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Searching for "makes" in the Quiet Time Archive
Displaying results from "0" to "25". (57 found)

2008-03-31 - Falling in Love with God - Intro

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



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

  • 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



2008-05-24 - Purpose Driven Life - What Drives Your Life?

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


2008-07-15 - Purpose Driven Life - Becoming a World-Class Christian (part 1)
Your choice:

Worldly
  • Personal fulfillment
  • Self-centered
  • Goes to enrichment seminars
  • Avoids missions conferences
  • Prayers focused on our needs
World class
  • Saved to serve
  • Eager for personal assignment
  • Only one who is truly alive
  • Makes a difference
Great Commission is for "every race, tribe, nation, and language" - Revelation 7:9
Go everywhere in the world and tell the good news - Acts 14:15
Experience is a little piece of what heaven might be like

Many opportunities today: missions, easy travel, and "e-vangelism" (email, facebook, chatting, etc)

2008-08-23 - 30 Days at the Cross - Consumed with Reconciliation
Bible makes it clear: God is consumed with reconciliation
At the cross: it reconciles us to God, then reconciles us to each other

There must be humility on both sides:

God humility (did not need to go the human level but he did for our sake) - Philippians 2:5-8
  • Made himself nothing
  • Took the very nature of a servant
  • Was made in human likeness
  • In the appearance of a man
  • Obedient to death
Man problems with humility
  • Consumed with finiding fault with God
  • Reject God rather than questioning ourselves
  • Thinks he could do a better ob
Only with humility from both God (yes) and man (sometimes) can reconciliation occur.

Do you want to resolve a conflict in a relationship?
Do it Gods way:
  1. Start with a fresh look at the cross
  2. Remind yourself of the humility shown by Christ
  3. Want reconciliation more than anything
  4. Confess your sin first


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:
  • He knows what is in our hearts
  • He knows what we are really seeking
  • He knows what we need
Only honesty with God makes sense!

Moses:
  • He questioned the wisdom of God's choice
  • Argued his lack of eloquence
  • Says he does not want the responsibility
  • He is honest - he gives God something to work with - Exodus 4:13
David - example of his Psalms:
  • Why do you hide yourself in trouble? - Psalms 10:1-2 - logically does not make sense but this is where David was
  • Later, he works it out in prayer (v17) - LORD, you have heard the request of the oppressed; you make them feel secure because you listen to their prayer.

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

2008-09-12 - Teach Us To Pray - In Marriage and Family

Unless the Lord builds, its builder labor in vain - Psalms 127:1-2
Solomon probably knew the truth of this passage as much as anyone
He saw incrediable tragedy in his own family from the result of his father's unspiritual leadership
His family stands as a warning to all married disciples of how Satan can destroy the most precious of all human relationships

Powerful benefits of daily prayer with one another:

  1. Prayer keeps your relationship spiritual focused
  2. Prayer keeps us going to bed united - Ephesians 4:26-27
  3. Prayer makes us more grateful
  4. Prayer gives us focus and direction

Prayer in family life:

  1. Nightly prayer with children from infancy
  2. Daily devotionals with younger school children - 15min in the morning
  3. Taking pray walks with teenage children
  4. Quiet Times with one another
  5. Praying as a family about major decisions and challenges
  6. Praying with children after they are disciplined adds powerfullly to the impact of such training


2008-09-21 - Teach Us To Pray - Friends and Loved Ones
To intercede or pray on someone else's behalf is a privilege
Our prayers are sacrifices which are pleasing to him - Hebrews 13:15

Paul: I want you to know how much I am struggling for you - Colossians 2:1
Who do you struggle for? How about people you have never meet?

Far be it that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray to you - Samuel to King Saul - 1 Samuel 12:23

Jesus intercedes for us - Romans 8:34
Like a good friend, he adds or subtracts from what you are missing or need
Jesus makes us complete in God's sight

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
God wants us to pray about things that mean the most to him

Pray in Praise of God
Our God stands in greatness before us and how we pray is as important as what we pray
When we pray in praise to God, he always makes a difference in our lives

Pray for the Passion to Produce
He is Lord of the Harvest and it is also God's will that there be a harvest - Matthew 9:38

We must understand how important prayer is in the eyes of God



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


2009-01-01 - Raising Awesome Kids - How to Nuture Confidence (part 2)
Help them improve in areas of weakness
Encourage your children to be well-rounded
Academics are too important to neglect just because it does not come easy

Examples:
  • Women of Proverbs 31 - skills ranged from homemaking to business and management
  • David - shepherd, soldier, political leader, songwriter, and musician

