Quiet Times Search
Search Quiet Times via a keyword or stringSearching for "come" in the Quiet Time Archive
Displaying results from "0" to "25". (559 found)
| 2008-02-23 - Power of Gratitude - Trees, Clap your hands Cows and birds do a far better job of praising God than most humans - they function the way God wants them to function. Are at least half our times with God directed toward praise? Pray though Psalms about praise - Read 1-2 verses at a time
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| 2008-02-25 - Power of Gratitude - Solitary Places When gratitude cause us to rise early to spend time with God - seeing one of the greatest fruits No one says that QT must happen in the morning - it always goes better than the days when trying to work out another time during the day I learned to pray when I sensed that I would come apart at the seams emotionally unless I didn't Three things helped with prayer life:
There is no gratitude without prayer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008-02-27 - Power of Gratitude - Free at Last MLK - as bad as slavery was - there a slavery that last for eternity 2 Corinthians 5:21 - Jesus might become sin for us As existence of righteousness does not ensure we receive it Satan tries everything to help us miss this opportunity Jews after saw their failures in the past - created many regulations so they would not sin
Religion that is performance based is doomed
Romans 7-8 - Focus is not on themselves but on him who died for them; Because they are saved James 1:23-25 - Law points out their sin clearly / making them feel more indebted to God Motivation to last a lifetime - Our love responding to his grace Other motivations:
YES: I'll accept you, now let's walk together in my strength | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008-03-01 - Power of Gratitude - Don't waste your sin Use the past to encourage others Paul did - chief of sinners - 1 Timothy 1:15-16 Joseph did:
Rejection leads to rebellion, which in turn led to failure We must become thankful rather than resentful or hurt - give the benefit of the doubt Key to a life of acceptance is develop a deep gratitude for what God has done through our challenges
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| 2008-03-04 - Power of Gratitude - It is so Hard and but I Love it Marriage - hardest year of a good marriage is the first one and the hardest year of a bad marriage is the last one God brings opposites together - rigid and let it go types Because God is trying to work off the rough edges If we are to grow through trials, we must learn to view them correctly First comes hurt, then can come anger or try to ignore it Other turn to "grin and bear it" or "this too must past" - blocks us from growth Garden of Gethsemance - Jesus expressed and dealt with emotional pain with prayer - Hebrews 5:7-10 If Jesus had to suffer, how much will we need to be perfected - Colossians 1:24 Trial both mature us and attract others at the same time Rejoice in the sufferings - 1 Peter 4:13 Must have heaven's perspective in every situation Even when can not figure out what God is doing - requires a child-like response Why me? > Why not me? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008-03-08 - Power of Gratitude - Is This All There Is? Most of the physical pursuits of life (Ecclesiastes) are substitutes for what we really need - a relationship with God "Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ" - Philippians 3:7-11 The answer - to be totally immersed in my relationship with God through Christ To know God in such a way and at such a level that all else pales into comparision When this level is reached, nothing else will matter:
"For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain" - Philippians 1:21 Thankful books Do it just before going to bed every night God is too good for us not express gratitude Ideas: come up with 7 areas of gratitude and incorporate one area into your prayers each day
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| 2008-03-10 - Be Still My Soul - Quiet Time Jesus deeply valued his time alone with God Jesus sought out quiet time Jesus found a quite place Jesus urged alertness How long? until a sense of peace and closeness with God How much time in prayer and study? mix it up; our relationship should not become stale "Remain in me, and I will remain in you" - John 15:4-8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008-03-13 - Be Still My Soul - Times of Fasting What is fasting? - voluntary abstinence from food in order to draw near to God Fasting - frequently practiced by those who have walked closely with God:
Jesus warned about the mere appearance of fasting - Matthew 6:16-18 Advice
A "world fast" is an idea to remove yourself from movies, sports, television, newpaper, other outside info Reason to fast:
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| 2008-03-14 - Be Still My Soul - All the Time To be real, a relationship with God must be all-the-time If not, you are compartmentalizing your walk with God "I am with you always" - Matthew 28:20 ""Pray continually" - 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Nehemiah prayed, wept,and fasted for days before talking wit King Artaxerxes then he prayed again right before talking to him just before opening his mouth - Nehemiah 2:4b
Both are needed - a quiet time can never replace all-the-time | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008-03-15 - Be Still My Soul - Exciting Personal Bible Study What happen to the days when you could not wait to learn more from God's word? When was the last time you regretted having to close your Bible and go on to other activities? Excuses:
The only way to a deep, growing relationship with God - which includes feeding on His word. Some are not put forth the effort required to dig deeper; have become lazy Some are satisfied with what they already know and are content being spoon-fed. "Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity" (Hebrews 5:11-6:3) We need to train ourselves (1 Timothy 4:7; Hebrews 5:14) "This the one I esteem he who ... trembles at my word" (Isaiah 66:2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008-03-16 - Be Still My Soul - Keeping a Journal Reasons for a journal:
Practical advice about journals:
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| 2008-03-17 - Be Still My Soul - Deciding What to Study How do we decide what to study?
