There will two posts from today – first, the notes from the discussion. The second post will relate to the story/video from Catalyst. REMINDER – NO manschool next week (day before Thanksgiving) we will see you the following Wednesday.
here are the slides from today > Which Kingdom 10 – storms
Here is the “Tribe Tune” – Who YOU say I am … when the storms come and you are beat up and not certain of how it will turn out, LISTEN to this song. “You ARE for me, not against me. I am who YOU say I am!”
Rock bottom will teach you lessons that mountain tops never will.
Vegetation doesn’t flourish on mountain tops. The lush growth is in the valleys. When you’re in a difficult place, realize that the LORD either placed you there or allowed you to be there for reasons perhaps known now only to Himself. Rest assured of this, whatever God has planned for you is way bigger than your comfort zone.
Last week, Derrick said – something to the effect of – “Detours come to break our pride and humble us, so we can be worth His glory”.
Not sure I heard that right, but I sat and pondered it. “Worth His glory”?
The LORD has a glory – of that, there can be no doubt. His glory will go where it will go. Will it land on me? Not if I’m full of pride. Not if I lack humility. Not if I forget from Whom all blessings flow.
Full of pride. No humility. Equals > “I’m in control. Success is mine. I made it. I’m beautiful. I’m talented. I made “this”. The self-made man.
Is that man worth God’s glory?
His glory will move and rest upon those in whom He finds favor. That man that made it all on his own … the glory of God won’t come. Glory might. Success might. Fame might. But it won’t the glory of God. It’ll be the glory of this world.
God’s glory won’t come and rest upon that man because he seemingly doesn’t need God.
Which Kingdom will I serve?
CS Lewis
“I’m not sure God wants us to be happy. I think He wants us to love and to be loved. But we are like children, thinking our toys will make us happy and that the whole world is our nursery. Something must drive us out of that nursery and into the lives of others and that something is suffering.”
Suffering? Why does suffering drive us out of the nursery?
Because suffering reminds us that the “things” of this world – the toys in the nursery – can never satisfy us. The suffering still comes no matter how many toys we have. What then?
Craig Groeschel
“If we’re going to become stronger in our faith, more committed to God, more in love with Jesus, then our beliefs will be tested. They must be tested. Henry Blackaby explains, “Will God ever ask you to do something you are not able to do? The answer is yes. All the time!”
People will tell you that God won’t give you more than you can bear. While they probably mean well, that’s simply not true. The Bible does say that God won’t let you be tempted beyond what you can handle (1 Cor 10:13). But He often gives you more than you can handle, so you can learn to depend wholly on Him.
Your times in the valley may not be pleasant, but it’s in the valleys of life that you grow closer to God and stronger in your faith.
Mountain tops can trick us. When everything is golden, it is easy to forget God.
God knocked me off my horse 3 years ago. He’s kept me off it the whole time. There have been no mountain tops in those 3 years. He is shaking, humbling, molding, breaking me. He has a purpose in this far beyond what I can comprehend.
At one point this summer, I had a former business partner pass away at 50 from pancreatic cancer, my firm was being examined by our regulator, my wife spent 3+ weeks in the hospital in 4 visits, she lost 20% of her body weight and there was a day or two in there where I wasn’t sure she would survive. My dad was also in the hospital and we had to negotiate and plan my daughter’s wedding.
Craig Groeschel
Often when we want God to do something, the solution wouldn’t require much of Him – a quick nod, a spoken word, an answered prayer – in the grand scheme of things, just a small miracle. If only He would allow me to be rewarded for all my hard work! Or just heal my sick child! Or help my loved one overcome depression! Or break my sexual addiction! Or bring my prodigal child back home! Or at least let me win the lottery!
As we grow to trust God, we must recognize what I consider to be some of the fundamentals of growing in the Christian faith: awe, respect, reverence, appreciation for God being God, acceptance of our limitations as human beings.
We can’t know everything or see into other people’s hearts. And we sure can’t see ahead to how it all will unfold. But God can.
Like a master story teller, He is crafting an epic in which He allows each of us to play a significant role. There are no minor characters or bit players in God’s story. We are all important.
He’ll never abandon us and he’s working everything for our good.
So, when we are suffering, ranting and raving about all the unfairness of life, we would do well to remember that there is so much more going on than we can see or understand from our limited perspective. We’re only seeing a tiny sliver or a much bigger story, perhaps only one sentence or one paragraph on just a single page.
In the middle my storm this summer, I had zero certainty of how it would all unfold. I didn’t know if my wife would survive.
But I can say with great confidence, God sustained me through that. It could not have been done on my own. And remember this from earlier … “I’m in control. Success is mine. I made it. I’m beautiful. I’m talented. I made “this”. This summer, there was NONE of that.
Utter — complete — dependence —- on Him. And in that posture … God’s glory can come and rest upon you.
(part 2 in a moment…)
Deep Roots. Mighty Oaks. 