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Searching for "share" in the Quiet Time Archive
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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

2008-03-25 - Be Still My Soul - Personal
Moses enjoyed a relationship with God that few have ever known
He was face to face - It was because Moses wanted that way

When Moses was heading to the promised land God said he would not go with him - Exodus 33:2
Moses was appalled, recoils in horror
It was not enough to be forgiven
It was not enough to be successful

Moses wanted to know more of God - Now show me your glory (Exodus 33:18)

How would I react? Would I be fine with the promised land without God?
We can sing, strive to be committed, give money, work hard to share our faith, and even pray
Must be more focused on closeness to God more than on the success of our ministry

2 Corinthians 3 - in Jesus we can have a greater relationship with God than what Moses had the opportunity to have

2008-05-14 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - I was Born this Way
Son will not share the guilt of the father - Ezekiel 18:20

Environment or heredity - most likely both
Must be slow to judge situations we do not completely understand otherwise may bless us with an understanding in a way we do not want

Other extreme - develop a victim mentality regarding ourselves or others
Can lead to being angry, use drugs, being immoral, or just about anything else
We have difficulty applying this to a murder

Answer: despite it being more difficult and having different backgrounds, the standard is still the same
He does not ask us to do anything he will not enable us to do
Identify the sin > repent of it > start relying on God grace > formulate a plan to overcome sin
Psychology can find root causes but it is powerless to find a cure

Hezekiah and Josiah were righteous amount a line of kings that were evil

The promises of God are far greater than our past and present challenges

Pray that we may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way - Colossians 1:10-12

2008-05-19 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Sentimentality

Can easily become sentimental when talking about salvation:

  • Family, people you are emotionally connected with
  • Thinking about people in remote parts of the world
    • It would be cruel to share the gospel with someone who hadn't heard it and was saved
    • Like not throwing a life jacket because you think they will be alright
  • Religous people - would you be willing to stand before God with - infant baptism or non-disciple life?

All have sin and have fallen short of the glory of God - Romans 3:23

Being "broader" than the Bible puts you on the wrong road

God will be the judge and he has given us the basis of his judgement - John 12:48

Extremes:

  • We become judgmental and reason like Pharisee; we are policeman, God is the judge
  • Lose our conviction religious doesn't equal salvation

 



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

2008-06-07 - Purpose Driven Life - Formed for Gods Family
You were formed for God's family
God desired to have a family but didn't need a family
God became our Father

Benefits of being part of God's family:
  • Family name, likeness, privileges,
  • Inheritance - since yo are his child, everything he has belongs to you (Galatians 4:7)
  • Will be with God forever - 1 Thesslonians 5:10
  • Be like Christ - 1 John 3:2
  • Freed from all pain, death, and suffering - Revelation 21:4
  • Rewarded and reassigned positions of service
  • Share in Christ's glory - Romans 8:17
We all need a family to identify with - the Church - Satan is always on the prawl


2008-06-10 - Purpose Driven Life - A Place to Belong
You are called to belong
Relationship with Christ is personal but not private
Your organs are connected to other organs to fulfill a purpose
Organ severed from the body will shrivel and die
 
Christ loved the church and gave his life for it - Ephesians 5:25
 
Church is Christ's bride
Can't say to Christ "I love you but I do not love your wife
 
Why you need a Church Family?
 
1. Identifies you as a genuine believer
 
2. Move you out of self-centered isolation
 
Lab for practicing unselfishness
Learn to care about others
If one part suffers, all suffer - 1 Corinthians 12:16
We ought to lay down our lives for our brothers - 1 John 3:16
 
3. Helps develop spiritual muscle
Isolation breeds deceitfulness
 
4. Body Needs you
 
5. Share in Christ's mission - He works through us
 
6. Church family will help you from backsliding
 
"Mind your own business" - not a Christian phrase
It is your responsibility to help those who need help
 
Difference between a church attender and a church member is commitment

2008-06-11 - Purpose Driven Life - Experiencing Life Together
Life is meant to be shared
 
Fellowship - now refers to casual conversation, socializing, food, and fun
Jesus knew that 12 was the maximum size for a group for everyone to participate
 
In real fellowship people experience...
 
... Authenticity
  • 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
 
... Mutuality (Romans 1:12)
  • Depending on each other
  • Sharing responsibility
  • Mutual accountability
 
... Sympathy
  • 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
 
... Mercy
  • 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


2008-06-14 - Purpose Driven Life - Protecting Your Church
It is your job to protect the unity of the church
 
Supreme model for unity is the Trinity
Jesus' final moment was thinking and praying about the church's unity
Make every effort to keep the unity - Ephesians 4:3
 
Focus on what we have in common
 
We share the same life, salvation, and same future
Conflict - focused on "disputable matters"
 
Be realistic in your expectations
 
People become disillusioned with church
Should not be surprised - made up of sinners, including ourselves - 1 Corinthians 1:10
Reconciliation - not running away - road to stronger character and deeper fellowship
If the church must be perfect to satisfy you, that same perfection will exclude you
 
