DAILY QUIET TIME GUIDE BREVARD COMMUNITY CHURCH

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1 DAILY QUIET TIME GUIDE BREVARD COMMUNITY CHURCH COMPELLING BEING THE CHURCH PEOPLE NEED 05/07/2017 HOW TO HAVE A DAILY QUIET TIME The QT Guide is designed to help you MOVE with God through Bible Reading, reflection and prayer. It can be completed in a about 7 mins. ½ Minutes Preparing Your Heart: Invest the first 30 seconds preparing your heart. You might pray, Lord, cleanse my heart so You can speak to me through the Scriptures. Make my mind alert, my soul active, and my heart responsive. Surround me with Your presence during this time. 4 Minutes Listening To God: Take the next four minutes to read the Bible. Your greatest need is to hear a word from God. Allow the Word to strike fire in your heart. Meet the Author! 2 1/2 Talking To God (Prayer): After God has spoken through His Book, then speak to Him in prayer. DAY 1 When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings. 1 Corinthians 9:22 23 There is not a one-size-fits-all-approach to evangelism. We must learn to adapt to the situation. When you are sharing your faith, people will try to get you off point. They will say thing like, "Well, I have a question for you. What about all these denominations? What denomination are you?" Or, "What about politics? Who did you vote for? What is your view on this issue?" These are secondary issues rabbit trails. When I am speaking with someone about Christ, I will try to address those things, but then I will get back to main issue. That is what Jesus did with the woman in Samaria when she tried to change the subject. He focused on what really mattered. And that is what we need to do as well. When you go fishing, you use different kinds of bait for different kinds of fish. And when it comes to evangelism, you might emphasize one thing more than another with certain people. In initially approaching a person and establishing contact with him or her, you may vary in your approach. But ultimately you will get to the main message. Peter, for example, was very different in his presentation of the gospel to the Jews (see Acts 2) than Paul was with non-jews (see Acts 17). There were two audiences and two entirely different approaches, but Peter and Paul delivered the same essential message. This is called becoming all things to all men. Paul said, "When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some" (1 Corinthians 9:22).

2 The point is not to embarrass people, but to engage them. That is why we must adapt. Adapted From: DAY 2 I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10 NKJV) The story is told of an artist who sculpted a beautiful angel and wanted the master artist, Michelangelo, to inspect it and offer his opinion. So Michelangelo was called in. The master artist carefully looked at the sculpture from every angle. Finally, he said, "Well, it lacks only one thing." Then he turned around and walked out. The artist didn't know what it lacked, and he was embarrassed to go and ask Michelangelo. So he sent a friend to Michelangelo's studio to try and find out what his statue lacked. The great artist replied, "It lacks only life." The same could be said of a lot of people today. They have the house, the car, the spouse, and the kids. They have the career. They have money in the bank. They have everything going the way that things ought to go to supposedly live life to its fullest. But there is that is something still lacking. They are still lacking life. Jesus has something to say about that, and in John's Gospel, He tells us what our lives ought to be about: "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10 NKJV). Jesus was contrasting what He offers with what the devil offers. The thief mentioned here speaks of the enemy of our soul, Satan. He comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. But Christ has come that we might have life and that we might have it more abundantly. And there we have a choice. Campus Crusade for Christ's tract, The Four Spiritual Laws, opens with the statement, "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." And that is true. On the other hand, Satan hates you and has a horrible plan for your life. Now, he doesn't really broadcast this, because he doesn't want you to know. But what he ultimately wants to do is steal, kill, and destroy. In contrast, Jesus says, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." The context of John 10 is that of a shepherd and his sheep, where Jesus is the Shepherd, while we are the sheep. But we are reminded that Jesus is not just our Shepherd; He is the good shepherd. It is important to know that the word used here for "good" doesn't just mean morally good, though it includes that. It also could be translated "beautiful" or "winsome" or "lovely," even "attractive." Jesus is the beautiful, attractive, winsome Shepherd, and the Shepherd's plan for His flock more specifically, the Lord's plan for you is that your life would flourish. It is His absolute joy to bless you. Sometimes we have a false concept of God in which we see Him as One who is stingy with His blessings. But nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is that God wants to bless you even more than you want to be blessed. The abundant life that John 10:10 speaks of is not necessarily a long life, though it may be, but it 2

