tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58069784951130450852024-03-12T18:04:44.308-07:00The Sky's Weekly Bible StudyThese Bible studies are meant to be an encouragement and to get us thinking about our eternity in Christ Jesus. Let us spur one another on to be diligent in the service of our Heavenly Father!
- a fellow servant of JesusSeth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.comBlogger107125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-42190287386659501712016-03-09T08:26:00.000-08:002016-03-09T08:26:10.851-08:00"Why do bad things happen to good people""Why do bad things happen to good people"<br />
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A few minutes with Joel<br />
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Joel often gets a chance to answer sincere questions that people have
after our Revival Meetings. I thought it would be good to take a moment
and get some of them on video so that others who are searching for
answers could be helped by them as well.<br />
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Joel Petrofsky</div>
<br />Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-12404603123574414542016-03-02T11:37:00.000-08:002016-03-09T08:26:34.057-08:00The Fellowship Of The UnashamedI had a chance to share a little bit of my story about how the Lord radically changed my life and I had my video camera running so I thought I would share it. It managed to capture quite a bit of what I wanted to share even though there were many other details I could have added. Hopefully it will be a blessing to any who have the time to watch it.<br />
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God bless!<br />
-Seth<br />
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-34320128783928219352015-09-23T18:59:00.003-07:002015-09-23T18:59:53.170-07:00Growing in Jesus - lesson 9 "Our Wages"<div style="font-family: Didot; font-size: 18px; text-align: left;">
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<b>Our Wages</b></div>
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Sinning earns a wage just like working for someone earns a wage. Wages add up and can be measured over time and so can the wages of sin.<b></b></div>
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I’ve been thinking about this because it’s not like instant death for every bad thing we do. It is simply a guarantee that over time these will be the wages we have earned for our actions.</div>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>We often think about how nothing good we can do will be what gets us into heaven. We think about how salvation is an amazing gift from God to us, however what we choose to do on earth does earn a wage. If we labor for sin the wages are death. Every sin has so many consequences. Think about how burned out a person becomes when their job is their whole focus on life. Or their drugs and alcohol are their passion. Or their quest for another lover tonight. The wages of sin are earned and paid out. If we spend our time gossiping we will reap wages for it. If we devote ourselves to the perfect house or the perfect vacation we will have payment for it. This is why we want to seek the Lord earnestly so that the wages we earn on a daily basis will be wages that lead to life and not death or a dead end.</div>
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Every action bears fruit and earns a wage. This is why who we are in secret really matters. Every part of what we do earns a wage. The wages of sin will be death and the wages of obedience will be life not only for ourselves but for everyone around us. Just like if I buy food for my family with my wages than we all enjoy what my wages have paid for. If we serve the Lord both in secret and openly we will also be providing food that everyone around us will share in.</div>
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What we do is where our wage comes from. If we seek out and pursue sin we will earn a steady build-up of death that will eat our lives away until eventually we die physically as well. We will earn bitterness, resentment, crude humor. We will earn anger, hate, swearing. We will earn emptiness, and depression. We will earn despair and hopelessness. We will earn life without meaning or purpose. We will earn children who leave us and go off and wreck their lives and destroy more lives around them. The wages of sin earn death.</div>
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The wages of obedience to the Lord bring life. They lead to joy and peace and contentment. They lead to usefulness, unselfishness, diligence, patience, and love. They lead to a blessing for everyone around us. What we do in secret and in public is where our wages come from. </div>
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Let us seek the Lord earnestly so that everything we do will bear good fruit and reap wages unto life!<br />
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God bless! <br />
-Seth<br />
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-34515432851719376932015-09-17T17:40:00.000-07:002015-09-17T17:40:41.574-07:00Growing in Jesus - Lesson 8 - Being Disappointed<div style="font-family: Didot; font-size: 18px; text-align: left;">
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Being disappointed by something not happening is a sign that our heart sincerely desired for it to happen.</div>
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The other day I was talking to an old gentleman and he was sharing about how when he got saved as a young man he was dissatisfied with his Christian walk just being so uneventful and uninspiring and he wondered what that meant because he didn’t have any other Christians around who were living any different from himself and everything just seemed very dry. Then as he was reading his Bible through he read about the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts and he said to himself, “That’s what I need! I need the Holy Spirit!” So he scraped up enough money to go from Nova Scotia to a meeting that was happening down in the southern states that talked about having the Holy Spirit. After 4 days of being there he was disappointed that he hadn’t received what he had come for and he turned to the Lord and said well I guess maybe this just isn’t real or I can’t have it. The next day the Lord visited him and filled him with the Holy Spirit! I was struck by how pleasing to the Lord it was that this gentleman was disappointed. He was disappointed because he sincerely wanted what the Lord had said he was possible if he asked for it. I was thinking about how glad the Lord’s heart was that someone wanted His gift so much that he was disappointed at not receiving it. The disappointment was evidence that it meant something to the person.</div>
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So often we try to not want anything to much so we won’t be disappointed. How many times do we not want to put our heart into something so that if it doesn’t happen it won’t really matter to us? It seems interesting to me that because we were disappointed it was a sign that it did matter and is that much more rewarding when it is fulfilled. When we are disappointed it is because nothing else can take the place of the thing we have set our hearts on. </div>
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Now, disappointment is often used to take our hearts off of things here on earth in order for the Lord to get our attention and set our affections on Himself. But it also can be God’s gauge to see how much you actually want the things you pray for here on earth or how earnest you are to be about the things He has told you that He has for you to do. Often it seems that the things He Himself tells us He is going to do fall into the same category of coming against endless disappointments. I think about Abraham not receiving his son for so long so that taking Sarah’s maid and having children with her makes perfectly logical sense to both of them and the Lord doesn’t step in to intervene or to even suddenly make Sarah pregnant and speed up His plan so that Abraham won’t make any regretful decisions. It seems like the devil is always right there to give us a logical new solution that makes sense to us when the Lord doesn’t seem to be doing what He has told us. The devil gave Jesus logical ways out for each of the temptations in the wilderness and any one of them could have made so much sense to Jesus that He could have just done them. </div>
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So generally we have two reactions to disappointments. We can either trust that the delay’s come from a heart of love towards us and rejoice in faith while not letting go of God’s promises to complete His work or we can fall into despair and get angry and bitter at God or just silently depressed and than take the logical new course that the devil will be sure to offer us at that moment. Sin is always right at our door when we stand at this crossroad. It is a scary place because it is so hard to stand up against the devil’s temptations when we feel like God will never answer us. </div>
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Disappointment is a sure sign to the Lord that you care about what He has promised but it is not and excuse to then go and live like you will always be disappointed. This is not an excuse to have self pity or bitterness. It is merely a test to see if you care and is meant to remind you that the Lord is faithful and just like the old gentleman received the Holy Spirit the next day, so also the Lord is preparing to do all He has promised for you.</div>
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When the Lord comes through it will teach us that it is right to press forward in all that He has said and shown and when we are the most discouraged is when we should probably be praising Him the most because it is the surest sign that He is doing something wonderful. “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.” Matt. 5:4 </div>
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-9748883815377374932015-09-10T13:56:00.002-07:002015-09-10T14:01:08.000-07:00Growing in Jesus - lesson 7 "Serving the Lord in secret (continued)"<div style="font-family: Didot; font-size: 18px; text-align: left;">
<b>Growing in Jesus - lesson 7</b></div>
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<b>The eye is directed by what we do in secret</b></div>
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<b>“The lamp of the body is the eye, if therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness. Matthew 6:22-23</b></div>
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This lesson carries on from the last lesson on serving the Lord in secret. The eye is governed by our secret life. If our secret life is to pursue all manner of sin than the eye is always full of darkness and whatever it sees is colored by it’s desires.. However if our secret life is to be diligently serving the Lord and in doing all manner of things that He approves of, then our eye will be looking for what is good and joyful and full of life! Our eye will be looking for ways to be doing acts of kindness and love and will be continually seeing others needs.</div>
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<b> </b>If we sin in secret will we not serve the Lord in secret? This is a good question to ask ourselves over and over again. Our secret life is our real life and everything we do springs up from it. Who we are in appearance to everyone is our fake life in comparison. Eventually our secret life will come out and take over our outward life. Everything we have actually been striving for and pursuing will come forth and bear visible fruit.</div>
