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2008-03-10 - Be Still My Soul - Quiet Time

Jesus deeply valued his time alone with God

Jesus sought out quiet time
"Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest" - Mark 6:31b
"Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed" - Luke 5:16
Occasional devotions are OK but should never replace our private time with God

Jesus found a quite place
"But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father" - Matthew 6:6
If you have no quite place - your relationship will be shallow and limited

Jesus urged alertness
Jesus pleaded with them to be awake and alert in prayer - Mark 14:37-42
Be "clear minded and self-controller" so that we can pray - 1 Peter 4:7

How long? until a sense of peace and closeness with God

How much time in prayer and study? mix it up; our relationship should not become stale

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you" - John 15:4-8



2008-03-11 - Be Still My Soul - Time Away

Jesus often withdrew

  • Jesus often withdrew - Luke 5:16
  • Spent the night praying - Luke 6:12
  • Jesus was praying in private - Luke 9:18
  • Jesus... took Peter, John, and James .. to a mountain to pray - Luke 9:28
  • Withdrew to mountain by himself - John 6:15

When was the last time you withdrew an entire night, day, or week?
We wonder why we are stale, unmotivated, joyless, and weary and have not grown
It takes awhile to detact from the world

A retreat can be unforgetable, life-changing time
You have to plan it to make it happen, Satan will try to stop you



2008-03-30 - Be Still My Soul - Psalms You Sing
Nothing is quite as effective as music in improving our moods and softening our hearts
  • I will sing and make music - Psalms 57:7
  • I will sing and make music to the Lord - Psalms 27:6
  • Make music to your name - Psalms 92:1
  • Extol him with music and song - Psalms 95:2
  • I will sing and make music with all my soul - Psalms 108:1
  • The Lord is my strength and my song - Psalms 118:14
Use of music in our personal devotions is of utmost importance and is possessed of immense power
Frees us from a mere intellectual approach
Humbles us, especially those of us who are vocally challenged
Get a songbook and start singing during your quiet times

If your relationship with God seems dry and lifeless, music may be the missing element

2008-04-29 - Falling in Love with God - Seeking Only Him

If God's people will humble themselves pray and seek his face, he will hear from heaven and forgive us - 2 Chronicles 7:11-16

Even after the temple was built, God was concerned whether his people will still seek him

God himself was often "felt" but not "found" - He has the same concern today

Difference: being members / having a deep personal and individual relationship with God

In his pride the wicked does not seek him - Psalms 10:1-4

One thing I ask: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord, gaze upon the beauty - Psalms 27:1-9

Nothing will satisfy like seeking his face



2008-05-08 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Ambition: from God or Satan
Depending on the motive:

There is positive ambitions - Romans 15:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:11
There is negative ambitions - Galatians 5:20

There is pure spiritual ambitions with bad motives:
Matthew 20:20-28 - wanted their shot at the left and right seats of Jesus

We often want the right things for the wrong reasons

  • Too focused on positional goals in the church
  • Excel at work or school - not working for the Lord but working for self - Colossians 3:23
  • Too much pressure for a child to succeed - Train a child in the way he should go - Proverbs 22:6
  • Allowing secondary motivation become the primary motivation
Examples of primary and secondary motivations:

Subject Primary Secondary
Job Glorify God Make money; Career
Following God Love God with everything we have Learning Bible facts, being disciplined, spiritual goals


2008-05-13 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Power of Negative Thinking
They are stronger than we are; we seem like grasshoppers - Numbers 13:31-33
  • Negativity oftn excites stronger emotions
    • Easily swayed by the negative report
    • Forgot God's amazing miracles and victories
  • Negative thinking is a pervasive tendency
  • Majority of people inevitably practice negative thinking
    • No wonder so many people reacted negatively to Jesus
    • How many were confident that the resurrection would follow? Next to nil
  • Negativism is deceptive to observers - seems normal
  • Negatives are often mixed with positives to sound better
  • Leaders have a responsibility to determine the thinking of the group
  • Negativity is tragic in its results - destroys faith and unity of the group
No one remembers the names of the spies, we do know the name of those who avoided or overcame negativeness

