WEEK 10: JANUARY 28 - FEBRUARY 3

Thursday, January 28, 2010

When you think of the word opposite what do you think of? What comes to mind? Day and Night, Morning and Night, Go and Stop, Sit and Stand, Lazy and Active, Fun and Boring, Shy and Outgoing, Black and White, etc…

Read 2 Corinthians 5:17 (2 Corinthians is after 1 Corinthians and before Galatians)

Thinking over last night talk, what are some things in our own lives that have become opposite now that we have a NEW HEART and we are a NEW CREATION.

Fill in the blank for me…

You were broken, now you are ________________.

You were dead, now you are ___________________.

You were sinful, now you are __________________.

You were old, now you are _____________________.

You were hopeless, now you are ______________.

You were tied up in sin, now you are _________.

Get the picture? Now you are fixed, alive, righteous, new, hopeful, and free because of the cross!

Spend time rejoicing in your new creation!

Friday, January 29

He (God) does not deal with us according to our sins,

nor repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his steadfast love toward hose who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west, so far does He

remove our transgressions from us.

Psalm 103:10-12

In this verse, we are told that nothing that we can ever do or say that is out of God’s will (in other words, SIN) that can separate for how much God loves us. He does not even hold it against us. We are debt free! What is a debt? Imagine you are out to eat or out shopping with a friend. They ask to borrow money from you because they really wanted a desert or they saw a cute top that looked SO good on them or they found a video game that they’ve always said they “had to have”. They promise you they will pay you back. So, you fork over the money. Days go by and you still are not repaid. Another week turns into months, and you realize it’s almost been a year since this person has paid you back. Not only that, but since that one day, they’ve asked for more money, that just adds to the total of how much they owe you. Can you imagine one day just waking up and completely forgetting that that person owed you anything? What if they came up to you and apologized over and over again, and you have no idea what they are talking about? So, you tell them to forget about the debt. It doesn’t make sense, but God does this with our sin. Because of the cross, he completely wipes the slate clean of any sin/transgression/iniquities (all of these words mean the same thing) on our hearts.

His love is STEADFAST. It is never changing and never ending. It is continual. We do not have to worry about the day when His love goes away. It is and will always be the most consistent thing in your life. I encourage you to take this verse and put it somewhere that will catch your eye daily. So that you may be reminded of the debt that has been paid, and that your sin no longer separates you from God.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Read Ezekiel 11:19,20 (Ezekiel is after Lamentations and before Daniel in the Old Testament)

Anyone a “Chronicles of Narnia” fan? I sure am. It’s one of my favorite stories. (side note: if you haven’t done this yet, watch the movie with the idea that Aslan, the lion, is God and the White Witch, the queen, is Satan. That is something that will get you excited!) There is one part of the story that sticks out to me and is something I think about whenever I read the above scripture. In the “Chronicles of Narnia”, Edmund, Lucy, Peter, and Susan befriend a man named Mr. Tumnus. At one point, Edmund is enticed by the schemes of the White Witch and Mr. Tumnus goes after him. While trying to save Edmund, the White Witch turns Mr. Tumnus into stone. He is not the only one. There are many others in the room that are stone as well.

Before Christ, we are just as Mr. Tumnus was. We have hearts of stone. Write down some characteristics of a stone. (cold, hard, nonliving, unyielding) We do not have to live with this within us any longer. In Ezekiel, it says that we have a NEW heart. And that heart is no longer a heart of STONE, but a heart of FLESH. Write down some characteristics of flesh. (alive, warm, breathing, malleable) Doesn’t this sound more exciting? And that is something that the Lord promises to give to us. SO, if you have become a believer in Christ, you have been given a new heart. You have been given something that is alive and beautiful.

In the story, Aslan laid down his life in order for the White Witch to leave Edmund alone. However, he soon comes back to life ready to finish defeating the queen. Aslan runs to her castle and frees the prisoners who had been turned to stone. They come alive and are no longer stone.

Thank you, Lord, that the same promise has been given to us!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

2 Corinthians 5:21

“For our sake, he made him who knew no sin to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Just like you do with frogs and pigs in school, let’s spend some time dissecting this verse!

“For our sake…” Let us go no further than praise God for this statement. There was nothing else that we could do in order to become new creations. He knew that we would be in trouble without him. So, for our sake, he did something. Spend some time praising God that it was nothing that we did, but it was all His doing. And if you need to, confess the moments when you thought you could do it all on your own. He longs for our surrender.

“…he made him who knew no sin to be sin…” In other words, God the Father, made Jesus the Son, who was absolutely perfect with no flaw or sinful nature in him at all, to come down and take on all of our sin. Sometimes, I read this and I ask myself, WHY? I challenge you to do that as well. Ask the Lord right now, why He would take on your sin. Ask Him why he would do something like that for you. And you know what His answer is most likely going to be? “Because I love you and I want a relationship with you…” Me? you ask. Yes, you!

