independencehill.org

The Journey’s Setbacks

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 14:17:00 +0000

We all have setbacks along the journey. Sometimes we don’t arrive on time. Sometimes we end up at a place we never intended to go. You are not alone when it comes to setbacks. So it begs the question, how do you deal with setbacks?:

Acknowledge the problem (Romans 7:15-16) - We all have to realize that even though we know the right thing, we will fall short and do the very thing we didn’t want to do.
Determine the source of the problem (Romans 7:17-18) - We have a nature of sin that makes us realize we need a Savior.
Find a solution to the problem (Romans 7:24-25a) - Jesus Christ is the only one who can deliver us.
Enlist a consultant to prevent future setbacks (Romans 7:24-25a) - The Holy Spirit is God’s gift to us that allows us to not only claim a new life in Christ, but actually walk that life out as He guides us each day.

For more study on the Holy Spirit, I would like to recommend a website that I have found helpful over the years. I believe you will find some great insight that will help you understand the role of the Holy Spirit in your life. www.carm.org/holy-spirit

The Journey - Understanding Grace

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 13:59:03 +0000

Here are some important words from Romans 3:23-26 or "Key Words For My Journey":

Sinned – to have missed the mark, we are not where we are supposed to be. Whether it was intentional or not, it doesn’t matter.

Justified – God declared the sinner righteous not because of the sinners actions, but because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Jesus’ righteousness is applied to us.

Grace – a favor done without expectation of return. It is the opposite of earning something. It is charity at it’s purest form. A gift with no strings attached.

Redemption – the recalling of captives (sinners) from captivity (sin) through a ransom payment of Jesus’ death.

Propitiation – an appeasement or satisfaction of wrath or punishment. God’s wrath was satisfied through the death of Jesus on the cross. It is a covering and Jesus has the believers covered.

Faith – believe, trust, rely on. It is a knowledge of, assent to and confidence in certain divine truths. To believe in God and what God says. This is an ongoing condition and the foundation of a relationship with God.

Righteousness – God’s standard or the state or condition of perfectly conforming to God’s perfect law and holy character. Jesus is the only one with authentic righteousness.

Those who have sinned must be justified by the grace of God with redemption by accepting the propitiation of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross through faith, acknowledging the righteousness of God is a standard only achieved by Jesus.

And remember, IF IT’S NOT AMAZING, IT’S NOT GRACE

A Hero’s Secret Hideout - Family

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 06:27:38 +0000

Here are the action items from the sermon out of 2 Timothy 1:1-7

Families need to practice “grace, mercy and peace”
Families need to share “quality time”
Families need to help each other “grow spiritually”
Families need to “test the spirits”

Our families should be the place where we recharge, regroup and heal. Whether it is the family that shares our name or the family that shares our faith. Family is worth the struggle. May God bless your family!

A Hero’s Secret Knowledge - Vision

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 12:14:09 +0000

To be a hero we must have the vision needed to anticipate what is coming. One important aspect of vision is to understand what is needed financially. The Bible speaks a lot about finances, but here is a great resource that applies God’s Word to our money. Enjoy!

http://www.christianpf.com/5-bible-verses-about-money-every-christian-should-know/

Slowing Heals - Dark Night of the Soul

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 17:15:12 +0000

Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life, it will destroy your soul and keep you from living well. Stress will squeeze the life out of your soul.

That is why Jesus said in Matthew 11:29 "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Some of your souls are under stress and you can see that you have let hurry dominate your life. You need to practice solitude. Keeping a day of rest that will heal.

But there are some others here who are feeling a great stress on your soul and you think hurrying or pressing is the answer. You may be experiencing what some call the “dark night of the soul”.

The dark night of the soul may be characterized by when you feel there is a deadening of our senses. There is a sense where you feel like you are trying to follow God, there is no destructive or bad behavior going on, but it just doesn’t seem like much light or direction is coming your way.

The natural temptation is to work harder and try to hurry your life up so God will give you an answer. But you may very well be in a dark night of the soul where God wants you to slow down even more so you can hear what He wants to tell you.

It is during these times we must remember that this is not for our punishment and it won’t be fixed by doing more. It is kind of like someone who needs an operation. But in order to do the operation you have to go under the anesthesia.

Dark nights of the souls don’t happen often in life. But they are when God is wanting to do major surgery on your heart and you will not get better by increasing your activity. You will only learn what God is trying to tell you by slowing down even more.

Hurry hurts, but slowing heals.

todd

(I would like to give credit to Richard Foster for his insight on the Dark Night of the Soul in this book, Celebration of Discipline)

Spring Training Workout - Confession

Tue, 25 May 2010 20:00:03 +0000

Warm Up – Pray

Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting – Psalm 139:23-24

Training For Your Heart – See God

Allow God’s Word to give you insight into who God is each day this week. Pick a Psalm and read one each day.

Training For Your Hands – Confess

If there was anything you read that reminded you of something in your life that not right. Or if God has brought something you’ve done to your memory. Confess it right now.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9

Get In The Game – Team up and find healing

Find someone who loves God and you to share your struggles with that person this week.

