Review of Week 13

CHRIST: I am not the Christ. He must increase. He is above all.

PURITY: Confess, draw near, humble yourselves. Cleanse your hands and purify your hearts. The pure in heart shall see God.

ELEVATION: The devil promotes with self-righteousness, self-promotion, and High Places. The invitation of God leads to more focus on Him and His purposes.

HONOR: We dishonor Him when we are loyal to our own ideas and notions. We honor Him when we are loyal to Him at all times.

SURPRISE: Are we ready for His visits? Are our eyes fixed on the author and perfecter of our faith? Is a major surprise awaiting us?

INTERCESSION: Do we have more than an emotional interest in prayer? Does worship change the flavor of our intercession? Intimacy leads to understanding and appropriate participation.

DISCERNMENT: What do we do with what we see? Have we replaced ridicule and criticism with intercession and intervention?

Apr 1 - INTERCESSION

Rom. 8:27 “...and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God...”

Rom 8:34 “...who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us...”

Heb. 7:25 “...Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them...”

What role does Christ’s intercession have in our lives? Do we rely on His intercession?

What is our responsibility in interceding for others?

Are there more troubles in the world than you have time to pray?

How can people who care deal with the myriad of needs that surround them every day?

What are the prerequisites for sincere, effective, intercession?

- compassion: genuine concern for people.

- access to the Father: intimate relationship.

- proper processing of the situation: finding the mind of Christ.

When dealing with our own issues, why is it helpful, and healthy, to move our perspective from the little picture to the big picture? [broadening our perspective eases the pressure of the situation].

When dealing with the needs of the world, why is it helpful to do the reverse? [narrowing our perspective to the little picture of what God is calling us to do allows us to leave the big picture to Him]

Why is Worship the best starting place for both?

How can having an agenda of our own interfere with intercession?

Did Jesus heal everybody while on the earth? [those who came to Him, cried out to Him, or were brought to Him]

Can you fix every problem on this earth? Can you fix any?

Apr 2 - SIGHT

Acts 9:17 “...So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit..."

Context: Acts 9:8-9 “...Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank...”

Could Saul see before the Damascus road incident? [He could see, but He really couldn’t see]

Who blinded Him to his old way of seeing? [Jesus]

Who gave him a new way of seeing? [Jesus] How? [Intercession by Ananias]

Why was it done this way? [The Lord wanted it so]

How did Ananias know what to do? [He was close to the heart of God. When God spoke - he heard and obeyed]

What was the difference between pre and post intercession sight? [Paul’s sight was more than restored. It was expanded, and yet focused. He viewed everything afterwards through Jesus Christ.

What gets our attention?

How can we deal appropriately with all the demands of our BUSY (Being Under Satan’s Yoke) lives?

Do we see all of life related to the creative and redemptive purposes of Christ?

Apr 3 - BLIND

Luke 19:42 “...saying, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes...”

Context: Triumphant entry to Jerusalem. Pharisees scolding. Even the stones will cry out. Jesus’ weeping over the city of Jerusalem.

Why didn’t Jerusalem, Israel’s capital city, have the peace of God? [The things that make for peace were hidden from their eyes]

Why? [Like Saul - their sight was not really sight. It had NOT been changed to focus through the lens of Jesus Christ]

What blinds a people to the things that make for peace? What did Jesus find in Jerusalem? [religious systems. Placing our eyes on other than the true God]

How do false gods get created? [every culture creates gods to meet their preferences]

Does God hold us responsible for what we do not see?

Does sincerity get us any points? [sincere, but wrong, is still wrong]

Our we willing to repent of our worship of strange gods, that we might see, and worship, the Living God?

John 14:27 “...Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful...”

Apr 4 - FAITH

John 16:32 “...Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me...”

Context: Jesus is telling His disciples about what is to come.

Was the disciples faith real? [yes, as little as it was]

Why were they scattered?

- Did they (and we) have interests that were their own?

- Did Jesus have any interests that they (and we) didn’t share?

When are we the most comfortable being Christians?

- when with Christians.

- when in the safety of Christian circles.

Where is the greatest need for the redemptive work of Christ?

- in a lost world.

- outside the safety of Christian circles.

We think we have faith when we “possess” good feelings and blessings in our safe places.

We exercise faith, which we may not see or feel, when we walk by the Spirit in the realities of a fallen world.

Is scattering a good or a bad thing?

Philippians 1:6 “...For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus...”

Apr 5 - AGONY

Mat 26:36-38 “...Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me..."

At the beginning of His ministry, after being baptized by John, Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. What was the basis of the temptations? [Stones to bread, throw yourself down, all these things I give you - Focus on self - possessions and interests]

Did Jesus focus on self? [He countered temptation to self with God’s word - directives]

What was going on in the garden of Gethsemane? What was the agony?

Luke 22:41-44 “...And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done." Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground...”

Some think He was agonizing over going through the crucifixion.

Some say it had to be something else, because otherwise this was a prayer God didn’t answer, or a righteous Son out of God’s will.

What do you think? O.C. thinks the devil insured that Jesus ministry ended as it had started - with temptations. That He had to decide whether His own interests would interfere with His Father’s.

Did doing God’s will allow Him to avoid agony?

Does doing God’s will allow you to avoid agony?

How did Satan try to prevent Christ from fulfilling the Father’s will, both in the wilderness and in the garden? [enticing alternatives]

How does Satan try to prevent Christians from fulfilling the Father’s will? [enticing alternatives].

His agony led to our access to God. Now what?

Apr 6 - VICTORY

1 Pet 2:24 “...and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed...”

Who thought they had victory at the cross?

- Religious leaders who had been threatened by Jesus.

- Satan, who always tries to elevate his plans above God’s.

Who really had the victory at the cross?

- Jesus, in accomplishing the will of God against incredible odds.

- Sinners, in obtaining a way to relationship with a Holy God.

How complete was the victory? The penalty for sin was paid for all mankind.

Does that mean all humans are redeemed? [He was crucified for all humanity, but not all humanity has been crucified with Him]

Was it easy for Christ to go to the cross? [He did it because it pleased the father]

Is it easy for us to go to the cross? [To be totally crucified with Christ requires the same depth of commitment to the Father’s purposes that Christ demonstrated]

There are three incredible parts to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and none can be de-emphasized without perverting the gospel.

- Incarnation: God in flesh.

- Crucifixion: Payment for sin.

- Resurrection: Victory over death.

He came, He was sacrifice, He is risen indeed.

Apr 7 - WAIT

Mark 9:9 ”...As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead...”

Context: Jesus talking to Peter, James, and John just after the transfiguration, and hearing a voice from a cloud saying, “This is My beloved Son, Hear Him!”

Did the disciples understand what was happening?

Mark 9:10 “...They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant...”

For what did the disciples have to wait? [Christ’s resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit]

John 16:12 “...I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now...”

Why do we have difficulty processing the words and ways of Jesus?

What is the critical component needed for processing truth? [the Holy Spirit]

Without the Holy Spirit, what leads our understanding? [our unyielding and headstrong opinions]

Explain the meaning of O.C. saying “if we’ve made up our minds on a doctrine, we lose God’s light in that area.”

Is he saying we shouldn’t or can’t be sure on anything?

Is he saying we can’t ever take ownership of truth to the point that we prevent God from expanding our understanding.

“Standing on the promises” - good hymn. Are we guilty of standing on partial promises?

When are we able to effectively speak of what we have seen?