13 Week Discipleship Class Session Guide WWW.FREEDOMMINISTRIES.CC
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TABLE OF CONTENTS WELCOME LETTER
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WEEK ONE
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WEEK TWO:
17
WEEK THREE:
36
WEEK FOUR:
53
WEEK FIVE:
69
WEEK SIX:
85
WEEK SEVEN:
102
WEEK EIGHT:
117
WEEK NINE:
134
WEEK TEN:
150
WEEK ELEVEN:
165
WEEK TWELVE:
180
WEEK THIRTEEN:
196
WELCOME LETTER Dear Friend, Welcome to the Freedom Discipleship Class. We are so excited that you made the decision to join us on this journey. We are believing that this will be a transformational experience for you. Are you ready to go deeper in the Word, your intimacy with God, and experience freedom like never before? Grow and Connect with God? In the next thirteen weeks you will have the opportunity to discover the foundations of the Christian faith walking in the freedom Christ provides for you with lessons that cover key aspects of your walk with Christ. These sessions will cover the Alpha Course, a well-known discipleship course that is taught throughout the world with amazing results. Each lesson will challenge your mindset and provide tools that will help you walk in freedom Whether you are a new Christian, a newcomer to Christ’s Place, or just want to deepen your understanding of your faith, the Freedom Discipleship Class is going to be a great experience for you. We thank God for your life and pray that during these next thirteen weeks God will reveal himself to you in a new way as you explore what freedom in Christ is all about The best is yet to come,
Pastor Rick & Wendy Lorimer Lead Pastors
Welcome Letter // 1
WEEK ONE: A Kingdom Parable
OBJECTIVE: Understand who God is and begin to walk in freedom.
NOTES: •
Focus on something different – What you seek first organizes every other aspect of your life. “Seek first the kingdom of God and all other things will be added to you.” – plug into the power source. •
Don’t focus on what you are wanting to receive relief from.
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Change the way you think about the things you are focused on. – “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Prov. 23:7
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The way that you think shapes how you perceive and think in your heart.
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His DNA and his birthright determine who he is - everything in him wants to fulfill who he was designed to be •
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not the trauma of his birth circumstances
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not the family that he was raised in
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not the forces set against him
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not the turning of his heart and the leanings of his soul
There are some things hidden in your heart that you may never discover if you don’t push yourself enough to find them.
GROUP DISCUSSION: •
As we invite God to show us things from His perspective, be aware of what thoughts, images, memories, and words come to your mind. He rarely speaks audibly, but rather to our spirit, a way of hearing we are not very accustomed to. There is a “feeling” when He speaks. It feels like life being poured into you. We learn to sense this. It is the restoration of relationship with the Presence of God.
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Listening for God: be aware of what’s going on inside. For focus, you can close your eyes. Ask God the questions, listening for His response after each question.
PRAYER AND CONTEMPLATION: •
Show me that time in my life when I was so badly broken and I began to walk with a limp – where were you and what lies did I believe in those moments of my life?
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Jesus, when I found myself in circumstances and relationships that pressed down on me and put my heart to a slow death – where were you then and what lies did I believe because I couldn’t see you in that moment? Week One // 3
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Jesus, would you speak into those moments in my life where the fallen-ness of our world and the kingdom of darkness were doing everything they could to steal from me the life that you made me for?
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Would you begin to reveal lies that I’ve believed? More importantly, would you begin to speak your truth to me, in me, and through me?
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Thank you that you look us in the eyes and say, “I love you. I don’t need you to perform. I just want you to discover who I made you to be.” And from this day forward, Jesus, would you show me the kind of truth that sets me free?
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VIDEO TAKEAWAYS:
DISCUSSION TAKEAWAYS:
Week One // 5
PRAYER REQUESTS: For Myself:
For Others In My Group:
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DAY ONE: Freedom Discipleship Class is a study regarding how we see and know things, because freedom isn’t the absence of something, it’s the presence of Someone. Freedom, and the Truth (Jesus) that brings us to it, is not so much what we know as Who we know and how we know Him. We were created to be in relational connection with the Creator. One of the crucial things we lost in the Garden was communication with God. In most cases, we have made prayer a one-sided conversation. Jesus came to restore the truth of who we are—our true identity. While it’s true our sin was in the way, the relationship was what He died to achieve.
READ: Luke 19:10, and Hebrews 12:2 What stands out to you from this reading?
Week One // 7
CONTEMPLATE: In the introduction Bob asked us, “How far in (our heart) have we let Jesus go?” Ask HIM to show you…
PRAY: Jesus, I have asked you to come into my heart and forgive me of sin, but now I’m asking You to show me the areas I have held kept back from You. Pause here… let Him answer. (If you are willing, pray… “Jesus, I give You full access to my heart. You have no limitations, no boundaries. I am fully open to You.”)
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DAY TWO: As we invite God to speak/show us things from His perspective, be aware of what thoughts, images, memories, and words come to your mind. He rarely speaks audibly, but rather to our spirit, a way of hearing we are not accustomed to. There is a “feeling” when He speaks. It feels like life being poured into you. We learn to sense this. It is the restoration of relationship with the presence of God. If you are unsure why He’s showing you something, ask Him. He tells us to come and talk with Him!
READ: Psalm 27:8, and James 1:5 What stands out to you from this reading?
Week One // 9
CONTEMPLATE: Jesus, do I really believe You take joy in talking to me? Do you still take joy in talking with me even when I fail?
PRAY: Lord Jesus, show me Your truth as I begin this journey of freedom.
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DAY THREE: In 2 Corinthians 2:6-16, Paul is encouraging the believers that God’s secret wisdom is revealed to us by His Spirit, that we may understand what God has freely given us. Our lives are marked by defining moments. Think of one that impacted the way you see yourself.
READ: 1 Corinthians 2:6-16 What stands out to you from this reading?
Week One // 11
CONTEMPLATE: What are the messages you have allowed to define you from a defining moment in your life?
PRAY: Jesus, as I still myself before You, show me what You say about the messages that I have allowed to define me.
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DAY FOUR: Yesterday, you contemplated and prayed about a message that has shaped you. Was there a dream, talent, or ability that was “behind” or “under” that message? Ask God if these were things put inside you by Him when He made you. Satan often tries hardest to kill our dreams, steal our talents, or convince us we can’t achieve what God says we can. Talk to God about how this has played out in your life.
READ: 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 What stands out to you from this reading?
Week One // 13
CONTEMPLATE: Jesus, how have I tried to do the work of transformation myself?
PRAY: Lord Jesus, I need help to just look at You and who you say I am.
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DAY FIVE: Learning to dismiss anything that distracts us from focusing on our King and His kingdom is a process. But it does start with a single step! Jesus covers common areas of distraction; [self-preservation] food and [self-image] clothes. God, our Father, knows we need these things and when we focus on Him and His place, we won’t even notice how He takes care of all that. But He does!
READ: Matthew 6: 25-33 What stands out to you from this reading?
Week One // 15
CONTEMPLATE: Jesus, show me the things I’ve focused on recently and how those things have ordered my life.
PRAY: Father, forgive me for thinking I have the power to fix my own problems when You are waiting to do it for me. I take my problems off that pedestal and ask You to be there instead. I worship You alone, knowing You will take care of the things I need. I choose to focus on You.
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WEEK TWO:
Levels of Change (Chapter 1) OBJECTIVE:
Begin to identify the lies you have believed about yourself and discover the truth.
NOTES: The life of a believer comes from the One we believe in. The Levels of Change: Level 1 – Environment •
Believing that if something outside us would change we’d be OK.
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Stuck in the “clean diaper/dirty diaper” cycle.
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Trying very, very hard with the wrong tool.
Week Two // 17
Level 2 – Behavior (thoughts and feelings) •
We get our truth – or the version of our truth – from our experiences. Our “truth” leads to behavior, which then reinforces our version of the truth.
Level 3 – Capabilities Our capabilities or limitations are those things in our heart that define for us what we can or can’t do, think or feel, locking us into a way of thinking or acting.
GROUP DISCUSSION: What did you learn from the acrobat parable? Galatians 2:20 Amplified Bible (AMP) I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. •
Have you ever had the thought that Christianity works for everybody but you? What experiences made you reach that decision?
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Can you recall a time when you said, “It’s too late for me… I’ll never be different and I can’t change?” Let’s dig deeper: What was the lie you believed that made you think you could not change?
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What is God inviting you to learn from Proverbs 27:3 - “As a man believes in his heart, so is he”? (Hint: a thought is resident in your mind, a belief is resident in your heart)
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PRAYER AND CONTEMPLATION: Meditate on Ephesians 3:20 : Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think Ask God to open the eyes of your heart and respond to the following questions: •
What are the lies you believe about yourself?
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What are the truths you believe about yourself?
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What are the lies you believe about God?
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What are the truths you believe about God?
Week Two // 19
WHO GOD IS:
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The Father of mercies and the God of comfort
II Cor. 1:3
The first and the last; beside Him there is no God
Isa 44:6
There is none holy as the Lord
I Sam 2:2
The only true God
John 17:3
The most high God
Hebrews 7:1
The Lord God Almighty who was, and is, and is to come
Rev. 4:8
God of god’s, Lord of lords, a great God, Mighty and Awesome
Deut 10:17
With Him is wisdom and strength, counsel, and understanding
Job 12:13
Of great power; there is nothing too hard for Him
Jer 32:17
Worthy to receive glory and honor and power
Rev 4:11
Holy and awesome is His name
Psalm 111:9
Who reigns forever
Psalm 146:10
Whatever God does shall be forever
Ecc 3:14
For He is good and His mercy endures forever
II Chr 5:13
Righteous in all His ways and holy
Psalm 145:17
Full of compassion and gracious, long-suffering and plenteous in mercy and truth
Psalm 86:15
Lives in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness
Jeremiah 4:2
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WHO GOD IS: Rich in mercy
Ephesians 2:24
Our refuge
Deut 33:27
The Lord that heals you
Exodus 15:26
The Judge of all
Hebrews 12:23
Good to all
Psalm 145:9
Slow to anger and great in power
Nahum 1:3
The faithful God
I Cor 10:13
The omnipresent God
Psalm 139
The Lord God omnipotent
Revelation 19:6
The God of love and peace
II Cor 13:11
The God of patience and of hope
Romans 15:5, 13
Who is light and in Him is no darkness at all
I John 1:15
From everlasting to everlasting
Psalm 90:2
My maker
Job 35:10
My light and my salvation; the strength of my life
Psalm 27:1
A shield for me; my glory and the lifter of my head
Psalm 3:3
A refuge for the oppressed; a stronghold in the day of trouble
Psalm 9:9 Nah 1:7
A rewarder of them that diligently seek Him
Hebrews 11:6
Near to all who call upon Him
Psalm 145:18
Never changes
Malachi 3:6
Not one of His promises has failed
John 23:14
Week Two   //  21
WHO I AM: I am God’s child
I Pet 1:23
I am forgiven
Eph 1:7
I am a new creature
II Cor 5:17
I am the temple of the Holy Spirit
I Cor 6:19
I am delivered from the power of darkness
Col. 1:13
I am strong in the Lord
Eph 6:10
I am holy and without blame before Him
Eph 1:4
I am accepted in Christ
Eph 1:6
I am blessed
Deut 28:1-14
I am victorious
Rev 21:7
I am loved with an everlasting love
Jer 31:3
I am set free
John 8:31-33
I am raised up with Christ and seated in Heavenly places
Col 2:12
I am His faithful follower
Eph 5:1
I am the light of the world
Matt 5:14
I am the salt of the earth
Matt 5:13
I am called of God
II Tim 1:9
I am born of God and the evil one does not touch me
I John 5:8
I am more than a conqueror
Rom 8:37
I am beloved of God
I Thess 1:4
I am complete in Christ
Col 2:10
I am the apple of my Father’s eye
Psalm 17:8
I am free from condemnation
Romans 8:1
I am chosen
I Thess 1:4
I am God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works
Eph 2:10
I am being changed into His image
Phil 1:6
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WHO I AM: I have the mind of Christ
I Cor 2:16
I have everlasting life
John 6:47
I have the peace of God which passes understanding
Phil 4:7
I have access to the Father by one Spirit
Eph 2:18
I have received the power of the Holy Spirit
Mark 16:17
I can do all things through Jesus Christ
Phil 4:13
I shall do even greater works through Jesus
John 14:12
I walk in Christ Jesus
Col 2:6
I can know God’s voice
John 10:14
LISTENING PRAYER STATEMENTS: •
Jesus, today begins a process of change at a new level for me spiritually. I will see the things the Holy Spirit wants to show me, I will hear what You want to speak to me and I will feel or sense Your Presence with me. I receive everything You want to reveal to me You-God, my Father, Jesus, my Lord and Your Holy Spirit, my Teacher. Tune my ears to hear You, open my eyes to see You, and awaken my spirit to feel and sense You. In Jesus Name.
