Day 2 | 21-Day Growth Challenge | "Are You Serious?"

Tuesday, August 31, 2010 Bryan Hudson 9 Comments






Proverbs 2:2, (NLT) Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. 3 Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. 4 Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. 5 Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God.  (When you have time, read entire chapter)

INSIGHT: 
In Chapter One, we learned about the purpose of the Book of Proverbs. Here at the beginning of Chapter Two, we get a sense of the passion needed to grow, learn and prosper. Note these powerful prescriptions: "Tune your ears…", Concentrate on understanding…", "Cry out for insight…", "Search for them…," "Seek them…" These statements are not an invitation to work in our own strength, but to allow the Holy Spirit to work through us. Jesus came "full of grace and truth." (John 1:14). Grace is God's favor and ability working inside you. The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:10, "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."

By grace you can labor "more abundantly." You can follow the prescriptions of Proverbs 2:2-5 and achieve the outcomes of 1), "Understand what it means to fear the Lord.." and 2)  "Gain knowledge of God." 

PRAYER AND ACTIVATION:
(Use comment section below to share your insights. Record sensitive items in your personal journal. You may use your name or remain anonymous.)
  1. What are a couple of areas that hinder you from having a stronger passion to draw closer to God?
  2. Why must we seek the things that God promised us?
  3. After reading Proverbs 2:2-4, what two specific insights did you gain from this scripture?
  4. What actions will you take today related to this lesson?
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COMMENT SECTION:
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9 comments :

  1. What are a couple of areas that hinder you from having a stronger passion to draw closer to God?
    1. Too much tv and not enough time jsut being in God's pressense.

    Why must we seek the things that God promised us?
    1. Oftern the things that God wnats us to focus on are not the popular or easy things so the world is not going to help you reach those goals.

    After reading Proverbs 2:2-4, what are two specific insights did you gain from this scripture?
    1. Wisdom is a treasure that must be hunted and sought out.
    2. Time must be devoted to seeking wisdom.

    What actions will you take today related to this lesson?
    1. Take the time to listen to wisdom
    2. pray
    3. Read the rest of Proverbs 2

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1a. Sustaining a committed devotional time and daily bible study time to fellowship with God.
    1b. Allowing circumstances and challenges of life to have a greater priority over eternal and spiritual fruitfulness.

    2. I must seek the things God promised me because God has designed plans, instructions and principles in His word to direct us into what he has promised. Secondly, I will value and respect the insight of wisdom and understanding if I search and discover these truths myself by the help of the Holy Spirit.

    3. It is up to me to seek, search, tune in, discover and meditate on what God speaks in His word to receive wisdom and understanding by the help of the Holy Spirit.

    4. It is by God's grace that change is made in our lives. During the 21 day growth challenge, I am expecting a renewal and refreshing of priority #1, Fellowship with my Father and Creator.

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  3. 1.) Many times when I am experiencing blessing, I become lazy about seeking God. But, he has really brought that to my attention. Now I have really structured my days so I can devote the FIRST hour in the morning to talk with him and seek him. I think doing it first really helps me keep focus on the fact that God is my #1 priority.

    2.) I seek the things God has promised me because Jesus died to give us that inheritance of life and abundance. It almost seems like an insult to not go after something that valuable. Also, everything God has promised me (and his people) is my inheritance and I have a right to it! It is mine and Jesus has made it readily available to me.

    3.) Earnestly seeking knowledge brings awareness. But revelation can only come through the holy spirit. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom because you are aware of the fact that you will never understand anything unless the holy spirit brings clarity to your mind.

    "Wisdom will come into your mind, and knowledge will be pleasing to you" Prov. 2:10 NCV

    4.)I will continue to diligently seek the Lord during my devotional time and honor him with the first hour of every day. I have experienced first hand how, when faced with a problem, God will bring a solution into your mind and I always immediately know "that wasn't me".

    Thank you God! You always know what I need and you are always causing all things to turn out in my favor!

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  4. Why must we seek the things that God promised us?

    I believe God promised them for a purpose. There is something in the world that He wants accomplished and I am to play a part in it. His promises glorify Him and they are for my good.

