Quiet Times Search
Search Quiet Times via a keyword or stringSearching for "joy" in the Quiet Time Archive
Displaying results from "0" to "25". (141 found)
| 2008-03-11 - Be Still My Soul - Time Away Jesus often withdrew
When was the last time you withdrew an entire night, day, or week? A retreat can be unforgetable, life-changing time |
| 2008-03-23 - Be Still My Soul - Pour Out Your Heart We can to one of a few things in challenging times:
Pour out your hearts - Psalms 62:8 I pour out my complaint before him - Psalms 142:2 How can we be close to someone if we have not poured out our hearts God is all-knowing but unless we tell him our feelings we will never draw close Everyone has feelings; it may be difficult at first Jesus: offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears - Hebrews 5:7 Suggestions:
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| 2008-03-25 - Be Still My Soul - Personal Moses enjoyed a relationship with God that few have ever known He was face to face - It was because Moses wanted that way When Moses was heading to the promised land God said he would not go with him - Exodus 33:2 Moses was appalled, recoils in horror It was not enough to be forgiven It was not enough to be successful Moses wanted to know more of God - Now show me your glory (Exodus 33:18) How would I react? Would I be fine with the promised land without God? We can sing, strive to be committed, give money, work hard to share our faith, and even pray Must be more focused on closeness to God more than on the success of our ministry 2 Corinthians 3 - in Jesus we can have a greater relationship with God than what Moses had the opportunity to have |
| 2008-03-29 - Be Still My Soul - Praise Thanksgiving is praise made practical
Never known a person who habitually expressive of gratitude to be afflicted with continual discouragement and depression Good idea to start and keep a gratitude list |
| 2008-04-06 - Falling in Love with God - Rediscovering each other Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him - Luke 24:13-32 They did not see Jesus because they lost hope and did not see him in a new light There is no joy like rediscovery - ex. rediscovering your spouse Some today:
We need to "rediscover" Jesus if we have lost hope of connecting with him again
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| 2008-04-08 - Falling in Love with God - Jesus: Their All 1 John 1:1-4 Jesus: that which:
Christ was their happiness Christ was their peace Christ was what they wanted to experience in life They were committed to experiencing Christ Paul's joy of completing the task the Lord Jesus has given him - Acts 20:16-24 They did not chafe at the cost of following Christ - cost was a chance to grow |
| 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 |
| 2008-05-09 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Money - Root of All Evil?, part 1 Bible warns the love of money Love of Money can lead to: greed, envy, jealousy, stealing, and ingratitude For some of us, materialism/people who have money = people who have more money than we have Ecclesiastes 5:10-12 - Whoever loves money never has enough Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 - God gives man wealth and possession and enables him to enjoy them Issue not if we have money, but how we view it, obtain it, and use it God uses America churches to fund missions - not based on the level of relationship with God |
| 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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| 2008-05-29 - Purpose Driven Life - Planned for God's Pleasure You are planned for God's pleasure He chose to create you for his enjoyment Bringing enjoyment to God is the first purpose in life He considers valuable enough to keep you for eternity with him Bringing pleasure to God is called worship Anything you do that brings pleasure to God is an act of worship to God Worship is a universal urge - if not worshiping God, it will be something Worship is not for your benefit, not "I got a lot out of it" Worship is far more than music Worship music is not limited to a particular style of music - nothing to do with volume or speed of the song Style of the music says more about you than it does God Worship is not a part of your life, it is your life Every activity can be transformed into an act of worship Whether you drink or eat or whatever... do it all for the glory of God- 1 Corinthians 10:31 |
| 2008-05-31 - Purpose Driven Life - What Makes God Smile? (Part 2) Noah was an example of making God smile (continued):
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| 2008-06-30 - Purpose Driven Life - Using What God Gave You Begin by assessing your gifts and talents Take a long honest look at what you are good at Experiment with different areas of service Consider your heart and personality Examine your experiences and extract lessons you have learned Remember today what you have learned about the Lord - Deuteronomy 11:2 Were rarely see God's good purpose - John 13:7 Run with patience the particular race that God has set before us - Hebrews 12:1 Satan can steal our joy by:
Avoid comparisons, resist exaggerations, and seek only God's commendations - 1 Corinthians 10:12-18
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| 2008-07-23 - 30 Days at the Cross - It Keeps on Cleansing The blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin - 1 John 1:7 His blood was the only thing that could possibly attain forgiveness for me - Ephesians 1:7 Imagine the priest persuading an Israelite to trust God's ways and offer the lamb Jesus' sacrifice for our sins must be accepted first for the joy of our sacrifical life to make sense Where does your value come from? As a blood-bought sinner or my ability to produce a perfect life
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| 2008-07-28 - 30 Days at the Cross - Life through Death Voluntary surrender is not easy; never comfortable nor enjoyable Rebellion comes from man's desire to be God Only when we are sick of our old nature will we be convinced to totally sell out to God Most of our cires are designed to produce our surrender So how do we go about taking up our cross?
