Quiet Times Search

How can we tell if our oldrer chidlren are disrepectful?

• Slamming doors
• Rolling eyes
• Muttering
• List is endless

Our children honoring us is to show honor to God and his plan
As our children come to respect our authority, they learn to respect God himself

Claim your authority! Expect to respected!
If you not expect it, you will not get it

Children really want deep down inside - the confidence from knowing their limits
They want to know how far they can go

We must love the truth, accept the truth, live by the truth, and tell the truth
Truth will set you free - John 8:32

Will perish if we refuse to love the truth and be saved - 2 Thessalonians 2:10

If children learn to accept the truth as children - they will be able to face their sins, repent of them, and be saved when they are older

Satan is a liar and the father of lies - John 8:44

Discipline your son and he will give you give - Proverbs 29:17

From the very beginning children should learn to obey
Should be a habit and a pattern = happy family

Our will and word will be supreme
We should not expect to have to tell them again

Repeating ourselves and louder each time is not true obedience - find ourselves frustrated, weary, and resentful

Some kids act as if we do not exist:

• Tell them to do something - no action
• Repeat action - same results
• Verbal agreement - nothing happens

This is also disobedience

There should be no repetition of commands and expect action
If this is not your expectation and pattern, your kids will learn to be lazy and slow to obey

If you allow this to go unchecked, it will ultimately destroy a child's character and wear you out as well

• 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

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

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

Some people's needs could be quickly dealt with: "Heal my blindness" or "Let me just touch your garment"

But not Nicodemus, Jesus knew it would be a long night - John 3:1-3

Nicodemus, was a man looking for something:

• Groun up learning about God
• Surrounded by a system caught up in traditions
• Knew the Bible stories
• Very active in the Jewish faith
• Jesus capured his attention by his teachings and his works
• Felt that there was something missing

Could this be right? Could Jesus be the Messiah?

Jesus was straight to the point: I tell you the truth, you must be born again - John 3:3
He needed a wake up call - Same lesson we need today - we need a new birth
He was part a system of legalism  (following rules with seeking the heart of God)
People trying to earn what God desired to just give them

Nicodemus knew he could get time with Jesus and he did
He receieved the answer and Jesus taught him the depth of God's love

Who was intrumental in answering your questions and healping you see the truth?
What sacrifices do you see that they made for you?
Are you doing the same for others?

In his torment, he sees the need of his mother and he entrusts her to John's care - John 19:25-27

Jesus let John know that he trust him and needs him to take care of his mother
God in the flesh yet her express his need to John's help

John was transformed from "son of thunder" to "Apostle of Love"
John later teaches us that if we say we love God but no our brother that we are a liar - 1 John 4:19-20

The problem with not feeling close, real, or trust is our issue

How close, real, and trusting are your relationships?

What do your relationships with people tell you about your relationship with God?

Luke 18:1-8 - Jesus tells of a parable about praying not giving up; concluding, 'will he find faith on the earth?'

After Jesus was crucified and resurrected he could have gone home to the Father but chose to remain with his friends again
Enter the scene on the road to Emmaus

He wanted to know their hearts. Where was their faith? - They still did not get it

He did not walk away in disgust and give up on them
He waited to see if their faith would revive

• Strengthen the weak
• Take the strong higher
• Humble the proud
• Exalt the humble
• Take a manger scene and make it the gateway of eternal salvation
• Take a gruesome cross and make it a beacon pointing to heaven
• Make the first last and last first
• Make the rich poor
• Make the intelligent frustrated
  

1. Justify your sin and say it's not all that bad
2. Blame God for not keeping Satan at an appropriate distance
3. Decide to leave God because this repenting thing is not working out
4. Decide to be not to be open about your sin
5. Tell yourself how bad of person you are
6. Could trust God and his promises

Prophets – “This is what the Lord says…”
Jesus – “I tell you the truth…”

Prophets - “Come to the Lord.”
Jesus – “Come to me” (Matthew 11:28-30)

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)

Can not live the message alone and not expected it – Matthew 7:7-8
Relationship with the Father meets all our needs

Wide road – not demanding; Narrow road – challenging to stay on but not with God’s help
Watch out for those who tell you what you want to here – check their fruit

Storyteller

Mark 4:1-12

• We can teach and communicate our ideas more effectively by using illustration
• Trinity – like water (solid, liquid, gas)
• Hidden meaning is intended to pique the attention of the curiosity of the listener

Chastening

Mark 4:13

• Sometimes there are stupid questions
• Some are too hard of people but most are too soft and unwilling to hurt people’s feelings

The Sending

Mark 6:7-13

• He gave them very specific instructions
• He taught them how much they needed encouragement, accountability, and support.
• It is the responsibility of the sender to ensure that those sent on a mission be adequately prepared for it.
• An unprepared person who is sent can gather discouragement more than victories.

