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Devotion.al

Tag: Holy Spirit

  • Waiting to See

    Daniel 7:13-14, Luke 24:44-53, Ephesians 4:1-16

    The Book of Daniel contains many prophetic writings. Often the prophet themselves may not know what exactly the words mean. Christians, by-and-large, don’t disagree much on these verses in Daniel have to do with Jesus. It seems pretty obvious, but we can often deceive ourselves when it comes to prophesy (think the Book of Revelation). However, with our understanding (and belief) about Jesus, this passage in Daniel seems to us only applicable to Jesus. Just think about that. Daniel was given a vision of the future that in no way matched his understanding of God, yet here it was.

    Even living with Jesus, experiencing his life, death, and resurrection, the disciples had to have Jesus open their minds so that they could understand Scripture, including the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. It wasn’t easy. God had to open their minds. The disciples lived with God during his time on Earth, and their minds still had to be open. What does that tell us about ourselves?

    Jesus commands them to stay in Jerusalem until they are “empowered.” Yes, we know what that means, but did they? Jesus then blesses them and ascends to Heaven. And off they go to the Temple? How many people would go to someplace different, rather than stay at their “great” experience? They had someplace to go, for they had something to declare.

    The experience, the declaration, the way of life. Through the grace of Christ, it is to that we are called to live.

    1) Do you ever wonder what people in the Bible thought about the events that they were living? Do you give them more credit (or less) than they are due?

    2) The Holy Spirit had not yet come, yet the disciples’ minds were opened to an understanding of Scripture. What does that tell us and our understanding of Scripture?

    3) More waiting. The worship at the Temple may have just been the outlet for the waiting. What do you do as an outlet when waiting for God?

  • Onto Waiting

    Psalm 25, Isaiah 26:1–21, Acts 16:16–34

    Imagine being the only person at a 4-way traffic light with no one else on the road. The light for you is red. And it’s still red. Most of us will wait a little bit. Some might rev their engine a little. Others might back up and then go forward. Both have the intent to trigger the coil system that “flips” the lights. However, what if that doesn’t work? How long will you wait?

    Most of us would start to get a bit antsy.

    Waiting for God to move is commonplace in the Bible, or should we say that waiting is scriptural, but not always written about. Both in Psalm 25 and in Isaiah 26 we read about waiting. The way Scripture is written a lot of the waiting is not written about, as it happens between the action points that we read.
    Sometimes, however, waiting would seem to be the opposite thing to do! Paul and Silas are in prison. God moves, their chains fall off, and all the doors to the prison open. In such a situation (such as Acts 12), it would seem to be the wise thing to run and escape. Yet, Paul and Silas waited. From a purely human perspective, it would seem that only the Holy Spirit could have prompted them to stay there for whatever the next act was. Stay in jail? Yes, until the right moment.

    1) Have you ever had a prayer answered, and then wondered if you should actually accept it? What was it? What decision did you make, and why?

    2) We often talk about waiting on God to act, but in Paul and Silas’ case God acted, and yet they still waited. What does this tell you about waiting for God?

    3) How do you test when to wait and when to move?

  • Not Regardless

    Psalm 116:12–17, John 6:54–69, Acts 9:31–43

    Yesterday, we briefly touched on the reality that the world doesn’t like the entirety of the message of Jesus. It struggles with nice and submission. Add on the whole eternal life piece and the world casts it off. Other beliefs that the church has wrestled with and argued over often confuse people (believers and non-believers alike), providing an additional excuse to ignore the message. This is not to say that having an excuse means that everything is just fine. On the contrary, it often means that the heart is hard toward the Holy Spirit.
    When Peter asks to whom will they go, Peter could be really asking a number of things. First, he’s (they’re) all in. Second, no one else speaks/convinces like Jesus. We speak about the hard sayings of Jesus. It is that Jesus declares himself the True Bread of Life that his disciples (both intimate and extended) call hard. Peter doesn’t say that it isn’t hard. He isn’t saying he understands. He is saying (effectively), “I trust you, Jesus, regardless of what I understand.”
    Regardless. As inheritors of the Enlightenment, we don’t function well with “regardless.” Add onto the Enlightenment inheritance our “hard” science outlook, “regardless” is even harder. This is not to say that the Enlightenment or science is all bad. It is to say that neither is all knowing.
    “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in our philosophy.” —Hamlet (from the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare)
    Hamlet, speaking to his friend, Horatio, is referring to all the knowledge and learning that he (Horatio) has gained through his education (which was significant for the time). The world hangs its hat (so to speak) solely on the philosophies of the Enlightenment and science. The irony is that the Enlightenment and science came out of religion and a desire to understand, and yet many claim that religion has nothing to do with either.
    We will always struggle with reaching the world. How could Jesus be the only way to eternal life? The world does not understand.
    Peter, on the other hand, understood the best he was able. He was knee deep in theology or philosophy. He was neck deep in following Jesus the best way he knew how. Peter was, through faith, able to heal the paralyzed. Peter was, through faith, able to raise the dead to life. Was it his power? No, and he knew it. Did he ask, how does this work? No. He just accepts. That is one of the secrets of the Very Good Life, trusting God despite one’s own lack of understanding.