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| 2008-08-07 - 30 Days at the Cross - Spectators or Sacrifices Sacrifice - we think of pain, suffering, loss, and the uncomfortable concept of denying self Sacrifice is a voluntary presentation of ourselves to God to be used for his purposes We can respond in serveral ways to the sacrifice of Jesus:
Christ love needs to compel us - 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 What happens when you offer your body as a living sacrifice?
What types of sacrifices is God asking of you right now? |
| 2008-08-08 - 30 Days at the Cross - Problems or Possibilities Suffering is a problem for us:
We spend too much time asking questions:
We should:
The issue is how you respond and how you will respond in the future |
| 2008-08-12 - 30 Days at the Cross - Mistreatment but Not Misery No way to be righteous enough, wise enough, or loving enough to avoid persecution The world can not hate you, it hates Jesus - John 7:7 We never see a hint of retaliation, bitterness, or self-pity When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate - 1 Peter 2:22-23 On the cross: heaped insults (Matthew 27:44) and he is asked God to forgive them - Luke 23:34 How did he get through the cruel and vicious attacks with such grace?
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| 2008-08-22 - 30 Days at the Cross - Not Surprise by Joy Joy set before him endured the cross - Hebrews 12:2-3 Yet joy joy was still in the heart of Jesus:
When we try to take over God's role - there is no joy Even the violent scene of the cross brought about joy and hope |
| 2008-08-29 - Teach Us To Pray - The God who Enjoys Hearing and Watching Us We enjoy accomplishment: meeting a deadline, A on a test Imagine the incredible feeling God must have experienced when he first viewed his own creation:
How would iy affect your prayer life if you had a deep conviction that God enjoys his relationship with you? God Enjoys Hearing Us Talking to Him God Enjoys Watching Us |
| 2008-08-30 - Teach Us To Pray - God Enjoys Talking to Us To truely know him, we must absorb his Word God's Word was written with one purpose in mind - to communicate God's love:
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| 2008-09-10 - Teach Us To Pray - Alone and in Private Mark 1:35, Matthew 14:13, and Luke 4:42 - shows us that Jesus often went to solitary places to pray Solitude is essential in developing a deep relation ship with God Psalms 5, 38, and 42 are examples of how open and expressive David was with God We get fired up by sermons, fellowship, and music - Jesus went to be alone Prayer times make special memories Ideas for times with God:
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| 2008-10-14 - Man of Prayer - Into His Court Focusing on God - source of incredible joy in our lives Psalms 100:4 - his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise Focus is a vital part of an effective prayer life
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| 2008-10-18 - Man of Prayer - Praying for our personal lives Jesus has given us permissions to seek divine intervention He delights in our desire to experience His intervention Part our our prayer time should be devoted to our needs: What do you want? Sometimes we do not have because we do not ask - James 4:2 OR because our motivation is not proper Asking for God's favor can not be self-centered because God is infinite: David asked to be the apple of God's eye - Psalms 17:8 He was a man after his own heart - Acts 13:22 Spiritual needs may include:
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| 2008-11-13 - Man of Prayer - Beyond the Basics Nothing we experience in the physical world will ever give us the the joy of our experience in the presence if God David - "In your presence is the fulness of joy" - Psalms 16:11 Fullness of joy is what all men long for Some men have been created with personalities that are very logical and others are oriented to feeling and intuition As our prayer lives develop, we each need to discover what dimensions of prayer are most effective for us |
| 2009-01-09 - Raising Awesome Kids - Childrens Quiet Times Having their own quiet times is the best way for them to know God and enjoy him personally - develops their own faith Younger years (preschool and early elementary) - sit down with them a couple of mornings a week Later elementary - they can begin to have them on their own - 10 minutes a session Create a structure for them Write down what they learn ACTS like prayers Older - direct them toward Proverbs, Psalms, and the Gospels - always keep up with how it is going Pushing them too quickly = overwhelmed kids Not challenging them enough = leave a vacuum for them to be filled by the world Pray for wisdom, get wise counsel, and trust God will guide you |
