PDL 22 (1/16/2017)

  • You were created to become like Christ.
  • Only human beings are made in God's image
    • Spiritual beings, intellectual, relational, moral consciousness.
  • All people, not just believers, possess part of the image of God - that's why murder and abortion are wrong.
  • God wants his children to bear His image and likeness too
    • NOTE: you will NEVER become God or even a god. It's a self-centered attempt to control our circumstances, our future, and people around us.
    • God wants you to become godly - to take on His values, attitudes, and character
  • God's ultimate goal for your life is not comfort, but character development.
    • Becoming like Christ is about transforming your character, not your personality.
    • Life is supposed to be difficult. It's what enables us to grow.
    • God gives us our time on earth to build and strengthen our character for heaven.
  • It is the Holy Spirit's job to produce Christlike character in you.
    • Sanctification: process of changing us to be more like Jesus = third purpose of our lives
    • Can’t reproduce the character of Jesus by your own strength. Only the Holy Spirit has the power to make the changes God wants to make in our lives.
    • Usually released in your life in quiet, unassuming ways. A gentle whisper.
  • Christlikeness is produced by inhabitation
    • Through the choices we make. We choose to do the right thing in situations and then trust God's Spirit to give us his power, love, faith, and wisdom to do it. Because God's Spirit lives inside of us, these things are always available for the asking.
  • The Holy Spirit releases his power the moment you take a step of faith.
    • Obedience unlocks God's power.
    • God waits for you to act first. Move ahead in your weakness, doing the right thing in spite of your fears and feelings. This is how your character develops.
    • While effort has nothing to do with your salvation, it has much to do with your spiritual growth.
      • First, we must choose to let go of old ways of acting.
      • Second, we must change the way we think.
      • Third, we must put on the character of Christ by developing new, godly habits.
  • God's Word provides the truth we need to grow, God's people provide the support we need to grow, and circumstances provide the environment we need to practice Christlikeness.
    • God uses people. He usually prefers to work through people rather than perform miracles, so that we will depend on each other for fellowship. He wants us to grow together.
  • Spiritual maturity is a long, slow process of growth.
    • God is far more interested in building your character than He is anything else.
    • What God cares about most is that whatever you do, you do in a Christlike manner.
      • You will take your character into eternity, not your career.
  • QTC: I need to ask the Spirit to help me be like Christ in all of my relationships. In how I treat my friends, family, co-workers, even strangers. I need help learning to drop my ego and leave it down.

 

 

PDL 23 (1/17/2017)

  • God wants you to grow up.
    • Spiritual growth takes intentional commitment.
    • Discipleship is the process of becoming like Christ
      • It starts with a decision to put Christ first.
  • You must change the way you think. Behind everything you do is a thought. Every behavior is motivated by a belief, and every action is prompted by an attitude.
    • "Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts."
    • Willpower does not work because you are trying to actively work against an ingrained way of thinking, and eventually you will run out of willpower and revert back to your old ways.
      • That's why New Year's resolutions don't work. You have to change your way of thinking.
  • Repentance = changing the way you think by adopting how God thinks - about yourself, sin, God, other people, life, your future, and everything else.
    • You take on Christ's outlook and perspective.
    • You must 1) give up selfish thinking
    • You must 2) start thinking maturely by thinking of others
  • Christianity is not a religion or a philosophy, but a relationship and a lifestyle.
  • QTC: I need to stop thinking about my way and start thinking about God's way when it comes to relationships. I keep trying to force a certain way with girls when I should just let Him lead me to find someone who matches and encompasses what is right for me.

