Month: October 2016

Revive Me #44–Think Souls

Revive Me, Week 44–A Year of Growing Stronger in the Lord

Think Souls

“Who is God putting in front of you?”  This question was asked by Pam Randall.  She is a soul-winner so when she talks about how to reach others, I want to listen.  She is always involved in a Bible study and usually multiple studies.  She cares about people and wants them to know the Savior.  One time she even struck up a conversation with a stranger in Costco.  That stranger is now our sister in Christ!  How does she do it?  Here are a few of her tips:

  • You can’t wait until you’re good enough.  You just start.
  • Have a plan for soul-winning.  Then you can be ready at any time.  Pam uses the Open Bible Study method.
  • Attach Scriptures to emails, payroll checks, or any other correspondence.
  • Remember you can study anywhere.
  • Be a big respecter of their time and they will invite you back.
  • If you are asked a question you can’t answer, never try to guess it.  Write it down and tell them you’ll get back with them.
  • Send written thank-you notes in the mail.  There’s power in that.
  • Take failure or rejection.  If Christ and the apostles were rejected, why shouldn’t we be?
  • Be slow to be offended.  Try never to offend.
  • Never say, “I think,” or “I believe.”  Let the Word speak.
  • Never put down other religions.
  • Do the Open Bible Study with your children and grandchildren.  Don’t just assume they know it.
  • Go to assisted living homes and show the “Searching for Truth” DVD.
  • Remember that when God sees us trying, He will help us (Ex. 4:11,12).

Pam treats the opportunity to share the Good News as an honor.  She said, “Isn’t this a wonderful thing that we get to do?”  Indeed it is!

Suggestions for the Week:

  1.  Create your soul-winning action plan.  Be prepared for open doors.
  2.  This week ask someone, “Would you like to study the Bible with me?”
  3.  Think souls.  See people as you go about your day.  Smile, interact.

Read it.  Memorize it.  Live it.

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Image credit: Michael Hite

 

Revive Me #43–Be On The Alert

Revive Me, Week 43–A Year of Growing Stronger in the Lord

Be On The Alert

We can’t finish a series on growing stronger in the Lord without focusing on the one who wants to pull us away from the Lord.  Recently a Christian gentleman came back to God after years of worldly living.  In genuine humility, he shared an interesting perspective.  He said, “I try to be very aware of the devil’s attempts to pull me back.  For instance, when a job advancement opportunity comes along, instead of assuming that God must be blessing me, now I consider it carefully.   Could it be Satan at work?  Would the new job and responsibilities take up more of my time, keeping me from making visits and serving God?”  This tender-hearted brother wants to make sure he stays strong in the fold.  He has been the prodigal and never wants to go back.

“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

(1 Peter 5:8)

“Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.”

(1 Cor. 16:13)

“Be on the alert” means to be watchful and stay awake.  Keep your eyes open.  The Bible goes on to show us why that’s necessary:

  • Satan wants to enter the heart of the individual- John 13:2; Acts 5:3
  • He tries to take advantage of us- 2 Cor. 2:11
  • He tempts married couples- 1 Cor. 7:5
  • He tries to hinder the work of the saints- 1 Thess. 2:18
  • He’s the tempter who deceives the whole world- Matt. 4:3; Rev. 12:9

Paul said he wasn’t “ignorant of his schemes” (2 Cor. 2:11) and we shouldn’t be, either.

Suggestions for the week:

  1.  The world portrays the devil as a cartoonish joke.  Spend time looking up verses that show Satan’s activities.  Be re-convinced that our adversary is no laughing matter.
  2. Look up and write down all the names the Bible uses for the devil.
  3. What does Eph. 6:10-20 teach you about our enemy?  How can we protect yourself against him?
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Revive Me #42–Lift Your Eyes

Revive Me, Week 42–A Year of Growing Stronger in the Lord

Lift Your Eyes

I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.

He will not allow your foot to be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.

The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.

(Psalm 121)

This psalm has been a favorite of mine for as long as I can remember.  It’s a beautiful reminder of God’s care.  When you’re hurting, lift your eyes to the One who wants to help you.  When you’re afraid of what lies ahead, remember your Protector.

How easy it is to feel alone!  How quickly I become overwhelmed.  “I will lift up my eyes.”  God is there.  He is helping, keeping, shading, and preserving ME.  The God of heaven and earth watches over ME.

“We have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You” (2 Chron. 20:12).

Sometimes I need a reminder to lift my eyes.

