A Changed Life

Is there a way that you can tell if someone is a Christian?  I realize that only God knows our heart but are their signs we can look for to see if someone’s salvation is real?

Today’s Verses:
1 John 2:3-6

John says yes we can know.  I find it difficult for someone that states they are a Christian but lives like the devil.  The Bible teaches that this cannot be.  Through our study in the book of James, we found that our works prove our faith.  We are lying to ourselves if we live in sin and say we are a Christian.  No we are not perfect, far from it.  But we are commanded to walk in the Light, to live by the truth and to be obedient to His work.  This is how we know that God is real in our lives.  If Jesus lives within us, how can we not be changed.  This change does not happen overnight, it is a process called discipleship where be become more and more like Christ each day of our lives.

Discussion Questions:
1.  Does your obedience to scripture show that you are a Christian?

2.  What do you think about the verse 4 where Johns says, “The man who says, I know him, but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

3.  If your salvation is real, how should that change the way you live your life?

Without Sin

Sin is not something we like to talk about but it is a reality of all of our lives.  Sometimes we try to convince ourselves that we are better than what we really are.  The Bible says that there is “None righteous, no not one”.  It is only through Christ that we have any value and are made holy.

Today’s Verses:
1 John 1:8-2:2

In my life, I have made countless mistakes and have failed the Lord.  If it were not for the grace of God we would have no hope.  John says that when we sin, we should not try to deny it, hide from it but instead run to God and confess it.  There is power in confession.  When we can tell God specifically what we have done, we experience freedom.  Satan wants us to believe that if we tell God what we did, He will be mad or He will not forgive us.  That is because Satan is a liar.  The Bible says if we confess our sins to God, He is faithful and just to forgive us from ALL unrighteousness.  This is because we have Jesus “speaking to the Father in our defense”.  He’s telling God, “Please forgive them, I paid for that”.  Experiencing God’s grace and forgiveness should encourage us to “go and sin no more”.

Discussion Questions:
1.  Have you ever sinned and were scared to tell God about it?

2.  What did you think would happen if you confessed it to Him?

3.  How does it make you feel knowing all the times the Lord has forgiven you?

4.  How has God’s grace brought freedom in your life?

Now to Him who is able

I want to share with you what the Lord has been doing in our family.  My wife and I have been married for 11 years.  We have four wonderful children (9, 7, 5 and 2yrs old).  We have never owned a home.  We have always rented and when we lived in Alabama, the Lord blessed us with the church parsonage.  When we moved back to Florida 2 1/2 years ago, we had the desire to buy or build a home that we could call our own.  Over the past year, we decided to build our dream home and began making plans to do so.  Last May, we purchased 1 acre of vacant land in hopes to build on that land in May of this year.  We had the plans drawn, signed and stamped.  In May of this year, we began seeking financing for a construction loan but door after door began to close.  We didn’t know what to do so I did what most men would do…I began trying to knock down doors and trying to pry those doors that had closed open.  It wasn’t working.  After the final door had closed on us being able to build our dream home, we gave up and turned it over to the Lord.

We decided to look at the possibility of buying instead of building.  This past Sunday, Jessica found a few homes online that she liked and we made an appointment the next day to go see them.  On Monday we looked at two homes but they were two story and we would prefer a one story.  The third home we looked at blew us away.  It has almost the exact floorplan that we had designed for our custom home, it even had a theater room that I have been dreaming about for the past year. The home is a little over 1 month away from being finished built.  They still have to add flooring, lighting, carpet and appliances.  We went back on Tuesday to look at the home one more time as well as looking at two other floorplans that they had.

We prayed about it that night and made a phone call to the lender to get pre-approved for the loan.  Upon approval, we made an offer on the house around 6pm.  The agent submitted the offer on Wednesday morning.  By 1:30pm, we had a counter offer.  At 2:00pm we made a counter offer.  Around 4pm, they made a counter offer.  At 5:30pm, we accepted the offer and are buying our first home!!! We meet today to sign the contract, pick out flooring and lighting fixtures.   We have to get all of the paperwork in by this Friday and must close by Sept 30th.

