Scripture: Judges 11:34,35 "When Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, his daughter came out to meet him, playing on a tambourine and dancing for joy. She was his one and only child; he had no other sons or daughters.35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes in anguish. "Oh, my daughter!" he cried out. "You have completely destroyed me! You've brought disaster on me! For I have made a vow to the Lord , and I cannot take it back."
Observe: Jephthah and his only daughter were both obedient to death. Jephthah had made a vow that whatever came out of his house when he came home from battle would be sacrificed to God if he was victorious over the Ammonites. He did win the battle but Jephthah daughter had to be sacrificed because of the vow. She had no children before her death.
Apply: My obedience to God is condition upon my comfort. Do I say to God, I will be obedient no matter what the cost?
Prayer: Jesus, I praise you for being obedient to the death on the cross. Your obedience wasn't dependent upon your comfort. You suffered horribly on our behalf. Help me not to count the cost first, just to trust and obey.
"Scripture Psalms 73:21-22 (NIV) Psalms 73:21-22 (NIV) 21 When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, 22 I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Psalms 73:25-26 (NIV) 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. "
OBSERVATION : 1. David is completely honest with his emotions before God 2. Somehow, as he muses, his thoughts turn from his turmoil to God's perfection. 3. He verbalizes that God is his one and only desire and need. Everything else is optional
APPLICATION: I need to talk to the Lord more. On good days and bad. When filled with praise, and when filled with self pity, or turmoil (like today). Then I need to confess sinful thinking and ask God to replace the turmoil with his peace, and ask him to change my thinking.
Prayer: Lord, today I am so frustrated with the delays for my friends in Ukraine to adopt their daughter. It has been 4 years and lots of money, documents, time, and disappointments. Lord, I woke up this morning, asking why? Why another 2 month delay. But Lord, your ways are higher than mine. I confess, that I doubt your goodness in this situation, and that is sin. Lord, forgive me. But the seed of resentment is still in my head. Lord, today cleanse my heart, and also show me the way of escape, if this thought returns to me. Help my thoughts to dwell on your goodness and faithfulness today. And help Mike, Judy, and Katka to work through all the disappointing emotions from yesterday, but come out praising you. I pray especially for 10 year old Katka. Help her to see you goodness even today. Lord, teach me today how to have victory in this area of disappointments. Somehow I've developed a strong pattern of doubting your goodness when I'm disappointed. Talk to me Jesus. I need your help and guidance. Amen
Scripture: "We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead." (2 Corinthians 1:8-9)
Observation: As the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, we can see the emotion bleeding through his letters. Paul went through trials that were so tough he literally expected to die. As he is examining the reason he went through these trials, he writes, "But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead."
What is the result? Often times we don't understand God's ways, because He is concerned about the result, while we are more concerned about the process. We want the process to be pain-free. We want the process to produce immediate fruit. We want the process to be fast (like our burgers and fries). Yet God sees the big picture. Isaiah 55:9 says, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts."
Sometimes the process is painful, tough, and long, but we must be willing to trust that God is in control, and that His ways are higher that ours.
He sees the results!
Application: I need to make sure that I live out of trust. I think that I can be someone who believes that if I follow Jesus life will be easier. WRONG! Here is a better way to look at it, if I follow Jesus the result or the outcome will be BETTER. This doesn't mean that the process will be easy. In fact, it usually means that the process gets tougher and more demanding, but I need to trust that God sees the results, and the results will make me more like HIM. The results will be BETTER.
Prayer: Father, Help me to trust in Your ways. I know that I can doubt You at times due to the level of pain in my life. Help me not to focus on the process, but to trust You, and to do everything on my end to have clean hands and a pure heart through it all. I know that you see a good result! I choose to trust that my life is in GOOD HANDS. Thank you Lord
Title: The Ultimate Rescuer Mentor: David and Paul
S: Psalm 50:15 Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory."
2 Cor 1:10 And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.
O: Coincidence or not, both passages today talk about God being the rescuer. David was speaking of God rescuing in times of trouble so that God gets the glory. Paul was speaking of God's reputation of being a rescuer so much so that we can have confidence in him as such.
A: Do I have confidence in God as a rescuer? What areas of my life can I give to God to rescue me? He deserves glory, credit for this.
P: Jesus, you are the ultimate rescuer. I pray that in my personal life, ministry, job, and family that you become my rescuer. You are the ultimate hero in my life. May I place my confidence in you to come through and save me from myself!
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:3 "Give praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Father who gives tender love, all comfort comes from Him.
Observe: Because God love us and all comfort comes from Him, we should praise Him.
Apply: Because I like to be comfortable, I should go after the God of all comfort who is Jesus.
Prayer: Dear God, give me comfort whenever I am worried (Juan Moreno Taekwondo Seminar) give me your comfort during this time.
