Phrase of the Week
"Do not Force your way,
instead Find out God’s will,
then ask for His grace to be able to
Flow in it."
Paul’s Definition of Old Nature and Violence
“You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience… doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it…”
- Flesh | The Old Nature (Flesh) is deciding that your way, desires, plans are best and good.
- Violence | Violence is the act or the attempt at forcing your will, the art of making what you want happen.
Questions Worth Asking Yourself | Old Nature
- Do I ever do what I think is best without ever asking God?
- Do I ever do what I think is best or desire even after God has spoken to me?
Questions Worth Asking Yourself | Violence
- Do I ever try to make things happen in accordance to my desires?
- Have I ever manipulated or controlled information, etc, to bend things to work out for my good and benefit?
- Has my attitude changed in any way towards my boss, friend, church, after feeling like I didn’t get my way or that my thoughts or plans were not validated, accepted, or executed? Do I serve, work, relate with less enthusiasm because I am offended?
- Have I ever sabotaged, gossiped, slandered, made people questions or doubt people? What could I have been wanting? Why did I “kill”, who did I “kill”, to get my way?
- Has any of my relationships risked ending (death, killed) because of my dissatisfaction, dislikes, disagreements? Do loved ones feel anxious and fearful around me?
“If prayer actually changed God’s mind, I would stop praying.”
The Purpose of Prayer
- Refrain from doing our own thing.
- Repenting and realigning to His Ways.
- Reconfiguring a new course of Action.
- Reentry to the world, work, worry with new found courage and determination to obey.
- Reconcile; all of this should lead others around us a bit closer to God (mercy).
Jesus, our Role Model & Coach
"Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” - Luke 22:42 NLT
Jesus refuses to doubt God’s plan. | Anger, Jesus refuses to be angry, instead he submits to His Father and asks God to forgive the rebellious humanity. “Father forgive them, for they know what they do…”
Jesus refuses to be discouraged by God’s plan. | Attitude does not change, he obeys with earnest and joy! (“who for the joy set before Him endured the cross…” - Hebrews 12:2)
Jesus refuses to disobey God’s plan. | Actions do not change, Jesus remains faithful to God and obeys exactly the way God had wanted.
Movie Recommendations in light of the Sermon
This documentary follows an Evangelical minister and the mother of a teenage shooting victim who ask, is it possible to be both pro-gun and pro-life?