Day 27

One of my favorite movies growing up was Aladdin. I'm sure you know it but in case you don't, a street rat named Aladdin, despised by all, found a magic lamp with a genie inside. The genie snapped his fingers and all of a sudden, Aladdin's life was a lot better off (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd07uvkTeKo).

A lot of people think of the Living God as a genie. Sad but true. They make a request (or sometimes a demand) and expect the Living God to do their bidding. But there are a lot of times when the Living God doesn't do what we want him to or he waits. We act like terrorists saying, "God, you'd better do this or else I won't believe in you." But those moments are where our faith can really be tested- not when everything is going our way but rather when it seems like nothing is going our way- will we still cling to the fact that the Living God is good, all the time even if our circumstances are not or will we throw the Living God under the bus so to speak...

Spend 5 minutes thanking the Living God for some of his characteristics (Creator, Savior, loving, merciful, just, poweful, etc.). Ask him to soften your heart and to shape you through His Word...

Check out Psalm 27; Psalm 69; Psalm 107; Exodus 2:23-25

1. Have you ever experienced a time when you felt like the Living God was ignoring you or your suffering or that He was far away and couldn't see what was going on? What was happening that caused you to feel that way?
2. What are some common things you see in all 4 of today's passages? What was happening in all of them? What was the response of the people?
3. Ultimately, what was the Living God's response (especially in the case of the Exodus passage, check out Exodus 19:3-6)?
4. How can these passages help us in tough times, especially when we're doubting the Living God?
5. Is there something in your life right now that is tough for you to face? How are you responding to the Living God? How should you and could you respond according to these passages?
6. Check out Acts 16:19-34. What had happened to Paul and Silas? What was their response to their situation (v. 25)? What happened next? How did the jailer respond (or how did the Living God use Paul and Silas' response for his purposes)?
7. Read Romans 8:28. How does this play into this study on being patient with the Living God and what is happening? What does the Living God do with everything that happens to us, both the good and the bad?

Take some time and memorize 1 Thessalonians 5:18- "give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus". Remember it next time you're feeling down because of what's happening in life. Take some time to give thanks to the Living God.

Peace.

Richard

Day 26

In the last entry, we read a passage that alluded to cleaning the outside of a cup and leaving the inside dirty. As we discussed, it's easy to focus on outward behavior and most religions emphasize outwards actions. But Jesus wants to get to the heart of the matter. As CS Lewis puts it in Mere Christianity:

The Christian way is different: harder, and easier. Christ says ‘Give me all. I
don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your
work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it.
No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a
branch there, I want to have the whole tree down…Hand over the natural self, all
the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked—the
whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you
Myself: my own will shall become yours

It's an inward heart thing that then flows out into everything else that we do. So let's look at that transformation a little closer today.

Ask the Living God to make your heart new. Spend 2 minutes just talking with the Living God and sharing what's going on in life. Then spend 5 minutes just listening to him.

Check out Hebrews 4:12; Proverbs 4:20-27; Matthew 12:33-37; 1 Peter 1:22-23; Philippians 4:4-9; Psalm 119 (yep the whole thing).

1. What is the word of God compared to? What does it do? This passage refers to both the written Scriptures and to Jesus (often referred to as the Word). How does reading Scripture help us encounter Christ and be transformed according to this? How deep inside us does it go?
2. What advice are we given in Proverbs 4:20-27? What are we instructed to do "above all else"?
3. How does Jesus echo that advice in Matthew 12:33-37? How can we be made into good trees? How can we have our hearts transformed?
4. How does 1 Peter 1:22-23 explain the way that we are purified?
5. What protects and guards our hearts and minds?
6. How can we gain the "peace of God" according to Philippians 4:4-9 (list at least 3, there are at least 4)?
7. Congratulations on making it through Psalm 199- the longest chapter in the English Bible. What is the psalmist's attitude towards the Scriptures, or the Law?
8. What does the psalmist recommend in verse 9-16 to keep ourselves pure and be purified?
9. Count how many times the Psalmist mentions the Law/Scriptures/Precepts of the Lord. Do you think it/they were a big deal to him?
10. Is Scripture a priority for you? Why or why not? What can you do to make Scripture more of a priority for you?

Take some time to thank the Living God for speaking to us and making us pure. Confess anything that needs confessing and ask Him to show you ways to obey Him today.

Peace

Richard