Forcefulness

• Forceful leader gives specific direction and then fully expects his followers to carry them out.
• Jesus did not apologize for strong leadership; he promoted it
• Strong leadership is offensive to many these days
• People resist because of pride or because they simply do not want other to tell them what to do.

• We have an obligation to bear with others
• We should seek to please our neighbor rather than ourselves - Romans 15:2-3
• Pleasing = not satisfying a whim but helping other do well spiritually

• meta = after, change, implies there was a before
• noia = denotes the faculty of physical and intellectual perception, then also the power to arrive at moral judgments

1. Try this
2. You are damaged goods
3. Doing it again will not make you more unclean
4. They don’t/won’t understand
5. Never tell them about this

1. How can you make the same journey as David – from repulsive to repentant?
2. How does repentance differ between the lost turning to God and the saved re-turning to Him? How is it the same?
3. How do qualify for God’s love and grace (see page 201)?
4. If you have not yet repented, why are you without excuse before God?
5. What will specifically change in your life when you proclaim, “Jesus is Lord!”?
6. If you have repented, have you also been forgiven of your sins – if not, what are you waiting for (see Acts 22:16)?
7. What can make post-baptismal repentance more difficult than your initial repentance?
8. What role does shame play in obstructing your repentance?
9. What is fellowship in the light vs. fellowship in the darkness? Which have you most often experienced in your church?
10. Finally, to the “confused”: take time to consider and answer the questions on pages 207 and 208. How can you thwart Satan’s attempts to undermine your path to true repentance?
11. Who can you encourage today with the good news of your repentance?
12. Who can you reach for Jesus by “telling how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you” (Mark 5: 19)?

• To seek the person out
• Speak frankly
• Make every effort to build unity - Ephesians 4:3
  

• Everything must be re-examined
• Everything must be reconsidered
• Every desire, dream, use of money and time
• Now everything must have a kingdom-first focus

1. When you don't have daily times with God in the Bible and prayer
2. Responsibilities to the church are a burden
3. Not happy or consistent in giving
4. Personal comfort, desires direct life's decisions
5. Can't find the time to share your faith
6. Gain greater feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction serving another "kingdom"
7. You have greater regard and protection of your schedule
8. Discipleship times, family devotionals not deep or consistent
9. Gaining one more than is greater than gaining one more soul
10. Dreams center more in this world than in the kingdom

• We feel uncomfortable which people getting involved with our lives at all
• We tell people what we think they should do and expect them to do it

• We have access to the Father
• We a great high priest
• We have full assurance
• We have a clean conscience
• We have hope
• We have a faithful God

• Show the life of Christ in his life
• Tell others the good news
• Mature those who were disciples

• Delivered from prison
• Delivered from his life and struggles
• Delivered from his loneliness and anxiety

• pure - not mixed with anything else - in thought, word or deed?
• peace-loving - never to be soft on sin and not follow ways of violence
• considerate - do we really put others first?
• submissive - "obedient, compliant", open to persuasion
• full of mercy and good - God is looking for changes and results
• impartial - not taking the side of the unjust
• sincere - "unhypocritical"

• Drain life and beauty away from the church
• Bury Christians in duty
• Nobody will want to take a closer look

How are we to bet our arranging a good life in the face of death?

Even after the fall, the wickedness of the human heart seems out of control
People lived 700, 800, 900 year - can you imagine the arranging of lives that could be done during that time?

So God set our years shorter - Genesis 6:3
Death is never natural - it wasn't meant to be

Those left behind experience such pain
Each death can begin to understood only within the larger story God is telling

• Landlord
• Boss at work
• Teacher

Matthew 9:27-34

• When ever you do something right
  • Some is telling you you are doing it wrong
  • You need to feel good about what you are doing
    • The religous did the taring down
    • They were afraid of losing their members

Do you believe that you will receive everything that you ask for in prayer?
Do you doubt more than you believe?

5 Faith Killers:

1. Hesitation - when accidents happen
2. Doubting syndrome - not expecting anything to happen
3. Pessimistic attitude - everything will go bad (from childhood)
4. Ingraditude - not being grateful
5. Fear - can be overcome by love

Spring reminds us that life can return to the dead
The return of spring brings such a relief and joy and anticipation
Might spring and summer may be nature way of expressing Jesus was trying to tell us?
Nature God's word to us also - Romans 1:20

Our ideas of heaven are sometimes not very desirable
Many Christians have some idea that heaven is an never-ending church service
And then our hearts sink
Forever and ever? That is it?

We sigh and feel guilty that is we are not more "spritual"
We then turn to the present to find what life we can
We can only hope for what we desire

Scripture tells us that God has set eternity in our hearts - Ecclesiastes 3:11
Where is out hearts? In our desires.

