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Ten of the Tweleve Spies: Next to them we felt like grasshoppers - Numbers 13:32-33

Two fo the spies, Joshua and Caleb, ecounraged the people to enter the land and take possession - right then!

The other spies froze in their tracks the first time they perceived an obstacle

Faith is believing God always keeps his word and then acting on that belief

God is bigger than our obstacles

Asaph: I realized my heart was bitter and must have seem like a senseless animal to you - Psalm 73:21-22

Bitterness cause more damage to our relationships, health, and souls than almost anything else

Even as he complained, Asaph had a moment of clarity - I was foolish and ignorant - Psalm 73:22

Asaph realized that his bitterness had cost him part of his humanity

He rightly felt a sense of righteous indignation but had crossed a dangerous line of the wicked things to consume his - bitterness

Bitterness consumes the one who indulges it

Jeremiah: Great is his faithfullness and his mercies begin afresh each morning - Lamentations 3:22-24

He surveyed th ruins of the once great city of Jerusalem

Jeremiah saw death and destruction all around and felt a pain we can only imagine

He found it within himslef to speak to his one Source of hope

Jeremaih recognized God had granted him life and could hope for better things from the hand of his heavenly Father

Where do you place your hope when you or loved ones encounter pain and difficulty?

I cry out to you .. listen to my cry - Psalms 88:1-2

I believe in the sun when it isn't shining, I believe in love even when I don't feel it, I believe in God even when he's slient - Found on a wall of Nazi concentration camp

Herman celraly felt deistraught and completely abandoned - Pslams 88:13-14

He declared the Lord was the God of salvation, everything good

This man truely was the Son of God - Mark 15:39

The solider had taken part in some of the most barbaric, brutal executions imaginable, but evertyhg seemed different this time

He oversaw Jesus' crucifixion:

• Stood by as the nails pierced Jesus' hands
• Listened as Jesus silently endured the angry shouting
• Heard Jesus cry out in agony
• Felt the ground tremble under his feet

This man of war who had a seared conscience and hardened heart, concluded this was the Son of God

It is not by force nor strength but by my Spirit, says the Lord - Zechariah 4:6

Zerubbabel oversaw the reconstruction of the Jerusalem Temple

Over a period of 16 years, the people's enthusiasm for the project waned, leaving it unfinished

Zerubbabel felt a deep sense of discouragement over the stalled work

Zechariah came with a vital message - Don't depend on your own strength. depend on God and his ability to empower you for the task

Zerubbabel's faith was renewed - He had a renewed sense of enthusiasm, united the people, and got back to work

No worthy project is about human force or strength, it must be about his mighty Spirit

Do you think that you or someone else has the key to success?

Do you genuinely believe that God's Spirit holds the key to your success?

I will give the Lord whatever comes out of my house to meet me - Judges 11:30

As it would happen, the first to leave his house was Jephthah's daugther

The Bible contains hundreds of God's conditional promises of blessings

Jephthah's vow went terribiy wrong when he tried to set his own conidtions for blessing rather than appoarching God in faith

Have you felt that you needed to offer God something to receive his promised blessing?

You can't buy what God already wants to give you.

Saul! Why are you persecuting me? - Acts 9:4

Why you bless the believers, you bless Jesus; When you persecute the believers, you persecute the Savior who calls them brothers - Matthew 12:49

Saul believed in his heart that he was doing God's work by shuting down a new religous movement

All that changed when he heard Jesus' voice tell me he was hurting

• Jesus
• Invdividual Christians 
• Christian community

When you felt tempted to speak harshly or say something hurtful, remember that Christ call his own brother

Jesus' words flashed through Peter's mind and he went away, weeping bitterly - Matthew 26:75

God offers forgiveness for even the worst of sins and the worst of sinners

Peter learned this firsthand

Theories abound as to why Judas' motivation for betraying Jesus, but for Peter it was clear, he was afraid

Judas and Peter both:

• Failed Jesus miserably
• Knew immediately they had done wrong
• Felt the guilt

Two remorseful sinners but only one turned back to the Lord

When he saw the man, he felt compassion for him - Luke 10:33

It is easy to have compassion for those we are close to but what about those we don't know or don't like?

When we reach out to a stranger or enemy, we will receive a reward from heaven - Luke 6:35-36

Jew and Samaritan didn't care much for one another, Jews saw Samaritan:

• A mixed race
• Impure
• Not one of them

This particular Samaritan didn't see the man lying in the ditch as an enemy or someone who hated him.

The Samaritan saw him as a human in need and took the extra steps to care for them

This kind of love and compassion is what Jesus extends to you

You still don't know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! - John 14:8-9

There are many reason why people don't find satisfaction because don't alway know what they are looking for

Philip spent 3+ years follwoing Jesus and his feelow disciple Nathanael to him and still felt dissatisfied

He firmly believed Jesus was the long awaited Messiah but it had not fully sunk in that He was truely God in the flesh

Philip was looking for the Father to be satisfied, where do you look find satisfaction?

Kill him and release Barabbas to us - Luke 23:18

Barabbas no doubt arose the morning of his scheduled execution and felt dread

What he didn't know that morning was he would live to see another day because Someone would save his life and take his place

Jesus understood the augish - he sweat, wept, and begged if only there was another way

There wasn't

Pilot tried to secure Jesus' release but the people weren't having it

We don't know what Barabbas did following his reprieve but he surely remembered Jesus as the one who died in his place

We should think of Jesus in the same way

Then Jesus wept... "See how much he loved him!" - John 11:35-36

Jesus was never afraid to show his emotions

He knew how the saga of Lazarus' death would end that day and the people would winess a spectacular miracle - yet he cried as he approached his firend's tomb

Reason for tears?