An Extra Workout If You Desire To Go Deeper:

Below are the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. They are very Biblical and the word “alcohol” has been changed to “sin”. You are challenged to read this everyday this week and work “the steps” of confession and reconciliation.

1. We admitted we were powerless over sin - that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to sinners and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Spring Training Workout – Scripture

Mon, 17 May 2010 16:09:48 +0000

Warm Up – Pray

“God, please speak to me as I read you Word, show me great things that I don’t know. Help me to understand how I can find ways to live out your teachings from scripture.

Training For Your Heart – Seek God wholeheartedly

As you prepare your heart to read the Bible determine to do the following two things:

Be willing to confess. There may be some things you read that conflict with attitudes or actions you have, be willing to confess as you go. Don’t wait until Sunday.
Decide quality is better than quantity. Our goal shouldn’t be how many verses we read a day. Our goal should be how many verse we live a day. Pick a small section or a few verses and read less, but live more.

Training For Your Hands – Hang on to God’s Word

While you are reading try some of the following exercises to connect with scripture:

Read deliberately – You can read aloud, you can slow your pace down or stop and think on each word. The point is really try to understand what you are reading.
Picture it – Imagine you being in the middle of the situation. Maybe you are just a bystander or maybe you are being spoken to, but put yourself in the story.
Mediate – This doesn’t involve strange humming. But pick one sentence or phrase and think on them. To meditate is to marinate. Let the scripture be in your thoughts so that your thoughts take on the flavor of scripture.

Get In The Game – Hide God’s Word in your heart

Pick a verse or phrase of scripture and commit it to memory. The following techniques:

Read the scripture aloud ten times every day.
Write it on a card or sheet of paper that you can carry with you and look at often during the day.
Each day take the verse and build it aloud, word by word. Example – For, For God, For God so, For God so loved …

If you do all three you will hide God’s Word in your heart quickly!

Daily Reading God’s Word

Here are some suggested passages if you are looking for a place to start this week.

Sunday – Exodus 20:1-17

Monday – Galatians 5:1-6

Tuesday – Galatians 5:7-15

Wednesday - Galatians 5:16-26

Thursday - Galatians 6:1-5

Friday – Galatians 6:6-10

Saturday – Psalm 1:1-6

Spring Training Week 3 – Servant

Sun, 02 May 2010 12:07:32 +0000

Warm Up

Pray a 1600 year old prayer

O Father, light up the small duties of this day’s life, May they shine with the beauty of your countenance. May we believe that glory can dwell in the commonest task of every day – St. Augustine

Training For Your Heart – Priorities

It is easy to get off track, but when God is our priority our lives will take on a new simplicity. Remember Jesus’ words: But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you – Matthew 6:33

Training For Your Hands – Serving

Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many – Matthew 20:26-28

Do something to make someone’s life easier today. Look for opportunities where you can use your hands to bless someone. Pray for God to show you how you can help another.

Get In The Game – Be like Jesus

The Mission Impossible television series always had the phrase, “Your mission, should you decide to accept it”. This week accept the mission of being a secret servant. Yes, you are being challenged to be sneaky in the name of Jesus. Find something you can do in secret that meets the needs of someone else. Jesus was never concerned about being recognized. So take this challenge and train yourself to find joy in serving even when no one tells you, “Thank you.”

Spring Training Week 2 - Celebrate

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 20:45:29 +0000

Warm Up - Determine where and when you will take at least 5 minutes every day this week for this spiritual discipline.

Training For Your Heart – Trust God

Read this passage over as you start your time: Matthew 11:28-29 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls

Training For Your Hands – Clap

Psalm 47:1 Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph! Find a favorite song and while you listen, clap. And while you’re at it sing along in a loud voice (shout). Have fun!

Get In The Game – Be a shield

Start with you first. Plan an evening (or a whole day) doing things that bring you joy. Think about the foods you love, activities you enjoy and people you like to be around. Bring all those together this week and rejoice. Rejoice means return to the source of your joy. Give the gift of joy to someone else and be their shield of joy. Help someone celebrate this week. It doesn’t have to be a major event, but purposefully bring joy to someone else.

Spring Training Week 1 - Surrender

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 21:48:18 +0000

Warm Up

Find a place this week where you can avoid distractions and spend 5 focused minutes. Make this training a daily priority.

Training For Your Heart – Get your hopes up

Read this passage slowly a couple times and let it sink in:

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit – Romans 15:13

Training For Your Hands – Surrender to love

As an act of surrender, put you hands in the air (nobody’s watching you) and speak aloud the words taken from Jeremiah 31:3-4:

The LORD appeared to me in the past, saying, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt” LORD, I surrender to Your love today.

Get In The Game – Believe in transformation

Work on memorizing a passage of scripture by reading it over 10 times:

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God – Romans 12:2

Pray and ask God to transform you today so you can do His will!