Quiet Times Search

• Thunderclouds gather over the prairies
• Plant grow or start to grow and lift heavenward
• Maple leaves are woven
• New stars are born every day
• There is always a sunset and sunrise somewhere on the Earth

• People in your life
• Things that bring you joy
• Places that are dear to you

• Become a member
• Take a course on doctrine
• Faithfully attend the Sunday morning service and small group fellowship
• Complete a course on Christian growth
• Live a life of Christian growth
• Complete a course on evangelism
• Consistently look for opportunities to evangelize
• Complete a course on finances, marriage, and parenting
• Complete a course on leadership
• Complete a course on hermeneutics
• Complete a course on spiritual gifts
• Complete a course on missions
• Complete a course on biblical counseling
• Carry a significant local church ministry load

• Advertisers work on you to get you to buy their product
• Your boss knows how to keep you moving
• Devil is the master at manipulating the heart

1. Adventure
2. Purpose
3. Fulfillment
4. Spiritual Growth
5. Spiritual Confidence
6. Enduring Investments
7. Honor of being God's Agent

• Scripture reading becomes I have to read it to understand the gospel for others
• Talking to God suddenly takes on a new purpose - passionate pleas for friends
• Our desire to worship grows as your gratitude grows
• Helps maintain a high standard of purity

• Stepped of the boat, only to sink - Matthew 14:31
• Rebuked for his dullness - Matthew 15:15-16
• Rebuked Jesus and got the rebuke of a lifetime - Matthew 16:22-23
• Fell asleep when Jesus needed him most - Matthew 26:40
• Denied knowing Jesus three times and wept bitterly - Matthew 26:75

1. We must understand who we are praying to: God, the Creator, All-powerful and Sovereign, and our Father.
2. Prayer is essential for spiritual growth.
3. Prayer is the key to deepening our relationship with God.
4. Prayer unleashes the power of God. - James 5:16
5. Prayer is not natural, it must be learned - Luke 11:1-4

1. Mark 1:35 - Jesus, although very busy, found time to pray in a place and time free from distraction.
2. Luke 6:12 - Jesus spends all night praying to God.
3. Hebrews 5:7 - Jesus prays with loud cries and tears.

Marine Corp example

Solider learned to respect autority promptly and correctly by carrying out commands / seeing pure fear and humilation as punishment
Some actually learn to enjoy the challenge of the tough, disciplined life

Solider grows a personal relationship with the general but always conscious of the vast difference in rank between them
It was a different kind of awe - a greater sense of respect and admiration

Later he realizes how much the general cares for him by putting his life on the line for the solider

Jesus often spoke in parables, fictional stories that as if they really happened
Helps express more abstract spiritual concepts

Awe is defined as:

• An emotion in which dread, veneration, and wonder are vairously mingled
• Submissive and admiring fear inspired by authority
• A fearful reverence inspired by deity

There is no point to a spiritual retreat if it does not affect our lives back home

We need to be consistly in awe,reverence, honor, and worship on a high level
We can not live on mountaintops

How do we grow in fearing God?
If you are a believer, God has already inplanted at least a spark in your heart

Jeremiah 32:38-41

• He will give us a sigleness of heart and action - so we will always fear him
• He will never stop doing good to us and he will inspire us to fear him

We need to fan it into flames - 2 Timoty 1:6

The Holy Spirit helps -  it is our responsiblity to grow

The first requirement of growing in fear is having an undivided heart

Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name - Psalms 86:11

It dentoes singleness of purpose, aim, and affections
No one can have two masters

Second requirement is regular, consistent exposure of our minds and hearts to His Word:

• Reading it for ourselves
• Hearing it taught
• Studying it for ourselves

Saul fell down in fear before Christ
"He asked Who are you, Lord?" and "What shall I do, Lord? - Acts 22:8,10

• He is to make copy of the law
• Read it all the days of his life
• Learn to revere the Lord

• Airplanes designed after birds
• Lunar lander with ant-like legs
• Solar panels use the sun's rays like plants

• Realize how little we know
• Realize how little we are in control

1. Grace
2. “Lifted up” – growing and being blessed
3. Relief because his burdens and anxieties will be carried by God
4. Better relationships (God opposes the proud, so do other people)

1. Accept full responsibility (don’t blame others for your actions)
2. Make no excuses (don’t be defensive)
3. Apologize humbly and go on your way rejoicing.

1. Tell them in a respectful way (don’t give in to faithlessness or fear)
2. Focus on your love for them and not on what they have done to you.
3. Forgive them (like Jesus did you) and move on being better friends.

