A Relationship with God

 

1. Restart – Be willing to start fresh in your relationship with Him
2. Reject – Religiosity and old ways of thinking before you became a Christian.
3. Remember – Your first love with Him
4. Rebuild – Your life to revolve around God as much as possible.
5. Recourse – Train yourself again on the basics of being a Christian
6. Retrain – yourself to study, pray, read the word of God,
7. Rededicate – Yourself to serving God
8. Refocus – your efforts and your purpose for your life to Him and His calling and leading for your life.
9. Redirect – Change anything in your life that does not line up with what you want in your life and
10. Replace – Those things with activities and time with God and His word.
11. Remember – Put before your face, scripture and vision for your life, your dreams and goals. Put it before your face and see it daily to remind you why you are here on this Earth.
12. Revision – If you lost sight of your goal and don’t even know what it is yet, get with God, ask Him to reveal to you what He has for you to do in your life.
13. Rebound – If you fall and you will because of the fallen world – fallen nature and natural tendency to lose focus of what is important. Pick yourself up.
14. Repent and proceed with the original plan as if nothing ever happened.
15. Remain – Stay connected with Him as much as possible throughout your day. Say Good morning to Him when you wake up, goodnight to Him when you fall asleep.
16. Repeat – As often as needed – be willing to start over until you have mastered the basics as a matter of habit, and your relationship with Him is as strong as ever.

 

1. Spending Time with God
   1. The most important thing that a real modern day Christian can do is taking a moment or more and spending time with God at any given opportunity. Not religious prayers and repetitious mumblings under our breath, but if people on your job are allowed to take a smoke break, take a fresh air break, take your bible and go read a Psalms together with God, ask for clearer spiritual hearing to hear His voice and promptings throughout your day, to help with problems you face and so forth.
   2. Be it a moment or an hour besides your normal time you should spend with Him in the mornings or the evenings, spend time with God any and every chance you get.
   3. Sent your watch to remind you.
      Be in a place and a part of your relationship with God that you can focus your mind and set a time that you can clearly hear his voice as much as possible throughout your day.
   4. So as a matter of course, I recommend returning to square one with your relationship with God, start from the Foundation and build up again.

 

Lesson 1 – Restart

 

1. Your relationship with God is your business and no one can tell you that it is great or terrible. This class is not about judging you or pointing the finger. Let us look briefly at some of the most wonderful men and women that God recorded in the Bible as being our examples and models of having great relationships with HIM.

1. David – A man after God’s own heart. Murderer, adulterer.
2. Rahab – Helped hide the spies when they came to investigate the city – A prostitute in a city that God has set to be destroyed.
3. Moses – Lead the Jews from Egypt – A murderer and a stutterer.
4. James – A witness to the miracles of Christ, who denied him first chance that came.
5. Job – A man so righteous that in all his generation he was the only one to serve God as he did – A man pushed to the brink of cursing God and blaming Him for everything wrong in his life.

 

2. These men and women in the Bible are normal people, they make mistakes and there it is recorded in black and white forever for all to see… not because God is judging them, but to show us that they are normal, fallible and human. Just like us.

 

3. So while your relationship is your business – it is our business as fellow believers to help, love, fellowship, teach, train, instruct, encourage, and guide one another to a fuller and stronger connection with Him.
4. Proverbs 27:17
   Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

 

4. So how do you restart your relationship with God?
5. Recognize where you are at with your connection to Him and keep in mind your desire of where you want your connection to be.
6. All of us, from the greatest man and woman of God to the least of us, all should desire a stronger relationship with Him.

 

5. In relationship counseling in the worldly sense, therapists often talk about how couples in love that are successful in their relationship – often rehearse and remember and recall how they met, their favorite dates, when the proposal happened, so on and so forth.
6. 1 John 4:19

We love him, because he first loved us.

1. Revelations 2:4 (Paraphrased)

Look how far you have fallen from your first love! Turn back to me again and work as you did at first.

 

 

 

6. In the Christian relationship with God, part of what keeps their relationship strong with God is remembering when they accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, not rehearsing the sinful nature of what brought them there, but the moment they knew they wanted to ask Him into their life and they prayed that prayer.

 

7. Do you remember when you got saved? Do you remember how you felt at that moment you knew that Jesus came into your life? Part of what makes a new Christian excited is that feeling of newness and knowing that somehow their past is swept clean and from that moment on they were forgiven and accepted in the beloved.

 

8. Additionally often times a Christian when they make that step are encouraged to share their testimony with someone else, even just one person, that they gave their life to Jesus. This is part of what keeps a relationship with God fresh, being a witness and sharing what happened to you with others. Perhaps not every single person you meet, every single moment of the day, but on occasion when you feel the time is right, tell someone about that moment when the most important relationship you have ever encountered began. This is how you restart your relationship – realize what an amazing encounter with God you had that day, and be willing to share it with others, and just like that very first prayer that changed your life, realize that God listened to you ask for Salvation, and He gave it to you, freely and willingly through His Son Jesus, even so now God wants to hear from you and spend time with you every single moment that you are willing to give Him and then some.

 

Restart – Walking in the cool of the day in the Garden.

1. Something that I often tell people that completely confuses them is that God wants a relationship with THEM more than they want one with HIM. We were created for fellowship, friendship, and companionship with God. We are made in His image and likeness for that reason. Adam and God walked side by side, talked face to face in the very beginning.
2. Genesis 3:8

And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking In the garden in the cool of the day:

1. Adam and Eve hid from God – Yet God wants to return to that type of relationship with US, to be His friends and family.
2. We are that important to Him.

 

2. I often tell people that as much and as real as I am talking to you face to face with normal conversation and speech right in front of them, God wants to have that kind of relationship with them, only closer, and even more personal.
3. You mean that you can talk to God and He will answer in a real and meaningful way? – That is often the shocked response to that revelation.
4. YES – you can talk to God and He can talk to you.
5. If you do not, or have not yet heard His voice in a personal way, realize that you can, and will, and already have heard His voice.
6. Revelation 3:20

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, andopen the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

2. John 10:27

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

3. Isaiah 30:21

And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

4. Psalm 119:105

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

5. 1 Kings 19:11-13

¹¹ And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:

¹² And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

¹³ And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

6. Psalm 46:10
   Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

 

3. God is not in the wind – God is personal and always speaking to you.
4. 1 Kings 19:11-13

¹¹ And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:

¹² And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

¹³ And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

1. The thunder, the lighting, the fire, the wind, the storm. Job knew God was in none of those… but in the stillness and quietness he finally heard HIS voice.
2. If you want to hear the voice of God, be willing to be quiet and listen to Him, and grow and train yourself to hear His voice, a still, small voice that you will hear in your inner man.

 

4. Spiritual ears vs human ears
5. When someone calls your name, no matter how busy you are or deep in conversation often times you hear it and can tell someone is trying to get your attention. However when it comes to hearing the Voice of God sometimes we rely too much on our natural hearing. While this can be a good thing when learning the Word of God or rehearsing scriptures, or sitting under teaching… you need to know that God is just as willing to speak directly to your heart of hearts as well as the other methods we can hear His voice.
6. Scriptures in our hearts, as well as our heads.
7. Reading His word and gaining answers to questions,

If you don’t put the Word in your brain and your heart it is harder for the Holy Spirit to draw it back out of you for your questions and to later on it is difficult for you to help others.

1 Samuel 3:2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; ³ And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; ⁴ That the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. ⁵ And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. ⁶ And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. ⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. ⁸ And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. ⁹ Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. ¹⁰ And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth. 11 And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.

1. God does math problems.

As a young Christian I have been in the place many times

where I had no choice but to trust God and listen for His

direction… be it a spiritual problem I needed an answer for… or being stuck on an algebra problem on the final exam….

God helped and directed me and lead me to the right answer

 

1. His voice.

The voice of God can be audible… or Internal – in your spirit man._The Still Small Voice inside you will direct you and

guide you far more than your own mind.

A.   Deuteronomy 31:8

⁸ And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

 

5. God calls out your name.

         A. Acts 22:6-8

⁶ And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.

⁷ And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

⁸ And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

 

B._When your friend wants to talk to you… they call out your name. God wants to spend time with you! He will call on you and draw on you just to fellowship and

spend time with you as well as teach and lead you and guideyou.

6. An Open book…

A._If your going to spend time with Him… have a bible with

you at all times, if at all possible, as the Spirit of God may

direct you to a verse and want to show you something in the word.

B._As well as that… you are an open book to God… he can

read your mail… He knows your thoughts… don’t hide

anything from God and your relationship with Him will grow

as a result… He knows your secrets… why pretend you don’t have anything your hiding from Him,_it makes things

awkward and stressed when you talk with Him.

C._When spending time with God… relationship is the key, You spend time with someone you love and know and care

about differently than you do a stranger.

D._If you know God and He knows you… talk with Him like

that… He is a Personal God … not a religious God.

E._Religion in your lifetime is over…

You are here now and in this place of personal time with GodAs a result… as much as possible… push aside your religious notions and realize that as a modern believer we have

access to God in much the same way Adam did… to spend

time with Him in the cool of the day… just walking down the

garden and being together.

Lesson 2

 

1. Reject Religiosity – and old ways of thinking before you became a Christian.

 

1. John 15:15 – Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
2. James 2:22-23 – Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? ²³ And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
3. John 15:13 – Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend
4. God is Your best friend God is here for you in so many ways more than JUST being your God. He is your friend.
5. Yes there is the aspect of being a Servant to Him with your life of being Creator and Creation and all that… push that aside and get to the relationship revelation as much as you can.
6. Religiosity is an easy pattern we all fall into. Fight it by simply remembering that this relationship you have with God is REAL.
7. Religion tends to put God on a pedestal in an unreachable way. He is on a throne in Heaven, but He is also living INSIDE YOU. REALLY!
8. John 16:7 – Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, theComforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
9. John 15:26 – But when theComforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
10. John 14:26 – But theComforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

                  E.  John 14:15-17 – ¹⁶ And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; ¹⁷ Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

1. Word:alloj Pronounce: al’-los Strongs Number: G243 Orig: a primary word; “else,” i.e. different (in many applications):–more, one (another), (an-, some an-)other(-s, -wise). Heb Strong: H259 H312 H317 H428 H2088 H2114 H2373 H3605 H5750 H8478

1) another, other of the same kind.