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Have you ever seen someone do something worthy of being rewarded and then wanted to be the one who gave the reward? This is how our Heavenly Father is. He wants to take care of rewarding every thing you do that nobody sees, or ever will see. This is the part that He personally loves to take care of and oversee. He is not worried about the things you do that other people reward you for. He is concerned with the things you do that no one will ever know about or see. So many times it seems like our greatest struggles and accomplishments are ones that nobody will ever see. All the times when we chose to leave what we were doing in order to stop and help someone. All the times when we overcame an inner struggle to do what is right when no one was watching. All the times we had patience instead of getting upset. All the times when we fought to surrender something God was asking us to let go of. These are the things that will not lose their reward. <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Every secret thing that you do is known by your Heavenly Father and He has made it His own personal care in order to bless each of those hidden things.</span> In other words, those secret victories you win are the ones most blessed by the Lord!<br />
Every time you take a thought captive or hold your tongue or refrain from saying something that you know will only stir up strife, these are the victories that no one will know about because they didn't happen. No one can thank you for something they didn't know you didn't say. Most of the time we fail at this point because then we go on to tell them what we could have said and hadn't... You see, we are always trying to make our obedience to the Lord visible instead of secret. But when you take every thought captive and do what is right in the face of difficulty, the Lord is watching and He will not let your victories go unrewarded. These hidden victories matter more to Him pretty much than anything else you can do, because they refine your character and are the tests He lays out for you. Tests that show what He can trust you with because you have proved yourself faithful in the littlest of things.</div>
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Next time you sit down to pray and read your Bible think about these things. Your secret life is the most real part of your life. Every time you do what is right in secret it will not be in vain. Those are the things the Father Himself is watching over to bless and reward.<br />
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-Seth<br />
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-33067777018043733272015-09-03T18:45:00.001-07:002015-09-10T13:56:56.990-07:00Growing in Jesus - lesson 6 "Serving the Lord in secret"<div style="font-family: Didot; font-size: 18px; text-align: left;">
<b>Growing in Jesus - lesson 6</b></div>
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<b>Serving the Lord in secret</b></div>
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<b><i>“And whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance in order to be seen fasting by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face so that you may not be seen fasting by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.” - Matthew 6:16-18</i></b></div>
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If we sin in secret, will we not serve the Lord in secret?</div>
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Lying is sinning in secret because we are trying to cover something up. We always steal in secret or else it will get taken back from us. We lust in secret. We covet in secret. We break rules in secret. Then why do we want public recognition for the things we do for God when is seems to be that the things we do in secret are the ones that matter most to us and are closest to our heart?</div>
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So much of what God would have us to do is in secret. So many sacrifices of our time, help, money, care, work, and endurance are made with no one noticing unless we tell them. Our heavenly Father says that it is right and blessed by Him to do these things in secret that He Himself might be the one who rewards us. If we do things hoping to be recognized for our labors we rob ourselves of God’s rewards. However if we do things to be seen by Him He will bless us in another way. The thing about the Lord is that He is the master of giving good gifts.</div>
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What do we think His good gifts are? Think about what some of them might be.</div>
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Some of His good gifts are:</div>
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_ His help in getting hard jobs accomplished.</div>
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_ Arguments smoothed out.</div>
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_ Providing for our needs on time. (Particularly ones we don’t know we have yet because they come upon </div>
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_ Beautiful weather when there are outdoor things that can’t be put off for even one more day.</div>
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What does it mean to have your reward in full when we have done it for earthly recognition? </div>
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One of the problems is that the minute someone says we have done something amazing, we pretty much stop what we were doing because there isn’t any further reward to go on and because we find the reward only temporarily satisfying. Or if no one thanks us for our work we stop because it feels like the job is too thankless to bother finishing and we just give up and become depressed. If our motives are other people’s opinion then we will soon find whatever we are doing to be unsatisfying.</div>
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However, if we do anything for the Lord we will have a reward that doesn’t seem to be one that we can measure. Abraham’s reward is still growing and it seems to me that all of the Lord’s rewards are the same no matter what area of our lives it is in. </div>
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If you plant one seed of wheat and carefully watch over it, it will produce 50 seeds. (aprox.) Then if you take those 50 seeds and carefully plant them they will turn into 2500 seeds. If you again plant those they will turn into 125,000 seeds and continue exponentially from there! This is the fruit from just 3 growing seasons! This is how the Lord thinks and works This is why doing things for Him in secret is the reward we should be looking for. His rewards are not shallow like a person congratulating you. Think about how if you ate the first seed you would have nothing to plant or if you ate the 2500 seeds the growth would stop there but by the third season there is so much available that now you can eat of it and have plenty to give away besides! Receiving the praise of man is like just eating the first seed. </div>
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We crave to have some immediate gratification for our labor so we eat it instead of planting it. Doing things in secret is to not eat the seed but to plant the sacrifice that it might grow into more seed. We may go hungry for 2 seasons of growing but by the third season there will spring up a reward for our secret labors unto God that is abundant beyond anything we can imagine. </div>
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If we think of any of our labors for the Lord in the 3 season rule we will have a much easier time understanding the seasons of waiting to be satisfied by our labors. But by the end of the third season there should be an abundance to give out to many as well as enough for ourselves!</div>
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_ What do we think His good gifts are? Think about what some of them might be and write them out.</div>
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_ Write out a verse or two that have spoken clearly to you either over the years or recently that helped you </div>
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hold fast to the Lord’s promises when you have waited for the Lord’s reward for your labors.</div>
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_ What are some of the other earthly rewards we could look to that would seem to satisfy us but only will </div>
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for a moment instead of long term like what the Lord offers us?</div>
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-67762578693600946752015-08-25T18:04:00.000-07:002015-09-10T13:57:10.771-07:00Growing in Jesus - lesson 5 "Playing with the devil’s bait"<div style="font-family: Didot; font-size: 18px; text-align: left;">
<b>Growing in Jesus - lesson 5</b></div>
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<b>Playing with the devil’s bait</b></div>
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<b>“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” - Matthew 6:24</b></div>
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This verse is again dealing with where our treasure is there will our heart be also. What our hearts are set on is what we serve.</div>
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Every day it seems like there is always something trying to turn our attention back to some desire for the world. Some little thing grabs our attention and we step back into thinking that those things are more important than they are, again. What a battle it is to keep our hearts fixed on our Heavenly Father! Why does it seem to be so easy to step back and forth all the time. Going back to our old distractions (or some new one) is like taking a flower and carefully planting it in fertile and well watered soil and then uprooting it suddenly and putting it in sandy and dry soil and then repeating the process over and over again. Then we wonder why their seems to be no growth! This is how we are when we spend time letting go of our old lives and start spending time with the Lord and then get distracted and put the Lord to one side and focus back on the old things again. Then we wonder why we have no joy or growth in our Christian walk!</div>
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Our adversary is continually trying to slip things into our lives to see if we will bite for his bait again. If we do it will be inevitable that we will also get the hook and line that goes with it. This line is impossible to get free from in ourselves. Just like the fish could have a full understanding about the fishing line to, but it has no physical way to free itself and quickly discovers again that it has no will in the matter as to where it goes from then on. It can’t stop itself from being pulled up. It’s will has no overriding authority on the hook and line. So we don’t want to be enticed by the bait anymore do we? Because at some point the hook will grab us again if we keep playing with the bait.</div>
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This is why it is so important not to look back at our old lives and to be careful and watchful for any new ways that will come up to lure us in again. We don’t want to trade the good soil Jesus has just planted us in, for dry dusty sand. We will never grow in that environment but will wither up and die. </div>
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_ Write out a list of things you know are stealing your time. Things that come up every time you had planned to enjoy being with the Lord. These are the things that the devil is using to rob you of the water you need to survive. What can you do to not let these things get in the way anymore?<b></b></div>
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_ Write out a verse or two that illustrates how your time with the Lord will change your life.<b></b></div>
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-53703680464442496402015-08-18T11:52:00.001-07:002015-09-10T13:57:25.660-07:00Growing in Jesus - lesson 4 "Our treasure in heaven"<div style="font-family: Didot; font-size: 18px; text-align: center;">
