Alright, here are some of the notes:
Subject: Two Questions That Changed My Life
Question 1: What would someone who is exactly like you and exactly where you are do if they were absolutely confident that God was with them? (asked by Andy Stanley)
Text: Genesis 39 - 47 (we paraphrased and skipped around a bit. We pretty much went through Joseph's story).
- Believing God is with you doesn't "make" Him there. He's always been there, but problems and things in life can make us blind to the fact and cause us to act in ways that reflect the fact that we don't really believe He is there. We often times miss God. Only when we expect it do we experience it. Only when we look for Him and His hand in the situation do we find Him.
- This is bigger than we realize, because when you're totally confident in the FACT that God is with you, what do you fear? Who do you fear? What is their to worry about? God is the greatest power?do we still view Him that way? Or has He become just another factor in our trivial life?
- Potiphar, a powerful political force, purchased Joseph from his slave owners (the Ishmeelites). Having such a po- werful force as his master spelled doom for Joseph, but Genesis 39:2 gives us the game changing factor of it all: "And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man, and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian".
Not only that, but this factor shined so brightly in Joseph, that the next verse tells us this?
"And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand."
When you are fully convinced that God is with you, during life's mountaintops and even during life's valley lows, when things are going great and when all hell is breaking loose?when you are fully convinced that God is with you, whatever your lot may be (because He is) it becomes evident in the way you walk, the way you talk, and most importantly in the way you react. It's the light that sits on the hill of your life?it can't be hidden. Others notice. And when they notice, they take heed to it. Potiphar, with all of his political prowess and power, took heed to the evidence that God was with Joseph and therefore placed confidence in Joseph, causing Joseph to rise among the ranks of the estate and become an elite member of Potiphar's household.
Trouble arose for Joseph again after Potiphar's wife tried to get Joseph to sleep with her. Joseph refused causing the wife to slander him. Potiphar, of course, believed his wife and thus sent Joseph to prison. It pretty much should be over for Joseph at this point, right?
Take a moment and think about how Joseph must've felt. God promised him he would be prince and a ruler?and here he is in prison. As loyal as he's been to God, and it seems as if God has just been playing one big joke on him. That's often how we feel, isn't it? As loyal as we've been, it seems as if God is in the sky just getting one big kick out and watching us play a game of cat and mouse.
But theres that one game changing factor again: Genesis 39:21 = "And the Lord was with Joseph?"
Make a long story short, things worked out in Josephs favor to the point where Pharaoh needed a favor from him (interpret one of his dreams). Joseph obliged and, because of such, was made ruler over Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself. God promised to make Joseph a ruler despite the fact that it appeared humanly impossible for a Hebrew slave to be an egyptian ruler, but God made good on his promise. Joseph's dream was fulfilled. When all hell was breaking loose, Joseph could have easily given up?fallen into depression?thrown in the towel?turned his back on God thinking God had betrayed him?but he didn't.
Why?
Because he was a man that was confident of the fact that God was with Him. Through the good and the bad.
Joseph had faith. The most simple definition of faith I've ever heard = confidence that God is who He says He is and that He'll do what He says He'll do.
When things in life look hectic, it's not a sign that God is absent, but a sign that He is ACTIVE. The simple definition of faith = believing God is who He says He is and that He'll do what He says He will do. That's the purest form of worship...when you have nothing to hang your faith on except the character and person of God. No signs, no dreams, no prophecies - just who God is and what He said He'll do.
Question 2: Do you love God because He makes much of you, or do you love God because, through His son, He has freed you to make much of HIM? (asked by John Piper)
Texts:
Ephesians 1:5-6
Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the beloved.
Isaiah 43:7
Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.
Romans 15:8-9
For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God's truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy as it is written, "Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to your name".
2 Corinthians 5:15
And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
The common theme = God's glory. Christ was sent to die a horrific death to free us from bondage, not so we could spend our life making much of ourselves, glorifying our name and seeking the spotlight for ourselves, but so that we would spend life making much of HIM.
Being concerned about what other people think of you is something that should cease, because you're not here to make much of your reputation. You're not here to make your name glorious and fabulous. You're here to make much of God. So it doesn't matter what they say or think about you, because it's not about you?it's all about Him. It's all about making much of Him. Making a big deal out of God.
Living this way should effect our prayer life. When we pray, often times we pray telling God, "God, I want you here, but not here. I want your help and advice here, but I'm gonna handle this part over here by myself. You can take over here, but I'm gonna do my own thing over here?". This is a co-pilot image of God. Prayer is not a session for God to give you advice. Living this kind of life where you love God because He's freed you to make much of Him means, when you pray, you give God a blank check. You will be done in EVERY area. Even those ares I think I have under control. Even in those areas where I kind of know what I should do, but it goes against what I want to do. Even in those ares where I'm afraid to ask your will be done because I know or I fear you're going to make me do something or go somewhere I really don't want to go. A blank check?in EVERY are of your life. This is the only way to hear from God. When He is at the center of it all. "God doesn't just want to answer our questions during prayer, he wants to speak into our entire life. Sometimes you don't need to ask God for something, you just need to know something. Be still and know that I am God." (-Quote by Andy Stanley).
The other day on LGM, I posted a topic and posed a question. I asked, why is it that in life, when you want something to happen it never happens. When you're looking for something, often times you can't remember where you placed it. When there's a certain person you would love to see, you never see them. Things don't happen until that moment when you put it out of your mind. When you're not looking for that item, that's when it pops up overtime you turn around. When you're not expecting something, that's when it shows up. When you've totally put that job hunt out of your mind, that's when the job offers begin rolling in. Why is this so?
I thought about it for about a week, and I don't claim to have the perfect, correct answer, but I believe that one of the reasons this occurs so frequently is because God won't allow us to use Him as a means to anything. When those things we seek remain in the forefront of our mind, they find themselves in a spot that belongs to God. He belongs in the forefront of our minds, but often times we allow these things to take his place?and the longer they stay there, the more they grow until they become fully fledged idols. Then getting rid of them is a bigger burden than it should be because first we must become apt to the fact that we've fallen into idolatry, and that's always the hardest part. Realizing and, most of all, admitting that you've fallen into idolatry is the hardest part of it. Then comes the point where we must fight to break free from this addiction. It's like a cycle. And it all starts when we attempt to use God as a means to an end. The end is receiving whatever it is we seek or desire and the means is God. We use Him to get to that thing.
But when those things cease to be a concern to us, God can trust our ability to be disconnected enough that the threat of idolatry ceases. We show him that, while the thing is important to us, it's never important enough for us to obsess over, thus falling into idolatry. It's never important enough to replace His reign in the forefront of our minds. Our goal in life remains to make much of Him?so even if He doesn't give us what we want, as long as he equips us to make much of Him, that's sufficient enough. Great faith = great surrender.
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