Being Filled with the Spirit

When you believe in Jesus and His finished work, you receive his spirit. From then on it's your choice to be filled with the spirit. Being filled with the Spirit is when you allow the Holy Spirit to come upon you to bear fruit and empower all the gifts. That's the bottom line, but let's look a little closer.

After Jesus' resurrection, He appeared to over 500 people over a period of 40 days. One appearance was to His closest disciples where he gave them His spirit. "And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." (John 20:22) Then he tells those same people to wait on the spirit to come upon them so they will be endued with power.

Acts 1:8 But you (same people he breathed on) will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

If they received His Spirit when He breathed on them, did they have His Spirit?
YES! So what did being "filled" with the Spirit mean?

Ephesians 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit

From this context, you see that being filled with the Spirit is like being under the influence of alcohol, you have to choose to drink the alcohol just like you have to choose to yield to the Spirit. God will not violate your will or your authority as a human. Being filled with the Spirit of God is not when you get the Spirit in you, He's already in you giving you life if you believe in Jesus, being filled with the Spirit is when you choose to yield to His influence from within.

What about the new believers in Acts? Inevitably when you speak about the baptism of the spirit people bring up these passages.

Acts 8:14 NIV When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive (lay hold of or take) the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

There is a slight confusion because verse 17 uses the word received but in verse 16 we see that the Holy Spirit had not yet come ON them. The word receive means to "take" or "lay hold of". These new believers were born again, they had the Spirit IN them but they had not yet "taken hold" of the Spirit in their heart to allow him to come UPON them. Or they had not yet been FILLED with the spirit. The first disciples knew the importance of being empowered by the Spirit that dwelt within them, that's where the power to minister comes from.

Here's how Paul prayed believers would yield to or be filled with the spirit.

Ephesians 3:16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

The Apostle Paul is talking to believers, he prays that they strengthened in their inner man so Christ will dwell in their hearts that they will be filled with God. That's being filled with the Spirit even they already had the Spirit.

This is our problem, we don't make a regular practice of being filled with the Spirit. We're waiting for God to send something rather than step forward and take what he's already given. The strength to change any behavior is already within us, yield to or be filled with His Spirit and take the power. The wisdom you need for that next decision is already within you, yield to his spirit willingly and take hold of the answer. The power to work miracles is in you, get under His influence and let that power flow through you.

Stop waiting on God, you already have within you everything he will ever give you in this life, his Spirit. Cultivate his Spirit so that your heart can allow fruit and gifts to grow and flow.

Mind Renewal Exercise

Get quiet and still for a few moments. Begin to think about God's life essence being in you. What does it look like? What does it feel like?

Now become thankful for His spirit within you. Also think about this Spirit as love within you, flowing all through you. Notice if any scriptures come to mind.

Now see that spirit/essence/love/wisdom/power flowing out of you into your body or onto your life's circumstances. Watch what it does to that area.

In this moment open your heart to receive wisdom.

Write down any revelation you experience. Now decide how you'll put it into practice.

The Baptism of the Spirit is Our Adoption Process

Most of us think of power when we think about the baptism of/in the spirit. We immediately think of praying in tongues and power to do miracles. While this is a byproduct of being baptized in the spirit there is another reason for the baptism. The main reason God immerses you in his spirit is to purify, cleanse and sanctify you so he can live in you and make you his eternal child. The baptism of the spirit is the adoption process we go through to be changed into righteous and eternal children of God.

John the Baptist said "...after me comes one who is more powerful than I...He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." Fire is the Greek word "pyr" which means to purify. The idea is this, when you place your faith in the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ as your righteousness, God then does a work in you. God, by his spirit, cleanses (sanctifies) you, changes you into a new kind of being that is eternal and then joins himself to you to live through you. This is the process of becoming born again.

Being baptized in the spirit is not a separate event. Experiencing the gifts, fruits and power of the spirit may manifest through you at a later time than when you actually received the spirit but receiving the spirit is not a separate event.

You don't remain the same kind of being you were, you actually become something different, a new creation. This new creation has been fully changed in spirit by this immersion or baptism in God's spirit. That baptism also has some residual effects, God's power can now flow through you since you have been changed. That power manifests as the fruits of the spirit, it manifests as the gifts/graces of the spirit and it manifests as whatever God wants to do through you to bring glory to his name.

I want to show you a few passages that all describe the same process of adoption through God's spirit.

Colossians 2:11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Being buried with him in baptism is the baptism of the spirit.

1 John 2:27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

You received this anointing that abides in you when you first believed and were born again.

