At the foot of the Cross

At the foot of the Cross

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Lesson 7 -Chapter 6: Forgotten God Take-Away


Forget About His Will for Your Life!

Creative thoughts come from The Creator. When the Spirit leads you to communicate His Will to someone, don’t be ashamed of your attempt. Pray for humility, guidance, and how you might honor God (and not yourself) as you express your faith to someone else. Pray for wisdom to approach someone who needs the Light.  We use to think we had to give the entire plan of salvation before we would even speak to someone. This is simply not true. Praising God and sharing faith is the “seed” we are to sow. We sow, perhaps someone else will water, but the Lord will always give the increase because His Word will not return to Him void. (Isaiah 55:11 )

Each person called by God in Biblical accounts was a BUSY person.  None were just idly thinking of what they should do….they were BUSY. God called Moses when he was tending sheep, the apostles when they were fishing, Abraham when he was overseeing his household. God changed the direction of history because busy people dropped what they were doing and followed His calling. Never think that being “too busy” will be an excuse to God for not dropping everything to follow where He leads.

COMMITMENT TO A LIFE OF WALKING BY THE SPIRIT

We don’t need to see the entire plan before we obey The Lord. Very few Biblical heroes were given a “life plan” before they walked in step with the Spirit. If we know the entire way, then we don’t check in with the map very often. God wants us to dependent on Him. He wants us to check in with Him often. He wants to be involved moment by moment directing our path and for us to be solely dependent on Him always. A “right now” walk with the Lord keeps us in tune with the Spirit. “One step at a time, dear Savior” is the exact relationship God wants us to hold on to. It keeps us humble just as a little child, wholly dependent upon our God and His power. This is the definition of Kingdom Living. God despises the opposite relationship: “your lips honor me, but your hearts are far from me”.

As we grow in the Spirit we will learn to have a continual spiritual conversation with our God, to pray without ceasing, to meditate on His Words. We will talk, question, think, and be enlightened by our intimate conversations through the Spirit. These are the conversations that help to transform us, change us, mold us, and which circumcise our hearts to become more sensitive to His Will. We are to always carry the death of our own fleshly desires as Christ bore His own cross. But as Americans we are not use to putting to death the desires of the flesh. We have been propagandized to make sure we have the very best that we can afford….and even that which we cannot afford….

A SPIRIT WALK IS SACRIFICIAL

A Spirit walk is a sacrificial walk and this has almost become alien to us with all our freedoms and funds. Luke 12:42-48 directly condemns the steward servant who hordes his resources. We must learn to think of others more highly than ourselves (Philippians 2:3) and curb our selfish mindsets of “me and mine.” A Spirit walk does not attempt to blend a little Jesus with a lot of worldly pursuits. It is a narrow road and few there be that even desire it.

SHORT AUDIO (Listen):  http://tinyurl.com/kbscb68  (BURNED UP!)

YOUR SPIRIT WALK IS UNIQUE

 A Spirit walk may require us to give up things that are not sinful to others, but are taking up too much of our time and consideration thus becoming sinful to us. A Spirit walk is personal. When we make plans and dream dreams and then go to God to ask Him to make them happen, we have missed the entire point. God is not a Disneyland Dad. His purpose is not to fulfill our every wish. Likewise, as we are prompted by “a spirit”, we should take time to mediate, reflect, and test the spirit by examining Scripture to be sure it is Holy.  God will open doors for you but He wants you to stay in close relationship with Him as you go through those doors. No one else can take our place in the Body of Christ. WE are uniquely needed to fulfill our role in the Church.

No one else will see the opportunities we see today, stand next to the person we are standing next to, or meet a new face in a new place. Francis Chan shared how he approached a stranger to say, “God loves you” and still with fear and trepidation. What he did not say was that each time we overcome the impulse NOT to approach others; we begin to form a habit that is more and more Christ-like. May we always keep our eyes and hearts open for  unique opportunities to sow seed for the Kingdom of God.

VIDEO (you probably have not seen this one!)   http://tinyurl.com/jwoggrq

YOUR SPIRIT WALK IS A LIFE-LONG PROCESS

We never really complete the walk with the Spirit. We never “arrive” until we see the “unveiled” face of God. Our Lord wants us in this relationship for the “long haul”. His plan to send His son and then His Spirit was to develop a relationship that is always growing and maturing. This is His design to share His glory to a broken world.  God’s work in us is accomplished by His own power. “Well done thou good and faithful servant” is a phrase that will only be spoken to those who are true servant/slaves of Jesus Christ as shown by their sacrificial life-styles and humble walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Lesson 6: Chaper 5 - TAKE-AWAY Forgotten God

TOO BUSY FOR A REAL RELATIONSHIP

Do Not Be Deceived; We Do Have Time for Kingdom Work Each Day

TOO BUSY for A REAL RELATIONSHIP: Have we ever said, “We are just tooooo busy” or “I don’t know how to spend time in meditation or service with my busy schedule?”

