We started off with the verse from Is. 40:11. This is a great reminder for you when your enemy is trying to beat you up or when you slip back into being legalistic and not free! God tenderly leads you. He understands that you were up all night with a sick baby and have not bathed or eaten a full meal in ten days. He knows, He cares and He is not keeping a tally. Be free!
Jesus said in Jn. 4:34: "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish his work." Jesus was focused on God's purpose and calling for his life. Liz pointed out 1 Cor. 3: 8-15 which discusses what types of things will last for eternity. The works of the believer will be tested according to the quality of the work-NOT THE QUANTITY! Reward is promised those whose service is of enduring quality. Matt. 25:14-30 shows a direct relationship between faithfulness on earth and serving God in eternity. We are judged according to what we did with what we are given. DO NOT compare yourself with others-this is just an insult to God. The only things that last forever are the Word of God and the souls of men. So, I guess all that smocking, volunteer work, committees, clubs, shopping, self-imposed minutia, retweets, etc really will not stand the test of fire. With every decision we make, we are either spending our lives or investing our lives for eternity! Swimming upstream in this culture will not be easy but with God's help, you can do it! So, girls, just say "no" to all the keeping up with the Joneses and once again, be free!
Jesus says that we must completely relinquish three areas of our lives to Him:
People-Luke 14:26-27, Gal. 1:10 and Matt. 10:37-39 We are to be devoted to no human relationship above our love and devotion to the Lord.
Pursuits-Luke 9:23-24, Phil. 1:21 Your ambition is listening to and obeying Christ.
Possessions-1 Tim. 6:6-10, Matt. 6:24, Mark 4:18-19
So how do I balance everything with so many different things vying for my attention and my time? You scan everything that comes up through this filter:
Your activities should fit the following 4 criteria:
1) Your first priority is to further the kingdom of heaven
2)You should be in step with the season of your life.
3)Answer to the important and not the urgent. (Tyranny of the Urgent by Charles Hummel)
4)Speak to your passions-the things that God put inside of you that you were meant to do!
Only do what only you can do!!!!!
I think that every disciple's number one priority should be time alone with God...to worship Him, to bless Him, to hear from Him and to just sit with Him. St. Augustine prayed: "Lord, let me know you and let me understand myself." Don't you think the best way to understand yourself is by listening to your Creator?
Christ is our example as He often withdrew from the crowds to pray and spent time with His Father while it was still dark. His promises are found in solitude. Your life, who you are in God and your destiny is at stake. You need to have a world to one's own for the sake of others. If you are not filled to overflow, you are not going to bless the people you are around and call forth the song that is inside of them! Daniel 11:32 says : " the people who know their God shall be strong and do exploits. "
Disciplining ourselves in such a way to make this a reality in our lives can be done based on Heb. 11:6. It is our faith in who God is that enables us to forfeit control of our lives and be led by the Holy Spirit. Life is so sweet and so beautiful when we do it God's way and not our way. Our way is wood, hay and straw. God knows best. I know so many of you enjoyed the fast and the intimacy you felt with the Lord during that time. Guess what? Just because the fast is over does not mean that your intimacy and growth in the Lord has to stop! Be disciplined and keep up the same pace. Every month for the rest of our lives can be like January at Highlands! Connie mentioned the classic book, Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. He covers meditation, prayer, fasting , study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance and celebration. It is not a long book and well worth your attention.
We moved next into the Father's love for us! Be sure to go to www.thefathersloveletter.com and just let that bless you. Then read Psalm 103 as your response back to the Lord. " Who is God to you? " is the single most important question of your life. I recommended Hallowed be Thy Names by David Wilkerson and there are several handouts from today with the many names of God. His name is "I am" and He can meet any and every need you will ever have! I forgot to mention one outstanding book to you. It is The Good and Beautiful God by James Smith. I led a small group with that book one time and it is amazing . He has also written The Good and Beautiful Life (based on the Sermon on the Mount) and The Good and Beautiful Community. I highly recommend all of these. I buy all of my books at 2nd and Charles in Hoover (great used Christian section in the back) and Amazon, fyi.
We agreed that we are the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus based on 2 Cor. 5:21.
As you have some free time, try to watch Craig Groeshel's sermon, "God is Father" from 6/21/09 and "Who is He" from February or March of 2005. Read your handouts and commit some of these verses to memory! Next week , we are going to talk about our daily walk with Christ.
Have a joyful week! JoAnne
I really love this group. On monday, I mentioned one of the teachings that stuck out to me from the week before was Luke 14:28 "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it-". Count the cost has been resonating in my spirit all week long. Steve and I are working so hard and really sacrificing to pay off my college loan by my birthday in September. We are having to count the cost. It's not easy telling people that I can't go out to eat because we are sacrificing now in order to do it later. And I keep thinking about that verse. I also had written down that CS Lewis quote in Mere Christianity that was coming to mind when we discussed this topic. Here it is: "I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charities expenditure excludes them." I love this quote because as Steve and I are working to become debt free this is our goal to continue to be extravagant givers into building the kingdom.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing that Joanne said that I really loved was before we consider serving:
1. Have we had time with the Lord that day?
2. Is our husband and child taken care of?
3. Do we know what's for dinner?
I really loved that because it was a quick formula for me to remember what is most important in my life before I sign up for another small group or agree to work on the check in team at church. Serving is good and needed but as Joanne said is there anyone else who can that job? Is there anyone else who can do our jobs? It reminded me a story that I heard Cindy tell once about a young mom who was going to volunteer with at risk kids and she had to find a babysitter to keep her kids and the only person she could find was her next door neighbor who was sick but she left the kids with her anyway. This lady called Cindy on the way and was in a panic over all of it and Cindy told her to turn around and to go get her kids from the lady who was sick. That was her first priority. I'm sure there were more details to the story but that is gist of what I remember. I love that I'm being reminded in this group what my priorities are and to not settle for anything else. That it's okay to say no if my household and the things under my care aren't taken care of.
And the third thing that stuck out to me was the verse from Isaiah 40:11. The Father gently leads me. He's a tender shepherd. I thought about that this morning when I missed my quiet time. The past two nights, I haven't gotten any sleep probably from pregnancy insomnia. And I really wanted that quiet time but I was just so exhausted. I just remembered that verse and that there wasn't any condemnation so I asked Steve if he would get the baby and give me a few minutes to pray in bed and he graciously did so. I will try again tomorrow morning. :)
Thanks Joanne and Connie for a great teaching! LGC