Learning by Hearing & Reading - Nov. 30

* We must not allow age, our personal giants, or yet-unfulfilled promises to prevent us from believing that God still honors His word to us. (Joshua 14:6-13)

* Faith & The Object of Faith
- Acrobat performance
- Executive and Window Jumping
- Wagon on the Ice Story
Not the stronger of the faith, but the better knowing of the object.

Daniel's Prayer

Daniel 9:3-19

Self-control - Nov. 26, 2007

• 1 Corinthians 6:12- All things are lawful for you, but not all things are profitable.
• 1Corinthians 6:19,20- Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and so you should glorify God with it.
• 1 Thessalonians 4:3,4,5- You should learn to control your body in a holy and honourable way, not in passionate lust like the heathens.
• 2 Peter 2:19- You are a slave to whatever has mastered you.
• James 4:17- If you know you should do something, but fail to do it, it’s sin.

God is looking for ...

God is not looking for those who are clever,
but for those in whom He can be wise;
He is not looking for those who are talented,
but for those to whom He can be all sufficient;
He is not looking for those who are powerful,
but for those through whom He can be almighty.

- Roy Lessin, Co-founder DaySpring Cards

For the eyes of the LORD search back and forth across the whole earth, looking for people whose hearts are perfect toward Him, so that He can show His great power in helping them ... - 2 Chronicles 16:9 TLB

Sunday at CGC - Sept 30

Worship Songs: My Savior My God, Breathe, Worthy is the Lamb

Topic: Word of FAITH


Forsaking
All
I
Trust
Him

Lectio Divina: Contemplative Bible Reading

From STINT 2007 at Copper Village, Colorado

Contemplative Bible reading is one of the oldest methods of Bible study. Its traditional name is lectio divina, a Latin phrase (pronounced lex-ee-oh di-vee-muh) that can be translated "divine reading," "spiritual reading," or "sacred reading." Contemplative Bible reading is both a simple and a profound way to approach Scripture. It consists of a four-part movement beginning with the text and ending in prayer. This style of Bible reading can be used by both individuals and groups. The four steps that make up contemplative Bible reading are:

Reading/Listening: Read aloud a short passage of Scripture. As you read, listen for the word or phrase that speaks to you. What is the Spirit drawing your attention to?

Meditating: Repeat aloud the word or phrase to which you are drawn. Make connections between it and your life. What is God saying to you by means of this word or phrase?

Praying: Now take these thoughts and offer them back to God in prayers, giving thanks, asking for guidance, asking for forgiveness, and resting in God's love. What is God leading you to pray?

Contemplating: Move from the activity of prayer to the stillness of contemplation. Simply rest in God's presence. Stay open to God. Listen to God. Remain in peace and silence before God. How is God revealing Himself to you?

On Suffering (Job 3) - Sept. 10 ODB

Job’s Birthday

READ: Job 3

Death, divorce, and disease could be called the three Ds of misery. They slice through life like a tsunami of sorrow, raising doubts and destroying dreams.

Recently, a friend and I agreed that the previous year was one that we both would just as soon forget. Each of us had suffered one of the three.

Our conversation brought Job to mind. In a short period of time, he lost his children, his health, his wealth, and his wife’s respect. Job’s distress was so great that he pleaded, “May the day perish on which I was born” (Job 3:3). Job wanted God to erase not just a year, but all memory of his existence! He had enjoyed years of success and respect. Now, he questioned the purpose of living (3:20).

Job wanted to die and be forgotten, but instead God made sure his name and story would be remembered forever. Rather than give Job what he asked for, God gave future generations what they would need—an inside look at the spiritual battle between God and Satan. The result is a God-inspired document about suffering that has comforted countless people.

When what we fear actually happens, we know, thanks to Job, that God can use it for good. —Julie Ackerman Link

Our highest good may come from our deepest suffering.

Things I Cannot Understand (by Os Hillman) - Sept. 4

Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. - Job 42:3b

If there was any one man on earth who had reason to question God's love, it was Job. He lost his family, his health, and his wealth-all at the same time. His friends came to his side only to question his spirituality. God had already answered the question of his integrity. Job was described in the opening verses of the book as "blameless and upright" (see Job 1:1). His calamities were not born from sin. Job acknowledged God's right to do anything in his life until one day he could take it no longer. He questioned God's motives.

God answered Job, but not in the way he wanted to hear. God answered him with a series of questions that represents the most incredible discourse of correction by God to any human being. Three chapters later, Job realized that he had questioned the motives of the Author of the universe, the Author of love. He fell flat before his Creator and realized his total depravity. "Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know."

Have you ever questioned God's activity in your life? Have you questioned His love for you based on circumstances that came your way? The cross at Calvary answers the love question. He sent His own Son in replacement for your sin. If you were the only person on earth, He would have done the same. His ways cannot always be understood or reconciled in our finite minds. That must be left for a future time when all will be understood. For now, entrust your life to Him completely. Embrace Him in the hard times and the good.

Imperishable - 1 Corinthians 15:50-53

1 Corinthians 15
50I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.

ODB - Sept. 5

http://www.rbc.org/odb/odb-09-05-07.shtml

Psalm 46

(v. 1) God is our refuge and strength, an ever-lasting help in trouble.

(v. 8-10) Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wards cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. "Be still, and know that I am GOD; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

(v. 11) The LORD ALMIGHTY is with us; the GOD of Jacob is our fortress.


Communication with God is a two-way street. He speaks to us through His Word when we come attentively before Him in prayer and through the clear voice of the indwelling Spirit. He paid a great price to keep the lines open so that we can experience the joy of being still long enough to know that He is GOD (Ps. 46:10). - Joe Stowell

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known. - Miles

Quotable Quotes - Sept. 4

From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. -- Acts 17:26-27

Here is a trustworthy saying: If we die with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown Himself. - 2 Tim. 2:11-13