2. Word:paraklhtoj – Pronounce:par-ak’-lay-tos Strongs Number: G3875 Orig: an intercessor, consoler:–advocate, comforter. Heb Strong:

1) summoned, called to one’s side, esp. called to one’s aid
1a) one who pleads another’s cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant, an advocate
1b) one who pleads another’s cause with one, an intercessor
1b1) of Christ in his exaltation at God’s right hand, pleading with God the Father for the pardon of our sins
1c) in the widest sense, a helper, succourer, aider, assistant
1c1) of the Holy Spirit destined to take the place of Christ with the apostles (after his ascension to the Father), to lead them to a deeper knowledge of the gospel truth, and give them divine strength needed to enable them to undergo trials and persecutions on behalf of the divine kingdom.

 

 

 

3. The Sin Issue
4. The number one issue we face when we go to God about anything at anytime… is sin…. things we have not dealt with and things we should deal with and are putting off… but your not a sinner… Sin has been dealt with.
5. Correction comes in Love.
6. Hebrews 12:6 ⁶ For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7. We have the tendency to keep mindful of sin past present and keep coming to God as if we expect to be corrected every single time. When we look at the words Chasteneth… and Scourgeth – we tend to think He means us, but we forget that He already did that to His own Son on our behalf, and we have already accepted that fact when we accepted Him as Lord and Savior.
   E. God is not out to GET YOU. He has already won you over through Christ, so the big stick that you think or we think is going to come hit us at any second has already been used against us, ON Jesus. Accept the fact that you are righteous before God now and Jesus has made you accepted in the beloved and YOU had nothing to do with it… so YOU also cannot mess that up. YOU can now get on with getting to really Know your Father, your Savior and your Friend that we have in Him.
8. God is not out to condemn us but to correct us because He cares for us.
9. He sent His only Son to Die for us and redeems us from Hell… yet our mind and our heart condemn us at times if we have unresolved issues with God or others in our life…
10. He is not going to bring you all the way to the place you are with Him today and then kick you when your down and hurting…

1. Ephesians 1:5-7 – ⁵ Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶ To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. ⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

2. Isaiah 1:18 – ¹⁸ Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

4. Get talking…
5. When God called out to someone in the Bible… often times it is recorded that they didn’t know it was God to start with. You need to learn what HIS voice sounds like. Then the proper response when He calls you is to talk to Him and let Him talk to you. Yes God I am here what is it you want.
6. If He calls your name… answer Him… If you feel in your spirit that you need to pray… pray… if you feel an unction to pray in the spirit… in tongues… do so.
7. Learn about the different types of prayers to become more effective in your time with God, but most of all realize that ALL prayer is you and God talking back and forth.
8. We will look at Prayer later on in more depth.
9. In getting the conversation started two things happen… Your now setting your focus mentally and spiritually on Him – making it easier for you to pay attention to Him without getting distracted and focus on Him and what He is telling you.
10. You have started a conversation… meaning your looking for a response and He knows your interested in hearing and spending time with Him.
11. A natural example.
12. Kids… they scream and yell and shout and holler all the time… playing and fussing and fighting so much that a parent can know when they want attention from them or they are just making noise for making noise sake.
13. God is ready and able to focus on you the moment you need Him to do so…
14. He knows the sound of one of His children falling down and getting hurt just like a natural parent does… and He is willing to run to you and make it all better.
15. At the same time… the opposite is true… how often as a child did you ignore your parents calling you to come to them… yet you ignored them to spend more time playing or running around the yard with your friends and getting up to no good like trying to set the cat on fire or taking a saw to your bunkbed…
16. When you ignore your parents the first time or the second time… its easier to ignore them the third time… after a while you can get to a place that you don’t even hear them anymore.
17. John 10:27

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

 

5. He is always calling.
6. Romans 10:21

But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

 

1. He desires a relationship and friendship and to spend time with you… MORE than you do.
2. Recognizing religious behavior – replacing it with Relational behavior.
3. Religion says that you are not worthy to speak directly to God.
4. Religion says that you cannot understand God.
5. Religion says you have to be perfect to be able to be saved by God, and work tirelessly in good works to earn His attention.
6. Religion says you must suffer.
7. Religion says you must be sick.
8. Religion says you are being punished,
9. Religion says you must be judged and suffer for what you have done, will do.

 

Isaiah

53 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? ² For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.³ He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. ⁴ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. ⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. ⁸ He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.⁹ And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.¹⁰ Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.¹¹ He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. ¹² Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

 

Lesson 3

Remember your first love.

 

1. He loved us First
   1. John 4:18-19 – There is no fear in Love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love HIM, because HE first Loved us.

 

2. Predestined to be with Him
   1. Eph 1:10-12 That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will: That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ.

 

3. Adopted Back into the family
4. Eph 1:4-6 According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved.

 

 

4. Return to your first love in Christ
   1. Revelations 2:4 (Paraphrased) – Look how far you have fallen from your first love! Turn back to me again and work as you did at first.
   2. God in the Old Testament and in the New talks continually, repeatedly about one theme, come back to me, get things right and come back to me, become my people again and trust me to take care of you all over again.
   3. Rom 10:21 – But to Israel He saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.
   4. God is literally telling us that both to Israel, and to us, He is standing there, waiting, arms open wide, waiting to be able to receive us, embrace us, and be with us once again.

 

5. Reminisce – Look back even as you look forward
   1. It’s a conversation – not a speech take a break from talking every so often and listen for His answers to you. Have a bible ready.
   2. God does not come to us to get lectured to about your condition… your needs your wants… but to spend time with someone He loves and cares about… means also talking about your dreams your hopes and your goals.
6. Your past.
   1. We have a tendency to spend most of our time talking about the problems of the past… this happened to me and they did this to me and I was hurt and this and this and so on… Did God deal with your sins in the past? When did it get dealt with? Before today? Really God dealt with it that long ago?
   2. Do you think it needs to stay there? Yes.
   3. Psalm 103:12 – As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.
   4. Your sins are in the past, your Past is in the Past – Leave them there…
   5. Your present- You have your needs and your wants and your hurts and your pains today… He knows what you have need of before you even ask it…
7. Your future
   1. Don’t’ spend so much time worrying about the future and what ifs and what is going to happen and so on…
   2. He knows… Matt 6:7-8 – But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.
   3. He will help you and lead you there… Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (hope and a future)
   4. Trust Him…
   5. If you cultivate your relationship with God and His Spirit and His Son… You will get to the place where you will be want to be and you will have been guided by Him through some amazing storms and you will walk out the other side and people will stop you and ask you How in the world you managed to get through it all… You can tell them, I was guided through the storms, and brought to my dreams and desires … It was Him, and I got there because of my relationship with Him.

 

8. Remember your relief when you handed over your burdens to Him
   1. Mat 11:29 – Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

 

9. Pray Constantly – always seeking Him.
   1. His voice.
   2. In the noise of today… and the world we live in with Radio and Tv and iPods and everything else going on… SHOUTING for your attention… You need to get to a place where you KNOW His voice over the excitement and energy of today…
      1. Relaxing…
         1. Have you ever been woken up by the Holy Spirit of God early in the morning or in the middle of the night… Why is that?
         2. Your mind finally shuts up… shuts down… and your ears don’t hear anything…
         3. Your spirit has a chance to listen in to God… and hear His voice…
         4. Tells you what to do when you can’t hear His voice… get away for a moment or more… pray, spend time in the Word… rehearse what you know to do… till you get to the point that you can hear his voice…
         5. Get away from the Crowd.
      2. Jesus being our example of the Christian life… got away from the crowd EVERY chance He got… even away from the ones He was training… and spend time with God alone.
      3. SHUT UP
         1. Here is the part we forget to do…
         2. Have you ever had a one sided conversation? You realize that the other person is just not going to shut up and let you talk to them back? We do that to God ALL the time.

• Spend time with Him means we shut our mouths and listen to Him as much as we can and start a normal conversation by waiting for His response to our prayer with Him.

Lesson 4

1. Rebuild – Your life to revolve around God as much as possible.
   1. You spent the majority of your life not serving God.
   2. Realize that you have to focus on your new life that you have in Him and the relationship you now have to learn about it and learn to live it.
   3. Jesus called our lives a vapor… James 4:13-15 ¹³ Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain. ¹⁴ Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. ¹⁵ For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
2. Don’t just date God on the weekends.
   1. Sometimes Christians have a habit of only focusing on God when church is open.
   2. Psalm 122:1 – Iwas glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.
   3. Psalm 84:10 – For aday in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
3. Rebuilding your life around something means that it takes a little more of your time and focus than other things.
   1. College / University – Study, Tests, Work Schedule
   2. Dating or Romantic relationships – Courting.
   3. Spending time with God should at least take up a similar schedule of your time if you want to develop more of a relationship with Him.
   4. Matthew 26:40– And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with meone hour?
4. Persue God as a passion for more of Him
   1. Jeremiah 29:13 – Andye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
   2. Matt 7:7-8 ⁷ Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
5. Determine what you want God to be to you.
   1. A Hobby, something you do in your spare time?
   2. A casual acquaintance
   3. A lifelong pursuit to get to know the one that Made you and Saved you and wants to help you in every area of your life for your betterment.
6. With a strong relationship with God you can –
   1. Ask Where You are Going.
   2. Know where your going.
   3. Go in that direction.
   4. Take steps to correct your course if needed.
   5. Keep an eye on the path your on.
   6. Find someone that is already there and seek leadership and guidance.
   7. Make a plan and take action if you find yourself off your course.
   8. Keep moving and don’t build a house along the way miles off your target.
   9. Arrive at your destination and Keep growing with Him!
7. Psalm 119:104-106 (King James Version)

   104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

   105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

   106 I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.

   Seek Gods wisdom and truth above all else.

