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Day four of each week has extra Bible study questions that are not in the Bible Study Guide. These are for on-line Bible study participants who want to dig a little deeper.
1. When a married couple grows apart, that usually means the two have planted their feet firmly in the ground as two individuals, sunk down deep roots to form two separate lives, and have sprouted growth that has nothing in common.
As a review of what you’ve already discovered in question 6, what is our relationship with Jesus to resemble? Romans 11:17-18.
Jesus is called the Root of Jesse. What happens when a branch is grafted onto a strong healthy stalk?
What happens when we are grafted onto the divine nature of Jesus Christ?
How does this relate to what we learned about “abiding” in Christ in chapter 3?
2. When Jesus spoke to Saul on the Road to Damascus, what did He ask him? (Acts 9:4)
Was he persecuting Jesus, per se, or the Christian church? What does that tell you about how Jesus views Christians in regard to union with Him?
What does Ephesians 1:23 say about the church? Consider this paraphrase of Ephesians 1:23 in your answer: “The church is Christ’s body, in which he fills everything with his presence,” (MSG).
3. One of the names for the Holy Spirit is the Greek word parakletos (John 14:16). It is translated helper, comforter, intercessor and means one who comes alongside to help.
How does that fit the beautiful picture of union with the Trinity? Share your answer in the comment box.
1. Answer questions 5-8 of Lesson 3 in the Study Guide, writing them down in your notebook.
2. It is easy to go through the motions of church and miss the relationship with Jesus. That’s the difference between routine religions and intimate relationship with Christ.
What did God tell the church of Ephesus to do to remedy their “coldness” toward Him?
What are some things that you did early in your relationship with Jesus that you need to do once again? How can you remember and return?
Leave your answers in the comment box and let’s compare notes.
3. Share your thoughts for question 8. “Did God reveal anything new to you this week about what Acts 17:28 might look like in your life?”
1. Answer questions 1-4 of Lesson 3 in the Study Guide, writing them down in your notebook.
2. What did you learn new about “union” with Christ? Leave your answer in the comment box.
3. Galatians 2:20 is a wonderful verse. Tell me what that “looks” like in a believer’s life. Let’s put flesh and bones on this spiritual concept. (That’s a tough one. Ponder it and ask God to show you what it looks like before you answer.) I can’t wait to see your answers in the comment box.
2. What was the most significant nugget you gleaned from this chapter?
3. Here’s what I want you to take with you today:
“Dwelling in Christ does not mean coming into His presence for times of Bible study and prayer and then walking out of His presence in order to attend to the mundane duties of life that take up the greater part of your day. Your relationship with Jesus is not meant to be experience in little puffs that refresh for a moment bit in the continual breathing in and out of His presence. Abiding. Union. Moving as one. “ page 46
4. Consider purchasing a large eraser and keep in on your kitchen counter as a reminder to erase the lines between your sacred life and secular activities so that ALL of life becomes an act of worship…to the glory of God.
Day four of each week has extra Bible study questions that are not in the Bible Study Guide. These are for online Bible study participants who want to dig a little deeper.
1. This isn’t exactly a romantic picture of pursuit, but an important one. Read Luke 19:1-9 and answer the following questions in your notebook.
Where was Jesus?
Where was Zacchaeus, and why was he there?
How did Jesus know Zach was in the tree?
An orthodox Jew like Jesus would never enter into a friendship with a tax collector. A Pharisee would not even enter a tax collector’s house, and a tax collector could not enter a Jewish home. Collecting taxes for Rome excommunicated a tax collector from the synagogue on the Sabbath and from Jerusalem for the high feasts. Then here comes Jesus, inviting himself to dinner in a tax collector’s home. A moment of sudden glory for sure! Those two words, “come down,” changed Zach’s life.
How does this story show the extent Jesus would go to, to pursue someone’s heart?
