2011-11-13 - Mind Change - Peace It is God’s will for you to totally trust him and to be completely at peace in every situation. |
2011-12-07 - Day 4 - Learning to Pray Luke 11:1-13
If you pray 10 minutes of each section, you will pray a powerful 40 minutes! Read the Psalms to learn how to really praise God. Philippians 4:6-7
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2012-02-28 - Fear of Failure - No Discipline Seems Pleasant by Mandy Mazik - Ministry Intern: San Francisco Church of Christ Hebrews 12:11-13 God understands the pain that we go through, and the depth that it hurts us. He understands and expects the discipline we go through to train us and make us better. The discipline and the pain will be in vain if we don't allow ourselves to endure. In order to produce peace and righteousness in your life, it is important to embrace the trials that we go through. God expects us to "strengthen our feeble arms and weak knees." We need to do our part and put some work in to strengthen ourselves and not always wait for victories to drop in our lap. In this way, the areas in our life that are disabled (our spirituality, our finances, physical fitness, etc) will no longer be lame, "but rather healed." Decisions:
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2012-03-08 - Blessings In Christ (part IV) Continue studying through the blessing of Jesus: 16. We have put on Christ - Galatians 3:27 17. We have eternal life - John 10:28 18. We have peace with God - John 14:27 19. We became a friend of God - John 15:15 20. We get in the Lamb's book of life - Revelation 21:27 |
2012-10-14 - Prayer of the Righeous - Carrying Me Parable of the Lost Sheep illustrates Jesus comfort he want to provide He carries his lamb close to his heart - Isaiah 40:11 God's journey toward us:
Arms of comfort At Lazarus' death, the angels tenderly bring him to God - Luke 16:19-22 A child who is not regularly cuddled is deeply damaged As a mother conforms her child, so I will comfort you - Isaiah 66:13 Sometimes we doubt and ours lives are frantic and full of activities and without the peace of God Mary and Martha - Martha was too busy with the details of life to spend time with Jesus - Luke 10 |
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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2015-04-02 - In Control Joseph: So it was God who sent me here, not you! - Genesis 45:8 Joseph's hear and mind had made peace with his treacherous brothers He firmly believed that the God who remains in control of all things had sent him to Egypt When one of your kids defies everything you save or your job moves in a different direction, how do you react? Do negative emotions to rule the day or take refuge in God who is in control? God has an amazing way of using even the worst circumstances for your good Like you, Joseph did know the events ahead of him, he had to move forward by faith |
2015-04-07 - Clear Conscience I will maintain my innocence without wavering. My conscience is clear fpr as long as I live - Job 27:6 How oftern do we long for a quiet conscience when what we really need is a clean conscience? Job did a quick personal inventory - He had a completely clean conscience Though Job didn't know why he was suffering, he knew that it hadn't come as a result of sin God called Job "blameless" a man of complete integrity - John 1:8 Do you enjoy a clean conscience? Are you at peace with God? with the people around you? |
2015-06-19 - Courage to Reconcile If I have found favor with you, please accept this gift from me - Genesis 33:10-11 We struggle to reconcile with someone who hurt us:
For many years Jacob struggled to see his brother, Esau, again He knew Esua would be angry with him for taking his birthright away Esau ran to Jacob and embraced him and forgave him Their brotherhood enabled them to reunite peacefully and lovingly in the end IS there an estranged friend or family member with whom you need to seek reconciliation? |
2015-06-26 - Say Something Good We found this man to be a troublemaker who is constantly stirring up riots - Acts 24:5 Bible repeatedly commands believers to use words to build others up rather than tear them down Tertullus was a Jewish advocate before the Roman government and went out of his way to tear others down He wanted to stop all the preaching about Jesus Tertullus accused Paul of disturbing the peace throughout the Roman Empire He intented to have Paul imprisioned or even killed Before you say something about another person, ask yourself if you are tearing down or building up |
