Experiencing God Unit 5: Week 5

Hello eLearners and Virtual Disciples!

Look at where the Lord has brought us from!! We started at Unit 1--God's Will and Your Life. We went on to Unit 2--Looking to God. We kept going to Unit 3--God Pursues a Love Relationship. Then on to Unit 4--Love and God's Invitation, which made us double up on the topic of "Love." :) And, now we are in Unit 5!!! Our Unit Title for this week is "God Speaks, Part I." The lesson topics are as follows:
 Day 1- God Speaks in Different Ways
Day 2-God Speaks by the Holy Spirit
Day 3-God Reveals
Day 4-God Speaks Through the Bible
Day 5-God Speaks Through Prayer

Beloved, I'm going to go ahead and be honest with you--the season is changing, there is a lot going on in our personal and family lives-- so these next few weeks is going to require more of a push than the previous ones. But you cannot get this far into the study and give up! This is where we begin to learn about how God speaks and the need for us to identify when He speaks and to respond, immediately. This is where we learn about how God reveals Himself, His Purposes and His ways. This is critical--do you agree? Have you been longing to hear from God? Have you been unsure about how God speaks and how you can discern the difference? Well, if the answer to any of those questions are yes then "you gone have to" push through. In other words, honor the time you've designated to study. Make up the times you miss because of unplanned interruptions. Be intentional about using the on-line support ie blog, post, and audio excerpts. Carry your book with you to read when you have down time. And, make time for reflection, prayer and meditation. You will be glad that you did.

Does this sound familiar?--"If a Christian does not know when God is speaking, he/she is in trouble at the heart of their Christian life." Here's one that got to me-That God spoke is the most important factor, not how He spoke. Whew! Here's another one--If you want to know the will and voice of God, you must devote time and effort to cultivate a love relationship with Him. There's more!!

Day 1 the author begins with sharing about how God spoke in the Old Testament. Then when it gets down to the part of the lesson "A Wrong Pattern" you need to read this slowly and carefully--then read it again. (I'm going to leave that right there).

Day 2 talks about how God speaks by the Holy Spirit. Here's a summary statement--When I understand spiritual truth, it is because the Holy Spirit is working in my life. Here's another one--An encounter with the Holy Spirit is an encounter with God. Here's one, truth is never discovered; truth is revealed. When you get to the part of the lesson "Respond Immediately" you need to read this slowly and carefully-then read it again. (I'm going to leave that right there).

God's revelations are designed to bring you into a love relationship with Him. God reveals Himself to increase faith that leads to action. God reveals His purposes so that you will know what He plans to do. All of these summary statements are found in Day 3. And, these are one of those days where you'll need to carve out enough time to complete the assignments and digest the lesson. In this lesson you will see 11 circles-the part that really ministered to me was the 3rd circle (which is on page 99 in my book).

Day 4 says that God speaks through the Bible to include other ways such as: prayer, circumstances, and the church. These four ways are difficult to separate. God uses prayer and the Bible together. Then there is the part of the lesson that talks about the Spirit of Truth and Responding to Truth. Here's a summary statement--Understanding spiritual truth does not lead you to an encounter with God; it is the encounter with God. Here's another one--God is more interested in what I become than in what I do.

The last day in this Unit--Day 5 talks about prayer. And, this summary statement made me shout: What God says in prayer is far more important than what you say. It goes on to say that prayer is a relationship to a person--its not just a religious activity. Its purpose is to adjust you to God, not to align God with your thinking. God doesn't need your prayers, but He wants you to pray because of what God wants to do in and through your life as you pray. Beloved, this is one of those days that you need to carve out some extra time to engage. Let me end with this statement from Day 5--When the God of the universe tells me something in my quiet time, I should write it down before I forget it.

You know if there is a Part I then there is a Part II. I pray that we will get everything out of these lessons that God wants us to have. And, I'll meet you again in Part II.

Blessings,

Reverend Tajuan Kyles

Experiencing God Unit 4: Week 4

Hello eLearners and Virtual Disciples,

It's Wednesday! Day 1 of Week 4 of the Experiencing God Study. And, by now you should have gained a new perspective--a mind shift-- regarding how God works and the need for you to align and adjust yourself to His ways. Hopefully, you are familiar with the 7 realities and there is at least one summary statement that jumps off the page at you and/or has stuck in your mind and memory.