Choose to encourage rather than criticize
 
It is always easier to stand on the sidelines than get involved
Judge another believer:
  • Lose fellowship with God
  • Expose my pride and insecurity
  • Set myself up to be judged by God
  • Harm the fellowship
 
Satan is the accuser of our brothers
Other Christians are not the real enemy
Any time spent for comparing and criticizing should be used for building others up
 
Refuse to listen to gossip
 
People who gossip to you will also gossip about you
Great wounds usually come from other sheep, not wolves
 
Practice God's method for conflict resolution
 
Go to the person you are having issues with - Matthew 18
Takes a man of courage to speak the truth in love
 
Support your pastor and leaders - Hebrews 13:17
 
No perfect leaders
They are accountable but so are you
You will give an account on how you obeyed your leaders

2008-07-07 - Purpose Driven Life - Gods Power in My Weakness (part 3)

Honestly share your weaknesses

Paul modeled vulnerability:

  • His failures: "When I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway" - Romans 7:19
  • His feelings: "I have told you all my feelings" - 2 Corinthians 6:11
  • His frustrations: "We were crushed" - 2 Corinthians 1:8
  • His fears: "I was weak and fearful and trembling" - 1 Corinthians 2:3

 



2008-07-09 - Purpose Driven Life - Made for a Mission (part 1)
Your mission is both shared and specific

Mission = Latin word for "sending"
As the Father has sent me, I am sending you - John 20:21

Jesus understood he was on a mission:
  • As a teenager - I must be about my Father's business - Luke 2:49
  • On the cross - It is finished - Luke 19:30
God wants to redeem human being from Satan
We have been sent to speak for Christ - 2 Corinthians 5:20

Your mission is a continuation of Jesus' mission on earth
He call us not only to come to him but go for him


2008-07-10 - Purpose Driven Life - Made for a Mission (part 2)
Your mission is a wonderful privilege
  • You are working with God
  • You are representing God
We're Christ representatives and become friends with God - 2 Corinthians 5:20

Telling others how they can have eternal is the best thing you can do

If have the cure for AIDs, you would share it
You just have to remember the hopeless you felt without Christ

Your mission has eternal significance

Impact the eternal destiny of other people
Consequences will last for ever; consequences of your job will not

All of us must quickly carry our tasks; all work comes to an end - John 9:4


2008-07-14 - Purpose Driven Life - Sharing Your Message (Godly Passions)
God passionately loves some things and passionately hates things other thing
The closer you are to God - you will share these view

Jesus - Man's heart determines his speech - Matthew 12:34
David - Zeal for God's work burn within him - Psalms 69:9
Jeremiah - Cannot keep silent - Jeremiah 20:9

Are defend the defenseless, those who can not speak for themselves
Should not expect everyone to have the exact same passion as you

It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good - Galatians 4:18

2008-07-28 - 30 Days at the Cross - Life through Death

Voluntary surrender is not easy; never comfortable nor enjoyable
Christ can not be formed in us until we are crucified with him - Galatians 2:20 ; Galatians 4:19

Rebellion comes from man's desire to be God
Satan tried to delute the solution to create powerless religions
Our lives do not change at the deepest level and have the same problems as the world

Only when we are sick of our old nature will we be convinced to totally sell out to God
Death to self seems preferable to life

Most of our cires are designed to produce our surrender
Jesus served through suffering - Hebrews 5:8-9
Can not mature without surrender - Hebrews 12:5-11
Many harships come so we enter heaven - Acts 14:22

So how do we go about taking up our cross?

  1. Absolutely commited to the concept - John 12:23-25
  2. Be committed to prayer about surrender - "I surrender" and "Help my lack of suddender"
  3. Be committed to a relationship with another disciple - Share convictions and be open
  4. Be committed to stretching your comfort zone - Do things you can not do without his help
  5. Realize that surrender brings about absolute freedom - life through death will cease the puzzling paradox

 



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

 



2008-12-31 - Raising Awesome Kids - How to Nuture Confidence (part 1)
Only proper foundation is their relationship with God
Develops confidence without cockiness

Stress a relationship with God
Focus on character - Tell your children over and over again that heart and attitude matter to God

Applaud effort than ability
Two of three men were successful because of their efforts not their ability - Matthew 25

Enough openness
  • Because of failure, they can hide things from you or even themselves
  • Ask them if they anything on their mind
  • Work through things until they are confident
  • Share some of our worse blunders - draws them closer and assures them that they are not alone
Encourage achievement
Search out your kids strengths - everyone has at least some
It is your job to help children discover and succeed in those things



2009-01-05 - Raising Awesome Kids - Discipling Times
These are times set to spend alone time with your child to talk with them, teach them the Bible, and pray with them
Can begin as soon as your child can communicate fairly well

Never let discipling times become boring and burdensome duty
Try to go somewhere out of the house if possible
Try to have set hours

Select a topic and verse to share
Realize that there may be a different topic that need to be discuss depending on the situation
Compare notes with your spouse

Read verses together > Talk about them > Take action > Share with the rest of the family