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Jesus, I have spent years just trying harder, which has left me frustrated, defeated and exhausted! Please, forgive me for believing the lie that my freedom depends on me. Bring Your truth into this place in me and set me free to live life in You!
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Jesus, I have believed things about myself that oppose what You say about me. They are lies aimed at destroying my true identity. Will you speak Your Words of Life into my spirit?
Week Two // 23
VIDEO TAKEAWAYS:
DISCUSSION TAKEAWAYS:
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PRAYER REQUESTS: For Myself:
For Others In My Group:
Week Two // 25
DAY ONE: I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. —Galatians 2:20 The life of a believer comes from the One we believe in. The life of a believer comes from the One we believe in. Paul’s intimate relationship with Jesus is an example of this. Once the Truth was revealed to him (Acts 9) his world was turned inside out and he spent the rest of his life turning his world upside down! The wisdom of this world is beneficial for us, but it doesn’t help us spiritually. In fact, when we look at spiritual truth our brain can get in the way. Wisdom is knowing what to do with knowledge. The most pitiful scam ever was in the Garden when Satan was able to convince Adam and Eve they needed more knowledge than they already had access to as they were connected to God! They had a free flowing river of knowledge, along with the wisdom to know what to do with it!
READ: 1 Corinthians 1:18-30 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: How have I confused the wisdom of God with the knowledge of this world?
PRAY: Jesus, today begins a process of change at a new level for me spiritually. I will see the things the Holy Spirit wants to show me, I will hear what You want to speak to me and I will feel, or sense Your presence with me. I receive everything from You and only You-God, my Father, Jesus, my Lord and from Your Holy Spirit, Who is my Teacher. Tune my ears to hear You, open my eyes to see You and awaken my spirit to feel and sense You. In Jesus Name.
Week Two // 27
DAY TWO: Level 1 – Environment Change on the outside of us does not determine freedom on the inside of us. If our freedom depended upon someone else changing, something we cannot control, we would be victims. God does not create victims. If all of our “if only’s” were met, it would not add up to our freedom. If your happiness was in one or more of these “if only’s” taking place, what are you waiting to happen?
READ: Acts 16:16-25 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: You read about Paul and Silas. What does the image of them being free men in chains show you about yourself?
PRAY: Lord Jesus, will You show me where I have tried to blame others for my lack of freedom?
Week Two // 29
DAY THREE: Level 2 – Behavior (thoughts and feelings) We get our truth (or our version of truth) from our experiences. Our “truth” leads to behavior, which then reinforces our version of the truth. Do you remember the labels people gave you or maybe you gave yourself? Maybe you kept that label from group, or maybe those words are written deep in your thoughts. Do those labels agree with what God says?
READ: Choose passages and a few from the list of ‘What God Says About You’ What stands out to you from the passages you’ve chosen?
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CONTEMPLATE: How does this reading bring freedom?
PRAY: Jesus, others have given and I have written labels for myself that do not agree with what You say about me. Will You show me when I began believing each one? Where were You in that situation and what were You saying to me?
Week Two   //  31
DAY FOUR: Level 2 – Behavior (thoughts and feelings continued) Not all labels are negative. There’s nothing more confusing or hard to detect in ourselves than a Christian lie. This is where we “do” the right thing for the wrong reasons. If Satan can’t lead us out of the church, he’s quite happy to twist the truth and bury us inside it. Legalism could look like holiness, but is void of love and usually wrapped in self-righteousness. Gossip can be disguised in prayer requests, and criticism claimed as the spiritual gift of discernment. But under it all is brokenness that Jesus wants us to see so we can repent and receive His forgiveness.
READ: James 3: 9-12 and Matthew 7:21-23 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: How have I used service for Jesus, as a substitute for relationship with Jesus?
PRAY: Jesus, I lay my “Christianity” before You, and ask You to examine it. Give me Your perspective on my service, and my motives. Please show me if I have given myself Christian labels that do not come from a pure heart.
Week Two // 33
DAY FIVE: Level 3 – Capabilities Our capabilities or limitations are those things in our heart that define for us what we can and can’t do, think, or feel and they function like a thermostat. When you’re feeling the immense pressure of changing the things that have never changed before, that’s how you know you’ve hit your “upper limits.” Our capabilities function like a thermostat or a governor locking us into a way of thinking, acting, and feeling, convincing us that it’ll never be different, but what if it could be?
READ: Matthew 25: 15 and John 15:5 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: Jesus, show me the limits I have set in my heart.
PRAY: Father, forgive me for living through my own power. Will you help me to see what life would be like if I let You live through me.
Week Two // 35
WEEK THREE:
Levels of Change (Chapter 2) OBJECTIVE:
Identify the lies you have believed about yourself and discover the truth. NOTES: BELIEF •
Example of Thought – God loves us
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Example of Belief – When you wake up in the morning with a strong sense of the affection of the creator of the universe for you and you’re convinced that He wants to walk out His day with you and yours with Him; that He loves you and doesn’t hate you; that He is for you and not against you.
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When you know that in the deep places of your gut, when things go wrong, you live in peace because you know he loves you and you trust that He’s more powerful than anything out there. Now we’re talking about believing that God loves us.
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IDENTITY •
Your identity is the blueprint in the heart of God when he created you. Not what you have felt all of your life, not what you have cooked up or imagined about yourself, but it’s the blueprint in the mind of a creative and always good God who said, “I’m going to fill the world with representatives of my nature.”
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When we begin to see what was in God’s heart when He knit us together, what was in His mind when He began to dream us up, then we can not only begin to see it, but when we can recognize it and start to agree with it, now you’re talking about the kind of truth that can set people free. What’s true about you, not in your experience, but in the mind of God?
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Psalm 139:1-18
GROUP DISCUSSION: 1.
Based on Bob’s definitions of thoughts and beliefs, give an example of a belief you hold about yourself.
2. Listen as your facilitator reads Psalm 139:1-18 and be ready to share one thing that pricked your heart. 3. Use the scripture lists this week to get to know who God is and who you are in his blueprint.
Week Three // 37
Anatomy of a Stronghold Examples: Fear, Rejection, Pride, Shame, Unbelief, Lust, Addictions, Unforgiveness, Depression, Anger, Regret, Soul Ties, Vows/Judgement, Trauma, Etc.
Pain
Event
Fear
Idolatry
Others React
1. Source of Truth? 2. Source of Security? 3. Source of Comfort?
Answer?
Lie
Repent = Change Sources
Hear God 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
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How do I defend self? How do I seek comfort? Confess/Receive Renounce way & role Invite the Father to be your source Agree/Confess
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Defense/ Comfort
Hear God 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
What’s the lie? Confess/Receive Renounce the lie Forgive? What’s the truth? Agree/Confess
Our enemy doesn’t accept defeat without a fight. He does not want us to discover the lies he has sown in us that give him access to influence us. Those events, through which he “offered” us a reason (lie) that we agreed with, began the cycle of defending/comforting why we feel the way we do about the experience, our expectation bringing it to be, just as we expected. With repeated exposure, this cycle becomes a pattern. After a period of time patterns become lifestyles. The battleground is set as we begin to adjust our beliefs to agree with what takes place inside of us at salvation. The opposing sides face off: what we used to believe and what’s true about us now.
LISTENING PRAYER STATEMENTS: •
Jesus, please show me how my beliefs have altered the way I see You, my life, or others.
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As we saw how a stronghold is formed using Bob’s story about his Dad, that made sense to me. Jesus, when has my enemy used painful or fearful moments in my life to introduce his lies? Jesus, show me Your truth in that hard situation.
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Jesus, will You show me what I really believe about You?
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Jesus, who am I allowing to set my value?
Week Three // 39
VIDEO TAKEAWAYS:
DISCUSSION TAKEAWAYS:
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PRAYER REQUESTS: For Myself:
For Others In My Group:
Week Three // 41
DAY ONE: Level 4 – Beliefs Beliefs are more difficult to detect because they usually can’t be described in words. There is a sense to them. Our beliefs silently guide our lives by interrupting for us what is happening around us. Through this “contact lens” over our heart we experience life. We change our perspective only by changing our beliefs. When we try to change at the wrong level, we can do serious damage to our souls. What you believe has dominion over the lower 3 levels (environment, behavior, and capabilities). There’s nothing that exposes a lie stuck in our beliefs like scripture and God’s voice speaking to us. As we read, we get a sense of some of the beliefs we hold in our hearts that do not line up with what we read in God’s Word. Or as we read something in scripture, and a sense of disconnect comes up within us or a twinge that something has just hit up against a sharp place inside us, it’s important to stop and invite the Holy Spirit to show us what’s going on. If what you feel and what you read do not agree, He has helped you expose a lie. Remember, however, He has provided the light to see it and also paid for your forgiveness! Gratefully and honestly repent for believing the lie. That is all He asks us to do.
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READ: 2 Timothy 3:16 and Hebrews 4:12 What stands out to you from these two verses?
Week Three // 43
CONTEMPLATE: Where do my beliefs come from? What are some of the lies I have believed as a result of bad experiences?
PRAY: Jesus, in some of my experiences, Satan has whispered a lie that made sense in the moment, but what are You saying to me? (Invite Jesus into that place in your heart and receive His truth. Enjoy the freedom found in His presence).
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DAY TWO: Level 4 – Beliefs (continued) scripture reading, meditation and even memorization is much more than a check list of spiritual disciplines. It cleans our souls by exposing anything that is out of line with God’s heart. Remember the story of the “depressed lady?” When Bob first met her, she believed, “It’s too late for me. I’ll always be depressed.” She couldn’t account for the difference between what the Word said and her experience. How did she get from there to, “These things are true about me! Why didn’t anyone tell me?!” to eight years later still going strong? What she heard God say to her was different than what she had believed. In that moment she chose to believe what He said to her. Information changes our thoughts, but revelation changes our beliefs.
READ: Romans 10:17 What stands out to you from this reading?
Week Three // 45
CONTEMPLATE: Lord, expose to me things that are not in line with Your heart.
PRAY: Jesus, I have wondered what my value is, but now help me identify who I have allowed to answer that question for me?
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DAY THREE: Level 4 – Beliefs (continued) What we believe about God has a great deal to do with how we see Him and how we approach Him. How do you “see” God? What is He like to you? What words would you use to describe Him?
READ: Psalm 46:4-5, Numbers 23:1 What stands out to you from this reading?
Week Three // 47
CONTEMPLATE: How has your view of GOD kept you from drawing near to GOD?
PRAY: Jesus, help me to see YOU in a whole new way. Envelope me with your love, your peace, and the joy of your presence today, and every day.
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DAY FOUR: Level 4 – Beliefs (continued) If there is a sense of “I should” or “I better” DO my devotions (spend time with God) there is something out of place. We WANT to be with those we love. Although we may be able to quote the Bible verse about God loving the whole world, the difference between that being a thought and a belief will play out in our actions. The problem isn’t that your will power isn’t strong enough to make yourself get with Him, rather the picture we have is so incorrect that we don’t desire to be with Him. That alone tells us we need help seeing Him with more truth. It is said that to see what a person values look at their day planner and their checkbook. When I take an honest inventory of what I do with my time and how I spend my money, what would they say my relationship with God was like? (This is not a time to beat ourselves up as that is a distraction tactic. This is a chance to be self-aware and address things that are keeping us stuck where we don’t want to stay.)