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<b><i>“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroys, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” - Matthew 6:19-21</i></b></div>
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What makes us complain? What makes us get upset or angry with God? What makes us get upset or angry with another person? Is it because our will has been crossed? Is it because something we have wanted has been delayed? Examine what makes you upset. Is it something that helps others or is it something that helps you? Do we spend a lot of time being upset about what happens to us? Do we spend much time being upset about what happens to others?</div>
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Our treasure in heaven is made up of things that happen to others and our treasure on earth is made up of things that happen to us. As long as we are consumed with despair and anger about things that happen to us, we have our hearts fixed on treasure on earth. And as much time as we are in sorrow and concern for others our treasure is in heaven. So the more time our thoughts are consumed with others the more we are setting our treasures in heaven. For Jesus said that if we give even a cup of cold water in His name to the least of these, we are doing it to Him.</div>
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The devil would have us to be continually consumed with going in circles in our own troubles and we could be caught up in that forever. But Jesus would have us consumed with concern for others. It always comes back to setting our hearts on serving others instead of ourselves. How can we help someone today? Who am I helping today? Who’s need is my most pressing concern today? Who needs me the most? These are the thoughts of those who’s treasure is in heaven.</div>
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It always comes down to how much time we will step out of ourselves and what is bothering us and how much time we will give to the needs of others. If we let the devil fill our thoughts with what makes us upset then we will never have the time to step out and be a blessing to others. If our hearts are struggling with resentments or self pity, we are in no good spirit to brighten someone else’s day. We can only brighten someone’s day if we have given all of our own struggles to Jesus and allowed Him to be our peace and confidence. Then we will be a blessing to others and it will be the fact that we have difficulties in our lives and yet are full of joy that will draw people to want Jesus in their lives to! They will see that He really does have the power to give us peace and joy in the midst of real problems.</div>
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I’ve been contemplating how unforgiveness is at the heart of every despair and discouragement that we have. Jesus says in verses 14 and 15 of Matt. 6 that if we don’t forgive each other of our transgressions our heavenly Father will not forgive ours. Did you realize that when you doubt God’s goodness toward you and His answers to prayer its because you have unforgiveness in your heart towards Him? It is unforgiveness that makes us not want to turn our hearts to joyful expectancy because we want to be upset with Him. Unforgiveness is at the root of every depression and despairing countenance because if we don’t hold onto any unforgiveness than we intentionally believe the best of people and of God and from that mind-set, joy springs up. The minute we begin to believe good of God we can’t be anything but joyful from then on! </div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>_ Our treasure in heaven is made up of things that happen to others and our treasure on earth is made up of things that happen to us. Find some verses that illustrate this point.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>_ Give some ways that can help us be pulled out of our own problems so that our hearts can be fixed on the problems of others.</div>
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-84744638529496034362015-08-11T12:06:00.000-07:002015-09-10T13:58:18.255-07:00Growing In Jesus - lesson 3 "Going the second mile"<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Growing In Jesus </span></b> Lesson 3</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> None of us like to be forced to do anything against our will, but if our will is involved we are quite happy to be doing whatever the task is. Just think about the last thing you wanted that was impossible to get and how somehow you managed to achieve it in spite of all the obstacles. Think of how many obstacles the Lord puts in our way of things that would get us into trouble and yet we are able to override them to... There are are quite a few verses in the Bible telling of the nature of man to keep pressing on in sin in spite of the discipline the Lord has sent to be a deterrent to it.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> I used to tell my employees when they would start complaining about a job I had given them, that if they would just change their words and say, “I love doing this” and then begin to put their heart into it, that suddenly the job would be fun and not a hardship. I remember having to use this on myself quite a few times to! One of my friends used to work for me and we had an understanding between us that when things were really stressful in the restaurant, we would check in with each other and give each other the thumbs up and say “it's going great” with that smile that says we will make it through yet again! That got me through a lot of stressful nights and added quite a bit of humor and encouragement at the same time.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> This verse is a good way to be instructed on this very principle. When we are being forced or taken advantage of, if we will commit ourselves to doing more than we have been made to do, our will, will suddenly be engaged and whatever it is we are being forced to do will no longer seem unbearable to us.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> Jesus is always wanting our hearts to be free of resentments. He is always wanting to make it clear to us that there are no resentments in His heart and there must be none in ours either. So in His way of showing us how to live, He explains that there is no such thing as considering yourself too good to be forced to do something against your will. We are to have the mindset of being a joyful servant in the midst of any unfairness that might come upon us. It’s amazing to think that Jesus has the very heart that He expects us to have. A heart of joyful unselfishness that is already committed to going the extra mile before it has even been required of it.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> So now instead of every new and challenging circumstance causing us to grumble and complain, we will already be prepared to go forward joyfully and with no bitterness or resentment to mar our countenance. Going the extra mile has the ability to affect how we live every day!</span></div>
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_ Give an example of something you have been praying about and that God has been giving you victory in.</div>
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_ Find another verse or two in the Bible that also illustrate having a joyful attitude when hard things have been required of us. Share your thoughts on how they apply to you.</div>
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-21088036883633108692015-08-04T13:15:00.001-07:002015-09-10T13:59:09.730-07:00Growing in Jesus - Lesson 2 "Turning away"<b><span style="font-size: large;">Growing In Jesus </span></b> Lesson 2<br />
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<span class="s1"><i><b> “Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.” - Matt 5:42</b></i></span></div>
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<span class="s1"> What do we consider our own and what belongs to God? </span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> First let us understand that if Jesus tells us this verse is how to live than this is the way He lives towards us. He is always ready to do things simply because we have asked Him. Many times what we ask is not even important but He answers because we went to Him about it. In these verses there are no stipulations made as to what qualifies for an answer. Jesus doesn't say give to him who asks because he is worthy of your answer or because he will make good use of what you give him. It's just give to him who asks. He doesn't say lend to him because he will bring your property back in one piece or he is always making the best use of what he borrows. Jesus just says don't turn away. It's a good thought for when you are feeling discouraged about your own requests to the Lord. It is good to know that He thinks like this to.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> Beginning to do things that others have asked is the thing that stirs our heart to their needs and pulls us out of our own world for a moment. It also challenges our selfish nature on what we consider our own. It challenges us on what we have said belongs to God and causes us to discover what really belongs to Him. It is only when we are asked to surrender things that we begin to understand how much those things matter to us. It might be our time, our things, or people, or it might be combination that includes all of them. </span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> “Turning away” is a great definition to ignoring a need because it takes a person physically turning away from helping someone in order not to help them. It is a choice made in the moment. It is a choice made when we look the other way and don't stop to help. It is a choice that is a response to a direct request or plea. In other words, it’s not accidental and we must claim ownership of what happens if we did not do it.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> Someone or many people are hurting because we are disobeying the Lord. While we are seeking our own happiness and self fulfillment very often we are turning a deaf ear to what God would have for us to be doing or sacrificing for Him. As a result of this there are people suffering who did not have to be. Because we have refused to leave the comfort of our own things and our own plans, we have made ourselves unavailable to go and help those the Lord had intended for us to help. How many people right now could point to you and say why have I suffered for no reason because you didn’t come when God called? Why have I suffered needlessly for years because you refused to leave your TV and pursuits and would not heed the call your Heavenly Father had made to you in order to rescue me? </span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> These are sobering words and ones that the Lord has been bringing to my attention. There are so many people in distress who could turn and complain to the Lord that their rescuer never came. They could cry to the Lord and ask why I refused to heed His will, and had not come. In their their distress they could cry to the Lord and say how they could have been free from their misery so much sooner if I had obeyed. How many people have that claim upon me right now before God because I am in Christ. I have a very responsible position as an older brother. The minute we get saved we become an older brother or sister to someone.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> So what are we doing that actually changes someone’s life? What are we doing that pulls them out of their horrible circumstances, their griefs and their despairs?</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> I’ve been thinking that if people come here and immediately feel a deep compassion and need to be helping someone, so much so that when they leave here they are anxious to go and find the first person they meet in order to help them, than we have done our job as a Bible School.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> So the question is, who and I helping today?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">_ Pray for opportunities to help at least one person today that you don’t normally come in </span><span class="s1">contact </span> with.</div>
