One Prayer 2009 - God is Out of Control

When in your life did you most try to control God, give God direction as to what to do, and it seemed that God did not pay attention to what you were telling God to do? How did you feel?

Sometimes to “Let Go and Let God” means we have to let go of some preconceived notions of who God is and what God will do. If you already have done this, what did you have to let go of? If you haven’t done this yet, what preconceived notion of God do you most need to let go of?

Has there been a time in your life when Jesus showed up when it appeared to be too late, after the fact, when death (of one kind or another had already occurred)? What happened after Jesus arrived? Was there resurrection of one kind or another?

Read the story of Job from the Old Testament (or re-read it if you’ve read it before). Pay special attention to chapters38-42.

Some would say the most Out-of-Control thing God the Father has ever done is sacrifice His Son for you and me. Do you agree or disagree? Either way, why would this be considered so Out-of-Control?

One Prayer 2009 - God is Love

Is it hard for you to understand how God could love you? What makes you feel most underserving of God’s love? 

Do you feel insignificant? When do you notice this the most?

Who is the God YOU believe in? The God who waits for you to mess up so that He can send you to hell? Or the God who loves you? 

Give some careful consideration to this!

What is the difference between God loves and God is love. 

What changes do you need to make to be able to accept God’s love for you? 

One Prayer 2009 - God is Creative

Read the first chapter of Genesis. Don’t rush through it, but take your time. You might want to take several days to do this, maybe even a day for each day of creation. Carefully read what God did on each day and give it careful consideration. Keep in mind that a lot is packed into each sentence. For example, there’s the sentence: “Let the land produce vegetation; seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds (Gen 1:11 NIV).” Take some time to think about all that God created in the space of that one sentence. 

Write out the number 10²¹. That’s a 1 followed by 21 zeros. That is the estimated number of stars in the sky. And each one of them is unique. When you consider that God created each and every one of those stars, how does that make you feel about this God of creation.

Where in your life do you most notice God’s incredible creativity?

Look closely at the swirls on your finger that make up your fingerprint, realizing that out of the billions and billions of people God has created, no one else has that same fingerprint. Look at your hands, the lines, the wrinkles (if you have them) the freckles, the scars…..no one else has hands like yours. Bit by bit, consider your whole being. Look closely at your face in the mirror, into your eyes. One of a kind. Never to be seen again. Give some thought to who you inside, I don’t mean your stomach and intestines, but who you are, your personality, your likes and dislikes, etc, etc. Again, never repeated. Give some thought to the idea that you are a unique creation of the creator of the universe. How do you feel? What would you like to say to God about that? Why not talk to him about it? 

The Life He offers... A Life of Building Up

A Bag of Tools by R. L. Sharpe

Isn’t it strange how princes and kings,

and clowns that caper in sawdust rings,

and common people like you and me,

are builders for eternity?

Each is given a bag of tools,

a shapeless mass, a book of rules;

and each must make ere life is flown,

a stumbling block or a stepping stone.

Considering your tongue as the tool, are you building stumbling blocks or stepping stones for those around you. In other words, are you building others up or tearing others down? 

After the message Sunday, someone refered to the three questions to ask when talking about someone or talking to someone as The TNH TEST. I was saying was building up rather than tearing down. How about you? Have you used the TNH Test yet? 

When was the last negfest that you were a part of? What could you do to avoid them in the future? How could you disengage from a negfest if you became involved in one before you realized it? 

Why would being part of a negfest be dishonoring to God? How is doing the THN TEST honoring to God?

Why is gossip so dishonoring to someone? When was the last time you gossiped?

The Life He offers... A Life of Letting Go

We live in a society where the constant goal is to make life easier. We have timesaving devices in our kitchens, our offices, and even our cars. So how strange it is to hear Jesus warning that following him involves a lot of striving. If he isn’t going to make our lives easier, why bother? Because he alone can lead us to salvation. Yet getting to that salvation is like struggling to squeeze through a narrow, little door. 

In fact, the door is so narrow that we can’t hold onto anything and still make it through. Not our trophies and achievements. Not our relationships. Not even our dreams. We have to drop them all if we’re going to fit through the door called salvation. Yet that is just one of the ways Jesus leads us to hope. None of these things we are holding will save us. Only Jesus, and we have to come to him empty-handed.

M. Craig Barnes, An Extravagant Mercy, (p. 190)

What are you holding onto that won’t allow you to squeeze through the door? Why is it so tough for you to let it go? What’s it going to take for that to happen? 

Right now we are living at a time when things, especially economic things, are pretty crazy. What are you clinging to for your security and hope? If it is anything other than Jesus, is it truly something you can count on?

¹As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. ²He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. ³"I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. ⁴All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

Luke 21:1-4 (NIV)

Some people would say that this woman was goofy, putting all she had into the temple treasury. What would you say? Is money, or the love of money, keeping you from squeezing through that narrow door? What are you going to do about it? 

Is the inability to forgive someone keeping you from squeezing through the door? Have you taken it to Jesus in prayer? If not, why not do that? Have you talked to someone about it? A professional? Perhaps you should consider it.