Quiet Times Search

• 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

God wants you to grow up - some grow older but never grow up (Ephesians 4:14-15)

Nothing shapes your life than the commitments you make
Many are afraid to commit to anything and drift through life

God's part and your part

Our part is to: Continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling - Philippians 2:12-13

Our role = "work out" salvation (grow - in a body workout we have our body but we make it better)
God's role = "work in" us

Changing your autopilot

Becareful what you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts - Proverbs 4:23
Changing what you think, changes you

Going on a diet, exercising does not work if you do not change your thinking - "I am going on a diet"

The way you think determines the way you feel - which influences how you act - Ephesians 4:23

Babies by nature are completely selfish
Many never grow beyond that kind of thinking

It is not the amount of biblical information and doctrine you know
Deeds must be constant with our creeds / Beliefs backed up with Christlike behavior

• Average person possesses from 500 to 700 different skills and abilities
• Brain can store 100 trillion facts
• Can handle 15,000 decisions a second
  

• He made no treats
• He did not retaliate

• He honest and call sin, sin
• Allow ourselves to feel the pain - fear or anger
  
• Surrender to God or be bitter, resent, or even apathy

Passover - it meant freedom for the Jews (from Egypt)
Jesus choose Passover to bring freedom to all through his death

It was a new relationship with God and man
God loved mankind but man hurt God with his sin

Jesus: with my life and death, you have a new relationship, now remember this
It will be forgotten in our lives if we don't make plans to remember

In the midst of our activities and pressure of life, we forget:

• How much he went through for us
• That we can be forgiven and start over again and again
• Why we are doing things we are doing

He took bread and gave thanks for this very reason - Luke 22:19

Give thanks and examine yourself - 1 Corinthians 11:28
Don't forget that in Christ there is no condemnation - Romans 8:1

Answered the following questions in the Q & A section:

1. How many kinds of did Noah bring into the ark, two or seven?
2. How many sons did Abraham have?
3. How many women came to the tomb?
4. Is all scripture inspired?

1. He included people in his prayer struggle
2. He was totally honest with all of his feelings before God and other men - limiting Satan's power - John 3:19-21
3. Jesus stated his preferences to God very clearly
4. Prayed until his surrender was complete - surrender is not completed without this kind of prayer - Philippians 4:6-7

1. We must seek justice - what is right in sight of God - Yes, No, or Wait a While
2. We must cry out - Urgent, passionate yet humble - he was heard because of his reverent submission - Hebrews 5:7
3. We must be consistent day and night - beginning (Psalms 5:1-3) and all day
4. Pray full of faith - Jesus concluded with a question: would he find faith on earth?

"When you fast" - not if you fast

God commanded the Jews to fast on the day of Atonement - Leviticus 23:27-29
During the time of Jesus, Pharisees fasted twice a week - Luke 18:!2
Church was acustom to fasting - Acts 13:2, 14:23

Getting practical

1. Making it a part of lifestyle
2. Fast with a purpose in mind - bear fruit, find a job, closer walk with God
3. Decide how long you intend to fast and stick to it
4. Decide what kind of fast you intend to have
5. Seek input from other disciples

There is no greater privilege and responsibility than to pray for our spouse and children
It boggles the imagination to see how the quality of our family life can be affected by exercise this privilege

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
Praying sometimes make things worst (at the beginning) because Satan is on the attack

Each of us need to realize that how we pray for our spouse is limited only by our creativity
If you want the kind of relationship that God intended you to have with your wife, prayer will be a major factor in seeing that desire realized

When we have been faithful in praying for my children, we have a great sense of peace about their lives
Christian dads have a tremendous privilege and a straggering responsibilty to pray their children

• Don't reject him
• Don't ridicule him
• Teach him to relate confidently to other boys
• Teach him sports and manly skills

1. A sound concept of repentance - God's kindness leads to repentance - Romans 2:4
   
2. Understanding of the purposes of God's gifts - point of the blessing is the blessing themselves but the ultimate outcome of our lives
   