 

 

PDL 24 (1/18/2017)

  • "God decided to give us life through the word of truth so we might be the most important of all the things He made."
  • We can't live without the Word of God. Never take it for granted. You should consider it as essential to your life as food.
  • I must accept its authority.
    • Ask yourself, "What does the Bible say?" when making ANY decision.
  • I must assimilate its truth.
    • You must receive it with an open, receptive attitude.
    • Reading the Bible everyday will keep you in range of God's voice.
  • I must research/study the Bible.
    • The difference bt reading and studying the bible involves: ASKING questions and WRITING down insights.
    • The secret of good Bible study is simply learning to ask the right questions.
  • I must remember God's Word.
    • You will take the time to remember what is important to you.
    • You can write down a few verses each day and read them aloud each day.
    • "Remember what Christ taught and let his words enrich your lives and make you wise."
  • I must reflect on God's Word.
    • Meditation is focused thinking. It takes serious effort. You select a verse and reflect on it over and over in your mind.
    • No other habit can do more to transform your life and make you more like Jesus than daily reflection on Scripture.
    • God called David a "man after my own heart" is because David loved to reflect on His Word. "How I love your teachings! I reflect on them all day long."
  • I must apply God's Word.
    • Without implementation, all of Bible study is worthless.
    • The truth will set you free, but first it may make you miserable! God's Word exposes our motives, points out our faults, rebukes our sin, and expects us to change. It's human nature to resist change, so applying God's Word is hard work.
    • It is very very very important to be a part of a Bible study group.
    • Write down an action step for what you are reflecting on.
  • QTC: I haven't started tithing yet. I haven't starting rebuilding certain relationships yet, not with Mike or Nataliya. Those are the worst ones that come to mind, but don't seem to add any value. Rebuilding a relationship with Armando, Will, [a certain attending], Izabela, etc seems to be more reflective of what God seems to be looking for. Start closer to home and fix the bigger relationships in my daily life before venturing out to fix long lost relationships that I won't keep right now anyway.

 

 

PDL 25 (1/19/2017)

  •  God has a purpose behind every problem.
  • Every problem that we run into is an opportunity to improve our character. It is when we suffer the most that we learn to pray our most authentic, heartfelt, honest-to-God prayers.
    • Problems force us to look to God and depend on Him instead of ourselves.
    • You will never know that God is all you need until God is all you've got.
    • None of your problems could happen without God's permission.
    • EVERYTHING that happens to you has spiritual significance.
  • Everything God allows to happen in your life is permitted for the purpose of becoming like Christ.
  • The bigger the problem, the greater potential for building spiritual muscle and moral fiber.
    • "We know that these troubles produce patience. And patience produces character."
      • What happens outwardly in your life is not as important as what happens inside you.
    • Trials help you become pure. How do you know when silver is pure? "When you can see your reflection in it."
  • God takes you through the same experiences Jesus went through - loneliness, temptation, stress, criticism, rejection, etc. Jesus learned obedience through suffering and was made perfect through suffering.
  • Sometimes problems make people bitter instead of better, and they never grow up.
    • It is vital that you stay focused on God's plan, not your pain or problem. That's how Jesus endured the pain of the cross.
  • "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV)
  • We can also rejoice in knowing that God is going through the pain with us. He enters into our suffering.
  • "Let the process go on until your endurance is fully developed, and you will find that you have become men of mature character… with no weak spots." James 1:3-4 (PH)
  • "You need to stick it out, staying with God's plan so you'll be therefor the promised completion." Hebrews 10:36 (MSG)
  • QTC: My relationship with Julie had undeniably caused the greatest growth in me, and everything I do today is still a reflection of that. Maybe not the relationship itself but the friction we had on several levels.