    1) Why is Jesus being the Bread of Life a hard saying? If we don’t think it is, what are we missing?

    2) How do you work through the tension between science and religion? What do you think of the choice being science or religion?

  • Drawing Waters of Salvation

    Isaiah 12:2–6, Jeremiah 31:31–34, Luke 22:14–20

    Isaiah is often not filled with much encouragement. This particular “song”, however, is a pronouncement of the saved telling the unsaved that they can be saved.

    Isaiah starts out with his salvation, and that his relationship with God is sound. He then tells the wayward hearer that they will joyfully (note they are miserable) draw water of their salvation. Then they will sing praises to God. Springs of salvation, or could we say Living Water? What do you think?

    Water is life. This is a special truth in the desert, where water is scarce. From a scriptural standpoint, blood is the life of a creature. Thus when we come to communion, we are to consider both the aspect of blood as life (Jesus’ blood) and water as life (Jesus is the living water). When Isaiah speaks about the spring of salvation, it is reasonable to see a foreshadowing of communion.

    With its darker tone (the blood of Jesus), it is also easy to see that this is not quite what had happened before, yet had similar attributes to the sacrificial practices of the Israelites. When Jeremiah speaks of a new covenant, there is little chance that the Israelites would have expected how that covenant would come to be. That this new covenant also changes how the “law” worked would also be beyond expectation. How would the Israelites “know” God’s law? It is not until the Holy Spirit is fully expressed that an understanding of this new way of the law fully revealed. There is also a special promise in Jeremiah’s New Covenant speech. If we all know God’s law, and have to be neither taught nor teach (admonish) others. Looking at the world around us, and our own lives, the only way that happens is if we fully yield ourselves to God. Yielding ourselves to God often starts with the simple acknowledgment that we cannot fully understand God.

    The disciples didn’t fully understand God, and they spent 3 years with Jesus! Have you heard, if only Jesus were here, we’d get the real/whole story, and we’d understand (or even believe). If his disciples who were with him (even one going so far as to betray him) for years didn’t get it, would we be any more likely? With our post-Enlightenment and scientific tendencies, we might be even less likely to understand! Even Judas Iscariot (the betrayer) up to this point didn’t get what this specific night meant for the future. They were just celebrating Passover with Jesus.

    When we celebrate communion (a sacrament), we become participants in this last meal.

    Instead of the usual questions at the end (besides, there were plenty of questions already), we will end with Book of Common Prayer, Contemporary Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Lent:

    Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world:
    Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him;
    who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
    one God, now and for ever. Amen.

    US Book of Common Prayer, 2007

  • The Proper Guest

    Psalm 104:1–15, John 6:53–58, 1 Corinthians 11:17–11:27

    From the Christian perspective, God breathed life into us. We’re not just talking about the lungs, but the spiritual life, too. God is the great sustainer. While there are those whose perspective of God is the Clockwork God (the concept that God started the whole thing and “walked away”) and others for whom it is only biological life and no spirit, most people seem to be between. The two “extremes” operate within the framework that God is not active, and God does not interact with creation. Again, because one perspective has God off who knows where, and the other perspective has no God (or other “force” for that matter). There is an odd in-between version of the Holy Spirit as a non-personal “force”, but that is even harder to comprehend.
    From an orthodox Christian perspective, without God’s spirit, we would truly be nothing more than mere biological machines. When we look at humanity, despite its often horrible state, we cannot help perceiving that there is something far more significant than just being a machine.