Summary

The flood abated. Noah sent out a raven and two doves. When the earth was dry God called them all out of the ark. Noah built an altar.

Observations

Genesis 8:1 - But God remembered Noah
God does not forget us. No matter how much He has going on, we are in the forefront of his mind. Noah may have been felt like he was all alone in an endless sea of water but this was not the case. We may also feel this way sometimes but God is always right there with us [Joshua 1:5].

Genesis 8:20 - Then Noah built an altar to the LORD
What is the first thing Noah does when Noah gets off an ark he has been on for about a year? Build an alter for the Lord. Would we do the same thing? DO we do the same thing. When we have face a prolonged trial and it finally ends, we go out and celebrate and forget the Lord? Or do take time to truly thank him for helping us through? Like God remembered Noah, Noah also remembered the Lord.

Genesis 8:21 - never again will I destroy all living creatures
God's promised that He will never destroy all living creatures again. Many worry about this through scientific studies or other ideas come up with ways the earth will be destroyed because of what man does. Whether that is true or not is not the point but we do know that God will not be the one doing it. When God promises something it happens.

Personal Application

I seem to forget the lessons of difficult times as soon as the pain has lifted. We go through tough times so our character can mature and grow but will I have to go through the same lessons again to learn the same lessons. I want to be grateful for God's discipline (does not come naturally) and change my character accordingly. God discipline the ones he loves, I need to remember why He is doing it [Hebrews 12:6].

Summary

God blessed Noah and set the rainbow as a sign that he would never flood the earth again. Noah got drunk and cursed Ham's son Canaan.

Observations

Genesis 9:3 - Everything ... will be food for you; I now give you everything
Again God shows his willingness to everything to become eatable but meat that still had lifeblood. Many of our reactions would have given up on mankind. And if we had not given up, we would not have given as much freedom so there would less possibility of disobedience to occur. But God continues to give freedom to his people.

Genesis 9:17 - sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth
Freedom is not free. There was great pain for God  [Genesis 6:6]  to see the state of man's heart and how the only solution was to destroy all living things and start over again. Today, God is still grieving over how our hearts turn from him. This time - He had to pay the ultimate sacrifice of His only Son so that he and us may have a relationship. This is the only way, How have we responded?

Personal Application

I don't grow very well in the good times. It is the times of trials and difficulty when I forced by God's discipline to change. I want to change and grow while not under all circumstances. What does it show God when I move toward him only when pushed?

Summary

Japheth's line lived in the coastlands; Ham's included Nimrod and the Canaanites; Shem's lived in the East. These formed the nations.

Observations

Genesis 10:4 - peoples spread out ... each with its own language
These family was not only in not on the same page, in the same state. They each had a completely different language. Their words were likely not written down so changed easily because there was no reference point. Having different languages is not a bad thing but it illustrates when we do not have a reference point in our lives, our standards, direction, and our feelings of the day change we do things. Like God's written word, if we do not keep refering to it, we will live as if we are standing on shifting sand [[Matthew 7:26].

Genesis 10:6 - sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put and Canaan
From Ham's children, came the Jews and others like the Philistines [Genesis 10:14]. I am not sure if this separation came from the times these kids were growing up but does show how much we need unity in our family. Though in verse 6, they had different languages. Unity is very important in a family and godly unity only comes from God. We can be united in mind and heart from our relationship with God. It is never to early introduce God to your family - especially children.

Personal Application

I am convicted on how fast families can be divided by Satan. How things can change and a heart is no longer are responsive in a relationship. I need to start ASAP.  I am going to make sure my children know God, his word and what it means to have an amazing relationship with Him.

Summary

Sarai told Abram to have children with Hagar. Hagar conceived, then ran away, but an angel sent her back. Hagar's son was Ishmael.

Observations

Genesis 16:5 - You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering
At age 86 [Genesis 16:15] and 14 years too early, Abram had forgotten God's promise and was starting to make God's promise work for himself instead of waiting for God to fulfill his promise of making him a father of a great nation. Agreeing to Sarai's idea, he married Hagar and she became pregnant. This really complicated things between the three of them. The same thing happens with us. When we go about trying to do what we think God wants, things really get messed up.

Genesis 16:8 - where have you come from, and where are you going?
The angel that appeared asked about what direction Hagar was going.  Both question are necessary in evaluating our spiritual growth. Like understanding your physical location, you must first understand the past and state of mind you came from. Not knowing the starting point, you can not give directions. If you just knew where you have been and have no direction to go, you can not grow either.

