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Searching for "peace" in the Quiet Time Archive
Displaying results from "0" to "25". (69 found)

2008-02-26 - Power of Gratitude - Uncommon Peace
What enables us to have such uncommon peace? - Commonality

  • Relationship with God
  • Decision to make Jesus Lord of our lives
  • Basic mission - to seek and save the lost
If we in a battle together, we are unlikely to attack one another

Stay committed to God with the mission and discipling firmly in place, our unity will remain

Three warning signs, if not doing:

A. Daily diet
  • Time in the Word daily - Acts 17:11
  • Daily prayer - Luke 11:1-4
  • Share our faith daily - Acts 17:17
  • Open with our lives daily with one another - Hebrews 3:12
B. Lack of commitment
C. Lack of discipling

2008-03-01 - Power of Gratitude - Don't waste your sin
Use the past to encourage others
Paul did - chief of sinners - 1 Timothy 1:15-16

Joseph did:
  • Told his brothers to not be distressed or angry with themselves for selling him to slavery
  • Purpose was to save the lives of his family - Genesis 45:5
  • He saved himself a lifetime of bitterness and self-pity
Until and unless we see God's presence in our challenges, we are going to sin
Rejection leads to rebellion, which in turn led to failure

We must become thankful rather than resentful or hurt - give the benefit of the doubt
Key to a life of acceptance is develop a deep gratitude for what God has done through our challenges
  • We must come to peace with the past
  • Develop his perspective on the matters at hand
  • Be gracious is your evaluation of others' roles
  • Forgive yourself and others
  • Never waste the impact that your past can have on others
  • Be thankful


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



2008-04-08 - Falling in Love with God - Jesus: Their All
1 John 1:1-4

Jesus: that which:
  • Was from the beginning
  • We have heard
  • We have seen with our eyes
  • We proclaim
"No one ever spoke the way this man does" - John 7:46

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

2008-04-25 - Falling in Love with God - Heaven in Focus
In heaven every knee will bow
Our hope and citizenship is there

If we are in love with God, we will be ready

God's idea of heaven may not be "recreational"

Our purest motivation to going to heaven must be to be with God


On the deepest level, he longs for us to be with him

The goal of our faith is salvation that we might be with him

Not just peace in heaven
Not just the promise of no tears or no trials

So many times we want heaven on earth -  2 Corinthians 4:13-18

Focus on the eternal - feel refreshed

Focus on what is seen - feel unsure, clouded and drained

2008-05-12 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Don't cry over split milk

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead - Philippians 3:12-14

Much of our challenge is in accepting failures without feeling like failures

Peter and Judas were both betrayers
Peter was forgiven and Judas would have too if he had not killed himself

Mistakes are part of the growing process

  1. Performance mind-set - try to minimize our failures (no risks)
  2. Terminal thinkers - avoid calling them mistakes

Gospel allows us to start over and over again
Failure to achieve dreams is one our greatest challenges from our past

Shock > denial > anger > depression, apathy, or peace (grace of God)

BIG PICTURE - being right with God, growing in our relationship with him, and helping others



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

2008-05-18 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Spiritual vs Doctrinal Thinking, part 2

Goal is the be focus on personally knowing God, being changed, and helping others to do the same

Doctrine is important - Must watch it - Timothy 4:15
Must have sound doctrine - 1 Timothy 1:10; 2 Timothy 1:13; Titus 1:19, 13, 2:1
Our study helps us understand the heart of God and imitate it


Doctrine thinking Spiritual thinking
Arrogance
Humility
High blood pressure Inner peace
Division Unity
Leads people to hell Leads people to heaven
Man-centered God-centered
Unspiritual Spiritual


2008-06-02 - Purpose Driven Life - The Heart of Worship (Part 2)
What it means to surrender

Surrendering is not for cowards
It is not repressing your personality
Surrendering is best demonstrated in obedience.
To say "no, Lord"- can not call Jesus your Lord
 
To trust God means doing without knowing where, when, how, or why

Most difficult area to surrender is money
Retirement is not a goal of a surrendered life
Surrender is hard work - Warfare against our self-centered nature

The blessing of surrender

Blessings of surrender
 
  • Peace
  • Freedom
  • Experience God's power
Surrendered people are the ones God uses
Everyone surrenders to someone or something
You are free to choose but not free from the consequences
Nothing else works - All other approaches lead to frustration
Must make it a daily habit (maybe more than 50 times a day)
May be inconvenient, unpopular, costly, or seem impossible

2008-06-19 - Purpose Driven Life - Growth Through Temptation
Happy is the man who does not give in - will be rewarded with the crown of life - James 1:12

Every temptation is an opportunity to do good through the path of maturity

How does the Holy Spirit produce fruit in our lives? - Galatians 5:22-23
By allowing you to be tempted by the opposite opportunity
  • God teaches love by putting unloving people around us
  • God teaches peace by allowing times of chaos and confusion
You can not claim to be faithful if you've never had the opportunity to be unfaithful

Temptation follows 4 steps:
  1. Satan identifies a desire within you - Comes from within - Mark 7:21-23
  2. Satan tries to get you doubt what God has said about sin - Don't let your doubt turn you from God - Hebrews 3:12
  3. Satan tries replace truth with lies - He is the Father of lies - John 8:44
  4. Our disobedience - Drawn away and trapped by our own desires - James 1:14-16


2008-08-05 - Questions and Answers - Part 6

Answered the following questions in the Q & A section:

  1. Is marriage approved?
  2. Is there one God or more than one God?
  3. Should our good works be seen or unseen?
  4. Was Christ's mission peace or not?
  5. Was Christ's testimony of himself is true?
  6. Was Keturah Abrahams' wife or concubine?
  7. Where did Cain get his wife?