Once again, you are encouraged to join our Power Chat each Wednesday at Noon EST and for those of you who were unable to make the call here is the audio link: Pre-Recorded Power Chat. There will be a live recording on Wednesday--9/23/15 @ 12 Noon EST.

On last week we our Unit Topic was God Pursues a Love Relationship. And, one of the summary statements was: "A love relationship with God is more important than any other single factor in your life." This week our Unit Title is Love and God's Invitation. The lesson topics for Unit 4 are as following:

Day 1: Know God
Day 2: Worship God
Day 3: Love God
Day 4: God Invites You to Join Him
Day 5: Knowing Where God is at Work

Personally, some of the lessons from Unit 4 are my favorites or should I say the ones that stuck with me the most and longest. And, even though Juanita Bynum isn't one of my favorite singers this song she sings here Be Still And Know That I am God really blessed me as I studied Day 1 of Unit 4: Know God. It's a difference between knowing that I have a father and knowing who my father is. Yes, you need to know that there is a God--but even deeper than that, know that the God you serve is more than just a god-He is Almighty God. Can I go deeper? And, He is the God who can be what you need Him to be at the time you need Him to be that. (don't miss your shout). And, Day 1 gives a list of the names, titles, and descriptions of God and ask you to select or describe God in ways that you have personally experienced Him.  For example: Advocate, Savior, Counselor, Teacher, Redeemer--how have you experienced God? For me, I just call him FAITHFUL--because that's what He has been to me. I know too much about Him to doubt Him. He has been my keeper and that's why I totally love Tye Tribbett's song Keep Me.  One of the summary statements are "Knowing God comes only through experience as He reveals Himself to me."

Day 2 goes into a discussion about Worship. The summary statement is "To worship is to reverence and honor God, to acknowledge Him as worthy of your praise." And, this lesson lists ways to worship God such as: Bless His name, Glory in His name, Rejoice in His name, Trust in His name....and so on. Its not a long lesson but after this lesson your worship should be long! Then there's-- Love God which goes right into what I've said and asked before, "How can you demonstrate your love for God?" And so Day 3 talks about obedience as one of those ways. Here's the summary statement, "If you have an obedience problem, you have a love problem." Wow!! Let that sink in. Here's more, "Obedience is the outward expression of my love for God." And then there's day 4.

Day 4 proves to offer a different way of looking and thinking. Listen to this summary statement, "When you see the Father at work around you, that is your invitation to adjust your life to Him and join Him in that work." What?! In other words, God's revelation is your invitation. Huh?! That is definitely not the way I had looked at this. In other words, after reading the entire lesson I believe that the author is saying that 1st  you have to be in a love relationship with God. Then when God opens your spiritual eyes you will begin to see His activity--because He will reveal it to you. And, once you discern and see God's activity that becomes an invitation for you to join Him. How does that sound to you? What are your thoughts on that? Have you been able to recognize God's activity around you?

On the last day of week 4--which is Day 5 you really need to take some time out to get into this lesson. This lesson right here....this lesson is one you need to really hold on to--tightly! I have got to post the audio reading of the introduction. Meanwhile, here's a clip: "By the time we pray, the opportunity to join God is gone." I'm going to let you think about that for a minute with hopes that you will run and go get your book and turn to that lesson just so you can read it for yourself. Here's the thing, "A tender, sensitive heart will be ready to respond to God at the slightest prompting." Would you agree? Maybe or maybe not? In other words, people often respond with "Let me pray about it." Wait! But haven't you been praying already? Did you tell God that you love Him? Did you ask Him to use you? So, now that you're being called upon you need to pray about it? I wish I could go more into this lesson but my recommendation is that you TAKE YOUR TIME AND READ THIS LESSON CAREFULLY. Beloved, it will bless you!

In closing, I want to express my thanks to all of you who read these blogs. I'm thankful for so many of you who have committed to the Experiencing God Study along with me--I get blessed each time we do it. I encourage you to keep up with your reading, to remain committed to the study, and to take advantage of the on-line support. You can also attend classes at your local church and if you are in the Charlotte area it's offered at the Steele Creek AME Zion Church 1500 Shopton Rd @ 7p. Hope to meet you on the call.