 

 

PDL 26 (1/20/2017)

  • Every temptation is an opportunity to do good.
  • God develops the fruit of the Spirit in your life by allowing you to experience circumstances in which you're tempted to express the exact opposite quality. Character development always involves a choice, and temptation provides that opportunity.
    • God teaches us love by putting unlovely people around us. It takes no character to love people who are lovely and loving to you.
    • God teaches us real joy in the midst of sorrow, when we turn to Him. Happiness depends on external circumstances, but joy is based on your relationship with God.
    • God develops real peace within us by allowing chaos and confusion. We learn real peace by choosing to trust God in circumstances in which we are tempted to worry or be afraid.
    • Patience is learned in circumstances where we are tempted to be angry or have a short fuse.
    • Integrity is built by defeating the temptation to be dishonest. Humility grows when we refuse to be prideful.
    • Every time you defeat a temptation, you become more like Jesus!
  • Satan works in a very predictable way.
    • It starts with a desire in your mind.
    • Satan then tries to get you to doubt what God has said about the sin.
    • Deception with lies or half-truth. "Everybody else is doing it. It's only a little sin."
      • A little sin is like being a little pregnant: It will eventually show itself.
    • Disobedience - what began as an idea gets birthed into behavior.
      • Sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death.
  • You will NEVER outgrow temptation.
    • Satan does not have to tempt those who are already doing his evil will; they are already his.
    • Temptation is a sign that Satan hates you, not a sign of weakness.
    • "Remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience."
    • Temptation only becomes a sign when you give into it.
      • You can't keep the Devil from suggesting thoughts, but you CAN choose not to dwell or act on them.
      • Lust is a deliberate act of the will. It's a choice to commit in your mind what you’d like to do with your body.
  • Identify your typical pattern of temptation and then prepare to avoid those situations as much as possible.
    • Wise planning reduces temptation.
  • Request God's help.
    • "Call on me in times of trouble. I will rescue you, and you will honor me."
    • Jesus understands our weaknesses because he faced all of the temptations that we do, yet he did not sin.
    • Temptation wins in the moment we think we know what's best for us more than God does.
  • QTC: Humility is the biggest Christlike character quality that I need to develop. My deadly sin is Pride. I need to think of myself less often and spend more time thinking about other people.

 

 

PDL 27 (1/21/2017) - Defeating Temptation

  • There is always a way out.
    • God has promised never to allow more on you than He puts within you to handle it.
  • Refocus your attention on something else.
    • We are not told to resist temptation. We are advise to refocus our attention because resisting thought doesn't work.
    • Every time you try to block a thought out of your mind, you drive it deeper into your memory.
      • By resisting it, you actually reinforce it.
      • That's why saying things like "I shouldn't eat this or that" doesn't work.
    • Temptation always begins with a thought, so the quickest way to neutralize it is to turn your attention to something else.
      • Don't fight the thought, just change the channel of your mind and get interested in another idea.
      • The battle for sin is won or lost in your mind.
    • Sometimes that means physically leaving a tempting situation. This is the one time it is okay to run away.
    • "Fix your thoughts on Jesus." "Always think about Jesus."
    • "Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts."
  • Reveal your struggle to a godly friend or support group.
    • If you're losing the battle against a persistent bad habit, an addiction, or a temptation, and you’re stuck in a repeating cycle of good intention-failure-guilt, you will not get better on your own!
    • Authentic, honest fellowship is the antidote to your lonely struggle against those sins that won't budge.
      • Revealing your feeling is the beginning of healing.
      • Hiding your hurt only intensifies it. Problems grow in the dark, but shrink in the light of truth.
      • You are only as sick as your secrets.
    • We all fight the same temptations.
    • The reason we hide our faults is PRIDE.
      • We want others to think we have everything under control. Truth is, whatever you can't talk about is already out of control in your life.
      • Yes, it is humbling to admit our weaknesses to others, but lack of humility is the very thing that is keeping you from getting better.
      • "God sets himself against the proud, but He shows favor to the humble. So humble yourselves before God."
  • Resist the Devil.
    • We don't passively resign to his attacks. We fight back.
    • "Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
      • Helmet of salvation (accepting God) ensures that our minds are protected by God.
    • Use the Word of God as your weapon against Satan.
    • Don't ever try to argue with the Devil. He's better at arguing than you are, having had thousands of years to practice.
      • This is why memorizing scripture is so important. Use the truth of God to fight back.
      • Challenge yourself to learn one verse a week for the rest of your life.
  • Realize your vulnerability.
    • God warns us to never get cocky and overconfident; that is a recipe for disaster.
    • "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure." That means we are good at fooling ourselves. Given the right circumstances, any of us are capable of any sin. We must never let down our guard and think we're beyond temptation.
    • Don't carelessly place yourself in tempting situations. Avoid them. Remember that it is easy to stay out of temptation than to get out of it.
  • QTC: I could ask Sam or Dan to pray for me. Sam probably needs a little more work himself, so I may want to ask Dan to keep my grounded, and I'll work on keeping Sam grounded.

