Quiet Times Search
Search Quiet Times via a keyword or stringSearching for "great" in the Quiet Time Archive
Displaying results from "25" to "50". (288 found)
| 2008-07-24 - 30 Days at the Cross - Freedom of Forgiveness True forgiveness - made possible by God Jesus forgave when it was most difficult by: Facing the truth Jesus didn't expect life to be fair He expected God to be fair He accepted everything from God without question (in the end) Judas only received kindness from Jesus Taught forgiving your brother should be limitless - Luke 17:1-5 Feeling the pain Jesus was totally honest with his feeling both God and man Greatest test was at the garden of Gethsemane Freeing his heart He trusted his Father and focused on him rather than on his own pain He yielded to God's sense of justice in the most unjust situation 1 Peter 2:23
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| 2008-08-09 - 30 Days at the Cross - If the King is a Servant What Jesus rightly deserved and what he received while here on earth were quite different Jesus didn't resent or resist his role He had a desire and compassion to help others Greatest of humility and suffering for him to subject himself to the cruelest of deaths - Philippians 2:8 People who have a major impact are the ones who serve Nothing moves the human heart more than someone who puts the needs of another above his own need It is a rare and precious expression of love Jesus has called you and me to be like him and take on his attitude toward serving others Jesus' serving was not limited to his friends (but also his enemies) His people will do the simple acts of service for the "least" among us Easier to serve someone on a schedule; more difficult if unexpected or interrupting my schedule |
| 2008-08-10 - 30 Days at the Cross - Surprise of Serving Two types of serving: Hired and Bond (no rights nor wages) Bond servants included: thieves, unable to make restitution, and the poor Jesus willfully and purposefully became a bond servant - Phillippians 2 Character changes need to be made and preceded by suffering:
Are you know as a servant? Will others quickly turn to you in their time of need? |
| 2008-08-18 - 30 Days at the Cross - Turning the Tables Jesus came to turn the tables on Satan
When he died, almost everyone thought evil won Satan pulled out all the stops. 7 moves to turn the tables:
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| 2008-09-07 - Teach Us To Pray - Honesty and Openness Honest communication is crucial element to any great relationship: God, spouse, children. Consider how ludicrous it is to not be real with God:
Moses:
It is in our openness that we hear our faithlessness and can turn away from it. God wants a relationship with you He wants to know our longings, aspirations, problems, anxieties, doubts, and even our sin |
| 2008-09-08 - Teach Us To Pray - Reasoning with God Reasoning with God in prayer is an expression of great faith Persistent widow reasoned with the unjust judge - Luke 18:1-8 We cannot change the eternal purposes of God but we can change his mind on how his purposes will be accomplished Abraham was a man who reasoned with God - his Son being sacrificed - Genesis 18:23-33 Moses was too - God decided to destroy the disobedient Israelites and start a new nation True humility is the key to the prayer of reason - not telling God what to do |
| 2008-09-14 - Teach Us To Pray - Our Daily Bread Many of us have little concern about having food Other things can distract us like: finding a job, paying off debt, development of our children Satan schemes to blind us God Worry definition:
If the enemy can get us to be preoccupied, it destroys our effectiveness as disciples He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom - Isaiah 40:28-31 Our Father is the God of the universe; nothing is too great for him |
| 2008-09-17 - Teach Us To Pray - The Harvest Is Plentiful Jesus promises a great harvest but the worker are few (Matthew 9:35-38):
Fruitfulness limited primarily by one thing - God himself Gratitude control the harvest Luke 9 - The charge was to preach the kingdom and heal the sick They gave to everyone who had need - Acts 2:43-47 Salvation wasn't just a doctrine rather a reality in their lives Jesus spent much of his time meeting physical needs, feeding, comforting, healing, serving As a result, people spread the word even more Reflects the power of meeting needs and our heart as a worker To acquire this heart, we need to pray:
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| 2008-09-25 - Teach Us To Pray - Warriors Who Change the World The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge and and ordinary man takes everything either as a blessing or a curse! Prayer is the difference between being spiritually dynamic and spiritually dead; between being victorious over Satan and being victimized by him Three wasy to pray that makes a powerful difference: Pray according to God's purpose Pray in Praise of God Pray for the Passion to Produce We must understand how important prayer is in the eyes of God |