At this point in my life, as an educator and administrator, I can see all the things I have spent my time doing and most of it is just dust in the wind. I see all the projects I have managed, grants I have written, policies and guidelines I have invested time in and presented to my district, and equipment I have purchased—dust in the wind.

As a young person, I spent 9 years in piano lessons, 12 years in voice lessons, won countless contests, sang in 7 musicals and participated in multiple play productions. Won scholarships to both Abilene Christian and to UT Austin—dust in the wind.  I have owned a small cattle ranch, 8 different dogs, 6 cars, 2 trucks, one super tricked-out van, a scooter, and 2 tractors—dust in the wind.  I attended 9 colleges for 5 degrees and 6 certifications – dust in the wind. I have had 12 different jobs and 2 different careers –dust in the wind. These are dust in the wind because they did not turn my heart to a closer relationship with my God or to my calling in Christ Jesus.
Although I can praise God for being blessed to have taught many the Gospel in my home, from house to house,  from office to office, in Bible classes, and overseas, I realize now how much time I have wasted not being in step with the Spirit. Don’t wait until you are my age to make that realization!



SCRIPTURES:

2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

Matthew 3:10 The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire

Matthew 7:19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

1 Corinthians 3: 13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss;


WORK THAT REMAINS
The First Century Christians took the Gospel into the entire known world (Col 1:3-6, 23 )

Please humbly consider just these few examples of what previous generations did NOT have.

They did NOT have:

·        Grocery Stores (picked the grain, ground the grain, made the bread,






caught the chicken, plucked the chicken, sliced the chicken, cooked the chicken, caught the fish, gutted the fish………..)


·        Stoves, microwaves, slow cookers (cooked over open flame, could not walk away from food preparations for hours)








·        Dishwashers, Vacuum Cleaners, or Washing Machines (hours were spent cleaning clothes, houses, utensils)








·        Refrigerators (had to gather food almost every day from different food sources in the field or in the market, could not keep food overnight in most cases)








·        Cars (had to walked or ride a donkey everywhere, made about 2.5 miles an hour)








 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
·        Telephones, radios, television, Internet (communicated mouth to mouth which would seem to be a real disadvantage and slow process, yet with the power of God the message spread)

·        Electricity (collect the wax, make the wicks, dunk the candles, keep a flame or coals going at all times)

·        Shopping Malls (raised the sheep, sheered the sheep, carted the wool, spun the wool, weaved the material, cut the garment, sewed the garment for each member of the family)







·        Rights or Freedoms (they were restricted in when and where they could assemble, they were persecuted for spreading the Gospel, they lost homes, businesses, children, husbands, wives, as they proclaimed the free Gift of God to mankind.



They GLADLY MADE TIME to:

(1) Share the Gospel from house to house (What was the “sign” that these folks “believed”?)

Acts 2: 44-47  44 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; 45 and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. 46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

(2) Learn and Grow in “all things pertaining to life and godliness”

2 Peter 1:3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
 

(3) Witness and testify concerning the glory of God

1 John 4:14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

(4) Spread the good news where ever they went… moment by moment

1 Corinthians 9:16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.

1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

(5) Serve the brethren and their neighbors

Galatians 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

(6) Take seriously their “calling”

2 Corinthians 5:18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,

WE ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE

In this age and time where the Word of God is so readily available with tools like Hebrew and Greek lexicons, Bible dictionaries, concordances, reference books, atlases, sermons online, etc, the only way the Devil has of making these tools useless, is to convince us that we are tooooo busy to take advantage in them.  

The Devil has done a great job in creating “noise”, chaos, discontentment, and a rushing-about life-style. We are like dogs chasing our tails. We are never satisfied, but always seeking the next “new” thing.

If we are tooooo busy, we have placed into our lives things of little or no importance, especially when we look through the eyes of Christ. We are even diverting our children’s attention by involving them in every kind of activity except daily Kingdom activities. Unfortunately, we will reap what we sew.

Let us take our schedule this week and pray over it, asking the Spirit to prioritize it, making Kingdom work a daily event. If we are truly to be “known” by God then we need a daily communication and participation with Him.