   – Gain Vision and Purpose – If you don’t already have that

8. God knows your purpose – Ask Him to lead you and guide you.
9. Habakkuk 2:2
   And theLord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

 

Understand the basics of Prayer –

10. The Prayer of Agreement
    1. In Matthew 18:19, Jesus introduced the prayer of agreement when He said, “‘Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven'” (NKJV).
    2. Right off the bat you can see that for the prayer of agreement to work, the people involved in the prayer have to agree! You cannot know what someone else wants—what someone is believing for—and God cannot answer your prayer for someone else against his or her will. To use the prayer of agreement, you must be sure that the person with whom you are agreeing is in line with what you are asking for.
    3. If someone asks me to pray in agreement with them, I ask, “What specifically do you want me to pray for?” You absolutely must make sure you are in perfect agreement about what your prayer request is before you join with another believer in the prayer of agreement.
11. The Prayer of Faith
12. The prayer of faith, also known as petition prayer, is the prayer that most people think of when they use the term “prayer.” Petition prayer is between you and God. It is you asking God for a particular outcome.
    1. The key verse for the prayer of faith is Mark 11:24, in which Jesus says, “‘Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.'”
    2. The rule to consider here is when you pray—not after you pray, not when you feel something, not when you see something. When you pray (the moment that you pray) you must believe that you receive what you asked for.
    3. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Your faith is substance—it is something real, something tangible. It is evidence of things you cannot see.
    4. Notice that Mark 11:24 does not say when you will actually see the result of your prayer. It does not tell you how long it will take for that prayer result to appear, and this is where many Christians get hung up.
    5. God lives in one eternal now. There is no past or present for Him. But we are temporal beings who live in the context of time.
    6. When you pray in faith, God immediately gives you what you prayed for—in the spirit realm. But in the natural world, due to a number of factors, it may take time for the answer to manifest itself.
    7. God answers prayers, and He will answer your specific prayer in line with His Word, but it is your faith that brings that answer out of the spiritual world and into the physical world. How many times in Scripture does Jesus say to someone, “According to your faith”?
    8. He referred to peoples’ faith constantly, and even though it was His power that healed them, He always credited their faith with being the catalyst. In fact, when Jesus went to His hometown, we are told that “He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matt. 13:58).
    9. Did Jesus suddenly lose His power on that visit to Nazareth? No!
    10. His power never changed. What changed? It was the people’s level of faith mixed with His power.
    11. There is a simple spiritual explanation for this. God will not do something against your will. God cannot violate free will. If you don’t have faith to do something, He won’t arbitrarily override your lack of faith.
13. The Prayer of Consecration and Dedication
    1. In Luke 22:41-42, we see outlined the prayer of consecration and dedication: “And He [Jesus] was withdrawn from them [Peter, James and John] about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.'”
    2. He was praying, in effect, “If there is any other way to do this, let’s do it that way.” But the key for Jesus, and for us, is, “Nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
    3. You pray that God’s will would be done when you don’t know His will or don’t know if an alternative path that appears is equally “correct” or godly. In the absence of direct instructions, the prayer of consecration and dedication says you will allow God to set your direction or make your decisions.
    4. The prayer of consecration and dedication works when you have two (or more) godly alternatives before you, and you are not getting a clear sense at that time about which option God wants you to take. When the direction is unclear—but any of the options appear to be legitimate, righteous options—that is the perfect time to say, “Lord, if it be Your will, I’m going to go with option A.”
    5. Believe me, He will let you know if you are taking the wrong fork in the road.
14. The Prayer of Praise and Worship
    1. In this prayer, you are not asking God to do something for you or to give you something. You are not even asking for direction and dedicating your life to whatever it is God has called you to do. Rather, you just want to praise the Lord, to thank Him for His many blessings and mercy. You want to tell Him how much you love Him.
    2. A good example of this type of prayer appears in Luke 2:20, which describes the reaction of the shepherds who had seen baby Jesus: “Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told them.”
    3. In Luke 18:43, the blind man who was healed was described as “glorifying God.” The verse also says all the people who witnessed the miracle “gave praise to God.” They prayed prayers of thanksgiving.
    4. Look at the way Jesus prayed in John 11:41: “‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me,” referring to His previous prayer regarding Lazarus. In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus told His disciples, “‘When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name'” (Luke 11:2).
    5. Paul wrote to the Philippians: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6, emphasis added). This says that even when we pray the prayer of faith, we should always intersperse worship and praise.
15. The Prayer of Intercession
    1. Intercession means you are interceding—acting in prayer—on behalf of someone else. The person may be incapable of praying for himself. Perhaps he is on drugs or mentally confused by demonic activity. Perhaps the person is so sick he can’t muster the energy to stay awake, let alone pray.
    2. Intercession involves praying for others. It may involve praying in a general way for such things as the church or the government, or offering up more specific prayers based on your knowledge of a person’s need.
    3. In Ephesians 1:15-18, Paul wrote: “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.”
    4. Here Paul makes it plain that he prayed regularly for the church at Ephesus and for the individuals there to receive these blessings. He does not set himself in agreement with anyone, so this seems to be a good example of intercessory prayer.
    5. Likewise, in his greeting to the Philippians, he wrote, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy” (Phil. 1:3-4). The fact that Paul said he made requests for them suggests that this also was an example of intercessory prayer.
16. The Prayer of Binding and Loosing
    19. This prayer is found in Matthew 18:18-19. Jesus says: “‘Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.'”
    20. There are several important nuggets in Jesus’ statements here, the first being that we have authority here on this earth by virtue of our covenant rights through Jesus. The second thing we notice is the direction of the action. Things do not begin in heaven and come to Earth, but rather the action starts here on Earth. Notice that it says, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
    21. Like all things in God’s system, this type of prayer works only in line with God’s Word and His laws. You cannot bind things willy-nilly. Binding a team to lose in the Super Bowl won’t work any more than loosing someone to love you.
    22. You can, however, bind the enemy that is at work in people’s lives or loose angels to work on your behalf in those areas where God has already promised you results. When you pray in this manner, God affirms it in heaven and puts His seal of approval on your prayer. Binding and loosing have to be based on the authority God has granted you in Scripture, not on some desire you have.
    23. God has provided each type of prayer for a specific purpose. Though you may use more than one at any given time, it is important to be clear about which type you are using and why, and to be aware of its limitations. If you follow the examples in the Bible, you’ll be sure to use them properly.

 

17. The Prayer of Praise and Worship
    1. In this prayer, you are not asking God to do something for you or to give you something. You are not even asking for direction and dedicating your life to whatever it is God has called you to do. Rather, you just want to praise the Lord, to thank Him for His many blessings and mercy. You want to tell Him how much you love Him.
    2. A good example of this type of prayer appears in Luke 2:20, which describes the reaction of the shepherds who had seen baby Jesus: “Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told them.”
    3. In Luke 18:43, the blind man who was healed was described as “glorifying God.” The verse also says all the people who witnessed the miracle “gave praise to God.” They prayed prayers of thanksgiving.
    4. Look at the way Jesus prayed in John 11:41: “‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me,” referring to His previous prayer regarding Lazarus. In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus told His disciples, “‘When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name'” (Luke 11:2).
    5. Paul wrote to the Philippians: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6, emphasis added). This says that even when we pray the prayer of faith, we should always intersperse worship and praise.
18. The Prayer of Intercession
    1. Intercession means you are interceding—acting in prayer—on behalf of someone else. The person may be incapable of praying for himself. Perhaps he is on drugs or mentally confused by demonic activity. Perhaps the person is so sick he can’t muster the energy to stay awake, let alone pray.
    2. Intercession involves praying for others. It may involve praying in a general way for such things as the church or the government, or offering up more specific prayers based on your knowledge of a person’s need.
    3. In Ephesians 1:15-18, Paul wrote: “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.”
    4. Here Paul makes it plain that he prayed regularly for the church at Ephesus and for the individuals there to receive these blessings. He does not set himself in agreement with anyone, so this seems to be a good example of intercessory prayer.
    5. Likewise, in his greeting to the Philippians, he wrote, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy” (Phil. 1:3-4). The fact that Paul said he made requests for them suggests that this also was an example of intercessory prayer.
19. The Prayer of Binding and Loosing
    19. This prayer is found in Matthew 18:18-19. Jesus says: “‘Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.'”
    20. There are several important nuggets in Jesus’ statements here, the first being that we have authority here on this earth by virtue of our covenant rights through Jesus. The second thing we notice is the direction of the action. Things do not begin in heaven and come to Earth, but rather the action starts here on Earth. Notice that it says, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
    21. Like all things in God’s system, this type of prayer works only in line with God’s Word and His laws. You cannot bind things willy-nilly. Binding a team to lose in the Super Bowl won’t work any more than loosing someone to love you.
    22. You can, however, bind the enemy that is at work in people’s lives or loose angels to work on your behalf in those areas where God has already promised you results. When you pray in this manner, God affirms it in heaven and puts His seal of approval on your prayer. Binding and loosing have to be based on the authority God has granted you in Scripture, not on some desire you have.
    23. God has provided each type of prayer for a specific purpose. Though you may use more than one at any given time, it is important to be clear about which type you are using and why, and to be aware of its limitations. If you follow the examples in the Bible, you’ll be sure to use them properly.

