Get Dressed

A Lifestyle of Obedience:

 

Prison breaks, just like limitations and prison experiences, teach us obedience. With prison breaks, we have no idea how to pull off an escape or where to go to avoid discovery.  God must lead the way. As He leads us, we must be willing to obey and follow Him so we do not become imprisoned again.  This sometimes blind and often sacrificial obedience is a result of our love for God (page 144).

 

Mile Marker:

 

As part of "getting dressed" for the next phase of your journey, can you identify some "clothes" you need to put on - certain habits or disciplines that you need to focus on building up at this time?

 

Remembering the Words of a Friend:

 

You are my friends if you do what I command you.

- John 15:14

Get up Quickly

Get Up Quickly
Chapter 7

When Jesus asked the man who was sick for thirty-eight years if he wanted to be well, the man responded by giving excuses as to why he had not yet made it down to the healing pool. And yet, when Jesus released the the Word - "Get up" - the man found the willingness to try again. The Scripture reads, "Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk" (John 5:9). The Word of God mixed with the man's small faith and willingness to try is what freed him. It is what freed Peter. And it can free you.

If God is saying, "Get up quickly," then why not just try and see what happens? You can do it. You can make that decision to try. (p 135)

Mile Marker:

Do you sends God telling you to "Get up quickly" in some areas of your life? What are some of the chains that make doing it seem impossible?

Charting your Course:

Ask God for help and the courage to try.

Remembering the Words of a Friend:

Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, "I do believe; help my unbelief."
Mark 9:24

A Heart of Expectancy

A Heart of Expectancy
“Consider that right now while you sit in your cell stunned by the light, your path of life is opening to you. You are not being ripped from a quasi-comfortable sleep in a dark, heavily guarded prison. You are being awakened by God to the next phase of your journey with him. God has caused those weeks, months, or years of hard time in limitations to strengthen you, transform you, and bring you closer to him in friendship. You’ve learned how to walk in gratitude to God. You’ve begun to build up a heart of expectation about what he can do. Now the Lord’s angel has burst into your cell and your faith is awake – not momentarily awake, but awake for real. This is the time to turn up the volume on your expectations! Keep those eyes and ears open. Keep that third Next Level heart attitude, a heart of expectancy toward God, alive. God is about to start giving instructions, and he needs your undivided attention” (p. 114).

Mile Marker:
What are some ways you can cultivate the third Next Level attitude – a heart of expectancy toward God?

Remembering the Words of a Friend:
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
-Hebrews 11:1 KNJV

Who Turned of the Light?

Page 90-104

God uses our lives to bring glory to Himself (Isaiah 43: 6-7). Everything in us must point the world to God’s love and in His direction. If you are experiencing a limitation, God will, ultimately, use it to bring glory to Himself (p. 101). When we live in our limitations too long, we are prone to forget that God is all powerful. We need to develop the third Next Level heart attitude, a heart of expectancy toward God. Expectancy is a place of trust, and trust is the basis of our friendship with God (p. 104). Take this week to meditate on the questions below and memorize this week’s scripture.

Mile Marker:
In what areas of your life have you quit expecting God to show up and turn on the light? In what areas are you living in resignation about your circumstances? Ask God to help you cultivate the Next Level heart attitude, a heart of expectancy toward God.
Remembering the Words of a Friend:
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidenced of things not seen.
-Hebrews 11:1 NKJV

Your Designer Prison

( Pages 76 - 90)

I was in jail. In the mid 1990s, as I sat in the cold, colorless cell in the Norfolk City jail, I tried to imagine how I was going to feel spending time there. Thankfully, I was only in there a couple hours-- to preach. My wife and I had moved to Norfolk in 1990 to establish Calvary Revival Church; during our early years, we started the prison ministry, Jonah. While sitting and thinking in that cell, I realized that God was utilizing each prisoner’s jail experience. In other words, for each person there, God had a “designer prison” – one that would work for their good. In a sense, God is crafting our lives the same way. Even in the midst of your circumstances, “God is preserving you, fixing you, building you, and using your limitations to prepare you for the coming phases of your journey” (McBath, p. 76).


Mile Marker: Can you identify a few of the ways God may be making your limitations serve as a “designer prison” in your life? Can you identify some of the ways God is reaching out to you, using your losses and issues to build your friendship with him?


Remembering The Words of a Friend:
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. - Romans 8:28

Keys to Transforming our Frustrations

Pages 63-77

Our last reading discussed developing stamina in limitations. We discovered that making the decision to see things from God’s perspective can strengthen our ability to endure. This week, we will review three essential tools that will help mitigate the frustrations that prevent us from experiencing fulfillment through our friendship with God.

Tool #1: Worship

True worship is a lifestyle. Worship is not limited to singing a song or lifting our hands before God. It is completely surrendering to God and finding security in His sovereignty and unparalleled, faithful character. Peter is a perfect example of this. On the night before his trial, Peter slept in his prison cell, surrendered to and trusting in God’s will.

Tool #2: “Forget” the Past

When we find ourselves in limited circumstances, it is tempting to dwell on events of the past. However, in order to avoid stagnancy, we must do as Paul and forget what is behind and reach forward to what is ahead (Philippians 3:13-14). “As long as you are holding on to what’s behind you, you are hindered in reaching forward” (McBath, p. 67).

Tool #3: Make Plans

At times being proactive about pursuing our dreams and goals ease our frustrations. On the other hand, remaining passive increases the likelihood of us giving up on our dreams completely. Therefore, we should prayerfully make plans and then take steps-even small steps-to pursue our goals.

Scripture for the week:

Memorizing God’s word is imperative. As Psalm 119:105 says, God’s word is a lamp to our feet and a light for our path.

The scripture to memorize this week is James 1:2-3 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.”

Stamina in Limitations

Blog #4 (pages 48-62)

In our next reading we take a look at stamina in limitations. We all have limitations. The author mentions his unique limitations his first year of college. He found him self socially, physically, and even academically limited at first. This is where the rubber meets the road. Are we to give in and throw in the towel or dig in regardless of our limitations. The author chose the latter and determinded to "hang on in faith, believing that God had a purpose for me at MIT and remembering who I was: God's Friend" (page 61). Seeing things differently is one way you endure during limitations. It's easy to see the giants of frustration, confusion, economic hardship in the promised land of purpose God has called you to. What we have to do is see yourself the way God sees you, hold on to his purposes for your life and that fact that he is your friend. The paragraph below will give you some insight into how important it is to see yourself as God see's you.

"... the enemy is so frightened by who you are he's working overtime. He has placed whole attachments and drigades and squads of frustrating, limiting, even devastating circumstances around you just so he can prevent you from seeing who you really are - God's empowered friend" (page 62)

Wow! What a revelation. We are in a battle but we serve the victor, the King of Kings. As you reflect on this weeks reading, what are some strategies and principles of God's word you have used to endure during times of limitations in your own life?