Personal Application

I know I have experience times where I think I am doing what God wants but it really comes from my impatience or my selfish desires to see things happens the way I want them and when I want them. I need to just be patient and ask "is this the Lord will?".

Summary

Angels took Lot out of Sodom. The city was destroyed by fire and Lot's wife was turned to salt. His daughters had children for him.

Observations

Genesis 19:14 - But his sons-in-law thought he was joking
What fatal mistake?!? When Lot urged his son-in-law to leave the city, they did not take him seriously. Lot was urgent, they were laid back. It cost them their lives. There are times to joke around but not in life and death situations. What are we not taking serious that we should? What are the cost(s) if we don't start taking these things seriously?

Genesis 19:22 - I cannot do anything until you reach it
God is love and love is patiently waiting on us to change. There is a time for judgement but God is holding on us to turn to him. Here God was holding back just long enough for Lot to leave the area before destroying it. One of the many ways God relates this idea to us is in the parable of the weeds. He explains that we grow among weeds and he tolerates the weeds only because of the harvest. Once the harvest comes, the wheat is harvested and the weeds are thrown into a fiery furnace [Matthew 13:42].

Personal Application

By nature, I am a jokester. I have love to laugh - there is a time for everything. I need to learn how to take the important things seriously. When I hear a call from God to repent, not sure my immediate reaction is to change. I make excuses about doing things in the near future or lie to myself that I am doing OK. The costs are too great not to hear and obey the call.

• Proverbs 16:25 - What seem or feels right is not always right; others can help you see that
• Proverbs 19:2 - Be zealous, but make sure you have the correct information

• Proverbs 12:15 - Wise people let others in their lives and listen to input
• Proverbs 12:1 - Getting advise and being corrected in your thinking is very wise

• 1 Peter 1:22-2:3 - Crave the Bible; it will show you what you need in your walk with God
• 2 Timothy 3:16-17 - The Bible will equip you and give you all you need to grow (Psalms 119)

• Ephesians 4:11-16 - God has put them in your life to help you grow; church, midweek, etc
• Hebrews 13:7 - Watch you leaders and follow their example; ask lots of questions

• 1 Thessalonians 3:6-10 - All of us lack something in our faith; get together and help each other
• Romans 15:14 - Other disciples may know the Bible better and can help you through your challenges

• Hebrews 5:11-14 - Train yourself; be disciplined to read and pray and get help from others
• Hebrews 6:1-3 - We must learn the elementary truths so we can move on to maturity

• 1 John 2:5-6 - Always compare yourself to Jesus and look to imitate Him in everything
• Colossians 1:28-29 - Let others help you to be formed more into the image of Jesus

• 2 Peter 1:3-11 - Growth is an absolute; it solidifies your place in heaven
• 2 Peter 3:17-18 - Growth will keep you from falling from your secure position

1. What helped to keep these young disciples faithful?
2. Are you devoting yourself to the same things they did (2:42)?

1. What does it mean to have "deep conviction"? How can you develop conviction?
2. Who should you imitate? In what ways?
3. Are you becoming a "model" to others? How?

1. Why did Jesus have to make a choice between his physical and spiritual family?
2. Who are the people you are closest to? What choices do you have to make? Are God's people REALLY your family?

1. What is "sincere love"? How can you love deeply, from the heart?
2. Who have you loved this much in your life before? How does your love for the disciples need to grow?

1. What are some worldly ways you have looked at people before?
2. How do you need to change your way of seeing people? (Be specific)

1. Why was Martha distracted?
2. How was she feeling?
3. What are some things you have let distract you this week?
4. Are you more like Martha or Mary?
5. What did Mary choose?
6. How was it better?

1. What does it mean to be "choked"?
2. What is the result?
3. What are the worries/money and business concerns/pleasures that are keeping you from growing more?

1. Why do we need to stay alert and ready for Jesus?
2. How does Jesus feel when we get distracted from our purpose and start doing other things?

1. Do you have a heart like this?
2. What is your life producing?

1. What do you need to do to keep growing as a Christian?
2. Define goodness, perseverance, brotherly kindness.
3. What happens if you stop growing?
4. What does verse 10 mean?

1. If a brother or sister came to visit you, what kind of report would they give about your Life?
2. How do you feel about your life in Christ up until today?
3. Are you growing?
4. In what areas do you need help?

• Which will you choose in this year?
• What are three things that you most feel the need to change in your life?
• How will you take the first step in each of these three?

• Are you building and growing relationships?
• Are they deepening through openness, prayer, and discipleship?
• Pray for at least three people you want to build a deeper relationship with. Pray for them.