 

 

 

Lesson 5 – Recourse – Train yourself again on the basics of being a Christian

 

1. Recourse means to direct a path – Help in a difficult situation – To Steer or Turn a new direction.

1. As long as you are breathing you have a purpose for living. Keep that in mind.
2. You are not just saved, born again and then sit there and wait to go to heaven, God has a purpose for your life. A newborn Christian knows this, almost feels this the moment they get saved. That is why they are so excited, not just because of fire insurance, but because God has anointed and appointed them for something on this planet.
3. What that purpose is – is between you and God. But as a measure of focus for the course today we are going to look at the basics that a New Christian should learn.
   1. Pray,
   2. Read the Bible,
   3. Go to Church,
   4. Fellowship,
   5. Study the Bible,
   6. Tell others about Christ,
   7. Get a foundation and understanding about the Word,
   8. Sit under someone they feel they can learn from,
   9. Search out their calling and purpose,
   10. Understand that they will fall and miss it from time to time,
   11. Keep going with the basics until they are a part of you.
       1. The first thing on this list is Prayer,
       2. We talked about prayer last week. Keep in mind that Prayer at its basic level is communication, and conversation with God, a two way street. Talk to Him, but let Him talk back to you too.
       3. Prayer is a daily thing Christians should do, a free moment thing, an every chance you get thing.
       4. Paul actually mentions to certain members of the early church that he “Ceases not” in mentioning them in his prayers to God and thanking God daily for them. We likewise should not cease in prayer and thanksgiving for those around us and the leading and guidance of God Himself.
       5. Colossians 1:9 – For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, donot cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
       6. Ephesians 1:16 – Ceasenot to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
       7. Matthew 21:22 – Andall things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
       8. Prayer sets your mind, will and emotions on God and helps put your focus on the right and meaningful things in Life, and the world and its problems will get smaller and less threatening.
       9. Prayer is the first thing a Christian should learn how to do. They pray their first real prayer when they ask Jesus into their heart, and God answers that prayer.
       10. The second time they learn to pray is when they accept the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Do not think that tongues are a small thing. I know pastors that stopped praying in tongues in church services and stop teaching that it is real and available and they wonder why prayers go unanswered, church members seem uninterested, start leaving, and the church is not growing.
       11. Praying in Tongues is a more real and direct way for you and your spirit to communicate to God, it works out the deep things and the things that even you don’t want to talk to God about or don’t even know how to talk to God about… tongues makes this possible.
       12. Likewise tongues helps you learn the voice of the Holy Spirit inwardly and learn when you need to pray and your spirit gets more sensitive to the things of God. Trust me I know.
       13. Example – Juliet in the house and the painter.
       14. Example – God providing a new job

 

3. Read the Bible – Yes I know this seems like a no brainer… but even if it is a single scripture a day – and not the same one each day, read the word.
4. If you have the patience for it, try to memorize the scripture at least for the short term, it will get the basic teaching and meaning into your spirit and the rough understanding into your knowledge.
5. Get your favorite scriptures and print them off your computer, write them on paper and put them over your stove, over the TV, on the door so you can see it as you leave or on the steering wheel. Wherever you are likely to see it most, if it encourages you, it is the WORD speaking to you and keeping you strong.
6. You will find yourself in the Word where your spirit and the Holy Spirit meet and agree that this is who and what you are. In part of finding yourself in the Word and knowing what God wants for your life helps you hear Him better when it comes to your day to day things as well.
7. Why is that the case?
8. What are the biggest questions people ask about life, the universe and everything?

Who am I?

Why am I here?

Does life have meaning?

Do I matter?

Will my life have consequence in the long run?

Is there a God?

1. Well let us go over some of these right away… keeping in mind we are talking about relationship with God here… you know the answer to most of these right away.
2. As a Christian – You know there is a God. Last question is off the list.
3. Who am I? – God has called you and chosen you to be His child before the foundation of the world. You are a child of God.
4. Why am I here? – These are the thoughts and plans that I have for you says the Lord – Go Ye into all the world and preach the Gospel… Iron sharpens Iron.
5. Does life have meaning?  – He made the world was in the World and the World knew Him not.
6. Do I matter? – Examples of Great men and women of God.
7. Will my life have consequence in the long run? – In eternity – the saints are standing and cheering you on – Hebrews 12:1 – Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

 

1. You are a child of God – you have a purpose – you are righteous and chosen by Him to affect change in someone else’s life.
2. Why are these things important when it comes to the relationship you have with God>?
3. Keep in mind these are the biggest questions in Life that most people have to face without knowing Him, at minimum you can help someone else come to know these same answers as well.
4. These type of questions will still try to pop up in your mind from time to time. The world is excellent at putting them there for you to question reality, question God. WIth these things out of the way and settled in your heart you can move on past the noise the world is shouting at you and move on to a deeper relationship with Him.
5. If you find yourself dwelling on those or other questions that just seem to get in the way of your time with God or your thought process then a recourse is what you are looking for. Steer yourself toward God at those times and not away.
6. Settle these things in your heart,
7. I know I love bluebell ice cream. I know I love brownies. I know I love my wife. I know also that I love God and He loves me… these are things that I do not have to question. I have settled them in my heart, and in the case of bluebell… in my stomach.
8. When these questions arise, get in the Word, find yourself time to dig into the scripture to work out those questions while talking to Him about it.

 

4. Recourse – Set back on path again
5. Read the Bible, Get a plan follow it to the best of your ability. Inputting the Word into you IS the Word of God speaking to you, Makes it easier for the Spirit to speak to you in an audible, inner way.
6. Go to Church, Sit under good teaching that both challenges you and encourages you.
7. Fellowship, Seek genuine, real Christians that also are pursuing their relationship with God for their own lives that will help you on your journey.
8. Study the Bible, Not just read, Study, Learn the root meanings of your favorite scriptures. Learn what the depth of the Word means to you and your call on your life.
9. Tell others about Christ, even if it is just one person – share Christ with others.
10. Get a foundation and understanding about the Word, A foundation cannot be shaken, it is a building platform that you and God can built upon together.
11. Sit under someone they feel they can learn from, A pastor, a preacher, a teacher, elder in the Church, get together and fellowship and ask questions.
12. Search out their calling and purpose, Find out your calling and purpose in Christ. He will tell you. Trust me.
13. Understand that they will fall and miss it from time to time, Know that most every Christian fall victim to old habits, bad lifestyle choices or just plan “Whoops” from time to time. God is not out to judge you. He put that judgment on Christ.
14. Keep going with the basics until they are a part of you. These basic points are what every baby Christian should learn and know. As well as many others we could bring out. The point is that part of your relationship with God, if you want it to get stronger, cover the basics and make sure as much as possible you do your part to set yourself up to hear from Him and know when He is speaking to you clearly.

 

 

Lesson 6

1. Retrain – yourself to study, pray, read the word of God,

In your walk with God you will have been sitting in church a time or two and you will have heard a pastor give an alter call for rededication – why is this important?

 

1. I used to be good at soccer, when I was 8.
   2. I used to be good at tennis, when I was 18,
   3. I am now 37. How many of you really think that I could run the length a soccer pitch without passing out the second time. If it was something that I needed to do or was going to pick back up – it is something that I could RETRAIN for. It takes time. It takes effort.
2. 1 Timothy 4:8 – Forbodilyexercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
3. Training yourself with the Word of God takes effort also. Not that we judge people around us… or at least we are not supposed to do it anyway but… have you ever seen the look on peoples faces when they have watched a tv program before – Oh I have already seen this show. What else is on. We have the same mindset in Church also sometimes… I have heard all of this before… they switch off and start studying the wall behind the pulpit.
4. At one job I worked while witnessing to a coworker I mentioned a few things about salvation and so forth and a customer overheard us talking and just had to chime in. He was built like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s long lost son. His one comment was – Oh Christianity, I tried that once. Didn’t work for me.
5. He was a body builder. I highly doubt that he treated his workout routine like he says he treated Christianity. And Christianity is not something you try for a few days. It’s not a religion. It is a relationship.
6. I like lasagna – I mean I really like it… it is one of my all-time favorite foods. I could eat it all the time, I would more than likely get sick of it eventually but initially I would be a happy man eating it. But when it comes to the Word of God we are not supposed to get sick of it… it is there for our benefit. If we knew it inside and out we should be teaching it all the time then instead.
7. Psalm 34:8 – Otasteand see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
8. 1 Samuel 12:16 – Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which theLordwill do before your eyes.
9. Jesus often taught in parables and in every single one of His major teachings you can see that He often told the same story, or the same point was explained in three different ways. He was not above simple methods of repeating Himself, or trying to drive home the point by saying things again and again but in a slightly different way. Realize that in your preparation time with God and in pursuing more of a relationship with God you may have to cover the basics again and ensure that you are doing your part properly, if you want to get past the average everyday relationship that most everyone has with God.
10. Realize that God is ALWAYS talking to us, we have to make sure that we can hear when, what, and how He is speaking to us.
11. Quick recap on how most people hear God.
12. Not everyone hears God the same way.
13. From the greatest televangelist you can name off the TV to the biggest Pastor you have ever heard off. It is rare that they experience God exactly the same way. Why is that?
14. We are not all the same people. We have our own lives, viewpoints, experiences and hopes and dreams. All of this affects you and your relationship with God.
15. Someone with a bad childhood might not experience or know how to experience a Fathers love if they never had it from their own natural father.
16. A rough tough guy with no maternal influence may not know the gentile and warm loving embrace of the Holy Spirit or even know how to recognize the presence of God when He wants to talk to us.
17. Hearing His Voice Audibly
18. Hearing His Voice Inwardly
19. Hearing His prompting, correction, check, guidance inwardly.
20. Reading the Word of God with the leading of the Holy Spirit.
21. Prophesy
22. Tongue and interpretation.
23. Revelation inwardly from speaking in tongues
24. Inward witness of scripture
25. Prayer and answered prayer.
26. Get away from people, things interruptions when you can and go spend time with God. Find the best way You and He connect and work on expanding that time and type of communication to further your Relationship together.