2. How do Jesus’ actions in the following miracles demonstrate that He was more concerned with pursuing someone’s heart than following religious rules…even when He knew it would cause controversy and lead to his death to do so?
Matthew 12:9-14
Luke 13:10-17, especially verse 14
John 9:1-17, especially verse 14
John 5:1-14, especially verse 9
3. Sometimes God pursues us when we don’t really want to be pursued. We walk away and turn our backs on Him. What does God do to continue the pursuit when we’ve walked away? Hosea 11:4 Please share your answer in the comment box.
4. Have you ever experienced that in your own life? This is a personal question. Please share your story if you feel comfortable doing so. I know it would be an encouragement to someone.
1. Answer questions 5-8 of Lesson 2 in the Study Guide, writing them down in your notebook.
2. What impacted you the most as you studied about Jesus’ pursuit of the Samaritan woman?
3. I hope you enjoyed looking at how Jesus pursued and won the Samaritan woman’s heart. Oh sister, He has pursued you too! Looking at question 8, share 5 of the ways Jesus has continued to pursue your heart and draw you into an intimate relationship with Him. Leave your list in the comment box.
2. Ponder Simon Tugwell’s quote at the beginning of the chapter:
“So long as we imagine it is we who have to look for God, we must often lose heart. But it is the other way about: He is looking for us.”
Is this a new idea for you? How does it make you feel? Please share your answer.
3. One of the most important ideas in Chapter 2 is this: “What is the key to experiencing God’s passionate pursuit? It’s simple really. We must recognize and acknowledge His presence as we live and move and have our being in Him. Acts 17:28 must be more than a nice Bible verse; it must become a way of life. When it does, sudden glory moments will fill our lives and take our breath away. It is divine romance of the purest kind.” Page 24
So let’s get this! What is the key to experiencing God’s passionate pursuit? Write it down. Say it out loud. Got it? OK, let’s move on.
4. Write Acts 17:28 on an index card and commit it to memory.
5. What was one concept in Chapter 2 that impacted you or ministered to you? Please share your answer in the comment box.
Day four of each week has extra Bible study questions that are not in the Bible Study Guide. These are for online Bible study participants who want to dig a little deeper.
1. Read and record Psalm 105:44. How have you “fallen heir to” the abundant life that others have toiled for but never found?
2. What do you receive as a co-heir with Christ? Romans 8:17
3. In Psalm 90:14, David said that God had made him “glad.” What a fun word. As you have witnessed God’s presence in your life today, how has He made you glad? Please share your answer in the comment box.
1. Answer questions 6-10 of Lesson 1 in the Study Guide, writing them down in your notebook.
2. Question 6 asked you to consider Jesus’ invitation: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.” What would that “look like” in your life? Share your answer in the comment box.
3. Looking at question 8, which one of David’s longings are the most reflective of your own?
4. Please share any other question and answer that caused you to stop and consider your own life.
1. Answer questions 1-6 of Lesson 1 in the Study Guide, writing them down in your notebook.
2. Share your answer for question 2 in the comment box: Can you give some examples of things we labor for or search for that will not satisfy our heart’s glory ache?
3. Looking at question 4, how is a broken or cracked cistern representative of anything we would use to fill the glory ache other than a relationship with Jesus? Share your answer in the comment box.
4. Please share any other question and answer that caused you to stop and consider your own life this week.
Welcome to the online Bible study for A Sudden Glory: God's Lavish
Response to Your Ache for Something More. The ten week study will run
May 13 – July 19, 2013. I’m so glad you’ve decided to join me.
I think we’ve all
experienced the “glory ache”—the persistent longing to experience God’s
presence on a daily basis. Busyness, striving, and working for God can
sometimes get in the way of intimacy with God.
Do you long for something
more in your relationship with God?
The good news is that “something” more does not mean “doing more.” God’s not
waiting for you to get your spiritual life “right.” He desires to commune with
you right where you are.
The real question is not
“What does God want from you?”but
“What does God want for you?”