Title: Obedient to Death
ReplyDeleteMentor: Jephthah
Scripture: Judges 11:34,35 "When Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, his daughter came out to meet him, playing on a tambourine and dancing for joy. She was his one and only child; he had no other sons or daughters.35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes in anguish. "Oh, my daughter!" he cried out. "You have completely destroyed me! You've brought disaster on me! For I have made a vow to the Lord , and I cannot take it back."
Observe: Jephthah and his only daughter were both obedient to death. Jephthah had made a vow that whatever came out of his house when he came home from battle would be sacrificed to God if he was victorious over the Ammonites. He did win the battle but Jephthah daughter had to be sacrificed because of the vow. She had no children before her death.
Apply: My obedience to God is condition upon my comfort. Do I say to God, I will be obedient no matter what the cost?
Prayer: Jesus, I praise you for being obedient to the death on the cross. Your obedience wasn't dependent upon your comfort. You suffered horribly on our behalf. Help me not to count the cost first, just to trust and obey.
How to handle a grieved and embittered heart
ReplyDelete"Scripture Psalms 73:21-22 (NIV) Psalms 73:21-22 (NIV)
21 When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered,
22 I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Psalms 73:25-26 (NIV)
25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. "
OBSERVATION : 1. David is completely honest with his emotions before God 2. Somehow, as he muses, his thoughts turn from his turmoil to God's perfection. 3. He verbalizes that God is his one and only desire and need. Everything else is optional
APPLICATION: I need to talk to the Lord more. On good days and bad. When filled with praise, and when filled with self pity, or turmoil (like today). Then I need to confess sinful thinking and ask God to replace the turmoil with his peace, and ask him to change my thinking.
Prayer: Lord, today I am so frustrated with the delays for my friends in Ukraine to adopt their daughter. It has been 4 years and lots of money, documents, time, and disappointments. Lord, I woke up this morning, asking why? Why another 2 month delay. But Lord, your ways are higher than mine. I confess, that I doubt your goodness in this situation, and that is sin. Lord, forgive me. But the seed of resentment is still in my head. Lord, today cleanse my heart, and also show me the way of escape, if this thought returns to me. Help my thoughts to dwell on your goodness and faithfulness today. And help Mike, Judy, and Katka to work through all the disappointing emotions from yesterday, but come out praising you. I pray especially for 10 year old Katka. Help her to see you goodness even today. Lord, teach me today how to have victory in this area of disappointments. Somehow I've developed a strong pattern of doubting your goodness when I'm disappointed. Talk to me Jesus. I need your help and guidance. Amen
Title: "Weighing Results"
ReplyDeleteScripture: "We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead." (2 Corinthians 1:8-9)
Observation: As the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, we can see the emotion bleeding through his letters. Paul went through trials that were so tough he literally expected to die. As he is examining the reason he went through these trials, he writes, "But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead."
What is the result? Often times we don't understand God's ways, because He is concerned about the result, while we are more concerned about the process. We want the process to be pain-free. We want the process to produce immediate fruit. We want the process to be fast (like our burgers and fries). Yet God sees the big picture. Isaiah 55:9 says, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts."
Sometimes the process is painful, tough, and long, but we must be willing to trust that God is in control, and that His ways are higher that ours.
He sees the results!
Application: I need to make sure that I live out of trust. I think that I can be someone who believes that if I follow Jesus life will be easier. WRONG! Here is a better way to look at it, if I follow Jesus the result or the outcome will be BETTER. This doesn't mean that the process will be easy. In fact, it usually means that the process gets tougher and more demanding, but I need to trust that God sees the results, and the results will make me more like HIM. The results will be BETTER.
Prayer: Father, Help me to trust in Your ways. I know that I can doubt You at times due to the level of pain in my life. Help me not to focus on the process, but to trust You, and to do everything on my end to have clean hands and a pure heart through it all. I know that you see a good result! I choose to trust that my life is in GOOD HANDS. Thank you Lord
Title: The Ultimate Rescuer
ReplyDeleteMentor: David and Paul
S: Psalm 50:15 Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory."
2 Cor 1:10 And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.
O: Coincidence or not, both passages today talk about God being the rescuer. David was speaking of God rescuing in times of trouble so that God gets the glory. Paul was speaking of God's reputation of being a rescuer so much so that we can have confidence in him as such.
A: Do I have confidence in God as a rescuer? What areas of my life can I give to God to rescue me? He deserves glory, credit for this.
P: Jesus, you are the ultimate rescuer. I pray that in my personal life, ministry, job, and family that you become my rescuer. You are the ultimate hero in my life. May I place my confidence in you to come through and save me from myself!
Title: "God of All Comfort"
ReplyDeleteMentor: Paul
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:3 "Give praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Father who gives tender love, all comfort comes from Him.
Observe: Because God love us and all comfort comes from Him, we should praise Him.
Apply: Because I like to be comfortable, I should go after the God of all comfort who is Jesus.
Prayer: Dear God, give me comfort whenever I am worried (Juan Moreno Taekwondo Seminar) give me your comfort during this time.