North Park Apostolic Church Operation Giant Slayer (Lesson 2) OBJECTIVE: Bible Study KILL THE PERSONAL GIANTS IN YOUR LIFE. MISSION: TO SEEK AND DESTROY ALL GIANTS THAT HINDER YOUR GROWTH IN GOD AND SUBSEQUNTLY HIN- DERS THE BODY OF CHRIST AS A WHOLE. PHASE III IDENTIFY THE REASONS AND DECEPTIONS OF WHY YOU DON T FULLY TRUST GOD FOR EVERY AREA AND ASPECT OF YOUR LIFE. Pastor A. Mark Garcia 08/28/2013 Proverbs 3:5 (NKJV) Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; Psalm 9:10 (KJV) And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. Psalm 32:10 (KJV) Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. The Giant of mistrust in God hinders our walk with Him and the many blessings He has for us. Everything we do in the kingdom of God is dependent on our trust in God. David trusted in God to kill Goliath, it was David s relationship with God and his trust in Him that gave him the courage to fight Goliath. SATAN DECEIVES BELIEVERS INTO BLAMING GOD FOR THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN A FALLEN WORLD AND FOR WHAT PEOPLE HAVE DONE TO US, WHICH CREATES MISTRUST WITH GOD. The following areas are lies about God created by leaning to our own understanding: God is uncaring; usually created because someone let you down or didn t take care of you. God is demanding; usually created by religious legalism and wrong interpretation of scripture.
Pastor A. Mark Garcia Bible Study Page 2 The following areas are lies about God created by leaning to our own understanding: God is angry and mean; usually created by God getting blamed for something someone else did or living in a sinful world. God is distant; usually created by feelings of loneliness and lies that God is not involved in your life. God is rejecting; usually created by feelings of rejection brought on through people. God is unforgiving; usually created by not forgiving yourself, someone not forgiving you, or being blackmailed by Satan. God is giving me guilt; usually created by our own guilt, guilt from other people, or lack of repentance. DESTROY THE GIANT OF MISTRUST TOWARD GOD Lord, in the Name of Jesus, I desire a close, intimate and trusting relationship with you. I accept the truth of your Word that you died on the cross and shed your blood for my sins because of your love for me. I regret that I have not trusted you in all areas of my life and have been deceived by leaning to my own understanding. Lord Jesus, please forgive me for believing the lies and deception that you are. I nail this lie to the cross to be covered by your blood. I renounce, cut off and disown this lie and accept the truth that I can trust you with all my heart. I accept that you love me, care for me and will always be with me. I trust your Word that you will never leave me or forsake me regardless of the situation or circumstances of my life. Thank you Lord that I can trust you with all my heart. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
PHASE IV Page 3 IDENTIFY WHICH GIANTS OF THE SEVEN THINGS GOD HATES THAT MUST BE ELIMINATED FROM YOUR LIFE HATE LIST God is love, but He hates evil. It is unbelievable to some that God could hate. They consider Him as only a God of love. The major premise is that God is love. That is true. The minor premise is that love is the opposite of hate, and that is also true. Then the conclusion they draw is that God cannot hate anything, but that is not true. God is love, but He hates evil. We can see this same thing in our human relationships. You love your little child, but you hate the fever that is racking his little body. As long as there is a world of contrasts, a world in which sin has entered, we will love the right and hate the wrong. Otherwise, if you love sin, then you will hate righteousness. The Word of God tells us to love the good and hate the evil. In Book of Ecclesiastes, we find that it says there is A time to love, and a time to hate (Eccl. 3:8). Then we find that there are seven things God hates. This is His list: 16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, 19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren [Prov. 6:16 19]. God definitely says that He hates these things, and we ought to put them on our hate list also. The number seven in the Bible indicates perfection but also completeness. God has a complete hatred of these things, and they are all the works of the flesh. Now let s look at the things God hates. These belong on the hate side of God s ledger: 1. A PROUD LOOK The literal is eyes of loftiness. It is the attitude that overvalues self and undervalues others. This is pride. It is that thought of the heart, that little look and that turn of the face, that flash of the eye which says you are better than someone else. God says, I hate it. It is number one on His list He puts it ahead of murder and ahead of drunkenness. God hates the proud look. It is strange that in