Help them form upbuilding friendships
All young people need to belong to a group
If they are generally outsiders:
  • Teach your children to act differently - to not turn people off
  • Or steer them to toward another group
Don't be afraid to monitor your children's friendships
If you can't help someone be better or if either one of you makes the other a worse person, then you can not be friends


2009-01-16 - Raising Awesome Kids - Atmosphere (part 2)

If we can laugh together, then we like being together, which adds up to unity

Idea: have a "joke night" - everyone tell jokes

Happy heart makes the face cheerful - Proverbs 15:13

Cheerful heart has a continual feast - Proverbs 15:15

Cheerful look brings joy to the heart - Proverbs 15:30

Cheerful heart is good medicine - Proverbs 17:22

The phyical environment need to be pleasant
Dirt, filth, and clutter do not create an atmosphere of closeness

The environment says, "we don't care", then people stop caring about each other



2009-02-27 - Promises of God - Standing on Promises
For no matter how many promises God has made, they are all "Yes" in Christ - 2 Corinthians 1:20-22

Promises from others and one we have made > can make us highly skeptical about promises
They represent efforts to pacify us at the moment; the promiser does not usually have to fulfill the promise immediately

Does he promise and not fulfill? - Numbers 23:19

God fulfills his promises - every last one of them

God is:
  • Trustworthy
  • Reliable
  • Absolutely faithful to every promise he makes
He has the power to do what he says
A promise from God is as good as fact

2009-03-26 - Promises of God - Hearts at Peace
God makes clear his offer of peace

Does God promise pleasing circumstances to those who trust him? No

Paul, from a prison cell, said the Philippians could "peace of God which transcends understanding" - Philippians 4:7

Peace came from trusting in God - Isaiah 26:3

Trust is essential
Must imitate childlike humility - Matthew 18:3-4

Children are generally are at peace
They do not worry about the mortgage, stock market, bills
They are content to let mom and dad tackle those issues

We have to believe that God is in charge and he knows what he is doing

2009-04-06 - Promises of God - Abrahams Faith
By faith Abraham, called to place even through he did not know where is was going - Hebrews 11:8

Obedience to God is the only thing that makes sense

Ludicrous to think that our limited and mortal minds can out smart an omnipotent and omnipresent God

We will never find the blessing of God if we constantly question the wisdom of God

How do you feel about the word of obey?

2009-04-20 - Why We Need God - He is Our Redeemer
GOD AS OUR REDEEMER...

  1. Makes it possible for us to start anew - Psalms 103:1-5
  2. This He did by sending His Son, Jesus - Galatians 4:4-5; Titus 2:11-14
  3. He offered His Son's blood to redeem from our sins - 1 Peter 1:17-19


2009-04-26 - Why We Need Jesus - He Intercededs For Us to God
WHO INTERCEDES FOR US TO GOD...
  1. Now at God's right hand, Jesus makes intercession for us - Romans 8:34
  2. He serves as our "Advocate" with the Father - 1 John 2:1
  3. He is our perfect High Priest - Hebrews 2:17-18; 4:14-15
  4. He enables us to come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and help - Hebrews 4:16
  5. He now "always lives" to intercede on our behalf - Hebrews 7:25


2009-08-21 - Wild at Heart - Intro (part 3)
What makes a man come alive?

    1. Need a battle to fight
  • Swords, camouflage, six-shooters, uniforms
  • Boys want to be powerful and dangerous
  • Aggression is part of man’s design – God’s image (Exodus 15:3)
  • They do not want to call and talk about relationships
  • Boys play is a rehearsal for a bigger drama
  • Life needs man to be fierce and fiercely devoted
  • Every man needs to know he is powerful – be the hero

    2. Needs an adventure to live
  • Fights the grizzly, wins the beauty
  • Recipe for fun with boys – add an element of danger
  • We may fear the test, yet we yearn to be tested and discover what it takes
  • If a man has lost this desire (says he doesn’t want it) does not know he has what it takes – believe he will fail the test.