 



2008-10-13 - Man of Prayer - YHWH-shalom
Means "the Lord is peace"

Gideon had a powerful encounter with the angel of the Lord - Gave the name at the alter - Judges 6:24

Hebrew word shalom = welling being, contentment, harmony, fulfillment, and wholeness.
It communicates a total state of well-being which comes from a proper relationship with God

The blessing of God brings the peace of God
He is the source of your peace - Ephesians 2:14
Peace is the result of God's Spirit working in your life - Galatians 5:22



2008-10-19 - Man of Prayer - Praying for our family

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



2008-10-23 - Man of Prayer - Praying for the world

The is an infinite number of needs in the world we can pray for

Decide on a series of issues and people you will pray for

Three things to pray for:

  1. World hunger
  2. World peace
  3. World Evangelism
    1. Faithfulness
    2. Power
    3. Effectiveness

Jesus told the disciples that the would be preachedd in all the world and then the end would come - Matthew 24:14

 



2008-11-02 - Man of Prayer - Sinning against each other
Part of prayer needs to be focused  on remembering who has offended us and then making a conscious decision to forgive them

When our sin has caused emotional, spiritual, or physical damage to another - we need restitution - asking forgiveness

Forgiveness:
  • Brings into our experience not only love and grace of God but transforming power
  • Provides us with the guidance, motivation, enabling power to reconcile our relationships with God and others
  • Enables us to live with the experience of inner cleaning and the peace of God


2008-11-14 - Man of Prayer - Meditation

One may ask, where is the quiet listening part of prayer in this book

God encourages us to be still and know that he is God - Psalms 46:10

Mature prayer is not intended to be a monologue, but a dialogue

Christian meditation and Eastern meditation has to do with is in our minds as meditate
Eastern = empty our minds - dangerous activity
New Age = visualization of pleasant and peaceful landscapes as spiritual guides - opens a door to tremendous spiritual deception

Biblically based contemplation and meditation seeks not to empty the mind but fill it
God will speak through impression and intuition - should always be checked against the Bible and mature Christians



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


2009-03-18 - Promises of God - Produces a Harvest
Hebrews 12:11 - Discipline produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it

Key ways to respond to God's discipline:

Get Grateful
Probably the most difficult thing to do during hardships
It is the very thing that will help us to learn the important lessons God is trying to teach us

Hunger for Holiness
Media bombards us with devices, books, etc to make our lives easier
God disciplines us for our good, we may share in his holiness - Hebrews 12:10
He is willing to watch his precious children to go through temporary pain for them have eternal peace

Trust the Trainer
We must trust him as the perfect trainer
Training = something rigorous that stretches the trainee emotionally or physically
God's discipline is exact what we need and he promises it is always for our own good

2009-03-19 - Promises of God - For your Good
In all things God works for the good of those who love him - Romans 8:28

Regardless of what happened, we must be convicted - God is intimately aware and involved in all of it

We have two choices:

To trust - brings peace
To doubt - brings anxious, temptation to take matters in our hands, sin

God is conforming us to the image of his Son - Romans 8:29-30

Examples of those in "bad" circumstances:
  • Abraham
  • Moses
  • Esther
  • Daniel
  • Joesph - 13 years of set backs and suffering but became second in command to Pharaoh


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

2009-03-27 - Promises of God - Living By Faith
Habakkuk complained to God about what he saw happening

God basically said, "You are right, life is hard"

The idea that life is not fair robs us of our peace

Solution? God assurance to Habakkuk, "the righteous will live by faith" - Habakkuk 2:4

Then came incredible faith and peace - Habakkuk 3:17-19
Even if upheaval and uncertainty exist in every area of our lives, we can have peace

Why do our circumstances sometimes have such an impact on our peace?
 

2009-04-27 - Why We Need Jesus - He Offers Us a Better Life
WHO OFFERS US A BETTER LIFE...
  1. A more abundant life - John 10:10
  2. Peace that surpasses understanding - John 14:27; 16:23; Phillipians 4:6-7
  3. Love that passes knowledge - John 15:9; Ephesians 3:19
  4. Joy that is inexpressible - John 15:11; 1 Peter 1:8
  5. Hope that sustains in the face of death - John 11:25; Revelation 14:13


2009-05-08 - No one like him - His servant heart (part 3)
To serve means
  • Not holding to things
  • Not grasping on
  • Not saving ourselves
  • No protectiveness
  • Not a way of comfort
Jesus did this with the spirit of joy, peace and celebration

No one can save himself and still fulfill the mission of God

Luke 17:7-10 – we have only done our duty

Thinking not in terms of rights but of responsibility

Slave to all – Mark 10:44

We need to empty ourselves with being a doormat

2009-05-24 - No one like him - Kingdom Attitudes (part 4)
The Pure in Heart

About genuineness and sincerity

The grace can not from us alone
Create in me a pure heart O God - Psalms 51:10

After being forgiving and giving we start seeing ourselves as good - must have pure motives

The Peacemakers

True peace only comes from God - Isaiah 11:1-9
No without the other attitudes

The Persecuted

If you live like this, people will not like you
Ironically being a peace-maker will get you hated
Jesus was the Prince of Peace
Attitudes not natural; not to do but to be

2009-06-08 - One Another - They Will Know You
John 13:24-25
  • Jesus served humbly as their servant - his life was all about love
  • All men will know you as a disciple by your love of one another
  • Distinctive mark by which Christians are recognized
  • Does not say "they will know by your doctrine"
Isaiah predicted this love:
  • People would beat tools of division into tools of peace - Isaiah 2:4
  • Impossible unity - Isaiah 11:6-9
  • Men would protect each other - Isaiah 32:2
Men can do spiritual things for selfish reasons:
  • Praying for show - Matthew 22:29
  • Studying the scriptures - Matthew 22:29


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