We recapped our homework from 11/20 (kinda - most everyone forgot!) and talked about making the kingdom of God real in our lives practically today. We also talked about living not to hoard & consume but to share and give. The one exception was our relationship with God which we said we should guard selfishly! If our cup isn't full, we have nothing to give.
Matthew 7:7 was our starting point for the evening, here's a few of the notes.
- we don't ask God for enough. Pride is the barrier. Our self-sufficiency and desire to be 'big' will prevent growth in our relationship with God.
- the question was asked what separates us from having a relationship with God like Moses, Abraham, David etc... we decided too many things satisfy us, so we end up being satisfied with just the table scraps in our relationship with God. The point was made that we need to stop letting temporary idols satisfy us, so we can be hungry for God. The distinction was also made that once we find him not to be satisfied with finding, but to continually, relentlessly pursue Him more.
- we noticed that willpower was not enough to ever bring lasting change in our lives - only the spirit of God can change us.
- Justin asked why we resist the Holy Spirit as he is working with us so much - we discussed David's battle with Goliath not being his great victory, but the years he spent running from Saul in the caves, many times alone in despair was where David was forged into the man after God's own heart. Our valleys and pain give the same opportunity, but we don't like going through them!
- we tied in Matthew 7:12 (Golden Rule) with the Great Commandment since Jesus talks about both of them 'fulfilling the law and the prophets'. We decided you can't do one without the other.
- Mike brought up a great point about eternal perspective which opened a whole can of worms about what that means, and how we can have it. Nate's retread quote from Fight Club - "To let that which does not matter truly slide..." We discussed that part of having an eternal perspective is having an honest, accurate view of ourselves (by asking God for it) and knowing what our idols are. Once we have identified them, we must remove them so they no longer satisfy us, and in the process we can create space for God to fill.
We talked about relating with God like we would to a person we just started dating. As strange as that may sound to some of you, its an apt illustration. We need to stop hearing what everyone else has to say about who God is, and what He likes, and instead have some 'date' time with Him ourselves. Find out for ourselves who He is, what He likes, what makes Him smile...
Loving God doesn't happen overnight. It starts with seeing His love for you. Which if your like me makes you curious enough to begin to explore who He is, and why He would love someone like you. As you begin to see Him, the lights begin to come on, and you begin to see your own brokenness... But God doesn't leave you that way. He likes to put our broken pieces back together, and then we see Him a little bit more of who He is and the whole process starts over again...
If you're interested in a cool way to read the Word the I really enjoy, click here to check out 'lecto divina' or literally 'sacred reading'.
Good times, great input tonight guys. Was a huge blessing to me! Looking forward to next week!
Until then, don't be satisfied with table scraps!
Reading for next week: we'll pick it up with Matthew 7:13
Peace to you,
-davey
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