2008-05-15 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Disappointed
Mathew 23:37 - Talks about how Jerusalem killed the prophets and those God has sent to them

Disappointed people are not happy people

Disappointed = depressed or discouraged by the failures of one's hopes
Disappointment in others exposes a basic selfishness; by definition is rather self-focused

Most assume that God often views us with a disappointed heart
Luke 19:41-42 (parallel verse to Matthew 23:37) - If you only had known on this day what would bring you peace

Are you often disappointed in yourself or others?
Humility is needed - Selfishness and pride is the opposite
  • Disappointed often? Selfish often!
  • Frustrated at others often? Selfish often!
  • Angry when others have things against you? Selfish once more!
Look not to your own interest, but the interest of others - Philippians 2:3-4

Disappointment is un-Godlike; Concern is the godly quality which comes from self-denial and agape love

2008-06-03 - Purpose Driven Life - Best Friends with God
God wants to be your friend
God's ideal relationship - Adam and Eve (no rituals, ceremonies, or religion)
Moses, Abraham, David, Job, Enoch, and Noah had intimate relationships with God
Most in the OT had just the fear of God
 
You are not longer servants but friends - John 15:15
 
Through constant conversations
 
Make it a habit to have daily devotion time but it more than just that
God wants to be included in every activity in your life (Some think you have to get away)
Key to the friendship is not changing what you do but your attitude toward what you do
Pray all the time - 1 Thessalonians 5:17
 
Pray as often as possible
 
Help me trust you
You are here with me
I'm depending on you
You are my God
How awesome you are!
 
Pray as often as possible
Your goal is not a feeling but an awareness of the reality that God is always present
 
Through continual meditation
 
Thing about His Word throughout your day - who God is, What he has done, and what he has said
Meditation is simply focused thinking - Worry is a form of meditation
 
Friends share secrets
God told his secrets to Abraham, Daniel, Paul, his disciples, and others friends
When you read your Bible or hear a sermon - develop a practice of review the truth in your mind

2008-06-22 - Purpose Driven Life - It Takes Time
There are no shortcuts to maturity - it takes us years to mature physically
While we worry about fast we, God is concern how strong

We arrive to spiritual maturity when have gained the fullness of Christ - Ephesians 4:13

Why does it take so long to learn?

  1. We are slow learners - Israelites are a great example of this
  2. We have a lot to unlearn (bad habits) - Taking off the old self and putting on the new self - Romans 13:12 
  • We can not grow without a humble, teachable attitude
  1. Growth is often painful and scary
  • There is no growth without change
  • There is no change without fear or loss
  • There is no loss without pain
  • Must let go of old ways in order to experience the new way
  1. Habits take time to develop - Practice and devote yourself to growth - 1 Timothy 4:15


2008-07-02 - Purpose Driven Life - Real Servants (part 2)

Real servants do every task with equal dedication

Whatever you do, do it with all your heart - Colossians 3:23
You are never too [fill in the blank] to be a servant
Jesus specialized in menial tasks:

  • washing feet
  • helping children
  • fixing breakfast
  • servng lepers

Small taks often show a big heart
Little things determine big things
Race to be a leaders is crowded but the field is wide open for those willing to be servants

Real servants are faithful to their ministry

Servants finish tasks, fullfill their responsibilities, and complete their commitments
Can you be counted on by others?
We want to God to say, "Well gone, good and faithful servant" - Matthew 25:23

Real Servants maintain a low profile

Put on the apron of humility, to serve one another - 1 Peter 5:5
Not about show  - If we are trying to please men (including ourselves) we can not be a servant of Christ - Galatians 1:10

Servants are content with quietly serving in the shadows
Wouldn't find many true servants in any Halls of Fame or Who's who books

Be confident that nothing you do for God is a waste of time or effort - 1 Corinthians 15:58



2008-07-30 - 30 Days at the Cross - Heights of Humility

World often assumes humily with being quite, soft, weak, a loner, apathetic and without convictions

