Day Twenty-One: Protecting Your Church

"You are joined together with peace through the Spirit, so make every effort to continue together in this way." Ephesians 4:3

"Most of all, let love guide your life, for then the whole church will stay together in perfect harmony." Colossians 3:14

Stuff That Stuck Out:

• Nothing on earth is more valuable to God than His church.

HOW ARE WE TO PROTECT OUR CHURCH?

• Focus on what we have in common, not our differences.
• Be realistic in you expectations.
• Choose to encourage rather than criticize.
• Refuse to listen to gossip.
• Practice God's method for conflict resolution.
• "If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him--work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you've made a friend. If he won't listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won't listen, tell the church."
• Support your pastor and leaders.

Point To Ponder: It is my responsibility to protect the unity of my church.

Verse To Remember: "Let us concentrate on the things which make for harmony and the growth of our fellowship together." Romans 14:19 (Ph)

Question To Consider: What am I personally doing to protect unity in my church family right now?

Day Twenty: Restoring Broken Fellowship

"[God] has restored our relationship with him through Christ, and has given us this ministry of restoring relationships." 2 Corinthians 5:18 (GWT)

Stuff That Stuck Out:

• Relationships are always worth restoring.
• Because life is all about learning how to love, God wants us to value relationships and make the effort to maintain them instead of discarding them whenever there is a rift, a hurt, or a conflict.
• Since Christ wants his family to be known for our love for each other, broken fellowship is a disgraceful testimony to unbelievers.
• If you want God's blessing on your life and you want to be known as a child of God, you must learn to be a peacemaker.
• Peacemaking is not avoiding conflict and is also not appeasement.

HOW TO RESTORE A RELATIONSHIP

1. Talk to God before talking to the person.
2. Always take the initiative.
3. Sympathize with their feelings.
4. Confess your part of the conflict.
5. Attack the problem, not the person.
6. Cooperate as much as possible.
7. Emphasize reconciliation, not resolution.

Point To Ponder: Relationships are always worth restoring.

Verse To Remember: "Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody." Romans 12:18 (TEV)

Question To Consider: Who do I need to restore a broken relationship with today?

Day Nineteen: Cultivating Community

"You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor." James 3:18 (Msg)

"They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers." Acts 2:42 (Msg)

Stuff That Stuck Out:

• Community requires commitment.
• Only the Holy Spirit can create real fellowship between believers, but he cultivates it with the choices and commitments we make.

1. Cultivating community takes honesty.

• Sometimes this means caring enough to lovingly confront one who is sinning or is being tempted to sin.
• Real fellowship, whether in a marriage, a friendship, or your church, depends on frankness.
• When conflict is handled correctly, we grow closer to each other by facing and resolving our differences.

2. Cultivating community takes humility.

• Self-importance, smugness, and stubborn pride destroy fellowship faster than anything else.
• The proper dress for fellowship is a humble attitude.
• Pride blocks God's grace in our lives, which we must have in order to grow, change, heal, and help others.
  
• Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.

3. Cultivating community takes courtesy.

• In every church and in every small group, there is always at least one "difficult" person, usually more than one. These people may have special emotional needs, deep insecurities, irritating mannerisms, or poor social skills. You might call them EGR people -- "Extra Grace Required."
• Community has nothing to do with compatibility. The basis for our fellowship is our relationship to God: We're family.
• Real community happens when people know it is safe enough to share their doubts and fears without being judged.

4. Cultivating community takes confidentiality.

• Only in the safe environment of warm acceptance and trusted confidentiality will people open up and share their deepest hurts, needs, and mistakes.
• God hates gossip, especially when it is thinly disguised as a "prayer request" for someone else.
• The fellowship of the church is more important than any individual.

5. Cultivating community takes frequency.

• We are to develop the habit of meeting together. A habit is something you do with frequency, not occasionally.
• Community is built not on convenience but on the conviction that I need it for spiritual health. If you want to cultivate real fellowship, it will mean meeting together even when you don't feel like it, because you believe it is important.