“…so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” What does it mean to become the righteousness of God? Righteousness means to be right with someone. Before the cross, because of sin, we were not right with God. God and sin do not exist together. So, Jesus had to take on our sin so that we may become RIGHT WITH GOD. Have you ever thought, even after becoming a believer, that you were not right with God? Have you ever thought that there was a gap between you and God and there was no way that you would ever be right with him? You know what? That is a LIE that Satan would love for you to believe. Now, because of this verse, you can tell yourself that you are righteous because of the cross! You have been made new! Write down your reaction to this! Tell God what this means to you. Thank Him for your new identity as a righteous man of God!

WEEK 9: JANUARY 21 - 27

Thursday, January 21

Read Matthew 8:23-27 (Matthew is the first book of the New Testament)

Ok. Do me a favor and place yourself in this situation! It’s crazy. You are in a boat (not a cruise ship, but a fishing boat… think small) in the middle of the open sea. After a few hours of being on this boat, you are far from land, and the sky starts to rumble. The waves become, compared to your boat, giants causing you freak out. I mean you’d freak out, wouldn’t you? I know I would! I’d immediately go to someone who knew what they were doing and scream for help! Can you imagine reaching that person and find that they were sleeping through the big storm? I’d shake, I’d poke, and I’d do anything and everything to wake them up.

Do you ever feel like this sometimes? Do you ever feel like you’re screaming and begging for help out from the storm going on around you? Don’t you just want to go on a trip without waves crashing on you? It feels like a battle sometimes, doesn’t it?

As we continue to dig deeper into a deeper knowledge of this war over our hearts, let us consider 1 John 4:4. “… for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” This is an amazing truth that we have to cling to as our safety! In the moments when the disciples were on that boat, the one who was in the boat with them was the one who could calm the sea. Just like that, in our lives of confusion and storms, we have that same Savior living INSIDE of us against the schemes of the evil one (aka big waves, lightning, threats of death, etc).

Monday, January 25

Read Luke 15:11-32 (Luke is after Mark and before John in the New Testament)

Let’s focus on the part of the story when the younger son messed up first. Let’s name him Sammy. Sammy has just lost everything he owns. He has no place to go, nowhere to sleep, no friends to help him out. He’s borrowed money from people who now want nothing to do with him, and he’s flat out broke. Sammy decides the only place to go is to beg for a job from his dad who he previously insulted and abandoned. Can you imagine?!? The enemy was definitely fighting for Sammy’s heart. There was a battle being fought for who Sammy would give the glory to. Wouldn’t you agree? Look through the “agreement” statements below. Write down the one(s) that you believe Sammy has already agreed to so far? And what are some agreements that he may come in contact with in returning to his dad?

“It’s just…”

“No one will know if I…”

“Did God really say…”

“If only I…”

“I can’t stop…”

“Wow, you really…”

“You’re just…”

Now, place a check next to the ones that you’ve said before. Maybe you’re saying them now in a certain situation? There are many moments in my life where I’ve been the younger son. I’ve listened to some of these agreement statements and I’ve agreed with the enemy, believing them to be true, wishing for them to be true… Grace abounds! God picks us up and severs the agreement as soon as we RETURN to Him. But, by returning to him, it doesn’t mean that the lies of the enemy stop. They will be there. But, now we have the knowledge to speak truth the lies. We have victory in the cross of Jesus! Spend some time praising God that those statements you check are no longer yours to carry, but that you believe in His truth now.

Tuesday, January 25, 2010

Let us be prepared for EACH battle by looking to Scripture.

Read Acts 16:16-24

Paul and Silas are in the slammer. Not only that, but they were falsely accused, stripped, and beaten with a rod. And all because they longed for people to know the God who saves! This would be an extremely difficult thing to swallow, would it not? What if you were just walking down the hallway in your school and out of nowhere a group of teachers grab you, take off your clothes in front of everyone and just start throwing punches? There is a police officer nearby that you believe will surely come and take over at some point, however you find out that he is the one giving the orders!

Let’s again do what we did yesterday with the “agreement” statements. It is good to be on our defense and see places in Scripture where these moments with the enemy could have occurred. Looking at the below statements, right down the statements that Satan could have and probably did throw at Paul and Silas in this moment?

“It’s just…”

“No one will know if I…”

“Did God really say…”

“If only I…”

“I can’t stop…”

“Wow, you really…”

“You’re just…”

There are many agreements here that many of us would be thinking if we were in the same situation. Do you ever feel falsely accused? Do you feel like you’ve been beaten up all day for no reason? What are some sentences that the enemy says to you in those moments?