 

2. Rededicate – Yourself to serving God
3. When I started courting my wife, I wrote to her as often as I could.
4. When I had the chance I would spend every moment and every second with her. It was never enough. To this day it still isn’t enough.
5. I still date my wife, take time for special occasions, dinner and movies, picnics, walks in the park, long scenic drives – just to spend time with her and talk about things other than issues.
6. We treat God like we are just casual acquaintances with Him sometimes. We see Him on the weekends, or like distant relatives, only on the holidays. Worse still is the realization that He is always there, always waiting to spend time with us, but often times we don’t even acknowledge Him.
7. Write to Him, take walks and talk to Him, if you like fishing, go sit in a boat, just you and Him and talk. Spend time with HIM on PURPOSE. Not just because a crisis came up.
8. If you can, keep these things in mind as we talk about the next part of this course.
9. Rededication is about a fresh commitment.
10. A married couple going through a rough patch take time to talk, work things out, redirect and steer their relationship back on track. When it comes to the things of God sometimes we put Him on the backburner on the day to day things and only come to Him when there is a crisis.
11. A dog… Have you ever tried to spend time with your dog… and all he wants is your hands looking at you like you have a treat for him? You have nothing in them at the moment to give him, but its all he wants, he thinks you have a treat in them and your just holding back from him.
12. We treat God like that, seeking His hands and not His face. How rude – but we all do it.

D. When you spend time with God… know He knows what you know – Matthew 6:7-9 – ⁷ But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. ⁸ Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. ⁹ After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

E. Spend time for the sake of spending time with Him and guess what… the need will get dealt with… He will bring it up in conversation as well if you let Him. We can ask for things but constantly doing that gets frustrating for YOU and HIM.

F. Personal relationship.

1. I was talking and ministering to a friend of mine back in the States many years ago… and they kept looking at me weird every time I said something a certain way… it got distracting at one point and I asked them what the problem was… They said… its nothing really… it’s just that you keep saying Him or He when you talk about God… you don’t say GOD or JESUS or something like that… Why is that?
2. He is a personal God… first name basis is when your friends… when you talk to others about your friends… you don’t repeatedly say their name again and again… you say – He said this or that.
3. Start where you are in your relationship but keep in mind that ultimately Prayer is just a conversation with God.
4. Rededication – Have you ever been at a church service and the pastor gives an alter call. He invites men and women and children to make Jesus their Lord and Savior for the first time. Other times you will see them invite people to the front to rededicate themselves to God. What is this rededication thing? Do you have to do it in front of everyone?
5. Rededication is simply you making an outward statement about the fact that you want to get more serious with your Relationship with your Father and your Savior. It is a step you can take to turn yourself around and walk the straight and narrow once again.
6. We all, ALL make mistakes, from the least to the greatest in the Body of Christ. All it takes is a willing heart to keep getting back right with God to make a life worthwhile and worth living.
7. Jesus talking to His disciples one day was asked by them – Lord how many times must I forgive my brother in a day? This question was largely because His disciples had been fighting and bickering a lot that day and they had a few disputes in their time. Jesus told them, Seven times Seventy. Was there really a limit of times they were supposed to forgive one another? No, if you spent all day forgiving your brother in Christ seven times seventy, you would have no problem forgiving them one more time besides that.
8. If Jesus had to deal with those issues with His hand picked special elite force, then trust me when I tell you that we all fall short of where we want to be, but God’s Grace is well able to make up the difference so long as we are willing to pick ourselves up, get back with Him and rededicate ourselves to keep walking that direction.

Matthew 23:27

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

 

5. Every relationship has its ups and downs. The key is to NEVER give up, learn to forgive them and keep working on things. Your relationship is the same way with God, realize that it is us that misses the mark sometimes and we just need to learn that He expects us to forgive each other every single time, HE will forgive us every single time, we just need to keep talking to Him and keep going that direction.
6. Renewing your vows
7. In marriage from time to time you will hear some overly affectionate couple that is still desperately in love wanting to renew their vows for one another. The same is sometimes true of the couple that just wants to reconnect and rededicate themselves to one another.
8. Be willing to renew your vows with God – in order to help YOU refocus on Him, spending time with Him, Listening to His Voice, and learning to walk in the Ways He has for you.
9. In your prayer time today, tonight, later on, or at the end of this class today, take a moment and just talk to Him, Pray to Him and tell Him that you want to get closer to Him, to Know Him more and to do everything you can to work on your Relationship with Him. It is a very personal thing. It is not to be taken lightly, but it can be done as often as you need to do it, until you mean it.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Psalm 119:105 KJV

 

1. When you get married there is often a time called the Honeymoon period. Everything seems great and wonderful then things slowly seem to change. When we are first Christians we experience the same thing, EVERY prayer gets answered, EVERY Bible verse seems amazing, EVERY song on the radio reminds you of God and how great He is.
   EVERY sermon just speaks volumes to you.
2. Ever been in love? Every love song has meaning, every flower seems beautiful, other women or men look ugly in comparison. Yet with God, after our initial honeymoon period seems to fade and the training wheels come off and we have to walk out some things by faith, what do we often do?

Spend time with everything else – except the Bible, the TV comes first before prayer, Sleep before study, and our eyes begin to wander around looking for quick fixes to make us feel good rather than taking the time to spend with God and reconnect. That is why in marriages couples need to take time sometimes to reconnect, rededicate and renew vows sometimes to set their focus right.
F. In your walk with God, to get to the relationship you desire with HIM, think about rededication between you and Him, tell Him you are serious about getting to know Him more, and ask for His help, leading and guidance to get you back to the place you need to be, or to help you get to the place you WANT to be.

^{Matthew 18: 12-13}  How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?

¹³ And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.

 

Lesson 7 – Relationship with God

Relationship with God lesson 7

 

1. Refocus – your efforts and your purpose for your life to Him and His calling and leading for your life.
2. Redirect – Change anything in your life that does not line up with what you want in your life

 

1. Refocus – When you focus on something you set your sight on it and you make that your center of attention.
2. When you have to refocus on something it is usually because you lost sight of it at some point. The point of refocusing as a Christian on God and the things of God is a exercise in keeping your attention on what is truly important in Life.
3. Your life, my life – all of us are here ultimately to KNOW Him and help others know Him as well. Without this thought continually in our hearts and minds – we will focus on other things as if they are more important than God.

C. Magnify the Lord. – Psalm 34:2-4

² My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

³ O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.

⁴ I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

 

1. The Bible actually uses this expression several times in the scriptures, ultimately the act of magnifying something – it becomes the center of your attention – and magnifying only makes it bigger.
2. When you set your eyes on Christ and put your attention on Him everything else around you gets less important – when you magnify Him on top of that – He seems bigger – even though He is the same yesterday today and forever, and your problems and issues will seem smaller in contrast. God becomes bigger IN US. He can do more with us, for us and through US when we magnify Him and give Him better place in our lives.

Magnify –

enlarge, boost, enhance, maximize, increase, augment, extend,expand, amplify, intensify;

extol; glorify. “praise the Lord and magnify Him”

 

Refocus –  adjust the focus of (a lens or one’s eyes).

 

1. When you refocus – you have to make your attention stay where it needs to be for as long as possible to make it effective. Take an eye appointment for example. They show you something to look at and you are supposed to focus on it without trying too hard. When you take it easy and focus on what you need to – they can help you adjust your vision to be able to keep your eyesight clear and functional. When you and your relationship with God loses focus and you set your gaze elsewhere – you will need to make the effort to redirect your gaze to Him. Using the WORD in your prayer and study time will help you correct the items that you need to get out of the way and you will have a clearer perspective on Christ, your relationship with Him and what you have to do to keep that focus clear and effective.
2. Isaiah 40:26

Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

1. John 4:35

Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

1. We all have things, and stuff in our way of our vision, things we focus way too much time on. In the Old Testament these kinds of things were blatantly called false idols. Anything that took your time away and your attention away and your focus away from GOD – he told them the way things stood back in the day- they were false idols.
2. ^{Psalms 44:20} If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;
3. ²¹ Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
4. Days of Grace
5. We are now in the days of Grace.
6. Romans 5:20

Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

1. Romans 5:21

That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

1. Ephesians 2:7

That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

 

1. God is patiently waiting for you to just come back and sit on His lap and give him your attention once again. Refocus on Him as your Source, your comfort, your help, your guide, your Father, your savior, your everything you have need of… and he will direct your ways to improve your life and your relationship with Him. He knows the things that get in the way of your relationship sometimes, just like an eye specialist, He will ask you when things get out of the way- is that better? Can you see clearer now? When you look to Him once again, your vision will get clearer, distant things seem close now, and close things seem less significant. God will help you get 20/20 eyesight for the things in Your life when your gaze is fixed on Him.
2. Romans 6:14

For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

 

 

2. Redirect – Change anything in your life that does not line up with what you want in your life

 

1. You now have a focus on Him, at this time you and HE will begin to talk about and see things that get in the way.
2. For me the biggest hindrance between God and me was my own impatience.
3. Learning to Trust that His ways will guide me to where I need to go, and in the timing that won’t hurt me was a big step for me. Other things in my life still seem to pop up from time to time that steals my time away from Him. So to counter that I make time now every chance I get, in the car, at the red lights, when I am away from everyone else for a second to two. I take that time to spend just a moment or two with Him and keep my connection fresh, keep my focus set on Him. But trust me we will all keep finding things in our lives that get in the way. Take the time to locate where you are, what things get in the way and you and God work on those things together to get them corrected. It gets easier when you know it is for your benefit.
4. LEARN TO TRUST GOD
5. Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

1. When you enter into a relationship with someone – one of the biggest and most difficult steps is learning to TRUST them. You have to learn to trust them with who you really are, not just the mask we all tend to wear in front of others. God knows YOU, the real you. Learn to be yourself, but also know that He will lead you and guide you to be the BEST you that you can be. But also know that He loves you just the way you are.
2. Matthew 11:28

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

1. A relationship of Trust – will grow into a relationship of knowing that HE knows what is best, and little by little – you will become more Christ-like.
2. The Bible talks about the WORD of God as a two edged sword –
3. Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

1. The connotation here is that the Word of God can cut us right to where we live and get right to the heart of the matter. The idea ultimately suggests that it is like a scalpel – helping remove what is not good for our lives and helping us heal and recover after we are injured and are seeking refuge.
2. Psalm 91:2

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

1. Mark 2:17

When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

1. Exodus 15:26

And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord thathealeth thee.