THE NINE CHARACTERISTICS OF BIBLICAL FELLOWSHIP-

We will:

• Share our true feelings. (Authenticity)
• Encourage each other. (Mutuality)
• Support each other. (Sympathy)
• Forgive each other. (Mercy)
• Speak the truth in love. (Honesty)
• Admit our weaknesses. (Humility)
• Respect our differences. (Courtesy)
• Not gossip. (Confidentiality)
• Make group a priority. (Frequency)

Point To Ponder: Community requires commitment.

Verse To Remember: "We understand what love is when we realize that Christ gave his life for us. That means we must give our lives for other believers." 1 John 3:16 (GWT)

Question To Consider: How can I help cultivate today the characteristics of real community in my small group and my church?

Day Eighteen: Experiencing Life Together

"Each one of you is part of the body of Christ, and you were chosen to live together in peace." Colossians 3:15 (CEV)

"How wonderful it is, how pleasant, for God's people to live together in harmony!" Psalm 133:1 (TEV)

Stuff That Stuck Out:

• In real fellowship people experience authenticity.
• Real fellowship happens when people get honest about who they are and what is happening in their lives.
• In real fellowship people experience mutuality.
• In real fellowship people experience sympathy.
• In real fellowship people experience mercy.

Point To Ponder: I need others in my life.

Verse To Remember: "Share each other's troubles and problems, and in this way obey the law of Christ." Galatians 6:2 (NLT)

Question To Consider: What one step can I take today to connect with another believer at a more genuine, heart-to-heart level?

Day Seventeen: A Place To Belong

"You are members of God's very own family, citizens of God's country, and you belong in God's household with every other Christian." Ephesians 2:19b (LB)

"God's family is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth." 1 Timothy 3:15b (GWT)

Stuff That Stuck Out:

• We are created for community, fashioned for fellowship, and formed for a family, and none of us can fulfill God's purposes by ourselves.
• We discover our role in life through our relationships with others.
• Disconnected and cut off from the lifeblood of a local body, your spiritual life will wither and eventually cease to exist.
• The church will outlive the universe, and so will your role in it.
• The Bible says a Christian without a church home is like an organ without a body, a sheep without a flock, or a child without a family. It is an unnatural state.

WHY YOU NEED A CHURCH FAMILY

1. A church family identifies you as a genuine believer.
2. A church family moves you out of self-centered isolation.
3. A church family helps you develop spiritual muscle.
   
4. The Body of Christ needs you.
   
5. You will share in Christ's mission in the world.
6. A church family will help keep you from backsliding.

• God created the church to meet your five deepest needs: a purpose to live for, people to live with, principles to live by, a profession to live out, and power to live on.
• God's purposes for his church are identical to his five purposes for you. Worship helps you focus on God; fellowship help you face life's problems; discipleship helps fortify your faith; ministry helps find your talents; evangelism helps fulfill your mission.

Point To Ponder: I am called to belong, not just believe.

Verse To Remember: "In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." Romans 12:5 (NIV)

Question To Consider: Does my level of involvement in my local church demonstrate that I love and am committed to God's family?

Day Sixteen: What Matters Most

"No matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love." 1 Corinthians 13:3b (Msg)

"Love means living the way God commanded us to live. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is this: Live a life of love." 2 John 1:6 (NCV)

Stuff That Stuck Out:

• Life is all about love.
• Because God is love, the most important lesson he wants you to learn on earth is how to love.
• God wants his family to be known for its love more than anything else. Jesus said our love for each other -- not our doctrinal beliefs -- is our greatest witness to the world.
• There are three important truths we learn through fellowship:

THE BEST USE OF LIFE IS LOVE

• Life without love is really worthless.
• Relationships, not achievements or the acquisition of things, are what matters most in life.
• The point of life is learning to love -- God and people. Life minus love equals zero.
• Love will last forever.
• Love leaves a legacy and is the secret of a lasting heritage.
• We will be evaluated on our love.
• One of the ways God measures spiritual maturity is by the quality of your relationships.