Read Acts 16:25

“…Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God…”

Wow. They were praying and singing hymns to GOD! They did not give in to the easily heard lies and defeated thoughts at that moment. Instead, they spent their first few moments in prison praising God. Spend some time right now doing just that. And ask Him to keep you aware of the war around you so that you may respond in the same way that Paul and Silas responded.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Read Number 13:25-30 (Numbers is after Leviticus and before Deuteronomy in the Old Testament)

Why do you think that God wanted the Israelites to go and spy out the land? Part of me is thinking that God already knew what was in the land, so what was the point? But, after everything that we’ve been talking about with the battle that we have on us daily, it kinda makes sense to know the person you are facing before the battle actually happens. In a football game, the teams are usually spending time looking at the tapes of the other teams. They watch the defense and they see their weaknesses and their strengths, and then they go out and they practice ways where they can be better than the opposing team.

We should be doing this exact thing in our daily lives. We should be looking at ways of the past and seeing how the enemy works and how he has lied to us. From what Rob talked about last week, we know that the enemy’s native tongue is lying and he can’t speak truth. Therefore, we should not believe ANYTHING he says. How do we know when a truth is a truth and a lie is a lie? We look in God’s Word! It is our source of TRUTH.

Spend some time asking the Lord to reveal to you ways in the past where the enemy has fed you a lie. Tell him that you want to be prepared for what is coming up in your life so that you won’t believe those lies anymore! Let us be as the 12 spies were in Canaan. May we be ready for the battles we have ahead of us.

“But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to OVERCOME it.” Numbers 13: 30

WEEK 8: JANUARY 14 - 20

Thursday, January 14

Today I went running. I know, some of you probably think I’m crazy for attempting to run in this extremely cold weather, but I just couldn’t sit still any longer. So, I laced up my tennis shoes and braved the cold. I didn’t think it would be really cold once I got my body moving, but I was very wrong. My teeth soon started to chatter and I’m pretty sure that I couldn’t feel my cheeks or my hands as I was running. I wanted to turn around and head back to my warm and cozy house. It seemed like such an easy choice. Just as those thoughts were running through my mind, I saw someone coming toward me with the best winter outfit on you could imagine… puffy jacket, thick gloves, scarf wrapped around her head, ski pants and hat. All I saw of her was her eyes. I started to think how ridiculous she looked and kinda laughed under my breath. However, as soon as I thought this, the Lord quickly kicked me in the butt and made me realize that though she may look ridiculous, she won’t be paying for it later as much as I will. Now, hours later, I have a little bit of a cough forming in my throat…

Being equipped and ready for things is so important in life. Sometimes we look at other people and we think they look ridiculous for the choices and decisions that they are making. We don’t really see it as that big of a deal if we see this movie, tell this joke, date this guy/girl, go to this party… And we don’t see how down the road we are going to pay for it.

Read Philippians 4:8

Are there some things in your life that do not match up with this verse? I know that I can think of some things for me! We are to be ready and equipped for whatever the Lord has in store for us. And here is an amazing guideline to take with us throughout the day. He promises us life and life to the full. He loves us so much that He knows that when we think on these things, we will be imitating Christ and His life.

Friday, January 15

Read John 10:10

Who doesn’t want a FULL life? There is another version of this verse that says “a more and better life than they have ever dreamed of”. When I read this verse my heart screams, “I want that!” Don’t you? Don’t you want a life more and better than you’ve ever dreamed of? And Jesus, Savior of the world, is promising this for us. I don’t know about you, but that is something that I want to grab if it’s offered, right? However, the beginning of this verse tells us that there is something out there that wants us the opposite for us. There is a thief, an enemy out there who wants to steal, kill, and destroy any joy that we have for that full life. Can you see places in your life where you see opposition?

This is exactly what I think of when I read this verse:

There is opposition. A tug of war over our hearts. Can’t you just picture it? Can you see the places in your life where there is a tug of war? In the moments where you feel defeated, where you feel overwhelmed, quote the second part of this verse. Say out loud and believe that God desires you to have a full and abundant life! There are power in your words.

Monday, January 18

The warrior lays wounded in a heap of mud, sweat, and blood. As he slips slowly in and out of consciousness, the battle rages on around him. Swords clash, arrows fly, armor falters, and the cries of angry men fill his ears with the unmistakable sounds of war. The faces of those he fights for flash before his eyes: his wife, his young daughter, his village, his king, and he feels the weight of the battle fall heavily on his weak and bruised shoulders. With a deep intake of breath, the warrior attempts to lift himself from the ground but falters and falls helplessly back into the filth. He cries for help, but none can hear him. He struggles to stand, but cannot lift his shoulders off the ground. He thinks of his family, and screams in agony. I’ve failed, the warrior concludes. I cannot do this on my own.

