Quiet Times Search

We "should always pray and not give up" - Luke 18:1

Disciples who are not close to God are simply not being perisistent

Examples of persistent prayers:

• Elisha - prayerd 7x before the promised rainfall came down  -1 Kings 18:42-45
• Jesus - returned three time to the garden of Gethsemane to surrender to God's will - Matthew 26:36-FF
• Paul - prayed three times before given an answer he did not want - 2 Corinthians 12:7-9
• Early church - prayed all night for Peter's deliverance - Acts 12:1-17

Loving God is a journey

Father draws us to himself - John 6:44

Father does not change - James 1:17
Hard to understand God when we are so inconsistent

It is OK for a journey to have highs and lows

Why love God?
Why not just obey him?
Why not just "gut out" our journey with God? Because we are commanded to

What touches you most about God?

• He never quits
• Always a refuge
• Always will take you back
• He will make sure you know where you are
• Champion of the truth and the underdog
• Tender with the weak and brokenhearted
• Hammer the arrogant and pround
• Never makes a mistake

Despite all the good qualities of God - our relationship with God still takes work

A mission of Satan is undermine my relationship with our Father

Must ask all the time: How are God and I doing?

Typical doing questions:

• Am I productive?
• Have a recently had a victory?
• How do people around me feel about me?
• How long has it been since I committed a particular sin?

Relationship questions:

• Do they feel loved?
• Are we connected?
• Have I been sensitive?
• Am I listening?
• Will this activity help our relationship?

 When we drift

1. Combative - Psalms 55:20-21
2. Uncaring / Apathy (Harding of our hearts) - Psalms 36:1-4; Esphesians

Presedes sin / sensual gratification

• "I deserve this"
• "I am tired"
• "I am missing out"
• "I know what I need"

3. Hopeless - Job 3:11-13

Hopelessness is godlessness
If deeply in love with God, whispering to me promise after promise
If walking with him closely, he is meeting my needs for strength and faith

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
Sometimes we are just called on to forgive
Not forgiving is like allowing a physical cut become infected

Examples

• Esau wept bitteryly when he failed to receive the blessing - Genesis 27:34
• Israelites incrediblity harsh and treatment from the Eyptians - Exodus 1:14
• Naomi changed her name to Mara, meaning "bitterness" (losted husband and sons) - Ruth 1:21
• Hannah wept "in bitterness of soul" because of her infertility - 1 Samuel 1:10
• David's men because of the loss of their children - 1 Samuel 30:6
• Job while not understanding the discipline of God - Job 7:11
• Missing the grace of God cause bitter root - Hebrews 12:15
• Envy becomes bitterness - James 3:14

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

• What form do we expect our Christian suffering to take?
• Are we looking for a Christianity that does not involve suffering?

Bible command us to get rid of all bitterness
Two ways to overcome bittereness:

• Forgive - Ephesians 4:32
• Trusting God is at work in all things for our good - Romans 8:28

The other emotional response that undermines our love for God

Perfect love drives our fear - 1 John 4:18
Fear greatly affects our ability to love; renders lifeless our love for God

Fear one of the most powerful and universal tools Satan uses for:

• Keep man from the knowledge of God
• Experience of God's power
• Experience grace in our lives
• Taking our eyes off of God and onto our circumstances and insecurities

There is healthy fear (like fearing God) but unhealthy fear is one that controls us and causes us to turn away from God's direction
Fear is rarely rational

• Why are you so afraid - Matthew 8:26
• Don't be afraid - Matthew 14:27
• Don't be afraid - Matthew 17:7
• Don't be afraid - Matthew 28:10
• Don't be afraid - Mark 5:36
• Don't be afraid - Luke 5:10
• Don't be afraid - Luke 8:50
• Don't be afraid - Luke 12:7
• Don't be afraid - Luke 12:32
• Don't be afraid - John 6:19-20
• Don't be afraid - John 12:15
• Don't be afraid - John 14:27

God understands the destructive nature of fear
He simply commands us to deal with our fears through our relationship with him

• Are Hardworking
  
• Have Persevered
• Are Intolerant of Evil
• Endured persecution

• Was from the beginning
• We have heard
• We have seen with our eyes
• We proclaim

• If you start too fast, you can die
• The most important thing is finishing
• Cannot compare myself to anyone else or I will get thrown off
• I think about walking when I think no one is looking
• Envy people standing on the sidelines
• Finish line seems to literally pull me along

It is good to be reminded of who God the Father is:

1. God's love is unconitional

• Thomas, the douber, was forgiven
• Peter, who deied the Lord, was forgiven
• Paul, killer of Christians, was forgiven

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
He can change anyone and anything
It is never an issue of whether or not God has power, it is if we believe

4. God never makes a mistake

He knows what we can bear - he is always right

Here are some false 'Gods' we can create in our mind:

• He get "attitudes" when we misbehave
• He does not really forgive
• His power is limited to people's choices
• He has no reason to his plan
• He does not always answer prayer; too busy
• He thinks we ask for too much stuff
• He does not want to "over-bless"
• He will bless when you have earned it
• He looks are the results of our performance
• He barely tolerates our presence

All of these ideas are false, contridict the Bible, and are from Satan

If this is my "Father", I will have a turbulent relationship with "him"

We must wafe through our fog of experience and except the truth about God

We can not love a God who is created in our own image

God's timing doesn't always make sense to us:

• Sarah - 25 years before blessing her with a son
• Moses - was 80 years old before God
• Joshua - 40 years of preaching outside of Jersalem
• Jesus - 40 days of tempation in the dessert for about 1000 days of ministry

Some of us have bad days, maybe years. How do we return to God?

Our only hope is to believe in his promises more than we believe in our own perceptions

• Spirit was present at creation
• God anoints men with his Spirit
• Spirit credited with giving David the plans for the temple
• Engendered Jesus in the womb of Mary
• Was at Jesus' baptism in the form of a dove
• Lead Jesus into the dessert
• Did the healing in Jesus' ministry

• Spirit's circumcision of my heart - Romans 2:29
• God pours his love into my heart via the Spirit - Romans 5:1-5
• God's Spirit lives in me - 1 Corinthians 3:16
• Holy Spirit within me cries out to God - Galatians 4:6
• Credit for all wisdom and revelation goes to the Spirit - Ephesians 1:17
• He himself testifies to us that he lives within us - 1 John 4:23

• Who has bewitched you?
• Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law or believing what you have heard?
• Are you so foolish?
• Trying to attain your goal by human effort?
• Suffered so much for nothing?
• Does God give you his Spirit because you observing the law or because you believe?

• close to the Father's heart (NRS)
• lives in the closest intimacy with the Father (Philips)
  
• exists at the very heart of the Father (The Message)
• lives in intimate communication with the Father (Dios Habla Hoy)

1. Marked by close acquaintance
2. Relating to one's deepest nature
3. Innermost
4. Marked by informality
5. Very personal

• Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor; he reclining at the table with them - John 12:2
• Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table - Luke 22:14
• Here reclined at the table with them - Luke 24:30

• Voice of guilt that reminds me of the past
• Voice of doubt tries to tell me about the future
• Voice that says we are weak and can not do it
• Voice that judges me of wrong doing and bad motivation
  

• Father spoke to Jesus - "who he was well pleased" with
  
• Father gave him the Holy Spirit in form of a dove
• Father gave the authority of both Heaven and Earth
• Jesus wrote the names in the book of life
• Jesus begging God on our behalf
• Jesus directs the spreading of the message
• Jesus saluted the martyr Stephen
• Jesus sent light to blind Saul

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

Falling in love with God - is attainable

We will find what we seek:

• If we seek relief in salvation, this is what we will find
• If we seek acceptance and a community, this is what we will find
• If we seek wisdom and insight, this is what we will find
• If we seek effective ministry, this is what we will find
• If we seek God more and more deeply, this is what we will find

What are you seeking?

 Lord searches every heart; if you seek him, he will be found by you - 1 Chronicles 28:9-10

How many times have we tried to do something with seeking him first?

None of us can be "strong" without seeking
Talent, experience, and insight are cheap gifts and can never take the place of a heart that seeks after God

There are many decisions that you need make about your relationship with God:

• How much time should go by without special prayer time?
• What am I trying to accomplish in my Bible study?
• What do I need to allow the message of God really soak into our heart?
• Where can I go and be really free to wrestle emotionally with the will of God?

If God's people will humble themselves pray and seek his face, he will hear from heaven and forgive us - 2 Chronicles 7:11-16

Even after the temple was built, God was concerned whether his people will still seek him

God himself was often "felt" but not "found" - He has the same concern today

Difference: being members / having a deep personal and individual relationship with God

In his pride the wicked does not seek him - Psalms 10:1-4

One thing I ask: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord, gaze upon the beauty - Psalms 27:1-9

Nothing will satisfy like seeking his face

When does seeking really start?

Romans 3:11 - there is no one that seeks God
John 6:44 - No one can come to me unless the Father draws him

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"
After high school, we may go to college and narrow our focus of learning and become passive learners

• We listen to the voice of our experience as the final authority
• We learn mostly from our mistakes
• We learn when we are forced to out of control - crisis, illness, death

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

1 Peter 2:18

• Our first response to others must having nothing to do with how they treat us; love is unconditional
• Our response to those who mistreat us must be based on the example of Jesus
• Our response when we are hurt is to think how to extend an opportunity of repentance and forgiveness
• The more we suffer with grace and mercy toward our offender, the more they are drawn to God

1 Peter 3:8-9

• Taking up our cross means we suffer at the hands of others without retaliation and with repect
• Offenders will be melted by our gentleness and hopefully
• Even if no repetance, they at least have an opportunity to repent

Taking the way of the cross accomplishes:

• Refines our character, making us more like Jesus
• Works on those who sin against us by bringing them to repentance
• The greater the hurt forgiven, the greater the impact of the one forgiven

• Marriage counseling - one view, then a different view
• Forming opinion without all the background information
• Good leader - realizing he does not know everything about every subject
• Been hurt by others - assume others are the same way

• Practice until our character is different - Hebrews 5:14
• Patience if did not get it right for ___ time
  
• Trust God that this change is for our own good - Romans 8:28

• Deny self daily
• Repentance - when we don't respond to God's grace - God will find a way to help us to repent
  
  • Through kindness - Romans 2:4
  • Through discipline - Hebrews 12:5-11
• Persevering though suffering - James 1:2-4

• How much have we accumulated?
• Why have we accumulated it?
• How much are we using?
• How are we using it?
• How attached are we to it?

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

• Negativity oftn excites stronger emotions
  • Easily swayed by the negative report
  • Forgot God's amazing miracles and victories
• Negative thinking is a pervasive tendency
• Majority of people inevitably practice negative thinking
  • No wonder so many people reacted negatively to Jesus
  • How many were confident that the resurrection would follow? Next to nil
• Negativism is deceptive to observers - seems normal
• Negatives are often mixed with positives to sound better
• Leaders have a responsibility to determine the thinking of the group
• Negativity is tragic in its results - destroys faith and unity of the group

• v1 - Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses
• v2 - Hasn't God also spoken through us?
• Had a personality conflict but did not want admit it - fought over doctrine
• v9 - Lord anger burned against them and left them

Can easily become sentimental when talking about salvation:

• Family, people you are emotionally connected with
• Thinking about people in remote parts of the world
  • It would be cruel to share the gospel with someone who hadn't heard it and was saved
  • Like not throwing a life jacket because you think they will be alright
• Religous people - would you be willing to stand before God with - infant baptism or non-disciple life?

All have sin and have fallen short of the glory of God - Romans 3:23

Being "broader" than the Bible puts you on the wrong road

God will be the judge and he has given us the basis of his judgement - John 12:48

Extremes:

• We become judgmental and reason like Pharisee; we are policeman, God is the judge
• Lose our conviction religious doesn't equal salvation

God planned:

• Where you would be born
• When you would be born (waiting patiently for Juniper)
• How long you will live
• Who your parents would need to be for you to come the way you came

God was thinking of you even before he made the world, that is why he created the world

God's purpose even took in account sin and human error.

If there was no god, we would all be accidents

The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us - Romans 12:3

What shouldn't drive our life (will miss God's purposes for your life):

People are driven by guilt

Allows the past to control their future
God's purpose is not limited to our past

God turned a murder (Moses and Paul) into a leader and a coward into a hero

God specializes in giving people a fresh start

People are driven by resentment and anger - Resentment always hurts you more than it does the other person

People are driven by fear - from unrealistic expectations and high-control situations

People are driven by materialism - Your value is not determined by your valuables

People are driven by the need for approval - those who follow the crowd usually get lost in it

Living a purpose driven life, knowing your purpose:

1. Gives meaning to your life
   • I have laboed to no purpose - Isaiah 49:4
   • My life drags by - day after hopeless day - Job 7:6
   • My life makes no sense - Job 7:16
2. Simplies your life
   • You have just enough time to do God's will - too much to do means you doing things you shouldn't be doing
3. Focuses your life
4. Motivates your life
5. Prepares you for eternity

• Abraham - offering his son
• Jacob - working for Rachael
• ...and many others

• Adam and Eve - failed when tempted
• David - failed several times
• ...and many others

• Major changes
• Delayed promises
• Impossible problems
• Unanswered prayer
• Undeserved criticism

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

3. When we obey him wholeheartedly
   • Noah was given detailed instructions on: size, shape, number of animals, and materials
     
   • Completely, wholeheartedly, without delay, without explanation, joyfully, with enthusiasm
   • Wholeheartedly = completely and exactly
     
   • Partial obedience is disobedience
4. When we praise and thank him continually
   • Noah built an altar to the Lord - Genesis 18:20
   • We are to offer a sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving - Hebrew 13:15; Psalms 116:17
5. When we use our abilities
   • God enjoys every detail, not just "spiritual" activities - Psalms 37:23
   • Reject yourself, you reject God's wisdom in creating you
   • There are no nonspiritual abilities just misused ones
   • Children do not have to anything special to make their parents happy

• Peace
• Freedom
• Experience God's power

• Abraham - allowed to question and challenge
• David - God patient during his accusations
• Job - allowed to vent his bitterness
• Moses - told God exactly how he felt

• 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

• Good and loving - Job 10:12
  
• All powerful - Job 42:2; 37:5, 23
  
• Every detail of his life - Job 23:10, 31:4
  
• He is in control - Job 34:14
• Has a plan for my life - Job 23:14
  
• He will save me - Job 19:25