    What happens, though, when someone takes normal things and makes them anything but normal? Ask Jesus.

    When Jesus calls on people to eat his flesh and drink his blood, let’s be honest, it isn’t normal. The church has long held the view that there is definitely something going on here. On one hand, there are those that believe that when we take communion, we are literally (not just spiritually) eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Jesus (called transubstantiation, if you want to know). There are those that believe that it is merely (and only) a memorial, we do it solely because Jesus (and Paul) told us to (which are good reasons), and because the church has done it for centuries (tradition is not a bad reason either). There are two other major perspectives. Consubstantiation is a belief that it is both body and bread, and blood and wine. The last belief is that while it is “just” bread and wine (in the Nazarene and other denominations, grape juice), it is far more than “just” that. There is an understanding that Jesus is present at the table presiding over communion, in the same spirit as the Last Supper.

    Think of that. You’re eating in the presence of Jesus, as a guest.

    Regardless of your perspective on communion, the church (Orthodox to Roman Catholic to Protestant) calls it a sacrament. What is a sacrament? It is something instituted by an act of Jesus. Within the larger Protestant grouping, it is one of two sacraments, the other being baptism. Other traditions count additional acts as sacraments, but communion and baptism are universal.

    There is another aspect that is crucial to the sacraments…ourselves. Sacraments are instituted by God, so we don’t make them holy. However, Paul warns everyone to take them seriously. This is why an understanding of at whose table you are eating is so important. Not only are you eating and drinking with your local church family, there is the larger denomination, the church as a whole (again, across denominations), and with the church universal (both before and after us). It should never be something approached flippantly. This does not you cannot be joyful. In fact, joyful and thankful should be the exact perspective we bring to the table.

    1) For some communion should be done rarely; at most, once a month. For others, communion is weekly. For others still, it is every worship (which can be many times in a week). What is your perspective? Why? Can you see why others might have a different perspective?

    2) Do you ever think of Jesus hosting your table during communion? Does that impact how you view communion, and your participation in it?

    3) Why do you think Jesus and Paul emphasize the body and blood? What is the significance of those two words?

  • Interceding Love

    Genesis 44:18–34, Isaiah 59:15b–20, Hebrews 7:11–28, Romans: 8:26–39

    It has been said the person who does not pray for their spouse will have their prayers bounce back. It has been said that a person who is not prayed for by their spouse will experience the same. It does seem to be a catch-22. It isn’t. This is to be a lifestyle of prayer, not once or twice. It is to be regular. One should know best what one’s spouse needs prayer for, maybe even better than their spouse. Prayer shouldn’t end there. People should pray for their parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, and other family members. People should pray for friends. People should pray for their #Framily. People should be praying…a lot. This sounds like a lot of shoulds, and it is. Intercession is an act of love toward and for others. Do you love people? Pray for them.

    Not all intercession is prayer. In Genesis, Judah intercedes for his brother Benjamin on behalf of their father, Israel. Yes, there is a lot more to than just that. Intercession is often putting oneself in the place of another, just like Judah was trying to do with Benjamin. Understanding the “putting oneself” piece is put into a larger context when Jesus says, “No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) Life has many places where one can and should intercede for others.

    While Judah was trying to avoid the breaking of his father’s heart, Isaiah speaks to the people of Israel. The leaders are not interceding on behalf of their people. They are not supporting and living out justice. Therefore God has to exercise salvation. Justice and salvation are part of intercession. Think about that for a moment, and go back to intercessory prayer. Justice and salvation are part of that, too. THANK GOD! That’s where Jesus comes in!

    The author of Hebrews notes that Jesus’ intercession on our behalf means that we receive salvation. As Jesus continually (until the end of this world) is before the Father interceding on our behalf. Just as Judah interceded to keep his father’s heart from breaking, Jesus (from the Tribe of Judah) intercedes on our behalf so that God the Father’s heart is not broken by losing us. When Judah died, there could be no more intercession. Jesus is eternal so the intercession never ends.