Can you imagine your child not participating with your family or communicating with you except one time a week? Not relationship-building…not acceptable behavior. Our relationship to God must be built moment by moment, step by step, heart beat by heart beat or we may find ourselves in the position of those in Matthew 7:21.

BEWARE OF THE AMERICAN FILTER – A Message for the Church in the Western World

God gave us all, since the dawn of creation, 24 hours in a day. It is God’s time which He gives to us. Are we being deceived by Satan to “spend” time in pursuits that do not build strong relationships to our God? God has given us soooooooooooooooo much, we should be ashamed to give Him a pittance of our day or week. We cannot “pray without ceasing” if we are not reflecting on Him step by step. We are the temple of God at all times, not just 1 hour a week therefore His mission must be our mission. His eyes, must be our eyes, His priority, our priority.

As a privileged country, we have “advantages” that no other nation has ever had in any previous time period. We have “free” time which we then dedicated to entertainment, extra-curricular activities, developing nouveau riche talents, extended educational opportunities, and these we have begun to call necessities of life. Our reasoning is filtered by the influences of our peers, our neighborhoods, careers, and fleshly desires.  

What we think we “need to do” and what we “want to do” have merged to blocked out “what God calls us to do today”.

Suggestions (just a few examples):

(1) Family devotional time: Take a night out of the week and instead of dance lessons or baseball, spend time studying, witnessing, mentoring, and discussing with your children the reasons they should have a close and personal relationship with Jesus

(2) Service time: Take on a weekly service project “in the name of Jesus”.  We often donate to the Red Cross or to Good Will, but this may not bring glory to Christ. “A cup of water in my name” is the difference between a sheep and a goat, the left or the right hand of God on the last day

(3) Prayer time: Make a family or personal prayer journal which will allow you to keep track of your requests for praise and thanksgiving.

(4) Meditation time: “Take time to be Holy, Speak oft with thy Lord” and cut off all disruptive devices so that you can hear the sweet whisper of His voice. Commit yourself to listening for the voice of God.

(5) Multiply time: Make a list of those you would like to see come to the truth and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Start creatively plan, pray, and communicating with them through love and persistence the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

VIDEO :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vllUDgVps7M  This video is not just to watch, it is something we MUST reflect on and respond to with a spirit-led heart!

 

Friday, May 17, 2013

Lesson 5: Forgotten God Chapter 4 TAKE-AWAY


Chapter 4 –Forgotten God-- TAKE-AWAY

Why do you want the Holy Spirit present in your life?

This is a big question for every believer to answer. We have learned that the Holy Spirit is given to us to strengthen us in the inner man, to empower us to live the Christian life, and to help us build a closer relationship with our God.

We will agree to define “supernatural” as being anything that cannot be accomplished by “natural” man. Therefore, our salvation is supernatural, the fruit of the Spirit is supernatural, and in like manner, the accomplishments of a spirit-led community are capable of being supernatural.

If you need some clarification on “supernatural, you can refer to http://joyofbiblelearning.blogspot.com/2011/03/sanctification-lesson-2.html#miracles  and


WHY A MORE SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE?

Why should we want more of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives? One reason we want to submit more to the Holy Spirit is because He gives gifts for the benefit of the community of faith according to the Will of God.

“Our desire to live should be for the sake and glory of the God who put us on this earth in the first place” (Francis Chan, chapter 4).

A second reason we might need to submit  to the Spirit is to overcome the fear of witnessing for Christ (John 16:14).  When Christ is magnified, the Spirit is leading (1 Corinthians 12:3).

This is the true test of a spirit-led Christian; Christ is continuously magnified in all situations: in plenty or in drought, in sickness and in health, in comfort and in persecution.

Reflect on these Scriptures before attempting the exercise below:

o   Revelation 19:5 “ 5 And a voice came from the throne, saying,“Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.”

o   Mark 7:22  22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander,  pride and foolishness.”

o   1 Tim 3:6 “ 6 and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.

o   1 John 2:16 “ 6 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.”

o   Romans 1:30  30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,”

o   1 Tim 6:4 “ 4 he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions,”

o   1 Peter 5:5 5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

o   Acts 5:36 36 For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. [a]But he was killed, and all who [b]followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.

o   Ephesians 2:9  9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

o   2 Tim 3:2 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy

o   James 4:16 16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.

o   1 Corinthians 4:19  But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power.

o   James 4:15  Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”

o   1 Peter 4:11Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

o   Colossians 3:17Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”

 

Remember our example in 2 Corinthians 8:16. Paul could have said, “Thank you Titus for thinking of us”, but instead Paul said, “But thanks be to God who puts the same earnestness on your behalf in the heart of Titus.”  Paul ALWAYS gave the glory to God!

