Season Two Notes
SCripture, Part One
In this message, we set the foundation for the spiritual practice of Scripture as learn that the Bible is not contained by leather and pages; it is Spirit and it is life. If we want to see God’s kingdom come, we have to surrender our lives to His will, and His will is communicated to us by His Word. No matter what Jesus was experiencing, He dwelt in the kingdom of God, because He loved God’s Word and valued God’s voice. He knew what God was saying, so He knew how to live in alignment with God’s plan for His life. God’s Word shows us that living a different way is not only possible, it’s normal.
Jesus is the living Word of God, the Scriptures are the written Word of God, and God’s Word is God speaking.
The Bible is not a book; it’s a voice.
If I want to dwell deeply in God’s kingdom, God’s Word has to dwell deeply in us.
Matthew 4:4 – Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”
God’s Word shows us what is true in a world full of lies. What does it cost us to live under the influence of a lie?
SCripture, Part Two
In this message, we learn to engage God’s Word from a Jesus-focused perspective, as a disciple, with God, and with a plan. The point of reading the Bible isn’t reading the Bible. The point is meeting with God. How different would our experience with God’s Word be if we engaged first with a heart that intends to listen and obey. “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” Jesus, may we have a heart to engage Your Word, and ears to hear Your voice.
God’s Word is His voice preparing us for the things He’s created us to do. God is speaking to those who are listening, and we will hear from Him if our hearts truly desire what He has to say.
Faith doesn’t make God speak; it opens up our hearts to hear what God has already said.
We can open the Bible, but only Jesus can open the Scriptures.
Mark 4:9 – Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
When was the last time we were cut to the heart by God’s Word, and what did we do about it?
Meditation, part One
In this message, we learn that our thoughts lead our life. Whatever we fill our mind with is what our lives will be full of. Remember, we are not a victim of our mindset; we are a product of it! God has given us the freedom to choose what we set our minds on. Are you fixing your thoughts on His Word, or on the world? May our hearts and minds hunger and thirst for God’s Word!
Jesus spent His life arranging and rearranging His life to memorize and meditate on the Word of God.
Meditating isn’t just thinking; it’s thinking with the Holy Spirit. It’s having a vision for our thought life!
Meditation isn’t just changing our thoughts; it’s changing our entire mindset.
Proverbs 23:7 – As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.
When was the last time we stopped to think about what we’re thinking about?
Meditation, part Two
In this message, we learn that only a mind that has been renewed by the Word of God can see God’s will, and meditating on God’s Word is how we renew our minds. When the Word of God defines truth in our lives, the world and it’s lies can’t get in. Through His Word, God wants to ignite a passion within you as He breaks down every hardened part of your heart.
Whoever influences our thoughts determines what we see, and when God’s Word influences our thoughts, all we see is His kingdom!
Repentance starts where excuses end.
We will never love God’s Word more in public than we do in private.
Joshua 1:8 – Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Jeremiah 23:29 – “Is not my word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?”
Do we have the courage to let God set a fire inside of us, and carry around a hammer inside our hearts?
Rise with the Tide
Jesus, have it all – our days, our life, our church – it’s only for You. In this experience, we’re invited to ask the Holy Spirit to show us where we need to confess, repent, surrender, and live differently. Acts 3:19 tells us, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” Confession and repentance brings cleansing, renewal, and refreshment.
Are you holding onto something that is weighing you down? What would it look like for you to release it to Jesus, and let Him carry you to new places of freedom and breakthrough? The old is gone, the new has come!
Meditation, part Three
In this message, we learn that meditation is spiritual warfare. Whoever has a stronghold on our mindset has a stronghold on our life, which means we can’t afford to think a thought that is not full of faith, hope, and love. The primary battlefield of spiritual warfare is in the mind. When we fill our minds with the thoughts of God by meditating on His Word, there will be no room left for anything else.
People of God’s kingdom are supposed to have totally different mindsets from the people of this world, because we were created to think like God!
When we care about God’s heart, we’ll be captivated by His words.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 – For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
If Jesus’ love language is obedience, does He feel loved by us?
How are you arranging or rearranging your life to fill your mind with God’s Word?
Celebration
In this message, we learn that there is always more goodness of God than there is brokenness of the world. Have we trained ourselves to see it? Or are we training ourselves to grumble? Celebration isn’t looking at how good we are, or how good a certain situation or circumstance is, it’s paying attention and calling attention to how good God is all the time!
As followers of Jesus, we’re responsible to impress God’s ways, words, and wisdom upon the next generation.
When we’re focused on celebrating God’s goodness, we don’t have time to complain about the brokenness of the world.
Psalms 145:7 – They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
The goodness of God is all over our lives. Are we training ourselves to see it?