1. Two edged sword.
2. When we learn the Word and it becomes part of us – we can use it to help others. The double edge comes sometimes as we are even teaching, talking or sharing with others what God can and will do for them, and at those times we will often realize that it was something we needed to hear for ourselves as well.
3. How many times have we heard a preacher or teacher share something God has put on their heart, and it is also something that just hits us right where we live at the same time. Why is that?
4. When we come to know that the WORD of God is alive and active in all of us, the very act of sharing the Word with others activates its ability to work greater in our lives. We remember when we first heard a scripture, or when we remember that God answered a prayer we forgot about, or suddenly know that God will do for us just as He has always done for us.
5. Redirect – Psalm 5:3

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

Isaiah 45:13

I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the Lord of hosts.

1. Redirect – to change the path or direction of (something) to use (something) for a different purpose
2. Isaiah 30:21

And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way,walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

 

1. The definition of Redirect implies the act of steering something that is already moving into a new path. For us in our lives we have been moving the wrong direction for so long that we often feel, or we meet others around us that feel that way – that it is too late to change their lives, too late to start again, afresh and anew.
2. Yet the very act of having accepted Christ in the first place was the biggest act of REDIRECTION ever in a persons life. To acknowledge that you needed to turn around and start on a fresh clean slate is a big step. Why is it so hard then to realize that if your relationship with God is not where you needed it to be that the very act of redirection is still available to you and it is very easy. The only requirement is the knowledge that you want to change, try to change, and work at the change until you get back to the point you want to be with God and you WORK at it until you can maintain the relationship and grow from there from Glory to Glory.
3. 2 Corinthians 3:18

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

 

 

 

Relationship with God – Lesson 8

 

Replace – Those things with activities and time with God and His word.

Remember – Put before your face, scripture and vision for your life, your dreams and goals. Put it before your face and see it daily to remind you why you are here on this Earth.

1. Starting A New Routine – If you want something to change in your life, you have to be the one to introduce it.
2. Proverbs 22:6
   Train upa child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
3. John 14:23
4. Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he willkeep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
5. As part of starting a new routine whether for the first time as a new Christian or as part of a new thing you want to try – when you think you see things in your life that take away from your time with God – try to replace the time and effort that you used on the old habit and replace with reading the word, listening to tapes and prayer with God.
6. Matthew 11:29
7. Take my yoke upon you, and learn ofme; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

 

1. Example – When I was young I had a habit of playing computer games. It is true, I am a computer geek. Yet later on in life I pushed past those habits and used my hunger for knowing more of God’s Word and His ways and the passion that I had and moved into a habit of feeding on His Word.
2. The bible says in Matthew 4:4

But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

3. John 6:57-59 ⁵⁷ As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

⁵⁸ This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

⁵⁹ These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.

 

1. Overcoming the flesh –
   We get so focused on the fact that we have this flesh suit – and it wants Bluebell and burgers – that we forget that inside we have a spirit man – now alive and new and hungry for God and His word and we seldom feed him.
2. Can you imagine eating once a week? Living on a snack for a few months? No its ridiculous but that is what we do to our spirit man and expect miracles to fly out of our hands – and angels to manifest around us and every prayer to be answered immediately.
   1. 6 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

² God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

³ Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

⁴ Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

⁵ For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

⁶ Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

⁷ For he that is dead is freed from sin.

⁸ Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

⁹ Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

¹⁰ For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

¹¹ Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹² Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

¹³ Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

¹⁴ For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

¹⁵ What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

¹⁶ Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

¹⁷ But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

¹⁸ Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

¹⁹ I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

²⁰ For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.

²¹ What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.

²² But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

²³ For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1. This thing called fasting –
   1. Joel 2:12

Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

1. We have all heard of fasting, perhaps even tried it a time or two. Yet if Prayer is at its simplest form – conversation with God.  Then what is fasting?
2. When you fast – you are telling your body, your mind or your flesh and emotions NO to something and focusing on God instead – if your not doing that it is just a diet.
3. So fasting in the modern sense does not have to be food – it could be fasting from TV – types of food – or even hobbies – and replacing those things with time with God, His word, and teaching from good sources.
4. Psalm 34:7-9

⁷ The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

⁸ O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

⁹ O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

1. Why does fasting help or what is supposed to happen when we fast?
2. We are a three part being, Mind, Body, Spirit.
   1. 1 Thessalonians 5:23

²³ And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Experts at our Flesh and Mind –
2. We listen to the Mind and Body CONSTANTLY – in fact we are experts at hearing the language our body and mind speak to us. We are ALL pretty poor at listening to our Spirit – and most importantly the Holy Spirit dwelling inside us. When we fast we are ignoring the shouting, demanding and overwhelming voices our flesh and mind shout at us and we spend time on something spiritual and as a result – we can hear just a little better – and we can feed the Spirit man inside us with something substantial, Time with God, Time in His Word, Time Fellowshipping, Time IN Study and so on.
   Simply said – fasting let’s us hear and feed our inner man the way we should always be feeding it.
3. It makes us stronger Spiritually –
   1. Mark 9:29

And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

1. Man shall not live by bread alone, this scripture is hinting BIG time to us that we have to FEED on the Word of God. In fact spiritual learning and knowledge is often used as an example along with FOOD as if learning the Word of God is the same thing as Spiritually Eating.
   1. John 6:33

For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

1. John 6:35

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

1. Jer. 15:16 says, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them. Thy words were unto me a joy and rejoicing of my heart.”
2. Job tells us how precious the Word is to him. Job 23:12: “I have not gone back from the commandment of his lips ; I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.”
3. Personal Experience in studying the Word of God through Good Teaching –
4. Bible School 101 – Honesty in Study – Learning new realities about a Christian’s position in God. EW Kenyon – New Creation Realities. The hardest book I have ever read – so full of spiritual revelation and information that it HURTS your thinking and at the same time encourages you so much – its like mentally chewing to comprehend – but it is meant for your spirit -and it feeds you – basic, simple truths from the bible that will actually change everything you think about yourself and your position with God – with things you already knew – but enforces, and reinforces it to a greater extent.
5. From the introduction – We have found the secret that the psychologists long have sought. It is the “inward man”, it is the re-created spirit; it is the part of man with which God deals. It is really an unveiling of what we are in Christ today; of what He says we are; what He has made us to be in His great Redemptive work. The Pauline Epistles must ever stand as the work of a super-genius or a divine revelation. It lets us into the inner secret of God’s mighty purpose in the Incarnation. The four Gospels give us the earth walk of the Master, but the Pauline Epistles give us a revelation of what happened on the cross, what followed during the three days and three nights until Christ was raised from the dead. We get the living picture of the entire substitutionary work of Christ. It is the legal background of our Redemption.

 

2. Replace – just touching back on it once again – find locate and replace whatever you and God think you should change in your day to day life and work on starting that time and energy to follow after and study and learn more about Him in its place.

 

3. Remember – Put before your face, scripture and vision for your life, your dreams and goals. Put it before your face and see it daily to remind you why you are here on this Earth.
4. Proverbs 4:20My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.

²¹ Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.

²² For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

²³ Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

²⁴ Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.

²⁵ Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

²⁶ Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

²⁷ Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

1. Deuteronomy 8:18

But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

1. When you keep the Word of God before you and your mind in rememberance of His goodness and mercy and His ever present Help in time of need, it will be harder for you to forget Him in the business of day to day events.
2. It only takes a moment to stop what you are doing and connect and have a conversation with the Lord.
3. James 5:16

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

2. Effective Prayer is prayer that is fervent – having or displaying a passionate intensity.
3. Be passionate about your prayer time with God and your relationship with Him and you will find that your prayers are more effective and your relationship with God grows as well.
4. Any relationship gets better with spending more time with the other, with God you get to experience more of Him and spending more time with Him only improves your day to day life as a result.
5. Spending time with God is never wasted time.
6. Psalm 34:4

I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

B. Psalm 77

1. I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.

² In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.

³ I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.

⁴ Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

⁵ I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.

⁶ I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.

⁷ Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?

⁸ Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore?

⁹ Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.

¹⁰ And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.

¹¹ I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.

¹² I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.

¹³ Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?

¹⁴ Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people.

¹⁵ Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.

¹⁶ The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled.

¹⁷ The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad.

¹⁸ The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.

¹⁹ Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.

²⁰ Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

4. Remembering God is on your side, He will direct your paths and lead you exactly where you need to go. The best days of your Life are still ahead of you and you will accomplish all you are supposed to do on this earth – just by trusting Him and following after His ways.

 

 

 

Relationship with God – Lesson 9

 

1. Revision – If you lost sight of your goal or you don’t even know what it is yet, get with God, ask Him to reveal to you what He has for you to do in your life.
2. Rebound – If you fall and you will because of the fallen world – fallen nature and natural tendency to lose focus of what is important. Pick yourself up.

