John 14:18-21 I will not leave you as orphans…The one who loves me will be loved by my Father...” NIV
I will not leave you as orphans but will adopt you as sons and daughters introducing you to the Father’s transformational love.
Helpful graph from the book, Slavery To Sonship by Jack and Trisha Frost.
The orphan heart is easily distracted with counterfeit affections: addictions, compulsions, escapism, busyness, hyper-religious activity, etc. This stems from believing that the busier we are the more worthy we are of the Father’s love.
It is way too easy to miss the things that matter the most.
There was a news report of a man who was using a metal detector to find hidden treasure. He literally dug himself into a twelve-foot hole before finally realizing the metal detector was not detecting something under the ground. It was detecting his steel toe boots. He was digging for what he already had, and this is many people’s problem.
When sons and daughters aren’t secure in their inheritance they think and act like orphans in constant pursuit of the Father’s love which they already have.
The orphan attitude perpetuates self-absorbed spiritual weakness rather than Christ-centered spiritual strength.
Are you focusing on Jesus or are you distracted with other pursuits?
John 19:23-24 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be. "This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, "They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. "So the soldiers did these things. ESV
Ps 22:18
These soldiers were just a few feet away from the greatest treasure the world has ever known. Instead of beholding the eternal treasure of Christ they were trying their luck at gaining the treasure of this world.
We can be in the presence of the greatest treasure of all and be so focused on earthly pursuits that we completely miss what matters the most.
It is culturally common to live with an attitude of lack or want. This is a constant feeling of, “not enough.” We wake up feeling like we didn’t get enough sleep. We go through our day feeling like we didn’t have enough time. We go to bed feeling like we didn’t get enough done.
It is way too easy to miss the things that matter the most. So how are you making time for the things that truly matter? How are you making time for the things that speak of eternal treasure?
Priorities aren’t priorities unless you pursue them more than other things. God is moving us from merely having a Christian label to truly pursuing a Christian life.
This is a life with total focus on the mission, message, and ministry of Jesus. This is why we love, serve and give so sacrificially desiring to see God’s Kingdom expand. God has always purposed tithes and offerings as an expression of worship from the family of God in the earth. You can give online at https://destinyokc.com/donate.
God is longing for a people whose hearts are in deep fellowship with him. Part of devoting our affection to Him is to purpose our treasure where we want our hearts to go (Matthew 6:21).
Psalm 16:8 I am always aware of the Lord's presence; he is near, and nothing can shake me. (Good News Translation)
Focusing on the mission of Jesus as our highest priority brings our attention to the eternal things that truly matter. This is a highly relational movement that is deeply devoted to pursuing Jesus with others as a true expression of discipleship.
We Bring GP2RL Action Point:
Make the time to reflect on the true treasure of Christ and his sacrificial nature this week as you read John 19.
SPIRITUAL WELLNESS: TRUE TREASURE
DISCUSSION GUIDE
Click here for a downloadable pdf file of this guide.
When the sons and daughters of God possess a healthy perspective fruitfulness results and the world becomes a better place.
The spirit of Ishmael (heart of an orphan) wars against the spirit of Isaac (heart of a son). This seems to be the dominating spiritual battle on the earth.
John 14:18-21 “I will not leave you as orphans… The one who loves me will be loved by my Father...” NIV
God’s plan is for us to hear the Father’s voice together as a family. This is why we start each group with this as our first question:
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. Where are you reading in your Bible and what are you sensing from God in this season of your life?
2. What is something you treasured as a child that you no longer treasure the same way?
Over time our interests change. Hopefully we mature beyond immature appetites and desires. It’s easy to focus on the wrong things causing us to miss the right things that can be right there within our reach.
John 19:23-24 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things. ESV
These soldiers were just a few feet away from the greatest treasure the world has ever known. Instead of beholding the eternal treasure of Christ they were trying their luck at gaining the treasure of this world.
We can be in the presence of the greatest treasure of all and be so focused on earthly treasure that we completely miss what God is doing.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
3. What is something you want to treasure more than you do right now in your current season of life?
4. How can you do this over the course of this next week?
Focusing on the mission of Jesus as our highest priority brings our attention to the eternal things that truly matter. This is a highly relational movement that is deeply devoted to pursuing Jesus with others as a true expression of discipleship.
We Bring GP2RL Action Point:
Make the time to reflect on the true treasure of Christ and his sacrificial nature this week as you read John 19.
Perhaps you can take the time to read John 19 together before you conclude as a group.