THE BEST EXPRESSION OF LOVE IS TIME

• The greatest gift you can give someone is your time.
• Relationships take time and effort, and the best way to spell love is "T-I-M-E."
• The essence of love is not what we think or do or provide for others, but how much we give of ourselves.
• You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.
  
• Love means giving up -- yielding my preferences, comfort, goals, security, money, energy, or time for the benefit of someone else.

THE BEST TIME TO LOVE IS NOW

• The best use of life is love. The best expression of love is time. The best time to love is now.

Point To Ponder: Life is all about love.

Verse To Remember: "The entire law is summed up in a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" Galatians 5:14 (NIV)

Question To Consider: Honestly, are relationships my first priority? How can I ensure that they are?

Day Fifteen: Formed for God's Family

"God is the One who made all things, and all things are for his glory. He wanted to have many children share his glory." Hebrews 2:10a (NCV)

"See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children, and we really are!" 1 John 3:1 (NLT)

Stuff That Stuck Out:

• You were formed for God's family. This is God's second purpose for your life.
• When we place our faith in Christ, God becomes our Father, we become his children, other believers become our brothers and sisters, and the church becomes our spiritual family.
• Every human being was created by God, but not everyone is a child of God. The only way to get into God's family is by being born again into it.
• Your spiritual family is even more important than your physical family because it will last forever.

BENEFITS OF BEING IN GOD'S FAMILY

• The moment your were spiritually born into God's family, you were given some astounding birthday gifts: the family name, the family likeness, family privileges, family intimate access, and the family inheritance!
• Here on earth we are given "the riches...of his grace ... kindness ... patience ... glory ... wisdom ... power ... and mercy." But in eternity we will inherit even more.
• In eternity...
• We will get to be with God forever.
• We will be completely changed to be like Christ.
• We will be freed from all pain, death, and suffering.
• We will be rewarded and reassigned positions of service.
• We will get to share in Christ's glory.
• Your eternal inheritance is priceless, pure, permanent, and protected.

BAPTISM: IDENTIFYING WITH GOD'S FAMILY

• Baptism is not an optional ritual, to be delayed or postponed.
  
• Your baptism declares your faith, shares Christ's burial and resurrection, symbolizes your death to your old life, and announces your new life in Christ.

LIFE'S GREATEST PRIVILEGE

• Being included in God's family is the highest honor and the greatest privilege you will ever receive.

Point To Ponder: I was formed for God's family.

Verse To Remember: "His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ." Ephesians 1:5a (NLT)

Question To Consider: How can I start treating other believers like members of my own family?

Day Fourteen: When God Seems Distant

"The Lord has hidden himself from his people, but I trust him and place my hope in him." Isaiah 8:17 (TEV)

Stuff That Stuck Out:

• The deepest level of worship is praising God in spite of pain, thanking God during a trial, trusting him when tempted, surrendering while suffering, and loving him when he seems distant.
• To mature your friendship, God will test it with periods of seeming separation--times when it feels as if he has abandoned or forgotten you.
• God admits that sometimes he hides his face from us.
• The most common mistake Christians make in worship today is seeking an experience rather than seeking God. Seeking a feeling, even the feeling of closeness to Christ, is not worship.
• God is always present, even when you are unaware of him, and his presence is too profound to be measured by mere emotion. He wants you to sense his presence, but he's more concerned that you trust him than that you feel him. Faith, not feelings, pleases God.
• How do you praise God when you don't understand what's happening in your life and God is silent?
• Tell God exactly how you feel.
• God can handle your doubt, anger, fear, grief, confusion, and questions.
• Focus on who God is--his unchanging nature.
• Praise him because:
• He is good and loving.
• He is all-powerful.
• He notices every detail of my life.
• He is in control.
• He has a plan for my life.
• He will save me.
• Trust God to keep his promises.
• When you feel abandoned by God yet continue to trust him in spite of your feelings, you worship him in the deepest way.
• Remember what God has already done for you.
• If God never did anything else for you, he would still deserve our continual praise for the rest of your life because of what Jesus did for you on the cross.
• Jesus gave up everything so you could have everything.