2015-07-08 - Anticipation Rewarded Holy Spirit reveal to him that he woul not die until he had seen the Lord's Messiah - Luke 2:26 Humans are creatures of anticipation. Serveral studies show expectation of something good benefits our health and sense of well-being Simon had lived a long life of such close fellowship with God and the Holy Spirit told him he would see the Messiah A voice told him to go to the Temple, this was his day When Simon saw baby Jesus, he knew immediately that this was the One he had been waiting for Simon: Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised. I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people - Luke 2:29-31 |
2015-07-18 - Don't Panic Paul urged everyone to eat; you have not touched food for two weeks - Acts 27:33 When problems arise and overwhlm us, are we tempted to "fly off the handle" or panic? A vicious storm slammed Paul's boat and conviced even seanoned sailors they were going to die Paul had been through enough in his life of faith to know God would allow him to complete his appoined mission without dying. God promised not a hair on their head will perish during the trip We can find peace knowing nothing happens to us unless our heavenly Father allows it Our situations may not be easy or fun but God still remains in control |
2015-09-23 - Change in Plans God changed his mind and did not carry out the destructionhe had threatened - Jonah 3:10 Jonah disliked God's command to warn Nineveh of its coming destruction and became angry with God for sparing the city after the Ninevites heard Jonah's preaching and repented I knew you were a merciful and compassionate God; you are eager to turn back from destroying people - Jonah 4:2 Jonah hated the Ninevties and wanted them killed because he saw them as a treat to his people God's deviated from Jonah's perfect plan Shouldn't I feel sorry for such a great city? - Jonah 4:11 Jonah was God's servant, not his advisor You will be more happy and peaceful when you simply do what God tells you to do and leave the results to him |
2015-09-30 - To Go Ahead I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race - 2 Timothy 4:7 Paul contemplated his own end, he knew:
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 |
2015-10-31 - Happy Marriage She is your equal partner in God's gift of new life - 1 Peter 3:7 Peter was a married man who understood how God expected him to treat his wife - to honor them You should remain humble in your marriage and avoid exalting yourself over your wife Treating them apporpriately help not to hinder (our sin) our prayers Do you want a happy, peaceful life? Treat your wife with understand, compassion, and respect |
2015-11-21 - Choose Carefully You and I are as one. My troops are your troops and my horses are your horses - 1 Kings 22:4 There is a danger of entering into alliances with evil men who have no intent to keep the peace Jehoshaphat marred his legacy into an ill-advised and miltary alliance with Ahab - the godless king of Israel - 2 Kings 22:43-44 This led to a stinging defeat for Jehoshaphat and Israel and strong rebuke from the prophet Jehu - 2 Chronicles 19:13 God spared him because he had otherwise served him faithfully His error was the comprise and lack of wisdom in dealing with Ahab |
2015-12-12 - Courage and Faith Follow me for the Lord has given you victory - Judges 3:28 Courage and faith have an infectious quality to inspire others to bravery and reliance on God God raised up Ehud, he was just the man to set change in motion At the time, Moab's King Eglon held the upper hand Ehud confronted Eglon in his own palace and order his servants out of the room He drew his sword and killed the obese king and then escaped Ehud then led a band of men - Follow me! to a rousing victory, which led to their freedom Ehud had the courage and faith to step up when no one else could His action led to the benefit of 80 years of peace |
2015-12-20 - Speak Up 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
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2016-11-06 - Genesis 26 - Issac (part II)SummaryIsaac dug wells, and at Beersheba the LORD blessed him. ObservationsGenesis 26:14 - Harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the Lord blessed him Genesis 26:22 - Isaac moved on and dug another well. This time there was no dispute over it
Genesis 26:28 - We can plainly see that the Lord is with you
ApplicationWhen we see God's blessings, it is an opportunity to share with others with what God has given to us PrayerPlease help me to see my many blessings and share with others freely |