You can spread $1.00 one hundred places but when you do this the maximum value you have to offer is a penny. Somewhere you have to stop spreading yourself so thin embracing the greater value of certain priorities that deserve more of an investment of your attention. Ultimately, the value of your life is determined by how it is divided.
The pursuit of more causes us to settle for less.
We don’t need more information to distract us we need less information for focus. Consecration requires concentration as we focus on eliminating temporal distractions.
Adam and Eve, in their disobedience, were suddenly processing things they were never supposed to be processing. Who told you that you were naked. You were designed to live in a confident awareness of God and suddenly you are now focusing on your fleshly existence?
Rick Warren said, “Prayer is relaxing into God's goodness?” God is inviting us into a deeper understanding of abiding in him. Often I have spoken of the verse referencing how we don’t need a man to teach us because the anointing teaches us. Pastor A.T. pointed out how this verse specifically speaks of the anointing teaching us to abide in Him.
1 John 2:27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. ESV
The Holy Spirit doesn’t work in power through programs. The Holy Spirit works in power through people. This power is the anointing and the anointing doesn’t come cheap. There is a price to pay. The more time you spend in the presence of God the more you become like him.
You really matter to God. People in your life really matter to God. It is vital that you are structuring your life in a way that people are your priority. I actually had someone tell me once, “We’re all wired differently and I just don’t like people.” My response to that is simply, none of us have to remain un-christlike in any area of our lives. It’s time to grow up and surrender to God’s loving ways.
Jesus shares three parables in one context about something that was lost: Lost sheep, lost coin and lost son. The first is the lost sheep.
Luke 15:4-7 Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. ESV
This theme continues with the lost coin and then the lost son. We never search for something that’s lost unless it has value. A bic pen just gets replaced with another cheap pen. But a pen you paid a high price for that is very nice is a pen you will search for if it is lost. Are we in touch with God’s passionate desire to love those in the context of our lives?
Private Desmond Doss walked into one of the bloodiest battles of World War II on Hacksaw Ridge. Less than 1/3 of the soldiers made it down the ridge but Desmond Doss refused to leave. Repeatedly going back into the direct line of fire, his prayer was, “Please Lord, help me get one more.”
He carried one soldier with no legs back to the ridge, lowering him down to the bottom. Back into the line of fire he brought another soldier who had been shot in the knee.
After each rescue he would pray that prayer, “Please Lord, help me get one more.” One by one, Desmond Doss rescued 75 men that had been left for dead at the top of Hacksaw Ridge. His relentless courage, his passionate love for his fellow man, and sacrificial perseverance helped the Americans to take Hacksaw Ridge and capture Okinawa.
The context of your life involves wounded and dying soldiers and many of them have no idea who their enemy truly is. May this be our prayer, “Please Lord, help me get one more.”
Our city will be transformed by sacrificial love and kindness of Christian hospitality long before it is ever transformed by sermons that we preach.
Your job is to simply be available to whatever the Lord is trying to get to those within your reach. The next time you see your water hose laying across your lawn be reminded. You are like this water hose. He is the source and you are just the avenue through which others receive the water of his Word and the presence of his love. Remember, EVERYWHERE WE GO, WE BRING GOD’S PRESENCE TO REAL LIFE.
GP2RL: Watch for grace in every direction this week as you cooperate with God’s plan to reach those who are lost and need to be found.
Lost and Found
DISCUSSION GUIDE
UNDERSTANDING THE SEASON: A shared meal could be the activity most closely tied to the reality of God’s kingdom, just as it is the most basic expression of hospitality. It comes as no surprise that many significant stories of Jesus are centered around a dinner table.
When Jesus wanted to explain to His disciples what his death was all about, he didn’t give them an informative lecture. He gave them a relational meal.
In a society that has grown so relationally disconnected, an invitation to Biblical hospitality might be one of the most compelling and irresistible aspects of Christianity. The heart of hospitality is about creating space for someone to feel seen and heard and loved. It’s about declaring your table a safe zone, a place of warmth and nourishment.
Great encouragement comes from rehearsing God’s Word. It is God’s plan for us to spend time drawing close to His heart and hearing His voice together as a family. This is why we start each meeting with this question first:
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
1. Where are you reading in your Bible and what are you sensing from God?
Ask each person in your group to answer the discussion questions below after reading the verses. Realize there is great power in just reading the Bible together and allowing the Holy Spirit to awaken his conversational nature in the group.
Luke 15:4-10 Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. 8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. NIV
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
2. Have each person give a 60 second summary of what these verses are saying, in their own words.
3. What do these verses teach us about God and about people?
4. What should you do this week in response to what we are reading and what God is revealing?
5. Who comes to mind when considering a person you might share this with this week?
Everywhere we go, we bring...
GP2RL: Watch for grace in every direction this week as you cooperate with God’s plan to reach those who are to be lost and found.