Ephesians 1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Being sealed with God's spirit is the baptism of the spirit, it's when you first believe and his spirit performs a circumcision of the old dead man of sin from you and gives you a new heart/nature. You are forever changed with a promise from God of eternal life. Not a chance at eternal life but a promise from God that you can now live forever with him in perfection.

I make these points to demystify the baptism of the spirit. It has been used to judge each other in the body of Christ rather than to affirm our unified identity as a family. Some people in the body believe they have the baptism but others don't because they don't pray in tongues. Some teach that it's demonic. Some that desire to pray in tongues and walk in miracles feel like they're missing something because it hasn't happened to them yet. It's time for the division to stop and the body of Christ to walk in its identity and in power to show the world the character and will of God.

I will discuss tongues as well as discuss the difference between being baptized in the spirit and being filled with the spirit in my next sermon and article.

Life Group Discussion

1. What did you get out of this message?
2. What does it mean to you to have been purified with God's fire/spirit?
3. How does this understanding change your view of being baptized in the spirit?
4. What does this do for your relationship with God and your identity as a child.

Walking In the Spirit is Natural

ELECTRICITY AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD

The mighty power lines that carry electricity at enormously high voltages from power plants to our homes can deliver up to 750,000 volts! But the appliances in your home only need 110 to 250 volts. If you tried to power a toaster or a TV from an electricity pylon, it would instantly explode! So we reduce high voltage electricity from power plants to our homes with a piece of equipment called a transformer. A transformer reduces or steps down the strength of the power so it can be useful rather than deadly.

The spirit of God is like unlimited or infinitely high voltage power. If humans were exposed to his direct spirit/power, we would instantly die. His power must be stepped down for us to not die from his presence. Much of my teaching is based on the heart, in this illustration you can look at your heart as the transformer that steps down God's power. Jesus taught this in the parable of the sower. He basically says that you can experience as much of the kingdom as your transformer/heart will allow you to experience. I pray you increase the capacity of your transformer to allow more power to flow!

One day our mortal bodies will be changed into the same kind of eternal body Jesus has and we will forevermore see and live within the unbridled, infinite power of God! Praise God!

Until then we have a limited experience with his power/spirit due to our mortal bodies. But again, our hearts are directly connected to the powerful spirit of God; not just with any old kind of connection, but from within. It's mind-boggling that think God has placed his life essence, his creative power, his glory, his holiness inside all believers. The reason we can interact with his spirit/power is because he's made us like him. In essence, the deepest eternal aspect of a believer is like God by nature. He even gave us promises so we can experience that nature.

2 Peter 1: 1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

WHAT IS SPIRIT?

"Spirit" is the life animating essence of any living thing. It can also be a reference to the general tone of an entity like "the spirit of America." Individual living things have a spirit, like the spirit of man or the spirit of God. And of course, God is A spirit. So with those points in place let's look a little deeper at "spirit."  

First things first, it's important that you have the spirit of God.  But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. Romans 8:9

Another important truth from Romans 8:9 is this; the way you know that you're in the spirit is if God's spirit is in you. You don't have to shapeshift and go into the spirit realm, you're already there if God's spirit is in you. His spirit actually animates the spirit realm, so you have the source of all life within you.

• Have you ever felt that God was far away? Not true.

• Have you ever wanted to walk deeper in the spirit? You already do.

• Have you wanted to experience more of God's spirit? Now we're getting somewhere.

The fact is, you're already directly connected to the full glory and power of God. That's not just a doctrinal point or an interesting idea, it's true. So why don't we experience him more? Think about your relationships with your spouse or your friends, how do you become "closer" with them? It's the same with God, invest in the relationship, get to know him better and you'll experience him more.

HOW DO I INTERACT WITH GOD'S SPIRIT?

John 4:13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water (spirit of God) will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.

The short answer is; let it spring up within you and it will be unto you everlasting life. I use the word "yield" often to describe the way to let that water/spirit spring up. To yield is to slow down or stop and let someone go in front of you. Making it a practice to stop your natural reasonings and logic and let God's promises/logic/instruction go before you in your thinking is the key to drinking of this everlasting water.

The water will do what it's designed to do, nourish and give life. Acknowledge God and he'll direct your steps, yield to his power/spirit and you will experience life. You can't stop the sun from making the grass grow, let the spirit shine brightly within you by focusing your thoughts on him and watch miraculous things happen.

Speaking of miracles, watch this incredible testimony from my friend Jimmie.

Wow!! God can perform bypass surgery. Listen to my whole message above for more commentary on his miracle and why he was healed while others aren't.