READ: James 3:9-12, Matthew 7:21-23 What stands out to you from this reading?
Week Three // 49
CONTEMPLATE: Jesus, show me how to be the person God the Father had in mind when made me…that is the accurate picture of who I am.
PRAY: Jesus, I want my relationship with You to deepen. This is hard emotional work to look through my life for evidence of lies I’ve believed, where they got started and what truth You want me to hear. Will You give me the strength I need for this journey and walk with me through it?
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DAY FIVE: Level 5– Identity The Blueprint in the mind of God when He designed you.
READ: John 1:12, John 15:15, and 1 Thessalonians 1:4 What stands out to you from this reading?
Week Three // 51
CONTEMPLATE: God has chosen you. What does this mean?
PRAY: Father, will You show me how to be the person You had in mind when You made me? That is the accurate picture of who I am.
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WEEK FOUR:
Levels of Change (Chapter 3) OBJECTIVE: Understanding Biblical Salvation
REFLECTIONS FROM WEEK THREE: If what you believe to be true about yourself is contrary to what God says about you in His Word, then it’s a lie. Do you believe any lies about yourself?
NOTES: •
We often define sin incompletely - as a set of behaviors, thoughts or feelings. That process has two traps: •
When we believe sin is at the behavior level, we try to solve it by changing our behavior.
Week Four // 53
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When we talk about sin as a behavior only, we bring part of the problem to the whole of God’s solution. In other words, it’s like treating cancer with Tylenol.
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Sin is far worse than bad behaving people.
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Sin is the absence of God in the human soul.
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The absence of God equals the presence of death in the human soul where the source of my life is cut off.
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Jesus died on the cross because death is in you and you need life.
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Jesus died so that you can have life through the presence of God.
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Jesus didn’t die for what you have done but He died for who you are.
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He died on the cross for the death that is inside of me.
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I now put my dead-self on the cross and God takes my old nature and replaces it with His nature.
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God makes us a new creation, not just a new expectation.
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God will draw us into relationship so he can tell us the truth about who He is and who we really are.
GROUP DISCUSSION: What does it mean to be made a new creation in Christ? Has God changed an area in your life from the inside out?
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PRAYER AND CONTEMPLATION: Lord, I bring my whole self to you and I’m asking you to forgive me for the death that is inside of me. Lord, exchange the death inside of me and put your life inside of me, right now. Thank you for forgiving me and making me a new creation. Amen
LISTENING PRAYER STATEMENTS: •
Jesus, thank You for being my substitute on the cross. You took the death penalty for me and gave me Your life instead! I receive Your life and the power of Your resurrection that makes me new! Speak to me, Lord. I’m listening for You.
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Jesus, the things I feel most strongly about, the things that I feel are so true. They must line up with what You say or they can’t be true. What should I do with the thoughts that run over and over in my mind that don’t agree with what You say?
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Jesus, when I am tempted to believe these things will never change, will you remind me of the depressed lady or others like her, who believed You over their experience and whom You have set free? When I feel weak, Lord, remind me that Your strength is more than enough.
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VIDEO TAKEAWAYS:
DISCUSSION TAKEAWAYS:
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PRAYER REQUESTS: For Myself:
For Others In My Group:
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DAY ONE: How has the idea that sin is more than our behaviors, thoughts, and feelings challenged you? As we bring to Jesus our whole self (not just behaviors) for crucifixion, He fills us with the life He won by defeating death. He replaces the sin (death) with life and makes us a new creation. Life has replaced death in us! This is biblical salvation. Our enemy doesn’t accept defeat without a fight. He does not want us to discover the lies he has sown in us that give him access to influence us. Remember the diagram of The Anatomy of a Stronghold? Those events, through which he “offered” us a reason (lie) that we agreed with, began the cycle of defending/comforting why we feel the way we do about the experience, our expectation bringing it to be, just as we expected. With repeated exposure over and over, this cycle becomes a pattern. After a period of time patterns become lifestyles. The battleground is set as we begin to adjust our beliefs to agree with what takes place inside of us at salvation. The opposing sides face off: what we used to believe and what’s true about us now.
READ: Romans 3:24-25, 2 Corinthians. 5:17, John 10:10 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: If biblical salvation is the life of Jesus replacing the death in us, then the truth about us now has power over what we used to believe.
PRAY: Jesus, are there other things in my life that need to be replaced with your truth? Your peace for my anxiety? Your wisdom for my confusion? Your love for my fear? What else do You want to replace in me with Your truth?
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DAY TWO: We can strengthen our defense by exposing ourselves to truth. We don’t HAVE to read the Bible, but when we do, we read about the One who loves us beyond what we can comprehend! We read how He cares for and provides for us. We get to know His heart. We don’t HAVE to pray, but when we do, we connect with the source of life. We feel His life fill us like warmth, peace and purpose. We don’t HAVE to go to church, but when we do we are in a community moving toward God together, supporting each other. We don’t HAVE to do any of these things, but they help us expose lies we have believed and offer us the truth with which to replace them.
READ: Psalm 119:29-35, Psalm 63, Ephesians 4:2-16 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: How do these verses take the “have to” out of scripture reading, prayer, and regular church attendance?
PRAY: Jesus, I let go of the self-imposed expectations of what it looks like to be Yours. I ask You to wipe my heart clean of anything that opposes Your Lordship in me. How do You want me to get to know You today? Write down what you hear from the Lord through the help of the Holy Spirit:
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DAY THREE: As we adjust our beliefs to align with God’s truth about us as a new creation, which of the following categories holds the greatest struggle for you? Demonic Oppression: The battlefield of the mind. Negativity, doubting God and/or self, bitterness/unforgiveness, criticism of self or others, anxiousness, fearfulness, lustfulness, dark thoughts. This could be a very long list, but all have to do with our thought life and grows outward from there into our words and actions. Read: 2 Corinthians. 10:3-6 World systems: The systems in place here are often opposite of God’s kingdom. The world operates on a “winner takes all” mentality versus the kingdom principle which is servant leadership. The world tells us to “read the fine print.” The Word encourages us to trust God and believe His Word. The world says, “You must work for what you get.” God freely gives us what we could never pay for. Read: Romans 12:2 Family Structures: They meant to bring blessings can put stumbling blocks in our way of knowing God. If our dads were absent either emotionally or physically, it may be hard to believe God will always be there for us. If our siblings were cruel or abusive it may be difficult for us to trust that Jesus loves us. If our moms were controlling, it could be hard to surrender to the Holy Spirit. Read: Psalm 27:10, Psalm 103:13-18, Matt. 7:11 The Church: Unfortunately the church can cause misconceptions about God as well. Long lists of things you can’t do and an equally long list of things you had better do. Men, women and sometimes whole groups who appear to have God’s authority, but do not follow His heart, have left a lot of confusion around what God expects. Read: Luke 11:42-46
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READ: 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, Romans 12:2, Psalm 27:10, Psalm 103:13-18, Matt. 7:11, Luke 11:42-46 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: How does the corresponding scripture address your struggle in these areas?
PRAY: Jesus, as I offered my whole self to You at salvation, You have full access to my thoughts and beliefs. Search my heart (beliefs) and show me the things that are not in line with truth. Identify the thoughts that do not lead me to You. Write down what you hear from the Lord through the help of the Holy Spirit:
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DAY FOUR: The flesh: Our old nature, now crucified and buried, has spent years programming our flesh. Our spirit, now alive in God, fights against this old programing to renew us from the inside out according to God’s truth.
READ: Romans 6-8 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: What stands out to you in these chapters?
PRAY: Jesus, will You teach me practical ways to remind my flesh that I am a new person who is connected to You and committed to You for the rest of my life? Show me those ways. Write down what you hear from the Lord through the help of the Holy Spirit:
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DAY FIVE: To strengthen this process, we stimulate what is new! Much like a person with a body part that has been amputated, we must continually remind the brain that there’s something new there. As new creations, we align our experiences to what’s true about us according to what God says. The renewing transforms us from the identity level through our beliefs into how we act and feel, affected by our capabilities that impact those around us.
READ: Romans 6:4-14 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: No Longer seems to be the theme of these verses. Look into your own life, what are some of the “no longer’s” you see that have changed since you have been connected to Jesus?
PRAY: Jesus, what are You stimulating in my life? What are the “no longer’s” You are changing in me presently?
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WEEK FIVE:
Kingdom of God (Chapter 1) OBJECTIVE: Changing how we think about the kingdom of God
NOTES: God’s creation of Adam and the assignment given to him: •
God speaks into existence a planet.
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Creates Adam, Earth, and breath that is eternal; life came from God separate from God but not separate from God.
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Assigns him as Steward, a representative on Earth to be to the earth what God was to the kingdom
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Instruction to be fruitful and multiply, take dominion.
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Adam bears the image of God and has dominion over the earth.
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God’s plan never got thwarted and changed – there were no surprises. There was only a plan A. – When you’re God, you don’t need a plan B. Week Five // 69
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Plan A has always been that we will take dominion over the creation and what is under our rule. What’s true about God and his kingdom becomes true about the earth that He’s given us control over. We’ve got some work to do, but mostly, we’ve got some repenting to do.
Repentence •
Repent is a word we have applied to self-effort •
Turning and going the other way is the fruit of repentance but is not repentance itself.
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Turning depends on you, repentance comes from God.
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Repentance in Greek: -metanoeo – to think differently afterwards.
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Changing the process of your mind – processing spirit to spirit.
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Changing the way that we take in reality.
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Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand – the most important part.
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Geographical - reach out your hand – this is where the kingdom is, it’s within your reach. It’s at arm’s reach.
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Change the way that you take in reality - in the room with you right now is a kingdom that is filled with power and life and love and peace and joy and righteousness.
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If you’ll change the way you think, you will change the way that you see. When you change the way that you see, you will turn around and go the other direction.
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The kingdom of heaven is within your grasp and the only thing that is keeping you from accessing it may be the way that you see.
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GROUP DISCUSSION: For those who have eyes to see, let them see. For those who have ears to hear, let them hear. (Matt. 13:16) - What is it in your life that “clouds your vision” and “plugs your ears”? What is it that brings about true repentence? Discuss your reflections after you complete the following prayer and contemplation activity.
PRAYER AND CONTEMPLATION: Apply your spiritual listening skills as your facilitator reads the following statements aloud: •
God’s love is all consuming and so aggressively loving that it could never stand anything that would harm the object of His love, even if it was you harming yourself - I John 4:8
•
Peace is a tangible state of the atmosphere that if we’ll just breathe it in, it changes us. It will take your anxiety and turn it into something completely different. It will take your concerns about the past and the future and just smash it down into the ground. The kind of peace that passes all understanding isn’t that we finally figured it out and we feel better. It is the presence and the power of God that moves in and overwhelms those things that were once overwhelming you.
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LISTENING PRAYER STATEMENTS: •
Jesus, Your life on Earth is our example of living life as we were created to live. Jesus, will You awaken my spirit to the Kingdom life You are inviting me into? Continue showing me any beliefs that get in the way of me hearing and seeing You.
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Jesus, teach me the sound of Your voice! Teach me to hear what you say and see what You show me.
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Jesus, the idea of the universe before creation being filled with Your nature is a lot to take in… help me absorb this truth. What aspect of Your nature do You want to show me today?
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Jesus, I’m so thankful that Your Kingdom came near to me. I felt it and realized how much I needed You! That caused me to repent and open my life to You at salvation. Whenever I sense You near, help me respond appropriately; whether to repent or rejoice, to rethink or receive.
