Category: Month 8

Mark these Key Words: God, Hope, Jesus

Just as a wakeboarder wakes confidently and full of excitement across the potentially perilous waters of a deep dark lake behind a $100,000.00 Super Wake Nautique, so we, as true followers of Christ grab a handle and rope of “confident hope” and move safely atop the “awe and reverence of God” in the wake of our hope in Him through the ups and downs of life.

Ephesians 1:18

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will  know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” 

What does it mean to have “the eyes of your heart enlightened” to the “Hope of His calling?”

Eyes of heart = the depths of our belief

Enlightened = revealed or reminded of

Hope of His calling = Christ’s work in you

Majesty

Pre-Game Warm-Up

Cairo, Egypt, a place where, even in recent years, Christians have been scoffed, mocked and even martyred, isn’t perhaps the place you’d picture some of the sweetest, most intimate multinational worship ever offered up to the God of Isaac, Jacob and His Son Jesus Christ! But to my pleasure and surprise, it was one of the closest glimpses of heaven my eyes and ears have ever seen. For several days, I had the humble privilege of being able to train 450 leaders from a dozen Middle Eastern and African nations in “the shadow of the great pyramids” in a retreat and conference center just outside Cairo. From ages 17-65, these leaders from Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Qatar, Algeria and other Arab states gathered to praise, worship and strategically plan the pursuit of “the Great Commission” in their homelands. Many had become followers of Christ from dreams in their sleep where Jesus appeared to them. (I’ve actually heard many reports of this from various diversified sources throughout the Muslim world in recent years.)

The people’s eyes were sparkling with the love of Christ. Their eyes were literally dancing with the joy of Christ’s fresh love. Many of them, in the more hostile Muslim nations, risk their lives and the security of their families to outwardly proclaim the name of Jesus and evangelize in His name.

My favorite part of the conference in Egypt was the worship. The richness and majesty and awe that filled their hearts and filled the air was … well, it was heavenly.

Funny thing about it was I couldn’t understand a word they sang, but I comprehended every note. Their music was pristine. Nothing but reverent worship proceeded from their lips. My friends from South Africa, Haiti, Central and South America, India, Pakistan, Southeast Asia and other remote nations experience similar encounters. They sing because they love. They love because they live. They live because they sing.

Worship is as close to heaven as it gets this side of Jesus’ return and the reunion of the saints. Worship is an encounter with God. It is a response to His love. Worship results in pressing yourself up to the divine mold of Christ. You have to walk away changed. If you don’t walk away changed, you haven’t encountered God

My wife is absolutely “the best of the best” to me. She loves to dig in God’s Word like the prospectors dug into the California mountains in the gold rush days of the 1840’s. I love standing by her in church because she sings with all her heart. Guess what! She’s tone deaf. She can’t carry a note! Can’t even get close! She got kicked out of sixth grade choir and was dispatched to the library! But it doesn’t deter her for a second! Debbie-Jo doesn’t sing to impress men. She sings to God.

Worship doesn’t wait for perfect pitch, a beautiful sanctuary or perfect people. All that is required is a sincere and humble heart, the welcoming of the work of Christ that leads you to the throne of grace and the Spirit of the living God. You can close your eyes and enter any second, any minute, any hour or any day.

Understanding Worship

Mark these Key Words:  God    Jesus    Worship

Old Testament Viewpoint

 

Psalms, 145:1-7 I will extol You, my God, O King, and I will bless Your name forever and ever.  Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of Your majesty and on Your wonderful works, I will meditate. Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, and I will tell of Your greatness. They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness and will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.

New Testament Viewpoint

Romans 12:1-2; Revelation 5:11-14

 

Romans 12:1-2 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Revelation 5:11-14

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”  And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen“ and the elders fell down and worshiped.

 

OBSERVATION: What is God saying?

1) Describe worship according to Psalm 145.

Worship attributes greatness to God.

2) List all the terms that refer to God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit in these passages.

You, King, Lord, Your, Lamb, Him

3) What attributes of God do you see in these passages that cause you to stand in reverence and awe?

Greatness, mighty acts, majesty, wonderful works, abundant goodness, Sacrificial Lamb

4) In the Revelation passage, John sees God’s future kingdom after it has been established in all its fullness. Write in your own words what he sees in his vision.

(Personal Answer)

5) Describe the depth and magnitude of worship in the glorified age to come.