Point To Ponder: God is real, no matter how I feel.

Verse To Remember: "For God has said, 'I will never leave you; I will never abandon you.'" Hebrews 13:5 (TEV)

Question To Consider: How can I stay focused on God's presence, especially when he feels distant?

Day Thirteen: Worship That Pleases God

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." Mark 12:30 (NIV)

Stuff That Stuck Out:

• The kind of worship that pleases God has four characteristics:
• God is pleased when our worship is accurate.
• Worship must be based on the truth of Scripture, not our opinions about God.
• God is pleased when our worship is authentic.
• When we worship, God looks past our words to see the attitude of our hearts.
• God-pleasing worship is deeply emotional and deeply doctrinal. We use both our hearts and our heads.
• The best style of worship is the one that most authentically represents your love for God.
• God is pleased when our worship is thoughtful.
• God is not pleased with thoughtless singing of hymns, perfunctory praying of clichés, or careless exclamations of "Praise the Lord," because we can't think of anything else to say at that moment.
• God is pleased when our worship is practical.
• Real worship costs. One thing worship costs us is our self-centeredness. You cannot exalt God and yourself at the same time. You don't worship to be seen by others or to please yourself. You deliberately shift the focus off yourself.
• The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.

Point To Ponder: God wants all of me.

Verse To Remember: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." Mark 12:30 (NIV)

Question To Consider: Which is more pleasing to God right now--my public worship or my private worship? What will I do about this?

Day Twelve: Developing Your Friendship with God

"He offers his friendship to the godly." Proverbs 3:32

"Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you." James 4:8

Stuff That Stuck Out:

• You are as close to God as you choose to be.
• I must choose to be honest with God.
• God doesn't expect you to be perfect, but he does insist on complete honesty.
• To be God's friend, you must be honest to God, sharing your true feelings, not what you think you ought to feel or say.
• Bitterness is the greatest barrier to friendship with God.
• Expressing doubt is sometimes the first step toward the next level of intimacy with God.
• I must choose to obey God in faith.
• Every time you trust God's wisdom and do whatever he says, even when you don't understand it, you deepen your friendship with God.
• We are friends with God, but we are not his equals. He is our loving leader, and we follow him.
• Because we have been forgiven and set free, we obey out of love--and our obedience brings great joy!
• Jesus' relationship with his Father is the model for our friendship with him.
• God treasures simple acts of obedience more than our prayers, praise, or offerings.
• I must choose to value what God values.
• The more you become God's friend, the more you will care about the things he cares about, grieve over the things he grieves over, and rejoice over the things that bring pleasure to him.
• Friends of God tell their friends about God.
• I must desire friendship with God more than anything else.
• Intimate friendship with God is a choice, not an accident.
• If you've just been going through the motions spiritually, don't be surprised when God allows pain in your life.
• Pain is God's way of arousing us from spiritual lethargy.
• There is nothing--absolutely nothing--more important than developing a friendship with God.

Point To Ponder: I'm as close to God as I choose to be.

Verse To Remember: "Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you." James 4:8a (NLT)

Question To Consider: What practical choices will I make today in order to grow closer to God?

Day Eleven: Becoming Best Friends with God

"Since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life." Romans 5:10 (NLT)

Stuff That Stuck Out:

• Knowing and loving God is our greatest privilege, and being known and loved is God's greatest pleasure.
• There are six secrets of friendship with God (2 today, 4 tomorrow.)
• Become a best friend of God through constant conversation.
• He wants to be included in every activity, every conversation, every problem, and even every thought. You can carry on a continuous, open-ended conversation with him throughout your day, talking with him about whatever you are doing or thinking at that moment.
• Everything you do can be "spending time with God" if he is invited to be a part of it and you stay aware of his presence.
• Practicing the presence of God is a skill, a habit you can develop.
• We don't praise God to feel good, but to do good. Your goal is not a feeling, but a continual awareness of the reality that God is always present.
• Become a best friend of God through continual meditation.
• A second way to establish a friendship with God is by thinking about his Word throughout your day.
• Meditation is often misunderstood as some difficult, mysterious ritual practiced by isolated monks and mystics. But meditation is simply focused thinking--a skill anyone can learn and use anywhere.
• When you think about a problem over and over in your mind, that's called worry. When you think about God's Word over and over in your mind, that's meditation.
• Friend's share secrets, and God will share his secrets with you if you develop the habit of thinking about his Word throughout the day.
• Prayer lets you speak to God; meditation lets God speak to you. Both are essential to becoming a friend of God.

Point to Ponder: God wants to be my best friend.

Verse To Remember: "Friendship with God is reserved for those who reverence him." Psalm 25:14a (LB)

Question To Consider: What can I do to remind myself to think about God and talk to him more often throughout the day?

Day Ten: The Heart of Worship

"Give yourselves to God...Surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes." Romans 6:13 (TEV)

Stuff That Stuck Out:

• The heart of worship is surrender.
• We give ourselves to him, not out of fear or duty, but in love.
• True worship -- bringing God pleasure -- happens when you give yourself completely to God.
• Offering yourself to God is what worship is all about.
• Trust is an essential ingredient to surrender.
• Our pride is a barrier to total surrender.
• A.W. Tozer said, "The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress is because they haven't yet come to the end of themselves. We're still trying to give orders, and interfering with God's work within us."
• Surrender means sacrificing your life or suffering in order to change what needs to be changed.
• Surrender is best demonstrated in obedience and trust.
• The supreme example of self-surrender is Jesus.
• When you fully surrender your life to God you experience peace, freedom, and God's power in your life.
• Surrendered people are the ones God uses.
• You are free to choose what you surrender to, but you are not free from the consequences of that choice.
• Surrender is not the best way to live; it is the only way to live. Nothing else works.
• There is a moment of surrender, and there is the practice of surrender, which is moment-by-moment and lifelong.

Point To Ponder: The heart of worship is surrender.

Verse to Remember: "Surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes." Romans 6:13b (TEV)

Question To Consider: What area of my life am I holding back from God?

Day Nine: What Makes God Smile

"May the Lord smile on you..." Numbers 6:25 (NLT)

"Smile on me, your servant; teach me the right way to live." Psalm 119:135 (Msg)

Stuff That Stuck Out:

• The smile of God is the goal of your life.
• There are five acts of worship that make God smile.
• God smiles when we love him supremely.
• God made you to love you, and he longs for you to love him back.
• What God wants most from you is a relationship.
• God smiles when we trust him completely.
• Trusting God completely means having faith that he knows what is best for your life.
• God smiles when we obey him wholeheartedly.
• That means doing whatever God asks without reservation or hesitation.
• God doesn't owe you an explanation or reason for everything he asks you to do. Understanding can wait, but obedience can't.
• Wholehearted obedience is done joyfully, with enthusiasm.
• God smiles when we praise and thank him continually.
• We praise God for who he is, and we thank God for what he has done.
• We enjoy what God has done for us, and when we express that enjoyment to God, it brings him joy--but it also increases our joy.
• God smiles when we use our abilities.
• God enjoys watching every detail of your life.
• Every human activity, except sin, can be done for God's pleasure if you do it with an attitude of praise.
• Like a proud parent, God especially enjoys watching you use the talents and abilities he has given you.
• When you are sleeping, God gazes at you with love, because you were his idea.
• He loves and enjoys you at every stage of your spiritual development.
• When you live in light of eternity, your focus changes from "How much pleasure am I getting out of life?" to "How much pleasure is God getting out of my life?"

Point To Ponder: God smiles when I trust him.

Verse To Remember: "The Lord is pleased with those who worship him and trust his love." Psalm 147:11 (CEV)

Question To Consider: Since God knows what is best, in what areas of my life do I need to trust him most?