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<span class="s1">_ Share what God opened up and gave you as an opportunity.</span></div>
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-45544113962895716652015-07-28T16:14:00.001-07:002015-09-10T13:59:28.876-07:00Growing in Jesus - lesson 1 "Our place of rest and answers"<div style="font-family: Didot; font-size: 18px; text-align: left;">
<b> Growing in Jesus</b></div>
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<b> Our place of rest and answers</b></div>
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<b>Therefore do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need, </b><b>before you ask Him. - Matt. 6:8 </b></div>
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Read Matthew 6:5-15</div>
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So many times we find ourselves in hard circumstances or overwhelming circumstances or situations that we just don’t have an answer to. Often we don’t even know what we should ask for that would actually change or fix things. </div>
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Our Father knows what we need before we ask. He knows what we need before we know what to ask.</div>
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1. We want to fix our problems. (We just want to jump in and fix everything the way we think they should be fixed)</div>
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2. We want to make statements that we think will clear up the situation. (We are always right in our own mind and want to just make a simple solution that everyone should just agree with and accept)</div>
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3. We don’t know how to make our side or position heard or to show that we are right. (We think our answer will fix everything if people would just understand us)</div>
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We just want to make our situation more understandable so that others know what we are trying to say and try as we might, everything just gets overwhelming and our voice doesn’t carry the day. - Verse 6 is our great encouragement. <b><i>“But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”</i></b></div>
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This means that if we don’t know what to do. If we don’t know what to say. If we don’t know how to fix things and our voices do nothing but fail us, it means that we don’t need an outward voice or to even know what to ask besides the word help. The secret, quiet, room is our place where every answer is given and every help obtained. Not with persuasive words or many words, but with a humble heart coming before the Lord who already knows the solution to what we don’t even know how to ask. He has the answers. He has the solution. He will carry us through and take care of every challenge. And He will give us a way to move forward. This does not mean that we will have no part in the answers that He has for us and that He will do everything without us. It means that He will show us the way and guide us through every difficult challenge and help us to overcome with His help. (Many times we find that the change must take place in us and the overwhelming situation was straight from the Lord's hand to cause more of the dross to be refined out of us. the Lord never wastes any situation we are in. He is always using everything to train us up to be more like Him.)<br />
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The beautiful thing about the secret place with the Lord is that He already knows why you are there. You need no convincing arguments to bring Him to your side on an issue. You don't have to tell your story one more time to someone who has no ability to help but will try to pass you on to someone else who can. HaHa! There are no middle men and no skeptics who won't believe you. Only the Father, who cares about you and already knows what is going on better than you do. Anxiety is having no one who listens or understands you... with Jesus there is no anxiety over these things. Amazing isn't it. This is the place of real peace and refuge where the answers are to be found and to obtain the peace that passes understanding. And the best part is we all can go to it! No one is excluded! Our heavenly Father is glad to have the same relationship with you as He has with me! We are all free to get as close to Him as we possibly can!<br />
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Spend some time just grabbing hold of this thought. You can have as sweet a relationship with our Heavenly Father as you possibly can. All you have to do is go to Him. He is there waiting for you. He is longing to be your peace and rest and comfort. Don't wait and seek everything else but Him, for your help and comfort and peace. It will only delay real peace and the things you run to for peace besides the Lord will always lead you into new lows and despairs. They seem to comfort for a moment and then their true affects begin. Nothing in this world can take the place of our Heavenly Father, not people, places, things, or experiences. But we can all have our Heavenly Father if we will go to Him.</div>
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_ Take some time to pour out your heart before the Lord. Bring Him your questions and your troubles, but also bring Him the things you don’t know to ask. He has a solution to the things we don’t know how to ask about.</div>
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_ Share at least one thing that the Lord spoke to you about while you were praying.<br />
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God bless! -Seth<br />
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-60782895935642500982015-07-08T17:30:00.000-07:002015-07-08T17:49:06.183-07:00A City Set On A Hill<div style="font-size: 18px;">
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<b><i> You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a peck-measure, but on the lamp stand; and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven. - Matt. 5:14-16</i></b></div>
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It’s funny that we think we can pick and choose when and where we will shine the light of Christ. Maybe we will talk to that person over there or lead by example in that group over there but the reality is that a light is meant to be always in the open. </div>
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As I drive up our road to our house on the hill, here on PEI, I have been excited that the first thing you see is a sign saying PEI Bible Institute. It is set on a hill for all to see and as we step into these dark days ahead, just driving home will remind me that my place is to be visible to all. Not hiding or trying to slip around unnoticed by the world, but rather, openly stating who I belong to. Am I a child of the Living God? Yes, He is my Father! One of the most amazing things the Lord has been teaching me lately is that there are several reasons Jesus died for us on the cross, but one of the most amazing reasons is that He was proud of His Heavenly Father and wanted to show the world that every Word that the Father has given to men is true and that we can follow them even unto death and be raised up from there. Jesus wanted men to know that they could trust their Heavenly Father in all things and that He was faithful! Are we that proud of our Heavenly Father that we also would set out to show the world that He is faithful and true? Will we lay our lives down that Jesus might have more fruit for His death? Will we make Jesus’ heart glad today? </div>
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I was marveling that Jesus says that every seed bears like seed when it grows up and if Jesus laid His life down to be the seed that would spring up in me, then I will actually become just like Him someday. There will be nothing else I could possibly grow into because it is His seed that has been planted in my heart! </div>
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Will we be lights today that will not tolerate being covered? Will we just try to choose where we will shine once in a while or will we be unashamed of Jesus and be a light that guides all who see us, to their Savior! </div>
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God bless!<br />
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-69211806894138741272015-06-10T19:42:00.000-07:002015-06-10T19:42:47.895-07:00Offering Our Best To The Lord<div style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: justify;">
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<b>Offering Our Best To The Lord</b><br />
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<b><i> “And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and the sick, is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?” Says the Lord of hosts. - Malachi 1:8</i></b></div>
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<b><i> “For from the rising of the sun, even to it’s going down. My name shall be great among the gentiles; In every place incense shall be offered to My name, and a pure offering; For My name shall be great among the nations,” says the Lord of hosts. - Malachi 1:11</i></b></div>
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<b><i> For I am a great King,” says the Lord of hosts, “And My name is to be feared among the nations.” - Malachi 1:14</i></b></div>
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I was thinking about how when Jesus comes back to reign over us it will not be hard to do all kinds of good work for Him to try and please Him and win His favor and blessing. He will be visible to all and will be the One everyone knows is in charge and the One we should be serving with all our energy. It will be considered the most sensible way to live and will find acceptance with all men because it is no secret that He is now King, and having His favor is the smartest way to live. But what about right now? Jesus is not looking for friends who only want to seek out His friendship now that they can see that it makes sense to do so. He is looking right now for true friends who will gladly stand with Him in the humiliation that His Father has allowed to be upon Him in order to test men’s hearts. He is looking for those who will stand with Him in the face of all the world saying that it is foolish to follow after Him and live like He tells them to. He is looking for those who love Him when it is not the way to live comfortably or with all the best things now. He is looking for friends who actually love Him no matter what the cost to themselves physically. Did you know that Jesus lead the way in all things and that He was not willing that Peter or any of His other followers who would come after Him, should be killed for His name without He Himself going forth first. He is first and foremost our commander and He has never been afraid to face pain for being obedient to His Father. He has never been afraid to face pain for rescuing us either. He is fearless and rightfully so! Why would He let Peter do something He Himself was unwilling to do? Jesus lead the way! He is our commander! Should we also be afraid to endure pain for His sake? </div>
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So as I have been thinking on these things they have filled my heart with fresh desire to serve my Jesus with all my heart! I will be a fool for Him in the eyes of the world and join myself by His side! I’m so proud of Him! He is everything I want to be! I will gladly bear the shame the world heaps on Him and on all who follow Him. And when He comes back to take His place on the throne I want to be a friend He knows is with Him no matter what. </div>
