DON’T GIVE UP: ACCEPT HELP FROM OTHERS – 31/7/2020

Job 6:14 – When desperate people give up on God Almighty, their friends, at least, should stick with them.

When we’ve had a loss or disappointment, the natural reaction is to withdraw from others. This is a bad idea! God doesn’t want you to try handling pain or loss or stress by yourself.

The Bible says, “When desperate people give up on God Almighty, their friends, at least, should stick with them” (Job 6:14). God commands us to bear each other’s burdens! We’re told to “encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

Every one of us will experience difficulties and pain. Pain is the great equalizer. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, old or young. Every one of us will face troubles. This is why small groups are so important. The Bible says, “By helping each other with your troubles, you truly obey the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

Job says, “Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty” (Job 6:14). The Good News Translation says, “In trouble like this I need loyal friends — whether I’ve forsaken God or not.”

Every person needs Christian friends who will stand alongside you even when you say, “I don’t think I believe in God right now” and who will nurse you back to faith.

REFLECTION
– When have you experienced a time of knowing God is real but wanting to say, “I don’t think I believe in God right now”?
– When you’ve faced those kinds of moments, whom do you turn to and depend on?
– How do you develop connections that produce friends on whom you can depend?

DON’T GIVE UP: TELL GOD EXACTLY HOW YOU FEEL- 30/7/2020

Job 7:11 – I can’t be quiet! I am angry and bitter. I have to speak.

God can handle your emotions — He gave them to you, after all! He can handle your anger, doubt, fear, questions, grief, and even your complaints. Be honest; tell it to God. Get it off your shoulders. Spill your guts! Tell God exactly how you feel: “God, I hurt!” This is exactly what Job did.

Job was brutally honest with God: “I can’t be quiet! I am angry and bitter. I have to speak” (Job 7:11). He continued to dishout his frustration in the verses that follow: Read Job 7:12-20.

If you were God, how would you react? Get angry? Is that what God did? No! Because God understood Job. God understands you, too, and He understands your hurt. God isn’t surprised when you say, “God, I don’t like this. It hurts!” Who do you think created those emotions? Who do you think gave you the capacity to get angry and express those feelings? God did. God is not surprised by your emotional state.

God let Job get it off his chest. It was a kind of cleansing so that Job could get clean and be healed.

The right response to unexplained tragedy is not “grin and bear it” but honestly telling God your struggle. Lamentations 2:19 says, “Cry out in the night . . . Pour out your heart like water in prayer to the Lord”.

Job questioned God’s actions, but he never stopped trusting God. Did you know that trusting God with your feelings is an act of worship? “Job stood up, tore his robe in grief, and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground and worshiped” (Job 1:20).

Go ahead. Express all your feelings. Release your frustrations. God can handle it! BUT NEVER STOP TRUSTING GOD.

REFLECTION
– How does it feel when you tell a close friend exactly how you feel?
– When you find yourself questioning God’s actions, do you continue to trust God, or does that become a struggle?

AVAD 3

THE POWER TO SAY NO: 29/7/2020

Romans 8:12 – So, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligations whatever to your old sinful nature to do what it urges you to do.

I don’t know about you, but I admit there were a lot of things I could not say “no” to before the Holy Spirit came into my life. I wanted to say “no,” but I didn’t.

It really doesn’t matter what you call them, but we all have compulsions, habits, lusts, drives, desires, or attractions that make us feel like we have no choice but to do them. You just can’t help yourself. You just can’t say “no.”

But if you’ve accepted Jesus Christ into your life, you can say “no.” Romans 8:9 says, “You are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to Him at all).

Yes, you may still have those desires. But the Holy Spirit will give you the power to say “no” to them; you do not have to satisfy those desires. This is the difference the Spirit of God makes in you. This is how God sets you free from your compulsions and sinful lusts.

The worst kind of slavery is being a slave to your own natural desires. Some people say, “Well, if it’s natural, why should I limit it?” Natural doesn’t mean it’s always good. I might have a natural desire to cheat you of all your money, but that doesn’t mean I should do it.

When you’ve accepted Christ into your life, you have the Holy Spirit to help power your decisions and say “no” to the natural and “yes” to the spiritually mature choice.