3 certainly is a full one. Medical science seeks to add years to our lives, but only Jesus can add life to our years. Having been both an unbeliever and a believer, having been someone who was under the devil's plan for my life and then discovering the Lord's plan for my life, there is no question that living the life that God wants me to live is the best life. If somehow the Bible read differently and there was no promise of Heaven and no afterlife, if we simply stopped existing when we die, but everything else about the Christian life remained the same, I still would be a Christian on that basis alone. To have Christ in my life, to have His leading, to have His guidance, to have His blessing, to have these standards to live by and to guide my life by... I would be a Christian for these things alone. If neither Heaven nor God's plan to live eternally were promised to me, it has been worth it just having the Lord in my life. But the good news, friend, is there is a Heaven. There is an afterlife. There is the hope that every Christian has: life and that more abundantly. Adapted From: DAY 3 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, to proclaim the year of the Lord s favor. And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. (Luke 4:16-21 ESV) Chapter 4 of Luke s gospel finds Jesus in the synagogue of His hometown, Nazareth. He s recently survived a 40 day fast, and a temptation battle with Satan. He s just beginning His public ministry, and word about him is spreading as people are blown away by his teachings. We can imagine it s a packed house on the sabbath as people are trying to figure out what s going on with this son of a carpenter turned rock-star rabbi And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, to proclaim the year of the Lord s favor. And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the 3

4 synagogue were fixed on him. They sat in stunned silence they were amazed that this teacher is the son of a local carpenter and then Jesus took it one step further And he began to say to them, Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. Jesus is in essence saying: I am the Messiah and this is what I came to do I am here to proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and freedom to those who are oppressed. Jesus is incredibly clear about His mission and identity. Regardless of how people tried to define or confine Him, He knew exactly who He was and what He was about. If you are a follower of Jesus, your identity and mission should be intricately linked to His. What is your mission? What is your purpose? Why do you exist? Could you define who you are, and what you are about, in two to three sentences? If yes, would it line up with the mission of Jesus? Take time today to pray about this concept, and find out where your heart has been leading you. Adapted From: DAY 4 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, to proclaim the year of the Lord s favor. (Luke 4:18-19 ESV) In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus clearly identifies His mission by quoting from Isaiah 61. This is a theme He returns to over and over again with statements such as: The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,you did it to me. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. If you scan the gospels, it s not difficult to see how Jesus prioritized His life and ministry: The sinful over the righteous. The sick over the well. The least over the greatest. The lost over the found. 4

5 Simply put: Seek the lost & serve the least among us. Does this describe the priorities of your life and ministry? Why or Why not? Adapted From: DAY 5 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, to proclaim the year of the Lord s favor. (Luke 4:18-19 ESV) Who and what are these verses talking about? Poor: destitute of wealth, power, influence, position, honor; needy and helpless. Captives: literally being held captive, or captured, at spear point & unable to free themselves. Blind: physical or mental blindness, the root word can also mean clouded by pride. Oppressed: beaten, broken, and shattered into pieces. It s a little more in our comfort zone to consider this scripture as it applies to distant times or places. Places like Nepal, where an earthquake and tsunami have shattered thousands of lives. Places like sub-saharan Africa where over 25 million people are infected with HIV/AIDs. Places like Turkey where less than 1% of the population know Jesus. It can get a little tougher when we see these terms apply to our own communities, to the physical poverty and spiritual darkness which exists within blocks of our homes. However, this concept is toughest when I realize this scripture is talking about me. For me to understand the mission of the Messiah, I must recognize that Jesus mission is about me. This scripture is talking about you and me! Do you see yourself in this scripture? Apart from Jesus: I am needy and helpless with nothing to offer. I am held captive with no way of freeing myself I am blind, clouded by pride, without any clarity or direction I am beaten, broken, shattered, and incapable of putting myself back together. When we celebrate the perfect Son of God being born in a lowly manger in Bethlehem and even more so being crucified on a Roman cross, do we recognize that this is because we desperately needed God to intervene in our lives? 5 It s one thing to say He did it because we live in a needy, messed up, broken world, but it s much more humbling to say He did it because I am a needy, messed up, broken person. Thank God for a savior!

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