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I want to make His heart glad! -Seth<br />
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-60518846040154759912015-05-04T13:47:00.001-07:002015-05-14T06:36:50.804-07:00Jesus Has A Radical Love For People!<div style="text-align: justify;">
Jesus Has A Radical Love For People</div>
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Jesus has a radical love for people! The other day during a concert in Maine it seemed to me that Jesus came right into the room with me and held out His arms toward me. He was so full of love and compassion and as I looked at His nail scarred hands I was struck by how He wears His love for us on His own body. So often we are tempted to believe that Jesus doesn't love us or that He doesn't know what we are going through or that if He does know what we are enduring He doesn't seem to want to come to our rescue. These despairs and accusations that come from our hearts toward Him are so far from the truth. The minute He holds out His hands they tell the love He has for us that words could never do justice to. How could a person tell Him to His face that He doesn't care about them? His hands and feet bear the deepest marks of a love that is beyond comprehension. While we were putting him to death on the cross, He was redeeming our lives from hell. He placed His own body on that cross and would rather be called a sinner and take our penalty than see us die eternally separated from Him. His love for us is far above what we understand.</div>
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I just want to share Him with the world! He died that many might be saved! What can I do to help? How can I bless His heart today? I just want to bring many to Him!</div>
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Jesus please help me to take full advantage of Your sacrifice. Your death has already paid the price. Please show me how to make better use of the gift you have given to men. Jesus I want You to see more fruit from Your labors. Holy Spirit please use me today for your glory. If You are seeking to be poured out on people please help me to be an avenue You can use to do it. Please rescue many and let nothing hold You back from bringing full transformation to peoples lives! Please help me to bring glory to Jesus today! Holy Spirit let us go to work! Thank You that You are here to do all things that will bring men to Jesus! Thank You for Your tireless service unto men! Thank You! Please make use of me today.</div>
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I want to see men women and children suddenly understand the gift that we have been given through Jesus sacrifice. I want to see people walking down the street, suddenly meet the Lord, and walk into wherever they were going a different person. Just radically changed and bursting with a love for Jesus that they just want to share with everyone they meet!</div>
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Lord Jesus we want You! We love You and we want to live for You every moment of our lives!</div>
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<br />Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-90468180774285907702015-04-22T20:19:00.001-07:002015-04-29T15:02:43.607-07:00In Love With God - lesson 12<div style="font-family: Didot; font-size: 18px; text-align: left;">
<b>In Love With God - lesson 12</b></div>
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<b><i>Living In Jesus’ Love</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Believing and accepting Jesus’ love</i></b></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Living in Jesus’ love. I’ve been thinking lately how easy it is to fall into thinking that Jesus’ answers to prayer are signs of His love and that when we are seeing things come to pass, that we are abiding in His love and when we are seeing adversity and trials then we are not abiding in His love because the circumstances are so overwhelming us that we have no peace.</div>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Now the reality is that we are always going to be in a battle or struggle of some kind because that is the very nature of going forward in Christ. There will always be something new coming at us in order to not only shape our character but to win victories on behalf of others. I often remind the Lord that I love Him and trust Him but that I’m also in the middle of a battle that affects my every day life. If king David was standing outside a city God had told him to conquer and the fighting was intense, he would still be in the will and love of God even though he was in a challenging battle that God had called him to. Abiding in the Lord also meant fighting the battle in front of him, and if the battle seemed to be taking longer than he had expected or was more painful than he had expected, how does this affect his relationship with the Lord? Does his peace with God get tested and he begin to complain to the Lord that He should have never asked him to fight this battle because it just isn’t going well and all his men are weary of the fight? Or does he say in his heart, “how this battle seems to be going is just impossible but it will have no affect on my relationship and peace in the Lord.” </div>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It is so easy to say that if the battle is going well than we are in a good place with the Lord and abiding in Him, but if the battle is causing us extreme exhaustion and wounds, then we must not be doing well in the Lord.</div>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Separating the battle from our love and trust in the Lord seems to be the real challenge. The Lord is not our battle. He is the person with whom we are developing a real relationship with. The battle may send us back to Him repeatedly for instruction to know if we are fighting correctly and are doing all according to His plans, but the relationship with Him is what we want to focus on the most. He is not the battle and the battle is not Him. He is the commander and we are His willing servants. He has been reminding me lately that He is not the battle and that I need to actually let Him love me. </div>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>“And behold the Lord was passing by! And a great strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of gentle blowing.” 1 Kings 19:11-12</i></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Whether the battle is going good or bad. Whether it is exhausting or triumphant. It doesn’t change my relationship with Him. He is glad that my heart is fixed firmly on Him and doing His will no matter what. All the endurance and trust please Him, but it is in the area of letting Him love me that I seem to fall so short in. Somehow it is easy to get caught up in the struggles of what He asks and not have time to actually let Him love me. He holds out His arms and says, “Let Me love you. My love is not in the battle or even in your service to Me. My love is between you and I. Rest in My love and be at peace. I hold all things in the palm of My hand and will not let go.”<br />
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-19300224477060558902015-04-15T16:08:00.000-07:002015-05-14T06:40:54.978-07:00In Love With God - lesson 11<div style="font-family: Didot; font-size: 18px; text-align: left;">
<b>In Love With God - lesson 11</b></div>
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<b><i>The only thing that I want for this semester </i></b></div>
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<b><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die. O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live.” - Ezekiel 18:31-32</i></b></div>
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<b><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die. All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced, he will live. Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord God, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live? - Ezekiel 18:21-23</i></b></div>
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These are amazing verses to ponder for a while. God’s forgiveness is so overwhelming to me. Did you know that there actually can’t be any desire to see a person harmed in order to have full forgiveness? This does not mean that there won’t be pain from discipline, but the actual harm from choosing to live in sin and reaping the consequences of it. The Lord must have no desire to see a person die in order to stand fully ready to receive anyone who would turn back to Him. Bitterness or revenge could never be in His heart or else when a person turned back to Him for forgiveness He actually wouldn’t be glad they did because of the desire to see them pay for their actions. This kind of reminds me of Jonah when He was upset with the Lord for so easily forgiving the people of Nineveh. God’s forgiveness and love are constantly free from anything that would hinder Him from whole-heartedly welcoming back the prodigal son.<br />
This does not mean that discipline is not required in our lives simply because we are forgiven, but it does mean that all that takes place after turning back to Him will be for our good and will cause His character to be molded deeper into our lives. <i>“For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives.” Hebrews 12:6</i></div>
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I want us to think about this whole-hearted forgiveness. It is good to dwell on really understanding how fully we are forgiven because this is our example of how we are also to forgive others. It is a forgiveness that has no bitterness or resentment. We must know how fully we have been forgiven in order to understand how fully we are to forgive. I don’t know about you, but I have a lot of things in my past that I want forgotten. Lately I’ve been telling the Lord, please forget all that I have done before, both good and bad. I don’t want what has gone on before to influence how things go on in the future. The bad I want left behind as a life I never want back and the good I want left behind because it is merely filthy rags as it says in the Bible, (Isaiah 64:6) and has had so many selfish things mixed in with it that I don’t want to go back to that either. I want a deeper walk with the Lord that makes anything good I might have done, seem as not good because of how much more vibrant and full of life my work for the Lord is now! I want a new story full of a deeper passion for Christ! Full of a deeper love for the people around me! Full of a deeper character of Christ etched into my very being! Full of a forgiveness that is as real as the forgiveness God has offered to me!</div>
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This is what the Lord’s pardon has truly brought to me. This is the affect of His forgiveness to me. The ability to never look back, and with a clear and devoted, conscience, be able to love and serve the Lord with all my heart. This is just a little window of what forgiveness means. This is just one or two facets to the many sides of what God’s forgiveness is for us.</div>
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Will we not stand in the fullness of what Jesus has done for us and forgive others just as He has forgiven us? Will we also give people the ability to begin brand new with us and have no grudge or bitterness to overcome when they come to us? Forgiveness is not dependant on whether someone has asked us to forgive them. It must be already done in our hearts or else bitterness will always stand between us even if there is an outward look of reconciliation. Forgiveness is not waiting for the right moment to forgive. It is already done in our hearts. This is the forgiveness offered to us by the Lord. It is already done but we must turn from the stubbornness of our own ways and desire to walk in His ways with all our heart. It is our own unwillingness that keeps us separated from the Lord, not His lack of forgiveness. It is our own unwillingness to want to leave our sin behind in order to be forgiven.</div>
