DAY 1-September 7, 2009
TITLE: “ARE YOU A GOOD LISTENER?”
WEEKLY SCRIPTURE
DAILY SCRIPTURE
KEY VERSE: “Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” II Corinthians 13:11
Are you a good listener? “Leadership” magazine suggested these seven questions to evaluate your listening skills.
1) Since you think
about four times faster than a person usually talks, do you use this time to
think about other things while you're keeping track of the conversation?
2) Do you listen primarily for facts rather than ideas when someone is
speaking?
3) Do you avoid listening to things you feel will be too difficult to
understand?
4) Can you tell from a person's appearance and delivery that there won't be
anything worthwhile said?
5) When someone is talking to you, do you appear to be paying attention when
you're not?
6) Do certain words and phrases prejudice you so you cannot listen objectively?
7) When listening are you distracted by outside sights
and sounds?
Listening requires giving our intentional attention to what is being communicated. The Apostle Paul is asking the church to listen and respond to what he has been saying. Paul was asking them to listen hard and carefully to what he had been saying to them. What hinders you from listening?
Writer, Charles Swindoll, once found himself with too many commitments in too few days. He got nervous and tense about it. "I was snapping at my wife and our children, choking down my food at mealtimes, and feeling irritated at those unexpected interruptions through the day," he recalled in his book, Stress Fractures. "Before long, things around our home started reflecting the patter of my hurry-up style. It was becoming unbearable. I distinctly remember after supper one evening, the words of our younger daughter, Colleen. She wanted to tell me something important that had happened to her at school that day. She began hurriedly, 'Daddy, I wanna tell you something and I'll tell you really fast.' "Suddenly realizing her frustration, I answered, 'Honey, you can tell me -- and you don't have to tell me really fast. Say it slowly." "I'll never forget her answer, 'Then listen slowly.'"
James says, “My dear brothers, take note of this; everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” James 1:19. Will you ask God to help you to be quick to listen? In the message on this text, I gave the example of Samuel who finally said, “…Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening…” I Samuel 3:8. I pray that will be your heart this week.
DAY 2-September 8, 2009
TITLE: “BE OF ONE MIND”
WEEKLY SCRIPTURE
DAILY SCRIPTURE
KEY VERSE: “Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” II Corinthians 13:11
Recently our family had the privilege of being together in
Buzz Light-Year is a space ranger made famous by the movie, "Toy Story". I understand in one of the cartoons the little green men who are the mechanics and scientists help the space rangers loose the Unimind that links them all together and allows them to work with one purpose as a team. With this gone they cannot communicate, fix anything, or do the most basic tasks. Long story short, Buzz Light-Year rescues the little green men by getting the Unimind back so they are one in mind and can work together thus saving the day!
Paul instructs the church to be of one mind. The call is literally to think the same thing. This is not the first time that Paul has mentioned unity to the Corinthians. In I Corinthians 1:10 he wrote, “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” The idea is to be in agreement or live in harmony.
The
The oneness we have in Christ should be evident in our actions and expressions of love we have for each other. Paul said it this way in his letter at Rome, he wrote, “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 15:5-6.
DAY 3 -September 9, 2009
TITLE: “THE GOD OF LOVE”
WEEKLY SCRIPTURE
DAILY SCRIPTURE
KEY VERSE: “Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” II Corinthians 13:11
Paul focuses on the divine resources that will enable the Corinthians to follow his injunctions. The promise is that the God of love will be with you. God’s love is eternal and beyond description or understanding. God demonstrated His great love on the cross. His love is for everyone, for no one is beyond the reach of God’s amazing love.
It is possible to talk about the love of God and still be a total stranger to the God of love. Theologian, J.I Packer says, “‘God is love’ is one of the most tremendous utterances in the Bible-and also one of the most misunderstood.” God’s love cannot be reduced to a mere sentiment, patterned after human emotion. The better we are acquainted with His love – its character, fullness, and blessedness – the more will our hearts be drawn out in love to Him.
God is love, is not the complete truth about God as far as the Bible is concerned. The God of love is also the God who made the world, judged it by the flood, chastened His Old Testament people by conquest, captivity, exile, and who sent His Son to save the world. God is love, but He is also light and Spirit. The love of God cannot be isolated from all that God is.
The love of God is free, spontaneous, and uncaused. God is the initiator of love. God’s love for us was entirely unmoved by anything in us. There is nothing in us that has attracted the heart of God, but rather, everything to repel Him. His love is greater than our unlovingness. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” I John 4:10. The ability and capacity to love others comes from His love to us. As I John 4:19 states, “We love because he first loved us.” My potential to love comes from His love. As Bill Hybles said, “If my capacity for giving and receiving love is to increase, I have to regularly drink from the fountain of the love of God.” Reflect for a moment on the greatness of God’s love as you read these words written by Frederick M. Lehman.
