Review of Week 32:

BAFFLING: Thinking I know when I don’t really know is far more dangerous than not knowing but walking faithfully with Him. He may be baffling, but He can be trusted.

ASK: Prayer should be always be directed at becoming one with the Father and His purposes.

REALITY: Our reality must line up with the Father’s or we’ll lose track of Jesus.

ROOM: Is there room for Jesus in our lives? Are we birthing the Father’s plans?

UNHINDERED: Is our prayer, our communication with the Father, unhindered?

SUFFER: “...those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right...”

ALONE: It’s comfortable to have a good spiritual leader, but ultimately we must be able to face our world alone.

Aug 12 - CONFIDENCE

Matt. 8:26 ”...He said to them, "Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm...”

Context: Jesus gave the orders for the boat ride that ended up in a great storm while He slept.

Do we live in a world of random circumstances?

Do we live in a world of predestined events?

Do we live in a world that is affected by our choices?

Do you like tests? Are tests good or bad things?

What’s the difference between a test and a final?

Does God gives tests so He knows how we stack up or so we know how we stack up?

How did the disciples do on their test at sea, in the storm, while Jesus slept?

Did Jesus expect them to calm the storm? [He expected an understanding confidence. He didn’t want them to be a part of it - they should have been calm in the storm.]

Does God expect His own to be confident in a world in crisis?

How far is it to your wits end? Has He tested you on it?

Have you taken any action to prepare for the final? Are you just trying to get through the test? Are you reflecting on what you know and don’t know? What you do and don’t do?

I love this verse in Matthew.

Not because of the disciples failure. Not because of the stern rebuke.

Because Jesus stopped the test. Because Jesus can stop a test. Because Jesus does stop tests.

He saw they were flunking. He didn’t make them sit in it. The storm was too much for their little faith fear. No problem, the one who holds the earth together says ‘cut the storm’ and the test is over.

Point 1: The tests of life aren’t for God to find out where we stand, but for us to see where we stand.

Point 2: God has the power and compassion to call off a test we’re obviously failing.

Point 3: Our goal shouldn’t be to have tests called off, but to pass them.

Point 4: The tests will get increasingly difficult

Point 5: Make sure Jesus is in the boat when you take your final exam.

Aug 13 - HEAR

1 Thess.5:16-22 “...Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil...”

1 Kings 19:11-13 “...So He said, "Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord." And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?..."

Can God talk to you with a loud voice? Has God talked to you with a loud voice?

What must a person do to hear a gentle blowing (NASB), a gentle whisper (NIV), or a still small voice (KJV)?

- avoid getting distraction with harsh, loud noises (control the clamor of life)

- remain alert and expectant (keep good focus)

- learn to recognize the voice (the more we hear a voice, the more we can recognize it, even when there is clamor around us)

Why does He choose to speak so gently and softly most of the time?

How do we grieve the Spirit? How do we quench the Spirit?

Have you ever found yourself to be sentimental - living on memories?

- a relationship with memories but no current connection is in trouble.

- a Christian testimony with memories but no current connection is in trouble.

What should you do when faced with only memories?

- Relive them? Rid yourself of them? [no]

- We should cherish our relationships, human and divine.

- We should be ready to make more?

What should we not do?

- Don’t quench the Spirit:

NOT for pain, not for spite,

NOT for selfish gain or rights.

Let Him gently lead you NOW.

Make new memories, He’ll show you how.

Aug 14 - CHASTENING

Heb.12:5 “...and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him;...”

Teenagers are interesting creatures. When a child becomes a teenager, they suddenly think they know everything.

If you apply the same expectations, with the same rationale, to a 10 year old, a 16 year old, and a 22 year old, which one do you think considers it ridiculous? Why?

- They process from preferences, and can justify any and all actions.

- Most teenagers despise chastening.

- Most teenagers quench parental guidance.

Do Christians ever act like teenagers in their faith? How?

- Processing from preferences, justifying any and all actions?

- Despising chastening and rebuke?

- Quenching the Spirit?

O.C. says the problem comes from a shallow experience of sanctification, of mistaking the shadow for reality. What is he talking about?

- Thinking we know everything when we really are seeing dimly.

- Attributing anything outside our current world of understanding as being wrong - or of the devil.

- Not really being “set apart” for God

Is sanctification, setting apart for holy use, your idea or God’s? [If it’s not your idea, is it likely to not line up perfectly with who your are at present?

What a treat it is when self-confident, self-centered teenagers move to the next stage - hungering for truth and information they realize they don’t possess.

How much God must love it when our attitude of mind and spirit becomes open to His lead.

How is God chastening and disciplining you even now?

Aug 15 - BORN AGAIN

John 3:5-7 “...Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. "Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'...”

Context: Nick at night. Nicodemus, a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, comes to Jesus by night.

John 3:3 “...Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God..."

John 3:5 ”...Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God...”

Do you remember what it was like in your mother’s womb? What was it like? [Warm, dark, well defined, safe, predictable]

How much of the outside the womb world could you see? [Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born, he cannot see the kingdom of man! Unless one is born, he cannot enter the kingdom of man.]

Is it a very dramatic change to leave the womb and be born? [Whole new dimensions open up to you]

Does being born mean you immediately know of and partake of all the world has to offer? [No, there’s a lot of growing and learning involved.]

Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again, and the imagery that comes to Nick’s mind is confusing. Why? [he’s thinking of birth as the coming out of an infant, that dimension change from womb to world. How can that be done again?]

