Quiet Times Search

• Solitary place - no bothered for a curtain amount of time
  
• Can walk and pray
• Can pray out loud

MLK - as bad as slavery was - there a slavery that last for eternity

2 Corinthians 5:21 - Jesus might become sin for us

As existence of righteousness does not ensure we receive it

Satan tries everything to help us miss this opportunity

Jews after saw their failures in the past - created many regulations so they would not sin

• Not the content of their character
• Basis of conformity to rules
• Majored in the minors and minored in the majors

Religion that is performance based is doomed

• what must we do to please God
• Condemn others outwardly
• Condemn ourselves inwardly
• Everything becomes a matter of right and wrong
• Hearts focused if we have done enough and have done it right

• Fear - only for a while
• Christian fellowship - until other's disappointments and failures
• Ambition - until our disappointments and failures

• Days of excitement are for young Christians
• Mature means being dead and lifeless
• See other older Christians not doing well and assume that is our fate

• Is there a promise to claim? What are the conditions?
  
• Is there a command to obey? Is there something God expects me to do?
• Is there sin to avoid? Am I guilty of this?
• Is there a teaching that need to believe?
• Is there an example to follow or avoid? Learn from some examples, record your responses to these examples
• Is there a difficulty to explore? Don't let difficulties throw us, let inspire to study further
• Is there something in the passage I need to pray about?

• We are longer slave but sons ans daughters
• We can approach him with confidence because of Jesus

• With Jesus as the high priest,  we can confidence to enter the into the throne room of God
• Can gain a heavenly perspective
• Praise God that his resources there are limitless

• Being holy, set apart, above us
• Prayer is not just asking for something but for honoring Him

• Kingdom has not come to every nation and place nor every person
• Pray for God to open doors, speaking boldly, with wisdom
• Pray for those who server and in leading roles

• God wants us to pray about surrendering to his will
• Challenges is our life must not be avoided but have a surrendered life
• Read some command and ask yourself if you are following them
• Jesus never asked for strength to go to the cross but only that he might surrender
• Besides pride and rebellion, unbelief keeps us from doing God's will

• Bring specific needs to God
• Must depend on God daily for our spiritual and physical needs
• Pray thorough your todo list and details
• Jesus said we could do nothing apart from God - John 15:5

• Lack of confession results in a hardened heart
• We will not mature if do not do this soul searching
• Be specific; ask others for forgiveness if needed
• Extend forgiveness; can not be forgiven by God otherwise

• What are your weaknesses? Have you faced them?
• Draw on God's power before Satan strikes

• Return again to praising and glorifying God
• All power rests in his hand

We can not be close to God in prayer if we deal only in generalities
God indeed wants to answer our prayers - how will we know what God is doing if we pray in generalities?

Abraham - Genesis 18 - prayed to save the city if there were 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, even 10 righteous people

Our lack of specific praying reveals a distance in our relationship with God

• More specific in your gratitude - become more grateful
• More specific in confession - understand the sin you are commiting
• More specific in your requests for friends and family - see how God will work

The other emotional response that undermines our love for God

Perfect love drives our fear - 1 John 4:18
Fear greatly affects our ability to love; renders lifeless our love for God

Fear one of the most powerful and universal tools Satan uses for:

• Keep man from the knowledge of God
• Experience of God's power
• Experience grace in our lives
• Taking our eyes off of God and onto our circumstances and insecurities

There is healthy fear (like fearing God) but unhealthy fear is one that controls us and causes us to turn away from God's direction
Fear is rarely rational

• Why are you so afraid - Matthew 8:26
• Don't be afraid - Matthew 14:27
• Don't be afraid - Matthew 17:7
• Don't be afraid - Matthew 28:10
• Don't be afraid - Mark 5:36
• Don't be afraid - Luke 5:10
• Don't be afraid - Luke 8:50
• Don't be afraid - Luke 12:7
• Don't be afraid - Luke 12:32
• Don't be afraid - John 6:19-20
• Don't be afraid - John 12:15
• Don't be afraid - John 14:27

God understands the destructive nature of fear
He simply commands us to deal with our fears through our relationship with him

• "We are not compatible anymore"
• "We have both changed"
• Think about an old boyfriend or girlfriend

• Because of Jesus we can be one with Him
• He has not changed
• He is thinking of me, I am I thinking of him?

• The good news that Jesus is the Christ - Acts 5:42
  
• Proclaimed the Christ there - Acts 8:5
• Jesus is the Christ - Acts 9:22
• "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ" - Acts 17:3
• Testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ - Acts 18:1-5

• Who can be against us? No one
• Who will bring any charge against us? No one
• Who is he that condemns? No One

1. Marked by close acquaintance
2. Relating to one's deepest nature
3. Innermost
4. Marked by informality
5. Very personal

• 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
  

• Father spoke to Jesus - "who he was well pleased" with
  
• Father gave him the Holy Spirit in form of a dove
• Father gave the authority of both Heaven and Earth
• Jesus wrote the names in the book of life
• Jesus begging God on our behalf
• Jesus directs the spreading of the message
• Jesus saluted the martyr Stephen
• Jesus sent light to blind Saul

Falling in love with God - is attainable

We will find what we seek:

• If we seek relief in salvation, this is what we will find
• If we seek acceptance and a community, this is what we will find
• If we seek wisdom and insight, this is what we will find
• If we seek effective ministry, this is what we will find
• If we seek God more and more deeply, this is what we will find

What are you seeking?