Does this sound like Jesus to you?
Jesus humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on the cross - Philippians 2:8
Death on the cross was considered a curse - Deuteronomy 21:22-23
He allowed himself to be cursed
He put his trust in him who judges justly - 1 Peter 2:23

With humility, you give up yourself, but in the process you find God and yourself

Questions and answers about humility:

  1. Where does God dwell? with the humble and concrite - Isaiah 57:15
  2. Who does God esteem? he who is humble, concrite, and trembles at his word - Isaiah 66:2-3
  3. Who receives God's grace? not the proud but the humble - James 4:6
  4. Who does God lift up? those who humble themselves under God's mighty hand - 1 Peter 5:5-6

 



2008-08-14 - 30 Days at the Cross - Not for Adults Only
Even when Jesus was on the cross he had concern for his mother

Why didn't he protect her from the experience?
She needed to understand how far we must go to save the lost

Being a Christian parent does not mean you try to spare your children the cross: show them how to get on it
As parents, it is often harder to teach or to call our children to sacrifice than it is to call ourselves to sacrifice

Are you teaching?
  • Love for enemies and pray for them - Luke 6:27-28
  • Sacrifice of sleep for someone
  • Be flexible and inconvenienced for others
We are entrusted to be an example for the very souls of our children

2008-09-05 - Teach Us To Pray - Eager to Act
Nehemiah 4:6-9 - Nehemiah prayed to for the walls of Jerusalem to be rebuilt

Nehemiah turned his theology into biography
He prayed to a powerful God, but it did not end there; he was ready and eager to act
Many times we pray (talk) and then sit back (no walk) waiting for a miracle to happend

Nehemiah prayed often and spontaneously - 1:4, 4:4, 5:19, 6:9, 13:14, 22, 29, 31
He is prayers were followed by:
  • Decisions - Nehemiah 2:5
  • Plans  -Nehemiah 4:9-16
  • Actions - Nehemiah 2:18
What closes God's ear to our prayers is not the depth of our sin bu the lack of our eagerness to act upon his Word

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
Be still and know I that I am from God - Psalms 46:10
Do you have a special place where you meet with God?

Psalms 5, 38, and 42 are examples of how open and expressive David was with God
He shared everything from joy and delight to anguish and dispair
How open are you with God?
God wants our hearts
As a result, we are much more open and real with others

We get fired up by sermons, fellowship, and music - Jesus went to be alone
There is nothing in your life that God cannot change

Prayer times make special memories
Israelites setup stones to remind them of what God had done - Joshua 4:7

Ideas for times with God:

  • Write a love letter
  • Sing a song you composed
  • Write on a ballon, let it go
  • Hang a poster and write the things God has done

 



2008-09-11 - Teach Us To Pray - Unity with Others

Questions to ask meself:

  1. How often this week have I prayed with someone?
  2. Do I pray with others about critical decisions?
  3. Praying together with others my custom?

If no, denying one of the most powerful aspects of pray

After Judas' sucide - two eminently qualified individuals were proposed - Acts 1:15-26
Disciples sought guidance (v24)

Peter and John were on their way to pray - Acts 3:1
They grouped together for prayer often - Acts 16:13-16
They raised their voices together in prayer - Acts 4:24
Church earnestly prayed for Peter; eventually released after angelic intervention - Acts 12:5

 



2008-09-15 - Teach Us To Pray - Changes in Character
Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place - Psalms 51:6
Character can grow if we take a sober gut-level check look at who we are

Too often we pray:
  • Help me be a better person
  • Help me to change
  • Help me to love you more
We don;t know specifically what we need to change
When we aim at nothing, that is what we hit

The word of God discerns the thoughts and intentions of our heart - Hebrews 4:12-13
Like a mirror reflecting how we look spiritually - James 1:23-25
We also learn the truth about ourselves from other people in our lives - Proverbs 20:5

Ask God to help you see what you need to change
Ask others what things they see in your sinful nature

How badly do you want to change?
It will show by the way you pray
My power is made perfect in weakness - 2 Corinthians 12:9

2008-10-25 - Man of Prayer - Praying for Provision (part 2)

