STEPPING INTO ABUNDANT LIVING - Inventory
We seek to keep our hearts
pure that we might see God in our lives today[2]
Blessed are the pushers, for they get their way. B.. are the hard-boiled, hard core, the hard
hearted – for they never get hurt. B…
are those who complain, for they get all the attention. B….. are the blasé’, for they never worry
about sin. B…. are the slave-drivers,
for they get results. B…… are the
greedy, for they get what they want”
This is an edited version of the Sarcastic Beatitudes by JB
Phillips.
What do these beatitudes have in common?
They all come from a selfish heart..
What do you think of when you hear the word servant? Someone who’s pathetic, without will or
purpose? Our false definition of the
word servant can affect every relationship we have and how we live our
lives. It affects how we feel and how we
LOVE!!
How did Jesus introduce Himself?
“The son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his
life” MK 10:45 – and he practiced what
he preached..
Genesis – explain ‘helper’ help mate – same word in Hebrew used for the
Holy Spirit
Jesus in John 21 – beach – after his
resurrection – 3rd appearance
It was about HIM serving US, rather than the other way around this servant love that allows Him to just sit around on the beach with nothing better to do than prepare and personally serve a nice bread & fish breakfast for the disciples, simply because He loves them (and us). --- IT’S ALL ABOUT LOVE…
It was about HIM serving US, rather than the other way around this servant love that allows Him to just sit around on the beach with nothing better to do than prepare and personally serve a nice bread & fish breakfast for the disciples, simply because He loves them (and us). --- IT’S ALL ABOUT LOVE…
This will be a kind of emotional/ relational inventory…
IF we are not improving in the ‘love area’, IT IS QUITE POSSIBLE THAT WE HAVE SOME ISSUES that are unresolved in our past relationships – there may be hurt, resentments, anger….
B #6 is - ‘BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART.. FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD..
Principle –
Openly examine and confess MY faults to myself, to God, and to someone I
trust.
We must
make a searching and fearless moral inventory of our lives.
“Let us
examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.” –
Lamentations 3:40
Inventory - How to get started
Ephesians 4:31 tells us to “Get rid of all
bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of
malice. “
A 5 column
inventory sheet may help you with this task (from Celebrate Recovery workbooks).. Write the following:
C1 – “The
Person” - you resent or fear.. go as far back as you
can
C2 – The
Cause - ‘hurt people, hurt people’ write down the specific actions that someone
did to hurt you
C3 – The
Effect - write down how the specific hurtful action affected your life..
C4 – The
Damage - What basic needs were missed
-- physical, emotional, spiritual,
sexual
C5 – My
Part -- Take responsibility for your
part… maybe it is just the reaction to it…
A small child – victim of abuse..
just simply write in big letters.. NOT GUILTY
Once we
have moved through some of these negative experiences, it is important,
to keep our inventories
balanced. So, the next section – our
focus for tonight is going to be the opportunity to do just that as it relates
to LOVE…
There are 2
ways that the emotion of love gets triggered in us – of course we know love is
a verb –or should be – it creates action.. but it is also a God-given emotion..
Love is commitment, love is action, love is emotion… 3 types of love: eros, phileo, agape.. EXPLAIN…Anyway.. there are 2 ways the emotion
gets triggered and I want you to think about these things and allow people to
come to mind as I go through them. If
you want to write down their names.. please do so.. then.. respond sometime
this week by sending them a note, an e-mail, a card maybe… make a phone call, visit.. etc…
Here are
the 2 Ways:
The emotion of love comes from
1)
External
Triggers: Situations
2)
Internal
Triggers: Thoughts
1 Cor 13
exercise…
STEPPING INTO ABUNDANT LIVING – INVENTORY INTRO
GROUP
WORK
1)
When you consider doing an inventory with these categories,
what is your emotional response?
2)
Why is it important to keep your inventory balanced? What exactly does that mean?
3)
Who were some of the people that came to mind during the
reading of the ‘love triggers’ and why?
4)
How’s your love tank?
Love inventory?
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