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VIDEO TAKEAWAYS:
DISCUSSION TAKEAWAYS:
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PRAYER REQUESTS: For Myself:
For Others In My Group:
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DAY ONE: Jesus had a single message; one message that was given in a multitude of ways to help us see it. The “kingdom of God” or the “kingdom of Heaven” is used just under 120 times in the four Gospels. Do you think He wants to help us see it? Generally, when Jesus began a teaching, he would start with, “The kingdom of Heaven is like.,,” Many times, He’d end with, “If you have ears to hear and eyes to see...” as if to say, “Don’t miss what I just told you.” What He taught between those phrases were glimpses into the life He invites us to share with Him. This is not only for after we die! Jesus lived with this kind of connection with His Father here on earth and we are meant to as well.
READ: Matthew 5:1-20, Matthew 13 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: 1. Jesus often said, “If you have ears to hear and eyes to see.” as if to say, “Don’t miss what I just told you.” What stands out to you from this reading about the kingdom? 2. What did Jesus tell His disciples about the kingdom? How does this help you to see and hear “differently”?
PRAY: Jesus, will You awaken my spirit to the kingdom life You are inviting me into? Continue showing me any beliefs that get in the way of me hearing and seeing You.
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DAY TWO: Living the kingdom life is a whole new way of living. What was the gospel Jesus shared? He taught with authority, healed people out of compassion, played with and then blessed children, scolded Pharisees and spoke kindly to prostitutes. He loved deeply, invested in people and lived with simplicity committed to His purpose. He left us both an example to follow with the power to accomplish it. He often said, “The kingdom of God is near.”
READ: Mark 12:1-11, Luke 9:1-11 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: What did you learn about the kingdom from these stories? How does this help you to see and hear “differently”?
PRAY: Jesus, Your life is an example of living a kingdom life. This is a new way for me to see and hear a new way to live. Continue opening my eyes to what I need to see. Continue opening my ears to always hear You.
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DAY THREE: We think of the universe as empty space and we imagine time before creation much the same: empty. But in fact, it was filled with God. God’s nature filled all that was. God filled everywhere all the time. God was filled with life before He ever created it. As He began creating, He simply put into what He was making that which already existed inside and all around Him. God formed Adam of dirt and breathed into him. What came into Adam was more than oxygen to make his body function; the life that was in God came through. Adam was made to steward the earth. He represented God on the earth. God placed Adam here so that the earth would be under Adam’s dominion like the kingdom was under God’s dominion.
READ: Luke 12:22-34, Luke 18:15-30 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: 1. In this reading, Jesus tells us how God values us. Write out one or two truths that speak deeply to you. 2. Three different kinds of people are represented in this reading. What common aspect of the kingdom is seen in all three?
PRAY: Jesus, Your life fills me. What do You want to tell me about Your kingdom today?
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DAY FOUR: John the Baptist came preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” It had the connotation that you had better straighten up because God’s coming soon! This is where we get much of our understanding of the word, repent. Repent literally means “to think differently afterwards.” Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Think differently because there’s something here among us. Right here in this room is a kingdom that has power and life and love like we’ve never known. If you change the way you see and the way you hear, you’ll see it and hear it.
READ: John 3:1-12 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: Why did Nicodemus struggle to understand what Jesus said about entering the kingdom?
PRAY: Jesus, teach me the sound of Your voice! Teach me to hear what You say and see what You show me.
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DAY FIVE: The phrase “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand” is used in connection with how Jesus encouraged us to see the kingdom from a new perspective. We may choose to “think differently afterward” (repent) when we see the kingdom here with us. One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to show the world that God, in His kingdom, is near. As that happens, there is an opportunity for us to think differently about God’s righteousness, accept the forgiveness He offers, and receive His life or face the coming judgment on our own. The kingdom of God being at hand is revealed, by the Holy Spirit in that moment. That is God’s grace to us. Yet, with all God’s power His only limitation was set by Himself. He will not force us to accept Him. The provision was made and is offered, even making us aware of Him is His part. Thinking differently about what He offers us is our response to His call of repentance.
READ: John 16:7-11 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: When you think of God’s kingdom being here, what feelings come to you?
PRAY: Jesus, I have responded to Your revelation. I have turned and begun to think differently after encountering You and Your kingdom near. Remind me of Your powerful love and nearness throughout my days.
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WEEK SIX:
Kingdom of God (Chapter 2) OBJECTIVE: Understanding how to reconnect to God as our source
NOTES: The process of “see-ing”: •
Seeing both the spiritual and physical intertwined should be a reality in the Kingdom. Adam and Eve could see life as “fruit” hanging from the branches of the tree of life. They saw “fruit” on the tree of knowledge and reached out to take it. If they had realized the full extent of their choice, they may have reconsidered, but Satan is convincing!
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God’s perspective is much greater than doing what is right or changing our behavior. If our “input” is based only from knowledge, we often bring death and destruction.
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Jesus came to take our punishment (sin). More importantly, He came to be our source and foundation:
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Our source and foundation is the spirit of life, the very breath of God deposited within us that makes us a living soul.
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The source of Adam and Eve’s mind, will, and emotions before the Fall was the free flowing life of God to them, in them, and through them according to Genesis 3.
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The Spirit of Truth should be our spiritual mechanism for our input (source of supply) because knowledge isn’t the same as power.
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The knowledge of good can never replace life.
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The knowledge of good and evil are the two primary strategies against the human race because our knowledge of good is never sufficient to change our behaviors. We still need God’s power to change.
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All the world’s religions have been based on our human efforts to change behavior. According to John 10:10, Jesus came so you and I could have life and have life more abundantly. Shout amen…such GOOD NEWS!!!
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God’s consuming love is to free us, because life will not be stopped.
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In John 4:10, the Lord promised Rivers of Living Water to the woman at the well if she would only ask. Now, we can ask!
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The beauty of the Kingdom is that is doesn’t rely on our ability to act well, but rather on the present power and activity of God to us, in us, and through us.
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When we respond to Christ’s invitation to be our source of supply, we are plugged into His power and can be the person He has created and designed us to be.
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Jesus is a present reality who is more than Jesus the Man, but Jesus the Creator who lives inside of us.
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PRAYER AND CONTEMPLATION: Jesus, show me WHO YOU ARE? Reveal to me how You want to be my SOURCE AND FOUNDATION. Take a moment to respond by writing down what the Lord speaks to your heart.
Jesus, there are situations in my past that if I could have known the full extent of my choice ahead of time, I would have surely made a different choice! Lord, I ask that You continue to teach me to see the spiritual reality in life situations I pray for the sensitivity from the Holy Spirit to be aware of the spiritual reality that is around me. Is there anything about the difficult situations in my life presently that You want to help me see? (Note: As those things are revealed to you, stay connected to Him as your Source….. especially when you are tempted to shift into knowledge and figure out what to “do” about it. Take a moment to write down what God is speaking to you.
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LISTENING PRAYER STATEMENTS: •
Father God, You offer me life through Your Son, Jesus. I have accepted Him as my Savior, the forgiveness for my sins connecting me to You — to life. Will You pour Your life into me, filling me, freeing me to be who You created me to be?
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Jesus, show me what my life filled with Your life would look like.
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Jesus, how has Satan tempted me with the knowledge of good and/or evil setting me up to disconnect from life, to turn back to a life of searching through my knowledge?
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Jesus, how would You prepare me to see the spiritual reality around me?
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VIDEO TAKEAWAYS:
DISCUSSION TAKEAWAYS:
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PRAYER REQUESTS: For Myself:
For Others In My Group:
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DAY ONE: Seeing both the spiritual and physical intertwined was a reality in the kingdom. Adam and Eve could see life as “fruit” hanging from the branches of the Tree of Life. They saw “fruit” on the Tree of Knowledge and reached out to take it. If they had realized the full extent of their choice they may have reconsidered, but Satan was convincing! The following scriptures are examples of the spiritual reality in a physical situation.
READ: Exodus 3:1-6, Numbers 22:21-34 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: How are you seeing a spiritual reality in this physical situation?
PRAY: Jesus, if this is the reality of Your kingdom, teach me to see the spiritual realities around me.
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DAY TWO: The following Scriptures are examples of a spiritual reality in a physical situation.
READ: 2 Kings 6:8-18, Daniel 6:1-23 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: What allowed Elisha to see the spiritual reality around him? How did the spiritual reality save Daniel in this physical situation?
PRAY: Jesus, whether in dramatic ways like these stories or in small ways, open my spiritual eyes to what You are doing around me.
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DAY THREE: The following Scriptures are examples of a spiritual reality in a physical situation.
READ: Luke 2:8-15, Acts 2:1-4 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: What is the spiritual reality in these physical situations?
PRAY: Jesus, what are the spiritual realities here and what do You want to open my eyes to presently?
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DAY FOUR: The following Scriptures are examples of a spiritual reality in a physical situation.
READ: Acts 9: 1-19 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: There are several instances of spiritual realities in the physical. List the verses where you find these examples.
PRAY: Jesus, I pray for the sensitivity from the Holy Spirit to be aware of the spiritual reality that is around me. Is there anything about the difficult situations in my life presently that You want to help me see? (Note: As those things are revealed to you, when it’s tempting to shift into knowledge and try to figure out what to “do” about it, stay connected to Him as your source.)
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DAY FIVE: The story of Jesus and the woman at the well illustrates several important points on the topic of seeing differently. We could spend time studying why she was out there alone when culturally there would have been many women drawing water for their homes each day. We could wonder what had brought her to the point of so many broken relationships. However, our focus is on Jesus’ revelation of Himself to her and His desire to include her, a Samaritan woman, so crushed by life that she agreed to live as an outcast in her own community. He invited her to see Him as her source. Jesus was gaining momentum in ministry, “baptizing more disciples than John,” and the Pharisees were dogging His heels as He began to make His way back to Galilee. Typically, Jews would travel miles out of their way to avoid passing through Samaria even though it saved them time. There were centuries of animosity between these enemies who were next door neighbors. But Jesus “had to go through Samaria.” Why? Because He was too tired to walk the extra distance? Verse 6 says He was tired. Or was it because He saw the spiritual value in a physical situation and that day they intersected at a well near Sychar? Somehow, this woman’s probable questions of how life had brought her to this, and if there was a way out, reached His heart in Judea. She was ready and He was coming. Confused by this Stranger at first, her knowledge of good told her He was more than a prophet. His words seemed to offer her soul the very water He asked for. Somewhere during their conversation, the pieces began to fit together and she realizes that Jesus was the Messiah. (source) His life so filled her, that she left her water jar and invites everyone into her new-found spiritual reality. What did she do that filled her so fully that her entire community enjoyed the overflow of life? It didn’t come from her ability to know enough about good or evil. Her source became a “spring of water welling up to eternal life” inside of
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her and that life couldn’t be stopped. What happened next did not come from her, it came from her source. The Spirit of God flowed to her, filled her and was flowing through her, bringing life to those around her.
READ: John 4:1-42 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: This woman had some religious knowledge, but it could never fill her spiritually. When she met Jesus and allowed Him to fill her with His life, she was physically changed! What are some things in her that changed?
PRAY: Jesus, I can’t do or know enough good things to deserve You, I can’t avoid enough bad things to gain Your approval. I just ask, Lord, that you please come fill me with Your life.
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WEEK SEVEN:
kingdom of God (Chapter 3) OBJECTIVE: Recognizing that the kingdom of God is not something we fulfill, it’s something we receive and He fulfills
NOTES: •
The most important paradigm shift: The Kingdom of God is not something we fulfill, it’s something that we receive and He fulfills.
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New birth gives us access, but access doesn’t only mean that one day we’ll go to heaven. It means we have . . .
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a new residence
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a new nature
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a new way of seeing
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a new way of being
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Parables #1 - The Kingdom of Heaven is like a radio station. – There has to be a receiver that is turned on, tuned in, and turned up. •
Turning on the power: Seeking first the real presence of God among the human race right now – His active voice, His living word, His present reality, and His presence among us
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Tuning in: God, what are you doing right now? What are you saying right now?
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Turning up: I’ll hear and I’ll broadcast.