Increase and Blessings,

Rev Kyles

Experiencing God: Unit 3 Week 3

Hello eLearners and Virtual Disciples,

It's Wednesday! And today we start Week 3 with hopes that you are still on board with the Experiencing God Study. Again, we welcome you to our Power Chat offered each Wednesday at Noon EST and for those of you who missed it today here is the link of the recording: Week 3 Power Chat. On last week our Unit Title was "Looking to God." And, I don't know about you but the lessons from week two bless me every time. God takes the initiative. God takes the initiative. Listen, God takes the initiative. "He waits until we respond to Him by adjusting ourselves to Him and making ourselves available to Him." Then of course the whole idea of God developing our character to match the assignment is something so important for us to always keep in mind.
Moving forward, our theme for this week is God Pursues a Love Relationship. And, here are the lesson titles for this week:

Unit 3
Day 1: Created for a Love Relationship
Day 2: A Love Relationship with God
Day 3: Walking with God
Day 4: God Pursues a Love Relationship
Day 5: A Real, Personal, Practical Relationship

The first statement that you will read in the top corner of Day 1 is "A love relationship with God is more important than any other single factor in your life." Let that sink in for a few moments and then respond to that. And, if that isn't enough here's more food for thought, "Everything in your Christian life, everything about knowing Him and experiencing Him, everything about knowing His will depends on the quality of your love relationship with God." So here's the question that the author poses "Can you describe your relationship with God sincerely saying, "I love You with all my heart?" Personally, I don't know of anyone who would answer this question with "no." So for me the question is: How do you express Luke 10:27?  or What does loving God with all your heart, mind, body, strength and soul look like? How differently does someone's life, behaviors and attitudes who DOES love God with all of their heart look like from those who DON'T love God with all of their heart? That's something to think about. Does that make sense? In other words, what's the difference?

One of the songs mentioned in the reading was I'd Rather Have Jesus-by Rhea Miller and then there is a short exercise after the printed lyrics where the author ask readers to check one or the other in the pairs provided. One of the choices are: I would rather have- Jesus ___  or Men's applause and worldwide fame ___. That seems like an easy choice right? Well, maybe not for some people. Meanwhile, the song that came to my mind that I wanted to dedicate to those who are engaged in this week's study is This Love by Mary Mary. Have you heard this song before?

Being the Servant Leader for Eternal Joshua Ministries may be the reason I could appreciate the part in Day 2 that talks about being created for eternity. Listen to this, "God did not create you for time; He created you for eternity. Time-your lifetime on earth-provides the opportunity for you to become acquainted with Him. It provides occasions for Him to develop your character into His likeness. Then eternity will hold its fullest dimensions for you. We say it like this, "There is today, there is tomorrow, there is eternity." How do you prepare for eternity?

Heads Up!!! Prepare yourself to take a walk because that's what Day 3 is about "Walking with God" and the assignment is to actually take a walk. The rest of the assignment is to write about your feelings while taking the walk. For example, during your walk, "What happened that was especially meaningful or joyful?" Once you get to Day 4 you should give yourself some extra time to complete the assignments. There are some Scriptures that you'll be asked to read and give response. One of the summary statements for Day for is: I cannot know God's activity unless He takes the initiative to reveal it to me. Here's another one: I do not choose Him. He chooses me, loves me, and reveals His eternal purposes for my life. Then Day 5 starts off with a short assignment but once completed- the rest of the reading is enjoyable and life changing. Listen to this, "God's constant presence is the most practical part of your life and ministry. Unfortunately, we often assign God a limited role in our lives. Then we call on Him whenever we need help." Wow, respond to that statement!

In closing, a relationship with God is EVERYTHING! And don't forget the word "initiate." On next week our Unit Title will be "Love and God's Invitation." So it looks like for the next 2 weeks LOVE is in our forecast. Enjoy!  Oh yeah-And, please share your feedback either on this blog or on FB.

Increase,

Rev Tajuan Kyles

Experiencing God: Unit 2 Week 2

Hello eLearners and Virtual Disciples!

