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Searching for "years" in the Quiet Time Archive
Displaying results from "0" to "25". (93 found)

2008-04-09 - Falling in Love with God - Jesus: Anointed One
Jesus is the Christ, Messiah - meaning the "Anointed One"

The book of Acts - Christ was lifted high
  • 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
God's Christ was not confined to mere 33 years
By him all things were created - 1 Colossians 1:16-20

Sometimes we forgot - The Christ still lives today

Romans 8:28
  • Who can be against us? No one
  • Who will bring any charge against us? No one
  • Who is he that condemns? No One
Christ is "begging God for us" Hebrews 7:25 (Dios Habla Hoy Bible)

2008-04-13 - Falling in Love with God - Our Perception

We must wafe through our fog of experience and except the truth about God

We can not love a God who is created in our own image

God's timing doesn't always make sense to us:

  • Sarah - 25 years before blessing her with a son
  • Moses - was 80 years old before God
  • Joshua - 40 years of preaching outside of Jersalem
  • Jesus - 40 days of tempation in the dessert for about 1000 days of ministry

Some of us have bad days, maybe years. How do we return to God?

Our only hope is to believe in his promises more than we believe in our own perceptions



2008-06-22 - Purpose Driven Life - It Takes Time
There are no shortcuts to maturity - it takes us years to mature physically
While we worry about fast we, God is concern how strong

We arrive to spiritual maturity when have gained the fullness of Christ - Ephesians 4:13

Why does it take so long to learn?

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


2008-06-23 - Purpose Driven Life - Dont Get In A Hurry
Believe God is working in your life - Expect gradual improvement

Keep a notebook or journal of lessons learned
  • 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
Be patient with God and your self

There are many examples where God goes through the process of maturing
It took over eighty years to mature Moses
Don't try to get out of anything prematurely - James 1:4

Don't get discouraged

Things God plans don't always happen right away, just be patient - Habakkuk 2:3
A delay is not denial from God

2008-08-28 - Teach Us To Pray - Strength and Shield
The closest solar system is 3.5 light years away or 21 trillion miles
Some galaxies have 10 trillion stars
Countless are the stars but has no trouble
Our visible universe is 15 trillion by 6 trillion miles across

We need to learn to trust God's ability to meet our daily needs:
  • He was washed the feet of his betrayer
  • His disciples did not suspect Judas because of Jesus' perfect love for him
  • He healed the leper with a word
  • Fell asleep during a ragging storm from serving the people
  • Went out of his way to encourage the disciples that would in a few hours later betray him
  • Despite Peter's denial, Jesus left him the keys to the kingdom
  • He promised heaven the thief that moments earlier was abusing him


2008-10-25 - Man of Prayer - Praying for Provision (part 2)

God provided manha day after day for 40 years to the Israelites
They could not take more than a day's portion - otherwise it would rot
Manha means "it is what it is"

It was to teach them that man does not live on bread alone but every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord - Deuteronomy 8:2-3

It is NOT inapproprate to ask God to provide for our needs
He is YHWH - jireh - the Lord will provide

God delights in our dependence on Him as the source of our provision
We often do not have because we have not asked - James 4:2

 



2008-11-24 - Raising Awesome Kids - Training and Teaching
Fathers, bring up your children up in the training and instruction of the Lord - Ephesians 6:4
We, as fathers, teach and train non-stop

Do not underestimate the importance of teaching
The worst mistake you can make is to do nothing

Children love to learn
Why else would God let us keep them for almost 20 years, but to train them

2008-12-21 - Raising Awesome Kids - Power of Discipline (part 3)

What does the Bible say about spanking?

He who spares the rod hates his son - Proverbs 13:24
The rod of discipline will drive folly far away - Proverbs 22:15
If you punish with the rod, they will not die - Proverbs 23:13-14

Message is clear - Spanking is vaild, employed with wisdom and love

  1. Spanking should be an event
  2. Explain beforehand the reason for the spanking
  3. Cool off before spanking a child - must be complete self-control and not retaliatory
  4. Use a designate paddle - do not hand spank - too personal
  5. Spanking must result in change, contrite heart
  6. Bring things to resolution
  7. Do not spank for every offence - children in elementary years, spanking is less appropriate
  8. Spank on the safe backside or thigh
  9. Start as soon as the child begins to understand the word no; about 14 months


2009-01-09 - Raising Awesome Kids - Childrens Quiet Times
Having their own quiet times is the best way for them to know God and enjoy him personally - develops their own faith

Younger years (preschool and early elementary) - sit down with them a couple of mornings a week

