2008-04-09 - Falling in Love with God - Jesus: Anointed One Jesus is the Christ, Messiah - meaning the "Anointed One" The book of Acts - Christ was lifted high
By him all things were created - 1 Colossians 1:16-20 Sometimes we forgot - The Christ still lives today Romans 8:28
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2008-04-27 - Falling in Love with God - Practical Inspiration Get Out of Here
Turning back the clock Rewrite the sins and people I sin against; what I was forgiven of (not an exercise in guilt but gratefulness Secret Scriptural Weapon You have to work at understanding the cross Memorizing scriptures and writing them on index cards Ephesians 3:20 - When each word is accented, the scripture can have new meanings Best for Last Create a treasure chest:
Scrapbook of the heart of God - testament to God |
2008-05-02 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Forgiveness, part 2 1 Peter 2:18
1 Peter 3:8-9
Taking the way of the cross accomplishes:
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2008-05-03 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Rest of the Story The first person who presents a case - seems right - Proverbs 18:17
Involving everyone on a decision will help others to feel valued and for you to consistently have good decisions We have trouble listening to other opinions besides our own Can you get hurt by other that love you? Yes - Double indemnity insurance policy against unresolved issues (Matthew 18:15-17 and Matthew 5:23-24) |
2008-05-15 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Disappointed Mathew 23:37 - Talks about how Jerusalem killed the prophets and those God has sent to them Disappointed people are not happy people Disappointed = depressed or discouraged by the failures of one's hopes Disappointment in others exposes a basic selfishness; by definition is rather self-focused Most assume that God often views us with a disappointed heart Luke 19:41-42 (parallel verse to Matthew 23:37) - If you only had known on this day what would bring you peace Are you often disappointed in yourself or others? Humility is needed - Selfishness and pride is the opposite
Disappointment is un-Godlike; Concern is the godly quality which comes from self-denial and agape love |
2008-05-17 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Spiritual vs Doctrinal Thinking, part 1 Can major in the minors and minor in the majors Tendency to be doctrinal focused - 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 2 Timothy 2:14-19; Titus 1:5-11; Titus 3:3-11 Can come from a desire to be leaders, takes focus off our personal lives Numbers 12:1-15
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2008-05-21 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Even though Hebrews 11:8,11,17:20
He was not a blind idealist, he faced the facts: God creates the laws but he not bound by them We will not be victorious if we sacrifice our faith on the alter of reason, logic or cynicism It is time to get back to idealism that belongs to faith in God:
We have the same God who was with Abraham |
2008-06-02 - Purpose Driven Life - The Heart of Worship (Part 2) What it means to surrender Surrendering is not for cowards It is not repressing your personality Surrendering is best demonstrated in obedience. To say "no, Lord"- can not call Jesus your Lord To trust God means doing without knowing where, when, how, or why Most difficult area to surrender is money Retirement is not a goal of a surrendered life Surrender is hard work - Warfare against our self-centered nature The blessing of surrender Blessings of surrender
Everyone surrenders to someone or something You are free to choose but not free from the consequences Nothing else works - All other approaches lead to frustration Must make it a daily habit (maybe more than 50 times a day) May be inconvenient, unpopular, costly, or seem impossible |
2008-06-20 - Purpose Driven Life - Defeating Temptation There is always a way out Refocus attention on something else By resisting, you actually reinforce it Reveal your struggle to a gold friend or support group If you fall, a friend can help you up - Eccelesiastes 4:9-10 Resist the Devil He will flee when you resist - James 4:7 Realize your vulnerabilities The heart is deceitful above all things- Jeremiah 17:9 Don't carelessly place yourself in tempting situations, avoid them - Proverbs 14:16 |
2008-06-26 - Purpose Driven Life - No Excuse for Not Serving The Bible warns against living only for ourselves - Romans 2:8 Trying to save our life; we will lose it - Mark 8:35 What excuse have you been using to not serve?
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2008-06-29 - Purpose Driven Life - Using Personality and Experiences Personality You are very unique 102,400,000,000 in DNA terms It is obvious that God loves variety It is easier to work with the grain than against it Experiences
Greatest ministry comes from our most likely come from your greatest pain When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the comfort God has given us - 2 Corinthians 1:4 Paual was honest with his bouts of depression If Paul kept his experience to himslef, millions of people would have never benefitted from it Don't waste your pain, us it to help others
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2008-08-24 - 30 Days at the Cross - United Hearts Unity has an immense impact on our lives What are the obstacles to unity?