What happens when a person is born again?

Is it a dramatic change, a whole new world opening up when born of the Spirit?

Can you see this world without being born again? [No, you can have some sense that it exists, just like a baby certainly senses that there’s something outside the womb. But you can’t see the kingdom of God unless you’re born again.]

O.C. gives three signs of new birth:

1. Jesus has been received, not just heard about. There’s a personal relationship.

2. The Kingdom is seen, not sought. God’s rule, which was always present, is now seen. We’re not trying to find or create kingdom rule, we see the kingdom.

3. We stop sinning. We’re not seeking to stop, we’ve stopped. We’ve left one kingdom behind and entered another.

Do these three signs exist perfectly as soon as we’re born again? [You don’t immediately know and partake of all. In many ways, a newborn Christian is as fragile and dependent as any new born baby.]

Would it be foolish for a baby to try to crawl back into its mother’s womb after being born into a bigger world?

Would it be foolish for a born-again Christian to crawl back to the old familiar world?

Aug 16 - CALLED

John 10:2-4 “...But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. "When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice...”

What’s the significance of calling his own by name? What do those two words add to the scripture?

Would it be enough to call the sheep as a group - okay all you guys, follow me? [Yes]

Do we really understand how much He cares for us as individuals? [We often fall back into group mode and lose sight of His great interest in us as individuals.]

O.C. talks about three situations - misunderstanding, doubting, and denying. All three are situations where we show that we don’t know Him. But even in these times - He knows us by name.

1. Misunderstanding - In John 20, Mary Magdalene finds the tomb empty, sees Jesus, and thinks He’s the gardener.

- Do we always see Him, and always recognize Him?

- Does He always see us, and recognize us?

- Are we sometimes better at knowing our doctrine than knowing Jesus intimately?

- Jesus revealed Himself to Mary and wants to reveal Himself to us.

2. Doubt - Mary tells the disciples she had seen the Lord. Jesus shows up in the midst of the fearful disciples. Thomas, who wasn’t with them, doubts the accuracy of their claims.

- Do we sometimes doubt the accuracy of other’s words about Jesus

- Does Jesus still know us by name when we doubt?

- Who took away Thomas’ doubt? [Jesus] Who takes away our doubt? [Jesus]

3. Denying - It’s well known that Peter denied Jesus three times.

- Why did Peter deny Him?

- He misunderstood what was happening.

- He doubted that Jesus was Lord.

- He feared for his life and therefore denied His affiliation with Jesus.

- Have you ever misunderstood, doubted, feared, and therefore denied knowing Jesus?

- Does Jesus know you by name even when you’re living in denial?

Do we know Jesus as we should?

Do we have the intimacy with Him that we should?

Is He calling us, by name? Then what? [He leads us out. He goes before us]

Aug 17 - FOLLOW

Luke 18:22,23 “...When Jesus heard this, He said to him, "One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich...”

Did Jesus know the rich young ruler? Did the rich young ruler know Jesus? Did he misunderstand, doubt, and deny?

What did he misunderstand?

- The value/purpose of his wealth in the kingdom of God.

- Would you rather die poor having met the needs of many, or with lots of wealth, accumulated at the expense of others?

What did he doubt?

- That giving up His wealth was the right thing to do.

- That he could do what Jesus asked of him.

What did he deny?

- Jesus’ words to Him. An opportunity for true life.

Did Jesus plead with him? Did He manipulate him? Did He badger him?

- As near as we can tell, He spoke the word, and that was that.

Was the word a blessing to the man? Was it meant to be a liberating word, freeing him from what had bound him?

Why was it a hard word?

- It went against his preference.

- It went against his established identity.

Has Jesus ever spoken a hard word to you? Has He ever broken your heart with a word? Have you ever gone away sorrowful?

Get rid of ____________ and follow me.

Do we know Him? Do we misunderstand? Doubt? Deny?

He knows us. He knows us by name. He calls us by name. We need to accept His call, no matter how hard.

Aug 18 - SAD

Luke 18:23 “...But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich...”

To know is not necessarily to do. To follow Jesus, we must get beyond the knowing, to the doing. There’s no getting around this issue.

John 13:17 “...If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them...”

The blessing only comes with the doing.

What do you think Jesus said what He did to rich young ruler?

Has God ever asked you to get rid of something or use something that you considered your possession for others?

Proverbs 23:23 “...Buy truth, and do not sell it, Get wisdom and instruction and understanding....” What do you think this means?

- give what you value for the truth

- don’t let anything else become more enticing in you eyes

- don’t turn around and trade it for something of less value

What has great importance in your life? What do people know you for / as? What would make you very sorrowful if God asked you to give it up? [Nothing should become more important than following Jesus.]

Do we all know this truth? Are we all doers of this truth?

If God’s word comes to us, and we know it to be true, and it leaves us with sorrow, what then? What happens? What are we left with? [Memories of being in Jesus presence - not a vibrant in-the-now walk with Him.]

Is saying Jesus is Lord of your life a guarantee that He is? Is it possible to love with your mouth but not with your life?

Are you afraid if you listen too carefully God will take something from you?

Would you rather travel at the periphery and get some of the overflow of His blessing?

Do you avoid eye contact so the leader won’t call on you?

If when we contemplate this issue, when we reflect on the important things in our lives, we find ourselves exceedingly sorrowful, are we close to Jesus?