______________ BIBLE STUDY (SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 2012)_________
Day Twenty-Six – W.O.R.S.H.I.P (When Open & Receptive to the Spirit, Healing/Help Is Provided)
· Key Phrases
o “You and I were made to worship God.”
o “You cannot come into the presence of God without experiencing change.”
o “Worship is taking the spotlight off of you and acknowledging who God is. God
is your Creator, and even his name is Holy.”
o “To worship God in spirit and in truth means to focus on Jesus, sacrifice all
thoughts that are not like his, and submit to the Spirit.”
· Key Scripture
o John 4:24
§ King James Version (KJV)
“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth’
§ Amplified Bible (AMP)
“God is a Spirit (a spiritual Being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (reality)”
§ The Message (MSG)
“Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.”
§ New Living Translation (NLT)
“For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth”
· Key Words
o Worship
§ To honor or reverence as a divine being or supernatural power
§ To regard with great or extravagant respect, honor or devotion. To adore or glorify
o Spirit
§ A supernatural being. The Holy Spirit
o Truth
§ Accuracy in details or exactness and unchanging.
DISCUSSION: Worshiping God in spirit and in truth requires us to shed our layers of “stuff” and allow God and ourselves to see the core of who we are. We sometimes hide from ourselves because we know that the woman that we see in the mirror doesn’t always reflect goodness!
· How often do you allow yourself to go to the high place in your own spirit and become truthful in your worship to God?
Day Twenty-Seven – A.W.E.S.O.M.E. (As We Experience Spirit, Our Minds Expand)
· Key Phrases
o “Spirit is what God breathed into the man.”
o “Although the Spirit of God is within those of us who have accepted Christ, many Christians do not experience God’s presence in their lives.”
o “When you meditate, focusing on God, you are going to some of the highest heights that you rise to.”
o Delighting in the Lord helps you to see possibilities that are impossible to comprehend in your carnal mind.”
· Key Scripture
o Psalm 37:4
§ King James Version (KJV)
“Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”
§ Amplified Bible (AMP)
“Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.”
§ The Message (MSG)
"Keep company with God, get in on the best.”
§ New Living Translation (NLT)
“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.
· Key Words
o Delight or Luxuriate – To grow with vigor and in great abundance.
o Believe – To have a firm religious faith. To accept something as true, genuine or real.
· DISCUSSION: We desire so many “things” in life and we start to think that more is best and success, however in God’s thinking when we focus on Him less becomes more and He becomes our success because our desires become those things that are from His heart.
What are the desires of your heart and from where do they generate, from God’s Word or from the world? Having less doesn’t mean not having God’s best, it just means that we build our store house in heaven and not in the accumulation of things or stuff on earth.
Day Twenty-Eight – S.E.C.R.E.T. (Seek an Ever Closer Relationship; Enlightening Truths may Follow)
· Key Phrases
o “Not everyone has an interest in a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.”
o “To receive illumination, you must love Christ and have a personal relationship with Him.”
o …the closer you get in relationship with God, the more God will reveal things to you….Success in the kingdom is based on relationship.”
· Key Scripture
o Mark 4:11
§ King James Version (KJV)
“And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables”
§ Amplified Bible (AMP)
“And He said to them, To you has been entrusted the mystery of the kingdom of God [that is, the secret counsels of God which are hidden from the ungodly]; but for those outside [of our circle] everything becomes a parable”
§ The Message (MSG)
"You've been given insight into God's kingdom—you know how it works. But to those who can't see it yet, everything comes in stories, creating readiness, nudging them toward receptive insight.”
§ New Living Translation (NLT)
“He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secret of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables for everything I say to outsiders”
· Key Words
o Enlightenment – To furnish knowledge to or to instruct.
o Parable – Usually a short fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or religious principle
o Illumination – Spiritual or intellectual clarification
DISCUSSION: Whenever we decide to have a close relationship with someone, we normally have to give up something; the amount of time with people that we used to spend time with or sacrificing in some other area(s) in our lives to achieve the closeness. Developing a close relationship takes time and sacrifice.
What will it truly cost you to develop that closeness to God where He is revealing to you those secret things that are not revealed to everyone? In your heart, at your core, your soul, do you really want that level of closeness to God or do you want to maintain what we call a “healthy” distance? Know Him well enough to be called one of His but not close enough to be in His “inner circle”?
Day Twenty-Nine – L.I.M.I.T. (Life is Measured in Thought)
· Key Phrase
o “The life you live, whether good or bad, you created. “
o “Many of us have limited or shut off our blessings through our limited thinking….Even though we believe in God, we cannot pray beyond our faith.”
o “ You will think a thought, then speak it, and God will lead you through the manifestation.”
o “Whatever you think, that’s what is going to expand.”
· Key Scripture
o Proverbs 4:23
§ King James Version (KJV)
“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
§ Amplified Bible (AMP)
“Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.”
§ The Message (MSG)
"Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that's where life starts
§ New Living Translation (NLT)
“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”
· Key Words
o Limit – Something that bounds, restrains or confines.
o Power – The ability to act or produce an effect.
DISCUSSION: Speak only what God speaks!!! What thoughts are you thinking that produces what you are speaking into your life that is creating less than God plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future; your life of more abundance? (Jeremiah 29:11(NIV) & John 10:10(KJV))
Jesus said, "If? There are no 'ifs' among believers. Anything can happen."
Mark 9:23 (The Message)
Day Thirty – C.L.O.U.T. (Christ Loves Our Unlimited Thinking)
· Key Phrases
o “The Creator called forth things that were not as though they were, then manifested them.”
o “My belief is the result of knowing God, not myself.”
o “As you operate in your gift under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and as you do the assignment that God has ordained you to complete, your success will be extraordinary.”
o “You cannot serve a big God and think small.”
· Key Scripture
o Romans 4:17
§ King James Version (KJV)
“God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.”
§ Amplified Bible (AMP)
“God in Whom he believed, Who gives life to the dead and speaks of the nonexistent things that [He has foretold and promised] as if they [already] existed”
§ The Message (MSG)
“trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing.”
§ New Living Translation (NLT)
“God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.”
· Key Words
o Clout – pull or influence
o Confess – to declare faith in; to profess or declare in words
o Reveal –to make something known through Divine inspiration; to make something secret or hidden publicly or generally known
DISCUSSION: The scripture says we will do what Jesus did and even greater works so that the Father will be glorified through the Son (John 14:12-13). Are we really doing what Jesus did and are our works greater, lesser or not even equal to what He did?
“Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.”
Matthew 25:37-40 (The Message)
DISCUSSION ITEMS
· Outreach Activities
· Revisit meeting day (Saturday vs. ????)
· 2012 Annual G.R.A.C.E. Weekend Retreat
· PRAISE REPORTS
· Prayer requests
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“You yourselves are all the endorsement we need. Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it—not with ink, but with God's living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives—and we publish it.” 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 (The Message)