 

1. Everyone needs a goal in life, even if it is to life your life in some way to help lead your family to the Lord. Find out what you want your life to be, and focus on that. Even better if in your time with God you ask and seek what HE wants your life to become, and realize that He has the ability to help you achieve it too.
2. I have found that my goals in life, and God’s goals in life will always meet in the middle, and then travel down the same road on this journey we live.
3. God made you, He knows your heart of hearts, and if you set your heart towards Him, He will not only help you feel fulfilled in your life, but also help you see that His goals for you and your goals for you are much the same.
4. When I titled this section of the lesson Revision I meant it in a two part meaning.
   1. Part 1 – Revision – a change or a set of changes that corrects or improves something
   2. : a new version of something : something (such as a piece of writing or a song) that has been corrected or changed
   3. : study of information that was studied before
   4. When you change, or correct something it is to improve everything for the better. In this course we have been discussing just about the basic things you can do to change your relationship with God from what it is now to what you and HE wants it to be. I do not know a man or woman on the planet that would ever look me in the eye and say that they don’t want to know more of God and have a better relationship with Him.
   5. Revision could also mean a new version of something – an update and remix if it was a song. We studied before how God actually calls us His poem – a masterful work of art that He is writing. He has the right to suggest to us how we might improve ourselves and more closely fulfill His intended work in our lives.
   6. And next we have the meaning of – restudying, something that every Christian should be willing to do. I was going to say something along the lines that most people study how to drive more than how to be a Christian, and have a good relationship with God… however I have been driving on American roads for several months now and I feel that perhaps the way people drive suggests that they have not studied how to drive, and are causing people to pray more often. It’s a bit mixed up.
5. The second part I was suggesting on this particular take of the word is to add a hyphen and make the word RE – Vision.
   1. Habakkuk 2:1-3I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

² And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

³ For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

2. Genesis 15:1

After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

1. The vision that God has for you is a greater and more perfect vision for your life. It will take YOU and HIM talking, walking it out and focusing on what He has for you to bring about this perfect vision that He wants your life to be. You may already be in that perfect vision. Just realize that we need also to learn to be patient and calm and willing to work out the steps needed to fulfill that vision.
2. The vision of your life is as much YOURS as it is HIS. Your relationship with God in this life is largely the connection that most other people lack in trying to make their lives more than just a day to day existence.
3. Proverbs 4:18

But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more andmore unto the perfect day.

2. Acts 18:26

And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.

3. Proverbs 16:25 ²⁵ There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

1. Re-vision, if you feel that you need it. Find a new purpose for your life, or just refocus on what you feel God is already telling you to do. You have a purpose for being on this planet. Make no mistake, God wants to spend time with you, help you, lead you, guide you, increase you, and be able to send you, to help others reconnect with Him as well. Our ultimate purpose as Christians is to help point others to Christ as we work to become more Christ like ourselves. We will mess up, we will make mistakes, but when your vision and focus is on the Lord we will always know which way to go when we pick ourselves back up.
2. This now brings us to Rebound.
3. Rebound means to bounce back,
4. To spring or bounce back after hitting or colliding with something.
5. To recover, as from depression or disappointment.
6. To reecho; resound.
7. BasketballTo retrieve and gain possession of the ball as it bounces off the backboard or rim after an unsuccessful shot.
8. In the sports world it means to get back in the game, get control and score the points.
9. In the Christian world it means to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get back on track.
10. We all mess up, we all make mistakes, the important thing is to know that we are not done with the race, until we finish that finish line. And if you are still under the sound of my voice, or as one Pastor put it, “If you are still sucking oxygen, then you are still in the race.”

A. 2 Timothy 4:6-8

⁶ For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

⁷ I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

⁸ Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

B. Hebrews 12:1-3

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

² Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

³ For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

3. If we were to train for an event, or in the case of an earlier example I mentioned, If I were to take up playing soccer again, it would take a lot of effort to train, to build up muscle and get back in shape.
4. In Christianity however, it is much, much simpler.

A.  1 Timothy 4:8 ⁸ For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

B.  Your focus, your purpose in training is to just talk to the One that made you. Find out which way He wants you to go, and then Go that way.

C.  In any situation, if you find that you somehow fell away from the course and direction you know you are supposed to go, REBOUND. Pick yourself up. Dust yourself off, Set your eyes on the course ahead of you and then get going again.

D.  The great thing about GRACE is that it is God helping us to run our RACE.

E.   Grace is not there to allow us to sin, Grace is there to give us FORGIVENESS if we get things wrong, while we work on getting things RIGHT.

1. Ephesians 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of hisgracein his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

 

 

Lesson 10 – Review

Restart – Be willing to start fresh in your relationship with Him

Reject – Religiosity and old ways of thinking before you became a Christian.

Remember – Your first love with Him

Rebuild – Your life to revolve around God as much as possible.

Recourse – Train yourself again on the basics of being a Christian

Retrain – yourself to study, pray, read the word of God,

Rededicate – Yourself to serving God

Refocus – your efforts and your purpose for your life to Him and His calling and leading for your life.

Redirect – Change anything in your life that does not line up with what you want in your life and

Replace – Those things with activities and time with God and His word.

Remember – Put before your face, scripture and vision for your life, your dreams and goals. Put it before your face and see it daily to remind you why you are here on this Earth.

Revision – If you lost sight of your goal and don’t even know what it is yet, get with God, ask Him to reveal to you what He has for you to do in your life.

Rebound – If you fall and you will because of the fallen world – fallen nature and natural tendency to lose focus of what is important. Pick yourself up.

 

1. Spending Time with God
2. The most important thing that a real modern day Christian can do is taking a moment or more and spending time with God at any given opportunity. Not religious prayers and repetitious mumblings under our breath, but if people on your job are allowed to take a smoke break, take a fresh air break, take your bible and go read a Psalms together with God, ask for clearer spiritual hearing to hear His voice and promptings throughout your day, to help with problems you face and so forth.

Restart

 

1. Your relationship with God is your business and no one can tell you that it is great or terrible. This class is not about judging you or pointing the finger. Let us look briefly at some of the most wonderful men and women that God recorded in the Bible as being our examples and models of having great relationships with HIM.
2. So while your relationship is your business – it is our business as fellow believers to help, love, fellowship, teach, train, instruct, encourage, and guide one another to a fuller and stronger connection with Him.
3. Proverbs 27:17
   Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

 

4. So how do you restart your relationship with God?
5. All of us, from the greatest man and woman of God to the least of us, all should desire a stronger relationship with Him.
6. 1 John 4:19

We love him, because he first loved us.

1. Revelations 2:4 (Paraphrased)

Look how far you have fallen from your first love! Turn back to me again and work as you did at first.

 

 

Restart – Walking in the cool of the day in the Garden.

 

1. Genesis 3:8

And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking In the garden in the cool of the day:

1. Adam and Eve hid from God – Yet God wants to return to that type of relationship with US, to be His friends and family.
2. We are that important to Him.
3. Revelation 3:20

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, andopen the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

2. John 10:27

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

3. Isaiah 30:21

And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

4. Psalm 119:105

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

5. 1 Kings 19:11-13

¹¹ And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:

¹² And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

¹³ And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

 

6. Psalm 46:10
   Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

 

1. Reject Religiosity – and old ways of thinking before you became a Christian.

 

1. John 15:15 – Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
2. James 2:22-23 – Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? ²³ And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
3. John 15:13 – Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend

 

3. The Sin Issue
4. The number one issue we face when we go to God about anything at anytime… is sin…. things we have not dealt with and things we should deal with and are putting off… but your not a sinner… Sin has been dealt with.
5. Correction comes in Love.
6. Hebrews 12:6 ⁶ For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7. We have the tendency to keep mindful of sin past present and keep coming to God as if we expect to be corrected every single time. When we look at the words Chasteneth… and Scourgeth – we tend to think He means us, but we forget that He already did that to His own Son on our behalf, and we have already accepted that fact when we accepted Him as Lord and Savior.
   E. God is not out to GET YOU. He has already won you over through Christ, so the big stick that you think or we think is going to come hit us at any second has already been used against us, ON Jesus. Accept the fact that you are righteous before God now and Jesus has made you accepted in the beloved and YOU had nothing to do with it… so YOU also cannot mess that up. YOU can now get on with getting to really Know your Father, your Savior and your Friend that we have in Him.

1. Ephesians 1:5-7 – ⁵ Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶ To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. ⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

2. Isaiah 1:18 – ¹⁸ Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

1. Romans 10:21

But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

 

1. He desires a relationship and friendship and to spend time with you… MORE than you do.
2. Recognizing religious behavior – replacing it with Relational behavior.
3. Religion says that you are not worthy to speak directly to God.
4. Religion says that you cannot understand God.
5. Religion says you have to be perfect to be able to be saved by God, and work tirelessly in good works to earn His attention.
6. Religion says you must suffer.
7. Religion says you must be sick.
8. Religion says you are being punished,
9. Religion says you must be judged and suffer for what you have done, will do.

 

Isaiah

53:5

Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? ² For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.³ He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. ⁴ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Remember your first love.

 

10. He loved us First
    1. John 4:18-19 – There is no fear in Love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love HIM, because HE first Loved us.

 

 

11. Adopted Back into the family
12. Eph 1:4-6 According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved.
13. Reminisce – Look back even as you look forward
    1. Psalm 103:12 – As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.
    2. Your sins are in the past, your Past is in the Past – Leave them there…
    3. Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (hope and a future)
    4. Trust Him…
14. Remember your relief when you handed over your burdens to Him
    1. Mat 11:29 – Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

 

14. Pray Constantly –
    1. Have you ever had a one sided conversation? You realize that the other person is just not going to shut up and let you talk to them back? We do that to God ALL the time.
    2. Spend time with Him means we shut our mouths and listen to Him as much as we can and start a normal conversation by waiting for His response to our prayer with Him.

• Rebuild – Your life to revolve around God as much as possible.