REFLECTION
– What are some “natural” desires in your life that can draw you away from Jesus?
– What’s your typical strategy for handling those desires and how well is your strategy working?
– How is the Holy Spirit helping you say “no” to the natural and “yes” to spiritually mature choices?

AVAD: Day 1

MAINTAINING YOUR ENTHUSIASM: 28/7/2020

Romans 12:11-12 – Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

To reach your goals, you have to figure out how to maintain your enthusiasm over the long haul.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing great is ever accomplished without enthusiasm.” I believe that with all of my heart and it’s true in my life. You’ve got to have passion and enthusiasm, or you’re never going to make it to the finish line.

How do you stay enthusiastic day after day in spite of delays, difficulties, dead ends, problems, pressures, criticisms, etc? How do you stay enthusiastic for many years?

Positive thinking is not enough. Talking yourself into optimism is not enough. The way you stay enthusiastic for a lifetime is found in the word “enthusiasm.” The word “enthusiasm” comes from the Greek word en theos. En in English means “in.” Theos is the Greek word for “God.” So en theos means to be “in God.”

When you get in God, you will be enthusiastic. It’s the kind of enthusiasm that isn’t affected by the economy nor the weather nor your circumstances. It’s eternal because you are tied to the eternal God.

If you want to reach your goals, you need to tap into God’s power by being joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.

PRAYER:
Dear God, I don’t want to go another day without You controlling every part of my heart. I give myself as a living sacrifice to You as a spiritual act of worship. Renew my mind, help me to think the way You want me to think. My faith needs to grow.

I want to fill my life with love. I want to fill my life with You. Help me to take delight in honoring other people. I want to nurture my enthusiasm by being in You. Help me to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. I give myself to You. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

AVAD Intro

Do you believe ?

Intentional Living 2: A Responsible FATHER

God loves you with an eternal love (Jer 31:3) that is why He is committed to not letting us see shame or let shame come to us. He is a very responsible Father. His love is always seeking and searching to liberate and succor us.

If our earthy parents will not let us suffer and ensure we have our needs met what more of the creator of the heaven and the earth and all therein. He is telling you that even if the Lion; the king of the jungle suffers hunger and lack, those that trust, that lack up to Him will know no lack… Glory. You will know no lack. He is well able to provide, to supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Christ in us the hope of glory. The hope for an excellent, abundant life.

God is committed to you. Yes, He is committed to all your needs. Yes, all of them. Trust him and begin to list them out to him today in Faith (Phi 4:6). Shut your eyes from alternatives and let God be your all in all and He will come through for you today. We await your testimony

Be intentional about how you live today

PERSONAL CHANGE: A RENEWED MIND -26/7/2020

Ephesians 4:23 – Instead, there must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes.

Change requires new thinking. In order to change, we must learn about God’s truth and start making good choices, but we also must change the way we think.

The battle over sin starts in your mind, not in your behavior. The way you think determines the way you feel, and the way you feel determines the way you act. If you want to change the way you act, you start by changing the way you think. In addition, if you want to change the way you feel, you must start with the way you think.

The renewal of your mind is related to the word “repentance.” Repentance is about changing your mind, learning to think differently. “Repent” simply means to make a mental U-turn. Changing the way you think will then affect your emotions and affect your behavior.

When I repent, I make a mental U-turn. I turn from guilt to forgiveness. I turn from purposelessness to purpose in life. I turn from no hope to new hope. I turn from frustration to freedom. I turn from darkness to light. I turn from hell to heaven. I turn from hatred to love.

I also change the way that I think about God. He’s not mad at me; I’m deeply flawed, but I’m deeply loved. I change the way I think about you, I change the way I think about my friends, and I change the way I think about my wife. I change the way I think about the world, I change the way I think about the economy, and I change the way I think about my past, my present, and my future.

So being renewed in your mind means more than changing the way you think about God and Jesus; it also means you change the way you think about your own defects. The Bible tells us, “Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).

REFLECTION
– Where in your life do you need to take the first step of changing the way you think?
– We talked of turning from guilt to forgiveness, from purposelessness to purpose in life, from no hope to new hope. What type of “mental U-turn” do you most need in your life?