My prayer was that God would do something so big that only He could do so that He would get the glory.  From start to finish, I see the hand of God working in our life.  Through all of this, God has once again proven His faithfulness.  He knows what is best for His children.  Sometimes we just have to get out of His way and let Him do what He does best…provide for His children.  A good friend emailed me today about what God is teaching him that says exactly what I feel about what God is teaching me.

Chris says, “this has been a time to trust God and know that He will provide according to our needs.  This is a constant lesson I think we often learn over and over again.  Our human nature wants to fight against the inclination to do things on our own, to achieve greatness in our self, and self-reliance.  I fight this everyday thinking that it is me who will provide…I am reminded as I write this that it is God and God alone who will provide.”  Thanks Chris.  I’m praying for you.

Today’s Verses:
Ephesians 3:20-21

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;  6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Walking in the light

Have you ever woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom?  You know your house pretty well so you leave the lights off as you make your way down the hall and around the corner.   The one thing you did not realize is that someone had left toy or moved a chair from it’s normal place of rest.  Since it was dark, you find yourself running smack into and stubbing your toe and falling to the floor?  John speaks about walking in darkness.

Today’s Verses:
1 John 1:5-7

How many times have we chosen to walk in spiritual darkness instead of walking in God’s light of truth and righteousness?  God’s way is always the best way.  When we choose to walk in darkness, we run the risk of getting injured or tripping over stumbling blocks.   Just as the object brings us to the ground, sin causes us to fall.  Jesus wants you and I to walk in the light of His truth.  John says if we continue to walk in the darkness, we do not truly have salvation.  We are called to Live in His light, abide in His love and live our lives according to His plan.

Discussion Questions:
1.  Looking back at the times that you chose darkness over light, was it worth it?

2.  How do you keep yourself walking in the light?

3.  Can you truly be saved and continue to walk in darkness?

What are you proclaiming?

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to walk with Jesus?  To be there when He raised Lazarus from the dead or calmed the Sea of Galilee with a spoken word.  What about the time He fed 5000 people with a small boy’s lunch.

Today’s Verses:
1 John 1:1-4

John had experienced the life of Jesus firsthand.  He had been with Jesus and was one of select few to be chosen as one of His disciples.  John did not read about Jesus, He did not hear secondhand, but had seen with his own eyes and touched the Savior with his own hands.  This testimony adds validity to the life of Jesus and the reality of His Divinity.  John saw Jesus do things that only God could do and John boldly proclaimed what he had seen the Lord do in his life.

You and I are called to be Jesus’ disciples.  Just like John, we have experienced firsthand God moving in our lives.  Some of us have witnessed miracles.  We have watched the transformation of our lives as well as others.  We need to share what God has done in our lives so that others would have “fellowship with us” and experience the joy that we have in Christ.

Discussion Questions:
1.  How have you seen or felt God moving in your life recently?

2.  Have you shared that with others?

3.  If you did share it, what was your purpose in sharing?

4.  If not, why didn’t you share it?

5.  How does seeing God work in your life bring you joy?

Don’t be a dumb sheep, be a shepherd

Have you ever watched sheep?  If you have, you quickly realize that sheep are dumb!  They really are.  It is not uncommon for a sheep to wander off from the flock.  What the sheep does not realize is that when they are apart from the flock, they are vulnerable to attack by other animals, in particular, the wolf.  That is why the Shepherd will leave the flock to go after the one lost sheep.  Did you know that the Bible refers to us as sheep?  Yep.  You guessed it.  We are dumb too.  From time to time, we wander off from where God wants us to be.

Today’s Verses:
James 5:19-20

James is talking to Christians here.  When we see another believer not following the path of righteousness and wandering from the truth, we need to go to them and do whatever it takes to bring them back to the fold.  In doing this, you will save them from death.  This is not a spiritual death, but a physical death.  Remember what Paul said, “For the wages of sin is death…”.  Sin always leads to death.

Discussion Questions:
1.  Have you ever wandered from the truth?

2.  What did it take to bring you back?

3.  Who do you know that has wandered from the truth?

4.  What can you do to encourage them to come back to the fold?

5.  What danger are they in if they continue in the direction they are going?

We are no different

Have you ever read about a character in the Bible and realize that you are really no different than they are? Today, James says that Elijah was a man just like us?  How can that be?