#2 – The Kingdom of Heaven is like an oven that is on. It has an atmosphere and anything you put into the oven receives what the oven does – heat. The oven has it’s own power and effect. We enter the atmosphere of the oven as cookie dough and the effect of the oven causes us to become a cookie. •
God is here to transform that which is in His presence. Changing the way we think and hear changes the way we think and do ministry.
GROUP DISCUSSION: As you were invited earlier, please share one thing that spoke to you personally (one insight) – either from the teaching or the prayer time.
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LISTENING PRAYER STATEMENTS: •
Jesus, will You show me any areas where I have depended upon my knowledge and not received Your life to guide me where You want me to be?
•
Jesus, I have accepted Your life and received Your gift of salvation. I’m plugged in. Tuning in and turning on have proved more difficult. When it feels hard to turn on or tune in to the frequency of Your Kingdom, show me how the little “g” god of this world is fighting against Your purposes for my life. What is it that draws my focus away from You?
•
Jesus, show me where I rely upon my desire to accomplish what only true surrender and time in Your Presence can produce.
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VIDEO TAKEAWAYS:
DISCUSSION TAKEAWAYS:
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PRAYER REQUESTS: For Myself:
For Others In My Group:
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DAY ONE: In the beginning, before the world was, God had in mind a Bride for His Son. As He formed man from the dust of the earth He saw the history of human beings; created in His image, meant to rule over creation, His own breath bringing them to life, their rejection of His life replaced with their own knowledge, the chaos that followed, the need of a Savior, who would be His own Son. God’s design and desire for relationship over instinct cost Him that day. He created us with a will to choose to love Him instead of a pre-set instinct to do so. The Garden flourished in God’s plan and under Adams care with everything we needed until Satan convinced man to want more. First Eve, then Adam with her chose the “information” Satan offered over the life God gave and the war over the ruler ship of this world began. Satan through the thoughts and impulses of man takes as much ground as possible in the lives of these who bore the image of his Enemy and the world they were meant to have dominion over. Pain, hardship, shame and murder resulted quickly with man in charge of himself separated from God’s life. And continues… Our will limits God’s formation within us. It has no effect on His overall power. If we are unwilling to let Him into a particular area of our lives He will not use His power to force into that area though it would be better for us. He will continue to work around us to reveal His best for us.
READ: Genesis 3:1-7 What stands out to you from this verse?
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CONTEMPLATE: Satan often uses half truth to deceive us and set us up to doubt what God has said. What areas has Satan used this strategy against you?
PRAY: Jesus, are there any areas in my life presently that I have not been willing to let You in?
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DAY TWO: There are few lies Satan tries harder to convince us of than that God really doesn’t love us. This started in the garden and takes on many forms. “Did God really say”... “You’re not really”… “You are too”… All in effort to keep us from trusting in God and believing who He says we are. Time spent in God’s presence and the level of surrender to God’s presence in the atmosphere of the kingdom strengthen us to identify the devil’s deception.
READ: 2 Corinthians 2:11 (additional reading: Ephesians 6:10-18) What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: What are you hearing from the Holy Spirit? How does this help you to see and hear “differently”?
PRAY: Jesus, when Satan fights to keep me from trusting You and believing who You say I am, remind me that is isn’t my desire that gives me strength against him, but time and surrender in the atmosphere of Your presence. What do You want that time to look like Jesus? Help me to see me as You see me.
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DAY THREE: The atmosphere of the kingdom of God is filled with His presence like the atmosphere of an oven is heat. No cookie dough decides to become a cookie outside the oven. No matter what it does or how hard it tries, it does not have the capacity to become anything other than dough without the oven’s heat. Our knowledge, nor our effort, have the power to change us and make us alive. It is done through the exchange of the death in us for the life Jesus offers. Our role is to seek the kingdom first, to focus on the King. Time focusing on the King and surrender to the ways of the kingdom will have an effect on us like the heat of an oven has an effect on cookie dough. We will find that when our focus wanders and we withhold parts of ourselves from God that also has an effect on us.
READ: John 5:14-22 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: What are you hearing from the Holy Spirit? How does this help you to see and hear “differently”?
PRAY: Jesus, show me what is in me that wants to maintain control over parts of my life.
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DAY FOUR: Jesus came to establish the kingdom of God in this broken world one person at a time. Through healing, through truth, and through deliverance from Satan’s hold, Jesus was restoring the kingdom to righteousness. Jesus showed us the Father and modeled a life of surrender to Him, then invited us back to the original plan of the power of God’s life to us, in us and through us, bringing the earth under our dominion and ultimately under His rule. Jesus fulfilled God’s plan. He didn’t change it. Jesus lived a life of listening and watching for what the Father was doing and saying. This is life focused on the King and surrendered to the kingdom of God.
READ: John 12:42-50 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: What are you hearing from the Holy Spirit? How does this help you to see and hear “differently”?
PRAY: Jesus, help me to live each moment of my life listening to the Holy Spirit.
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DAY FIVE: As you read John 17, notice the tenderness and closeness of Jesus towards His Father. Jesus was aware of the kingdom of God as He lived on Earth. Like a radio station sends out an invisible wave across a certain area, the kingdom of God has a sound. It can be picked up and heard if a receiver is present. From Genesis 1:3 “God said” and things happened. Genesis 3:8 says man heard God walking in the garden and they hid. This gives the impression that before they ate from the tree of knowledge they may have ran to meet Him instead of running away. Human beings were made to receive the “sound” of the kingdom. From Genesis to Revelation God is speaking to people. We are made to hear Him! When we receive His life we are plugged in. As we seek His kingdom first, we are made aware of what He’s doing (turned on). As we tune in, He shows us what to say, where to go and what to do. All this comes out of relationship with Him. Relationships require time and communication to grow.
READ: John 17 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: What are you hearing from the Holy Spirit? How does this help you to see and hear “differently”?
PRAY: Jesus, I want my relationship with You to grow. Show me some practical ways to allow that to happen.
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WEEK EIGHT: Hearing God (Chapter 1) OBJECTIVE: Changing how we think about the kingdom of God
REFLECTIONS FROM WEEK SEVEN: We discovered that the most important paradigm shift is that the kingdom of God is not something we fulfill, it’s something that we receive and He fulfills. How has this concept affected your daily living this week?
NOTES: The process of hearing: •
Romans 10 – faith comes by hearing not from us. Faith isn’t hoping really hard.
•
Hearing the voice of God produces faith inside us.
•
Sometimes God speaks through pictures in our mind that lead to something (action) that is more than theology but is reality. Week Eight // 117
•
God’s nature and power is presented to us, through us, and in us.
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As we listen to God, we are connected to Him as our source and foundation.
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As we come to God, He knows how to capture our hearts and attention.
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Believe the truth about who He is.
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God will draw us into relationship so He can tell us the truth about who He is and who we really are.
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Hearing God’s voice is the primary way we disconnect from our knowledge and connect to our source.
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Revelation changes beliefs but information only changes thoughts.
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Hearing God’s voice is the central activity of living a life of freedom and restoration of your created design.
•
God wants to talk to you about what you believe and who you are. Ways God speaks: •
Scripture is the primary way that God speaks to us.
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Prophetic words delivered by others to speak to us.
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God is creative and can speak through people, nature, etc.
GROUP DISCUSSION: •
What impacted you personally when Bob shared the testimony of God leading him and his friend by a picture in their minds to directly minister to a person at a restaurant?
•
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Describe a time when you felt like God was silent in your life.
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PRAYER AND CONTEMPLATION: Read Romans 10:17 Take some time to meditate, then ask the Lord, “What are you saying to me right now through this passage of scripture?” Journal what you hear:
LISTENING PRAYER STATEMENTS: •
Jesus, will You help me know if I’m asking the wrong questions about “doing and going” when You are trying to tell me about “being”?
•
Jesus, I long to hear You “speak” to me, but I am afraid I won’t know for sure it’s You. Will You teach me to recognize the sound of Your voice and to be aware of the feeling when You do?
•
Jesus, through reading Your Word, You speak to me. Through the teaching of Your Word, through praise and worship songs, through nature, through friends and into my heart by Your Spirit. I heard You when You called me to salvation and I responded. Show me a time recently where You were speaking to me.
•
Jesus, I know that unforgiveness can get in the way of me hearing You. Is there anyone I need to forgive? (Review “What is forgiveness?” Link given in Chapter 3) Week Eight // 119
VIDEO TAKEAWAYS:
DISCUSSION TAKEAWAYS:
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PRAYER REQUESTS: For Myself:
For Others In My Group:
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DAY ONE: Faith is not something we work up. It is something that happens as we tune in and hear what God is saying to us. Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God”. When Samuel the prophet was young and inexperienced in recognizing God’s voice we see God’s patient training. Skim over 1 Samuel 1-2 for the back story. Samuel, a gift from God to Hannah, was given back to God as promised, now living in the presence of God at the temple.
READ: 1 Samuel 3: 1-8 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: Why do you think Eli wanted Samuel to come to God in that way? What can we learn from this story?
PRAY: Jesus, speak to me, I’m listening.
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DAY TWO: From the beginning, God met with and presumably talked with Adam and Eve each evening. Genesis 3:8 gives us a glimpse of that as God came walking in the garden and they hid from Him. The text implies this was unusual, as if before they ate of the Tree of Knowledge, they had come to walk with Him when they heard Him in the garden. Accounts of God coming to talk with people are too numerous to list! Learning how God speaks to us: 1.
Faith comes by hearing.
2. God talks to us about who He is, who we are and who He has created us to be in Him. 3. Revelation changes what we believe. Information can only change our thoughts.
READ: Matthew 4:4 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: How does the Word of God nourish me? What part of me starves when it is not fed the Word of God?
PRAY: Lord, draw me into a communicative relationship with You. Expose the lies that keep me from knowing and living out who You have made me to be.
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DAY THREE: Possibly the most recorded relationship between God and a man begins in Gen. 12:1-3. Here God calls to Abram and he answers in obedience. Throughout the next 11 chapters of Genesis there is an on-going conversation between God and this man who is considered the father of faith. (There are only a few Scripture verses to read for rest of the week to leave time for skimming over Genesis 12-22.) When God spoke to Abram, it impacted him so profoundly that he left everything he knew and moved into the unknown. (Romans 4) One of the aspects of God’s nature is faithfulness. God came to Abram with that part of His nature and spoke. Abram believed God and in affect “plugged in” to the source. He received God’s faith by hearing and his actions came out of that belief. Over and over in almost every chapter (12-22), God speaks with Abram and others exposing things that could have derailed God’s purposes and revealing His plans for Abram. Throughout Abram’s life, through the good times, victories, the extreme challenges, and failures Abram walked through his life with God in a communicative relationship.
READ: Jeremiah 33:3 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: How does “being” still before the Lord open the door for me to hear new and unsearchable things that do not exist?
PRAY: Jesus, still my mind, my body and my soul. Holy Spirit, help me to hear You anew.
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DAY FOUR: Hearing God’s voice is the primary way we disconnect from knowledge and return to our source. When we hear God, it changes the process and content of our heart. Hearing God is the central activity of freedom. The ways God speaks to us: 1.
Through scripture.
2. Teachers/Preachers proclaiming God’s Word as revealed to them by His Spirit. Prophetic words are simply messages someone has heard the Lord speak and they are used to broadcast or proclaim it. We see this as one message going out to an audience and God personalizing it to all the people hearing it. To those who receive, it becomes the word of God to them. 3. Other ways – God is not limited in the ways He speaks to us. It is tempting to combine the things we know about how God speaks into a formula, but the truth is He will not be limited by our effort to know all His ways.
I don’t think the way you think.
The way you work isn’t the way I work.
For as the sky soars high above earth,
so the way I work surpasses the way you work,
and the way I think is beyond the way you think. — Isaiah 55:9 (Message)
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READ: Jeremiah 33:3 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: How does “being” still before the Lord open the door for me to hear new and unsearchable things that do not exist?
PRAY: Jesus, still my mind, my body and my soul. Holy Spirit, help me to hear You anew.