• Look at how God has overcome my shortcomings to help me grow.
• Build trust in God today by sharing a victory with a friend.

1. When I feel like I am failing, I have to ask, "What is God trying to teach and show me through this?" and also get input from other disciples.
2. I need to study out how people in the Bible dealt with challenges and failures that are similar to the ones I'm experiencing.
3. I need to build the faith of others who are in the midst of challenges by openly sharing about my failures, what I learned from them, and how God helped me overcome.

1. Persevere through challenges, correction, and struggles.
2. Allow failures to expose your character so that you can become all God wants you to be.
3. Keep your eyes focused on Jesus, not on yourself and how you feel.

Summary

God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. As Abraham obeyed, an angel stopped him. The LORD provided a ram instead and blessed Abraham.

Observations

Genesis 22:2 - Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering
God calls us to sacrifice to a high degree. We need to trust in God when we are called to sacrifice. Abram was called to the give up one of the most important persons in his life. At what point do we stop sacrificing? When we feel we are about to leave our comfort zone? When the price is too high?

Genesis 22:5 - and then we will come back to you
He did not know how or in what way but Abram had faith God would not forget about His promise to Abram. Would his son come back to life? Would God give him a new son? What whatever was to happen, Abram believed he would not be coming back alone when he said "we will come back".

Genesis 22:12 - I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son
God present us with tests in our life to see where our heart is at. These test also tell us where our own heart is at if we pay attention. There was no cost Abram was not willing to pay to seek out the Lord which show he had the right perceptive of God's power.  Our sacrifice level shows our love for God.

Personal Application

I know for me I give until it starts to physically hurt, brings up bad memories, or I don't see the need to. It does not depend on me; I need to sacrifice in relation to the need. As I grow close to go God I will see God's heart in this.

1. The longing for adventure that requires something of us
2. Desire for intimacy - to have someone truly know us for ourselves

It is the core of our spiritual journey

Any religion that ignores it survives only as guilt-induced legalism, a set of propositions to be memorized and rules to be obeyed

What does these desires have to do with God?

Hasn't God left us with them to draw us closer to him?

We need to choose to let go of childishness and foolishness
When I became a man, I did away with childish things - 1 Corinthians 13:11

Clinging to childhood while growing into manhood is like trying to run in opposite directions at the same time aka the “Peter Pan Syndrome”

Teen years are often wasted and fathers have become silent.

Rather than initiating serious conversations with wiser men, they goof off with fools in sports bars

Too many men want the freedoms, rewards, and privileges of manhood but only the responsibilities of boyhood

Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ - Ephesians 4:14-15

Do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature - 1 Corinthians 14:20

The noble man makes noble plans, and by noble deeds he stands - Isaiah 32:8

A man of responsibility is also a man who can live independantly
“A man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife” - Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:5

We are not be alone in life, and though we need one another in the body of Christ,
A grown man should not need his parents or others taking care of him.
He should be a fountain, not a drain.

if she is constantly nagging you, then you should learn to outpace her concerns.

“I’ve already taken care of that” should be often flowing from your lips.

We should be more like a thermostat, affecting circumstances, rather than like a thermometer.

The greater responsibility to raise your children is yours.
When you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up - Deuteronomy 6:7
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord - Ephesians 6:4

When the dad leads, kids are up to twenty times more likely to stay in church long-term than when moms are the spiritual leaders at home
When the father gets immediately involved, leading with purpose, dealing with problems, his own personal walk with God

Trusting Him makes you wise. Relying on Him keeps you strong. Following Him shows you how to lead.

Seeking God in a very deliberate, devoted manner will impact everything else in your world.
Focus on your relationship with God, you will find it more natural to want your wife and children to be enjoying the same thing

Jesus uses the Word of God to wash us and bloom us into a holy Bride - John 15:3
Leading your family with God’s Word is a key to helping them work through issues, love one another, and grow spiritually.

Devotions together

• Even if it seems awkward or different at first
• Can be as simple as:
  • Ggetting together in the same room and talking about how everyone is doing
  • Reading a chapter out loud from the Bible
  • Followed by a simple prayer asking God to help you apply what you heard

When Jesus loved people, He identified their needs and then served them.
When you demonstrate the value of people by the way you serve others, your children will follow suit.
They tend to embrace a lifestyle of generosity and self-sacrifice as being normal and second nature.
Then children will think beyond themselves and find fulfillment in loving others
This will grow their faith quicker than anything
You are the main role model.
You pray for them regularly
Holy Spirit will take pleasure in helping you be the father and leader who shapes their lives
No man is perfect, but every man can be courageous.