Sin is the ultimate cause of all disunity. Forgiveness is the ultimate cure. It defies our nature Who do you need to totally forgive? |
2008-09-16 - Teach Us To Pray - The Church of Jesus Disciples must have a deep commitment to pray for the needs of the church:
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2008-09-21 - Teach Us To Pray - Friends and Loved Ones To intercede or pray on someone else's behalf is a privilege Our prayers are sacrifices which are pleasing to him - Hebrews 13:15 Paul: I want you to know how much I am struggling for you - Colossians 2:1 Who do you struggle for? How about people you have never meet? Far be it that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray to you - Samuel to King Saul - 1 Samuel 12:23 Jesus intercedes for us - Romans 8:34 Like a good friend, he adds or subtracts from what you are missing or need Jesus makes us complete in God's sight |
2008-09-29 - Man of Prayer - Pattern Lord's prayer in Matthew 6 and Luke 11
Each will be addressed in detail in later chapters
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2008-10-31 - Man of Prayer - Forgiveness Forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors - Matthew 6:12 Debt = opheilema = owning money to another Colossians 2:13-14 - written charge was canceled charge or code = cheirographon = charges drawn up against a convicted criminal Roman business world - debt had been paid - "tetelsthai" was written across the note - meaning "paid in full" Some word was used to when the punishment was executed on a list of chrages Every failure on our part to do God's will is a charge against us - a long document for most Jesus cried - it is finished (John 19:30) was actually the word "tetelsthai" = PAID IN FULL |
2008-11-03 - Man of Prayer - Developing Spiritual Protection World is filled with unknown and dangerous supernatural enemies - the battlefield is out there Not against flesh and blood - but the spiritual forces of evil - Ephesians 6:12 We are part of a war of epic and eternal proportions that effect every area of our lives Many men are casualties of a war they don't know is being waged We are to prepared and equipped to wage this spiritual war One of the seven major components of prayer is developing spiritual protection Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one - Matthew 6:13 |
2008-11-14 - Man of Prayer - Meditation One may ask, where is the quiet listening part of prayer in this book God encourages us to be still and know that he is God - Psalms 46:10 Mature prayer is not intended to be a monologue, but a dialogue Christian meditation and Eastern meditation has to do with is in our minds as meditate Biblically based contemplation and meditation seeks not to empty the mind but fill it |
2008-12-18 - Raising Awesome Kids - Dreary Disobedience (part 2) Israelites - if only we had meat; we never see anything but manna - Numbers 11:4-10 God met the needs of the Israelites but he punished them for their attitude - Numbers 11:33 Must teach our kids to be grateful |
2008-12-22 - Raising Awesome Kids - Power of Discipline (part 4) Be consistent - put up a fence and leave it there Parents must always be unified - never argue in fron of the kids - otherwise they will play you against each other Make a definite plan - have a family meeting and talk about your expectations Walk on the narrow/middle road of parenting - not child abuse; not a lack of discipline either |
2009-01-10 - Raising Awesome Kids - Close Family Is there any place where our weaknesses are exposed more than in our own homes? Most families are not that close Many families merely exist together without any deep love or enjoyment of one another
Four keys to having a close family:
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2009-02-09 - Jesus with People - Heart Determined to Persevre Nothing test our determination like opposition Satan is trying to discourage, dissuade, distract, and divide If we get focused on the persecution or persecutors - renders us ineffective and unproductive Pharisees ____ Jesus :
His purpose was not to avoid pain but to please God - John 4:34 Must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day - Luke 13:32-33 God has not called us to defend or protect ourselves - we are then only working for ourselves and not will be doing nothing for God |
2009-02-22 - Jesus with People - Daily Unconditional Love Jesus was tempted in every way we are but was without sin - Hebrews 4:15 How could he put up with this day after day? Jesus was in complete submission of God's will:
How Jesus' heart must have ached when teaching:
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2009-03-04 - Promises of God - Forgiving Others By the time we are old enough to understand, we have hurt and been hurt so many times - we need forgiveness and so do others The definition of a dysfunctional relationship: the inability to solve conflict and forgive Hugh obstacle: We can not truely forgive until we have experienced forgiveness Once we are forgiven, we are obligated to forgive others - Matthew 18 Our sins against each other pale in comparison to our sins against God |
2009-03-09 - Promises of God - The Problem is Me Deuteronomy 4:29 - Find God when we seek him with all of our heart Repentance must be proven by our deeds - Acts 26:20 Praise God for his faithful correction - Proverbs 3:11-12 God hates sin, takes sin of idolatry, personally - Deuteronomy 6:15 Sin comes when we lower the standard of commitment in our lives and allow ourselves to become lazy, selfish and self-indulgent Being idolatrous and lukewarm is a serious sin against God - Revelation 3:16 Against God, his church, and the souls that are not saved as a result |