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DAY FIVE: We have been learning how to see differently. It is more impossible for us to know everything about God than examining an elephant with a microscope. Our mind simply can’t accomplish it. It is accepted by faith and experienced as we walk with God. Ways to test if what we hear is from God: 1.
Does what you’ve heard line up with scripture and the nature of God as revealed in scripture?
2. Does what you’ve heard produce the fruit of the spirit in you? 3. God is truth. Anything from Him will be true. If He has spoken truth to you, it will have the effect of freeing you, not necessarily from a person or situation (The freedom you experience will also include the first 2 tests).
READ: Galatians 5: 22-23 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: Close your eyes and contemplate the vastness of God. How easy or difficult is this?
PRAY: Jesus, teach me the sound of Your voice, the way it feels when Your Word comes and faith is built in me.
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WEEK NINE:
Hearing God (Chapter 2) OBJECTIVE:
Recognizing that the word of God is alive and powerfulEFL
REFLECTIONS FROM WEEK EIGHT: Are there any “hearing God” experiences you have had this week that you would like to share?
NOTES: •
The Word of God is the thing through which everything came into existence
•
The Word of God is eternal – living and active – has the power to fulfill itself.
•
The Word of God contains life.
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Scripture used in the teaching . . . 2 Timothy 3:16-17 - (NIV) 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Hebrews 4:12 (NIV) 12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Genesis 15 (NIV) 15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: John 1:1-2 (NIV) 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. Romans 4:13 (NIV) 13 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. Romans 10:8 (NIV) 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”[a] that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim
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Colossians 1:17 (NIV) 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Hebrews 11:3 (NIV) 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
God’s Personal Message: I love you! I LOVE you! I love YOU! And anything that stands in the way of my love reaching you, even if it’s you, I will overwhelm it in order to love you. It’s He that steps into my life to speak, to show, to take dominion over, and to take control over the things that have controlled me.
GROUP DISCUSSION: •
Share a personal “Aha!” from one of the scriptures shared in the teaching tonight.
•
What are the things that have controlled you that you want to give over to His control?
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PRAYER AND CONTEMPLATION: Jesus, You created me. You know how to speak to me. Teach me to quiet my mind, to embrace silence, to let go of the expectations of what Your speaking to me “should” be like. Help me to stop trying to make something happen and just be open to Your way of communicating with me.
LISTENING PRAYER STATEMENTS: •
Jesus, I don’t want my prayer time with You to be a one-sided conversation. Remind me to give You the time to both answer my prayers and speak the words You want to say to me.
•
Jesus, when something in my life (or beliefs) comes face to face with the truth of scripture and is found out-of-line, show me the deep love You are extending to me in helping me back to truth. You do not shame, accuse or condemn! You invite me into Your truth with You exposing where the enemy has introduced his lies.
•
Jesus, it’s easy to see why Satan wants to distract me from time with You, both in The Word and talking with You. Your Word and voice contain everything I need – strength for my weakness; peace for my anxiety; life for my death. You know my life. Show me how and when to meet with You on a consistent basis, knowing that as I give You that time, Your Word has creative power to make me who You created me to be.
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VIDEO TAKEAWAYS:
DISCUSSION TAKEAWAYS:
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PRAYER REQUESTS: For Myself:
For Others In My Group:
Week Nine // 139
DAY ONE: Some people get concerned about “hearing” God outside the boundaries of scripture and yet, many times the circumstance being conveyed in scripture describes a time when God “spoke” to a person. These are recorded so we know that He does speak to people! scripture is an example to us of God speaking over and over to people. It isn’t meant to limit us from hearing Him speak to us at moments in our lives. The document of scripture is God’s Word to us through His past revelations with others. Though we read how He interacted with others, He can use it to speak directly to us. His Word is living and active. scripture is useful because sometimes our brokenness, or the lies we believe twist our ability to see the truth. As we read/hear truth in God’s Word, it confronts or teaches us where there are gaps between what He says and where we are. These moments are invitations to ask Him to speak to us individually, bringing us into alignment with the blueprint in His heart for us.
READ: Hebrews 4:12 and 2 Timothy 3:16 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: What gets in my way of talking to you Jesus?
PRAY: Jesus, when I read/hear Your Word and something confronts me, teach me to stop and talk with You about what You are trying to show me.
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DAY TWO: Comparing Genesis 1 with John 1:1-3, we see each time God spoke creatively in Genesis 1, Jesus (The Word) is seen with God, part of what God was creating. It was as though through His powerful and creative Word, which is His Son, all created things came to be, just as they had been planned in God’s mind. Logos is translated: “word”. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. God’s language is reality. We use language to describe a reality. When God speaks, His words have creative power to call into existence the things that do not exist. (John 1:1) When Jesus came to the world He was the exact representation of God. (Romans 4:17b)
READ: Hebrews 4:12 and 2 Timothy 3:16 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: In what ways does the Word of God remain eternal?
PRAY: Lord, recreate me with Your creative power.
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DAY THREE: His words have creative power. It is the thing that makes God, God. By the power of His Word things come to be. Things as big as planets, as small as microscopic ameba, even intangible things like peace. When He speaks peace to us, He’s not giving us something to think about that calms us down. He’s packaged peace in a receivable form that will overwhelm the thing that is overwhelming us and makes a personal delivery. His Word contains what we need. In view of this, all of our “what to do’s” and “where to go’s” seem rather insignificant. When He is our source and our foundation, He’ll get us where we should be and show us what we are to do, but more importantly, He wants to show us who He is and how we are connected to Him. Logos is more than a book of God’s words; it’s the reality of Him coming to us wrapped in flesh to love us.
READ: Luke 21:33, Romans 10:8 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: Do the things you are presently focused on fit in the “what to do” and “where to go” category or in the “Who He is” and “who I am in You” category?
PRAY: Jesus, I take time to check the direction of my focus today. What “word” would You bring to me as I focus on You right now?
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DAY FOUR: The world is made of and held together by the Word of God. When you really break it down, the things we see are made of atoms, then protons-neutrons-electrons, then quarks, and things that are unseen. Quarks are made of sound! When God speaks, the sound makes something! Einstein’s theory of relativity is energy=mass moving at the speed of light x the speed of light. If that’s true, then mass=energy slowed down. Every physical thing is the power of God (the Word of God) harnessed enough for us to interact with it. The farther we get away from God’s Word, the more things fall apart.
READ: Col. 1:17, Hebrews 11:3 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: Are the things in my life that feel like they are falling apart too far from God?
PRAY: God, Your very Word holds together everything I know, teach my heart to trust You more today than yesterday.
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DAY FIVE: The world is made of the Word of God! And yet, our efforts are focused on stopping bad behavior instead of on Him and what He’s saying to us. What we try to do is put broken things back together when really it’s His Word that holds everything together. He invites us to remember that by talking with Him, He can bring strength where all of our efforts have failed to produce it. Talking with Him brings the peace we seek to settle our hearts. His perspective brings repair where things have been broken. His Name brings healing where sickness has been. Connection to Him as our source brings life where death has reigned.
READ: Romans 4:17 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: How does what I read in scripture today open my ears to hear God?
PRAY: Jesus, I want to remain in you, connected to you at all times. Speak Your word to me - changing my DNA to be one that desires to stay connected to You as my source in all aspects of my life.
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WEEK TEN:
Hearing God (Chapter 3) OBJECTIVE:
Recognizing our part in hearing God; changing how we see confession
REFLECTIONS FROM WEEK NINE: When the Bible describes the Word of God as the “Logos”, He is saying I love you, I LOVE You, I LOVE You! How did God express His love to you this week?
NOTES: The process of hearing includes: •
Confession is more than forgiveness of sins but confession means that you believe what God is saying about you.
•
Confession means “homologeos” in the Greek: •
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Homo – the same
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• •
Logos – the expression of what’s in God’s heart.
Your response in confession should be, “Lord, you made me this way and I believe EVERY word that proceeds out of your mouth about me”.
•
Confession is more than repetition and the sin in our lives.
•
Confession begins with God and is fulfilled by God.
•
Confession is hearing, believing, and acting according to what God says about you and not what you think or perceive about yourself.
•
The Word of God discerns the motives and intentions of our heart.
GROUP DISCUSSION: Hearing God’s voice is the central activity of living a life of freedom and restoration. Describe a time when God revealed a motive or intention of your heart that was selfish? Do you have an expectation that God will speak to you? Why or why not?
PRAYER AND CONTEMPLATION: Let’s take some time to listen to God now by getting still before Him. Ask Jesus to speak to you. (Remember, He may speak through a picture, phrase, a single word, or a scripture)
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What did God speak to you tonight? Is it consistent with His Word, produce Fruit of the Spirit and have the ability to release you from anything that keeps you in bondage?
LISTENING PRAYER STATEMENTS: •
Jesus, I have not understood confession fully. Speak Your truth and I will agree with You.
•
Jesus, teach me to look past my own needs and see what You are doing today. When I see it, show me my part, whether confessing what You’ve said to me or giving me an active part, I want to be part of Your plan today! What would You show me today?
•
Jesus, I ask for sensitivity when You are showing me that my motives are not in line with Your heart, when I want my prayers answered in front of what You are doing. Gently, show me how those motives feed my flesh instead of strengthening my connection with You.
•
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Jesus, I pour out a lot of words. How many of them are from You?
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VIDEO TAKEAWAYS:
DISCUSSION TAKEAWAYS:
Week Ten // 153
PRAYER REQUESTS: For Myself:
For Others In My Group:
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DAY ONE: We’ve learned that God is speaking, that we can (and He means for us to) hear Him, and how to test what we hear to be sure it’s from Him. What should happen after that? What does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach) that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:8-9) Confession is an important tool God has given us. Traditionally, it’s been assigned one job: dealing with our sin. Homologeos is the Greek word for confess, literally meaning to say the same thing as God. So, if God is talking to us about sin we should agree with Him, confess, and receive forgiveness.
READ: 1 John 1:9, John 16:8 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: How does what I read in scripture today open my ears to hear God?
PRAY: Jesus, quiet the voices that say the opposite of what I hear You say. As I focus on You as my source, I will hear what You say and say it with You. Write what you hear.
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DAY TWO: Traditionally, confession is mentioned around the idea of sin. When sin is what God is talking to us about, we should agree with Him. Repentance (going the other way, afterward) will follow our confession (agreeing with what God said) and forgiveness (1 John 1:9) is received. Many times, however, God is handing us righteousness (the right ways He made us), who He really is, what He made us for (both relationally and destiny), and refining the things that get in the way of His purpose/our destiny. Sometimes this means acting upon what we hear Him say to us as in Bob’s story about praying with a friend and acting upon it by going to the restaurant across town. Confession is a way for us to cooperate with God as He restores us to His design. It is not a formula to corner God to fulfill our desires. Confession begins with God, we hear and agree (speaking/acting our part) and then God allows us to see His power accomplished.
READ: 1 Kings 16:29-20 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: Think about the number of times the prophet Elijah heard what God said. Lord, reveal to me the essence of Your message to me.
PRAY: Jesus, is there any sin that You want to talk to me about today?
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DAY THREE: In Bob’s lesson on hearing God’s voice before prayer, God needed Him to see a few things before they got started. Bob thought he’d found the formula for getting his prayers answered, but God needed to show him that his motives were centered on himself. Bob thought getting up early would impress God with his dedication, but God tested that “dedication” by having him wait. When God did tell Bob what He was doing, Bob’s answer revealed his desire was to hear about the answers that concerned his circumstances, not what God was doing. In the end, Bob agreed with God. He confessed what God showed him what He was up to that day and got to see His power on display. Long before Bob read the leadership book that challenged him to wait in prayer to hear what God wanted to say, a girl named Mary had a similar test and passed. Luke tells the story in his opening chapter. The angel Gabriel came with a message that she was going to have a baby. Though she asked honest questions, she believed and received it as truth.
READ: Luke 1:35-38 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: Jesus, are there any acts of confession You are showing me today that lead me to my destiny?
