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I once had an older Christian tell me how she "witnessed" to her unsaved nephew and his wife who happened to be staying at her home. When come in late from their "carousing" she would be in the living room, sitting in her rocking chair, facing the front door with the Bible on her lap. Giving them the stink eye for Jesus, she thought, would convict them. (The sad reality is that she was asleep when they came home and probably thought, "The Bible must be boring if it makes autie fall asleep every night).
What's your picture of Jesus? Is he waiting for you with the stink eye and with those guilt ridden questions, "Where have you been?" "Why haven't you been spending time with me?" "What is wrong with you?" Or do you picture the Jesus of the New Testament, always happy to see you and saying, "Come to me, you who are weary....(Matt 11:28-30)." Which Jesus do you want to spend time with? Which Jesus do you want to come home to? 1. Pray - take a moment to thank God for today and ask for His help to follow Jesus. 2. Read slowly a paragraph or more in the NT and ponder its meaning 3. THIS ONE IS DIFFERENT - Share, if you feel led: What you learned and/or what God is up to in your life and/or what you'd like the group to pray for.
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Why do spiritual disciplines and guilt always go hand in hand? When did not praying enough or reading my Bible begin to trump the grace of God? The last promise Peter made to Jesus, before Jesus' crucifixion, was, "I'll never deny you." The last time Peter saw Jesus, before Jesus' crucifixion, Peter had just denied him three times. Then, after Jesus resurrection, Peter decides to go fishing. When Jesus shows up we expect a scolding, the hammer is going to come down on the rock (Peter's name means "rock"). Instead, Jesus treats Peter and the other fishing disciples to a buffet breakfast (John 21). What gives? Grace.
In the church we both give and receive "drive-by-guiltings": Why weren't you at such & such event, why didn't you volunteer, etc. This causes us to project upon God similar drive-by-guilting behavior. Remember, "in Jesus we have become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21). Our guilt has been removed. If we do spiritual disciplines or devotions out of guilt or to prevent guilt, we are trying to make ourselves righteous. And this may be one reason we sometimes find ourselves wondering, "Where is the joy of my salvation." Pray - "Lord help us to believe that you have made us and see us as righteous. Help us believe that You love us, that through the forgiveness of the Blood of Jesus we are perfect and pleasing to you." Read and ponder 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV) God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 
Here is the proof that God wants us to live eternally: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4, NASB). God is preserving our lives now so we can be with Him forever. Our hearts and character, which will be with us forever, are being shaped to serve/worship God for eternity.
1. Pray 2. Read Carefully a chapter in the New Testament, listening to what the Spirit is saying. 3. Share. What did you learn, how is your walk with Jesus going. Keep Pressing On, - Pastor Tim 
How did Paul deal with hump day (Wednesday)?
He tells us in Philippians 3:12-14, "...I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Let us not grow weary or give up our pursuit of being with and becoming like Christ. 1. Pray 2. Read Carefully a chapter in the NT, listening to what the Spirit is saying. 3. Share with your group what you learned and how your walk with Jesus is going. Keep Pressing On, Pastor Tim The future God has prepared for us requires the transformation of our character now. Our current transformation into Christlikeness is shaping us for the eternal work God created each of us to do. Neither my current circumstances, nor other people control my character or my life (I need to repeat this to myself about 10 times a day). Let's seek daily to become the children God is calling us to be in Christ Jesus 1 John 3:1-2 (NIV) says, "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."
Keep Pressing On, - Pastor Tim   It's Monday, a new week, a fresh start. Lamentations 3:22-23 says, "The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning." (NLT) If God's mercies are new every morning, then they are certainly new every week. Let's seek His mercies together this week, starting today.
1. Pray - Ask God to help you follow Jesus today. 2. Read Carefully from His word (I encourage a chapter in a Gospel) 3. Share - with the group what you read and how your walk with Jesus is going. Keep Pressing On, - Pastor Tim  A brief word from Dallas Willard, "Many faithful Christians, in spite of their faith, are deeply disappointed in in how their lives have turned out....what they had hoped to accomplish in life they did not. They painfully puzzle over what they may have done wrong, or over whether God has really been with them. Much of the distress of these good people comes from a failure to realize that their life lies before them. That they are coming to the end of their present life, life "in the flesh," is of little significance. What is of significance is the kind of person they have become. Circumstances and other people are not in control of an individual's character or of the life that lies endlessly before us in the kingdom of God." (The Divine Conspiracy, p.376)
So we press on to become like Christ. 1. Pray - Ask God to help you follow Jesus 2. Read - a chapter in the New Testament, listening CAREFULLY to what the Spirit is teaching you. 3. Share - with a friend or group what you learned and how your walk with Jesus is going. Keep Pressing On, - Pastor Tim  Did you know that at one point in history there were two popes? It happened in 1378 and is a sordid story of political drama that makes today's politics look like a sitcom. The point: Who's spiritual authority to you put your trust in when there are two popes? Go back a little further in history and you'll see that the prophet Isaiah realized he had two kings (see Isaiah 6:1-8). There was the king of Judah, Uzziah, whom Isaiah trusted for protection and prosperity and then there was the Sovereign King of the Universe, the Lord God Almighty. The point: Until we force our lesser king to abdicate the throne we cannot trust, serve and devote ourselves to the King of kings.
Who or what's your king? 1. Pray - Ask God to help you follow Jesus 2. Study - Read a chapter in a Gospel listening to what the Spirit is teaching you. 3. Share - with a friend or group what you learned and how your walk with Jesus is going. Keep Pressing On, - Pastor Tim The prophet Isaiah faced his greatest life crisis "in the year king Uzziah died." In crisis, trial and disappointment we all have a choice: To see God as glorious and exalted and trust His sovereignty OR to blame God and wallow in the loss of our own sovereignty. Even when it is difficult to do, let us in all circumstances praise our God. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. Blessed be the name of The Lord." 1. Pray - Ask God for help to follow Jesus. 2. Study - God's word, listening carefully to what the Spirit is saying to you. 3. Share - your journey with Jesus with your brothers and sisters. Keep Pressing On, - Pastor Tim  If you think striving to be an apprentice of Jesus is something that is too difficult for you right now or reserved for "special" Christians, you may be confusing normal discipleship with being a monk (what those guys did was very hard indeed). Striving to be an apprentice of Jesus is the simple responsibility of all Christians. In the book, "Renovation of the Church," Mike Lueken writes, [for so many of us] the way we did church, the style of our services, the underlying values behind our ministry - these communicated a ‘gospel’ in which accepting Jesus was required, but apprenticeship to Him was optional. Apprenticeship to Jesus (aka discipleship) is simply striving to be with and become like Jesus. My hope with these "Learning 2B Disciples" posts is to provide one vehicle of apprenticeship that is within our reach, encourages us and keeps us accountable.
1. Prayer (Asking God for strength and help to follow Jesus today) 2. Study (Read with the desire to understand a chapter or portion of a chapter in a gospel) 3. Share (Tell a friend or small group how it went, what you learned, failures, struggles, small victories or big victories.) Keep Pressing On, - Tim Kirkes |
I can plod. I can persevere in any definite pursuit. To this I owe everything.
- William Carey AuthorMy name is Tim Kirkes. I am honored to be the a child of my heavenly Father, the husband of Lisa, the father of two boys and the pastor of San Dimas Wesleyan church. Archives
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