Worthy is the Lamb. We attribute all power, authority, and wisdom with the highest honor to Him.

PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS:

What else of significance do you see God saying in this passage?

APPLICATION:

How does this passage relate to me today?  What changes does it bring to my life?

LOCKER ROOM:

What does it mean to be a godly person? How do you want to get there?

Memory Verse: Romans 12:1-2

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

 

My Prayers

A Adoration: Father, today I praise You for…

C Confession:  Father, please forgive me for…

T Thanksgiving: Father, today I’m thankful for…

S Supplication: Father, the people & things that I wish to pray for today are…

 

Faith Works

Pre-Game Warm-Up

My dad was a man’s man. He taught hand-to-hand combat in WWII. He could work Superman into the ground. But the tenderness with which he honored my mom was his greatest sermon. At age 75, he kayaked the Grand Canyon for 261 miles and wrestled some of the most unforgiving white water on earth. But I never heard him say one negative word to my mom’s face or when her back was turned. My dad’s philosophy was simple, “Just work like it all depends on you and pray like it all depends on God, and between the two of you, you’ll usually come out okay.”

James would have liked my dad. In his New Testament letter, Jesus’ half-brother said it this way, “Someone might well say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith without works and I’ll show you my faith by works. Faith without works is useless.” “Men of faith” who sit piously in church pews listening to sermon after sermon (or even behind the pulpit preaching those sermons) who continue in bitterness, pornography, extramarital sex, financial dishonesty or passiveness to the cries of the less fortunate have become the greatest enemy of the Christian faith! The cults and world religions requiring discipline, fear and reprisals rooted in falsehood attract millions of naive followers worldwide. It is a great misfortune that misunderstood grace and “lip service” faith are turning men away from the Christian church in droves.

My dear 83 year old friend, Dr. Horace Wood, used to aptly remark, “God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you too much to leave you like that.” No doubt, when we are saved by grace alone, God sees you through “cross-colored glasses.” Equally certain is God’s principle that, “To whom much is given, much is required.” Grace is to a believer what 2×4’s are to a framer and soil is to an excavator. Faith is the stuff in which we deeply root ourselves, grit our teeth, set our mind on things above, and pour our hearts out into the pursuit of holiness. Faith motivates us to dedicate our talents, time and treasures to care for the needs of the spiritually, economically and physically less fortunate. Faith is a catalyst for action.

The story goes of the poor blind lad, sitting on a stool at the busy train station selling pencils for a few coins to meet his daily needs. In the rush of the overcrowded corridor, a busy traveler carelessly runs into the lad, scattering pencils, the stool, and the boy sprawling across the concrete surface. Without missing a step the insensitive traveler rushes on haphazardly to catch his train.

Another gentleman sees the accident and lifts the kid to his feet. Embracing him and restoring him securely on his stool, the stranger devotes himself to picking up the pencils, scattered coins and places them neatly in their box. The man then reaches into his billfold and fills the money box to the brim.

The stunned lad reaches out to take the stranger’s hand. “Mister, are you Jesus?”

“No,” the man replies. “I’m just one of His followers.”

The lad replies in astonishment, “I knew you had to be some kind of kin.”

Understanding God’s Expectations

Mark these Key Words:    Lord   Jesus   Wisdom

Old Testament Viewpoint

Proverbs 1:7, 29-31; Proverbs 2:6-7 

 

Proverbs 1:7, 29-31 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD. “They would not accept my counsel, they spurned all my reproof. So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices.”

Proverbs 2:6-7 For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity.

New Testament Viewpoint

James 2:14-17; Romans 6:1-4,11; 1 John 2:3-6  

 

James 2:14-17 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

Romans 6:1-4,11 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

1 John 2:3-6 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.  The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

 

OBSERVATION: What is God saying?

1) Describe the synergy of faith and works; of faith and obedience.

True faith produces good works. True faith produces total obedience.

2) What does James mean when he says, “Faith without works is dead.”

Disobedience negates faith.

3) Why is a grace-filled heart a heart committed to obedience?

Grace no only saves, it transforms.

4) When do works become legalism?

When we think our works will achieve God’s holiness. When we wrongly think we can work our way to God.

5) When does grace become an excuse to sin?

When we rationalize in our mind that God will forgive us anyways.

6) How does Satan deceive a believer to continue to practice sin using the excuse, “God will forgive me, so it’s okay.”