Day Eight: Planned For God's Pleasure

"You created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created." Revelation 4:11 (NLT)

"The Lord takes pleasure in his people." Psalm 149:4a (TEV)

Stuff That Stuck Out:

• The moment you were born into the world, God was there as an unseen witness, smiling at your birth.
• God did not need to create you, but he chose to create you for his own enjoyment. You exist for his benefit, his glory, his purpose, and his delight.
• Bringing enjoyment to God, living for his pleasure, is the first purpose of your life.
• We often forget that God has emotions, too. He feels things very deeply. The Bible tells us that God grieves, gets jealous and angry, and feels compassion, pity, sorrow, and sympathy as well as happiness, gladness, and satisfaction. God loves, delights, gets pleasure, rejoices, enjoys, and even laughs!
• Bringing pleasure to God is called "worship."
• Anything you do that brings pleasure to God is an act of worship.
• Worship is far more than music.
  
• Worship is not for your benefit.
• God's heart is not touched by tradition in worship, but by passion and commitment.
• Worship is not a part of your life; it is your life.
• Every activity can be transformed into an act of worship when you do it for the praise, glory, and pleasure of God.
• This is the secret to a lifestyle of worship--doing everything as if you were doing it for Jesus.
• Falling in love with Jesus is what real worship is all about.

Point To Ponder: I was planned for God's pleasure.

Verse To Remember: "The Lord takes pleasure in his people." Psalm 149:4a (TEV)

Question To Consider: What common task could I start doing as if I were doing it directly for Jesus?

Day Seven: The Reason For Everything

"Everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by His power, and everything is for His glory." Romans 11:36 (LB)

"The Lord has made everything for his own purposes." Proverbs 16:4 (NLT)

Stuff That Stuck Out:

• The ultimate goal of the universe is to show the glory of God.
• God's glory is best seen in Jesus Christ. He, the Light of the world, illuminates God's nature.
• We are commanded to recognize his glory, honor his glory, declare his glory, praise his glory, reflect his glory, and live for his glory.
• None of us have given God the full glory he deserves from our lives.

HOW CAN I BRING GLORY TO GOD?
*When anything in creation fulfills its purpose, it brings glory to God.

• We bring God glory by worshiping him.
• Worship is far more than praising, singing, and praying to God. Worship is a lifestyle of enjoying God, loving him, and giving ourselves to be used for his purposes.
• We bring God glory by loving other believers.
• It is your responsibility to learn how to love as God does, because God is love, and it honors him.
• We bring God glory by becoming like Christ.
• Spiritual maturity is becoming like Jesus in the way we think, feel, and act. The more you develop Christlike character, the more you will bring glory to God.
• We bring God glory by serving others with our gifts.
• We bring God glory by telling others about him.

WHAT WILL YOU LIVE FOR?

• Living the rest of your life for the glory of God will require a change in your priorities, your schedule, your relationships, and everything else.
• God will give you what you need if you will just make the choice to live for him.

Point To Ponder: It's all for him.

Verse To Remember: "For everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by his power, and everything is for his glory." Romans 11:36 (LB)

Question To Consider: Where in my daily routine can I become more aware of God's glory?

Day Six: Life Is a Temporary Assignment

"Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away." Psalm 39:4 (NLT)

"I am here on earth for just a little while." Psalm 119:19 (TEV)

Stuff That Stuck Out:

• In the Bible, life is described as a mist, a fast runner, a breath, and a wisp of smoke.
• Compared with eternity, life is extremely brief.
• Earth is only a temporary residence.
• Christians should carry spiritual green cards to remind us that our citizenship is in heaven.
• Your identity is in eternity, and your homeland is heaven.
• When we flirt with the temptations of this world, God calls it spiritual adultery.
• Earth is not our final home; we were created for something much better.
• The abundant life has nothing to do with material abundance, and faithfulness to God does not guarantee success in a career or even in ministry. Never focus on temporary crowns.
  
