Select Video 6 summary if you did not watch the video
God has a great path planned for us that includes joy and
intimacy with Him; when we choose to take our own route the journey is harder
and takes longer.
1. Describe some of the ways that God might help us recalculate
our life direction and get us back on track when we are wandering.
We may sense that we are lost and seek Him to re-direct us
through prayer or by reading His Word for answers or seek Christian
council. If we don’t realize that we are
lost, God usually uses our circumstances to get our attention (whether He
purposes places something in our path or allows the many readily available
problems). If we ignore His promptings,
He may discipline us by allowing us to suffer the consequences (natural or
imposed) of our bad decisions.
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2. All through this chapter of The Story God
disciplines the people (sometimes quite strongly) to get them back on course. What are the values of being disciplined by
one who loves us and wants the best for us?
“The Lord's discipline is an often-ignored fact of life for believers. We often complain about our circumstances without realizing that they are the consequences of our own sin and are a part of the Lord's loving and gracious discipline for that sin. This self-centered ignorance can contribute to the formation of habitual sin in a believer's life, incurring even greater discipline….. The Lord's discipline is a response of His love for us and His desire for each of us to be holy. “My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in” (Proverbs 3:11-12; see also Hebrews 12:5-11). God will use testing, trials, and various predicaments to bring us back to Himself in repentance. The result of His discipline is a stronger faith and a renewed relationship with God (James 1:2-4), not to mention destroying the hold that particular sin had over us.
The Lord's discipline works for our own good, that He might be glorified with our lives. He wants us to exhibit lives of holiness, lives that reflect the new nature that God has given us: “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:15-16)”. (www.gotquestions.org) |
3. Randy mentioned that there were no less than ten
outbreaks of “juvenile behavior” by the people of Israel during their desert
wanderings. How can Christians today be
like this – complaining, grumbling, and rebelling against God’s leading and
plan? Give an example of how you can
fall into this pattern if you are not careful.
It is a natural response to grumble, complain and rebel….but this type of response can look like unruly and undisciplined children. But to identify with what comes natural (just because it is natural) is to identify with the pattern of our old nature. It is easy to look back at the Israelites and see why they had reason to complain but we can also see why God grew weary of their response to His great power. We do the same in our lives when we focus and complain about what we are unhappy about in our lives. “Complaining is certainly not a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and, in fact, is detrimental to the peace, joy, and patience that come from the Spirit. For the Christian, complaining is destructive and debilitating personally and only serves to make our witness to the world more difficult. Who, for instance, would be attracted to a religion whose adherents are dissatisfied with life and who continually grumble and complain?” (www.gotquestions.org)
As believers, we are challenged not to grumble or complain (Philippians 2:14-15; 1 Peter 4:9). If we grumble and complain, it shows how worldly we still are (James 4:1-3). Grumbling reflects an attitude of the heart. Although we are not to grumble and complain about God we can humbly take our complaints to Him (just look at the Psalms of David) but we should ask Him also for wisdom and a right perspective to see the situation. |
4. Ten of the men who spied out the land let their
minds and eyes focus on the obstacles (Numbers 13:26-33; The Story p 75). What are ways we can be frozen by fear and
fixate on the obstacles rather than the God who can help us overcome them?
We create many false securities in our lives. We tend to “lose faith and hope” when we feel like we are not in control or when we do not see any concrete assurances (i.e. healthy bank account balance) that things will be o.k. It is not wrong to “save for a rainy day” but we should recognize where and who we are putting our trust.
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5. How have you seen the sins of one generation
poison and damage those who came after them?
And conversely, how have you seen good choices and spiritual maturity be
passed on as a blessing to the next generation?
We need to be reminded that whatever choice we
make, our lives impact others. They will
experience the blessings of our good decisions and they will experience the
pain of our destructive choices.
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6. What is one way you are seeking to pass on a
healthy and positive legacy to the next generation? How can your group members pray as you seek
to be a blessing to children, grandchildren or the young people you influence?
I
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7. Randy talked about the vision God has for his children to be
responsive to His leading. When God says
to go left or right, we turn and go.
When He says stop, we hit the brakes.
What kinds of things can get in the way of us responding to God’s clear
direction?
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8. What will help us hear and respond more quickly when the
Lord is seeking to lead us? What is one
area of your life where you would like to be more responsive to God’s leading
and how can your group members support you in this?
One way is to seek and make it a priority to
have a grateful heart. I believe that I
am more responsive to His leading when I am in the right spirit and
frame-of-mind. Monday’s have always been
a difficult day for me simply because it follows a day of rest…my mindset is
that I want more “rest” and it poises me to complain about the work-day and
week ahead. When studying the Purpose
Driven Life, what hit home for me was that every day was ordained and scheduled
by God. That helped me to purposely look
to Mondays in expectation of what God was going to do that day and how He was
going to include me…..I anticipated hearing from Him.
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9. Read movement 1 of The Story. How have you experienced God pursuing you and
seeking to build a strong relationship with you?
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