April 30, 2009 by Aswain.

Life by the Spirit

Galatians 5:16-26

 ¹⁶So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. ¹⁷For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. ¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

 ¹⁹The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. ²⁵Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Questions:

Week 1

1.      What is the Spirit there for?

2.      Does the Spirit help us in our everyday lives? How?

3.      How does the Spirit influence our actions?

4.      What does living by the Spirit look like?

5.      How are we filled with the Spirit?

Week 2

1.      How do we keep away from the acts of sinful nature?

2.      What does it mean “those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God”?

3.      How can you keep yourself pure from these things when it’s all around us?

4.      Which sinful things do you suffer from that keep you from being close to God?

5.      What can you do to remove any barriers that hinder you from having the closest possible relationship with our Father?

Week 3

1.      What is love and how does it look in our lives?

2.      How do we let joy flow through us and be apparent in our lives?

3.      In what ways does God let us experience His peace? How does it change our perspective on things?

4.      How is patience important when waiting on something or even God?

5.      If we see and God reveals His kindness and goodness to us, then how does affect our attitude and behavior?

6.      Instead of reflecting on a question, spend a few moments thinking about how amazing God’s faithfulness is. We mess up time after time again and sin over and over and yet He always welcomes us back to Himself with open arms.

7.      When we get mad, frustrated or just in everyday situations, how can we show gentleness and self-control through our lives?

Week 4

1.      When we are filled with God’s Spirit, how do the fruits of the spirit flow out of us?

2.      So if the fruits of the Spirit are the result of being filled with the Spirit, then what does that look like in our everyday lives?

3.      How do these fruits change our worldview to be more like the Lord’s (biblical worldview)?

4.      How does your life be more Christ-like when you have these obvious fruits?

5.      What does quiet faith mean?

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April 30, 2009 by hjmcduffee.

One of my favorite missionaries is Gladys Alward. Let me tell you her story:

At age 26, she set off, determined to preach the gospel in China. With nothing in her hands but her Bible, her tickets, her passport, and two pounds ninepence, she got on a train by the Trans-Siberian Railway, dispite the fact that China and the Soviet union were engaged in an undeclared war. By train, then boat, then train again, then bus, then mule, she arrived at China. After reaching Yangchen, China, she began fulfilling her dream - preaching the gospel.

 During her second year in Yangchen, Gladys was summoned by the Mandarin. A riot had broken out in the men’s prison. She arrived and found that the convicts were rampaging in the prison courtyard, and several of them had been killed. The soldiers were afraid to intervene. The warden of the prison said to Gladys, “Go into the yard and stop the rioting.” She said, “How can I do that?” The warden said, “You have been preaching that those who trust in Christ have nothing to fear.” She walked into the courtyard and shouted: “Quiet! I cannot hear when everyone is shouting at once. Choose one or two spokesmen, and let me talk with them.” The men quieted down and chose a spokesman. Gladys talked with him, and then came out and told the warden: “You have these men cooped up in crowded conditions with absolutely nothing to do. No wonder they are so edgy that a small dispute sets off a riot. You must give them work. Also, I am told that you do not supply food for them, so that they have only what their relatives send them. No wonder they fight over food. We will set up looms so that they can weave cloth and earn enough money to buy their own food.” This was done. There was no money for sweeping reforms, but a few friends of the warden donated old looms, and a grindstone so that the men could work grinding grain. The people began to call Gladys Aylward “Ai-weh-deh,” which means “Virtuous One.” It was her name from then on.

Soon after this experience, she saw a woman by the road with a child who was covered in sores, and was obviously sufforing from malnutrition. She found out the the woman had kidnapped the small girl to help her beg on the streets. Gladys offered to buy the girl for a ninepence, and from then on “Ninepence” was her child. Soon after, she found a boy dying of starvation that soon became her second child. Her family began to grow - as did the love. During her time at China, she became the official “Foot Inspector”. In China, the women would bind their feet when they were babies making them fold over and grow very small. This was considered “beautiful” however inconvenient it was for the girl having to hobble around all of her life. Soon, this began to change, as the people realized how inconvenient it was, and it was Gladys’ job to go around and unwind the children’s feet, massaging it to get the circulation going again. The reason that she was elected was because she was the only woman in China that had normal feet, and it was considered insulting for a man to touch women’s feet.

In the Spring of 1938, Japanese planes bombed the city. Gladys demonstrated incredible bravery by helping all of the children to a safe place, far away from the bombing. After years of serving in China, Gladys returned back home. She later died in 1970.

I think Gladys’ story demonstrates courage, bravery, and total trust in God. How would you feel about going halfway across the world to mission for God with only a pocket Bible, and a bit of money? How would you feel about becoming the “foot inspector” or handling the violent men in the prison? Can you be courageous in order to witness for God? You don’t have to travel around the world to do it. Start in your own school. Invite a friend to church. Through him…you will have courage.

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April 30, 2009 by hjmcduffee.

In The Shadow

I have a really good friend that has a problem. Being in a family with six kids, and her being the fifth, she doesn’t get a lot of attention. Not only that, she’s a twin! And it so happens that her twin is very outgoing – everybody’s best friend. Everyone always says, “Oh, you’re Katie’s twin! Yeah, she’s awesome! You are so lucky!”

She always feels like she’s in the shadow of somebody else. Nobody – including her own family - knows her for who she really is, because nobody takes the time to really look. Everyone knows her as such-and-such’s younger or older sister.

Because she doesn’t get a lot of attention, she’s beginning to think that she doesn’t deserve any attention – that she isn’t special. She tells me that she’s not a unique person because anything that she can do well, one of her siblings can do it better, or however she looks, one of her other siblings will always look better. She has a very low self esteem. And she doesn’t see how God – or anybody – can love her as much as they can love her siblings. Please help!

-In the Shadow

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