Day 3 Week 1 "Life's Greatest Pursuit"

[russhutto]

Day 3!

Life's Greatest Pursuit

Glad to see those of you on board already! If you want, shoot a tweet or facebook status inviting others to join you. I know they'll be late but they can jump in and catch up!

1) Central passage(s):

Ecclesiastes 4:4
John 15:16
Romans 8:29
Jeremiah 29:10-14
Proverbs 2:1-6
Philippians 3:10

My Daily Response:

Write out Romans 12:2 - think about how Paul's counsel points us toward a deeper knowledge of God's "good, pleasing and perfect will."

Being conformed to the patterns of this world kind of makes into "world" zombies. We don't see or even experience God's good will for our lives. But being transformed by the continual renewing of our minds opens our eyes to what God's will is and it also allows us to experience it as well. I kind of see it like this: as a world zombie you miss out on God's will, because you're not equipped to even recognize (test) it.

My Daily Meditation:

Romans 11:33-36

Meditate on this refrain of "One Day" (by J. Wilbur Chapman):

Living, He loved me; dying He saved me;
Buried, He carried my sins far away;
Rising, He justified freely forever;
One day He's coming - O glorious day!

What an amazing thought! My prayer is that I will continue to renew my mind. Lord, help me have discipline and action that is born out of love for You. A desire that moves me to renew my mind with Your Word so that those times when specific actions are asked of me I can see them and test them as Your will and act on and experience Your perfect and pleasing will in my life!

[BobbiR]

Though I do not have my book yet I find todays passages quite reassuring. It is great to know that it has nothing to do with us but it is because of who God is that determined why we serve Him. Thank you GOD!

My Daily Response:

Very Interesting scripture to ponder on (Romans 12:2). I see it that this world is all about the "I" mentality and "Can I get it NOW". In ministry we are called to something different. We are all about "God" and worshiping Him. We are on God's time and not our own. The world depends on its resources and we depend on God's resources. The world is about being disconnected while the Church is about establishing Connections. As long as we are being transformed by our relationship with the Father then our heart follows, thus do our actions and responses to this world. We set the example.

My Daily Meditation:

God continually transform me and show me who I am in You. Give me a heart that is connected to you so much so that I feel your heart beat. Allow me to love what you love. Renew my mind so that my thoughts,actions, and deeds are reflective of you. Thank you GOD!

[Wannabe a Worshiper]

Central passages

It is so easy for us, even as believers, to focus on the wrong things, to let the world's mirage entice us, to look back over our shoulder to the life we were redeemed from, much like ancient Israel did repeatedly. If we hope to hear God say, "Well done," we have to gain knowledge from the Word and apply it to our lives.

Interesting point that the "bull's eye" on a dart board isn't the target to aim for, just like all the distractions aren't the target we are to aim for. But unless we know the rules, the objective, and the strategy, we will aim for the wrong target.

My Daily Response

The paraphrase of the Bible called "The Living Bible" translates the beginning of Romans 12:2 "Don't let the world squeeze you into its mold." That is exactly what far too many of us believers allow to happen.

I like the part of the verse that says to "be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Think of the "Transformer" toys. They start out as a truck or something, and transform into a super-hero. When we become believers, God puts into us the ability to be transformed from who/what we were into who/what He wants for us to become. Beautiful!

My Daily Meditation

Lord, I confess that I do not yet know you as I should, and I do not love you or obey you as you demand. I have dreams of fortune and fame that I must let go of.
Give me the courage to let go of my dreams, so I can grab hold of your promises.

Here is a link to Casting Crowns version of the hymn referenced in today's study.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXp6xcY5IqU

Tom

[efrisch]

Central Passages

This is something that God has really been putting on my mind recently. I love the dart analogy, because it's so easy to believe we're aiming for the right spot, yet still be throwing the dart at the wrong one. (As a side note - I played a LOT of darts with friends in high school and still have a dart board somewhere in a closet, but never really thought about the fact that the bullseye isn't the highest scoring space on the board until tonight!) The sad part is that, as demonstrated in today's passages, God really makes himself incredibly accessible and available to us. All we have to do is seek wholeheartedly and we will find. He's not hiding anywhere. Even knowing that, I still find myself aiming at the wrong target more often than I'd like.

I think there's a real danger present both for individual Christians and for the church as a whole in our desire for cultural relevance. Yes, we need to be present in the world we live in, but we have to be really careful that we're not shifting our target to worldly things.

My Daily Response

I'm reminded of the old worship tune "Holiness". The final verse of that song talks about our need for brokenness in order to let our lives be conformed to the will of God. I don't think I have any grand delusions of fame or fortune, but I fear that brokenness. God has been stretching me in the past 6 months or so with the idea that following Him could potentially mean putting Him above not only fortune and fame, but things that I consider basic or essential comforts in this world. This has been a very challenging idea, and one that I think I'm really still in the infancy stages with. This study is going to be very good for me in that respect.

My Daily Meditation

Jesus, help me to give you my thoughts, goals, and dreams that they might be conformed to Yours. Help me to find fuller life and deeper faith in surrender. Amen.