    3. Needs a beauty to rescue
  • Nothing more inspiring to a man as a beautiful women
  • Make you want to charge the castle, slay the giant
  • Men going to war carry a photo of their sweetheart in their wallet
  • Paintings on side of airplanes
  • Lonely men fight lonely battles
  • Where would James Bond, Robin Hood, King Arthur, Indiana Jones be without their women
  • Man needs a battle to fight, he needs someone to fight for (someone in particular – women he loves)



2009-12-06 - Master Plan - Jesus gave himself away (part 2)
  • Love is the only way to win the free response of men
  • Work of the Holy Spirit
    • Must be born again
    • Christ began His ministry by being baptized - John 3:3-9
    • Made clean through the Word and set apart to God for Holy Service - John 15:3
    • Only the Spirit can carry on the redemptive mission of evangelism
    • Jesus was God in revelation but the Spirit was God in operation
    • Evangelism was not a human undertaking but a divine project.
  • With Him they felt that everything was possible
  • The superhuman work to which they were called demanded superhuman help.
  • Through confession of their deep-seated pride and enmity in utterly surrender of themselves to Christ
  • It is not who we are but Who He us that makes the difference
  • Only those who followed Jesus all the way came to know the glory of this experience
  • Jesus was deliberately investing all He had in these few men so that they could be properly prepared to do His work.
  • We cannot give something away which we do not possess ourselves.
  • The very ability to give to give away our life in Christ is proof of its possession.


2009-12-25 - First the Kingdom - A Choice
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted - Matthew 5:4

Jesus speaks primarily of a spiritual morning by choice

Other options, could choose to:
  • ignore it
  • postpone it
Why would we choose mourning?
  • Choose God over self
  • Realize we have broken his heart
  • Our response is to be broken, vulnerable, contrite, and humble
  • No other response makes sense or brings healing
Spiritual mourning is an element of true repentance

Godly sorrow brings repentance, leading to salvation - 2 Corinthians 7:10


2010-01-24 - Kingdom First - Wise Investing

Jesus is not interested in our obedience outwardly without having our hearts set on heaven
All the ancient were longing for a better country

Living a Christian life is more than living up to a standard of behavior
Meant to ask deeper questions of motivation and heart with an understanding a heart properly movtivated - actions will follow

We should develop a heart that does not store treasures in heaven
Jesus makes a case that does not make sense to store up treasures here because they will not even last here - Matthew 6:19-21

No moth, no rust, no thief, not even Satan himself can diminish our treasure in heaven
It is an incredible freeing feeling to let go of the "treasure" here on earth

Will you miss services to get overtime in?
Do your children see a joyful parent excited about the kingdom of God?

Invest all you have and all you are - Romans 12:1

 



2010-03-01 - One Another - One Another In Groups (part 3)
Work out differences; maintain unity - Ephesians 4:1-7

Do not be surprised when there are differences
See differences as:
  • Opportunity for the spirit to work
  • Opportunity for iron to sharpen iron
  • Opportunity for us to go to the cross and practice humility
Be sensitive to outsiders; seek to bring them in - Colossians 4:2-6

Need to make the most of every opportunity
Avoid lingo and behavior that make the visitor truly feel like an outsider

Stay at the foot of the cross

What makes a Christian group different from others is the cross
Where is your group in regard to the cross?
Are we dying and living a baptized life?

2010-03-29 - Life to the Full - Crown not Frown (part 3)
God does not work to ruin our lives but to improve us - James 1:16-18
Don't accuse God of wrong doing like Job did - Job 1:22

Our fate is in God's hands, not in the stars - v. 17

God's goodness is his gift of rebirth
Peter makes this clear - 1 Peter 1:23

James moves to relationships with one another
Don't retaliate when times are tough - James 1:19-21

James' wisdom would transform many a relationship if put into practice

Natural Reaction Jesus' action
Be quick to speak Be quick to listen
Don't listen Slow to speak
Be first to become angry Slow to become angry


2010-04-06 - Life to the Full - Dead or Alive? (part 6)
Person justified by what he does not faith alone - James 2:24
James is talking about the lifestyle of a saved person not about the point of salvation
Faith alone? A true living faith is never alone - accompanied by a heart that obeys

Deeds are the animate faith; Spirit is what makes the body alive

Jesus spoke often of deed, seldom of intentions - Matthew 7:21-23

In Revelation, Jesus constantly focuses on deeds - Revelation 2:2, 19; 3:1, 8, 15

Is your faith dead or alive?
What deed in your life shows that your faith is alive and well?


2010-05-23 - Desire's Journey - Disowned Desire

Examples of desires used for bad then good

King David - passions got him in trouble, then gave us our book of worship

Peter - was hotheaded disciple always quick with a reply
First to acknowledge that Jesus was the Messiah and became a key apostle

Paul - extremely zealous for the traditions of his fathers, killed Christians
Jesus captured his zeal for good - he worked harder than all the other apostles - 1 Corinthians 15:10

Those who killed their passion altogether would murder the very essence that makes heros of the faith
Killing our desire is like the thinking of curing our sickness by bleeding out the bad



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