| 2008-10-01 - Man of Prayer - Father (part 2) Addressing God as the Father seems pretty normal - not the case in Jesus' day Sometimes David prayed:
...but nowhere will you find David addressing the living god as "Father" Patriarchs, the prophets, and the priests of Israel were all men of prayer - never addressed their prayers to God as "Father" We begin our time in prayer with a father-child relationship |
| 2008-10-05 - Man of Prayer - Name In Jesus' day, a person's name reflected one's character God had powerful encounters with an individual, he would change the person's name with the change in them Halllow mean to treat with great reverence Focusing our thoughts helps lead to a response of worship Many focus on telling God their needs, need to focus on God Seek first his kingdom - Matthew 6:33 In interpersonal communication, remember a person's name is very important Moses asked God, "Who shall I say sent me?" God answered, "Tell them I AM has sent you" YHWH (Yahweh) is the proper name of the living God God is the God who is, who causes to be, and who will be who He will be Thinking about God in this way gets my focus on Him |
| 2008-10-08 - Man of Prayer - YHWH-shamma God is "the Lord who is present" He has a great desire to dwell in the lives of believers:
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| 2008-10-19 - Man of Prayer - Praying for our family There is no greater privilege and responsibility than to pray for our spouse and children Powerful spiritual forces of evil try to undermine God's foundational institutions like the family Bible clearly teaches that our struggle come from the spiritual forces outside conscious perception - Ephesians 6:12 Each of us need to realize that how we pray for our spouse is limited only by our creativity When we have been faithful in praying for my children, we have a great sense of peace about their lives |
| 2008-10-20 - Man of Prayer - Praying for the church leaders Should pray for the influence and empowerment of the leadership in the church (full-time staff and elders) They are the primary targets in the spiritual war If Satan can effectively compromise the the leadership in the church, he may keep believers from being effective The more a leader brings to the truth of God to the church, the more problems surface Actually creates greater demand on the staff - pray for refreshment and protection Pray for leaders to experience:
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| 2008-11-07 - Man of Prayer - Deliverance from evil Literally - Deliverance from the evil or the evil one - Matthew 6:13 First law of spiritual warfare - Satan hates you and has a diabolical plan for your life Jesus has given us the authority in prayer for overcoming the schemes and attacks One of the greatest privileges and responcablities we have |
| 2008-11-15 - Man of Prayer - Miracle List It is helpful to keep a separate list of needs for times of pure intercession:
Also good to have a "miracle list" God can do anything - nothing is impossible - Luke 1:37 During difficult times, God extended a seeming impossible invitation: Call to me and I will answer with great and unsearchable things - Jeremiah 33:3 He can do immeasurably more than what we can ask - Ephesians 3:20 We know God can do anything; we just don't know if he will do them
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| 2008-11-17 - Raising Awesome Kids - First Things First (part 2) When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment is: Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength - Mark 12:30 Committed to God vs committed to a person Deeply loves God vs being religious
Were we one time zealous - before we got married and had kids? Where am I today? Have I allowed "life's worries, riches, and pleasures" to choke my relationship with God? - Mark 4:19 |
| 2008-11-18 - Raising Awesome Kids - Second Thing Second Assuming God is first, who is next on our list? Our spouse Devotion to our lifetime companion must be the greatest earthly love of all Kids are our flesh and blood, but we are one flesh with our spouse Some make up for the affection by pouring all their love into their children Makes them arrogant and/or insecure Bag the excuses, example: too busy, take an honest look at your marriage Little eyes and ears are fine-tuned to our frequency and they know They love it when we love each other - it gives them a sense of peace, happiness, and security Much of the anger and rebellion issues in kids can be traced back to marriage problem |