PRAY: Jesus, help me to be still before You more than I rush through my time with You.
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DAY FOUR: God is speaking. His plan is for us to hear and confess His Word as it comes to us, filling us and flowing through us in power to accomplish the things in His heart. We have the choice to agree or decline the invitation to fulfill our part of His plan. At salvation, we heard His Word about the forgiveness offered through Jesus. We believed, we received, and confession was made as salvation came. We had the choice to accept Him. We heard Him then and we can hear Him now. Let’s look at a few stories that outline this pattern of God working. His invitation to a person to participate and what He wanted to do.
READ: Matthew 14:22-36 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: In this passage, Peter “confessed” by acting on what he heard Jesus say. What else do you notice about this story and God’s invitation to kingdom purposes?
PRAY: Jesus, help me to trust that You are speaking to me right now and throughout the day today!
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DAY FIVE: The Gospels contain many stories of people coming to Jesus because of what they heard. Often Jesus would ask them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” That seems like a funny thing to ask a blind person or someone with leprosy, but He was inviting them to confess what they had heard because of the power that comes when we agree with what God is saying/doing. In His day, some had the opportunity to actually go where He was. We have His Word and His Spirit speaking to our inner man at any time we listen! Confession completes the “circuit” returning back to God what He’s saying along with our confession (agreement). It isn’t our agreement that holds any power, but it does open the door for us to be along with God as He accomplishes His purposes. This is an amazing privilege! We have some choices to make. We can say, “No.” We can come to God with our own agendas in prayer and never hear what He wants us to be a part of. We can hear and be paralyzed with fear, too afraid to believe and confess what He’s shared with us. Maybe our motives will get exposed, or we’ll need to test what we heard. We may need to ask honest questions, but after we work through all that, maybe we’ll dare to confess what He said.
READ: Luke 18:35-43 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: What made this man call out to Jesus?
PRAY: Jesus, help me to trust that You are speaking to me right now and throughout the day today!
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WEEK ELEVEN:
Life in the Kingdom (Chapter 1) OBJECTIVE:
Learning to integrate the spiritual and earthly kingdom so we embrace our God-given identity.REFLECTIONS:
REFLECTIONS FROM WEEK TEN: We continue to learn about shifting the way we think. Describe a time when God addressed something in your life where your motives were not pure.
NOTES: The process of integrating the Spiritual Kingdom and the Earthly Kingdom •
We often get stuck in trying to get God to do our job or “acts of our will.”
•
Often we try to change ourselves, but God is the only One who can change our identity.
•
We should adopt a way of “seeing reality” that integrates both the natural and spiritual kingdoms that help us determine what God’s part is and what my part is.
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•
The Kingdom of God is different than what we think or have been taught because the Kingdom of God is eternal.
Four Principles of Life in the Kingdom: 1. Lordship: Surrendering our will to God •
Our will is the mechanism of deciding (decision making)
•
Our submission is to allow God access
•
Our surrender to God’s Lordship includes three stages: •
Saved, healed, and delivered
2. Transformation: Discovering my part and God’s part in my transformation 3. Authority: Learning how to take dominion by integrating the spiritual and natural 4. Spiritual Warfare: The internal battle of who we choose to worship Colossians 1: 13 “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the Kingdom of His dear son”.
GROUP DISCUSSION: What does it mean for your new identity to be compatible with the Kingdom of Heaven?
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PRAYER AND CONTEMPLATION: Your entire nature was changed when you became a Kingdom Citizen and were given the mind of Christ. Meditate on 1 Corinthians 2:15 and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal anything that you have not submitted to God’s power. What did you hear?
LISTENING PRAYER STATEMENTS: •
Jesus, more than anything I want to live in the truths You are teaching me through this study. Show me how to incorporate these things in practical ways. Give me a starting point, what is a good first step for me?
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Jesus, I call You Lord. Teach me what that really looks like.
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Lord Jesus, I am listening for what You are saying to me. I will confess the words You’ve said to me, checking them with Your words in scripture, and trusting You to bring me into their reality as I remain connected to You as my source without dictating how and what that looks like.
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Lord Jesus, show me any areas of my will I have not yet submitted to You. (Write anything He shows you. If you are ready to offer those areas to Him, do so now. If there is hesitation or fear, talk to Him about what you are feeling.)
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VIDEO TAKEAWAYS:
DISCUSSION TAKEAWAYS:
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PRAYER REQUESTS: For Myself:
For Others In My Group:
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DAY ONE: God is speaking. His plan is for us to hear and confess His Word as it comes to us, filling us and flowing through us in power to accomplish the things in His heart. We have the choice to agree or decline the invitation to fulfill our part of His plan. At salvation, we heard His Word about the forgiveness offered through Jesus. We believed, we received, and confession was made as salvation came. We had the choice to accept Him. We heard Him then and we can hear Him now. Let’s look at a few stories that outline this pattern of God working. His invitation to a person to participate and what He wanted to do.
READ: Matthew 14:22-36 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: In this passage, Peter “confessed” by acting on what he heard Jesus say. What else do you notice about this story and God’s invitation to kingdom purposes?
PRAY: Jesus, help me to trust that you are speaking to me right now and throughout the day today!
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DAY TWO: God’s thoughts and ways are yards and miles beyond ours. They are out of our reach! He sees every possible angle on every thing happening at the same time without the slightest confusion. He deals in levels of reality we are completely unaware of. He operates in time without the restraints of it. No matter how correct our thinking becomes, He will be far beyond our highest point because God is eternal. The Bible is written to bring us into The Truth. Because it was written by (the inspiration of) God, it also has the power of life coming through it without earthly parameters of time and location. Notice the tense of these Scriptures.
READ: Colossians 1:13, Ephesians 2:6 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: What does it mean to be become a new person?
PRAY: Lord, how am I choosing to remain in my old life? Show me, Jesus, how to live this new life with You, the source of life.
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DAY THREE: The Bible states we are in two places at one time: here on earth and in the kingdom of Heaven. From God’s perspective, this is true even though our understanding tells us it’s not possible. His Truth doesn’t have earthly limitations. The Bible was written to translate us into God’s truth. Translation is the process of taking a concept and making it compatible in another language. We were made compatible with heaven by our connection to the source. When Jesus told His disciples to rejoice that their names were written in Heaven, it literally meant their name was chiseled into the material of Heaven! To God, they were both established in heaven while still on the earth, learning to follow Jesus. We’ll spend all of eternity realizing what we’ve been given. It’s more than we know how to utilize. Our nature was changed because we re-connected with the source. The sanctification process is understanding who we really are and discarding what is not true about us along the way.
READ: 1 Corinthians 2:16, 2 Corinthians 5:17 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: What am I believing that is not true about me?
PRAY: Jesus, how do You want me to know You more today? Show me Yourself in a new way today.
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DAY FOUR: Truly giving Jesus the position of Lord is when we surrender our will to God. What Lordship is not is promising Jesus we’ll try harder to obey. Surrender is our part. He does the hard part, He puts His Spirit in us. He translates us into His kingdom. He gives us His mind. He makes us new! The single most prevalent lie is that it is our responsibility to use our will to avoid evil and do good. This is the foundational thought process of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Understanding the difference between our mind and our will is crucial. Our will is the mechanism that allows us to make decisions. It is not the decision itself. Scientists have actually found the place in the human brain where this mechanism is located. When talking about giving up our will, it’s not giving up some stuff; it’s giving up stuff. If we select which things to surrender and what things to control, we have not surrendered our will. We’ve exercised it, making it stronger.
READ: 2 Corinthians 1:22, 2 Peter 1:3 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: Jesus, how do I not surrender my will to You?
PRAY: Lord, show me when I’m not trusting You and giving the steering wheel to You.
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DAY FIVE: The proper use of the human will is submission. Everything in our flesh cringes at this! We believe that submission makes us slaves to God, but the truth is that someone else is controlling us if we aren’t submitted to the Spirit of God. If we are our own source of information the one who was given rule over this world has access and power over us through that. When we use our will to surrender to God as the source, He gives us the power to be who we were made to be. No electrical appliance is enslaved by electricity — they are empowered by it to do what they were created to do. The surrender of our will fulfills and empowers our identity.
READ: Ephesians 5:22-33 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: What is it about submission that makes me cringe?
PRAY: Lord Jesus, show me any areas of my will I have not yet submitted to You. (Write anything He shows you.)
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WEEK TWELVE:
Life in the Kingdom (Chapter 2) OBJECTIVE:
Understanding that transformation comes from connecting to our source – Jesus!FLECLECTIONS:
REFLECTIONS FROM WEEK ELEVEN: We discovered that we are citizens of heaven when we surrender our life to Jesus according to Colossians 1:13. What does it mean to you to be a citizen of heaven or translated into the kingdom of Christ?
NOTES: •
The change we are trying to receive is not “how well you act” but the “source of how you act.”
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The process of change is understanding WHO is the source of my change.
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God sees our motive and more importantly the source of change.
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Change isn’t about me trying harder but the source of how I act, think, and feel.
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Training is not learning, but reprogramming how we think and giving guidance to change.
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Four Principles of Life in the Kingdom: 1. Lordship: Surrendering our will to God •
Will – mechanism of decision making
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Submission – to allow God access
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Saved, healed, and delivered are three stages of Lordship
2. Transformation: Am I allowing my flesh to empower the transformation process? •
Flesh or Spirit
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When you allow God to give you more of Him
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Not compliance and obedience, but surrender with sensitivity
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Baptism of the Holy Spirit – bringing life back to His people not regulations on our performance
3. Authority: Learning how to take dominion by integrating the spiritual and natural 4. Spiritual Warfare: The internal battle of who is the center of the universe
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PRAYER AND CONTEMPLATION: Jesus invites you to join the transformation process. Take a moment to ask the Lord how He wants to give you more of Him. What did you hear?
LISTENING PRAYER STATEMENTS: •
Lord Jesus, You present me with this choice so many times a day: my old way or surrendering to Your Spirit and receiving what I need for this new life in You. Let me hear You clearly as You offer me what I need for life.
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Lord Jesus, forgive me for the times I’ve run away when I fell. Will You show me how to run to You even when I have failed?
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Lord Jesus, I reject the belief that I will only be free after I die! Your death provided me life as I received You. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. You have begun this work in me. I trust You to continue and finish it!
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Lord Jesus, You are the One who baptizes me in the Holy Spirit. You have said this promise is for all who call on Your Name (Acts 2:39). I lay down all preconceived ideas of what the Holy Spirit is or isn’t. I also lay down any expectations of how receiving Him should look. I trust You to give me what I need and receive everything You give me.
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VIDEO TAKEAWAYS:
DISCUSSION TAKEAWAYS:
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PRAYER REQUESTS: For Myself:
For Others In My Group:
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DAY ONE: At the foundation of the transformation we seek is understanding that life is what we need and knowledge will never take us there. In the process, it is important for us to determine if our flesh or God’s Spirit is empowering the good changes. When we received Jesus, God provided EVERYTHING we need to live the life He has called us to live. EVERYTHING. The things we need to live this life are offered through His Spirit, not our flesh. It is our choice to learn to surrender more and more to His Spirit; rejecting old ways that only strengthen our flesh.
READ: 1 Peter 1:3, Ephesians 2:22-24 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: When you think about God providing everything, what comes to mind?
PRAY: Lord Jesus, You present me with this choice so many times a day: my old way or surrendering to Your Spirit and receiving what I need for this new life in You. Let me hear You clearly as You offer me what I need for life.
