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Experiencing God: Week 5

Experiencing God: Week 5

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Notes

The Seven Realities of Experiencing God

  1. God is always working
  2. He invites us into a relationship with Him (last week)
  3. He invites us into His Work
  4. God speaks –how?
  5. His invitation leads us into a crisis of belief
  6. We must adjust our life to join Him
  7. When we obey God, we experience Him

 

The Fifth Reality: God’s invitation leads us into a crisis of belief.

God’s invitation for you to work with Him always leads to a crisis of belief that requires FAITH and ACTION.

This crisis of belief is about the wrestling we do with God after we realize He is speaking to us and calling us to do something.

Galatians 5:16 & 17; 25 (NLT)

Voices of Objection

  • Can I even do this? Do I have the ability to actually do what You are asking me to do?
  • Not smart enough, old enough, young enough, educated enough, etc. (story of Moses.)

I am not good enough

Exodus 3:11 — “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

I don’t have all the answers

Exodus 3:13 — Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”

People won’t believe me

Exodus 4:1 — Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’”

I am not equipped

Exodus 4:10 — Then Moses said to the LORD, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”

I’m the wrong guy

Exodus 4:13 — “But he said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.”

  • The root of these voices of objections come from your belief about God.

“When you say I can’t it actually says more about what you believe about God than it does about what you believe about yourself”

What do we do with this crisis of belief?

This is a message on faith and trust:

  • Having faith that what God says is actually right and good.
  • Trust that God knows what He is doing and that He won’t let me down. But even more than that…trusting that God actually is who He says He is.
  • It isn’t just that He will do what He says He will do, but that He is who He says He is.

How do you view God?

  • Do you have an accurate understanding of who God is?
  • What if the reason we have doubt is not because we wrestle with clarity, but we wrestle with confidence?
  • What if the reason we have doubt is not because we wrestle with clarity, but we wrestle with confidence?

Hebrews 11:6 (NLT) — Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT) — 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV) — Luke 16:10 (NLT)

  •  And just because you wrestle with having a crisis of belief doesn’t mean that you are not a “good” Christian. It doesn’t mean that you don’t have faith.

In despair, we give up on our relationship with God. Doubt, on the other hand, is a sign that our faith is alive and kicking; it is part of the rhythm of faith itself. – Michael D. Guinan, Biblical Laments: Prayer Out of Pain

2 Corinthians 4:8 (NLT) — Mark 9:21-25 (NLT)

 

Conclusion

Acts 4:29-31 (NLT)

  • Says to “give us boldness” not take us out of here or change our circumstances, but “give us boldness to do what you are calling us to do.”
  • As we abide in Christ, and as we come to know and understand who He is, we grow in our ability AND desire to trust Him.
  • When we step out in faith and do what He is calling us to do, we experience His goodness, and His love and His faithfulness.

What is it that God is calling you to do?

  • Spend more time with Him?
  • Forgive someone?
  • Start serving in the church?
  • Give financially?
  • Have a conversation with someone?
  • Surrender your life to Him?

Ask God for boldness to do what He is calling you to do.

 

Life Group Discussion:

Scriptures to Consider:
Jeremiah 32:27 — Mark 9:24 — Romans 8:35-39 — 1 Thessalonians 5:24 — John 21:20-21 Questions:

  1. Have you ever been in a situation where you thought things were going to go one way, but then things went differently? What was it?
  2. What decisions are you currently wrestling with? What might God be doing in the midst of it?
  3. Read John 21:20-21. Like Peter, has comparing your life to others’ ever caused a crisis of belief for you? How did you resolve that?
  4. Where in Scripture do you see God inviting people to do things that were humanly impossible?
  5. What has God called you to do that seems impossible to accomplish, unless God miraculously intervenes?
  6. Take a moment to review God’s faithfulness in your past – how does God’s past activity in your life give you confidence for the future?