    As if that wasn’t enough, the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf in the intent of the first piece, intercessory prayer. 2/3 of the Trinity is interceding on our behalf. Jesus and the Holy Spirit interceded in one heart/mind/spirit with God the Father, on whose behalf Jesus came for us. It is just amazing!

    1) If that much of God is about interceding, should our response be any less?
    2) God obviously views intercession as important. Do you view intercession as an important part of your walk with Christ as God views it?

    3) Why is intercession for others so important? Does intercession change your heart regarding those people for whom your interceding?

    FD) Have you ever defended somebody who didn’t “deserve” it? Why or why not?

  • How Do We Look?

    Psalm 120, Mark 13:9-13, 2 Peter 1:20-2:9

    Psalm 120 is a lament. The psalmist is among those who live a life of lies. These same people are warmongers, seeking strife and conflict. The psalmist is living in foreign lands that seek no peace, but the cry of the psalmist’s heart is for peace. The psalm begins with the end. God answered him, the rest of the psalm is about what the problem was. The truth is that while the psalmist was referring to a specific people, we all know the type. There are those that do not seem happy unless there is conflict. There are those who do not trust peace. When one does not have peace, one resorts to force fairly quickly. We are all guilty of this to some degree. Sometimes the response is yelling, crying, ambivalence, disregard. These all are violent to the heart and soul of others, and often to ourselves. We quickly think that all violence is physical. The truth is that violence is the outward sign of an inward pain.

    Jesus’ words in Mark are certainly not comforting. They can be terrifying. The internal strife of families torn apart. Neighbors calling out neighbors. Remember the Second Great Commandment? Love your neighbor as yourself. This is the outward sign of it not being so. Jesus is warning that his peace is not the peace of this world. All too often, the peace of this world is bought and paid for by blood and death. The peace of God is not so. The psalmist understood this. The response of the psalmist to those around him was, “God save me!” It wasn’t a slap to the face, or something more. It was prayer. As Jesus continues, he refers to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the source of the peace of God. When the Holy Spirit resides in us, we can respond to those around us with a grace and wisdom that is not ours.

    The God-ly wisdom of the Holy Spirit requires our humility. Peter has to confront people already who say that they have a new revelation from God. Peter is quick to point out that the prophets themselves did not understand their prophecies (unless granted so by God). It was only after the fact that it was proven that their prophecies were true. This is an important thing as the church, and groups that masquerade as the church, often have those that call themselves prophets or revealers or divine actors of some sort that are bringing a new truth from God. Often these new truths are then used in ways that are violent to the hearts and souls of the innocent (and even not-so innocent). These people use the power of media, guilt, society, anything at all to crush the hearts of the people of God. We too can be guilty of using God in this same way. God’s ways are the ways of peace. God’s ways are the ways that sooth and heal.

    1) Has some “religious” person ever said something to you that was hurtful? How did that make you feel toward the religious they claimed to follow?

    2) Often (and rightly) people are told that if they are abandoning religion because of people, then they are looking at the people not God. What does that mean, then, when we also say, “we may be the only Jesus they every see?”

    3/FD) Being a peace-lover or peace-maker does not mean being a pushover. How does one make peace without violence?

  • The Nudging

    Moses is in need of help. He can’t do it all. What’s odd is that it would seem that Moses didn’t maintain the lesson learned from his father-in-law (see Exodus 18). It’s not entirely the same. In Exodus 18, it was the “priestly” judges who were selected. This is more along the lines of a professional judiciary, such as we have from local, to district, to appellate, to supreme judiciaries. We have something different here. What has occurred is the selection of senior spiritual leaders. They are family leaders, too, but it is the application of the Holy Spirit that makes this important. There are a couple of story-lines occurring here, and that can lead to some confusion. It is often assumed (and has often been taught) that Eldad and Medad remained in camp because they were disgruntled, putting them with the grumbling people. The text does not make that clear. It is our assumption. We do know that Eldad and Medad were selected by Moses (so, much less likely to be among the disgruntled). What if they just hadn’t made it, yet? Or, what if they did not feel worthy or were scared? Both reasonable based upon experience God’s miracles. They had been chosen…and the Holy Spirit fell on them anyways.‌