• In God's eyes, the greatest heroes of faith are not those who achieve prosperity, success, and power in this life, but those who treat this life as a temporary assignment and serve faithfully, expecting their promised reward in eternity.
• At death you won't leave home -- you'll go home.

Point To Ponder: This world is not my home.

Verse To Remember: "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)

Question To Consider: How should the fact that life on earth is just a temporary assignment change the way I am living right now?

Day Five: Seeing Life from God's View

"What is your life?" James 4:14 (NIV)

Stuff That Stuck Out:

• The way you see your life shapes your life.
• Your unspoken life metaphor influences your life more than you realize.
• The Bible offers three metaphors that teach us God's view of life: Life is a test, life is a trust, and life is a temporary assignment (discussed tomorrow.)
• Life on earth is a Test.
• Character is both developed and revealed by tests, and all of life is a test.
• You will be tested by major changes, delayed promises, impossible problems, unanswered prayers, undeserved criticism, and even senseless tragedies.
• A very important test is how you act when you can't feel God's presence in your life. Sometimes God intentionally draws back, and we don't sense his closeness.
• When you understand that life is a test, you realize that nothing is insignificant in your life.
• Every day is an important day, and every second is a growth opportunity to deepen your character, to demonstrate love, or to depend on God.
• Life on earth is a Trust.
• Our time on earth and our energy, intelligence, opportunities, relationships, and resources are all gifts from God that he has entrusted to our care and management.
• We never really own anything during our brief stay on earth. God just loans the earth to us while we're here.
• At the end of your life on earth you will be evaluated and rewarded according to how well you handled what God entrusted to you.
• God watches how we use money to test how trustworthy we are.
  
• The more God gives you, the more responsible he expects you to be.

Point To Ponder: Life is a test and a trust.

Verse To Remember: "Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won't be faithful in large ones." Luke 16:10a (NLT)

Question To Consider: What has happened to me recently that I now realize was a test from God? What are the greatest matters God has entrusted to me?

Day Four: Made To Last Forever

"God has...planted eternity in the human heart." Ecclesiastes 3:11

Stuff That Stuck Out:

• This life is not all there is.
• Life on earth is just the dress rehearsal before the real production.
• While life on earth offers many choices, eternity offers only two: heaven or hell.
• Your relationship to God on earth will determine your relationship to him in eternity.
• When you fully comprehend that there is more to life than just here and now, and you realize that life is just preparation for eternity, you will begin to live differently.
• When you live in light of eternity, your values change.
• Death is not your termination, but your transition into eternity, so there are eternal consequences to everything you do on earth.
  
• Every act of our lives strikes some chord that will vibrate in eternity.
• The capacity of our brains cannot handle the wonder and greatness of heaven. It would be like trying to describe the Internet to an ant.
• God has a purpose for your life on earth, but it doesn't end here.
• Rather than death being the end of your life, it will be your birthday into eternal life.
• Measured against eternity, our time on earth is just a blink of an eye, but the consequences of it will last forever.
• Matthew Henry said, "It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our final day."

Point To Ponder: There is more to life than just here and now.

Verse To Remember: "This world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever." 1 John 2:17 (NLT)

Question To Consider: Since I was made to last forever, what is the one thing I should stop doing and the one thing I should start doing today?

Day Three: What Drives Your Life?

I observed that the basic motive for success is the driving force of envy and jealousy! Ecclesiastes 4:4 (LB)

Stuff That Stuck Out:

• 5 Common Circumstances, Values, & Emotions that Can Drive Your Life
• Many People are driven by guilt.
• We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it.
• Many people are driven by resentment and anger.
• Resentment always hurts you more than it does the person you resent.
• Many people are driven by fear.
• Fear is a self-imposed prison that will keep you from becoming what God intends for you to be.
• Many people are driven by materialism.
• Possessions only provide temporary happiness.
• Self-worth and net worth are not the same.
  