| 2008-11-25 - Raising Awesome Kids - Model of Masculinity In the image of God he created male and female - Genesis 1:27 Kids are extremely aware of the difference World is so mixed up - men want to be women; women wanting to be men Unnatural relations - Romans 1:24-27 The answer - the real thing will outshine the twisted Homosexuality is not natural No young boy was made that way by God A great relationship with a strong, affectionate father reduces to virtually zero Mama's boy or sissy:
Needs sense of approval If you are kind, strong and have a close relationship with your daughter, she will want to marry someone like you |
| 2008-11-27 - Raising Awesome Kids - Compassion and Caring God cares! Nothing too great or too small can escape his notice We also some be available to meet the needs of our family Otherwise, because they have given up trying to reach us, they will have no desire to talk to us anymore "Why can't I reach my kids?" - we weren't there when they reached for us God hurts for us and with us He looks for and has compassion for us - Luke 15:20 We need forgiveness and we need to grant it Our children are.... children Expect a lot, let them be kids - God is patient with us |
| 2008-11-28 - Raising Awesome Kids - Encouragement and Inspiration Fathers deals with his children with encouragement, comforting, and urgency of lives worthy of God - 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 Life is hard, especially for kids - easy to lose heart There is a immense power in a father's encouragement Young Timothy -
By his encouragement, Timothy became the dynamic leader of the huge and powerful Ephesus church It is our jobs as fathers to assess our children's talents and gift and help them to excel in them Be a great inspirer and encourager of your children Let it be you who thinks they are great and who picks them up when they fall |
| 2008-12-19 - Raising Awesome Kids - Power of Discipline (part 1) vWhat are we to do when our children disobey us?
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| 2008-12-25 - Raising Awesome Kids - Gods Training Plan (part 3) These commandments... are to be upon your hearts (v. 6) Should train from the heart level Impress them on your children (v. 7) Training with the Scriptures must be done with great conviction, sincerity and earnestness Talk about them always (v. 7) Train consistantly - everywhere, anytime, anyplace About teaching our children how to live life - not nagging about their misdeeds Make it fun, doable, effective Most training should be spontaneous Never underestimate how many times we will have to say the same things over and over again |
| 2008-12-29 - Raising Awesome Kids - Nurturing Confidence (part 2) Athletic prowess Very quickly, kids notice who is faster, stronger and more coorinated It is important for children to develop physically but they must not judge the worth of themselves Intelligence - good grades are of valuable but we must appreciate great effort even more Material possessions - man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions - Luke 12:15 |
| 2009-01-02 - Raising Awesome Kids - How to Nuture Confidence (part 3) Teach them to appreciate and applaud the efforts and achievements of others
Be basically encouraging Be your children's biggest fan If you are fundamentally positive - when you give correction it will be received with thankfulness rather than discouragement Some say - 5 compliments to overcome one criticism Human nature flourishes on a diet of praise |
| 2009-01-04 - Raising Awesome Kids - Prayer We should pray for our children continually To protect them, guide them, save them, and one day take them to heaven Paul - Prayed day and night to Timothy - 2 Timothy 1:3 Most powerful weapon available in their spiritual defense and offense We must pray with our children as well Regular times such as bedtime and mealtime to start Praying while going to place like church are also helpful In times of difficulty and great challenge - we can do nothing without his blessing What if they do not want to pray? Talk about how God wants to be close to them Do not do other activities are bedtime either, too tired for prayer than to tired for _______ |
| 2009-01-15 - Raising Awesome Kids - Atmosphere (part 1) Overall tone of a home What do we need to do to make the atomsphere great? Basic attitude of being positive and joyful As leaders of the family, parents must set the tine |