 

 

PDL 28 (1/22/2017) - It Takes Time

  • There are no shortcuts to maturity.
    • Spiritual growth takes a lot of time and God cares more about how strong you become rather than how fast you get there. He's never in a rush about it.
  • Christ will "soften us up" with problems we can't handle on our own before invading our lives.
    • When you open up to Christ, it's like he finally has a beachhead in your life.
    • You may think you have surrendered all your life to him, but the truth is, there is a lot to your life that you aren't even aware of. You can only give God as much of you as you understand at that moment. He will keep laying siege to the island until He has taken over your entire life. There will always be struggles and battles, but the outcome is never in doubt.
  • The journey will last a lifetime.
    • Everyday, God wants you to become a little more like Him.
    • Growth is gradual. It is never the result of a single experience.
  • God prefers to work in incremental steps in our lives. Why?
    • We are slow learners. We need repeated exposure before we finally learn something.
    • We have a lot to unlearn.
      • There is no pill, prayer, or principle that will instantly undo the damage of many years. It requires the hard work or removal and replacement.
    • We are afraid to humbly face the truth about ourselves.
      • Only as God is allowed to shine the light of his truth on our faults, failures, and hand-ups can we begin to work on them. This is why you cannot grow without a humble, teachable attitude.
    • Growth is often painful and scary.
      • There is no growth without change; there is no change without fear or loss; there is no loss without pain.
      • People often build their identity around their defects. Fear can slow down your growth.
    • Habits take time to develop.
      • You can't claim to be kind unless you are habitually kind. You are kind without thinking about it.
      • You can't claim to have integrity unless it is your habit to ALWAYS be honest. A husband who is faithful to his wife most of the time is not faithful at all!
      • You must practice them, and that takes TIME. There are no instant habits.
        • "Practice these things. Devote your life to them so that everyone can see your progress."
        • Repetition is the mother of character and skill.
    • Believe God is working in your life even if you don't feel it.
      • "Everything on earth has its own time and its own season."
        • There are seasons of your spiritual life too. Sometimes you will have a short, intense burst of growth (springtime) followed by a period of stabilizing and testing (fall and winter).
    • Keep a notebook or journal of lessons learned.
      • Record what you are learning.
      • Record all the lessons that God is teaching you so that you may review and remember them and pass them on to the next generation.
        • The reason we must relearn lessons is that we forget them.
        • Reviewing your spiritual journal regularly can spare you a lot of unnecessary pain and heartache.
    • Be patient with yourself and with God.
      • One of life's frustrations is that God's timetable is rarely the same as ours.
      • Remember that God is never in a hurry, but He is always on time.
        • He will use your entire lifetime to prepare you for your role in eternity.
      • Great souls are grown through struggles and storms and seasons of suffering. Be patient with the process.
        • "Don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed."
    • Don't get discouraged.
      • "These things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!"
      • Please Be Patient, God Is Not Finished With Me Yet.
  • QTC: I need to be more patient and persistent with the relationships in my life. I cannot rush friendship or romance. Building relationships with people takes time and is won in little battles over time. Out of that will come the ones that truly bring happiness and lasting love.

 

 

Week 3: You were Formed for God's Family

Week 5: You were Shaped for Serving God

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