Questions to ask yourself:
Commit passages of scripture to memory | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008-03-22 - Be Still My Soul - The Pattern (Part 2) Our Father.
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| 2008-03-26 - Be Still My Soul - Pointed We can not be close to God in prayer if we deal only in generalities Abraham - Genesis 18 - prayed to save the city if there were 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, even 10 righteous people Our lack of specific praying reveals a distance in our relationship with God
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| 2008-04-02 - Falling in Love with God - Bitterness An emotional response (along with fear) that succeed at undermining our love for God A result of an uncard-for emotional wound Matthew 18:15-17 - can resolve most issues Examples
Bitterness will actively oppose any attempt to restore our love for God Bitter or better - a channel of curses or blessings Disciples need Jesus' example to overcome the pain of the cross Jesus wants us to have his attitude toward suffering
Bible command us to get rid of all bitterness
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| 2008-04-07 - Falling in Love with God - Dashed Hopes We had hoped to become leaders We had hoped not to move again We had hoped that people would understand our needs We had hoped overcome sins We had hoped husband or wife would make changes On the road to Emmaus - they did not see Jesus in their walk until Jesus' lit a fire under them It is not until lost it all - that we will listen to God David (1 Samuel 18-22)
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| 2008-04-11 - Falling in Love with God - Remembering The Father It is good to be reminded of who God the Father is: 1. God's love is unconitional
The only ones who dail to receive forgiveness are the ones who fail to ask for it 2. God always comes through God is faithful, he can not disown himself (2 Timothy 2:13) 3. Nothing is impossible for God God's power is absolute 4. God never makes a mistake He knows what we can bear - he is always right | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008-04-16 - Falling in Love with God - Holy Spirit in our lives Jesus was intimately connected to the Holy Spirit If we are to fall in love with God, it is only be through the Holy Spirit Examples of God's spirit involved with restoration of David:
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2008-04-23 - Falling in Love with God - Discerning God's voice
God's word contains God's voice | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008-04-30 - Falling in Love with God - God Finding Us When does seeking really start? Romans 3:11 - there is no one that seeks God Studying the Bible is simply allowing ourselves to be sought by God If it was our own effort - baptism may seem like the end of the quest We need to active learners When we were young, we understood obligation - "I gotta go to school"
Treasures are for those who will continue to seek forever; not for those who want tips and tricks for being "effective" If there were ever a moment to be a passive learner, it would be when you walk with Jesus Luke 11:1-13 - where would we be if the disciples had not asked about praying to the Father? - not know how to address the Father We need to take responsibilty to get deep and ask questions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008-05-05 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - The Easy Way Out Taking the easy way out is as normal as breathing. We love labor saving devices - medicine, cars, wash machine, lawn mower, tools Not bad for life, but there is button pushing when it comes to overcoming our sinful nature
God is determined to raise us up to maturity, despite our wailing and weeping through the rod of discipline Sooner we cooperate, the sooner our trials may end Do you want Joy? > Become spiritually mature Do you want to mature? > Pray for God to help (suffering will most likely be involved) Reject the temptation to desire the easy way That way will lead to death - Proverbs 14:12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008-05-08 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Ambition: from God or Satan Depending on the motive: There is positive ambitions - Romans 15:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:11 There is negative ambitions - Galatians 5:20 There is pure spiritual ambitions with bad motives: Matthew 20:20-28 - wanted their shot at the left and right seats of Jesus We often want the right things for the wrong reasons
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| 2008-05-11 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Escaping the Performance Trap Performance trap - termed as perfectionism (not measuring up = sin) Guilt and imagined guilt come from performance based - must learn to understand God's grace Good thing to do our best but when mixed with pride is a wrong turn Rejection (or fear of) - is the root of most of our insecurities Performance-oriented tries to conceal insecurities with a superimage of self Unless we are open about our negative points we will never reallty feel loved Paul opened up his life: 2 Corinthians 6:11-13
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| 2008-05-14 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - I was Born this Way Son will not share the guilt of the father - Ezekiel 18:20 Environment or heredity - most likely both Must be slow to judge situations we do not completely understand otherwise may bless us with an understanding in a way we do not want Other extreme - develop a victim mentality regarding ourselves or others Can lead to being angry, use drugs, being immoral, or just about anything else We have difficulty applying this to a murder Answer: despite it being more difficult and having different backgrounds, the standard is still the same He does not ask us to do anything he will not enable us to do Identify the sin > repent of it > start relying on God grace > formulate a plan to overcome sin Psychology can find root causes but it is powerless to find a cure Hezekiah and Josiah were righteous amount a line of kings that were evil The promises of God are far greater than our past and present challenges Pray that we may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way - Colossians 1:10-12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 |