| 2009-01-17 - Jesus with People - Humility in Action Jesus and John the Baptizer were very different - ie one preached in the desert and one in the cities and villages John called the people not to focus on him but the one who was coming Jesus came to be baptized by John - Matthew 3:11 John responds - I need to be baptized by you John submits to Jesus' submission and baptizes Jesus Satan hated it - they kept humbling themselves before one another - the bond of unity grew tighter and tighter This humility continued through out their lives - John: He must become greater; I must become less - John 3:27-30 Jesus did not grasp his equality with God - Philippians 2:6 Humility kept them bonded together, even when Satan was working to divide Pride: Keeps people from being united Humility: Bring people together When unity does not exist among believers: People are not willing to pay the price Pride means too much to them What relationship do you have that would be greatly changed if you show humility and not pride? |
| 2009-01-18 - Jesus with People - Grateful Son Mary and Jesus - no greater pain than for parent to bury a child and live with that memory Jesus stops the process of redeeming humanity to focus on one final moment with him mom All excuses for neglecting our families die with Jesus - spends final moment and thinking how to provide for her Jesus submitted himself to being human - learned the lesson to honor your mother - Exodus 20:12 4x in the gospels - Jesus relates to Mary:
Busy disciples - often neglect the needs our immediate family? Husbands - too busy to listen to our wives? Parents - too busy to invest in our relationship with our children? When we neglect to provide for our relative - we deny the faith - 1 Timothy 5:7-8 Jesus won Mary's soul with a relationship |
| 2009-01-19 - Jesus with People - Through the Roof When the paralyzed man came down through the roof - damaged the house of Peter and Andrew - how would you respond? If we follow Jesus, the smallest seed of faith that we see in others should encourage and excite us. Who big is your crowd? |
| 2009-01-23 - Jesus with People - Touching the Untouchable Jesus had compassion and healed the man with leprosy - Luke 5:12-18 Jesus was different:
What Jesus did we can also do (beside healing):
Society shrinks back - hospitals are not our favorite place Somehow, we think that the person is responsible for his or her condition Job "friends" did not understand what God was doing How can I imitate Jesus by "reaching out" in compassion to the sick? |
| 2009-01-30 - Jesus with People - Greatest in th Kingdom I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven - Matthew 18:1-4 Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost - Matthew 18:12-14 We need to become like children in a very specific way Our human nature wants to be first and to have control Matthew 18 were driven by the same desire - they asked Jesus "Who is the greatest?" When become like little children, we become like Jesus Paraphrase - Because of your power-hungry pride you guys are not even in the kingdom of God, and nothing will change this fact unless you start imitating this child After Jesus' sacrifice, all his teachings made sense Having a child's humility is impossible until we understand the cross Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends - John 15:13 Must see other brothers and sisters in Christ as God's little spiritual children who must be cared for God's heart is that not a single person be lost Do we feel the personal responsibility for others? Who do you know who is struggling spiritually? What can you do to help them? |
| 2009-02-24 - Jesus with People - Walking with Jesus We must respond to Jesus' pursuit of us with our pursuit of him Even with the testimony of woman, the disciples doubted When Jesus stood in front of them, they thought he was a ghost - What hid their understanding? Jesus was dead, yet lived afain How long was your Emmaus road? |
| 2009-03-01 - Promises of God - Practical and Powerful Promises Since the promises of God can relied on, it can have powerful affect on how we view life and how we live it Psalms 119 - Shows us the relationship of God to spiritual life Psalms 119:50 - God's promises enable him to press on and not give into dispair Psalms 119:140 - Again and again he has relied on God's promises and has come to value them Psalms 119:148 - Deep conviction about focusing on the promises, keep him up Psalms 119:154 - When he is threatened and in danger, remind the Lord of his promises Psalms 119:162 - Promises of God is a treasure to him |
| 2009-03-07 - Promises of God - Lord of the Unexpected 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 This trouble you're in is not punishment, it's training, the normal experience of children - Hebrews 12:17
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| 2009-03-10 - Promises of God - God is Merciful God is merciful - Deuteronomy 4:29-31 Even when you have sinned greatly and even when you think - This time I have really blown it God promises if from there you seek him, even from a deep dark hole of shame, disappointment and failure - you will find him Must be with all of your heart We are not the best judge for our own repentance Our loved should know and should be asked It is from the deepest darkest hole that that God promises are the most truest For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you - Deuteronomy 4:31 |