My darling, you are as beatiful as Jerusalem - Song of Solomon 6:4

Solomon understood the value of speaking passionately to his beloved

His words overflows with love, affection, intimacy, and passion

It models the kind of inimate coomunication you can enjoy with your wife

The words should be personal and thoughtful - take the lead!

How do you rate the passion and fun in your marriage?

• Red hot
• Still glowing
• A fading ember
• Growing cold
• Pile of ashes

Barnabas wanted to bring John Mark; Paul did not - Acts 15:37-38

Edison tried several thousand time before creating the light bulb.

Reguarding failure as opportunity for growth encourages you to keeping going

John Mark returned home during the last trip because of possibly because he was frightened, discouraged, or homesick - Acts 13:13

Barnabas wanted to give him another chance; Paul disagreed and brought along Silas

John Mark matured and eventually Paul recongnized him as a effective minister of the gospel - 2 Timothy 4:11

Do you believe your past failures disqualify you from effective service in the church?

Epaphras always  prays earnestly for you - Colossians 4:12

Early African converts were known for their commitment to prayer

So much so their prayer spots were marked with worn paths to them

If prayer was negligneted, it could be easily spotted - "Brother, the grass grows on your path"

Epaphras demonstrated such genuine love for the Colossians and played a big role in establishing the church there - Colossians 1:17

He practiced three important elements of prayer

1. Consistancy
2. Sincerity
3. From the Heart

Can you make room for regular time of prayer on the behalf of those you love?

Nothing makes more of a difference in your walk with Christ than regular times of prayer

I will not test the Lord like that - Isaiah 7:12

Ahaz, the ungodly king of Judah, found himself in a dilemma of equally difficult alternatives

Assyria, a dominate power of the day, was a growing treat to Judah, Israel, and Syria

His choice was to side with his enemies - Israel and Syria or Assyria and trust God would work things out or side with Assyria

Ahaz made an unwise chose to side with Assyriaw which had disastous consequences for Judah - 2 Kings 16:7-9

Even when there was no hope, Abraham kept hoping of becoming a father of man nations - Romans 4:18

Hope - a sense of expectancy even when the circumstaces suggest packing it in and giving up

At age 100 years  Abraham still had no children

Humanly speaking, Abraham had every reason to wonder if God had forgotten his promise

Abraham remained convicted God would keep all his promises

God blessed Abraham and his wife with a son - he became a father of many nations

Those who trust in me will never be put to shaem - Isaiah 49:23

Has God given you an yet-to-be-fullfilled promise? Have you grown weary in waiting?

Saul had a spear in his hand and suddenly hurled it at David intending to pin him to the wall - 1 Samuel 18:11

Jealousy is the emotion we feel toward someone who has something we believe we should have

KIng Saul jealous toward David, who did nothing but serve the king faithfully

Saul grow angry with him because of his growing popularity

Saul promoted David to army commander where he excelled, defeating the Philistines

Jealousy took over and and Saul went insane and it his life's goal to kill David

Being jealous steals the joy and contentment the Lord wants us to experience

Who is most likely to make you feel jealous?

Rest content in the knowledge of God - He has mapped out a life of blessing specifically for you

Jesus returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them - Luke 2:51

It is easy to ignroe the yield signs God puts up for us

We enjoy God's blessing and protection when we heed the warning signs

As the Son of God, Jesus knew his identity

He understood that to grow into a perfect man of God, he needed to honor his earthly mother and father

Everything Jesus did, said, and thought sprang from the fact that he had yielded his own will to his Father - John 5:30

Jesus built his life on a solid foundation of submission

What foundation have you build your life on?

With his wife's consent, he kept the rest - Acts 5:2

Ananias was apparently a strong leader at home, unfortunately, he took his family in horribly wrong direction and paid a heavy price

He was among the 1st generation believers who sold their property, pooled their resources, and cared for those in need

Ananias sold his property but instead of bring all the money to the apostles, he keep some of it for himself

There was nothing wrong with keeping some of the money - Acts 5:4

Where is failed was when he lied about him giving all of it

Ananias lead his family in the wrong direction, where are you leading your family?

One of the greatest reward of leading your family in a godly direction is to see them grow too

We decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there - Acts 16:10

In Acts 16, Luke's language changed from third person to first person as he took an active part of the ministry

We decided to leave for Macedonia at once - Acts 16:11

Luke was not content to just sit back and observe other people's experiences of faith

He became an integal part:

• Doing the same work
• Taking the same risks
• Preaching the same message
• Reaping the same rewards

Christian growthis throwing yourself into the work of the KIngdom

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