 Lord searches every heart; if you seek him, he will be found by you - 1 Chronicles 28:9-10

How many times have we tried to do something with seeking him first?

None of us can be "strong" without seeking
Talent, experience, and insight are cheap gifts and can never take the place of a heart that seeks after God

There are many decisions that you need make about your relationship with God:

• How much time should go by without special prayer time?
• What am I trying to accomplish in my Bible study?
• What do I need to allow the message of God really soak into our heart?
• Where can I go and be really free to wrestle emotionally with the will of God?

When does seeking really start?

Romans 3:11 - there is no one that seeks God
John 6:44 - No one can come to me unless the Father draws him

Studying the Bible is simply allowing ourselves to be sought by God

If it was our own effort - baptism may seem like the end of the quest

We need to active learners

When we were young, we understood obligation  - "I gotta go to school"
After high school, we may go to college and narrow our focus of learning and become passive learners

• We listen to the voice of our experience as the final authority
• We learn mostly from our mistakes
• We learn when we are forced to out of control - crisis, illness, death

Treasures are for those who will continue to seek forever; not for those who want tips and tricks for being "effective"

If there were ever a moment to be a passive learner, it would be when you walk with Jesus

Luke 11:1-13 - where would we be if the disciples had not asked about praying to the Father? - not know how to address the Father

We need to take responsibilty to get deep and ask questions

• Deny self daily
• Repentance - when we don't respond to God's grace - God will find a way to help us to repent
  
  • Through kindness - Romans 2:4
  • Through discipline - Hebrews 12:5-11
• Persevering though suffering - James 1:2-4

• 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

• How much have we accumulated?
• Why have we accumulated it?
• How much are we using?
• How are we using it?
• How attached are we to it?

God planned:

• Where you would be born
• When you would be born (waiting patiently for Juniper)
• How long you will live
• Who your parents would need to be for you to come the way you came

God was thinking of you even before he made the world, that is why he created the world

God's purpose even took in account sin and human error.

If there was no god, we would all be accidents

The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us - Romans 12:3

3. When we obey him wholeheartedly
   • Noah was given detailed instructions on: size, shape, number of animals, and materials
     
   • Completely, wholeheartedly, without delay, without explanation, joyfully, with enthusiasm
   • Wholeheartedly = completely and exactly
     
   • Partial obedience is disobedience
4. When we praise and thank him continually
   • Noah built an altar to the Lord - Genesis 18:20
   • We are to offer a sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving - Hebrew 13:15; Psalms 116:17
5. When we use our abilities
   • God enjoys every detail, not just "spiritual" activities - Psalms 37:23
   • Reject yourself, you reject God's wisdom in creating you
   • There are no nonspiritual abilities just misused ones
   • Children do not have to anything special to make their parents happy

There is always a way out
He will not permit any temptation that you could not overcome - 1 Corinthians 10:13

Refocus attention on something else

By resisting, you actually reinforce it
Don't fight the though, change the channel
Power of suggestion - the more you think about something, the stronger it takes hold of you
Temptation begins by capturing your attention - Satan can't get your attention when you are focused on something else

Reveal your struggle to a gold friend or support group

If you fall, a friend can help you up - Eccelesiastes 4:9-10
Hiding your hurt intensifies it
Satan wants you to think that your temptation is unique - We all fight the same temptations - 1 Corinthians 10:13
The reason we hide our faults is pride - everything is under control

Resist the Devil

He will flee when you resist - James 4:7
Without Christ we are defenseless against the Devil
Satan can not make you do anything, he can only suggest
Use the Word of God as your weapon against Satan - Jesus simply answered Satan with scriptures
Don't ever try to argue with Satan - he better at it

Realize your vulnerabilities

The heart is deceitful above all things- Jeremiah 17:9

Don't carelessly place yourself in tempting situations, avoid them - Proverbs 14:16

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

3. 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

4. Habits take time to develop - Practice and devote yourself to growth - 1 Timothy 4:15
   

• Write down insights God teaches you
• Reason we must relearn lessons is forget them
• Keep a firm grip on what you have heard - so you don't drift - Hebrews 2:1
  

Passover - it meant freedom for the Jews (from Egypt)
Jesus choose Passover to bring freedom to all through his death

It was a new relationship with God and man
God loved mankind but man hurt God with his sin

Jesus: with my life and death, you have a new relationship, now remember this
It will be forgotten in our lives if we don't make plans to remember

In the midst of our activities and pressure of life, we forget:

• How much he went through for us
• That we can be forgiven and start over again and again
• Why we are doing things we are doing

He took bread and gave thanks for this very reason - Luke 22:19

Give thanks and examine yourself - 1 Corinthians 11:28
Don't forget that in Christ there is no condemnation - Romans 8:1

self-denial - decision to consistently lay down our lives - not a popular topic
No one can follow Jesus without it

Jesus' struggle in Gethsemane was fought and won in prayer - Matthew 26:36-46
Without self-denial there would be no cross and no salvation:

• Forgave his tormentors - Luke 23:34
• Ministered to a criminal - Luke 23:34
• Provided for his mother - John 19:27

Any limitation we put on self-denial will surely limit our usefulness to him