These are incredible times to draw your children closer to God and you

2009-01-21 - Jesus with People - Going Deeper

We want to be know but we keep a safe distance
Jesus has X-ray vision to our hear and see right our heart

John 4:39 - Samaritan women:

  • She was minding her own business
  • Ran into Jesus and was never the same
  • Will you give me a drink he asked - the fact that he (a Jew) spoke to her told her (a Samaritan) that there was some very different about Jesus
  • Whoever drinks from living water will never thirst again - John 4:13-14
  • He confronted her sin and help her see the emptiness of her life
  • He wanteed her to see who she was without God
  • Due to her discomfort, the woman tried to change to subject
  • Jesus skillfully drove out her fears with his love -  brought her back to the conversation of life
  • She shared with others

We too can be afraid of seeing who we really are
When we opened up and were forgiven,  we couldn't wait to tell other either

To set people free, we must be like Jesus:

  • Relate to them in deep ways
  • Not studying the Bible superficially - not helping them see who they are without God
  • Ask the difficult questions
  • Expose sin so they will see their deepest need for Jesus

Jesus' love and acceptance allowed the woman/us to be real and to change



2009-02-03 - Jesus with People - Give or Take?
World seem to be divided into givers and takers
Usually we feel as though we are the givers and everyone else is a taker
We can draw back and become cynical - before long we cling to possessions, our rights or our feelings
At that point we have become takers
We would never admit it - and many of us do not see it

Jesus meet a man that was a taker - Matthew
Matthew was no different than us - he probably had a family with mouths to feed

As he left the office and crept closer toward the crowd surrounding Jesus
He heard the words - You must deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me
Jesus then walked up to Matthew and said "Follow me"
His life changed forever - became a disciple of Jesus

How did Jesus know? do it? Jesus knew that he was sick and need to get well - Mark 2:17

We need to see people as they ready are and what they can become
Is there some in your life you can share with but haven't because you don't think they are open?

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

2009-05-30 - No one like him - Conflict and Controversy (part 3)
Jesus did not just hang around the sick but he had a message and plan for them to get well

Today is the opposite problem – association with all kinds of people; but without a message – bring the spirit without the truth

Sin must be dealt with at the heart level; not just outwardly like the Pharisees – could not be cured by rules or rituals

Living like Jesus (living a totally different life) will cause conflict and controversy

Living like Jesus entails:
  • New priorities – with people who have different ones
  • New loyalties – with people who have different ones
  • Mission is to reachout and share with people why they need his message
  • Associate with sinners but call them change
  • Love unconditionally; Live radically – declare this is the way to live
Some will welcome the message; the majority will not

2009-06-03 - No one like him - The Empty Tomb (part 2)
What it means for us:

1. Jesus can be trusted
a. Jesus taught with truth and compassion
b. Backup his teachings with his life
i. No man can come to except through me
ii. Do good to those who hate you
iii. Find your life by loosing it
c. Gives us a place to stand – embolden the disciples
2. Shows the kingdom has come

3. God fully intended to continue Jesus mission
a. Jesus was the foundation
b. Story did not end in Palestine
4. Those who follow him also share in the resurrection
a. Died with Christ, now we can live a new life with him – Romans 6:4,5,8


2009-06-14 - A Life of Impact - The Call

The Call

Mark 1:16-18

…To purpose

  • Do not promise them forgiveness, salvation, excitement of watch miracles
  • Called them to a life of purpose

… To Imitate Him

  • We need to become what our people need to become
  • He demonstrated a passion for purpose
  • As the men spent time with Him, His men would share his purpose

… To a mutual Commitment

  • Not I will do my best
  • He committed himself to their ultimate success
  • No one has unique struggles, although most of us think we do
  • A man who has been deeply convicted of the selfishness in his own life can more easily detect selfishness in someone else
  • If we do not give our people individual attention they will not feel valuable


2009-06-30 - A Life of Impact - Dream Shared

Dream Shared

Mark 4:26-32

  • He did not hesitate to express his vision to those around him.
  • Jesus confidence that the Father would keep his promises fostered faith in his followers

Choice words

Mark 4:33-34

  • Did not teach over the listeners’ heads nor did he overwhelm them with information
  • Those that were already committed to follow him – he explained everything
  • The way we speak has almost as much impact as what we say.

Actions speak louder

  • They assumed that he could not help and they wondered if he even cared
  • Natural reaction would to rebuke the disciples than help – not Jesus


2009-08-22 - Wild at Heart - Intro (part 4)
Women want to be fought for
She wants to be wanted
She wants to be pursued
Knight n shinning armor – core of the feminine heart and the life she knows she was made for
She wants an adventure to share – part of the adventure
She wants to be caught up into something greater than herself
Every woman wants to have her beauty revealed
“Do you see me?” “And are you captivated by what you see?”
World kills woman’s heart – be tough, efficient, and independent
No one is fighting for her (no adventure to swept up in) – doubts very much that she any beauty to unveil.

Man must know he is powerful and know what it takes
Woman must know she is beautiful and she is worth fighting for

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