Quiet Times Search

• Days of excitement are for young Christians
• Mature means being dead and lifeless
• See other older Christians not doing well and assume that is our fate

• Study one book of the Bible - Make a simple outline; sometimes we lose patience in our understanding - keep working at it
• Study a section of a book - ie Sermon of the Mount; Jesus and the disciples in the upper room
• Study one chapter of the Bible - Hebrews 11, 1 Corinthians 13, and others
• Study one verse - This is really deep! compare it, cross reference words, look up meanings
• Study one topic - understand and master; use topical, chain-reference, and concordance

• Pattern, not a formula - not meant to be recited, rebuked by Jesus
  
• May seem awkward at first - stick with it
  
• Be prepared to spend more time in prayer when you use this prayer - wider range of subjects
  
• The structure reveals the genius of God - Begin looking to God; then deal with ourselves; once again focus on God
  
• Notice the use of "us" - personal, but not self-centered

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

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

• The good news that Jesus is the Christ - Acts 5:42
  
• Proclaimed the Christ there - Acts 8:5
• Jesus is the Christ - Acts 9:22
• "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ" - Acts 17:3
• Testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ - Acts 18:1-5

• Who can be against us? No one
• Who will bring any charge against us? No one
• Who is he that condemns? No One

• 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?

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

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

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

• Peace
• Freedom
• Experience God's power

• 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

• Honest with who you are - otherwise we are just fooling ourselves - 1 John 1:7-8
• Requires courage and humility
• We only grow by taking risks - being honest is a major risk

• Depending on each other
• Sharing responsibility
• Mutual accountability

• Sharing pain of others (Colossians 3:12)
  
• Meet needs of being understood and the validation of our feelings
• Self-Pity dries up sympathy for others
• Times of crisis, grief, doubt when we need each other the most

• Can't have fellowship without forgiveness
• Bitterness and resentment always destroys fellowship
• Never be asked to forgive someone more than God has forgiven you
• Energy for retaliation or resolution?
• Forgiveness immediate; Trust takes time

• Gift-envy - wanting a gift that someone else has
• Gift-projection - expect others to the same gifts as we do

• Enthusiasm - what you love to do; no one has to motivate
• Effectiveness - passion drives perfection

Service starts in the mind

Servants think more about others than about themselves

Not thinking less of ourselves, thinking of ourselves less
Forget yourselves; lend a helping a hand - Philippians 2:4
This is what it means to "lose your life"
Jesus emptied himself; taking the form of a servant - Philippians 2:7

Self-denial is the core of servanthood
Unfair situation; use the occasion to practice the servant life - Matthew 5:41

Servants think like stewards, not owners

Remember the God owns it all
No servant can serve two masters - Money not "should not", "can not"
If you have been trusted with the world's weath, than you can be trusted with true riches - Luke 16:11

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

• Connection to the highest places - John 1:11
• His ability to move the masses was unparalleled - Matthew 7:28
• His understanding of what it takes to succeed was clear and unwavering - John 12:23-24
• He stayed on task until it was done - John 19:30

• Working for a promotion
• Earn more money
• Gain material possessions
• Working for the Lord - Colossians 3:23

• Love for enemies and pray for them - Luke 6:27-28
• Sacrifice of sleep for someone
• Be flexible and inconvenienced for others

Reading from 2 Kings 6:15-17

We can relate to Elisha's servant, he lacked faith
When we lack faith, we only see the world around us and the challenges that life is throwing at us
When you wallow in faithlessness, your Bible study lack power and your eyes skim the pages without absorbing the words

As Elisha's servant looked down at the Arameans, he turned in despair to Elisha
He admitted that he needed help
Because of his humility, he found the help that he needed

Do you collapse in a heap of self-pity or discouragement?
Do you go out and get the help you need?
Do you babble like a Pharisee or have you gotten gut-level honest with God about how you are feeling?

Elisha's servant got humble and trusted his leader
As he looked out again, he saw the Arameans surrounded by the army of heaven

Problems always look less daunting when you get God in the picture and decide to be full of faith

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

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