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Searching for "says" in the Quiet Time Archive
Displaying results from "0" to "25". (71 found)

2008-02-25 - Power of Gratitude - Solitary Places
When gratitude cause us to rise early to spend time with God - seeing one of the greatest fruits
No one says that QT must happen in the morning - it always goes better than the days when trying to work out another time during the day

I learned to pray when I sensed that I would come apart at the seams emotionally unless I didn't

Three things helped with prayer life:
  • Solitary place - no bothered for a curtain amount of time
  • Can walk and pray
  • Can pray out loud
writing can help - proven by therapists -  helps with negative thoughts

There is  no gratitude without prayer

2008-04-22 - Falling in Love with God - Listening
Whose voice should I listen to?

There are many voices:
  • Voice of guilt that reminds me of the past
  • Voice of doubt tries to tell me about the future
  • Voice that says we are weak and can not do it
  • Voice that judges me of wrong doing and bad motivation
Reason for the voices is our own sinful nature

To deal with these other voice we need to memorize scriptures - to not be swayed and know the correct voice to listen to

2008-05-29 - Purpose Driven Life - Planned for God's Pleasure
You are planned for God's pleasure
He chose to create you for his enjoyment
Bringing enjoyment to God is the first purpose in life
He considers valuable enough to keep you for eternity with him

Bringing pleasure to God is called worship
Anything you do that brings pleasure to God is an act of worship to God
Worship is a universal urge - if not worshiping God, it will be something
Worship is not for your benefit, not "I got a lot out of it"

Worship is far more than music
Worship music is not limited to a particular style of music - nothing to do with volume or speed of the song
Style of the music says more about you than it does God

Worship is not a part of your life, it is your life
Every activity can be transformed into an act of worship
Whether you drink or eat or whatever... do it all for the glory of God- 1 Corinthians 10:31

2008-06-05 - Purpose Driven Life - Worship That Pleases God
God wants all of you
All of your soul, mind, heart, strength
 
God is pleased when...
 
...our worship is accurate
  • Must be based on the truth (Not Idols)
  • John 4:23 - Based on Spirit and Truth
... our worship is authentic
  • 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
 
...our worship is thoughtful
  • 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
 
... our worship is practical
  • 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


2008-06-08 - Purpose Driven Life - What Matters Most
Life is all about love
 
Most important lesson he wants you to learn on earth is how to love (have a lifetime to learn)
 
Learning to love unselfishly is not an easy task - runs counter to our self-centered nature
 
God trains us by giving us "family responsibilities"
Love cannot be learned in isolation
You have to be around people - irritating, imperfect, frustrating
 
Life without love is really worthless - 1 Corinthians 13:3
God says relationships are what life is all about
  • 4 commandments  - deal with your relationships with people
  • 6 commandments - deal with your relationships with God
  • All 10 commandments deal with relationships!
 
Love God and Love People - 2 greatest commandments (Matthew 22:37-40)
 
Busyness is a great enemy of relationships
 
Love will last forever
 
How you treat other people will be the most enduring impact you can leave on earth
Final moments - we want people to surround us
 
We will be evaluated on our love
 
Spiritual maturity is measured by the quality of our relationships
To love Jesus is to love his family by providing for their needs

2008-06-21 - Purpose Driven Life - Overcoming Temptation
Refuse to be intimidated

You will never outgrow temptation
Temptation is a sign that Satan hates you
Paul says, "WHEN you are tempted..." - 1 Corinthians 10:13
Jesus was tempted, but never sinned - Hebrews 4:15
The closer you grown to God, the more Satan will try to tempt you

Recognize your pattern of temptation

Know what exactly what trips you up - Stay alert, Satan waits til you are napping - Matthew 26:41
  • When am I most tempted?
  • Where am I most tempted?
  • Who is with me went I am tempted?
Don't give the Devil a chance - Ephesians 4:27
Plan carefully what you do... - Proverbs 4:26-27

Request God's Help

Call on God in times of trouble - Psalms 50:15
Jesus is sympathetic; he understands our weakness - Hebrews 4:15
We can be embarrassed to ask God for help after failing over and over again, but let us have confidence when approaching - Hebrews 4:16

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

2008-09-13 - Teach Us To Pray - Sin and Transgression

God both forbids and forgives

Clearly forbids - Genesis 2:16-17
We know well what sins and God says no
He forbids to protect - we choose to transgress his infinitely perfect plan

We must understand that sin hurts God deeply - Jeremiah 8:20-9:3

In his infinite wisdom, he found a way to forgive the unforgivable. Forgiveness is an undeserved gift



2008-09-18 - Teach Us To Pray - Courage and Boldness
Prayer reminds us God is in control
It is his battle, I belong to God, and God will make me successful
God will not let me be tempted beyond what I can bear - 1 Corinthians 10:13

To pray for boldness and courage:
  1. Trust - We are exactly the way God wants us to be; he will make up what we are not - 2 Timothy 1:7
  2. Righteousness - Righteous are as bold as a lion; god can not hear us if we cherish sin - Psalms 66:18
  3. Action - do what the word says; Keep praying until you act
Does our faith come from our results or our results come from our faith

