The Seek God Challenge Day 28

January 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment

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THE GOSPEL IS OUR ONLY HOPE

(THE IMPORTANCE OF FAITH)

READ

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

-Ephesians 2:4-7

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person

is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

-Galatians 2:15-16

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

-Romans 5:1

Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

-1 John 2:4-6

THINK

So we’ve seen our condition before God (dead in our sin), and then we’ve seen God’s saving plan (Jesus death & resurrection), now we want to see how we move from death in sin to life in Christ. According to both Galatians 15-16, and Romans 5:1 how do we stand right before God?

As we mentioned early on in our study, too often we stop at what we believe is the point of salvation then we may miss Jesus altogether. 1 John 2:4-6 tells us that what must be present to say that we “know” God?

Why is doing what Jesus tells us to do an important part of faith?

Jesus’s actions on the cross and through the resurrection opens the door to us to move from death to life and if we will place our faith in Christ, repent from our sins, and walk in His ways we will be transformed, both in our eternal destination and on this earth.

So then the whole answer of how we enter from death to life is?

PRAY

These thoughts and prayers are just a guide to get you started in your conversation with God. Think of them as conversation starters rather than a check list to quickly pray.

Pray that your faith will grow in such a way that you will walk in the ways of Jesus.

Pray that as we desire God we come to better understanding of the gospel and its role in your life.

DO

Take a minute and write out the gospel in a way that helps you clearly understand it.

Download the guide here

 

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The Seek God Challenge Day 24

January 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment

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THE GOSPEL FOUNDATION

READ

“21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”

-Romans 3:21-26

THINK

We see quickly in verse 23 that all human beings are what?

Verses 24 & 25 tell us that “redemption” and forgiveness of that sin come as a result of Who? And as a result of what?

We as humans can take hold of this forgiveness how?

And then in verse 26 it tells us that we can be justified or made acceptable by what?

PRAY

These thoughts and prayers are just a guide to get you started in your conversation with God. Think of them as conversation starters rather than a check list to quickly pray

Pray that we will clearly see that the truth and our spiritual, eternal condition will be made plain to us

Pray that we will begin to view those around us in light of the scriptures and see their need for Jesus

DO

Take your list from yesterday and write a note to one of the people on it letting them know that you are praying for them. It can be a text message, facebook message, handwritten note, etc. Then take a few more moments and pray that God will give you an opportunity to share the Gospel in there life.

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The Seek God Challenge Day 14

January 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment

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IMITATE ME?


READ

“4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

-Philippians 4:4-9

 

THINK

We see Paul give us a guideline to have a holy mind in this passage. He tells us to “think about these things” or to meditate on them. Who is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable? Does dwelling on the things of God change your perspective? How so?

In verse 9 Paul makes what seems like a crazy statement, he says “what you have learned and received and heard in seen in me- practice these things”. He’s telling the Philippian church to watch how he lives and what he does and live like that, do that. We jump to the accusation of arrogance and or self-righteousness when we see statements like that, but Paul is living a life of integrity passionately pursuing God and so he can say in humility imitate me. If we want to see God use us to change our generation we will need to live with this kind of integrity. Where is your life at in comparison to being able to say “imitate me as I imitate Christ”?

What changes in your life need to happen to be able to say that?

PRAY

These thoughts and prayers are just a guide to get you started in your conversation with God. Think of them as conversation starters rather than a check list to quickly pray.

“Think about these things”  

Ask God to help you allow His peace to guard your hearts and minds

“What you have seen in me…do these things”

Pray that God will walk you into a life of integrity so that your life may reflect Christ to those you come in contact with.

DO

To begin to dwell on “whatever is true, whatever is honorable…” memorize verse eight over the next week.

