This week begins our series called "Reboot." It will be a great series to begin a new year, allowing God to move and work on you and on me from the inside out. We all know that outward changes don't typically last. But internal changes initiated by God can be transformative and life altering. Are you ready? When you are transformed from the inside out, then you can move and operate more effectively in the ever increasing stress of this world. Romans 15:5 talks about "...the God who gives endurance and encouragement." We all need that in this day and time! Are you ready to listen to His still, small voice and find out how He may want you to "reboot" moving forward?
The early Christian monks known as "desert fathers" and "desert mothers" identified what we know as the "Seven Deadly Sins." This series is based upon these well known areas of sin that are talked about throughout Scripture. This series, Bible study and the Zoom small group that is forming (https://www.rockhills.com/events/2021/1/20/digging-deeper-discussion-group), are NOT intended to lay guilt or shame on anyone. You have to know and be honest about the "disease" before you can work on a cure. We ALL struggle with one or more of these sins, and God longs to come alongside us to help us defeat them. Are you ready for Jesus to become greater in your life (John 3:30)? There IS a tempter and he seeks to "steal, kill and destroy" (John 10:10). He is actively trying to bring you down. What are your "battle tactics?" Are you ready to be honest with yourself and God to work on your weak areas with the Lord's help and guidance? Are you willing to lay aside your human tendency to rationalize, justify and defend and get real with Jesus in these areas? He is ready to set you free and transform your life and relationships!
INVITATION: This week's study deals with PRIDE. This is something that is often very easy to see in others, but very hard to see - or own up to - in our own lives. However, it is often said to be the sin that leads to all other sins. Pride displaces God from the throne of our life. Pastor Adam suggested the following verses as a prayer for this series. Will you consider praying it each day before your time with the Lord? "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23-24.
MONDAY: John 10:10 and I Peter 5:8: "the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Does that sound overly dramatic to you? Do you tend to rationalize and justify the weak areas in your life? Is God nudging you in some way regarding all this? Rest assured the evil one knows your weak areas and is chipping away until he can bring you down. Are you willing to enter into this teaching series and do some internal examination with the Lord's help? He calls you His beloved and longs to transform you and make you whole.
TUESDAY: Hebrews 12:1: You are surrounded by a great "cloud of witnesses" on this journey. This teaching series will help you "throw off" things that hinder and entangle and to run this earthly race with perseverance. You are NOT alone. Is there something in your life that makes you feel entangled? Will you consider praying to see if God shows you something, or affirms what your gut sense is regarding this area of entanglement? Are you ready to work with Jesus on it? His "yoke is easy and his burden is light" it says in Matthew. With Jesus we can move "freely and lightly" and NOT feel entangled. How might you pray about that today? (References from Matthew 11:28-30).
WEDNESDAY: Esther 4:14: This is a key verse in Esther about her being in a position "for such a time as this." Could it be this teaching on the Seven Deadly Sins is "for such a time as this" in your life journey? Eugene Peterson stated, "Most of the time we are not living in a crisis in which we are conscious of our need of God, yet everything we do is critical to our faith, and God is critically involved in it. All day long we are doing externally important things without knowing it. All through the day we inadvertently speak words that enter people's lives and change them in minor and major ways, and we never know it." Is NOW the time for you to get serious about allowing God more authority in your life, relationships, job, words, children, etc? Many believe we ARE living in a crisis situation right now. Could the crisis of 2020, and what is already going on in 2021 be "for such a time as this" in your life?
THURSDAY: Esther 3:1-10: Hamon was elevated by the King. He was someone that had clout, but was not respected. He is a good example of pride and where it can lead. When Hamon saw that Mordecai would not bow down to him as the King had decreed, he reacted in a way that probably seems to us extreme. However, that is what pride does. It leads us to extremism: we want to eliminate and somehow bring down those who don't see us as we see ourselves. It's been said: thoughts become actions; actions become habits, habits become a lifestyle and lifestyle becomes destiny. C.S. Lewis' definition of pride is: "The ruthless, sleepless, unsmiling concentration on self" and he says that is "hell." What are your thoughts about yourself these days? Is your ego (we ALL have it) under the authority of Jesus Christ? Could you be entangled with pride in your life and relationships?
FRIDAY: Esther 6:6-9: Hamon thought he was going to be honored, but the King commanded him to honor Mordicai instead: a Jew and the very person (and culture) he wanted to destroy. Hamon must have been incredibly humbled by this command. What might it look like to humble yourself today and this week? As you pray, do you sense an invitation from God regarding an area of pride in your life?
SATURDAY: Matthew 23:1-12 & Proverbs 16:18: Humble yourself or you will be humbled. As you read these verses do you feel conviction or anger? Might that reveal something about pride in your life?