God's work cannot be done in this world without courage

2008-12-27 - Raising Awesome Kids - Work Ethic and responsibility
Hard work and a sense of responsibility can be trained into a child
Laziness is a flaw

Sluggard finds nothing at harvest time - Proverbs 20:4
Sluggard says there is a lion road - Proverbs 26:13
Sluggard is a door on hinges - Proverbs 26:14

Stress loving hard work

School work is character issue
  • Are they giving their all?
  • Are they working hard?
Grade only is the wrong focus
Instead, make diligence and excellence the issue

It helps immensely if the oldest child is well trained

Give appropriate jobs and responsibilities around the house
  • Don't let your kids do all the work for other
  • Don't do all the work for them
  • Give allowances apportioned to age, responsibilities, and faithfulness in carrying them out


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

2009-03-13 - Promises of God - Faith vs Doubt
Doubt: God has forgotten about you and does not care

Faith: He knows the way you have served - Hebrews 6:10. He knows notices and cares when a sparrow falls - Matthew 10:29

Doubt: He remembers but he remembers others more than you; Doubt fills in the blanks and customizes to your hopes and desires.

Faith: God shows no favoritism; He moves at different time for different people; He has given everything we need for life and godliness

Doubt calls into question the faithfulness of God
Faith tells us it is impossible for God to lie

When Doubt comes calling, we must turn away

Faith says yes to God's promises

2009-04-30 - No one like him - Differences from Jesus and the prophets (part 1)
1. His words were from the Father
Prophets – “This is what the Lord says…”
Jesus – “I tell you the truth…”
2. Where to get help
Prophets - “Come to the Lord.”
Jesus – “Come to me” (Matthew 11:28-30)
3. Fulfillment of scripture
Prophets – Prophetic messages
Jesus –
  • “I have come to fulfill the scripture (Luke 4:18-19,21)
  • “I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17)
  • “everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled” (Luke 18:31)
  • “These are the Scriptures that testify about me” (John 5:39)


2009-05-02 - No one like him - His dependence on God (part 1)
No one claimed to be able to do what he did

He knew the result would be if he completely depended on God – gave confidence

Dependency can have negative connotations; those who are dependent sometimes are looked down on.

Bible says not to depend on ourselves or other men … but on God.
  • “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength..” (Jeremiah 17:5
  • “…lean no on your own understanding.: (Proverbs 3:5)


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)



2009-09-23 - Wild at Heart - The Enemy (part 4)
The world is a carnival of counterfeits, counterfeit battles. Counterfeit adventures, counterfeit beauties
Men should think of it as a corruption of their strength
Battle your way to the top says the world and you will be a man

World give a false sense of security
  • Where does your sense of power come from?
  • Is it your position?
Look to be the servant of all
Want to know how the world really feels about you – start living out your true strength
Say what you think, stand for the underdog, challenge foolish polices
Many of us have actually been afraid to let our strength show up because the world doesn’t have a place for it

2009-10-08 - Wild at Heart - The Strategy (part 1)
1. I am not here

Satan says, “ I am not here, it just you”

You cannot fight a battle that you don’t think exists

Satan prowls around like a roaring lion - 1 Peter 5:8-9
Assume you are under spiritual attack
When you ignore the enemy, he wins
He simply loves to put everything on us
Get us to feel hurt, misunderstood, suspicious and resentful

Before an effective military strike, must take our the lines of communication
Marriage is a living example – Satan loves to divide and conquer
Sends a message – you are blowing it – “I thought you were disappointed with me”
They did not send this message

Most of all the Enemy tries to jam communication with Headquarters
Commit yourself to prayer every morning for two weeks and just watch what happens
Satan tries to make our mind wonder and cause interferences

2009-10-10 - Wild at Heart - The Strategy (part 3)
2. Intimidation

Our condition may become normal to use after a while - depression
If you pray and fight against – It will get worse.
Once the Enemy is discovered, he usually does not just roll over and die.
Jesus says get tough and resist the onslaught

Next level Satan tries intimidation and fear
He wants you to agree with intimidation because he fears you
Fighting back, he will lose – Resist the devil and he will flee – James 4:7

Why do so many pastor’s kids go off the deep end?
Evil One is trying to an old tactic – strike first and maybe the opposition will run
He can’t win, you know

God is with us
“As I was with Moses, so I will be with you” – Joshua 1:5
The Lord is a warrior, the Lord is his name – Exodus 15:3

How did Jesus win the battle against Satan? God was with him
Doesn’t simply mean that he’ll be around - he will fight for us
Satan is trying to appeal to the traitor’s commitment to self-preservation when he uses fear and intimidation.
So as long as we are back in the old story of saving our skin, looking out for Number One, those tactics will work.

Become a warrior
The most dangerous man on earth is the man who has reckoned with his own death.
All men die, few men ever really live.

