Download TAKE A MARCH JOURNEY, Week 3

TAKE A MARCH JOURNEY, Week 3
DAY 16… March 16 SUNDAY was your DAY 15.
READ: Psalm 62:8
Thoughts to Help You Think About the Scripture
The book of Psalms can be overwhelming. It’s so
big. Where do I start to read? When you want
intimate talk with God about the cries of your soul,
Psalms 61, 62, and 63, are great places to go. Take,
for example, Psalm 62:8. Here David talks to us
intimately to point us to God when we need help.
How can we trust these words? Look at David’s
testimony in Psalm 62:1-2. Why can David find rest
only in the Lord? What 3 things does David say that
God is to him? What is the importance of something
that is rock solid when you need someone to lean
on? Why is it so valuable to know that through Jesus
Christ God promises to keep delivering you and me
out of guilt and shame from sin? 2 Corinthians 5:17.
When you have a treacherous path to walk in life
with great potential for falling, how is the picture of
Psalm 46:1 so valuable? David says that he has
found out that the Lord is totally dependable. What
strength do you see in the repeat of vs. 1-2 in vs. 5-6
of Psalm 62? David’s confident invitation to us is just
like Paul’s in Philippians 4:6-7. Check it.
So, in v. 8, we are invited to “pour out our hearts”
before the Lord. To pour out our heart can make a
person feel vulnerable or confident. Which do you
feel when you pour out to the Lord? What do you
need to pour out to Him today? We know He will do
what’s best for us because of His love for us in
Jesus. Maybe you’re like the people in Psalm42:4—
it’s been a while since you poured out your soul
before the Lord. Don’t let that stop you. Start new
right now, as Psalm 42:5 says. God wants to help.
WHAT WILL YOU ASK GOD FOR TODAY?
WHO WILL YOU BRING TO GOD TODAY?
WHAT CAN YOU THANK GOD FOR TODAY?
DAY 17… March 17
READ: Matthew 8:1-4
Thoughts to Help You Think About the Scripture
“Ability” and “Willingness.” Think carefully about those
two concepts. Ability has to do with “can someone do
something.” Willingness has to do with “do they will or
desire to do it.” As a man with leprosy comes before
Jesus asking the Lord to heal his disease of leprosy,
which of the above two does he ask Jesus about? We
also learn something else about the man from how he
comes to Jesus in v. 2. Check how Mark puts it in Mark
1:40. Is this man a believer in Jesus? Does he at least
have some kind of faith in the Lord? Some might think
that the man’s statement in 8:2 is a little unusual—“Lord,
if you are WILLING you can heal me.” Isn’t it God’s will
for everybody to be healed? Isn’t it God’s will for all bad
or painful things to be removed from our lives?
1 Timothy 2:4 gives one picture of God’s will that we can
count on. Yet, what about God’s will that all are healed or
that all pain is taken away? Turn to 2 Corinthians 12. The
Apostle Paul was a man that was every blessed and
gifted by the Lord. In fact, according to 12:2-4, what
special experience had God allowed Paul? It would have
been easy for Paul to have gotten a spiritually prideful
attitude after such an experience and all of Paul’s gifts.
But God had a plan to keep Paul “in balance.” Look at
12:7. We don’t know what this “painful thorn in Paul’s
physical life was,” but who does the verse say sent it?
For what purpose? According to v. 8, what did Paul ask
of God? According to vs. 9-10, what was God’s response
to Paul? Paul’s pain was NOT taken away. Paul needed
it to stay in a dependent relationship with the Lord.
What illnesses or diseases or pains has God allowed in
your life and given you to live with? Like with Paul, what
might be the Lord’s motive in these for you? Note the
promise of 2 Corinthians 12:9. While in the pain or the
challenge, what is God’s promise to you and me? Do
you understand? It is God’s first priority will for you and I
to be right with Him, before us being comfortable or
“problem free” in this life.
WHAT WILL YOU ASK GOD FOR TODAY?
WHO WILL YOU BRING TO GOD TODAY?
WHAT CAN YOU THANK GOD FOR TODAY?
DAY 18… March 18
READ: Philippians 4:4-7
Thoughts to Help You Think About the Scripture
I hope it is first thing in the morning as you begin this
study. It can set the tone for your day. So what does
today look like? Or what was it like? Stressful,
painful, frustrating… that’s no “front page news.” The
big question is, “How are you facing it?” You know
that you DO have a CHOICE. As Paul writes the
book of Philippians, he is a prisoner. Yet, look what
he says in v. 4. How might you and I handle
imprisonment? What are the complaints that we
might focus on? What does Paul say our spirit
toward others should be in v. 5? On the other hand
how do we often treat others when we are overstressed and overwhelmed with pain? Then Paul
points us to how we can choose to have joy even in
the midst of hard and difficult times. What do we
need to remember according to v. 5? What does
Paul tell us to do in v. 6 with our stresses? What
does v. 7 promise that God will do?
What will you choose to do if today the guilt of sin
has got you really upset? I suggest Psalm 32:5.
What will you choose to do if today the uncertainty of
the future is really worrying you? I suggest Joshua
1:9. What will you choose to do if today it your
financial and material needs that are causing you
panic? I suggest Philippians 4:19. What will you
choose to do if today you are feeling the pressure of
other people who are out to harm you? I suggest
God’s promise in Isaiah 54:17. What will you choose
to do if today there are hard decisions before you? I
suggest Proverbs 16:3… of course according to
God’s will, not ours. If you’ve chosen to believe God
and what He will do, move forward in life with joy,
having left things in God’s hands. It’s your choice!
WHAT WILL YOU ASK GOD FOR TODAY?