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The Seek God Challenge Day 13

January 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment

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PURITY IS NECESSARY FOR

TRUE WORSHIP

 

READ

“8 Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had cleansed the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God.9 They came to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had collected from Manasseh and Ephraim and from all the remnant of Israel and from all Judah and Benjamin and from the inhabitants of Jerusalem.10 And they gave it to the workmen who were working in the house of the Lord. And the workmen who were working in the house of the Lord gave it for repairing and restoring the house.11 They gave it to the carpenters and the builders to buy quarried stone, and timber for binders and beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had let go to ruin.12 And the men did the work faithfully. Over them were set Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to have oversight. The Levites, all who were skillful with instruments of music,13 were over the burden-bearers and directed all who did work in every kind of service, and some of the Levites were scribes and officials and gatekeepers.”

-2 Chronicles 34:8-13

 

THINK

Matthew Henry points out that “Orders are given by the king for the repair of the temple, v. 8. When he had purged the house of the corruptions of it he began to fit it up for the services that were to be performed in it. Thus we must do by the spiritual temple of the heart, get it cleansed from the pollutions of sin, and then renewed, so as to be transformed into the image of God.” How will having a pure heart affect your worship?

Seeking God throughout the week will have a definite impact on your worship on Sundays/Wednesdays. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?

God moves in the churches/lives that are marked by repentance and holiness. This is because holiness matters to God. Knowing this truth, how should we seek to see God move in our life/church?

PRAY

These thoughts and prayers are just a guide to get you started in your conversation with God. Think of them as conversation starters rather than a check list to quickly pray.

These people were avid worshippers; they had just missed the point and began to worship other gods. Revival happens when the people inside the church get serious about their own purity

Pray that we will be more concerned about worshipping God with our lives all the time rather than just on Sundays.

Pray that we will be more concerned with worshipping God with our lives than the kind of music

DO

Taking the truth of revival starting in our churches rather than with people outside the world, take a look at how you worship in the church setting. What needs to change/stay the same?

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The Seek God Challenge Day 2

January 2, 2012 by Leave a Comment

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PURSUE GOD WITH PASSION

READ

Philippians 3:7-11

“7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith int Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”

THINK

How is just “accepting Christ” different from the passion pursuit that Paul talks about here?

Paul says that, “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” which means that in comparison to knowing Jesus everything this world has to offer is insignificant. How is our worldly view of life and accomplishments different from this perspective? How would this type of perspective change how you go about your day?

Paul says “and “so somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead” other translations have “by any means" he's telling us that the difficult things (ie. Persecution, being unpopular, even death) will be worth it, in light of the goal of sharing knowing Christ deeply and sharing in His resurrection. How is that contrary to our American Christianity and the thought that only church attendance and “good living” is required for Christians? Does the thought of giving everything up to chase God scare you or excite you? Why?

The Greek word for garbage or rubbish had one of two uses: excrement from the body, or table scraps that were fit only to be thrown to the dogs. So saying that “I consider them (his abilities/accomplishments) garbage” is strong wording. Literally, Paul considers them as excrement - as dung; not only worthless, but offensive. In order to have this type of distaste for the world you must be passionately seeking God. You have to have been close enough to see Him for the things of this word to look as garbage and be offensive to you because they stand in your way of knowing Him more. What is your image of God today? Do you hunger for Him or is He just some part of your life? How can that change?

PRAY

These thoughts and prayers are just a guide to get you started in your conversation with God. Think of them as conversation starters rather than a check list to quickly pray.

Has you separated faith in God from a passionate pursuit of God? Is He just part of your religion or Lord of your life? When we see the King we want to know Him deeper.

Pray that your heart will be ignited and begin to burn with passion for the King of kings

Are there things in your life that you are placing as more valuable than a pursuit of God? A good way to evaluate that is what is the majority of your time spent doing?

Pray that a passionate pursuit of God would become the main priority of your life

DO

Stop right now and grab something to write with and write down an honest assessment of what you're doing with your time. See what things jump out as obvious priorities, and which ones are causing you to seek God deeper.

Download the guide here

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