1. You spent the majority of your life not serving God.
2. Realize that you have to focus on your new life that you have in Him and the relationship you now have to learn about it and learn to live it.
3. Jesus called our lives a vapor… James 4:13-15 ¹³ Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain. ¹⁴ Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. ¹⁵ For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
4. Jeremiah 29:13 – Andye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
5. Matt 7:7-8 ⁷ Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Understand the basics of Prayer –

 

Recourse – Train yourself again on the basics of being a Christian

 

1. Recourse means to direct a path – Help in a difficult situation – To Steer or Turn a new direction. Pray,
   12. Read the Bible,
   13. Go to Church,
   14. Fellowship,
   15. Study the Bible,
   16. Tell others about Christ,
   17. Get a foundation and understanding about the Word,
   18. Sit under someone they feel they can learn from,
   19. Search out their calling and purpose,
   20. Understand that they will fall and miss it from time to time,
   21. Keep going with the basics until they are a part of you.
   22. You are a child of God – you have a purpose – you are righteous and chosen by Him to affect change in someone else’s life.
   23. Recourse – Set back on path again
   24. Read the Bible, Get a plan follow it to the best of your ability. Inputting the Word into you IS the Word of God speaking to you, Makes it easier for the Spirit to speak to you in an audible, inner way.
   25. Go to Church, Sit under good teaching that both challenges you and encourages you.
   26. Fellowship, Seek genuine, real Christians that also are pursuing their relationship with God for their own lives that will help you on your journey.
   27. Study the Bible, Not just read, Study, Learn the root meanings of your favorite scriptures. Learn what the depth of the Word means to you and your call on your life.
   28. Tell others about Christ, even if it is just one person – share Christ with others.
   29. Get a foundation and understanding about the Word, A foundation cannot be shaken, it is a building platform that you and God can built upon together.
   30. Sit under someone they feel they can learn from, A pastor, a preacher, a teacher, elder in the Church, get together and fellowship and ask questions.
   31. Search out their calling and purpose, Find out your calling and purpose in Christ. He will tell you. Trust me.
   32. Keep going with the basics until they are a part of you.
   33. Retrain – yourself to study, pray, read the word of God,

In your walk with God you will have been sitting in church a time or two and you will have heard a pastor give an alter call for rededication – why is this important?

4. 1 Timothy 4:8 – Forbodilyexercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
5. Rededicate – Yourself to serving God
6. When I started courting my wife, I wrote to her as often as I could.
7. Rededication is about a fresh commitment.

F. Personal relationship.

Matthew 23:27

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

 

Lesson 7 – Relationship with God

Relationship with God lesson 7

 

3. Refocus – your efforts and your purpose for your life to Him and His calling and leading for your life.
4. Redirect – Change anything in your life that does not line up with what you want in your life

C. Magnify the Lord. – Psalm 34:2-4

² My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

³ O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.

⁴ I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Isaiah 40:26

Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

 Redirect – Change anything in your life that does not line up with what you want in your life

 

1. LEARN TO TRUST GOD
2. Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. Matthew 11:28

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Psalm 91:2

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

1. 2 Corinthians 3:18

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

 

Replace – Those things with activities and time with God and His word.

Remember – Put before your face, scripture and vision for your life, your dreams and goals. Put it before your face and see it daily to remind you why you are here on this Earth.

Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

1. John 14:23
2. Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he willkeep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
3. Matthew 11:29
4. Take my yoke upon you, and learn ofme; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

 

4. Remembering God is on your side, He will direct your paths and lead you exactly where you need to go. The best days of your Life are still ahead of you and you will accomplish all you are supposed to do on this earth – just by trusting Him and following after His ways.

 

5. Revision – If you lost sight of your goal or you don’t even know what it is yet, get with God, ask Him to reveal to you what He has for you to do in your life.
6. Rebound – If you fall and you will because of the fallen world – fallen nature and natural tendency to lose focus of what is important. Pick yourself up.
7. 1. When I titled this section of the lesson Revision I meant it in a two part meaning.
      1. Part 1 – Revision – a change or a set of changes that corrects or improves something
      2. : a new version of something : something (such as a piece of writing or a song) that has been corrected or changed
      3. : study of information that was studied before
      4. When you change, or correct something it is to improve everything for the better. In this course we have been discussing just about the basic things you can do to change your relationship with God from what it is now to what you and HE wants it to be. I do not know a man or woman on the planet that would ever look me in the eye and say that they don’t want to know more of God and have a better relationship with Him.
      5. Revision could also mean a new version of something – an update and remix if it was a song. We studied before how God actually calls us His poem – a masterful work of art that He is writing. He has the right to suggest to us how we might improve ourselves and more closely fulfill His intended work in our lives.
      6. And next we have the meaning of – restudying, something that every Christian should be willing to do. I was going to say something along the lines that most people study how to drive more than how to be a Christian, and have a good relationship with God… however I have been driving on American roads for several months now and I feel that perhaps the way people drive suggests that they have not studied how to drive, and are causing people to pray more often. It’s a bit mixed up.
   2. The second part I was suggesting on this particular take of the word is to add a hyphen and make the word RE – Vision.
      1. Habakkuk 2:1-3I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

² And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

³ For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

2. Genesis 15:1

After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

 

1. This now brings us to Rebound.
2. Rebound means to bounce back,
3. To spring or bounce back after hitting or colliding with something.
4. To recover, as from depression or disappointment.
5. To reecho; resound. In any situation, if you find that you somehow fell away from the course and direction you know you are supposed to go, REBOUND. Pick yourself up. Dust yourself off, Set your eyes on the course ahead of you and then get going again.

C.  The great thing about GRACE is that it is God helping us to run our RACE.

D.  Grace is not there to allow us to sin, Grace is there to give us FORGIVENESS if we get things wrong, while we work on getting things RIGHT.

1. Ephesians 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his gracein his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

 

Next week we will be looking at the last class

 

1. Repent and proceed with the original plan as if nothing ever happened.
2. Remain – Stay connected with Him as much as possible throughout your day. Say Good morning to Him when you wake up, goodnight to Him when you fall asleep.
3. Repeat – As often as needed – be willing to start over until you have mastered the basics as a matter of habit, and your relationship with Him is as strong as ever.

 

 

Relationship with God lesson 11

 

 

1. Repent and proceed with the original plan as if nothing ever happened.
2. Remain – Stay connected with Him as much as possible throughout your day. Say Good morning to Him when you wake up, goodnight to Him when you fall asleep.
3. Repeat – As often as needed – be willing to start over until you have mastered the basics as a matter of habit, and your relationship with Him is as strong as ever.

 

1. After a rebound situation it is more often then not – our own conscience that holds us back, or the familiar voice of the enemy reminding us what we did wrong. Your relationship with God will only get better from these types of situations, because we have God’s own words concerning how HE feels about us after we have repented of something we have done wrong.
   1. Psalm 103:12 – Asfar as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
   2. Revelation 3:18-20 ¹⁸ I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
   3. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come torepent
   4. 1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is commonto man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way toescape, that ye may be able to bear it.
   5. Hebrews 12:8 But if ye be withoutchastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
2. God corrects us because He loves us and wants the best for our life. – As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
   1. When you repent from something it is because you did something wrong, that basically means that from that time forward you do your best to not to that thing again. More than likely you will repeat the issue until you learn better.
   2. Like a child learning not to stick your finger in the socket – sometimes it takes a bit of time and realization that something’s are told to you so that you know beforehand and other times you will just have to learn that if the bad thing happens every time you to this, that eventually you will learn not to do that anymore. How much more so when God is helping you through it for your sake and His. Your relationship with God picks right back up again from where you left off… the next part of that scripture says so…
   3. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
      1. God immediately invites Himself over when the house is clean again and you have nothing to be ashamed of any longer to reestablish your relationship and communion with Him once again.
      2. 1 Corinthians 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
   4. Repentance is an act of the heart and not just the head. You can choose to do better, but out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. When you talk to God about the things in your life, do you mention the things that you want help changing or only the things that you want Him to know about and gifts you want Him to bless you with?
      1. God has the role of being a FATHER to us, a Savior, and a Friend, and a Comforter in times of need.
      2. DO not think for one moment that He does not know what issues we face in life, or our own flesh, the Bible says He knows what we have need of before we even ASK, and that He was tempted in life in every way that we are.
      3. Remember we also just read how that with anything any test in life that comes our way – He will help us pass the test because we will not face ANYTHING that we are not able to overcome.
      4. We often worry that God will send us to do things far greater than our own strength – Yet He has promised us to Help us, Guide us, and keep us only in battles we can WIN. Good news, we can win any battle that ever comes our way!
   5. Remain connected to God. That seems like the most simple thing in the World to do. Yet it is because of the World we live in that it is one of the most difficult things to do.
      1. What you read, listen to, talk about, watch, entertain, and study will all lead you closer to God or futher away from Him. It is up to you to choose to seek God and keep that connection alive.
      2. Amos 5:14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and sotheLord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.
      3. Psalm 9:10 Andthey that know thy name will puttheir trust in thee: for thou,Lord, hast not forsaken them

that seek thee.

1. Proverbs 8:17 I love them that loveme; and those that seekme early shall findme.
2. God is on your side.
3. If you are born again, He is now your Father, Jesus is now your advocate and He is trying to help you with Everything in your life. Let Him.
4. Remain in HIM and remain connected to Him and you will see things get easier in your life. Your relationship with God should be the one thing that helps everything else in your life.
5. “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” -C.S. Lewis
6. John 15:7 If yeabidein me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
7. Repeat. Read over these notes, make notes of your own and be willing to take any steps, make any effort that you and God decide is best to remain IN HIM and not to waver. Get into new habits that help your Relationship with God and do your best to get out of the bad habits that we all have.

         A. Hebrews 12:1-3

12 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

² Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

³ For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.