WHO WILL YOU BRING TO GOD TODAY?
WHAT CAN YOU THANK GOD FOR TODAY?
DAY 19… March 19
READ: 2 Timothy 6:9-10
Thoughts to Help You Think About the Scripture
It’s a good idea to have a doctor give you a regular
check-up. In it, your doctor can sometimes see harmful
directions before they become significant. With today’s
Bible reading I invite you to submit to a life check-up. The
life check-up is about money, but also about all the things
that money can secure. In this Scripture, Paul says to a
young man named Timothy that there are:
a) TRAPS to the pursuit of money… it can become
contagious, there never is an “enough” level of money or
the things that it can buy.
b) MANY FOOLISH AND HARMFUL DESIRES…
when money and the things it can bring us grow, they can
affect our desires in harmful ways… ex. we want more for
ourselves and look less to others… we become insatiable
about having the next or more advanced this or that
(think especially about technology).
c) RUIN AND DESTRUCTION can follow as our
desires go out of control… we’ve got to have more and
more, something newer, something better, and the
passion to have that controls us to make unwise choices.
d) ENCOURAGES WANDERING FROM THE
FAITH… yep, it even gets to a point where it starts to
affect our spiritual life… our goals are not focused on the
Lord but ourselves, God doesn’t get our BEST gift, but
just the BEST gift that we can give without sacrificing the
taking care of our own passions. Look what happened in
Matthew 26:14-16.
Take your own temperature about money and the things
that it buys. Are you obeying the “firstfruits” principle of
Proverbs 3:9? Do you need the word of Jesus in Luke
16:13 right now? Have you been getting a little caught up
in things like Luke 12:16-20 talks about? Who are you
trying to be rich toward (Luke 16:21)? Ask God to
change you right now. He forgives you and me because
of Jesus’ death. Then start fresh to keep things in proper
perspective.
WHAT WILL YOU ASK GOD FOR TODAY?
WHO WILL YOU BRING TO GOD TODAY?
WHAT CAN YOU THANK GOD FOR TODAY?
DAY 20… March 20
READ: 1 Corinthians 15:9-10
Thoughts to Help You Think About the Scripture
No matter who you are, every one of us has a
spiritually unattractive history. That is, sinful stuff
we’re not proud of. By history, I don’t mean just
many years ago, but even in the “now” of our lives.
Who are you still trying to fully forgive? Are you still
“paying the price” of some earlier unwise sinful
moves in your life? What struggles with temptation
do you still confront every day—an out of control
tongue? a lustful heart? impatience that leads you to
do short term things that are unwise? still often an
unselfish life of putting yourself ahead of others?
can’t even remember the last time that you
consistently sacrificed for someone else? Every one
of us can identify with the man named Paul in v. 9.
He used to be named Saul in Acts 8:3. What was he
doing back then?
Before any of us go to the “well, I’m pretty good most
of the time/ I’m not so bad, so this word really isn’t
for me,” kind of thinking, remember the piercing truth
that James reminds us of in James 2:10. Can any of
us rest on the concept that we’re “not that bad”?
What guilt does even just one itsy bitsy sin bring to
our lives? There is a way to stand with hope and
confidence. What is it according to 1 Corinthians
15:10? What is GRACE? 2 Corinthians 8:9 gives us
a pretty good definition. What is grace? What does
grace makes possible for us with God the Father?
Whose work is grace because of? How is grace
undeserved favor for Paul and for you and me?
Now what hope does this bring to you and me about
our unattractive history which is still being added to?
If we repent of our sins, what is true according to
Psalm 103:11-12? What Good News!
WHAT WILL YOU ASK GOD FOR TODAY?
WHO WILL YOU BRING TO GOD TODAY?
WHAT CAN YOU THANK GOD FOR TODAY?
DAY 21… March 21
READ: Matthew 7:13-14
Thoughts to Help You Think About the Scripture
Even though it has been all the way back since 1958 that
he came on to the scene, most people today know who
Yogi Bear is. The cartoon character is one of the most
beloved cartoon characters of all time. One of his
signature lines was that he referred to himself as “smarter
than the average bear.” What Yogi meant by that was
that while he was not brilliant smart, comparing himself to
others bears, he was smart. “Comparing himself to
others… comparing ourselves to others,” let’s think about
that today. It is so easy to do. When are the times that
you and I especially compare ourselves to others and
what they’ve done? Isn’t it often when we’ve fallen short
of what we should do or be? We use the comparison as
sort of an ointment or a drug for our failure… sort of like,
“Well, I may not be this, but I’m better than they are.”
What comparisons do you make about yourself?
Beware, spiritual comparisons, while they come just as
easy, are very dangerous. What are some spiritual
comparisons? Who do you “out serve” or “out give” in the
church? Who have you lived a more holy life than (at
least what is seen on the outside)? What evil have others
done that you have avoided?
Please be careful of
this spirit for these reasons: 1) you and I are part of the
“all” of Romans 3:23. 2) To just be “morally better” than
MOST people isn’t that much of an accomplishment
when you realize what happens to “many” according to
Matthew 7:13. 3) See how things turned out for a
Pharisee who was focused on how he measured up with
others. See Luke 18:9-12. How did things turn out for him
according to Luke 18:13-14? Instead, what does Jesus
say is the only entrance to life according to Matthew
7:14? The entrance to heaven is not about how we are
measured with others. The entrance is not even about us
and what we’ve done. Rather, it is about Christ, and this
one truth found in Romans 10:9.
Is that you?
WHAT WILL YOU ASK GOD FOR TODAY?
WHO WILL YOU BRING TO GOD TODAY?
WHAT CAN YOU THANK GOD FOR TODAY?