FIT FOR LIFE BEING AN INTENTIONAL DISCIPLE

PSSST….UP HERE!

HI THERE….

THIS MONTH WE HAVE BEEN DISCOVERING WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN INTENTIONAL DISCIPLE

LAST WEEK WE LEARNED THAT SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES HELP US…

DENY THE NATURAL TO EXPERIENCE THE SUPERNATURAL

TODAY WE WILL SPEND TIME IN SILENCE THIS MORNING

SILENCE IS A SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE

TO MANY…

BEING SILENT ISN’T NATURAL

SO I THOUGHT…. WHY TALK ABOUT SILENCE?

WHEN WE CAN EXPERIENCE SILENCE NOW!

THE NEXT FEW MINUTES COULD BE AWKWARD BECAUSE SILENCE AND BEING SILENT IS HARD!

FOR SOME OF YOU…SILENCE IS FOREIGN

FOR SOME OF YOU…SILENCE IS FOREIGN AS A STAY AT HOME MOM….

FOR SOME OF YOU…SILENCE IS FOREIGN AS A STAY AT HOME MOM…. AS A DAD OR MOM WHO WORKS OUTSIDE THE HOME….

FOR SOME OF YOU…SILENCE IS FOREIGN AS A STAY AT HOME MOM…. AS A DAD OR MOM WHO WORKS OUTSIDE THE HOME…. AS A STUDENT IN A DORM OR SHARED RENTAL

SILENCE ISN’T JUST EVADING NOISE BUT IT IS ALSO ABOUT AVOIDING TALK

SILENCE CAN HELP YOU BE EQUIPPED TO LIVE OUT MICAH 6.8 WHERE GOD SAYS…

“WHAT DOES THE LORD REQUIRE OF YOU? TO ACT JUSTLY, AND TO LOVE MERCY AND WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD.”

MICAH 6.8 ▪ Act Justly (outward) ▪ Love Mercy (inward) ▪ Walk Humbly with your God (upward)

SILENCE GIVES YOU SPACE AND TIME TO BE INWARDLY AND UPWARDLY SPIRITUALLY ‘HEALTHY’

STOP…

AND LISTEN….

WHAT DO YOU HEAR? A CAR?

WHAT DO YOU HEAR? A CAR? A RESTLESS BABY?

WHAT DO YOU HEAR? A CAR? A RESTLESS BABY? THE WIND BLOWING?

WHAT DO YOU HEAR? A CAR? A RESTLESS BABY? THE WIND BLOWING? YOUR STOMACH?

WHAT DO YOU HEAR? A CAR? A RESTLESS BABY? THE WIND BLOWING? YOUR STOMACH? YOUR NEIGHBORS STOMACH?

NOW STOP…

NOW STOP AND LISTEN TO GOD

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU HEARD FROM GOD?

THIS IS SCARY TO DO… BUT I DOUBLE DOG DARE YOU TO ASK GOD TO SPEAK TO YOU IN THIS SILENCE

RIGHT NOW WHERE YOU ARE SITTING

ASK GOD TO SPEAK TO YOU IN THE SILENCE

LET GOD WHISPER TO YOU AS HE DID TO ELIJAH IN I KINGS

11 THE LORD SAID, “GO OUT AND STAND ON THE MOUNTAIN IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD, FOR THE LORD IS ABOUT TO PASS BY.” THEN A GREAT AND POWERFUL WIND TORE THE MOUNTAINS APART AND SHATTERED THE ROCKS BEFORE THE LORD, BUT THE LORD WAS NOT IN THE WIND. AFTER THE WIND THERE WAS AN EARTHQUAKE, BUT THE LORD WAS NOT IN THE EARTHQUAKE.

12 AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE CAME A FIRE, BUT THE LORD WAS NOT IN THE FIRE. AND AFTER THE FIRE CAME A GENTLE WHISPER. 13 WHEN ELIJAH HEARD IT, HE PULLED HIS CLOAK OVER HIS FACE AND WENT OUT AND STOOD AT THE MOUTH OF THE CAVE. THEN A VOICE SAID TO HIM, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, ELIJAH?”

GOD ASKED ELIJAH A QUESTION

WHAT IS GOD ASKING YOU RIGHT NOW?

GOD SPEAKS IN SILENCE BUT HE DOES MORE

SILENCE CAN ALSO BLESS YOU AS WE READ IN ISAIAH 30.15

THIS IS WHAT THE SOVEREIGN LORD, THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL, SAYS: “IN REPENTANCE AND REST IS YOUR SALVATION, IN QUIETNESS AND TRUST IS YOUR STRENGTH, BUT YOU WOULD HAVE NONE OF IT.

REPENTANCE AND REST… QUIETNESS AND TRUST…

GOD SAYS… REST AND QUIETNESS IS VITAL FOR THERE TO BE REPENTANCE AND TRUST

BEING STILL AND SILENT DEMONSTRATES TRUST IN GOD

BEING STILL AND SILENT GIVES OPPORTUNITY TO WAIT ON GOD

PSALM 37 TELLS US OTHER BENEFITS OF BEING STILL AND SILENT BEFORE GOD

WHEN WE TRUST GOD WE TAKE DELIGHT IN GOD

WHEN YOU DELIGHT IN GOD HE GIVES YOU THE DESIRES OF YOUR HEART

MEANING… HE DOESN’T GIVE YOU WHAT YOU WANT

MEANING… HE DOESN’T GIVE YOU WHAT YOU WANT HE GIVES YOU A NEW WANT

BE STILL BEFORE THE LORD AND WAIT PATIENTLY FOR HIM; DO NOT FRET WHEN PEOPLE SUCCEED IN THEIR WAYS, WHEN THEY CARRY OUT THEIR WICKED SCHEMES. PSALM 37.7

WHEN YOU ARE STILL BEFORE GOD YOU ARE TRUSTING IN GOD

WE SEE ANOTHER BENEFIT IN PSALM OF BEING STILL & SILENT

GOD SAYS, “BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD; I WILL BE EXALTED AMONG THE NATIONS, I WILL BE EXALTED IN THE EARTH.”

WHEN YOU ARE STILL YOU WILL KNOW GOD AND…

WHEN YOU ARE STILL YOU WILL KNOW GOD AND… GOD WILL BE EXALTED (GLORIFIED) TO THOSE AROUND YOU

SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES: TO DENY THE NATURAL TO EXPERIENCE THE SUPERNATURAL

TAKE A MINUTE TO LISTEN TO GOD IN THE SILENCE….

QUIET DISCIPLINES: SILENCE MEDITATION STUDY

MEDITATION IS THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE: GENESIS PSALM 1.2 PSALM 63.6 PSALM , 78

MEDITATION…HOLY LEISURE

STUDY

“STUDY TO SHEW THYSELF APPROVED UNTO GOD, A WORKMAN THAT NEEDETH NOT TO BE ASHAMED, RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH.” II TIMOTHY 2.15 (KING JAMES)

SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES: HELP US ACT JUSTLY

SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES: HELP US ACT JUSTLY LOVE MERCY

SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES: HELP US ACT JUSTLY LOVE MERCY WALK HUMBLY …

SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES: HELP US ACT JUSTLY LOVE MERCY WALK HUMBLY … WITH OUR GOD

SO WHAT??? 1. DON’T TURN ON YOUR RADIO, SMARTPHONE, TV OR COMPUTER FIRST THING IN THE MORNING 2. MEDITATE (VISUALIZE) A GOSPEL STORY. CONTEMPLATE, INTERNALIZE, AND PERSONALIZE