    Joshua was offended on Moses’ behalf, but Moses noted that it is God’s spirit, not his. Many, many years later, Jesus has a similar experience with his disciples. Within in the context of arguing which disciple was greater than the other, and Jesus shutting that conversation down well, John ups the game reporting that a man who was not among the disciples are successfully driving out demons. John then states that they (in other words, “I wasn’t the only one, Jesus.”) tried to stop the man, but Jesus stopped even that. The disciples were “offended” by the man driving out demons, but were they upset on Jesus’ behalf or their own. Jesus’ response would indicate that this was about them, not him.‌

    Often we can become overly concerned with the “right” way of doing things. With the Holy Spirit, the right way can often not be our way. This is not to say the God is a god of chaos. God makes and creates order. However, our concept of order and “right” can be at odds with God at times. Joshua and John (yes, with some pride in there) assumed they were doing the right thing by saying “this is wrong.” Yet, God did it, so it wasn’t wrong. It just didn’t fit their idea. Philip may have learned a lesson by the point of this story in Acts. The gift of the Holy Spirit didn’t hurt either. Philip obeyed and went to the “desert” road for a divine appointment. Nudged further, he approached an important chariot. There is a lot in this story that is missing, but the essentials are there. Philip in obedience approached a chariot that would have been awkward for him normally to approach. Through obedience to the Holy Spirit, Philip then leads the Ethiopian to Christ. After the Ethiopian’s baptism something strange happens, the Holy Spirit “carries” (in Greek, it’s more of snatch) Philip away. The Ethiopian goes on his way rejoicing. The way the journey from Jerusalem to Gaza is written, it sounds immediate, but it was actually quite a journey by foot. We don’t get that from Luke’s words, we just have to know geography. This is important as the way Luke writes this gives us an idea that Philip teleported from Gaza to Azotus (a.k.a., Ashdod). While it is quite possible for God to do such, a better way to think of this is that Philip did what was needed and did not stay there rejoicing in the victory. He continued on the mission.‌

    Far too often we get comfortable with the success and want to “stay” there in the happy time. The Holy Spirit is always calling us on to the next thing. The next thing may not be immediate (and often isn’t). Sitting with our victories and successes, though, makes us stagnant. The same can be said of sticking to the old known formula. It worked for its time. The Holy Spirit may have stamped “expired” on it. We need to be ready for the Holy Spirit is doing.‌

    • 1) In the last week, how have you seen the Holy Spirit move in your life? How about the lives of others?‌
    • 2) What is the Holy Spirit nudging you to do? Who is the Holy Spirit nudging you to speak to?
    • 3) Often times we may think the Holy Spirit is nudging us to talk to someone so that they can be “fixed”. This isn’t always the case. When have you had a Holy Spirit encounter where you were the one that learned rather than being the one who taught?‌
    • FD) Have you ever said something to defend the efforts of others? Why did you do that?

  • Seeking Voices

    Psalm 57, Galatians 4:1–11, Luke 7:20-30

    Paul words to the Galatians are a warning and yet imbued with hope and grace. Paul recalls for them that they were slaves to statues, sacrifices, and temples that did not give them life. In fact, these things took life. When we are talking about life here, we’re not speaking of biological life, but spiritual life. The Galatians were spiritual captives to those that wanted to keep them chained up.

    This spiritual enslavement is both Jewish (to the Mosaic law and to the Rabbinic law put over it) and Gentile (to the pagan and Roman cultures and religions to which they began). Paul’s concern is that they are being called/cajoled/harassed by both insiders and outsiders to return to “their roots,” whether Jewish or Gentile, respectively.

    This is why the concept of slave and heir are important here. A way to think of it is that their souls have been enlightened by the Holy Spirit. They are now children of God. However, in similarity to those enslaved by the “old” ways, they aren’t quite free yet. They have a choice to make. They can choose to be free, fully accepting the inheritance of God, or they can choose the comfortable old way, where they are not free. They are free to choose, but only one path leads to true freedom.

    By and large, the rituals of both the pagan and Jewish traditions were to satisfy the rules and to make things okay. On the other hand, Christianity has many traditions and rituals. All of them are (supposed to be) a response to what was already completed by Jesus Christ. However, even the Christian church can sometimes forget that it is free of those requirements. How easy it is to follow the old ways!