3. Understanding of God's timetable - God's goal is always our repentance - 2 Peter 3:9

1. Of the heavens and the earth - Genesis 1:1; Exodus 20:11; Hebrews 11:3
2. Of mankind, both male and female - Genesis 1:27; 5:2
3. Even in the womb, God has a role in giving us life - Psalms 139:13-16;  Jeremiah 1:5
4. He made us, not we ourselves - Psalms 100:3

• New priorities – with people who have different ones
• New loyalties – with people who have different ones
• Mission is to reachout and share with people why they need his message
• Associate with sinners but call them change
• Love unconditionally; Live radically – declare this is the way to live

Second effort

Mark 8:22-26

• Jesus was not afraid to show affection to people in public.
• Jesus is the kind of friend who would take us by the hand.
• Jesus didn’t allow unsuccessful first try to discourage him from trying again.
• He did not doubt himself but figure that the problem lied in the blind man’s lack of faith

• To be laid back is lazy and selfish.
  
• Being out of one’s self is a much more vulnerable position, and it takes much more energy.
• When you feel like you are acting like a lunatic, you are probably just beginning to get out of yourself.
  

• Desperate people got people’s attention.
  
• Jesus encouraged intensity of any kind. · He hated complacency; he rewarded persistent determination.

• Perfectionism
• Nice guys - pushovers
• Violent
• Passive

V9 – why have you despised the word of the lord?
V10 – you have despised me [God]
V12 – You did it secretly
V14 – You have utterly scorned the Lord

• Not the kind of group you would expect to win the world for the Christ.
• Represented an average cross section of the society of their day
• Some already had joined the revival movement of John the Baptist
• Jesus can use anyone who wants to be used.
• Kept the group small enough to be able to work effectively with them.
  • More special than the twelve was the three – Peter, James, John
    • Jairus’ daughter (mark 5:37, Luke 8:51)
    • Mount of Transfiguration (Mark 9:2, Matthew 17:1)
    • Waited Near the Lord when He prayed. (Mark 14:33, Matthew 26:37)
  • Choose twelve – Luke 6:13-17, Mark 3:13-19
  • Others – the 70 (Luke 10:1), Mark and Luke (gospel writers), James, His own brother (1 Cor 15:7)
• Rapidly diminishing priority given to those outside the twelve.
• Staked His whole ministry on them. Everything depended upon their faithfulness.
• Some believe that focusing on a few is favoritism
• Jesus however did not neglect the crowds.
  • Taught them
  • Healed the sick
  • Blessed the children
  • Wept for them
  • He died for them.

• Crowd aroused
  • Wanted to make him King by force - John 6:15
  • All men were clamoring for His attention - John 3:26
  • Pharisees admitted that the world has gone after Him - John 12:19
  • Frequently asked those that recipients of His healing to say nothing to prevent mass demonstrations
  • Own brothers and sisters did not understand him - John 7:2-9

• For three years, Jesus had been training them by being with them
• Follow-up was not just confined with His disciples
  • Zaccheus on the street of Jericho - Luke 19:7
  • Women at the well - John 4:39-42
• Some attention was given to others – but not compared to the attention given to the twelve
• Faithful women – Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and many others - Luke 8:1-3
  • He did not refuse their kindness
  • Jesus was well aware of the sex barrier
  • He did not try to incorporate these ladies in the select company
• Primary task was to develop some men who in turn could give personal attention to others

• We may not be conscious of the plan of every action
• Actions invariably unfold some kind of pattern at the center of things.
• Our objective that we can discover may not be very satisfying
• We should seek to find a way to incorporate the wisdom of Jesus’ strategy into our own preferred method of evangelism.
• Variety is in very structure of the universe
• Master gives us an outline to follow but He expects us to work out the details.(local circumstances and traditions)
• One unwilling to fail in the determination to find a way will never get started
• People afraid to try and try again will not make much progress.
• Finding and training men to reach men