True grace produces true obedience.

7) God’s commandments are designed to protect us and provide for us.  How does obedience bring peace and fulfillment to a believer?

Obedience to God brings about a true relationship with God. God’s commandments and desires for our life creates the best in our relationships and ultimate fulfillment in our lives.

PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS:

What else of significance do you see God saying in this passage?
 

APPLICATION:

How does this passage relate to me today?  What changes does it bring to my life?

LOCKER ROOM:

How are you doing with your walk of grace and obedience?

Memory Verse: Psalms, 119:9

How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.

 

My Prayers

A Adoration: Father, today I praise You for…

C Confession: Father, please forgive me for…

T Thanksgiving: Father, today I’m thankful for…

S Supplication: Father, the people & things that I wish to pray for today are…

Pursuit

Pre-Game Warm-Up

As a tough and savvy undercover agent for the state of Texas, my brother Bill risked his life daily in undercover narcotics trafficking and organized crime. Of all the drugs he purchased and all the dope dealers he brought to justice, he said that cocaine was the most dangerous of all drugs and greatest to be feared.

“Heroine? Meth? LSD?” I asked him after watching a heroine-addicted snitch grope for the emaciated veins on her ankles and arms with a bloody needle. “Why cocaine?”

His reply was swift and certain, “Cocaine is instantly addictive. One hit and you’re an addict. You’ll steal, kill or betray for the next hit and you’ll hit it and hit it and hit it until you’re dead, broke or in prison.”

Cocaine and pornography. Similar drug. Same release of the hormone dopamine on a fragile mind. The only difference is that cocaine eventually kills the user. Porn kills collaterally.  It kills your marriage. It kills your children’s belief in you. It kills your home. It kills your moral character. It kills the sanctity of your marital sex. It kills your dreams. No wonder Jesus said, “Gouge your eyes out if that’s what it takes. Run for your life. Cut off your hand if you need to, but don’t let it take you to Hell.” (Paraphrase mine, but not far from the original Greek language in which it was written.)

Ten simple reasons to absolutely, positively, without tolerance, run from sexual impurity like a crazy man is pursuing you with a 30-30 rifle:

1.The eye is a window to a humans soul.

2. Porn releases the hormone Epinephrine into the human mind. It’s like a photographer’s 
darkroom etching the picture on the paper of the user’s mind for years, decades, or in some 
cases, forever.

3 .Porn disenfranchises your wedding vows.

4 .Porn causes a person to live in continual adultery.

5. Porn uses and abuses misguided women.

6. Porn degrades women.

7. Porn reduces women to objects to be used and discarded like trash in a dumpster.

8. Porn makes abuse look attractive.

9. Porn uses helpless children and rewards those who use them, kidnap them, rape them and 
kill them.

10.Porn comes straight from the heart of Satan. It will lure you, haunt you, use you and cook 
you.

Is freedom possible? Can a person walk away from the addiction? Absolutely. Many have and many never return. As my brother says about heroine addiction, “Only by the power of God.”

There are seven steps to freedom from pornography for life.

• See it for what it is – Satan’s bait to destroy you. Porn comes from the jaws of
  hell.
• Get an accountability partner and meet with them weekly. Select someone who’ll
  ask you tough questions and isn’t afraid to call you on the carpet.
• Memorize the Word and use it often. Psalms 101:3 and Psalms 51 are great
  places to start. Every time you are tempted, fill the moment with God’s Word.
• Exercise the most powerful muscle in your body- your will. Say it and mean it,
  “Never again. I will not ever go there again.”
• Hate it with the passion you’d use if your own daughter were getting used by
  a pornographer. Quit tolerating, rationalizing and justifying the decadent
  disease. Hate it! “Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not
  loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with the utmost hatred;
  they have become my enemies.” (Psalms 139: 21 & 22).
• Ask Christ daily for the filling of His Holy Spirit. To be filled is to be controlled
  and empowered. Yield it all to Him. “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is
  dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18).
• Destroy any traces of it in your office and home. Put a filter on your computer
  like “Be Safe Online” and an accountability link like “Covenant Eyes” to someone
  who’ll hold you accountable to your commitment. (www.besafeonline.org,
  www.covenanteyes.com)

This honest and humble account from a student at the University of Alabama I encountered is as insightful as I’ve ever heard:

“Porn controlled me.  I was numb.  I had lost all my feelings.  I hadn’t cried for five years.  Every night I’d wait ‘till everyone was asleep and go to my bedroom for one more hit.  Porn controlled me all day long.  Everything in my day was built around my porn addiction.  It destroyed all my morals.  It totally devalued all women.  I couldn’t have a friendship with a girl.  It was all about sex.  Porn ruins your life.  There’s no normality.  I even put a picture of myself on a web site to attract more girls for sex.  I look back at that and am so ashamed.  It was disgusting.  Porn destroyed me as a man, it took away all my manhood.  Even though I was in college, I became a child.  I’d imagine it.  I’d dream about it.  I became an addicted liar. 

Then came the night at the cross.  It was a night of delivery.  A night of complete transformation.  There wasn’t enough paper in that huge room for me to write all my sins on.  There weren’t enough nails to pound all my sins to that cross.  But I finally saw the love of God.  I saw God’s grace.  I realized I was forgiven.  I said, “Lord, heal me.”  The Holy Spirit broke all my chains and like the snap of my fingers it was gone.  I knew I was forgiven for all of it.  That was two and a half years ago and I’ve never gone back.  I’m dating an amazing girl now and I treat her like a queen.  I’ve made a commitment to her that she’ll never be touched in a sexual way again until her wedding night.  I have guys who hold me accountable to my commitments not to get in compromising places with her.  I still get chills and cry when I think about that night at the cross.  My life was totally transformed.”

Understanding Purity

Mark these Key Words:   Holy   Spirit

Old Testament Viewpoint

Proverbs 2:16-18; II Samuel 11:2-4(a); Psalms, 101:3; Proverbs 12:7, 9-10

 

Proverbs 2:16-18 To deliver you from the strange woman, from the adulteress who flatters with her words; that leaves the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God; for her house sinks down to death and her tracks lead to the dead.

II Samuel 11:2-4 Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, he lay with her.

Psalms, 101:3

I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not fasten its grip on me.

Proverbs 12:7, 9-10 The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous will stand.

9 Better is he who is lightly esteemed and has a servant than he who honors himself and lacks bread. A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal, but even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.

New Testament Viewpoint

1 Corinthians 6:18-20; Matthew 5:27-28; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4, 8; Matthew 5:8

 

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

Matthew 5:27-28

“You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

1 Thessalonians 4:3-4, 8 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor.

8 So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

Matthew 5:8

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

 

OBSERVATION: What is God saying?

1) Why does the issue of sexual purity carry such great rewards, great warnings and great consequences?

Marriage is sanctified. A biblical marriage is God’s ultimate earthly reflection on our relationship with Him. Sexual faithfulness to our spouse demonstrates ultimate faithfulness to God.

2) How can a person learn from David’s experience with Bathsheba?

• His first mistake? Lust
• His fall? Acting out his lust
• His consequences? God’s condemnation of sin
• His restoration? Resurrection. God is merciful.

3) How does a person pursue and keep a pure heart?  Why is the heart so pivotal to their success in their quest for sexual purity?

By abstaining from all forms of lust. The heart is where Jesus lives and where we decide what is right.

4) It has been said that a person’s eyes are the window to their soul.  Discuss the significance of how, where and what is placed before our eyes. 

iPhones, iPad, computer, TV, music, movies and communication with others are the avenues of lust. We must be vigilant in our choices.

5) Give specific examples of practices you are learning with sexually-depraved media opportunities.

(Personal Answer)

6) Why is accepting God’s grace (Romans 8:1) and accepting God’s call to explicit obedience (Romans 6:1) so important to our success in our walk in purity?

It removes our shame and feeling of guilt. Shame and guilt demotivate us to practice holiness.

PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS:

What else of significance do you see God saying in this passage?
 

APPLICATION:

How does this passage relate to me today?  What changes does it bring to my life?

LOCKER ROOM:

Will you commit to accountability with someone on a regular basis?  Will you ask and answer these questions:

• Have you had any improper sexual encounters this week?
• With your heart?
• With your eyes?
• With your body?

Memory Verse: Psalms, 101:3

I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not fasten its grip on me.

 

My Prayers

A Adoration: Father, today I praise You for…

C Confession: Father, please forgive me for…

T Thanksgiving: Father, today I’m thankful for…

S Supplication: Father, the people & things that I wish to pray for today are…