“Have it Your Way”

“Have it Your Way” Family Devotional

 Adapted from thrivingfamily.com

Plan a night to have hamburgers for dinner. Start the meal off by asking, “Did you know that ketchup and cheese are the most favored hamburger toppings? What do you like on your hamburger? Why?” Once everyone has their burgers made, sat at the table together and you’ve blessed the food start your mealtime discussion.

Table Talk: Have you heard the fast-food restaurant slogan “Have it your way”? What does it mean to you? Why do customers like having choices? Did you know that in the Bible there are stories of men who told God, “Have it Your way”?

·         How did Noah let God “have it His way” when it came to building the ark? Could a canoe have done the job? Why? (See Genesis 6:14-22.)

·         How did Moses let God “have it His way” when he went before Pharaoh? What was the result? (See Exodus 7:1-6.)

·         How did Joshua let God “have it His way” when he marched around Jericho? Did it make sense at the time? Why or why not? What did God prove? (See Joshua 6:1-20.)

Do you remember God’s greatest commandment? (Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ~Matthew 22:37) If we were to tell God “Have it Your way” what would that look like? (Putting God first everyday)

After Dinner Application: (Prepare this visual beforehand. Put three golf balls in the bottom of a canning jar. Add rice, dried beans or field corn to fill the jar. Make sure the lid will close. Then dump the contents of the jar into a large bowl.)

When we’re not deliberate about putting God first in our daily life, spiritual matters tend to be crowded out. If we’re going to tell God “Have it Your way” about His greatest commandment we have to put Him first. Let me show you an example:

·         Gather the children around the large bowl of contents. Explain that the jar represents their day and all the activities that fill it. Have the children start to add the rice, corn or beans into the jar while naming activities or responsibilities that occur in a typical day.

·         For instance, a small handful of beans may represent brushing teeth; adding another fistful is equated with making the bed. Continue filling the jar to represent activities or chores, such as watching television, playing video games or feeding the family pet.

·         After all of the smaller objects are added, try putting the golf balls in the jar. Describe that the balls represent Bible story time, praying to God and showing love to others. The children will see that the three balls will not fit neatly, and the lid cannot be secured.

·         Now, dump all the contents of the jar back into the bowl. Start with the three balls first, restating that they represent Bible time, praying and showing love to others.

·         Then have the children add all of the smaller items, equating each fistful with activities in their day.

·         When everything is added back in the jar, put the lid on. Explain to the children that when we put God first in our lives, everything else fits.

Discuss some ways each person in the family can let God “have it His way” this week. Have each person make a commitment to put God first for the next five days and see how everything else will fit into place. Each night a dinner review Matthew 22:37 and let each family member share how they “Let God have it His way” that day.

LG Weekly Challenge

Life Group Family & Friends:

The passage we studied in Luke 22:39-62 gave a description of a very dark time in the life of different people.  Jesus was ending his time with the disciples and beginning a lonely road of torture and death.  The disciples saw their hope and their rabbi being arrested.  The religious leaders came in physical darkness and spiritual darkness to arrest God the Son. 

We all have to endure dark times in our lives.  These times may last a week, a month, or many years.  But how do we prepare?  Let’s look at what Jesus taught us:

·         Pray for heavenly help to endure the darkness of trials and temptations, (Luke 22:39-46)
·         Resist the urge to become bitter, to act in ignorant opposition to God’s plans, or to escape persecution for the Kingdom’s sake, (Luke 22:47-53)
·         Turn from self-sufficiency and pride that leads to denial [a failure of nerve and faithfulness], (Luke 22:54-62)

Luke gave a lot of detail to the story and contrast of how Jesus prepared for enduring the darkness and how Peter struggled and failed in his period of darkness.   However, the fact that Peter recovered from his betrayal and became one of the greatest Christians in history gives hope that anyone can recover.

The challenge for you this week is to read Luke 22:39-62 then read the eight chapters of 1 & 2 Peter.  Talk with your spouse about how Peter learned to endure darkness.

Be Intentional.

Travis

National Day of Prayer

Thursday, May 3 is the National Day of Prayer.  Lakepointe has put together a 7 day prayer guide to help you pray this week and every week for our Nation.