Today’s Verses:
James 5:17-18

Sometimes when I read the Bible, I have a hard time believing that I could ever be like Paul, Daniel or even Moses.  I mean, could I really lead a nation to follow after God?  Would I be willing to be thrown into a fiery furnace for my faith?  Could I still praise God while being in prison for my faith?  To be honest, I really believe I could…and so could you.  You see, the reason these men did great things for God was not because of their own abilities.  Remember, Paul hated Christians before God saved him and changed His heart.  Moses was terribly afraid of going to King Pharoah, but God spoke through Him.  Daniel was just a young boy, yet he and his two friends stood up to the King and put their life in God’s hands.  You see, when we really look at it, the people in the Bible are a lot like you and me.  They have fears, doubts and weaknesses too.  God doesn’t want our ability…He wants our availability.  Each of these men were willing to be used by God.  That’s the type of person God can use in a mighty way.

Discussion Questions:
1.  What person in the Bible do you identify most with?

2.  Do you believe you can accomplish great things for the Lord like they did?

3.  What area of your life do you consider a weakness?

4.  How can God use you through your weakness for His glory?

Power of Prayer

Prayer is the key to the heart of God.  Some of us wonder why we do not feel God’s presence as much as we think we should.  This could be because we do not take the time to get alone with God to speak to Him and allow Him to speak to us through prayer.

Today’s Verses:
James 5:13-16

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective!  When we are in a right relationship with God, we can know that our prayers will be heard and they will be answered.  Because of the New Covenant, we are able to come “boldy before the throne of grace with our prayers and petitions”.  It still amazes me that you and I have access to the God of the Universe!  What an amazing thought.  I can know Him…intimately.  And He knows me.

Discussion Questions:
1.  How much time do you spend each day in prayer?

2.  Has God ever answered a huge prayer in your life?

3.  Do you think God is really concerned with the small things in our life?  Should we only go to Him with big concerns and problems?

4.  How have you seen God work in your life as a result of prayer?

Let your yes be yes…

Long are the days when business was done with a firm handshake.  Agreements were made merely with the confirmation of our word.  What happened to those days?  Why is it that someone can tell you something but unless it was in writing, it is not binding and they are not held accountable to it?

Today’s Verses:
James 5:12

We have all probably been guilty of this at times.  We really don’t believe someone so we make them swear to God that they are telling the truth.  James says that we should not swear but instead let our yes be yes, and our no be no.  This goes back to an integrity and a character issue.  Why should we have to swear to ensure that we are telling the truth about something.  Shouldn’t we always be telling the truth?

Discussion Questions:
1.  If you tell someone you will do something, can they really count on you to follow through with what you said you will do?

2.  What does this say about your integrity and character?

3.  Do you catch your self swearing to others that you are telling the truth?

4.  What does that say about the times that you do not swear you are telling the truth?

Patience in Suffering

Patience and Suffering…two words that most of us do not like, much less when they are used in the same sentence.  James reminds us to look at the lives of the prophets for strength and encouragement.

Today’s Verses:
James 5:10-11

When we suffer for the Lord, James says that we can draw strength from knowing that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.  There is nothing that you will ever go through in this life that will catch God by surprise.  He knows everything and is fully aware of your circumstances.  Most of the time, we focus on the immediate when we are going through a difficult time.  But God wants us to look into the future.  We can have confidence that He will bring something good out of a bad situation.  He will reward you if you are faithful to serve Him through your struggles.  God’s will isn’t to always make sure that we are comfortable and without problems.  His will is to supply us with our needs and to be there to help us through the situation.  The Lord is teaching me about patience through the process of building our first home.  Unfortunately, the only way to develop patience is to experience situations that require patience.  There are no shortcuts.

Discussion Questions:
1.  What area of your life do you need more patience?

2.  How can your suffering bring about patience in your life?

3.  How can the life of Job help you get through the difficult times in your life?

4.  Do you believe that God knows what you are going through and really cares about your needs?

5.  How can struggles increase your faith?