Quiet Times Search

Get Out of Here

Sometimes the first step in restoring our hearts is simply to get out of the house
Why go outside?

• Quiet - able to meditate
• Parents - able to get up before the kids do
• Nature is full of inpsiration
• Much more freedom outside

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
Insights of yesterday about the cross need to be consistently refreshed
God never spoke louder than he did on Calvary

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:

• Baptism photos
• Special note from friends
• Wedding Vows
• Memorabilia from children being born

Scrapbook of the heart of God - testament to God

Performance trap - termed as perfectionism (not measuring up = sin)

Guilt and imagined guilt come from performance based - must learn to understand God's grace
Guilt-ridden people are not joyful people, poor advertisements for God's kingdom

Good thing to do our best but when mixed with pride is a wrong turn
Ex. Parental pride = making children reach a goal that unattainable

Rejection (or fear of) - is the root of most of our insecurities
We either pull back or prove ourselves through performance
Much of our competitiveness come from this source

Performance-oriented tries to conceal insecurities with a superimage of self
Deep-down we want love and acceptance
Real love is unconditional

Unless we are open about our negative points we will never reallty feel loved

Paul opened up his life:

2 Corinthians 6:11-13

• Spoke freely
• Open wide his heart
• Not withholding affection

The ultimate goal is to give glory to God

God's glory = the expression of his goodness and all his other eternal qualities
Through history, God has revealed his glory
God's glory is best seen in Jesus Christ

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God - Romans 3:23
I have created them to bring me glory - Isaiah 43:7
Jesus brought glory to God by doing everthing he was told to do by God - John 17:4

1. We bring God glory by worshiping him - Use your body to the glory of God - Romans 6:13
2. We bring God glory by loving other believers - Accept others as Christ accepted you - Romans 15:7
3. We bring God glory by becoming like Christ - We become more and more like him, reflect his glory even more - 2 Corthinians 3:18
4. We bring God glory by serving others our gifts - Do it all with all that God has given you - 1 Peter 4:10-11
5. We bring God glory by telling others about him - Bringing people to Christ through his grace, God receives more and more glory - 2 Corinthians 4:14

Giving glory to God will require us to change our priorities, schedule, relationships, and everything else

• Peace
• Freedom
• Experience God's power

• Must be based on the truth (Not Idols)
• John 4:23 - Based on Spirit and Truth

• With ALL of your heart and soul
• God sees the attitudes of the heart
• Biggest distraction in worship is yourself
• Best style of worship is the one that most authentically represents your love

• Be different - think about the meaning
• Be specific - I love you, praise you (why?)
• Make a list of names for God
• Avoid repetition, cliches
• Be sensitive to unbelievers

• Offer your bodies - Romans 12:1
• God says "Give me all you got"
• "I'll be with you in spirit" - Body and spirit can not separate until death
• Real worship costs - cost us of our self-centeredness

We server God by serving others
Everyone wants to lead; not many want to follow - we would rather be generals than privates

How can you know if you have the heart of Jesus?
You can tell what they are by what they do - Matthew 7:16

Real Servants make themselves available to serve

Like a soldier, always by for duty - 2 Timothy 2:4

• Do what is needed
• Do it when it is inconvenient
• Gives up control of their schedule
• Not frustrated because it is whatever God wants

Real servants pay attention to needs

Always looking out for ways to help others
Great opportunities to serve never last for long
Never tell your neighbor to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now - Proverbs 3:28

Real servants do their best with what they have

Servant never make excuses, procratinate, wait for better circumstances
If you wait for the perfect conditions, you will never get anything done - Ecclesiates 11:4
Less-than-perfect service is better than the best intention

• You are working with God
• You are representing God

• Blessed are those who hunger for they will be filled - Matthew 5:6
• Everyone who asks, receives; he who seeks finds - Matthew 7:7-8
• You have not because you ask not - James 4:2
• Judah sought God, and he was found by them - 2 Chronicles 15:15
• Sometimes we need to wrestle with God to show how much we want it - Genesis 32:26

It starts with 'No'
Sometimes we excuse it by saying, "Well, you'rejust tired"
Shows lack of willpower and fear - compromising ways by raising an isecure, definant, spoiled brat