    In the time of Jesus, we cannot forget that Jesus wasn’t the only wandering teacher. He also wasn’t the only person called a prophet. The sad truth is that there are always those who set themselves up as prophets, and many people would follow them. These followers were seeking the release of what was holding them down, though many could not put it into words. We even still see this today.

    The interplay between Jesus and John is significant, as John is testing and validating Jesus’ prophetic call, and Jesus is affirming John’s prophetic call. This ties them together as far as many of the people are concerned. Yet, the trap of having a prophetic voice to follow is that people will often find themselves always following the latest and greatest prophetic voice. The church is no different.

    Often pastor, elders, and leaders do the same. It is human nature to want to be near the successful. The successful, though, are often as trapped (if not more so) than “normal” people.

    When Jesus and John validate each other’s calling, there is a sense of mutual submission. They are looking to the other for validation and confirmation. This is unusual when it comes to those who put themselves up as prophetic voices, for they then consider their voice the only one to be listened to.

    • 1) When you seek voices to speak into your life, do you test them? If so, how? If not, why not?
    • 2) Thinking of the grisly deaths of Jesus and John, why would anyone set themselves up to be a prophet?
    • 3) Where do you see voices in our modern context trying to be prophetic influencers? What seems to be the primary motivation?
    • FD) What does it mean to have someone speak into your life?

  • Salvation of Becoming

    Psalm 2; Isaiah 2:1-4; Isaiah 56:1-8; Luke 2:41-52

    Many people have taught and believed that once a person prays the Sinner’s Prayer that they are safe from Hell. The most famous one was used by Billy Graham to lead people to Christ. It is:

    Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In Your Name.

    Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru) has a slightly different version, which is:

    Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.

    And there are plenty more. While Billy Graham led people to Christ through this prayer, something is missing. The Cru version both simplifies and expands on the famous Billy Graham version. Do you see the biggest difference? Look to the end. The Billy Graham version goes, “…I want to…” The Cru version says, “…Take control…Make me…” Billy Graham firmly believed that relationship with Jesus was not, “say the prayer, and you are done.” Yet, many Christians, using Billy Graham’s prayer, believed exactly that. Many responded (related) to Jesus and lived (or live) a life of daily transformation. Others, sadly, said the prayer, did not change (nor submit to being changed), went on the way they already lived, but assumed they were saved.

    The Cru version is better in that there is an identification that God will be doing the work, and the person will be doing the submission/inviting/surrendering. The Cru version gets closer to the heart of the matter. Salvation isn’t just a series of words, it is a relationship with Jesus Christ.

    In Psalm 2 we read, “You are my son; today I have become your Father.” This a relational transformation. This is the next step of salvation. Both passages of Isaiah consist of relational transformation, you were this, you are now this. Relational transformation is not new to Christ. Through the prophets, God was saying it constantly. It is not the rules, it is the living.

    This past Sunday, we heard about Jesus having difficulties of being a 12-year old boy, and doing things as a 12-year old boy would do. Part of the teaching was how after the event of being lost (okay, left behind) and found (at the Temple), Jesus was obedient, and increased in wisdom and stature. This too is relational transformation. There is a tidbit that wasn’t discussed, as it would have distracted from the message: the question of Jesus’ response.

    There are 2 common translations of Jesus’ words, “…being about my Father’s business…,” and “…be in my Father’s house…” There is a continuity in Jesus’ words, and that is the relationship to God the Father. While we might take it for granted (especially, since it’s Jesus), in the context of the day, Jesus was connecting his identity (and his inheritance) to God the Father, not Joseph his father. Culturally, this is similar to saying, “you’re dead to me,” to Joseph. While this, of course, wasn’t Jesus’ intent, we can take a lesson from it.

    When we pray the sinner’s prayer, make the commitment to allow ourselves to be transformed, and choose to be in relationship with God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), we are telling the death, the powers of darkness, the world, and our sin, “you are dead to me.” We then take on the mantle of a child of God.

    1. If Jesus is the Savior, the Lord, why is the temptation so strong to just “get it done” with a prayer? How should the knowledge of that temptation inform your life with Jesus?
    2. Regarding your spiritual life (church, life groups, devotional reading, bible reading, prayer), are you tempted to just, “get it done,” so that you can check it off the list?
    3. Why does “get it done” work against a relationship?
    4. [FD] Why do you want a relationship with Jesus? What is a relationship?