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When God offers us forgiveness it really is too big to comprehend all that it means. When He says He forgets and casts our sins away as far as the east is to the west which is infinite, it is hard to believe because it is so easy for us to remember our own sins or the hurts someone has caused to us. Just think what total forgiveness means. If you have your license to drive and have made a bunch of infractions which go onto your account just think about how when those years go by and the points are removed, how free you feel! They are no longer being held against you. It’s as if you never made any mistakes while driving before! When you see a police officer you no longer worry that this might be the last time you drive for a while. No, your record is clear! With God, our record becomes clearer than that! Will we also clear others wrongs off of our own records?</div>
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Spend some time thinking about these things. They will change your life. The Lord’s prayer says Father forgive us as we forgive others. We simply must forgive. It is not an option. But the truth is, think about what the Lord’s forgiveness really means to you. It will change the way you live, forever!<br />
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-65408786716973426702015-04-02T13:37:00.000-07:002015-05-14T06:45:30.915-07:00In Love With God - lesson 10<div style="font-family: Didot; font-size: 18px; text-align: left;">
<b>In Love With God - lesson 10</b></div>
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<b><i>The only thing that I want for this semester </i></b></div>
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<b><i>is for us to be in love with and on fire for God</i></b></div>
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<b style="text-align: justify;"> Is the Lord the first love of our life?</b></div>
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Did you know that if you rejoice in the Lord for His answers to your prayers before they come to pass that you have just transitioned from the answer to your prayer being your first love to the Lord being your first love? If you are worried that the thing you are praying for is becoming more important to you than the Lord, this is a good way to be sure that it has been put back properly into it’s place. If the thing you are praying for has started leaving it’s proper place in your life you will fall into despair at every discouraging impasse. You can only truly rejoice in the Lord for victory if He has obtained His rightful position in your heart as your first love. You can only grab hold of His promises with all your heart and survive every discouragement if He has come into His rightful place in your life. Only true trust and love in the Lord will give you the strength to rejoice in the midst of every discouragement.</div>
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Just try truly rejoicing from the bottom of your heart in the midst of your hard circumstances. I bet you can’t. Why not? Because first we will have to let go of our self pity. We will have to believe that the Lord is good and that He is a rewarder of all who diligently seek Him, and this is impossible as long as we want to hang onto our self pity and despair. We have to believe for real that the Lord loves us and is doing and planning the best for us in the midst of our storm.</div>
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<i>And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Hebrews 11:6</i></div>
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<i> </i>The other day the Lord told me to rejoice. He would not let me enter into any doubts or despair. He literally put a barrier between me and any doubts or even the smallest fear. He said, “You rejoice.” So I got up on my feet and attempted to begin rejoicing and He said to me, “You call that rejoicing?” I had to laugh at that remark. So I attempted to rejoice more earnestly and again He said, “Do you really call that rejoicing? How would you really rejoice if all I had told you had already taken place?” I had to admit that my attempt at rejoicing still lacked some of the joy of whole hearted believing. This is a good measure of our real trust in the Lord. If His word to us is as real as it would be if it had already been done.</div>
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The Lord has given us the weapon of rejoicing but only our new spiritual man can pick it up and use it. Our old nature of self pity and despair cannot pick up the sword of rejoicing. It is out of reach to it. Only the new man can let go of self pity and despair in order to grab hold of it. It requires a whole hearted love and trust in the Lord to use it effectively. But if our hearts are set on Him than we will find it a very effective weapon against every demonic adversary. It will radically change the entire world around us!</div>
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This morning the Lord had me singing a song I wrote several years ago and when I got to the line<br />
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I felt my adversary try to overcome me with an extreme darkness that could be felt. So I began singing that line again over and over and immediately my spirit soared into the heavens. The Lord just took me into the fullness of the reality that Christ is mighty and our victory is now! It seems that our adversary always wants us to be in doubt of the actual power of our God and of His ability to actually destroy the enemy right this very moment if we will rise up and praise the Lord in victory.</div>
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Again, the sword of rejoicing can only be handled by the new man in Christ. The old man of self pity and despair must be put to death in order to take it up. So let us take up the sword of rejoicing! It is available to all who truly believe and have confidence in Jesus! He is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all we have hoped or dreamed! </div>
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Will we stand with confidence in our Savior today?!</div>
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-68456471276102036582015-03-26T10:53:00.001-07:002015-05-14T06:47:03.570-07:00In Love With God - lesson 9<div style="font-family: Didot; font-size: 18px; text-align: left;">
<b>In Love With God - lesson 9</b></div>
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<b><i> And the hand of the Lord was strong on me. - Ezekiel 3:14</i></b></div>
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Does this not stir up your heart today? Just think about what it means to have the hand of the Lord upon you. If your wondering about how close and personal your own relationship with the Lord can be, this is a powerful illustration of what you can have.</div>
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<i style="font-weight: bold;">Then the Spirit lifted me up. - Ezekiel 3:12</i></div>
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How much we are in need of this! That the Holy Spirit would lift us up and the hand of the Lord would be upon us that we might be in close fellowship with our Creator! Look up! See His face! Oh how He will give you overcoming victory to raise you out of the snares and pitfalls of this life and give you a brand new one full of the character and honor of His own noble nature! Will we not have His noble nature stamped into us? Will we not have the character of His love, compassion and purity etched deep into our lives? This is what we are praying for! This is what we are desiring! To be noble like Jesus and to be a servant of all just as He is.</div>
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Now comes the job. Raising up the battle cry to wake up everyone around us to turn back to the Lord with all our heart. Why would God not judge us if even we don’t want holiness and righteousness? At least the world around us has an excuse because they never had the Lord before. The corruption in our society is actually beyond measure so that judgement must come. But if those who should be standing up and holding the line of holiness are instead full of the love of all worldliness, then who is left to hold the line? Christians are hostages to their sinful desires. The trouble with this kind of a hostage situation is that we don’t want to be rescued and rather than standing up to fight for the Lord we stand up and fight against the Lord’s men who came to help rescue us! It’s like going to a prison camp, fighting off the guards, throwing open the cell doors, and then having the prisoners come out and fight with you and purposefully close their cell doors back up again and even try to prevent any other prisoners who might have had a desire to escape, from getting out either. The captives have joined with their captors. This is the bondage that holds back all Christians from serving the Lord. The love of sin. </div>
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This is why we need to seek the Lord so earnestly! What sins are holding us back from standing up for the Lord? What bondage are we in today that is causing our mouths to be silent? It is impossible to have any affect against sin with our words if we are secretly still living in that same sin. We are like the prisoners who do things for our guards that betray our fellow prisoners for the price of some earthly comfort. What is buying the silence of our tongue and the betrayal of our fellow prisoners even right now as we read this? What makes you silent? These are the things to be praying about in our prayer times today. Will we stand against our own weaknesses today for the sake of being part of the Lord’s army? Will we call upon Him that His Holy Spirit will lift us up today? Let us ask ourselves these questions and know that if we are earnest, God will raise us up!</div>
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<i>Now flee from youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s bond servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. </i></div>
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<i> 2 Timothy 2:22-26 (NASB)</i></div>
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-28301295720332277962015-03-12T17:28:00.000-07:002015-05-14T06:49:11.927-07:00In Love With God - lesson 8<div style="font-family: Didot; font-size: 18px; text-align: left;">
<b>In Love With God - lesson 8</b></div>
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<b><i>The only thing that I want for this semester </i></b></div>
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<b><i> Then I noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him. As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I say it, I fell on my face and a loud voice was speaking. - Ezekiel 1:27-28</i></b></div>
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<b><i> Then He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet that I may speak with you!” And as He spoke to me the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me. - Ezekiel 2:1-2</i></b></div>
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Something about the words of Jesus command, “Son of man, stand on your feet that I may speak with you,” is very striking. Something about it reinvigorates me and makes me suddenly aware that God will make a true man out of me. A man who must stand up in order to take action even if that action is simply to listen to the voice of God. </div>
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<b>Jesus says stand up that I may speak with you, and suddenly enables Ezekiel to stand through the power of His Holy Spirit.</b></div>