It's Wednesday! And, believe it or not we are already going into Week 2 or Unit 2. Last week's unit title was "God's Will and Your Life." Our new title for this week is, Looking to God.  And, I would like to dedicate this song Look Up by Tye Tribbett to all of you who have committed to the Experiencing God study and are continuing in your study.

Also, if you haven't already, you're encouraged to join our Facebook Experiencing God Study Group for more highlights. We also offer a 15 minute Power Chat on Wednesdays at Noon. If you missed it today you can access the recording using this link Power Chat Week 2 And, lastly we encourage you to attend classes on-site. One place in particular is at the Steele Creek AME Zion Church 1500 Shopton Rd in Charlotte, NC. where Dr. J Elvin Sadler serves as pastor. And, I serve as Minister of Young Adults.

Now, this week Lesson Titles are:
Unit Two: Looking to God
Day 1: God-Centered Living
Day 2: God's Plans Versus Our Plans
Day 3: God Takes the Initiative
Day 4: God Speaks to His People
Day 5: God Speaks With a Purpose

One of the very first statements you will read on the top left hand corner of Day 1 is that " To know and do God's will, you must deny self and return to a God-centered life." Then the author breaks it down in a chart and shows the differences between a Self-Centered Life vs a God-Centered Life. One of the things listed under a God Centered life includes seeking God's perspective in every circumstance. Is this something that you do? What about the other things listed? What about the summary statements? There were five of them and the one that caught my attention was "I will watch to see what God is doing around me and join Him." This requires paying attention wouldn't you say? And, it is definitely something that I have been more intentional about doing.

Maybe like me you will read Day 2 very carefully. What did you think about this: We implement the plan and accomplish only what we can do. We ask God to bless our plans, and then we promise to give Him the glory when He does. Yet God is not glorified by making our plans succeed. He receives glory when His will is done in His way. Wow!! You should prepare to spend a little more time to engage with Day 3 and keep in mind one of the summary statements that says, "God's revelation of His activity is an invitation for you to join Him." Day 4 seems to send this message loud and clear: GOD HAS NOT CHANGED. HE STILL SPEAKS TO HIS PEOPLE. And, if you're like me this is very reassuring because I'm always looking for a Word from the Lord.

On the last day of Unit 2 the lesson title is "God Speaks With a Purpose" but it mainly talks about character. For me, this lesson drilled deep. Listen to this: God Develops Character to match the assignment. Beloved, you would want to read this lesson and then read it again. Especially one of the other summary statements that says, God has the right to interrupt my life. He is Lord. When I accepted Him as Lord, I gave Him the right to help Himself to my life anytime He wants. Do you agree? Let's talk about it and any of the other highlights from this unit that stood out with you.

Overall, I really enjoyed all of these lessons. Let's prepare to engage all this week. And, then on next week we'll start Unit 3: God Pursues a Love Relationship.

Experiencing God,

Pastor TaJuan Kyles
Eternal Joshua Ministries

Virtual Discipleship Minister//
Steele Creek AME Zion Church

Experiencing God-Unit 1 Week 1

Hello eLearners!

It's Wednesday. And, Wednesdays are always Day 1. Again, each Unit consist of a 5 day week and at the end of each week, we begin a new Unit. Please find below the Unit Title and Lesson Titles for our first week of studying Experiencing God together.

Unit One: God's Will And Your Life
Day 1: Jesus is Your Way
Day 2: Jesus is Your Model
Day 3: Learning to be a Servant of God
Day 4: God Works Through His Servant Part I
Day 5: God Works Through His Servant Part II

One of the very first statements you will read on the top left hand corner of Day 1 is that "As you follow Jesus one day at a time, He will keep you in the center of God's will." The next statement says, "Christianity is not merely a religion; it is a relationship with a Person." These 2 statements alone should encourage us and help us to know that being a Christian involves a step by step process and a on-going relationship with God. The author goes on to say that your intimate relationship with God, cultivated through prayer, meditation and study of the Word will be an indispensable part of this class.