God provided manha day after day for 40 years to the Israelites
They could not take more than a day's portion - otherwise it would rot
Manha means "it is what it is"

It was to teach them that man does not live on bread alone but every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord - Deuteronomy 8:2-3

It is NOT inapproprate to ask God to provide for our needs
He is YHWH - jireh - the Lord will provide

God delights in our dependence on Him as the source of our provision
We often do not have because we have not asked - James 4:2

 



2008-12-06 - Raising Awesome Kids - Teach them to love others

Kids who are showered with love must be taught to give it away
Otherwise they will become selfish, aloof, and arrogant
God commands us to love hime in return

Love and concern for others should be talked about often
Children learn to love by helping - capable of so much more than we think

We can do far too much for them - creates self-centeredness
They way we treat others is the way we treat Jesus - Matthew 25:34-40

The whole family is an instrument of God - God will use in us is a dark and lost world



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:
  1. He obeyed her - Luke 2:51
  2. He allowed her to influence him when he performed his first miracle - John 2:1-11
  3. He did not allow his devotion to Mary make him sentimental - Mark 3:20-35
  4. Protected and provided for her needs as he died on the cross
He was not too "spiritual" that he neglected the needs of others

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


2009-01-22 - Jesus with People - Finding Faith

Jesus was in ahuge crowd and suddenly a Roman centurion walks up to Jesus - Matthew 8:5-10

NT centurions are often mentioned with honor:

  • Cornelius was the first Gentile to become a Christian - Acts 10:22
  • A centurion rescued Paul from the Mob - Acts 23:27
  • A centurion saved Paul's life in the shipwreck - Acts 27:43

Lord, my servant lays paralyzed and in terrible suffering - Matthew 8:5-6
To many Romans, a slave was defined as nothing more than a tool

Jesus was moved by the man's heart - I will go and heal him
When Jesus saw a need, he met it
He lived to serve and meet needs directly and continuously
He loved a man many hated

Lord, I don't deserve to have you under my roof - Matthew 8:8
He was a Gentile, Jewish law - a Jew could not enter the house of a Gentile - Acts 10:28
In spite of his desperate need, he respected Jewish law

Say the word and he will be healed - Matthew 8:8
His authority produced results, how much more would the authority of Jesus do?

Jesus did not find anyone in Israel with such faith



2009-01-25 - Jesus with People - Call of the Wild

Read Mark 4:35 - 5:43 - No one and nothing is beyond the reach of God
No problem is beyond Jesus - can meet any need natural, physical, spiritual, life or death

  • It was not just a sick woman - an incurable woman
  • It was not just a dying girl - she was stone-cold dead
  • It was not just a deamon possessed man - was a leagon of demons

Nothing and no one intimidates Jesus

How often have we given up on or stopped praying for others too soo?

Have you ever wondered if someone or something was beyond God's reach?



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
Like children, we do not always know what we need

This trouble you're in is not punishment, it's training, the normal experience of children - Hebrews 12:17

 



2009-03-23 - Promises of God - Run to God's Word
Like sin, the very nature of weariness is hostile to radical change

Running is the last thing I feel like doing with I lethargic and tired - but it is exactly what I need to do

Our spirits often resist the Word when we need it the most.

There is power in the Word and it can revive us over and over again
I lie prone in the dust; revive me according to your - Psalms 119:25


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.

2009-06-20 - A Life of Impact - Selfless Authority

Abandon

Mark 2:6-12

  • Jesus didn’t walk on eggshells when he was around those who opposed him.
  • We are often so careful not to offend anyone that no frankness and no power is left our speech.
  • We need to be constantly ready to withstand opposition

Selfless Authority

  • People who seem apologetic about authority they have or hesitate to exercise it are not very impressive
  • Reason: they see it as a means of gaining something for themselves for themselves rather than a means of achieving a goal
  • People that abuse power act the same way as those who do not use
  • Pilate failed because he did not understand why he was in power
  • We should not hesitate to make use of this authority and we should be unashamed
  • How can disciples of Jesus not be bold and assertive? We must be forceful people!


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