Experiencing God
Week 3 Part 1
What spoke to you?
Please share!
How have your daily devotions been going?
Mental health is a real thing.
Memory verse
Matthew 22:37–38 NIV
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.
What Reality does this speak too.
How would apply this to your daily life?
How should a church apply this to the way operate.
What makes this verse special
The Great Commandment
Review the Seven Realties
God is always at work around you.
God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal.
God invites you to become involved with Him in His work.
God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways.
God’s invitation for you to work with Him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action.
You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing.
You come to know God by experience as you obey Him, and He accomplishes His work through you.
A Love Relationship
Reality Two
God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal.
This course was not written to teach you a program, a method, or a formula for knowing and doing God’s will.
It was written to point you to a relationship with God.
God will then work through that relationship to accomplish through you whatever He pleases.
My own testimony on this.
(I am a program make a list formula kind of person.)
Purpose Driven Church is a formula. It worked for lots of churches. Or so it seemed.
Also, every Baptist church (others also) follow a certain pattern. We have broken a lot of those rules.
The people of this church has taught me something different.
When God is at work.
I needed this study to reaffirm my calling/direction.
You need this study for the same reason.
It starts with a relationship with God.
We can have all the knowledge in the world…
Like Paul told the Corinthian Church
1 Corinthians 13:1 (CSB) — 1 If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
1 Corinthians 13:1 CSB
If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
That includes a love relationship with God.
Important questions?
It is important to answer these questions honestly.
Has there been a time in your life when you questioned God’s love for you?
In that experience, were there ways God was expressing His love for you?
Through Tina. I was too bitter and hurt to listen to God.
What Scriptures do you turn to when looking for assurance of God’s love for you?
Psalm 23
Seek out the Holy Spirit in answering these questions.
The Greatest Commandment
With all my Heart
If we could describe our love for God it should be this.
Deuteronomy 6:4–5 (CSB) — 4 “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:4–5 CSB
“Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
(Word study lesson: LORD = yhwh and God = Elohim)
This is the greatest love we can have.
Jesus quotes Deuteronomy in Matthew 22:37–38
This is your foundation.
Everything depends on this one factor.
The quality and depth of that relationship.
Always remember Gods love is unconditional.
Your Greatest Calling
Your number one priority.
To be loved by God is the highest relationship, the highest achievement, and the highest position in life.
One key factor is understanding your level of commitment.
Purpose Driven Church had a baseball diamond
Home Plate — Salvation / Membership; First Base — Spiritual Maturity; Second Base — Ministry; Third Base — Mission; Back to Home — Multiplication
See The Levels of Commitment
There is a danger in keeping score.
Pastors will often want to move you from a Casual Attender to Disciple-Maker
Pastors and other will apply pressure to up your score.
It’s not that simple and requires time.
Here is a healthy approach to ask yourself.
Are you moving toward a closer love relationship with Jesus?
Are you growing in obedience?
Are you becoming more loving, humble, and faithful?
Are you serving others?
Are you making disciples?
Practical steps
This study is a great place to start.
There is a difference between bible knowledge and spiritual maturity.
Pray about any barriers or wrong turns in your walk with God.
Move from self-centered to God-centered.
Self-centered living is like constantly staring at yourself.
God-centered living is standing before the mirror of God’s Word and allowing Him to reveal what needs to change.
How does God see your walk with Him?
Asking “How does God see my walk?” is like checking the map from above instead of only seeing the road immediately in front of us.
Ask about any adjustments you might need to make.
Adjustments are not punishment — they are course corrections designed to bring us closer to the destination God has for us.
Quiet time
Day 3 Assignment
Maybe something to do weekly.
A quiet retreat. (Remove distractions)
Meditate on the scripture.
Pray scripture.
Open your heart
Listen