Later elementary - they can begin to have them on their own - 10 minutes a session
Create a structure for them
Write down what they learn
ACTS like prayers
 
Older - direct them toward Proverbs, Psalms, and the Gospels - always keep up with how it is going

Pushing them too quickly = overwhelmed kids
Not challenging them enough = leave a vacuum for them to be filled by the world

Pray for wisdom, get wise counsel, and trust God will guide you

2009-02-21 - Jesus with People - Devil in Disguise

John 13:27-31

Jesus knew all men - John 2:24-25
He knew their thoughts - Matthew 12:25
He knew Judas would betry him to death - John 13:11

Have I not chosen you, the twelve? Yet one of you is a devil! - John 6:70

Jesus not only tolerated Judas, he lavished love on him
So perfectly that the other 11 did not even suspect Judas after 3 years



2009-03-05 - Promises of God - Forgiving Ourselves

When we accept God's forgiveness, we are compelled to forgive others including ourselves
Not forgiving ourselves is one of the most arrogant acts we can perform

Some people spend years trying to figure out how to forgive themselves
Until God forgives us, it is fruitless exercise 
We are not God - once God forgives, forgiving ourselves is a natural step

God has promised to forgive - let us experience forgiveness, rejoice in his forgiveness and express his forgiveness in all our relationships

 



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


2009-03-24 - Promises of God - Remember Gods Heros
Scriptures have many examples of those who were tested, humbled, exiled or disciplined by God:
  • Abraham's desert wanderings
  • Moses' shameful flight to Midian
  • Jacob's marital woes
  • Hannah's years of barrenness
  • Ruth's widowness and loneliness
  • David's years as a fugitive
May have felt that life pasted them by and God's blessing were seemingly withheld

There was far greater blessing in store for them in God's own time

2009-05-12 - No one like him - Joy
Most of the first 1,000 years’ pictures were of Jesus not smiling – common view

Jesus never felt bitterness, negative thinking, or despair

[Cheer-up] I have overcome the world – John 16:33

We can have complete joy – implementing the teaching of Jesus drew near to God (Joy) – John 16:21-24

Joy in enduring the cross – Hebrews 12:2

2009-05-31 - No one like him - Even Death on the Cross
All during Jesus life, his brutal death was on his mind; he struggled and submitted to it (John 12:27)

At Gethsemane, did not try to do it alone but asked for help from his friends (Mark 14:32-34); Peter and Judas did not ask for help

One of the most important words in the Bible, Jesus – not as I will, but as you will (Mark 14:35-36)

The image of the cross was so gruesome that it took 500 years to appear in art

2009-07-05 - A Life of Impact - Patience and Challenger

Mark 6:1-6

Patience

  • Son of God spent about ten to fifteen years doing manual labor.
  • Flowers bloom at different times; we must wait for our day to bloom
  • We must “Carpe diem” - seize the day - When that day comes

Challenger

  • “They took offence at him.”
  • Jesus was disappointed at their response and he told them so to their faces.
  • He didn’t hesitate to speak out.
  • Late to bible study – would you be late to pick up a million dollars?


2009-08-16 - A Life of Impact - Powerful Self-Control

A Powerful Presence

Mark 14:43-52

  • Fearsome spectacle - all the disciples fled
  • John 18:4-6 – He was forceful and in control of his decision

Self-Control

Mark 14:53-65

  • Remember, for these men to act this way must have seemed completely out of character.
  • What is your standard of self-control? – They lost control of their anger (built up over several month and years)


2009-09-12 - Wild at Heart - False self (part 3)
Waling away from the false, we will feel vulnerable and exposed
Tempted to turn to our comforters for relief
Stop looking for women to validate you

Passive men tiptoe around their wife for years, never wanting to rock the boat
Violent men release anger on her

Some dating men make her the sun of their universe but man needs a bigger obit than that
He needs something to invite her into
Many men do not offer her strength, but do drink from her beauty and are unable to commit

2009-09-20 - Wild at Heart - The Enemy (part 1)
Any castles? Any great battles? Are there any great dragons? A man needs a battle to fight
Early death of a man’s warriors keeps the boy in him from growing up
If we can reawaken that fierce quality in a man – higher purpose, release the warrior within, then the boy can grow up
and become truly masculine
Every man is a warrior inside but the choice to fight is his own
A man must have a battle to fight, a great mission to his life that involves and yet transcends even home and family.
He must have a cause to which he is devoted even unto death – in the fabric of our being
That is why God created you.
Your whole life is in preparation for
The lie from the enemy is that your role is insignificant
No other man can replace you
You are the hero in your own story - the main man