Lately, I’ve felt a lot like the warrior mentioned in the short anecdote above. Battered, bruised, and left in the dust by the world around me. However, as followers of Christ we’re called to “set [our] minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2). You might think this is a little much to ask when your face is in the mud and all you can do is hope you avoid another fight with your parents, those girls at school, or the addiction that has begun to take over all of your attention.

I feel lonely, I feel helpless, and I know that I cannot do this on my own.

Do you ever feel like this? If you do, (which if you’re human, I’m sure you do), God desires to comfort you in your loneliness, deliver you from your helplessness, and engage in a personal relationship with you.

Read Ephesians 6:10-17 (Ephesians is after Galatians and before Philippians in the New Testament)

God clearly reveals to us through His Word that there is a battle raging around us for our hearts and our souls and that spending an eternity with Jesus is at stake. God realizes that we cannot fight this battle in our sinful flesh, so when we surrender our lives to Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells within us and enables us to glorify God with our lives in a way that we could never do on our own. The Holy Spirit even enables us to set our minds on Jesus during the worst times of our lives. Paul (the writer of Ephesians) encourages the church of Ephesus to “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might” (Ephesians 6:10).

Take a moment and meditate on each piece of the armor of God presents in Ephesians 6:10-17. Think about how God can work through you and use each piece of armor to combat the battles raging in your own life.

The warrior felt the ground shake underneath him in his defeat, and he heard the deafening approach of a horse’s run. Fear of death crept over the warrior as he imagined being trampled by the approaching animal, but this fear drastically faded to relief as he felt the arms of a fellow warrior pull his body onto the restless horse. His hope was renewed, his strength had returned, and his heart beat harder with a desire fight the evil around him.

Tuesday, January 19

Enter stage left: the bubbly sixteen-year-old girl eager to display her talent to the judges sitting before her. She comes from a small town, has a large family, and strives her best to maintain decent grades in school. After a fidgety and nervous start, she manages to belt out a few strong notes that win over the judges’ hearts and earn her a place in the next round of the competition. When interviewed about her achievement, she cries and exclaims, “This is what I’ve always wanted!”

Sound familiar?

American Idol is just one many examples of entertainment that define our culture. In America, we strive to place people on pedestals, idolizing them for their talents, attitudes, and physical appearance. We rejoice in their outward appearances and fail to “look on the heart” as God says He does in 1 Samuel 16:7. Because God created us to be creatures of worship, we are tempted to worship things other than Him. This is a battle of worship that we face daily in the invisible war for our hearts and souls.

Read 1 John 2:15-17 (1 John is before 2 John and after 2 Peter in the New Testament)

God declares that those who love the world and things of the world cannot also love Him. However, we need to examine these verses in context. We know that God does not hate the world, because according to John 3:16, “ God so LOVED the world.” This passage is speaking specifically about the world’s culture and its sinful influences. We should not love the perverse nature of culture, the exultation of creation over Creator, or the prideful nature of our hearts.

Reflect on the verses from 1 John and write down some things you are idolizing above God in your own life. Talk to God about it.

You’ll soon realize that your actions are sinful because God created us to worship Him for His glory and our ultimate joy. Only in Him can we find true satisfaction, so why do we continue to idolize things other than our Savior?

“We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). Be aware of the enemy’s influence on our culture and never forget to put on the full armor of God to combat his advances. God loves you and will enable you to face the enemy head-on when you are tempted to worship things of this world. Just ask Him.

Wednesday, January 20

mages of the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti flash across the computer screen. A woman looks hopelessly toward the camera, covered in dust and blood. Children and elderly women hold onto one another as they search for their loved ones. Bodies lie limply in the mounds of rubble as fires rage in crumbling buildings behind them. Students pull each other from the rubble and stumble away from their crumpled university. People scream and run in confusion and horror. Men, women, and children cry out desperation as their family members, friends, and neighbors fall under the weight of this tragic natural disaster.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/01/earthquake_in_haiti.html

Take a moment and pray for the people of Haiti.

In times of crisis, people gather around one another for comfort and support, and a bond is formed despite previous differences. As Christ followers, we’re called to come alongside our brothers and sisters and encourage, comfort, and support them in times of crisis and in times of joy.

Read Ephesians 1:15-22 (Ephesians is before Philippians and after Galatians in the New Testament)

In this passage, Paul (the writer of Ephesians) encourages the church in Ephesus by declaring he is thankful for his Christian brothers and sisters there and repeats specifically how he prays for them.

Examine each verse of this passage carefully and reflect on the beautiful truth that permeates throughout Paul’s prayer. Now pray the same prayer for your brothers and sisters in Christ, for your church, for Sublime, for your family. Thank God for the beautiful things He has orchestrated through His Son Jesus and for the things He has given us, and continue to pray for the people of Haiti.