Weekly Challenge

 

What a beautiful time of sharing in communion last night.  As we walked through the first half of Luke 22 we looked a little deeper into a few realities of life:

1. Satan is prowling like a lion to attack and devour Christs' followers - 1 Peter 5:8
2. Jesus prayed specifically for ALL of his followers - John 17:13-23

The Challenge:
Each time you "break bread" with your family this week, practice remembering Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.  If you have friends over for a meal, all the better.  And don't feel like you have to use bread and grape juice, feel free to be creative.  Pray through Psalm 139:23-24 as a guide towards confession and purifying your heart to receive communion.  Read any or all of the verses listed in this post; see what kind of discussion follows.  Be prepared to share your experiences in class.

In Him,
Aaron

Weekly Challenge: Guarding the Heart

It was very fitting that last week's lesson was on Resurrection Hope as this week we looked at some seemingly distressing words uttered by Jesus about what will happen on earth prior to the end times. Terrors and difficulties MUST come before the end and there is no telling how long those "birth pangs" will last.

As we broke into groups we looked at what it means, as Christians, to live expectantly, hopefully, and differently amid those trials and tribulations. Here is a breakdown of the answers each group came up with:

In General:
Be ready at all times, hope and don't worry, be a brave witness in everything, focus on end result, hunger for the Word, focus on His promises, keep watch, take heart, be on guard, stand firm, be renewed day by day, fix eyes on unseen, stand firm, rejoice in ALL things, live as if this is not our final destination, work as unto the Lord for eternal reward.

In Application:
Live in the Word, weave Scripture into life, pray continually, prepare your family and others, be confident in who He is and remember His promises, keep calm and carry on, keep the glorification of God as your motivation.

The Challenge:
This week, be aware of times you find yourself preparing for anything i.e. getting ready for work, getting the house ready for visitors, friends, in-laws, etc., primping for date night, reviewing notes for a presentation. Any time you notice yourself in preparation mode pray for God to reveal to you ways that you can be preparing yourself by living expectantly, hopefully, and differently. Talk about those revelations with your spouse and children and determine what you, as a family, are specifically going to do. Be prepared to share in class (but don't worry, we won't put anyone on the spot!)

In Him,
Aaron

Weekly Challenge

As we continued our study in the Book of Luke, we learned this week about living Resurrection Hope.  We also discovered the best definition of Hope is "to anticipate, expect, and have confidence in" (Greek translation).  Your challenge this week is to find an opportunity to demonstrate this attribute of Hope with your kids.  It states in Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."  Find some creative ways to explain and demonstrate this to your kids this week.  I look forward to hearing your examples in class on Saturday!

Weekly Challenge

Life Group Family & Friends:

Our study last week of Luke 20 focused on submitting to authority.  This was a tough lesson for me to prepare because it hit a little too close to home. 

After the long journey south from the Sea of Galilee, Jesus had finally arrived in Jerusalem.  He presented himself as King/Messiah. The religious authorities interpreted that act as one of blatant blasphemy.   He paused briefly to weep over the city, grieve their spiritual blindness, and predict the coming destruction of the city (19:41-44). Then, King Jesus boldly purged the Temple of its shameful exploitation and condemned its leaders for mutating God’s House from a place of prayer into a robbers’ den. Jesus had drawn His line in the sand. “What are you going to do about that! What are you going to do with Me?”

We discussed that we tend to have a problem submitting to authority, some authorities are harder than others to submit to, and there are areas in our lives that we choose not to live under God’s authority.  Even though we may never find it easy to always submit to God’s authority, we can fully submit our lives to Him.  That is good news.

Jesus asked for the coin that bears the image of Caesar and said give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but give to God what is God’s.  He called on all people to give to God that which bears (or carriers) God’s image and likeness.  The coin bears the image of Caesar, but God’s image is stamped on us. 

Here is my challenge to you this week:

1.    Believe that you are made in God’s image and that you belong to God

2.    Ask God to show you areas in your life that you are giving to Caesar that you should be giving to God (time, use of spiritual gifts, your role as spouse or parent, money, etc.)

3.    Submit to the authority of God as His image bearer

Be Intentional.

Travis