WORSHIPING IN SPIRIT

Worshiping in spirit isn't when you have a vision, hear the audible voice of God and 27 people are miraculously healed...worshiping in spirit is when you are expressing gratitude to God and you are more convinced of his promises than you are of your problems. Worshiping in spirit isn't about a mystical experience, it's about your heart being more convinced of his truth than your temporary circumstances. 

WALKING IN THE SPIRIT

Walking in the spirit is when you make choices inspired by God's promises. Everyday we have choices to make, we respond in anger, we make decisions based on fear and lack and we are pessimistic about our futures. Walking in spirit is to walk in the reality of who you are in Christ. Walking in the spirit starts with setting your mind on things above, where your citizenship truly is, then making choices accordingly.

It's perfectly natural for you to worship, walk in and experience the spirit of God because he has changed your nature to be spiritual. I pray that these concepts help you shift your thinking a bit and empower you to pursue relationship rather than power. I pray these truths bring you peace and a sense of completeness rather than promote an endless pursuit of mystical experience in God. And I pray that you are able to bring others into a meaningful encounter with the spirit of God who loves and saves all who believe.

Life Group Discussion

1. What did you get out of this message?
2. Was there anything that caused you to see your connection with God differently?
3. What are some ways that you will change about how you choose to "walk in the spirit?"

How to be a King

You are a king and a priest of God's kingdom that shall reign in this life. He has raised you with Christ and seated you in Heavenly places. You are a co-heir of everything Jesus inherited in his resurrection and ascension.

That sounds wonderful, it sounds very spiritual, but what does it mean to you now? Do you actually know how to live within those realities in this present life? 

Ultimately the truest expression of your kingship and priesthood as a representative of God on this planet is expressed as you are yielded to the continual leading of God's spirit within you. He will lead you and guide you through a proper expression of your priestly duties and kingly authority.

I'd like to focus on one perspective for the remainder of this article. Under the Old Covenant, priests offered sacrifices for the people as a temporary system of atonement, that was the primary reason and function of priests. The king was to guide the nation of Israel in the precepts and ordinances of God ensuring adherence to God's law.

Under this better covenant, there are no more sacrifices to preside over since Jesus is the once and for all sacrifice. Under the New Covenant Jesus is ruling as the eternal king. So the roles have changed.

Of course, the great commission is a guide for expressing our authority and priestly duties but I believe Romans 14:17 gives us insight into the content of the impact we are to have as representatives of God.

Romans 14:17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Essentially the Apostle Paul is saying, living in God's kingdom isn't about rules and regulations, it's about righteousness, peace and joy. I believe this gives definition to how we exercise our authority as representatives of God. We preside over and rule within righteousness, peace and joy.

RIGHTEOUSNESS

We don't preside over sacrifices, we point people to the eternally sufficient sacrifice. Within this sacrifice lies forgiveness, holiness and eternal righteousness. Righteousness simply means "as a man ought to be" and "the condition acceptable to God." If there are no sacrifices to execute and Jesus is the king, we display our kingship by bringing people into a direct experience with righteousness. Essentially, we preach the Gospel. We help people understand faith righteousness.

PEACE

Peace or shalom is described as a state of wholeness. If a wall had no missing bricks and it is complete, it's in a state of shalom. If a relationship between two people has no issues and noting between them, it's at shalom. We now have peace with God, there is nothing in the way of a relationship with him. He has forgiven everyone through the sacrifice of Christ, now God is pleading to the world through us, "God is no longer holding your sin against you, be reconciled to God."

JOY

Joy means cheerful or glad. Once you've properly represented God in righteousness and peace, people will be glad. Encourage them to be cheerful. Encourage them to be thankful. Remind them of the gift of righteousness and bring them into joy. It's not your role to make people happy but you may need to remind them there's reason to be joyful.

It's pretty simple, the Gospel is good news, it's the power to bring people into an experience of God's transformative grace. Represent him well! Start in the mirror, then with your family, friends and coworkers. If the opportunity arises, be aware of your own state of righteousness and peace with God so you can give joy to those whom God's spirit would inspire you to exercise your priesthood and kingship.

Life Group Discussion

1. What did you get out of this message?
2. What does it mean to you to be a king and priest in God's kingdom in this life?
3. Do you feel you can clearly articulate faith-righteousness to people?
4. What's your favorite aspect of the Gospel message?

Put Yourself in Their Shoes

We go through our days relating to people through our biases and filters without taking the time to get to know people. Often times it's because there is not enough time to get to know everyone but that doesn't absolve us from general compassion toward all of mankind. We are to be clothed with compassion. When someone looks at you do they see compassion just a clearly as they see the shirt you're wearing? It's time for the body of Christ to lead with love and not be so easily offended.

