Experiencing God–part 6
Take some time, right now, to email me the answer to this question: what has struck you the most so far from Experiencing God?
Reality #1: God is always at work around you.
Reality #2: God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal.
Reality #3: God invites you to become involved with Him in His work.
Reality #4: God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal himself, His purposes, and His ways.
Reality #5: God’s invitation for you to work with Him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action.
Reality #6: You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing.
DAY 1: Adjustments Are Necessary
1. Deep within every one of us is the skewed belief that, “IF I DO A, B, AND C FOR THE LORD, THEN I’LL GET THE LIFE I WANT.”
a. What things strike you about this reality in your heart?
b. Let’s personalize the statement in #1. “If I (serve the Lord, read the bible, pray, walk obediently with God) THEN _________________________________________________________will happen.”
How would you fill in the blank? (Here are the usual categories where this would apply: how I feel, my marriage, my kids, my job, finances, reputation, church, etc.)
2. It’s easy to try to “manipulate” God to give me what I want, if I do what He wants. He’s not buying that!!! The fastest way to break up that skewed belief is a “crisis of faith” that requires adjustments on our part!
Is there a way you see you are really trying to manipulate God, to “get Him to do what He should?”
3. In each of the examples below, UNDERLINE what adjustments the man had to do in order to follow God:
Genesis 6:12-15 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.
Matthew 4:18-20 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him.
4. Today is an important lesson!!! What’s your biggest takeaway?
DAY 2: Kinds of Adjustments
Review: See if you can number the 6 Realities below, in order… (if you need help, look back at DAY 1).
___ God’s invitation for you to work with Him leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action.
___ God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal.
___ God is always at work around you.
___ You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing.
___ God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal himself, His purposes, and His ways.
___ God invites you to become involved with Him in His work.
1. God leads us to make adjustments in the everyday arenas of our lives:
* Relationships * Marriage * Parenting * Personal life * Actions * Finances * Job * Other
2. Which of the items listed above could be “in play” in the following passages? Jot your answers in the blanks below.
Matthew 4:18-22 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
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Matthew 5:43-48 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
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Matthew 20:20-28 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him. “What is it you want?” he asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.” “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.” When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave– just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
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3. Is there an area in question 1 where God has “in play” with you?
DAY 3: Obedience is Costly, part 1
Reality #6: You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing.
1. There are times in our Christian lives where we are called upon to make major adjustments! This should not be surprising. The apostle Paul went through more hardship than most anyone else. In the following passage, underline every hardship Paul experienced.
2 Corinthians 11:23-33 Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.
Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers.
I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.
2. Which of the hardships above struck you most?
3. What do you sense was Paul’s attitude about enduring these hardships?
4. How would you describe Paul’s commitment?
5. What motivated Paul to live this way?
6. What strikes you about Paul’s example?
7. Is there something you’re facing where you need to follow Paul’s example?
DAY 4: Obedience is Costly, part 2
Reality #6: You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing.
1. Sometimes the adjustments and obedience you make is costly to others.
Moses made the adjustment to follow God in liberating the Hebrew people from Egyptian slavery.
Exodus 5:1-21 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.'” Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go.” Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.” But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!” Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.” That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and foremen in charge of the people: “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ Make the work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.” Then the slave drivers and the foremen went out and said to the people, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you any more straw. Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.'” So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, “Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw.” The Israelite foremen appointed by Pharaoh’s slave drivers were beaten and were asked, “Why didn’t you meet your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?” Then the Israelite foremen went and appealed to Pharaoh: “Why have you treated your servants this way? Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.” Pharaoh said, “Lazy, that’s what you are–lazy! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks.” The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day.” When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, and they said, “May the LORD look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
2. What costs did the people have to pay for Moses’ obedience?
3. What costs did the Hebrew foremen have to pay for Moses’ obedience?
4. What costs did Aaron have to pay for Moses’ obedience?
5. Obedience is not easy. It’s not easy for you, and it may not be easy for those you love!
6. When have you obeyed God and it was costly to someone else?
DAY 5: Total Dependence on God
Reality #6: You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing.
1. Adjustments call for obedience and stepping out in faith. But there is another aspect that is important–waiting on God. For each of the verses below, jot down what strikes you about “waiting on God.”
Psalms 5:3 In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.
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Psalms 33:20 We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.
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Psalms 37:34 Wait for the LORD and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
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2. We’re going to end our week with some Henry Blackaby quotes.
• “It never works. He works.”
• “The key is my relationship with a Person.”
• “He will do more through me in days and weeks than I could ever accomplish in years of labor. Waiting on Him is always worth the wait.”
• “I must believe that what He has led me to pray, He Himself will bring to pass.”
3. Which quote strikes you the most?
4. What thought does it bring to your mind?
5. Is there an action item for you? Is there an adjustment you need to make?
6. Is there someone you trust with whom you can share your action item? Consider getting some godly counsel from a few trusted friends.