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How does God want you to live this year …

How does God want you to live this year …. A time ripe for evaluation…. A fork in the road. A story. Lives of Quiet Desperation. http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/death_and_dying/81722

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How does God want you to live this year …

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  1. How does God want you to live this year… • A time ripe for evaluation… A fork in the road...

  2. A story

  3. Lives of Quiet Desperation http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/death_and_dying/81722 • Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among college students and the third-leading cause of death among youth overall (ages 15-24). • Every hour and forty-five minutes another young person commits suicide • Teen/youth suicide rates have tripled since 1970. http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_dira.htm (Barna) http://www.divorcerate.org • 50% of first marriages end in divorce (debate on if this may be overstated by 5 to 10%) • 67% of second marriages end in divorce • 74% of third marriages end in divorce • Barna's results verified findings of earlier polls: that conservative Protestant Christians, on average, have the highest divorce rate, while mainline Christians have a much lower rate. They found some new information as well: that atheists and agnostics have the lowest divorce rate of all.

  4. How did Elijah End Up Under the Tree? • Chapter 18 – • 1 Kings 18:40 Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let anyone get away!" They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there. • 1 Kings 18:45-46 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. 46 The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel. • Grade?

  5. How did Elijah End Up Under the Tree? • Chapter 18 – How does Elijah Start off? • 1 Kings 18:15-18 15 Elijah said, "As the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today." 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?“ 18 "I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals. • 1 Kings 18:21 Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.“ • 1 Kings 18:38-39 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. 39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD-he is God! The LORD-he is God!" • What grade do you give him so far?

  6. What is Broom Tree Living? • 1 Kings 19:1-5 19:1 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them." • 3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." 5 Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. (from NIV)

  7. How did He Get To Be Under the Broom Tree - Some Key Truths • Anyone is susceptible to Broom Tree Living. • What led to Elijah’s losing his way? • Elijah lost his way because he lost a view of who God is • Afraid – saw – to see intellectually • He needed to see with his heart • He lost a view of what it meant to trust and worship God.

  8. A short primer on Worship • Jesus Christ died on the Cross to make Worshipers out of rebels • Your primary role on this earth is to worship God. • First Palm Sunday • Luke 19:37-40 37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38 "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" 40 "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." (NIV)

  9. Additional thoughts on Worship (Whatever Happened to Worship A. W. Tozer) • We should be able to say – “I would rather worship God than ANYTHING else.” • “True worship of God must be constant and consistent attitude or state of mind within the believer”. • 1 Thess 5:16-18 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (NIV) • God wants you to find unspeakable pleasure in worship. • 2 Sam 6:14 David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might (NIV) • We should be able to say… • “My God, continue to be as You are, or let me die!”

  10. My View of God • Write down 3 things that describe God? • JEALOUS • Ex 34:14 Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. • Consuming Fire • Deut 4:23-24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. • Righteous • Ps 11:7 7 For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice;upright men will see his face. (from NIV) • When we only focus on the attributes of God that we like, we make an idol for ourselves…

  11. Ted’s illustration last week My view of God My view of me Time

  12. Close Encounter Isa 6:1-7 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." 6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." (NIV)

  13. Thinking about God… 2 1 Did Christ exist before He was in bodily form? If something was the first to exist, does it need anything from something outside itself? God is Eternal 4 If God doesn’t need anything does He need my help? 3 If God doesn’t need anything can I add anything to Him? 5 6 If God doesn’t need my help, why does He give me tasks to do - invite me to join Him in His work? If I don’t do the tasks God has given me to do, who loses out?

  14. Thinking about God… 2 1 Does God Know Everything? Can God Learn? God is Omniscient 4 If God knows the answer, why does he give me the test? 3 When God gives me a test, does he know the answer already?

  15. Close Encounter - Truths • No matter what baggage/trials/issues you came in with today, a victorious life begins with God and ends with God. • A right view of God will drive a right view of me. • To a willing soul, in an instant, God can reveal more about Himself than you ever thought possible. • Converse: to a “it’s about me” soul, he will never reveal much of Himself. • Object lesson – what’s that light???

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