When someone wrongs or offends you, can you put yourself in their shoes?

Seeking to understand people when we're hurting is close to impossible but incredibly freeing if successful. Finding forgiveness and even compassion for those who hurt and disappoint us leaves us in a place of unshakable peace beyond the circumstance.

Putting yourself in someone else's shoes comes with some rules. For starters, it doesn't mean you're excusing or approving of their behavior. Secondly, you don't get to judge the person. And you must establish healthy boundaries as you move forward.

FORGIVENESS

I've sat with people in counseling that refuse to forgive others because to them it feels like the person that hurt them is getting away with something. If you allow people's actions from the past to continue to cause you pain, the only thing you're allowing is the other person to still cause you pain. You have a choice. Forgiveness is simply the process of choosing to let go of the issue, no matter how painful, and make a decision to not hold on to it any longer. Essentially you send it far away from you, never to return to your emotional inner world.

JUDGMENT

This can be a tricky one. We want to empathize with people and understand them but we cannot judge them. Judgment is when we determine people's motives without communication. Putting yourself in someone else's shoes doesn't mean you say "this is what I would do if I were them" or "if that were me and I did that it would be because of this." You don't know their motives, you don't know what's driving their behavior, the only way to find out is to ask questions...communicate.

If you cannot communicate with the person for whatever reason, you can only forgive and move on, you may not get the closure you're seeking. But if you can communicate, ask questions and be honest about your feelings without assuming why they did what they did.

BOUNDARIES

Don't be a doormat, don't close yourself off and by all means don't enable codependency. Even if you find forgiveness in your heart toward someone it doesn't mean you have to stay close to them, it may be best to create distance. If you're the kind of person that wants to help everyone you must be wise to not let your compassion override wisdom.

Regarding enabling codependency...oh boy, this is a big one. Healthy boundaries are paradoxical. There is a point where helping someone too much begins to hurt them. Be careful not to do for others what the can and should do for themselves. You should be the one who knows where that line is but often times we're the last people to see that line. Our genuine compassion for someone may turn into fear if they don't change their lives. 

A TEST FOR CODEPENDENCY

Here's a good test for yourself to help you know where the healthy boundary is when helping someone. If you're continuing to help someone because you're afraid of what they may do if you stop helping them, you're probably too close to the situation. When you help them, do they continue the harmful behavior? They probably don't really want to get better, they're just using you to get their needs met and you're actually enabling the behavior. Stop paying for people to misbehave!

Our mandate as Jesus followers is to lay our lives down to show love toward people, even to the point of death. However, we lay our lives down to bring them to Jesus, once you bring them to Jesus, trust the Holy Spirit from there. If they don't walk the path with Jesus for themselves, you can't walk it for them.

CONCLUSION

Above all...love, it's how we'll reach the world. I pray that the body of Christ becomes the safest and most honest place on the planet. I pray that we are able to help people but challenge them to engage in transformation. I pray that our love inspires action within people, action toward God and a more healthy life for themselves and their loved ones. I pray that a compassion rises up in God's people to walk in kindness and mercy toward the world but can unashamedly call people up into righteousness and wisdom. I pray we, as believers, glorify God by allowing Christ live and love through us.

Life Group Discussion Questions

1. What did you get out of this message

2. What can you immediately apply

3. Does this cause fear in you for any of your relationships (regarding the people you're corrently helping). If so, how will you process that fear?

4. Are you willing to put yourself in other people's shoes that may have hurt you, to understand how they may be hurting?

Your Will Be Done, On Earth As In Heaven

Prayer... What is it? Why should believers do it? Why do you pray? How do you pray?

These are all good questions. While the answers may seem obvious, many Christians do not have an active and effective prayer life. I think the reasons most Christians only pray when something is wrong is because we don't understand our role as ambassadors. Pray has very little to do with asking God to meet a need and much more to do with applying God's provision.

Remember last week's article, you are a friend of God, equipped by God to represent God. Jesus taught us to pray a very specific way, acknowledge God, set your mind on things above, speak to the kingdom realm and "command" it to grow as if the earth is Heaven. Last week I showed you the meaning and application of the word "come" in thy kingdom come, building on that let's look at "your will be done."

Jesus is not asking God to send his kingdom, he's speaking to the realm of God's domain as if it's supposed to be evident on earth. He prays or commands God realm of rule to be established here, now. Apparently, Jesus thinks it's a perfectly legal prayer to administer the quality of life that's found in Heaven on this earth.