Pastor A. Mark Garcia Bible Study Page 4 1. A PROUD LOOK (CONT ) churches today, one can get by with a proud look and no one would say a thing about it. Do you know that the first overt act of sin in heaven, the original sin, was pride? It was when Satan, Lucifer, son of the morning, said in his heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High (Isa. 14:13 14). And he is the one who came to man in the Garden of Eden and said, ye shall be as gods (Gen. 3:5). We need to take the lowly place and say, Oh God, I am weak. I can t make it. I need You. Listen to what God said through Isaiah: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word (Isa. 66:2). If you are willing to come to God on that basis, God will receive you. He hates a proud look. 2. A LYING TONGUE Have you ever noticed that there is far more said throughout the Bible about the abuse of the tongue than is said about the abuse of alcohol? The abuse of the tongue is something that is common to all races and all languages, this abuse is the lying tongue. How tragic it is! The psalmist (probably David) said, I said in my haste, All men are liars (Ps. 116:11). Again the psalmist said, Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue (Ps. 120:2). In David s prayer of confession, he said, Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom (Ps. 51:6). God is the God of truth. Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth (Ps. 31:5). How wonderful that is. How different from the lying tongue! 3. HANDS THAT SHED INNOCENT BLOOD A murderer is particularly unpleasant and objectionable both to God and to man. God says the murderer should be punished because he took that which God said is sacred the human life. The popular idea today is completely opposite. After a man has been killed the murderer is brought to trial, then suddenly the murderer s life is considered to be precious.
Page 5 4. A HEART THAT DEVISETH WICKED IMAGINATIONS Thoughts of immoral behavior. All mankind has evil thoughts. The Lord Jesus said, For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies (Matt. 15:19). It is ugliness that comes out of the human heart. By the way, have you ever confessed to God what you have in your mind and in your heart? We all need to do that. We need to be cleansed. God is dealing with the anatomy of evil and iniquity. It includes the eyes, the tongues, the hands, the heart, and the feet, as we shall see next. God has a complete hatred of these things, and they are all the works of the flesh. 5. FEET THAT BE SWIFT IN RUNNING TO MISCHIEF The heart blazes the trail that the feet will follow. Isaiah put it like this: Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts 6. A FALSE WITNESS THAT SPEAKETH LIES of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths (Isa. 59:7). These are the things on God s hate list. It is not an uncommon thing today for people to perjure themselves. It seems to be one of the common sins of our time. It is a thing which God hates. 7. HE THAT SOWETH DISCORD AMONG BRETHERN There is a beatitude, given by our Lord, that looks at this from the positive side: Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God (Matt. 5:9). possibility that he/she may even be sitting right where you sit. Causing trouble between family members or brothers in Christ or fellow workers is something that God hates. However, there are multitudes of those sowing discord, they are in your neighborhood, and they are in the church. You may even have one in your home, and there is a
Operation Giant Slayer North Park Apostolic Church Primary Address 2515 Lemon Grove Ave. Lemon Grove, CA 91945 Phone: 619-229-2800 Fax: 619-667-8821 E-mail: npac@apostolicpower.org VISION STATEMENT We are called to be a Christ-centered, Holy Spirit-dependent church that operates with simplicity and excellence as we love God with all our being and love all others with the same passion. MISSION STATEMENT To passionately pray, preach, teach and live through the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is His greatest act of love toward us. We re on the Web! www.apostolicpower.org DESTROY THE GIANTS OF THE SEVEN THINGS GOD HATES FROM YOUR LIFE Lord, in the name of Jesus, I come before you in prayer so that I can be upright before you. I need your righteousness to overcome my unrighteousness. I confess that I have sinned and come short in the areas that you hate. I never want to operate or do things in the area that you hate. I want to love what you love and hate what you hate. Lord, please forgive me for committing the sin of which you hate. I nail this sin to the cross to be covered by your blood. I believe that you have forgiven me and therefore I renounce and cut off the sin of and ask your help to give me a hate for this sin just as you have. I chose to love what you love and hate what you hate. I pray this prayer with faith in Jesus name. Amen.