| 2009-03-16 - Promises of God - Strength From Prayer Jesus had to overcome unfathomable temptation - Matthew 26:36-36 If he chose to follow through with his Father's will: humiliting insults, excruciating beatings, and agoninzing crucifixion would follow Jesus: If it's possible, may this cup be taken from me We should ask ourselves: How many hours have I wrestled with it in prayer? We must turn to God at the moment we are tempted - it may take hours but we will have great power to resist sin |
| 2009-03-21 - Promises of God - Formidable Foe We have a common enemy that must be overcome Described as:
He blinds the minds of individuals - 2 Corinthians 4:4 Satan takes people captive - 2 Timothy 2:26 But there is one greater... |
| 2009-03-22 - Promises of God - One Greater The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world - 1 John 4:4 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness - 1 Peter 5:8 Satan is seen leading "the whole world astray" - Revelation 12:9 He is the Ling of Kings and the Lord of Lords - Revelation 12:9-11 The devil will eventually be thrown into the lake of fire - Revelation 20:1-10 |
| 2009-03-24 - Promises of God - Remember Gods Heros Scriptures have many examples of those who were tested, humbled, exiled or disciplined by God:
There was far greater blessing in store for them in God's own time |
| 2009-03-25 - Promises of God - Rest in Gods Comfort Elijah's collapse and recovery - 1 Kings 19 After great victory with God, he fell into physical, emotional, and spiritual burn-out God used a powerful three step plan:
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| 2009-04-05 - Promises of God - Noahs Faith Confidence in God's promise must be so great that we obey "even though" we don't understand and it does not make sense By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen - Hebrews 11:7
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| 2009-04-08 - Promises of God - Tireless Labor Satan works quickly to wear us down Fatigue and discouragement are his greatest tools Do you realize God can give you energy? Luke 17:7-10 and Galatians 6:9 -> gives energy to never quit Focusing on how hard something is will never product the desired fruit Focusing on God and letting others help us product tireless labor Moses needed Aaron and Hur to hold up his hands Ester needed Mordecai to carry out the plan to save the Israelities Jesus needed Simon to carry his cross God provides helps when we labor tirelessly for him |
| 2009-04-16 - Promises of God - Never Give Up Never give up - Hebrews 10:35-39 Why?
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| 2009-05-05 - No one like him - Dependence In Prayer Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed (Luke 5:15-16) Gave up a night - All night praying (Luke 6:12-13) Lord teach us to pray (Luke 11) – some disciples were taught to pray from infancy Prayer was more important than eating or sleeping – Jesus could no go without it Jesus called God, Father, what perceptions of a father-son relationship are correct and incorrect? We have a perception that Jesus had a great advantage over of us but Jesus needed the Father like we do. |
| 2009-05-07 - No one like him - His servant heart (part 2) Many ways to set our mind
Not looking for comfort Not about the way he looked Jesus saw himself as a servant, leading others to be servants How would this thinking change – marriage, family, church, workplace, neighborhood? Jesus was about meeting needs
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| 2009-05-13 - No one like him - Jesus and the Scriptures How did Jesus view the scriptures?
Didn’t accept views about: Samaritans, Gentiles, women, leapers, tax collectors Jesus hung around the wrong people, wrong parties, and wrong trainees Jesus had great confidence found in the scriptures 11x in gospels (20x mores by gospel writers) in where Jesus said he was the fulfilling what had been written |
| 2009-06-04 - No one like him - Count Cost (part 1) Not a question of how hard or difficult but if it is true Not all struggling is bad Jesus calls us to:
Jesus was not out of touch – Matthew 9:36 Jesus had a clear view of love and generosity – John 10:33 Kingdom now in the present age Fix our eyes on Jesus We need to deal with OUR heart Jesus did not just come to amaze He came to call people to change their lives He was upfront with commitment level Must deny self |
| 2009-06-11 - One Another - Correction Needed There were a lot of relationship issues that needed to be corrected in first book of Corinthians:
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| 2009-06-15 - A Life of Impact - The Challenge The Challenge Mark 1:19-20
Vision
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