In A Sudden Glory, you’ll
delve into Scripture and read stories that will help you erase the line between
your “spiritual life” and your “daily life” so that all of life becomes an act
of worship. Here you will find your eyes opened to moments of sudden glory
in which the Creator makes His presence known to you personally. Moments in
which the Creator assures you of His love as you live and more and have your
being in Him.
You’ll learn how to:
•Discover the secret to
experiencing God’s presence in your daily life.
•Walk in sync with Jesus
as you live and move and have your being in Him (Acts 17:28).
•Recognize God’s
passionate pursuit and relentless romance of your heart.
•Accept His invitation to
the divine dance choreographed just for you.
•Hear God’s gentle whisper
in the tough times of life.
•Breathe a sigh of relief
knowing that experiencing “something more” in your relationship with God does
not mean “doing more.”
So take a deep breath,
grab God’s hand, and discover the secret to experiencing God’s presence in a
deeper and more intimate way than ever before.
Here’s what you’ll need.
1. Your Bible
2. A copy of A Sudden Glory – you can purchase a copy at your
favorite Christian bookstore or on-line bookstore. Kindle edition or soft cover can be found here at Amazon.com
3. A notebook to write your answers, responses, and moments of
sudden glory.
Your first lesson will be
posted on May 13th. Each weekday
you will receive instructions for that particular day, and each week you will
receive a new lesson. On day 5 of each week, I’ll have a video that you can
watch from your computer. Just a click and the author Sharon Jaynes will be right
there with you.
To get you started, a copy of Chapter One and the study guide for Lesson One will be sent to you upon request by emailing karla.herbert@gmail.com. Simply put "A Sudden Glory Chapter One" in the subject line.
I’d also encourage you to watch the introductory video book trailer to give you a taste of what's to come.
Here's another idea:
invite a few friends, co-workers or family members to join you! That's the
beauty of an on-line study. You can join hearts that are next door or on the
other side of the globe.
I'll be praying for you
as drink deeply from the well of God's love.
As Sharon Jaynes says, “Sleuthing
for moments of Sudden Glory!”
It's Simple Spiritual Discipline Sunday and here is a Scripture for us to ponder today.
"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,they will walk and not be faint."
Isaiah 40: 28-31 Are you running the race and doing well, or do you feel that today is filled with stumbling blocks?
Wherever you are in your journey today, know that God is holding you, and there is a cloud of witnesses cheering for you.
I am cheering for you!
I am praying that God will position the right people to be there for you as His way of showing His deep love for you, even in the mundane. I'm also praying that you will know it is God and see Him in the amazing things you experience today.
Do you find yourself struggling to find time to BE STILL long enough to hear God's voice in your day to day struggles? When my son was born prematurely I saw God in so many ways and felt Him very near. Others feel that way, too, and then there are those who feel as if He's quite distant.
Just lately I was pondering many thoughts after I found out I have cancer. Just having a tumor made me understand that God can use just about ANYTHING to get us to BE STILL and stop being so busy DOING THINGS. He did it through my NICU experience and He's doing it again. It's in the "doing" that we tend to think we are going to experience Him more. Yet in reality, we get so busy we don't have time for GOD and those precious intimate times we CRAVE.
I'll be hosting an online Bible Study based on the book "A Sudden Glory" by Sharon Jaynes. Here's a teaser on this BEING STILL thing and how you’ll learn to:
~ Discover the secret to experiencing God’s presence in your daily life.
~ Walk in sync with Jesus as you live and move and have your being in Him (Acts 17:28).
~ Recognize God’s passionate pursuit and relentless romance of your heart.
~ Accept His invitation to the divine dance choreographed just for you.
~ Hear God’s gentle whisper in the tough times of life.
~Breathe a sigh of relief knowing that experiencing “something more” in your relationship with God does not mean “doing more.”
I hope you'll join me and please invite your friends!