• Felt other pain
• Death had invaded his friend's lives
• Disappointment from their lack of faith

Jesus was perfect in love, holiness, and his ability to express emotion

I am full of pent-up words and the spirit within me urges me on - Job 32:18

Job's three friends felt that God was punishing Job for some hidden sin - he rejected this

Job thought God was treating him unfairly

All four of them had it wrong

Elihu: God repays people according to their deeds. He treats people as they deserve - Job 34:10-11

His knew Job's suffering could not be in vain. Job shouldn't see his affection as God didn't care about him rather as a tool in God's hand to teach Job more

I had no idea that they were planning to kill me - Jeremiah 11:18

Jeremiah was alone and the only one living a godly life

He had an unpleasant message of God's judgement upon their stubborn unfaithfulness - they did not recieve the message well

He grieved for their plans to kill him and maybe more so that no one listened to the message

Jeremiah had days he wanted to give up - Jeremiah 20:8-9

Every time he felt that way, he place his eyes on the One who promised to never abandon him - Jeremiah 1:8

I have fought the good fight, I  have finished the race - 2 Timothy 4:7

Paul contemplated his own end, he knew:

• The futility of trying to earn God's favor
• Faithful service would prepare him for God's staggering blessings
• He had remained faithful to his calling
• What lay ahead of him beyond the executioner's sword

He felt at peace with his imminent death and did not see his life as his own - 2 Timthoy 4:6

Nothing in this life can compare with what awaits you in heaven as a follower of Jesus Christ

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:

1. He spoke the truth about their sins
2. Encourged them to continue growing spiritually
3. Warned them to not sink further into sin
4. Reaffirmed God's love and commitment toward them
5. Pledged to continue to pray for them and encourage them 

I long for the years gone by when God took care of me - Job 29:2

During his worst time of misery, Job began wondering if God still cared about him

After he lost everything, Job felt abandoned and longed for the good old days

God knew exactly how much Job had suffered but Job could not feel it

Job was so focused on his suffering that he lost sight of the unchangeable fact that God would never abandon him

Feelings speak truth about your pain but can lie about God's response

God had never abandoned anyone he loves

Then he went with Elijah as his assistant - 1 Kings 19:21

Elisha couldn't help becoming a prophet of the Lord

Elijah approached him and silently threw his cloak over his shoulder, Elisha knew what he meant

The Holy Spirit had touched his heart and he felt ready to leave everything to follow Elijah

First let me go and kiss my father and mother goodbye - 1 Kings 1:19

Elisha had no choice in the matter, for it was God who had called him to leave everything and follow hi,

When the Holy Spirit is allowed to have free reign in your life, you can do nothing but say yes when God calls you to serve Him

You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's - Mark 8:33

Peter must have felt great when Jesus publicly blessed him from understanding Jesus' true identity

Then it was shown that he needed to be knocked down a peg

Jesus stunned his disciples about him going to Jersulem and Peter scolded Jesus because of it

Peter was out of line and Jesus would not allow him or any other disciple to act as roadblocks to the path God set for him

Jesus knew Peter had failed to see things from an eternal perspective

Jesus was the conquering Kig but he was also the suffering Servant

Peter was to play a big part in Jesus' mission but he first needed to humbly trust in the Lord's plan

Absalom never spoke to Amnon about this - 2 Samuel 13:22

Absalom showed what happens when the lines of communication between two people break down

He had every right to feel angry  about Amnon rapping his sister

What went wrong is his refusing to talk about it and making no effort to try to resolve the situation - Amnon felt sorry for what he had done

Absalom's anger grew deep inside until it became implacable hatred

He waited for the right opportunity to order his servants to kill Amnon - 2 Samuel 13:28

Absalom paid a heavy price for his failure to resolve his conflict openly and peacefully

The Lord's glory surrounded them, they were terrified - Luke 2:9

Nothing will seem more frightening and joyful than coming face-to-face with the living God

The group of shephards were guarding their flock the night Jesus was born

Suddenly an anegel appeared, interrupting the night's slience and darkness with his radiant glory

The sight terrified them

The agel quickly replaced their fears with unspeakable joy - the Messiah had come

The angel brought the best news the world had ever heard

The shepherd felt awe and terror at seeing them, followed by joy at what they had to say

How do you reconcile biblical commands to fear God and love him at the same time?

Mission is to help men fall in love with the character of Jesus

Some spend much time with:

• His chronology
• The geopgraphy
• His clothes
• Take photos of the lands he walked
• Customs during that time

We can become so interested in the outer life of Jesus and miss the secret his heart has to tell

Things Jesus experienced may be of some interest but not important

It is the character of Jesus which has unique and endless significance

New Testament writers were not interested in the outer Jesus but wanted us to have his character

• Friends were all obscure
• No office
• No wealth
• Born in a stable
• Taught for three years and died

They tried to describe how things affected him, how he looked at things,and how he felt toward things

James lived under the same roof and did not understand him

Paul lived far from him but understood him completely

Understand a character - akin to the deepest tendencies and aspirations

It is impossible to become too familiar with the way

He is the express image of the Father's person

The more we study him, the richer is our knowledge of the heart of God

We fix our minds on him  - how he looked at things, felt toward things, how things affected him