Suggestions for the Week:

  1.  Memorize Psalm 121.
  2.  Read Psalm 123:1 and Isa. 40:26.
  3.  Think of examples of those in the Bible who looked up in their distress.

Read it.  Memorize it.  Live it.

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Revive Me #41–Know the Lord

Revive Me, Week 41–A Year of Growing Stronger in the Lord

Know the Lord

Jesus said the “great and foremost commandment” is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37).  If we love the Lord, we will obey His commandments (John 14:15) and our actions will be saturated by that love (1 John 3:18).  But how can we love Him if we don’t know Him?  How can our children love Him if they don’t know Him?

To know the Lord, spend time in the gospel of John.  John shows us who Jesus is:

  • He is the Word (read 1:1)
  • He is the Life (read 1:3,4)
  • He is the Light (read 1:6-9)

“He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.  He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (1:10).  To know Christ, then, is to receive Him.

  1.  To know the Lord, receive Him as the Word (12:48-50).

“He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.  For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.  I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”

2.  To know the Lord, receive Him as the Life (11:25,26).

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?'”

3.  To know the Lord, receive Him as the Light (8:12).

“Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

Spend time in John this week and get reacquainted with your Lord.  Get to know Him as:

  • the Miracle Worker, when He turned the water to wine (ch. 2)
  • the Healer, when He cured the nobleman’s son, the paralytic, and the blind man (ch. 4,5,9)
  • the Provider, when He fed the 5,000 (ch. 6)
  • the Bread of Life (6:36) and the Living Water (7:37,38)
  • the Supreme Being, when He walked on water and stopped the wind (ch. 6)
  • the Compassionate One, when He wept for those He loved (ch. 11)
  • the Conqueror of Death, when He raised Lazarus and Himself from the grave (ch. 11,20)
  • the Humble Servant, when He washed His disciples feet (ch. 13)
  • the Interceder, when He prayed to the Father on our behalf (ch. 17)
  • the Sacrificial Lamb, when He gave His life for all mankind (ch. 19)

To know Him is to love Him!

Suggestions for the Week:

  1.  Read through the gospel of John this week.
  2.  List each of the descriptions of Jesus above (Miracle Worker, Healer, etc.) and write down why that should grow your love for Him and how that knowledge impacts you personally.
  3.  Focus on making sure your children/ grandchildren know the Lord.  Share those amazing accounts with them this week in your devotional times.
  4.  So many around us have never met the Lord.  Introduce a neighbor, friend, or coworker to Jesus this week by sharing something you read in John.
  5.  Choose one verse in John to memorize this week.

Read it.  Memorize it.  Live it.

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Revive Me #40–Take the 5 Star Challenge

Revive Me, Week 40– A Year of Growing Stronger in the Lord

Take the 5-Star Challenge

The challenge comes from a quote and may change your life.  It’s simple yet powerful.  You can do it by yourself.  You can do it with your family.  You can do it with your ladies’ Bible class.  You can create your own special team to do it with.

It will grow you.  It will make an impact on those around you.  If you want to make a difference in the world, this challenge is how you can.

Here it is:

“God’s Word…read it through, write it down, pray it in, work it out, pass it on.”

(Smith Wigglesworth)

See how simple?  And yet we know the Word is powerful and penetrating (Heb. 4:12).  It’s so powerful it can keep young people on the path of purity (Psalm 119:9).  It’s profitable (2 Tim. 3:16).  It blesses those who hear and obey it (Lk. 11:28).  It can make a difference in this dark world because the unfolding of it gives light (Psalm 119:130).  It saves (James 1:21).

Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

Daniel 12:3

Suggestions for the Week (how the challenge will work):

  1.   Ask others to take this challenge with you.  Decide if you all want to do the same texts or each choose your own.
  2. Option A)
  • Monday- Read it
  • Tuesday- Write it
  • Wednesday- Pray it
  • Thursday- Work it
  • Friday- Pass it.

Option B)

  • Monday-Friday- Do all 5 each day

3.   Continue it at least until the end of the year (12 weeks).  Discuss with your team on Jan. 1st if/ how it made an impact.  Compare notes.

4.    Suggested text:  Psalm 119

           Psalm 119 has 176 verses.  This equals 15 verses a week for the next 12 weeks.  That is     3 verses a day (Monday through Friday).  This passage covers multiple ways in which the Word of God can change our lives and the lives of those around us.

Read it.  Memorize it.  Live it.

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