“The love of God is
greater far, than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the
highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell.
The guilty pair, bowed
down with care, God gave His son to win
His erring child He
reconciled, and pardoned from his sin.
O love of God, how
rich and pure,
How measureless and
strong!
It shall forevermore
endure
The
saints’ and angels’ song.”
DAY 4 –September 10, 2009
TITLE: “THE GOD OF PEACE”
WEEKLY SCRIPTURE
DAILY SCRIPTURE
KEY VERSE: “Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” II Corinthians 13:11
Paul instructs the church to live in peace. The peace Paul is speaking of is not just cessation from strife, but rather a state of mutual harmony based on genuine agreement in the truth of Paul’s gospel. It is a peace that comes when Christ rules. Colossians 3:15 states, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be Thankful.”
Peace is a state of tranquility and harmony. The peace most universally coveted and sought is inward-peace of mind or heart. This is freedom from guilt, hostility, and anxiety. On the positive side it is a deep sense of personal well-being. God is the author of peace. God is Jehovah-Shalom which means Jehovah is peace. The Prophet Isaiah says; “…He will be called the Wonderful Counselor; Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6. God is the God of Peace. This call to peace is possible because the God of peace is our resource. We can live in peace for the God of peace is with us.
The one absolute requisite for peace of mind is rightness with God. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified though faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Peace with God is more than a personal feeling or the absence of a sense of condemnation. Peace of God requires more than tears, a feeling of guilt, or the counsel of men. Peace with God is a true rightness with God involving the forgiveness of our sins, and an inner knowledge that we are reconciled to God and God is reconciled to us. Peace with God is therefore inseparable from fellowship with God. For the Greeks (as for us), peace was essentially negative, the absence of war. But for the Hebrews it meant positive blessing, especially a right relationship with God. As someone said, Peace is not the absence of trouble. Peace is the presence of God.”
“Like the sunshine
after rain, Like a rest that follows pain,
Like a hope returned again,
Is the peace that Jesus gives.
Like the soft,
refreshing dew, Like a rosy day break new,
Like a friendship
tender, true, Is the peace that Jesus gives.
Oh the peace that
Jesus gives, Never dies but only lives.
Like the music of a Psalm,
like a glad eternal calm,
Is the peace that Jesus gives, Is the peace that Jesus gives.” Haldor Lillenas
DAY 5 –September 11, 2009
TITLE: “THE GRACE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST”
WEEKLY SCRIPTURE
DAILY SCRIPTURE
KEY VERSE: “May the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the
Holy Spirit be with you all.” II
Corinthians 13:14
In the Christian sense, grace is God’s spontaneous, though unmerited love for sinful man. This grace is revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Grace is part of the foundation of the gospel. One word used for grace in the Old Testament is the word "chen." It is used in the sense of undeserved favor. “Moses said to the Lord, ‘You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.” Exodus 33:12-13. Grace is the gift of God’s working in our life.
The New Testament word, “charis,” translated grace, is especially developed by the Apostle Paul who truly focused on the grace of God. In all the books not written by Paul, the word appears only 51 times, but Paul uses it 101 times. God’s grace is dynamic, active, and empowering in our lives. In both the Old and New Testaments, it is God’s unmerited way of dealing with sinful man. Though we deserve God to be against us, He is for us.
God does not depend on His human creatures for His well-being. Psalm 50:8-13 reminds us that God is self-sufficient. God’s grace is controlled by the sovereign hand of God. Exodus 33:19 states, “…And I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy…” God gives grace based on His own free will. God’s grace is a gift, not a right. God does not owe it to anyone, to stop justice taking its course. The justice of God requires consequences of sin, which can only be confronted through the grace of God. It is God’s grace and God’s grace alone that is sufficient to meet our needs, “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing.” Galatians 2:21. We are in need of God’s grace. Just as we need the air we breathe to live, we need the grace of God. We do not deserve the blessings of God, but He has given them freely through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Grace is God’s love in action.
The grace of God is transforming. God did not send Jesus to
die on the cross to leave us the same. Grace
is God’s way of dealing with sinful man. The essence of grace is that though man
deserves God’s being against him, He is for us through the person of Jesus
Christ. The Apostle Paul is a wonderful example of God’s life changing grace. I
Corinthians 15:9-10 tell us, “For I am
the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the