The key is to break their defiance with crushing their spirit
Be lovingly firm and we can never let them wear us down
Make sure they know it is in their best interest to obey

Character

• Start early to build on good points and strengthen any areas of weakness
• Even a child is know by his actions

Beliefs and faith in God - Trust God in prayer / stand for the truth

Attitudes

• Teach them to love life
• Expect them to do their best
• Teach them to expect God to move powerfully

Values - good morals - honesty and purity - if learned young - they will not abanon them

• Some need to realize that our kids are not likable
• Don't let your kids be social outcasts, weird, or rude
• Some kids think they are hilarious when they are not
• Other act strangle to get a attention
• Some are are bland wall flowers

• Children who learn to admire and encourage other will be confident
• They will be strong enough to give credit where credit is due
• Teach your kids to give their best and never blame anyone when they lose
• Teach them to be like Jonathan - could have been jealous of David but became his best friend - 1 Samuel 18
• John the Baptist became lesser so Jesus could become greater - John 3:30

One of our greatest test of faith comes when we face the unexpected

We forget Psalms 91 - His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart

We often rely on our own understanding of situations and then ask God what we think we need

It is important to let God give us the answer since he knows what is best for us
Like children, we do not always know what we need

This trouble you're in is not punishment, it's training, the normal experience of children - Hebrews 12:17

1. Knows us better than we ourselves
2. Even as the manufacturer knows his product better than anyone else
3. Knows our weaknesses and our strengths
4. Is the best source to find the answers to such questions as:

a.  Where did I come from?
b.  Why am I here?
c.  Where am I going?
d.  How should I live?

The Call

Mark 1:16-18

…To purpose

• Do not promise them forgiveness, salvation, excitement of watch miracles
• Called them to a life of purpose

… To Imitate Him

• We need to become what our people need to become
• He demonstrated a passion for purpose
• As the men spent time with Him, His men would share his purpose

… To a mutual Commitment

• Not I will do my best
• He committed himself to their ultimate success
• No one has unique struggles, although most of us think we do
• A man who has been deeply convicted of the selfishness in his own life can more easily detect selfishness in someone else
• If we do not give our people individual attention they will not feel valuable

Prudence

Mark 8:11-13

• Sometimes Jesus simply did not bother to deal with his adversaries – he just up and left.
• Sometimes we need to be able to determine when the best thing to do is walk away.
• Sometimes arguing is just a waste of time – shake the dust off your feet.

Moving On

• Farmer – plants across the fields not just around the farmhouse
• If we focus all our attention on one problem one goal, or one person’s needs - lose sight of the field
• Jesus kept moving on in order to keep his and work fresh vibrant and spontaneous.
• Momentum is an invisible yet critical element in any type of movement

Expertise

Mark 12:28-34

• He was prepared to give an answer on any topic that anyone might choose to challenge him.
• We need to know our stuff.
• Good students make the best teachers.
• Good listeners are worth listening to.
• Some of us what to skip over the student phase and jump right into the teacher phase.

A Champion

Mark 12:35-37

• Winning isn’t everything but for the man or woman who desires to make an impact, it is extremely important
• Few people rush to associate themselves with a loser.
• Fight fair and do your best.
• Second-place finishers are all but ignored in the championship celebration

Reprobation

Mark 12:38-44

• He knew that he had gained the upper hand.
• Yet he also knew that popular opinion would turn.

Openness

• Most are either:
  • Stoics – feelings and burdens are locked away deep inside of them.
  • Cathartics – those who dump their feelings on anybody who will listen
• Jesus practiced complete openness without making others responsible for his feelings.
• Jesus leaned on his friends, but he did not dump on them.
• Premeditated openness is a key to fostering deep, meaningful relationships

Deliberation

• Too many of us would be unwilling to persevere through a long and difficult decision-making process.
• We must be willing to put in whatever effort is required to reach the best decision.

• Brother not engaging in fellowship
• Someone being insensitive or self-focused
• Sister seem dominated by negative and critical attitudes
• Someone overindulges in food or drink or something else
• Someone too serious and unrelatable