Some of the expectations that the author has is that as a result of the study you will be able to-
  -Hear when God is speaking to you
  -Clearly identify His activity in your life
  -Believe Him to be and do everything He has promised
  -Adjust your beliefs, character and behavior to Him and His ways
  -Recognize a direction He is taking in your life and identify what He wants to do through your life
  -Clearly know what you need to do in response to His activity in your life
 - Experience God doing though you what only He can do

How important is it for you to be able to do any or all of these things listed above? Think about it, do you know when God is speaking to you and do you recognize when God is at work in a situation?

Weekly Forecast:
I encourage you to read Day 1 closely but let me warn you about Day 2! You need to read Day 2 REALLY CAREFULLY! Whew. When you read it you will know what I mean when I say, "The proper question is What is God's will?" Maybe like me, you weren't asking the right question. I really want to hear/read your responses to what you read on Day 2. On Day 3 get ready to answer some questions. You may need to set aside a little more time on this day so that you can complete everything. Day 4 is critical. Its when you are first introduced to the 7 Realities of Experiencing God. You may want to copy the page (my page is 21) and keep it with you. I'm going to touch on that this week. On Day 5, you may want to set aside a little more time to really dig in. This unit ends talking about Moses and there is quite a bit of things you need to cover and process.

One of the most powerful summary statements I read in Unit 1 which is found in the Day 5 reading on the far left side of the page is "I can't stay where I am and go with God." I'm telling you, if I just post that up somewhere visible and read it regularly, it will bless me each time. GO WITH GOD!! GO WITH GOD!! You can't stay where you are and follow God. You must identify where He is at work and join Him; accept His invitation. What summary statement resonated with you the most? I encourage you to share!

In closing, I think this is a good starting point and that you have enough information that can be accessed on-line until you can get to your book and read for yourself. I'll be posting things on FB from time to time and looking to read your comments and engage with you. Again, you can connect through our FB Group Page, you can comment on this blog, you can attend classes on-site and/or you can call into the Power Chat Conference Calls on Wednesdays at Noon, the number is 605-475-4850 Access Code 133575.

PS: I also have a number that you can leave me a Voice Mail or send a Text: 410-989-1539.

Let's Go!!

Welcome to Experiencing God

Hello eLearners!

I am so happy to serve as your Virtual Discipleship Minister and to have this opportunity to experience God with you through our upcoming study, Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God by Henry & Richard Blackaby, and Claude King. Some of you have done this study with me before so for you, I call this the REPEAT. But, if you know like I do, this study never gets old and there is always something fresh and life changing to learn from it.

We start on Wednesday, September 2, 2015 and go for 12 weeks which means that this study will end the same week of Thanksgiving. So let's get this done and then eat turkey to celebrate! :) So here are the expectations: 1. Pray Daily 2. Complete Daily Readings 3. Respond to the Questions and 4. Engage On-line (and/or through Conference Calls using 605-475-4850 PIN 133575). The other option to this is to physically attend the classes where they are offered. For example, Steele Creek AME Zion Church on 1500 Shopton Rd, Charlotte, NC offers this class on-site. Other churches/ministries do too.

And, when we say engage on-line that means you should either be a) liking post-which means you've read it or it resonated with you b) post comments in the comment box c) share the post and/or d) share your thoughts, questions and feedback on the actual blog. We also offer a Noon Day CONFERENCE CALL on Wednesdays; so you can call in on your break and listen to me share for 15 minutes.  I AM HERE TO HELP YOU!!! Its easy to get behind in your readings-life happens! But I offer blogs, audio clips, and FB post to help you keep up or catch up!

Here is how it goes: There are 12 Units and each Unit is the same as a 5 day week. You take Saturdays & Sundays off. So Wednesdays will always be Day 1. It will look like this,
Day 1- Wednesday
Day 2-Thursday
Day 3-Friday
Day 4-Monday
Day 5-Tuesday
Then the next Unit and we start again. For example, UNIT 2: Day 1

You should be familiar with a) highlights b)Scriptures c) summary statements and 4) review questions.

HEADS UP: Unit One is entitled, God's Will and Your Life
Day 1 Jesus is Your Way
Day 2 Jesus is Your Model
Day 3 Learning to be a Servant of God
Day 4 God Works Through His Servants Part 1
Day 5 God Works Through His Servants Part 2

Let's Go!!!