck public opinion |
| 2015-06-29 - Great for the Soul I have sinned against both heaven and you, I am no longer worth of being called your son - Luke 15:18-19 Bible repeatedly teaches the importance of confession and tells us that God is faithful and just - 1 John 1:9 Jesus illustrates this point by telling the story of a father/son and then son coming to his senses He returns home, confesses his sins and humbly asks his father if he could be one of his hired hands The father wouldn't hear of it and welcomed his boy back into his home for a celebration - Luke 15:22-24 Confession to God and to others hurt by your actions is good for the soul
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| 2015-07-10 - Man after God's own Heart I have sinned against the Lord - 2 Samuel 12:!3 King David in a space of a few weeks - lusted, commited adultery, lied, and murdered his lyal servant Uriah God called David a man after his own heart, not because he was perfect - 1 Samuel 13:14 God call him this because David humbly and brokenheartedly recongnized his own sin and knew what to do When the prophet Nathan confronted David about his sin, the king acknowledged he had sinned against the Lord |
| 2015-07-12 - Avoid Distractions Demas has deserted me bcause he loves the things of this life - 2 Timothy 4:10 One of the devil's most powerful weapons is distraction He uses that weapon against a once-faithful believer named Demas Demas was a dependable partner Paul's ministry - "a coworker" - Philemon 1:24 Whatever Demas' reason for deserting Paul, he was distracted from his important work faithfully following Jesus What distractions keep you from fully and freely serving Jesus? |
| 2015-07-13 - God Won't Give You Up With his love, he will calm all your fears - Zephaniah 3:17 Zephaniah understood that God never "cuts his losses" with those who belong to him He approved of reforms but also wanted them to understand they needed changes within themselves In the book of Zephaniah, he:
God still loved his people and wanted more than anything for them to turn back to him God takes sin very seriously and will never look the other way when you fail him. He still will not give up on you |
| 2015-07-15 - Don't Rock the Boat They incited a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 other leaders - Numbers 16:2 Korah was a strong man who organized a corp of leaders with the intention of usurping Moses' authority and installing his own very of the preisthood He forgot what happened to Aaron and Miiam when they challenged Moses' leadership - Numbers 12 Korah was a special leader but he wanted more than what God had given him God removed them from their positions and removed them from the earth altogether Some of God's greatest leaders have been willing to rock the boat but they also have a strong grasp of respecting authority When we submit to those in authority, we demonstrate a key condition for God's blessing: humility! |
| 2015-07-26 - Obey and Wait This only a simple thing for the Lord - 2 Kings 3:18 "You first, God" approach to obedience often means missing out on his blessings and maybe a miracle or two Israel march against Moab but the soliders had run out of water Eliaha spoke to God and would provide water under one condition: they were to dig ditches in the valley and wait for God to act Their choice was to laugh and ignore the command or obey and wait for a miracle Jehoshaphat and Joram acted in faith and obedience - received more water than they knew what to do with When God commands you to do something that seems humanly unreasonable, do you act immediately or wait for him to act first? |
| 2015-08-11 - The Spin Amos is hatching a plot against you right - Amos 7:10 In an attempt to quiet Amos and his message, Amaziah accused him of treason against Israel Amzaiah had put his own spin on Amos' words about the death of Jeroboam and Zechariah Some will always attempt to spin the words and actions of godly people and their unpopular message Amos knew he was preaching an unpopular message and Amaziah would go to great lengths to stop him |
| 2015-08-20 - Balanced Approach You will not stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing youe unfailing love - Micah 7:18 The Bible is largely a book about finding balance - between God's hattred for sin and his desire to completely forgive the sinner Micah understood this balance Challenges:
Opportunites:
Repentant hearers had hope for better things ahead Are there people in your life who need to see both sides of God's nature? |
| 2015-09-05 - Sound Judgement We alone will build the Temple for the Lord just as KIng Cyrus of Persia commanded us - Ezra 4:3 It is important to guard against those who try to lead you away from a strong, biblical faith Zerubbabel had good judgement overseeing the building of an alter to the Lord and the rebuild of the holy Temple This got the attention of some traditional adversaries who offered to help with highly suspect motives It was tempting to get the work done faster but Zerubbabel said thanks but no thanks We need to have sound judgement in who spends time with your family and what images you and your kids should view and the activities you choose |
| 2015-09-10 - Take the Lead When King David heard what had happened, he was very angry - 2 Samuel 13:21 David was often a brilliant leader on the battlefield but he defaulted on his leadership at home His family became dysfunctional:
Don't default on your responsibility - as a father, you have the privilege of leading others toward godliness |
| 2015-09-13 - Alert and Ready Take this young man to the commander. He has something important to tell him - Acts 23:17 Bible counsels us to alert and ready to move when God gives us a message of blessing, teching, or warning Paul's nephew saved his life because he remained alert and ready to act on what he knew Paul was chosen to speak his message of salvation to "the Gentiles and to kings" - Acts 9:!5 As Paul waited in jail for his opportunity to speak to Caesar, his nephew alerted him and his guards of a plot against his life When you remain alert and step out in faith at the opportune time, the Lord can use you to alter the course of history |
| 2015-10-03 - When a Brother Sins I will certainly not sin against the Lord by ending my prayers for you - 1 Samuel 12:23 Sometimes we feel thempted to write off a brother in Christ who made a mess of their faith Bible teach us to pray for such a man and do everthing we can to restore him Israel made a foolish and ungodly choice - insisted on an earthly king Samuel felt disappointed but he did not write off the people Instead Samuel took these steps:
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| 2015-10-16 - Courage to Act Bring out your son . He must die... - Judges 6:30 The Old Testament hero Gideon had the courage needed to champion his principles and God's name This was true even when risking his skin Tearing down the alter of Baal was no small offense to those in Gideon's home town When he did they were ready to inact revenge in the name of their god Joash kept the mob from killing Gideon Gideon looked beyond the surface of things and saw accommodating Baal amounted to treason against God |
| 2015-11-18 - Rise to the Occasion He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus's body - Luke 23:52 Joseph rose to the occasion as a member of the Jewish council He was a "good and rigteous man" who kept his discipleship a secret our of fear of his fellow council members Somehow he had the courage to approach Pilate and get permission to remove Jesus' body from the cross so that he could be buried Joseph rolled a large stone against the tomb to protect Jesus' body from vandals and grave robbers The newly emboldened Joseph extended to Christ the honor due to him in death |
| 2015-12-09 - Don't Miss Your Chance You missed your chance to destroy the army of the king of Aram - 2 Chronicles 16:7 Like so many kings of Judah, Asa started out doing good things for his kingdom Prophet Azariah: The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with him! - 2 Chronicles 15:2 Asa trusted and obey God at first but later he failed by relying on humans instead of God He showed his true colors when he entered into an agreement with Syria to stand against Israel Asa refusal to rely solely on God contributed to his death He developed a foot disease - he went to his doctors rather than first seeking God's help - 2 Chronicles 16:12 Where do you turn in yout times of need? |
| 2015-12-24 - Greed is not Good My master should not have let this Aramean get aways without accepting any gifts - 2 Kings 5:20 Bible encourages hard work but warns against greed God had miraculously healed Naaman who gratefully offered Elisha a gift of gratitude Elisha refused the gift but his servant, Gehazi, chased after him to collect the gift without consulting Elisha first: Gehazi's greed ruined his life:
Gehazi only had to look at his hands and feet to see the serious consequences of greed |
| 2018-02-15 - Plain Truth The people were shocked at the plainness of Jesus' words Had he been silent or pretended to ignore matters he was fully aware of - he would have been a liar like the men with whom he was struggling Was it not the duty of Jesus to inform them of their condition? What else could a sincere friend do? There was no bitterness in Jesus' language? It was calm statements of a horrible fact Jesus' unquestion loyalty to truth gives his words a value which no other person's words possess Jesus holds nothing back - what is thinks, he says - what he feels, he declares He declares all things as they are This is the man we want. A man like this can be a refuge in the time of a storm What he assers concerning the principles of a victorious life, we can act upon, never doubting When he tells us to do something, we can do it knowing it is the best thing When he warns us against a course of action, we can shun it, knowning that in that direction lies death |
| 2020-03-06 - Friendliness Common taunt of Scribes and Pharises that Jesus was a friend of sinners He was friendly to the lowest and the best of society, a trait which created great scandal These three statements about Jesus spoke a lot about how Jesus' heart toward others:
They tried to use his friendiness against him Example: Tax collectors - ones who gathered taxes by any means nessary including by extortion or other dishonest measures
Jesus made friends with them despite these truths It was one thing to talk down to a bad man and give good advise, it is another to eat with them Jesus cross the chasm over which no man was willing to do in that day and lost his reputation for the sake of being brotherly/friendly Made himself nothing because he was determined on being firendly to all - Philippians 2:17 Everyone is part of the human race, children of God, despite what they have done
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