Experiencing God Unit 8: Week 8

Hello Virtual Disciples and eLearners,


Would you believe that we are more than half way through our study of Experiencing God? Four more weeks to go and then we can break to enjoy the holiday season. And, wouldn't it be nice if you could share some of the things you've learned with your family and friends during the holidays? Even better than that if they could see a noticeable difference in you without you even having to say a word about it?
I'll share the testimony that I had mentioned once before. I was in a situation at home where a pretty intense conversation had begun to brew between me and some others. Initially, I started to feel defensive and slightly angry. In this conversation certain people where accusing me of being a certain way, acting a certain way or if nothing else--coming across a certain way and I didn't like it. In other words, I believed that they were perceiving my behavior in a different way than my intent. As my temper began to rise, I believe the Spirit was saying to me "watch Me, pay attention to where I am at work, recognize Me and listen to Me." So, my entire attitude changed. I became more intentional and I began to look and listen more closely than usual. Then I responded and the first thing I said was, "I'm sorry." Then I went on to share my heart. To make a long story short the Spirit intervened and revealed the message that both parties needed to hear and understand. Instead of arguing and fussing we were communicating and gaining an understanding. When it was all over one person said to me-I had never understood where you were coming from until now. Needless to say, my eyes watered up and I began to thank God for the remainder of the day for blessing me, no for blessing us all with a fresh and new understanding of each other.

     And, I believe that this testimony ties right into Unit 8--Adjusting Your Life to God. As the author mentioned, we always want God to speak to us but we never seem to be interested in making the necessary adjustments in our lives.

Day 1: Adjustments Are Necessary
Day 2: Kinds of Adjustments
Day 3: Obedience is Costly-Part I
Day 4: Obedience is Costly-Part II
Day 5: Total Dependence on God

There is no possible way that I could sum up Unit 8. It is so jam packed with insight,
instructions, information and inspiration that this blog would be extremely long. So, I am encouraging you to read the summary statements that I have chosen to share & to listen to the audio clips and excerpts that I post here on the Live On Five YA Ministry FB Page. I may even do a video clip before the week is over.

So, here we go "You cannot stay where you are and go with God." Okay, I'm done! LOL. But seriously, the author states that "adjusting your life to God is the second critical turning point in your knowing and doing the will of God." The first turning point is "the crisis of belief." What all of this really boils down to is that you cannot continue doing things your way and accomplish God's purposes. Seriously, you have to make the time to read the daily lessons--this unit is a game changer.

Meanwhile, I want to congratulate both Shannon Goodwin and Rami Pouncey again for being the winners for the 2 contests we've had so far. Rami was the first one to post during our Conference Call and Shannon was the first one to post the definition of "crisis of belief" based on our study. And, just to see if "you" are really reading this post-the first person to post on our FB Page one of the three (3) statements listed in Unit 8 under the heading "Obedience Requires Adjustments" is our next winner.


You'll hear more from me about this unit before Wednesday,
Until then,

Be Blessed
-Rev Kyles

Experiencing God: Unit 7-Week 7

Hello Everyone!

We have now crossed the mid-way point of our study--Experiencing God! There are 12 Units we have completed 6 of them and today our Unit Topic for week 7 is "The Crisis of Belief."

The Lesson Title are as follows:
Day 1: A Turning Point
Day 2: Encounters with God Require Faith
Day 3: Encounters with God Are God-Sized
Day 4: What You Do Reveals What You Believe
Day 5: True Faith Requires Action

As stated in the book, this unit focuses on a major turning point in following God's will. When God invites you to join Him in His work, He has a God-sized assignment for you. You will realize you cannot do what He is asking on your own. If God doesn't help you, you will fail. This is the crisis of belief when you must decide whether to believe God for what He wants to do through you. Now let me ask--What came to your heart and mind when you read that? Here's more--when God tells you what He wants to do through you, you will face a crisis of belief. What you do next reveals what you believe. No, here's the one that got me--the way you live your life is a testimony of what you believe about God.