A warrior has a vision
Root of all our woes and false self was this: We are seeking to save our life and we lost it
“Who ever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it” – Mark 8:35
For years all my daily energy was spent trying to beat the trails in my life and arrange for a little pleasure.
Mercenary fights for pay, for his own benefit, his life is devoted to himself

2009-10-13 - Wild at Heart - A Beauty to Rescue
Evil power who holds her captive
Only a champion may win her
Every little girl knows the fable without ever being told
Little boys rehearse their parts
Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet and so on
Strong man coming to rescue a beautiful women is universal and human nature

Why is it ten years later I wondered if I even wanted to be married to her anymore?
Why do most us get lost somewhere between “once upon a time” and “happily ever after”?

Our culture has grown cynical about the fable
We have not been poisoned by fairy tales

Many guys think that the biggest battle was asking her out
She is the special target of the Evil One
He turns most vicious malice against her
If he can destroy her or keep her captive, he can ruin the story

2009-11-25 - Master Plan - Association (part 1)
He stayed with them
  • Jesus made it a practice to be with them
    • No formal schooling
    • No periodic membership classes
    • No seminaries
    • No outlined course of study
    • No religious rituals or formulas of knowledge
  • Knowledge was gained by association before it was understood by explanation
  • “Come follow me” [no other explanation recorded] and learn how I (Jesus) am living
  • One living sermon is worth a hundred explanations
  • Ministry time lengthened in the second and third years.
  • He gave increasingly more time to the chosen disciples, not less.
  • Frequently He would take them with Him in a mountainous country where he was unknown.
    • Trip to Tyre and Sidon – Mark 7:24
    • Borders of Decapolis – Mark 7:31
    • Parts of Dalmanutha to SE of Galilee - Mark 8:10
    • Villages of Caesarea Philipi to the NW – Mark 8:27


2009-11-27 - Master Plan - Foundation of Follow-up
  • For three years, Jesus had been training them by being with them
  • Follow-up was not just confined with His disciples
    • Zaccheus on the street of Jericho - Luke 19:7
    • Women at the well - John 4:39-42
  • Some attention was given to others – but not compared to the attention given to the twelve
  • Faithful women – Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and many others - Luke 8:1-3
    • He did not refuse their kindness
    • Jesus was well aware of the sex barrier
    • He did not try to incorporate these ladies in the select company
  • Primary task was to develop some men who in turn could give personal attention to others


2009-11-29 - Master Plan - Church is the continuing fellowship (part 2)
  • Consequences for not following up
    • The other choice is for the convert to find solutions to innumerable problems in on their own
    • Haphazard follow-up could mean disaster for their faith
    • Fall ways - come about more often be not getting with them enough
    • There is not substitute for getting with people
  • No such thing as assembly line discipleship
  • You must be a personal guardian to those you lead.
  • It is your job to:
    • Stay with them as much as possible
    • Study the Bible and pray together
    • Answer their questions
    • Clarify the truth
    • Seeking together to help others
  • If it took three years to develop His disciples by getting with them, how much more should we get together with those that have not physically have seen Jesus? How much longer will it take (not seeing them all the time)?


2009-12-13 - Master Plan - Supervision (part 2)
  • On the job training – let followers have experience or make some observations of their own
  • Gave them greater awareness of their deficiencies
  • Kept disciples going toward the goal He had set before them.
  • He did not expect more from His disciples than they could do
  • He did expect their best
  • We never assume the work is done. Ask lots of question / probe.
  • There are many things that can happen to frustrate, discouraged or defeated.
  • The goal is world conquest.
    • Never dare to let a lesser concern capture us.
    • No further training or inspiration needed.
    • Focus can easily be on us.
  • The ability of a worker is not developed if there is no supervision
  • Our little efforts can be a excuse for not doing more.
  • We can lose the advantage years of hard work and sacrifice.
  • Disciples must be brought to maturity
  • We have not been called to hold the fort but storm the heights.


2010-01-01 - First the Kingdom - Guarding Against Heart Disease
Blessed are the pure in hear, for they will see God - Matthew 5:8
What does it mean to keep our hearts pure?
To have undivided devotion?

Set our hearts are things above - Colossians 3:1
Must learn to battle Satan's attacks on our heart

Recent years - we have aware about physical heart conditions
We should lower our bad cholesterol and exercise more

Since we desire a healthy heart for a longer life we: diet and exercise
The heart is the "want to" muscle

When we really want something, we go after it with all of our heart

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