• Many people are driven by the need for approval.
• Being controlled by the opinions of others is a guaranteed way to miss God's purposes for your life.
• Nothing matters more than knowing God's purposes for your life, and nothing can compensate for not knowing them -- not success, wealth, fame, or pleasure.

• The Benefits of Purpose-Driven Living
• Knowing your purpose gives meaning to your life.
• Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning.
• Hope is as essential to your life as air and water.
• Knowing your purpose simplifies your life.
• Without a clear purpose you have no foundation on which you base decisions, allocate your time, and use your resources.
• It is impossible to do everything people want you to do. You have just enough time to do God's will.
• Purpose-driven living leads to a simpler lifestyle and a saner schedule.
• Knowing your purpose focuses your life.
• You become effective by being selective.
• Without a clear purpose, you will keep changing directions, jobs, relationships, churches, or other externals -- hoping each change will settle the confusion or fill the emptiness in your heart.
• If you want your life to have impact, focus it!
• Knowing your purpose motivates your life.
• Purpose always produces passion. Nothing energizes like a clear purpose.
• Knowing your purpose prepares you for eternity.
• You weren't put on earth to be remembered. You were put here to prepare for eternity.

Point To Ponder: Living on purpose is the path to peace.

Verse To Remember: "You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you." Isaiah 26:3 (TEV)

Question To Consider: What would my family and friends say is the driving force of my life? What do I want it to be?

DayTwo: You Are Not An Accident

I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born. Isaiah 44:2a (CEV)

Stuff That Stuck Out:

• "Nothing in your life is arbitrary. It's all for a purpose."
• "While there are illegitimate parents, there are no illegitimate children."
• "God's purpose took into account human error, and even sin."
• "God never does anything accidentally, and he never makes mistakes."
• "Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God."
• "Love is the essence of God's character."
• Poem by Russell Kelfer:

You are who you are for a reason.
You're part of an intricate plan.
You're a precious and perfect unique design,
Called God's special woman or man.

You look like you look for a reason.
Our God made no mistake.
He knit you together within the womb,
You're just what he wanted to make.

The parents you had were the ones he chose,
And no matter how you may feel,
They were custom-designed with God's plan in mind,
And they bear the Master's seal.

No, that trauma you faced was not easy.
And God wept that it hurt you so;
But it was allowed to shape your heart
So that into his likeness you'd grow.

You are who you are for a reason,
You've been formed by the Master's rod.
You are who you are, beloved,
Because there is a God!

Point To Ponder: I am not an accident.

Verse To Remember: "I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born." Isaiah 44:2 (CEV)

Question To Consider: I know that God uniquely created me. What areas of my personality, background, and physical appearance am I struggling to accept?

A New Goal

All of a sudden I've gotten a hungry appetite for reading. I've never been a big reader unless I found a book that just held my attention, but lately I've just really wanted to read. Since I just finished "Redeeming Love" (see my post below) and just started my new Tuesday morning Bible study, I didn't want to start something (like "Redeeming Love") that would divert my attention from my study. So, I've decided to read, "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. Something that can be used in addition to my study. I've actually already read it almost all of the way through, but decided to start again and really focus on each daily reading. Everyday I will be blogging about what I've read to help keep myself accountable. Just short blogs with the Points to Ponder, Verses to Remember, and Questions to Consider and anything else that really stuck out to me. So, here is day one's blog for "The Purpose Driven Life."

Day One: It All Starts With God
"For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible...everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him." Colossians 1:16 (Msg)

Stuff That Stuck Out:

• "You didn't create yourself, so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were created for."
• "Focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life's purpose."
• "You were made by God and for God."

Point To Ponder: It's not about me.

Verse To Remember: "Everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him." Colossians 1:16b (Msg)

Question To Consider: In spite of all the advertising around me, how can I remind myself that life is really about living for God, not myself?

Sorry if this gets boring for anyone who reads. I'm mainly doing this to keep myself accountable, but if anybody has any insights that they'd like to share, I'd love to hear them!