Beloved, this unit really made me think long and hard. And, it helped me to understand that it wasn't so much that I wasn't qualified or prepared but rather that's how God-sized assignments work. God doesn't give us assignments that we can handle on our own. I believe that's important for people to know.  So, when God shows you your purpose or His plan//assignment for you and you think to yourself, "Whoa! I cant do that!" God is saying, "I know." Day 2 goes on to talk about faith-Faith is confidence that what God has promised or said will come to pass. Here's what stood out for me--your faith does not rest on a concept or an idea. Faith must be in a Person-God Himself. Faith is valid in God and what He says He is purposing to do. Day 3-- Our world in not seeing God because we are not attempting anything that only God can do. Another summary statement says, Let the world watch God at work and He will attract people to Himself. I thought that was powerful. Here's one more--God is far more concerned with your walking with Him than He is interested in you getting a job for Him.
Day 4--What you do reveals what you believe about God, regardless of what you say. Another statement says--Unbelief is extremely costly. Then there is Day 5 that talks about action! One of the summary statements--Faith without action is dead. Another one says, God has planned something far better for people of faith than the world has to offer.

There are so many important things from this unit that can be shared. With that in mind, I mainly posted some of the summary statements that stood out to me. But the main thing we all need to understand as we seek to "experience God" is that God-sized assignments are bigger than us. And, when we understand that then we can move forward in faith realizing that God wants to use us do major things. But we cannot doubt God's power, dismiss His directions, ignore His instructions and then think we can figure it all out and do it our own way--in our strength. The things that God has called us to be and do require us being in relationship with Him. It may seem scary but with God it's possible.

Experiencing God Unit 6: Week 6

God Speaks, Part 2

Hello eLearners and Virtual Disciples,

We have hit the 1/2 time button--6 down and 6 more to go! And not only that, we are in Part 2 of God Speaks. Next week, our unit topic will be "The Crisis of Belief." Meanwhile, this two-part lesson is an extreme blessing. It talks about how God speaks and why. It goes on to say that God has spoken and continues to speak in different ways-through visions, dreams, symbolic actions, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, the Church and other ways too. One of the summary statements

that really pierced me was "That God spoke is more important than how He spoke." My Gawd! Put in my terms, any way you bless me--you know the rest. :) And, the reading under "A Wrong Pattern" was very interesting to me as well. Pictured here is one of the diagrams that caught my attention. It shows the way God speaks through prayer.

Meanwhile, here are the lesson topics for Unit 6:

Day 1: What Happens When You Pray?
Day 2: God Speaks Through Circumstances
Day 3: The Truth of Your Circumstances
Day 4: Spiritual Markers
Day 5: God Speaks Through the Church

Day one gets right to the point, so are you ready for this? Here it is: You must decide whether you will do what you want and ask God to bless it or go to work where He is working. And, if that's not enough, here's another one--God will let you know what He is doing in your life when and if you need to know. But before you go to Day 2, you've got to read about "The Silence of God." The author points out that there are 2 possible reasons for God's silences when you pray--sometimes, God's silences are caused by sin. Other times, God is silent as He prepares to bring you into a deeper understanding of Himself.
Day 2 "Go to God and ask Him to show you His perspective on your circumstances." Beloved, this lesson is a must read. Especially the part in this shaded box that talks about "When Circumstances Are Confusing." Here's one example: Do not try to understand what God is like from the middle of your circumstances. Day 3 "You cannot know the truth of your circumstance until you have heard from God--this summary statement blessed me. Here's another, Don't evaluate you situation until you have heard from Jesus. He is truth. Day 4 "When God gets ready for you to take a new step or direction in His activity, it will always be in sequence with what He has already been doing in your life." Personally, this lesson or should I say any lesson on spiritual markers really blesses me. Because-- it reminds me & reassures me that God has always had a plan for my life. And it encourages me to set aside physical markers of great things or spiritual encounters with God. I hope that you will really take time to get into the reading "A Spiritual Inventory" and create something that shows the spiritual markers that you have identified in your life. And, the last day talks about how we need to "Allow God to Speak Through the Church." One summary statement says--apart from the body you cannot fully know God's will for relating to God's people. Another one says--As I function in relationship to the church, I depend on others in the church to help me understand God's will.

I believe that this is a good time for you to evaluate your beliefs about the church. In our Bible Café we are having open sharing about what people believe about God, Jesus, the Bible and the Church. It's interesting to hear the feedback. For example, one person said that they are the church. Somebody else said that they felt that the church was where you had to go if you wanted to be saved. Another person said that the church is a body of believers and you can't really have church if it's you-by yourself. So, what do you believe about the church? Do you agree with the author?

In closing, I think that this is another power week! I hope that you are still with us and that during this season you will pace yourself and be intentional about getting this work in and Experiencing God. Yes--I said it. It's work.


Love and Blessings

Rev Kyles