God create male and female in his own image - Genesis 1:27
Gender is how we bear the image of God

God does not have a body so it must be at the level of the soul

Men bear the image of God in their dangerous, inviting strength
Women bear the image of God tender and beautiful
God is the source of all masculine power and feminine allure

It is the nature of love to be generous
Married couples long to have children - want others to share in their happiness
There is no joy like a reunion - there is no sorrow like the sorrow of separation

Jesus tells us to not to fear death
Jesus makes a statement at Lazarus' funeral - if we a are his, we will never die - John 11:26
His tears for Martha and Mary and all who suffer loss and our inablility to see beyond it

God is not the God of dead but of the living - Luke 20:38

Do not lose heart, fix our eyes on what is unseen - 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

We are losing heart, all of us, daily

Someone was trying to shutdown Paul during his ministry - 2 Corinthians 11:23-27
He was looking at what he could not see

Life is an illustion - there is a way of looking at life and be able to live from the heart no matter what
How? By seeing with the eyes of the heart - Ephesians 1:18

Jesus spoke in parables to our hearts:

• A sower went out to sow some seed
• A man fell into the hands of robbers
• Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one
• There were ten virgins with ten lamps

Jesus spoke in a way that will get past all intellectual defenses
Civil War: Fought between 1861 to 1865 vs stories of the lives lost during that time

When you tell a story, you speak to the heart

Myth - sometimes thought of as not factual true
But a myth is a story which confront us with something transcendent and eternal; a way of seeing and knowing
A kind of story that wakes you up and you suddenly say - this is what my life is really about

Myth tell us three truths, this first one is:

1. Things are not what they seem

Examples of movies that show us this include: Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, the Matrix

Jacob saw earth in a whole new way in his dream - Genesis 28:12
He awakes more awake then ever, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it" - Genesis 28:16

Two followers of Christ did not even recongized Jesus as he talked with him after his resurrection - Luke 24:17-21
They were slow in heart to believe

Myth tell us three truths, the second is:

2. There is a great struggle or quest or battle that is well under way

Christianity isn't about:

• Going to Sunday school
• Being nice
• Holding car washs
• Sending clothes to Mexico

As good as those things might be, this is a world at war
We live in a far more dangerous and dramatic story than we ever imagine

Reason we love these is because it is telling us that this is our most desperate hour

• The Chronciles of Narnia
• Star Wars
• The Matrix
• The Lord of the Rings

Without this buring in our hearts, we lose the meaning of our days

Notice that those who have tried to wake up to this reality were ususally killed

• The phophets
• Jesus
• Stephen
• Paul
• Most of the disciples in the Bible

Has it occured to you that someone is trying to shut them up?

Myth tell us three truths, this third one is:

3. In this desparate hour, we have a crucial role to play

Neo sees himself as Thomas Anderson, but he was the one
Dorthy see herself as just a farm girl from Kansas but Joan of Arc was also on the farm but saw much more

People in the scriptures that saw this:

• Little boy slays the gaint
• Loudmouthed fisherman who can not keep a job to lead the church
• Sinful woman with a golden heart became a example of humility to the Pharisees

This eternal truth is the most difficult for us to believe
Our days are extraordinary but most don't see it this way
It is the 'veil of familarity' - you are not what you think you are

There is a glory to your life that your enemy fears

The one who knows what you could be, fears it
The whole world lies under the power of the evil one - 1 John 5:19

Things happen to you and we question why
There is a bigger story going on

If believe we have a crucial role to play and come to know it is true, everything would change

• Peter was one of Jesus' best friends

• Went to see the Transfiguration (with James and John)
• He came along to see Christ raise Jarorus' daughter from the dead
• Jesus went to Peter in the garden of Gethsemane for strength (but failed)

• Guilt would have made it had to pray
• Made it more difficult to tell others about Jesus

Jesus focused on a search for the Lost and so they could be Found

The Lost Coin - vital to the woman's survival
The Lost Sheep - represented a significant part of his livelihood
The Lost Son - wayward son who mattered greatly to his father

Each one - Something of great value was missing, something that really mattered

It also make Jesus so upset the religious leaders were discussing who matters to God who does not

When we realize how much God cares about people, we helps us to care for them too

It is worth the effort - what is missing was important enough to warrant an all-out search

Retrievals results in rejoicing

The woman found the coin and threw a party
The shepherd retrieved the sheep and threw a party
The son came home and the father threw the biggest party of all

In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents - Luke 15:10

• In context, Paul was specifically warning against those who deny the resurrection of Jesus
• In other situations, we need to make sure we are the one whose influence is prevailing
• Should be on the offense rather than defense
• Take captive of every thought and make it obedient to Christ - 2 Corinthians 10:4-5