Exercise 1: Change these phrases so that they reflect what a spirit-led Christian might say:

1.    Proud to be an American!

2.    Take pride in your job

3.    My friend is so creative and accomplished

4.    My child won a scholarship to a Christian University

5.    Our church has over 700 members

6.    My  congregation is planning to build a new auditorium

7.    The talent in this place is amazing!

REVELATIONLesson 5 (Listen online)

In Lesson 5 of Revelation we hear about the Power of the Lamb. The only ONE who was able to open the scroll of God’s Will on earth. The Lamb faces the Dragon and wins. The Lamb is glorified and praised by every living creature in Heaven and on earth. If we are under the Power of the Lamb, we too must learn to magnify His name by proclaiming His attributes before those in Heaven and those who are on the earth.  We can do this when we focus our attention on what is above us and not what is around us. We can do this when we are filled with the “awe” of our God.

REVELATIONLesson 6 (Listen online) 

“HOW LONG, OH, LORD?”, is the prayer of the persecuted saints. They present their prayer under the throne of God. When will our prayers be answers?  From this w e learn that we must trust God to display His power in His time & for His purpose and learn to “Wait on the Lord”

Psalm 27:14  Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!”

Sarah rushed into making a decision by giving her handmaiden to Abraham. The result of Sara NOT waiting on the Lord is the cause of wars and more wars between sons of Isaac (Jews) and sons of Ishmael (Arabs) unto this very day.

Pursue Christ instead of selfishly wanting to use the ”supernatural” for our own purposes. Like a genie in a bottle, we often just want to really get down to praying when there is something we want God to accomplish for us. Allow the Spirit to guide our hearts. Submit to the Holy Spirit and He will lead us. Don’t be tempted to make our requests (prayers) THE priority instead of the Will of God.

Don’t expect the Spirit to layout a “life plan” for you.

Francis Chan explains that waiting for God to give you a whole life plan before you respond to the Spirit is unreasonable. We almost never see God explaining an entire life plan to anyone in the Scriptures. Instead, when Abraham was called, he went. He didn’t know where, how long, what to pack, or if he would ever return to his home in Ur. The important point here is to follow God moment-by-moment and trust where He will lead. We don’t have to have all the answers before we “walk in step” with the Spirit.

Pray that we will recognize the doors of opportunities when He presents them to us. Pray that He will give us the wisdom to step through those doors in faith and obedience. Pray that we will make the most of those opportunities for the glory of God.

Colossians 4:3praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned;”

Do you really want to be led by the Spirit?

What if He leads you where you don’t want to go? Are you willing to surrender to Him no matter where He wants to take you? This is a life-long journey you have committed to….putting to death the flesh and putting on the fruit of the Spirit.  We cannot love God and gratify the desires of the flesh. Submitting to the Spirit means giving in, being molded, transformed, and opposing the former desires.

Too often we worry about how we might look to others rather than how we are failing God. Remember, love casts out all fear and so let us pray for greater love towards God and for our fellow man. We talk easily about whom we love. Dear Lord, help us to love you more, to be thankful for our salvation, and to always present praise to the only ONE to whom it is due. May we ONLY be “proud” of how you work (dunamis) through our weaknesses and of how you have gifted us with the power of the cross.

Galatians 6:14But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

MULTIPLY
 
Disciples multiply. This is a clear sign of discipleship!  
But did you know that Christ made provisions for disciples to multiply?

 (1) Christ made them a community of believers to support each other. They were taught together, prayed together, trained by example together, and fellowshipped with one another.

(2) Christ never sent them out by themselves

(3) Christ used a method of encouragements and training called “debriefing” which helped his disciples to learn from each other and to learn how to do a better representation of Christ in the future. After being sent out, they returned to their Mentor and excitedly discussed how things had gone.

 (4) Christ modeled for them. He witnessed to them and in front of them.

(5) Christ demonstrated compassion and love. He served those he met along the way.  

 (6) Christ, on occasion, handed out some harsh admonishments to those who should have known better

(7) Christ promised his disciples the Holy Spirit to guide and strengthen them along the way as they obeyed His command to multiply

Disciples are no different today. They need these same seven attributes to be developed within the community of faith in which they participate.

 

Keep asking, “Who do You, oh Lord, want me to love for YOU today?”