April 30, 2009 by Aswain.

 “No way! Who would have guessed?”

“Yeah! I heard it from Jamie, so it must be true!”  I replied, proud I wasn’t spreading old news. The bell interrupted my thoughts and I quickly hurried down the hall to my class. As I walked, something made me remember the verse I saw as I was doing my devotional that morning. I sighed and closed my eyes, realizing I just did exactly what it warned me against doing. Read the rest of this entry »

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April 30, 2009 by Aswain.

Psalm 46:1-5

 ¹ God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. ² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,  ³ though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. ⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. ⁵ God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.

The Lord is your Father. He loves you enough that He would send His only perfect son to die for you. He is there for you. He will always be there. He is our rock and we can always depend and lean on Him. Don’t be afraid to trust Him. It says in here, “God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her…” This is so amazing to think that God is within us, and even if we stumble, He will always be there to catch us!

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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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