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  5. 1)What are a couple of areas that hinder you from having a stronger passion to draw closer to God? Mental distractions.

    2)Why must we seek the things that God promised us? Because it is our inheritance. God's promises have been willed to us through Jesus Christ. When we don't show up for the reading of the will, we are are essentially turning our back on what has been already been provided for us.

    3)After reading Provrbs 2:2-4, what two specific insights did you gain from this scripture? A fresh revealation of God and his wisdom is accomplished by being proactive(asking for god's help) and by being relentless in the search.

    4)What actions will you take today related to this lesson? I will pray and meditate on the entire chapter 2 of Proverbs.

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  6. 1.I don't know if there are any areas that would hinder me from having a stronger passion to draw closer to God. I just know that I do have a strong desire to be in his presence.
    The question in my heart has been:
    Lord, how close can I get? and I always hear..
    How close do you want to get?
    My heart weeps just knowing God doesn't care how close I get to him;just as long as I keep that desire to be where he is.
    2.We must continue to seek the things that God promised us.It won't "pop" and be there(something just handed to you).Most of God's promises that I am aware of have been conditional. " Seek and ye shall find, knock and the door will be opened" is a principle that God has already set up. When we seek after what God promised to us, it also tells him how earnest we are in having what he has already given.
    3.After reading Prov.2:2-4 the insight I gained was this:
    a)The action words here are listen, concentrate,cry,ask and search. None of them can be done alone, or doing/having a part of it, to get the end result of verse 5..THEN you will...
    b)How much do I really want of what God wants me to have? I can have as much or as little of God's promises. However,It will cost me time and effort to search it out.
    4.So what am I going to do about it,What action will I take?...hmmm
    I'm going to have to think carefully about my answer.It will be a decision/promise I make to myself.
    I'm going to meditate over this scripture, count the cost , then go for it.
    -Davis

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  7. College and a busy schedule, in which I accompany the cadets to various activities, such as the soup kitchen and other community service events are my biggest distracters because they consume a considerable amount of time.
    2. We must seek the things that God has promised us because they lead to life that is more abundant.
    3. Two Specific Insights
    a. To gain wisdom we must actively pursue it and cannot expect to miraculously receive it without any effort on our part.
    b. We must cry out for wisdom with passion, and fervently seek it with the same vigor as we would something dear to us, such as a missing wedding ring.
    I started working with the Booster Club and soliciting parents to help with some of the community service events, which will give me a bit more free time and reduce my exhaustion, thereby allowing for more devotion time with the Lord.

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  8. What are a couple of areas that hinder you from having a stronger passion to draw closer to God?
    It's a mindset. Despite what I say, My calendar shows what I value. I place a higher priority on some other things even though in reality they have a lesser value than my relationship with God.

    Why must we seek the things that God promised us?
    If we seek them, and they are important to us, we are promised that we will find them. The things of God are life and truth.

    After reading Proverbs 2:2-4, what two specific insights did you gain from this scripture?
    Wisdom is a treasure. Finding and preserving treasures don't come without effort. If things are freely given, they should be cherished, but often, we take things easily obtained for granted.

    What actions will you take today related to this lesson?
    I read the entire chapter earlier today.

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  9. 1. A stronger passion/drawing closer to God is sometimes hindered in me by the fact that--to be more godly is to be more selfless. To love the hurting who will hurt you , many times in return for the love given to them. I'm sometimes hindered by being reminded that, to home much has been forgiven...it is required that I forgive more, thats a real clear look in the mirror of who I am. 2.We must seek the things that God promised us because there is true life and love in them, jot just getting things or surrounding ourself with 'feel good stuff'. 3. "Concentrate, cryout,search, seek as though hidden", these are words that remind me that anything of value isn't just thrown out anywhere to stumble over or trip upon ..so as to gain knowledge or understanding, but, I have to put some effort into gaining the value of priceless things from God even more than silver or gold. 4. Actions taken will be to waste less time on things of no value that are thrown about, and concentrate on things of quality from God using my time to seek those things.

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