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DAY TWO: Matthew 20:1-16 begins with “For the kingdom of Heaven is like...” to help us see another principle of this family we’ve been brought into. Workers called into the vineyard are like us called into this life. Everyone is given what they need not because of their contribution, but because the Master was generous. The point being, we weren’t given a piece of God when we received Jesus, we were given all we need. Whether we know it or not-whether we utilize what we’ve been given or not, it is accessible to us. The more we recognize and choose to submit to the Spirit operating through us the easier living connected to God as our source becomes. We can spend a lifetime trying harder to “do good” and will only succeed at strengthening the very thing that needs to die-our flesh. If we pay attention, more and more of our life becomes guided by God’s Spirit and less by our flesh. This is the transformation process. In the reprogramming of our beliefs to align with our new identity, our part is to hear and confess the same thing He is saying. His part is to lead us there. He is patient and knows that learning to hear, then choosing, His voice involves time and failing. He’s a loving Father who cheers at our first steps without scolding us for falling. He doesn’t expect perfection at our first attempts of walking this life or hearing His voice; He just wants the kind of connection/relationship with us that when we get it wrong, we’ll come to Him instead of running away in fear.
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READ: Matthew 20:1-16 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: How am I allowing perfection to steal from the joy of relationship with You?
PRAY: Lord Jesus, forgive me for the times I’ve run away when I fell. Will You show me how to run to You even when I have failed?
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DAY THREE: An auto-pilot system sets parameters that keep the plane on course. Each time the plane veers too far off and hits the set limit, it adjusts the steering slightly towards the right direction. The truth is that it’s off course much more than it’s on! The parameters set aren’t controlling the plane; they provide protection and guidance from straying too far off course. As the plane nears its destination, the pilot takes over and lands. There is a twist of untruth in a belief that we will always struggle in this life and will only be set free when we die. Be careful. The underlying belief here is that our death can do more for us than the death of Jesus. This certainly is not true! Jesus has given us more power than we know.
READ: Philippians 1:6 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: He began a good work in you. He will finish it. Lord, show me what stands in my way of really believing this.
PRAY: Lord Jesus, I reject the belief that I will only be free after I die! Your death provided me life as I received You. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. You have begun this work in me. I trust You to continue and finish it!
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DAY FOUR: Our God is one God with three ways of interacting with us. Connecting with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit merits having discussion about the Third Person of the Trinity in the context of transformation. Acts 1 outlines the last moments Jesus was physically with His disciples. He had been crucified, raised to life, and spent 40 days talking with them about the kingdom. He told them about the future, but first He told them to wait. In Acts 1, they were just told to wait to receive the power that comes with the Holy Spirit. They didn’t know what to look for so they didn’t know how to “help” God. Someone has said, “Most denominations are the corpses of great revivals.” When the Spirit of God begins to move, people take note and want to step in and understand what’s going on. Our knowledge of good plays into that and before we know, it we’ve come up with a formula of what it should look like. We must take care not to limit the ways God interacts with His children, even in our sincere attempts to help others experience Him.
READ: Acts 1:4-5, Luke 24:49, Luke 11:13 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: When have I not waited on the Holy Spirit? Jesus, show me why I do this.
PRAY: Lord, help me to not limit the ways You want to interact with me and those around me, especially those times when I sincerely want others to experience You.
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DAY FIVE: At the time of Acts 1, the disciples were filled with grief and couldn’t process any more. Jesus reassured them that the Holy Spirit would reveal to them what was coming, bringing glory to Jesus, and guiding them into all truth. In John 14:15-26 & John 16:5-16, John emphasizes the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the disciples, and our lives. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is recorded in Acts 2. Praying together, they heard and saw things and were filled with the Holy Spirit. He enabled them to speak in languages they had not learned, declaring the wonders of God. While people outside tried to understand what had happened to this group, Peter, filled with the Spirit, stood and spoke with power resulting in 3,000 joining the new church that day! The important part is, they submitted their will and simply received what Jesus gave them. We are learning to focus on what really matters and that is Jesus, not an experience, just more and more of Him. Our part is to receive what He offers. His part is to fill us with what we need. We don’t want to put so much emphasis on the signs of the experience and miss the gift! If we’ve learned anything up to this point, it’s that many times we’ve thought we understood, only to find that things could be different from what we thought.
READ: Acts 4:8 & 31, Galatians 4:22 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: Lord, what do I need right now?
PRAY: Lord Jesus, I lay down all preconceived ideas of what the Holy Spirit is or isn’t. I also lay down any expectations of how receiving the Holy Spirit should look. I trust You to give me what I need and receive everything You give me.
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WEEK THIRTEEN: Life in the Kingdom (Chapter 3) OBJECTIVE: Understanding what is my part and what is God’s part when exercising His authority and overcoming through spiritual warfare.
NOTES: AUTHORITY •
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Power is the strength or ability to affect change. Authority is delegated power. •
Jesus has the power, we have the authority.
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Our part: to exercise authority; God’s part: to empower our actions, words, etc.
Jesus delegated authority to us, and it only works when we use it. Praying in hope is not the same as commanding in authority.
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I need to be under authority in order to be able to exercise it.
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Recognizing His authority – Recognize that He is within us. He has deputized us and he
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has given us authority on the earth to re-present Him in the geography we inhabit, and he is with us to back up the things that we say and do that match up with His character and His instruction. •
When you pray for another person, you need to pray for the spiritual realm around them. Pray for the spirit of truth to break through, for the spirit of deception to break off, that there be clarity, and that they would see with the eyes of their hearts and hear with the ears of their hearts.
SPIRITUAL WARFARE •
2 Cor 10:3-5
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Central issue: It’s not about what’s in front of us, but which voice we listen to about what’s in front of us. It’s the exercise of our will to choose one voice over another voice.
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In the worst moment of your life, Satan is waiting to inform you about what that moment means and what’s true about you because of that moment. AND SO IS GOD. We need to say, “Lord, you talk to me about this flat tire. Lord, you talk to me about (this event or circumstance).
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Spiritual forces are empowered by human agreement.
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God says, “I know what you see, but ask me what I see.”
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Spiritual warfare is the only battle you win by surrender – surrender to the fact that God has all the power and He wins.
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It’s about who we’re going to worship in the worst and the best moments of our lives.
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GROUP DISCUSSION: 1.
How would you describe what is your part and what is God’s part with regard to expressing the authority God has given us?
2. Do you have an example from your life that demonstrates a time that you experienced the results of God’s authority in action? 3. Did the video challenge your prior understanding of spiritual warfare? Explain. 4. Is there an issue or situation that comes to mind for which you need to ask God, “What do you see?”
LISTENING PRAYER STATEMENTS: •
Lord Jesus, show me anything in my life that hinders the authority You’ve given me.
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Father God, please teach me to pause in situations that try to tell me what I’m seeing and ask You what You see!
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Lord Jesus, You know me and where I am in this journey of spiritual growth. I have committed everything I am to You, connecting with You and receiving Your life. Show me how You are with me every step of the way.
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VIDEO TAKEAWAYS:
DISCUSSION TAKEAWAYS:
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PRAYER REQUESTS: For Myself:
For Others In My Group:
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DAY ONE: Power is the ability to accomplish something. Authority is delegated power. We have been given authority by Jesus through His Name. We’ve been placed on this earth to take dominion over the work of the enemy. God gives us His power, through the Name of His Son, Jesus, to do this from Him, not for Him. As we are connected to Him, hearing Him, our part is to act. His part is to fulfill the things He has declared. Even though we have the authority, if we don’t act, nothing happens. A policeman has delegated authority from the state who empowers him. He doesn’t have power to stop a car, but he has authority to stop the driver. If he stood aside and didn’t tell the driver to stop, nothing would happen.
READ: Luke 10:19-20 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: Lord, show me what you mean when you say, “nothing will injure you.”
PRAY: Lord Jesus, show me anything in my life that hinders the authority You’ve given me.
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DAY TWO: Asking something to change is not using the authority God has given us. We use the authority He’s given as we are connected to Him to set things right according to His plan in the situation. This doesn’t come by our knowledge of good to figure it out, but by hearing Him. Tagging on “in Jesus Name” to our desires doesn’t obligate God to fulfill what we’ve said. When we are under His Lordship (our will surrendered to Him) we can take authority over the things He shows us, from His perspective, that need to change.
READ: Matthew 7:21-23 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: Reveal to me Lord when I have used Your name for my own desires.
PRAY: Lord Jesus, show me when I am choosing to do things that are about me exercising my own authority instead of trusting in Your power.
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DAY THREE: We engage in spiritual warfare everyday whether we recognize it or not. We are told in scripture that our battle is against speculation or arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. The battle often is not what is in front of us that we can see, but in whose voice we’ll listen to about what we see. In the worst moment of our lives, there is something inside us that asks the “why did this happen?” question, even if we never form the words. Satan is waiting to inform us what’s true about us and what’s true about God, but so is God. Unfortunately, we have a tendency to listen to the kingdom of darkness which empowers him and gives him access into that moment. Spiritual forces are empowered by human agreement. This may pertain to how we believe more than what we say. God is so committed to the human part of the process that He came here in human form to finish His work. Satan noticed the power that was released when we heard God, agreed and then confessed what we heard. He tries to get us to hear him, agree, and confess what he says. Our situation is filled with whatever kingdom we agree with in that moment. If Satan can get us to agree with him, his kingdom is advanced. The war is over us agreeing with God in our heart, bringing Him worship. The approach for our heart comes through our senses and circumstances, and many times, our knowledge of good. Satan uses circumstances to inform our senses and get the agreement of our heart, but if we would turn and hear God, he is saying, “I know what you see, but ask Me what I see.”
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READ: 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: How does the world wage war? How do keep from coming into agreement with Satan?
PRAY: Father God, please teach me to pause in situations that try to tell me what I’m seeing and ask You what You see!
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DAY FOUR: Exodus 14 is one scriptural example. The children of Israel camped by the Red Sea. Egypt comes to demolish them. What they see with their eyes is the thread of death and destruction, but what happened? Who was destroyed? The Egyptians, completely. If we don’t stop and ask God, we’ll see with our eyes and agree with the enemy, empowering the wrong kingdom and bringing about what we thought we saw. If we ask God and He shows us what He sees, we agree with Him empowering His kingdom and bringing about His dominion in the situation. This war is a spiritual war, not a rational, logical, or physical one. If we listen to God in those moments, the Voice of God that has creative power, can change the situation. When we agree with Him, the situation changes! Our place is to be inhabited by the kingdom of God to do what God would do through us — push back the kingdom of darkness, even if it thinks it has dominion. Forgiveness is so powerful because it overwhelms hate and wins; goodness encounters evil, doesn’t become evil itself, and wins. The kingdom inside us steps into a circumstance and overcomes the power of the circumstance trying to overwhelm us. The power behind the circumstance is the key.
READ: 2 Corinthians 10:5 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: How do I take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ?
PRAY: Lord, You know me. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. You know my anxious thoughts. Lord, help me to take them captive and bring them to You.
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DAY FIVE: Speculation or arguments come out of our knowledge of good, not from hearing God. They are part of the thought process based on evidence. “Lofty things” are pretensions that set themselves against the truth of God. They pretend to be able to win against God, but in truth, Satan’s only weapon is trying to gain our agreement that something else is more worthy to be worshipped than God. Anything we fear has power over us. Satan launches many attacks to convince us (through our knowledge) to fear. To fear that God really doesn’t love us or that He is not faithful or that He doesn’t want to talk to us or a million other lies! The truth is Satan can’t fight God. The best he can do is invite us over to his side so that we lose with him. God wrote the rules. It’s God’s world, He wins. When Jesus lived on Earth in human form Satan thought, “That’s God, I’ll kill Him!” However, Satan does not have the ability to understand what God intends or how to oppose Him. Consequently, everything Satan attempts only plays into God’s plan. Satan intended to put on Jesus death and sin. It was God’s plan that Jesus would conquer those things which had separated us from Him since the Garden. Satan never knew what hit him! Jesus took what Satan put on Him and defeated it, giving us, as we are connected to Him, victory!
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READ: Romans 8:28 What stands out to you from this reading?
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CONTEMPLATE: Lord, help me to trust in times when I am most afraid that you are working together things for my good.
PRAY: Lord Jesus, You know me and where I am in this journey of spiritual growth. I have committed everything I am to You, connecting with You and receiving Your life. Show me how You are with me every step of the way.
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