KNOWING GOD

WEEK OF APRIL 6 - 12TH

Be still and know that I am God. ~ Psalm 46:10

Do you ever wonder if God is really "right here, right now?" Do you wonder if God hears your prayers, if He understands your feelings, or if He really knows yoru heart? If so, you're not alone: lots of very faithful Christians have experienced periods of doubt. If fact, some of the bigget heroes in the Bible have plenty of doubts--and so, perhaps, will you. But when you have doubts, remember this: God isn't on a coffee break, and He hasn't moved out of town. God isn't taking a long vacation and He isn't snoozing on the couch. He's right here, right now, listening to your thoughts and prayers, watching over your every move.

The Bible teaches that a wonderful way to get to know God is simply to be still and listend to Him. But sometimes, you may find it hard to slow down and listen. As the demands of everyday life weigh down upon you, you may be tempted to ignore God's presence or--worse yet--to rebel against His commandments. But, when you quiet yourself and acknowledge His presence, God touches your heart and restores your spirits. So why not let Him do it right now? If you really want to know Him better, silence is a wonderful place to start.

MORE FROM GOD'S WORD

You shall have no other gods before Me. ~ EXODUS 20:3

For it is written, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve." ~ MATTHEW4:10

The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ~ 1 JOHN 4:8

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. ~ JOHN 4:24

Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness. ~ 2 PETER 1:6

MORE IDEAS ABOUT KNOWING GOD

We all need to make time for God. Even Jesus made time to be alone with the Father. ~ Kay Arthur

God wants to be in an intimate relationship with you. He's the God who had orchestrated every event of your life to give you the best chance to get to know Him, so that you can experience the full measure of His love. ~ Bill Hybels

Knowing God involves an intimate, personal relationship that is developed over time through prayer, through Bible study and applying its teaching to our lives, through obedience and experiencing the power of God, through moment-by-moment submission to Him that results in a moment-by-moment filling of the Holy Spirit. ~ Anne Graham Lots

We can seek God and find Him! God is knowable, touchable, hearable, seeable, with the mind, the hands, the ears, and eyes of the inner man. ~ A.W. Tozer

A man's spritual health is exactly proportional to his love for God. ~ C.S. Lewis

It is always springtime in the heart that loves God. ~ St. John Vianney

Slowly and surely, we learn the great secret of life, which is to know God. ~ Oswald Chambers

Here is our opportunity: we cannot see God, but we can see Christ. Christ was not only the Son of God, but He was the Father. Whatever Christ was, that God is. ~ Hannah Whitall Smith

THE TIP OF THE DAY

Finding time for God takes time...and it's up to you to find it. The world is constantly vying for your attention, and sometimes the noise can be deafening. Remember the words of Elisabeth Elliot; she said, "The world is full of noise. Let us learn the art of silence, stillness, and solitude."

This devotional was taken from: The Living Series: Purity for Young Women, a daily devotional published by Family Christian Stores.

New Structure

Okay, so Wednesday nights apparently don't work for many people after all! Who would have known?

Anyway, we've added another day to get a group chat in, which is every Friday starting @ 4pm. We'll be meeting at my house on Fridays though, so make a note of the location change! We're looking at having the same topics for each day, so that those who can't make Wednesday can come on Friday and the opposite...sound good? Great! :-)

I've also decided that there needs to be more structure, since we tend to very easily get off topic...HUGE surprise, I know. I'm going to borrow structure from a devotional book I found that seems really appropriate to our situation...but of course we can also address individual needs/topics/questions as they come up.

I will post each weekly entry onto this blog, so you can grab the study from here in order to prepare. I will also post it in the GNO group in Facebook in a word format so it will be easier to print.

For anyone who wishes to come to BOTH days, please do...although we'll discuss the same broad topic, it will have a different spin on it since we'll have different people. I would also like to address a question or topic that has been previously submitted at each session.

So, stay tuned...I'll have the "new" structure/format/whatever posted as soon as I can!

WHAT DO I BELIEVE?

The following questions are for our meeting on Wednesday, March 12th, 2008. Please take some time before then to really think and pray over your answers. See you then!

1. Is the Bible God's word? (the absolute truth)?
2. Is the Bible relevant today?
3. Are there topics or areas of scripture that you struggle with personally?
4. Who is Jesus and why did He need to come?
5. Is it truly possible to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ or is that just a symbolic Christian term?
6. What is the role of the holy spirit?
7. Why should we pray? Is there really power in prayer?
8. What's our purpose as believers?
9. What is the role of the body of Christ? Of the church?
10. What is the purpose of every believer?

How have you/do you/would you respond...

• when someone says that it is not important which religion someone practices, since they are all teaching the same basic principles?

• when you hear a "new" truth from a trusted pastor, relative or friend; do you accept it as truth, or check it against scripture?

• when a friend is doing something that you know is a sin?

* I KNOW this is going to say that "Jason Hoppa" posted this, but it's me...honest! ;-) I just don't know how to share a blogger i.d. with him when he made it under my email! I'll figure it out...just bear with me.

~ Rhonda