2009-10-12 - Wild at Heart - The Strategy (part 5)
We don’t need accountability groups we need fellow warriors, someone to fight alone side, someone to watch our back

We don’t need a meeting of the Really Nice Guys

Never a more devoted group of men than those who have fought alongside one another

You will be wounded
To lose a leg is nothing compared to losing heart
Enemy knows the wounds of your past and he will try to wound you again in the same place
It is an honor to be wounded in the service of the Lord
Boys are proud of their scars, they are badges of honor
Kingdom forcefully advances and forceful men take hold of it - Matthew 11:12

Jesus says it is going to take every ounce of passion and forcefulness you’ve got

2009-10-14 - Wild at Heart - Eve's Wound
Question for her is: Am I lovely?
She needs to know that she is exquisite and exotic and chosen.
This is core to her identity, the way she bears the image of God
Will you purse me? Do you delight in me? Will you fight for me?
Wound says - No, you are not beautiful and no one will really fight for you
Wound usually always comes from the hand of her father

He has the power to cripple or to bless is just as powerful to her as to the son
Her heart is violated and the message is driven father in – you are not desired, you will not be protected, no one will fight for you.

If the father is passive, a little girl will suffer a silent abandonment – not noticed or pursued
Like so many unloved young women, they will to turn to boys to hear what she never heard from her father
When a woman never hears she’s worth fighting for, she comes to believe that is the sort of treatment she deserves

A hesitant man is the last thing in the world a woman needs.
She needs a lover and a warrior, not a nice guy

Number one problem between men and women is that we men, when asked to truly fight for her, hesitate
We are still seeking to save ourselves, we have forgotten the deep pleasure of spilling our life for another

2009-11-17 - Repentance - The Church Reorients Us (part 1)
There is no church without repentance
There is no repentance without the church.

How did the early church help seeker to repent?
Aligning themselves to the new community
The church, by definition, is counter-culture
World says, “Conform, get back in line”
Church says, “Repent, come out be different”

What do we think of when we think of counter-culture? Skinheads, etc
Not rebellion for the sake of rebellion but for selfless-love, sexual purity, generosity, purposeful living, revolutionary zeal,
humility, joy beyond understanding

The world hate holiness – hates holy saints

Discipline
Practice largely disappeared during the second half of the century
We live in the customer’s always right culture
Not expelling members but the church meets my needs, what feels right, sin/repentance not your business

2009-11-18 - Repentance - The Church Reorients Us (part 2)
Bible says if your brother sins again you – go and point out his sin
Must repentance as a whole
Church repentance – 41 times
Individual repentance – 11 times

Not usual in the world
Football team at half-time
Company changes due to market conditions

All churches sin; not all repent
Some spin their shortcoming, craft reasonable explanations, minimize damage to reputation, issue statements

Questions
  1. How does the church represent the “destination of repentance”?
  2. How did the early church help sinners to repent? How did it safeguard true repentance from compromise?
  3. How did the walls of the early church stand steadfast against the assaults of the world?
  4. What does it mean to be of “one mind” with your brothers and sisters?
  5. How were early Christians both non-conformists and conformists?
  6. Why has church discipline gotten a “bad rap”? Is it warranted?
  7. Why do so few churches practice the Biblical mandates to discipline its members?
  8. How can a church best practice church discipline?
  9. Have you ever been disciplined by your church? Did God’s plan lead you to repentance – why or why not?
  10. Over 85% of the Biblical references to repentance address groups rather than individuals. Thus, how can you help your fellowship - at various levels – repent?
  11. How can you spark repentance – even revival – in your church and in your community? Are you willing to walk its path of selfless commitment?


2010-01-12 - Kingdom First - Radical Righteousness
Jesus says to just throw your Christian checklists away - Matthew 5:27-30
We can pass many of our checks and be far away from God

Boundaries and lists without the heart make a hollow shell

Continual sin such as impurity is used by Satan to destroy our spiritual appetite
We are filled with guilt and our faith to overcome is damaged - compounding the problem by hiding the sin
We are robbed of the victory that Jesus wants us to have

How do we gorge out sin?
  • Understand that Jesus wants us to be perfectly pure
  • Be desperate enough to do anything to overcome the sin
  • Examine yourself and the sin
  • Need to be open about the sin


2010-02-06 - First the Kingdom - One-Lane Road (part 1)
Seemingly contradictory statements:
God wants all men be saved - 1 Timothy 2:3-4
Road to God  is narrow and only a few will find it - Matthew 7:13-14

Both are true

God shows he wants all me to be saved
He sent his son who spoke clearly and plainly about what it takes
The broad road says - I know better than God what life and eternity are all about
On the broad road - so many people and so many standards
Bible warns those on the broad road will face terrors and traps of many kinds - Proverbs 4:10-19

Many agree that the narrow road teaching Jesus describes is one of the most difficult
Can not be faithful to Jesus' message and teach anything but the narrow road
Only a few find = fact is that only a few search
Everyone who seeks finds - Matthew 7:7-8

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