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We must rise up and listen to Jesus today. He is calling and says stand that I may speak with you. He is calling while we are lying on the ground from fainting over our circumstances or our seeming inability to do something that God is asking. We feel weak. We say all these things are to much for me. I am of no importance. I am insignificant. I have no power to stand for God or to even stand up in my circumstances.</div>
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Jesus says rise that I may speak with you and just as He said that to the lame man who suddenly received strength to stand, so also will He give us strength to stand! His Holy Spirit will enter into us with new life and victory and bring songs of rejoicing bursting from our hearts!</div>
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Today in your prayer time the Lord calls and says, “Son (or daughter) of man, stand on your feet that I may speak with you!” Expect that as you begin to pray that He will suddenly give you new life by His Holy Spirit and you will be able to rise up and speak with Him person to person. He will raise you up and make you into a son or daughter of God this day. Expect that He will radically change you this very day! Seek Him earnestly and you will find Him! Call on His Name and He will hear you! Lift up your voice today and say Jesus I want to be like You with all my heart! Please raise me up today!</div>
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Jesus will make us brand new in every area of our lives. Victory over our old lives is in His hand. He will conquer all our fears. He will give us strength to walk victoriously in the way He has called us. May we seek Him with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength today!<br />
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-83180672741809916542015-03-05T15:11:00.000-08:002015-05-14T06:50:12.810-07:00In Love With God - lesson 7<div style="font-family: Didot; font-size: 18px; text-align: left;">
<b>In Love With God - lesson 7</b></div>
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<b><i>The only thing that I want for this semester </i></b></div>
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<b><i>is for us to be in love with and on fire for God</i></b></div>
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The Lord gives gifts that no earthly king can give. </div>
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He can promise true preservation and safety that cannot be undone.</div>
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<i>Thus says the Lord, “Do not deceive yourselves, saying, ‘The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,’ for they will not go. For even if you had defeated the entire army of Chaldeans who were fighting against you, and there were only wounded men left among them, each man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.”</i> - Jeremiah 37:9-10</div>
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<i>Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I am about to bring My words on this city for disaster and not for prosperity; and they will take place before you on that day, declares the Lord, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men you dread. For I will certainly rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own life as booty, because you have trusted in Me,” declares the Lord. </i>- Jeremiah 39:16-18</div>
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Here are two things decreed by God that are actually impossible to break. The first is that God’s judgement could not be stopped by men, even if it looked like they were beating back God’s word by defeating the army He sent against them. God promised that even wounded and bedridden men would complete the job if no one else was available. The second is that if God desires to bless a man, no one can stop the blessing even in the midst of God’s judgement.</div>
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These two points are incredible because no earthly king could make statements like this! No earthly king could say that an army will not fail no matter what, or that a man could be perfectly preserved in the midst of that same land being wiped out. Our God decreed that a man would be preserved as a blessing because he had taken pity on Jeremiah and rescued him from death. (Jeremiah 38)</div>
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As we seek to draw close to our God, it is good to understand that He always keeps His word. It is so important to stand firmly with Him. My heart literally rejoiced when reading how God blessed Ebed-melech! “<i>and you shall not be given into the hand of the men you dread. For I will certainly rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own life as booty, because you have trusted in Me,” declares the Lord.” </i></div>
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This is an encouragement to make the Lord the center of our lives. His words actually cannot fail for He is not a man but God! He is the Creator of All! Who else is like Him? Who else could you ever entrust yourself to who could give you a safer protection or more sure words of comfort? As you take this day to get closer to the Lord, think on these things. You will bless His heart as you marvel at His faithfulness! He continually offers compassion to all who turn to Him. And if we turn back from our old lives He will make us radically new and unrecognizable from who we were and even from who we were a few days ago!</div>
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This is my prayer. Lord make me more like You today than I was yesterday and more like you tomorrow than I was today! I don’t want to walk towards you! I want to run! Make me more like You than I ever have been before!</div>
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_ <i>and they will take place before you on that day, declares the Lord, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men you dread. For I will certainly rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own life as booty, because you have trusted in Me,” declares the Lord. </i>- Jeremiah 39:16-18</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Read this statement a few times. Who or what is it that you dread? I think this statement has a lot of application for us. We have things deep in us that we don’t realize are the things we dread and prevent us from moving forward in the Lord. They seem to remain unnamed mysteries but are the very things that direct our steps and our thoughts each day. God has promised deliverance from these things and if we knew we had deliverance we would have peace wouldn’t we? Write out some of things that you think of which are affecting all your decisions. </div>
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-20491265189636945982015-02-26T13:03:00.000-08:002015-05-14T06:54:31.069-07:00In Love With God - lesson 6<div style="font-family: Didot; font-size: 18px; text-align: left;">
<b>In Love With God - lesson 6</b></div>
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<b style="font-size: 14px;"><i>The only thing that I want for this semester </i></b></div>
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Today I had an interesting thought. I was praying, “Jesus help me to respond with Your heart.” And I was thinking, I only know the words You would say in this situation but I don’t know how to have the depth of their meaning in my heart. This brought to my attention my little niece who is learning to talk right now. She learns the words but doesn’t really know what they actually mean. She can say, “I love you” and it melts my heart even though I know she doesn’t really understand the words. I was thinking, “We can read Jesus’ words and repeat them in the appropriate situations and it probably melts God’s heart to even though He to knows that we don’t fully understand them, but His heart is glad that we desire to copy His words, and repeat them after Him. He is glad that we desire to copy Him as He slowly brings us into the fullness of their meaning as we grow in Him. My niece knows that you give a hug and say I love you so she even knows the appropriate place to use the words. We to can use Jesus’ words in the appropriate places and pray that He grows us up on the inside so that our heart matches with the words and the occasion.</div>
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This is just a neat example of how even trying to begin to be like Jesus when we know that we are probably not fully understanding what we are trying to do for Him, is still the best way we can go forward. So when the devil comes to accuse us that we are hypocrites and our lives don’t match our words, or when he says that we aren’t good enough to help others, we can step back and say, “Jesus please grow me up soon, and in the mean time I want to do what You do and say what You say even though I don’t fully understand. You are my roll model and I want to be just like You when I grow up.” I’m quite sure that saying that one sentence will melt God’s heart and cover a multitude of failures. :)</div>
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God is calling us into a close relationship with Himself and this is just one more of the hindrances that we can overcome with the simple key of loving the Lord with all our heart. That key will unlock every door that will ever try to stand in the way of our Christian walk and gives us the ability to cross every barrier we will ever face. To love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, is the foundation stone from which everything else builds off of and without it everything that tries to be built on our lives, will have to be torn down because it will not stand the test of time and trial. Loving the Lord with all our heart is such a simple statement but it is the hard won victory that must take place in order for our lives to move forward as fast as possible in the right direction.</div>
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Let us press forward into the Lord our God with all earnestness today! He is worth it!<br />
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-63627322562528836912015-02-19T14:33:00.002-08:002015-05-14T06:55:30.042-07:00In Love With God - lesson 5<div style="font-family: Didot; font-size: 18px; text-align: left;">
<b>In Love With God - lesson 5</b></div>
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<b><i>The only thing that I want for this semester </i></b></div>
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<b><i>is for us to be in love with and on fire for God</i></b></div>
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Only a church in love with Jesus, will stand.</div>
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_ A loose church full of compromise with the world, will not stand.</div>
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This body is carried away with the love of the world and cannot bear fruit because the seed will always be choked out in the end. It may have a good start on a lot of seemingly good ideas, but just as many conversations with a skeptical person on the street just go in circles with a true point for the Lord always being avoided (Anyone who has been out street witnessing has experienced this) so also will the work of a compromised church, come to little or nothing at all.</div>
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_ A church set on ridged outward control and full of rules with no passion for Jesus, will not stand.</div>
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This body is consumed with outward appearance and conformity with set rules and laws but always gets bound up in the technical side of every issue or gets burnt out trying to keep up their good works. Eventually men wear out and turn away and fall back into the world because they have found that works in themselves are unfulfilling. </div>
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However, a church full of the passion of loving their Savior, will never tire of the good works He has called them to! They might have moments of being discouraged and weary but they are continually going back to Jesus for strength and encouragement to press on with whatever the difficulty is. A church full of love for Jesus will not want the passing pleasures of the world that bring compromise and choke out fruit and nor will they burn out or become weary in well doing. For them the Hymn is fulfilled “It is well with my soul.” Jesus says, <i>“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.”</i> Matt. 11:28-30</div>
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This is why we must seek a closer fellowship with Jesus than we have had. We must not be content with where we are in Christ right now because if we are it means that we are not fully in love with Jesus or we could never say that. A person in love actually can’t live without that close personal connection to the one they love. If we were fully in love with Jesus everyone around us would know it because our faces would show it and our actions would tell it and our words would speak it. This is the first love that our Heavenly Father admonishes the churches about in the book of revelation. If we do not have this first love continually burning in our hearts, we will fall away when the persecution hits or be choked out when the enticements of the world lure us in.</div>
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<b>The Lord tests our hearts so He can build upon them</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div>
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If we are failing by loving the things of this world more than Him, we will not grow or be affective in His service and He will not be able to give us a place of responsibility in His work.</div>
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<i>“I, the Lord. search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of His deeds.” - Jeremiah 17:10</i><br />
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<i>-Seth</i></div>
Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-69882414465574333382015-02-12T13:46:00.000-08:002015-05-14T06:57:18.537-07:00In Love With God - lesson 4<div style="font-family: Didot; font-size: 18px; text-align: left;">
<b>In Love With God - lesson 4</b></div>
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<b><i>The only thing that I want for this semester </i></b></div>
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<b><i>is for us to be in love with and on fire for God</i></b></div>
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Which means Surrender, Surrender, Surrender!</div>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Where are you at?</div>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Any noticeable changes in your life yet? This is to be our constant expectation if we are seeking the Lord with all our heart. Changes must be happening. What have you surrendered in the last few days? What is God pressing on your heart right now?</div>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If we want to get closer to the Lord we must be asking these questions regularly. What must be changed in me? What am I holding onto? What am I unwilling to let go of that God has put His finger on? At whatever point we have refused to surrender, this is where we stop. We have reached an impasse and we will remain at this point indefinitely. The problem is that if we don’t surrender we may never move on! We must be willing to surrender in order to move on. When do we think we will be more ready to surrender if we aren’t now when the Lord is point blank asking for us to? We have already been experiencing some of the joys that came from letting go the last thing He asked of us. If we delay, we are much more likely to forget that there was a joy attached to the surrender of each thing we gave up, and will be less likely to be willing to give it up, because our hearts have become bonded tighter to them than they were before. We talked to a man the other day who had stopped growing in the Lord 30 years ago. 30 years is a long time and what is to say that he will ever start back up again? I’ve held onto things for the last 10 years and they have stunted my growth and robbed me of full joy in Christ as well. We will never have full and radiant joy in Christ while we refuse to do what God has asked of us. And if we don’t have the joy of Christ it is because we are hoping to get our joy from the thing we are refusing to let go of, but they will never bring us joy only more emptiness and worldly behavior. </div>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If we feed the flesh with it’s old desires, the flesh will grow and our sins will take us down into deeper and deeper bondage. But if we feed our spirit, the flesh will grow weak and the chains that held us will fall off. Our old nature and life will pass away and the new man (or woman) in Christ, will come to life. The new man is full of joy! The new man is radiant with the light of Christ! The new man is becoming more and more like Christ Himself! Hallelujah! </div>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Let us seek God earnestly for more of Him today and let the old things pass away.</div>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Remember, the things you struggle with will become easier to let go of the more time you spend with the Lord. And the opposite is also true. The less time you get with the Lord the more impossible it will be to get free of those chains of sin. They are impossible to let go of without Jesus’ help.</div>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>But let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things, declares the Lord. - Jeremiah 9:24</i><br />
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-49438019859684549442015-02-05T15:34:00.000-08:002015-05-14T06:58:37.977-07:00In Love With God - lesson 3<div style="font-family: Didot; font-size: 18px; text-align: left;">
<b>In Love With God - lesson 3</b></div>
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<i><b> </b> The only thing that I want for this semester </i></div>
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<i> is for us to be in love with and on fire for God</i></div>
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<b>Which means Surrender, Surrender, Surrender!</b></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Lord pull me into Your throne room! Fill me with your Holy Spirit and set me on fire for you!</div>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Can you say these words honestly? Is there anything holding you back? In your mind, can you see something that you still don’t want to fully commit to letting go of? If you can say, “Lord help me to want to let that thing go,” you will begin to have victory. The honesty of saying, “I want to want to let go,” is the stepping stone God will use to set you completely free. What follows will be a God given desire to take the next step forward. You will take it with His help. He will take you over the line and into His Presence.</div>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>We must start with the first truly honest ground we have ever tried to stand on. We must say, “Lord, I love my sins but I want to not want them anymore.” This will open the door to our first real freedom to live for Christ. We all have things we love that are not godly. This is the step forward. When He begins to bring conviction, and we begin to be afraid that He is going to make us give up things we love in this present life, instead of being afraid we must just be honest with Him and say it. “Lord I’m afraid of what you might ask of me, please help me to want to let go of whatever you ask.” The Lord will take this timid step you are making and help you to leap over the biggest hurdles between Him and you. It is enough. He will take over from there and will fill you with a true desire to go the rest of the way with Him.</div>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Lord here I am. Lord Here I am. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit and set me on fire for you.<br />
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806978495113045085.post-61235602124039554282015-01-28T17:58:00.000-08:002015-05-14T06:59:19.417-07:00In Love With God - lesson 2<div style="font-size: 18px;">
<b>In Love With God - lesson 2</b></div>
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<i>The only thing that I want for this semester</i></div>
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<b> Which means Surrender, Surrender, Surrender!</b></div>
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We can’t do anything about what anyone else does in response to the call of making the Lord first in their lives, but we can do something about what we do. We can say, “Yes Lord, here I am. I want to be with you all the time and enter into Your Presence and be a blessing to Your heart.”</div>
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<b style="font-size: 15px;"> Honesty in our hearts toward the Lord</b></div>
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<b> This is what the Lord requires. When we turn to Him right now, He requires that we mean whatever we say, </b><b>with all our heart.</b></div>
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<i> “Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, ‘Return faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord; I will not <span style="font-size: 15px;">look upon you in anger. For I am gracious, declares the Lord; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity, </span><span style="font-size: 15px;">that you have transgressed against the Lord your God.” - Jeremiah 3:12-13</span></i></div>
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<b> God is always desiring us to simply turn from our sin and acknowledge that we have sinned and don’t want </b><b>to anymore.</b></div>
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<i> “Then I will give you new shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.” - Jeremiah 3:15 <span style="font-size: 15px;">“How I would set you among My sons, and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful inheritance of the nations! </span><span style="font-size: 15px;">And I said, ‘You shall call Me, My Father, and not turn away from following Me.” - Jeremiah 3:19</span></i></div>
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This is our new life in Christ. This is God’s heart toward us! Why do we drag our feet instead of running at full speed into His arms? All that hinders us, He promises to forgive and all He has prepared for us, He has desired to give to us. We are not making Him give us His wonderful promises. He has desired to bestow them and it has been we who have not wanted them with all our heart. Instead, we have continually looked back at old things and held onto them and in doing so, robbed ourselves of the joys and blessings of being a Christian.</div>
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So we must ask ourselves, how long will we wait? It is no one else who misses out. It is each of us personally. How long will I wait? How long will I drag my feet in my old life? Every bit of time that goes by is real and we don’t get it back. How long will I miss out on being on fire for the Lord? How Long will I miss out on the fullness of joy that comes from complete surrender to Him?</div>
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What is my hindrance? What holds me back? These are the questions that we must ask ourselves and take hold of because it is me that loses if I don’t take hold of the Lord with all my heart.</div>
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Seth (The Sky Family)http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109147427289333571noreply@blogger.com0