Keep in mind he's not just praying as the Messiah, his disciples asked him to teach them to pray. He fully expects his followers to pray the same way. What would change in your prayer life if you saw prayer more as delivering Heaven's instructions to the earthly realm rather than as asking God to show up and do something?

We are ambassadors, representing God, executing his will in the earth. We are delivering and executing his will in our personal lives as believers but also as representatives of his kingdom to all the earth. Prayer is powerful. God has your back when you pray. The more confident you are in your identity as an ambassador, the more boldly you will pray. And the more boldly you pray, the more Heaven's state of existence will be established in the earth.

Don't back down, be bold. Take Jesus at his word. Trust God. Know his will and apply it to your prayer for yourself and others!

Jesus' Model of Prayer

OUR FATHER: Remember you are a child and friend of God
WHO IS IN HEAVEN: Set your mind on things above rather than the problem
REVERENT IS YOUR NAME: Honor and respect God in his power and majesty
YOUR KINGDOM GROW: His Kingdom has come and we command it to grow
YOUR WILL BE DONE: Jesus is God’s will, pray in agreement with who Jesus is
ON EARTH AS IN HEAVEN: God wants the earth to look like Heaven now
MEET OUR DAILY PROVISIONS: He meets our needs according to his riches
FORGIVE BECAUSE YOU’RE FORGIVEN: Thank him you’re forgiven in Christ
FOR HIS IS THE KINGDOM, POWER AND GLORY...AMEN!!

Discussion Questions

1. What did you get out of the message Sunday?
2. What is prayer?
3. Why do you pray?
4. Do you think prayer is effective?
5. What would change is you saw prayer as delivering Heaven's instructions rather than asking God to show up?

Astrophysics and Faith, What Do They Have In Common?

Do you only believe what you can observe? What if you don't observe the effects of God in your life, do you still believe?

There is as much "faith" in science as there is in religion, more really if you think about it. For believers, faith is not choosing to believe in something even though you lack evidence, faith is actually an internal confident persuasion that God is who he says he is. The religion of science says, we don't know why things work they way they do but we know it's not because of God. A statement like that takes great faith.

The point I'd like to make with this article is not about science, my point is to help you as a believer realize that you have more evidence than you realize. All you have to do is answer one question, "is God who he says he is?" You may not always experience his attributes but does that change who he is?

Back to science, Physicists have a problem, their models of nature do not hold up once reaching the quantum level. Quantum Physics has revealed that matter and energy do not operate the same on a micro level as they do on a macro level. The smaller scientists are able to go in their observations, the more their understanding breaks down. Physicists are currently looking for more forces and particles to explain why space, time and matter function differently on the smaller levels. Some physicists like Brian Greene even go so far as to say they must go back to the drawing board if they cannot discover more bits of matter or forces that make what the do observe work.

Take gravity for instance. It is one of the 4 forces in the standard model of physics, along with electromagnetic (light, radio waves, etc...) and the strong and weak nuclear forces. Physicists have no idea what gravity is. They think it's made up of gravitons, like light is made of photons, but they haven't discovered gravitons yet. Gravity is defined as the attraction between all objects that have mass and energy. But beyond that, nada, no explanation of what it is, how it works, or what is it about having mass that is attractive to other things of mass. Yet all of physics is based on the standard model.

The people that say they only believe what they say they can observe have no clue why we're not flying off the planet. What's significant about this is that much of experimentation where precise measurements and calculations need to be determined is based on the consistency of gravity. They know the mass os distant stars based on how much gravity they create. Astrophysicists know where blackholes are based on the way the gravity of nearby stars are affected.

It's kind of like this, imagine an invisible person making you breakfast every morning at 8am. You never see this person, you never hear anything being cooked but every morning at 8am breakfast is sitting on your table waiting for you. That's how scientists understand gravity. No explanation where it came from but it'a something you need to survive. No capacity to observe what's acting on the food to be prepared, yet it's as consistent as an atomic clock.

For the believer, God is more consistent than gravity. We don't understand how he brings things about in our lives but we can trust that he will always behave in a way consistent with his nature. The more we know the character and integrity of God, the greater our faith and confidence in him will be. He is more trustworthy and dependable than gravity. He's always at work with our best interest in mind. He is always seeking to establish his good plans in our lives. And he is always working to reveal his own divine nature in us through his promises to us.

For those interested, here's a brief description of the 4 forces in the standard model of particle physics:

 

Small Group Questions

1. What stood out to you in this message?

2. When you think about the faithfulness of God, what do you think about?

3. How does God's faithfulness line up with the condition of your life?

4. What do you do when your life doesn't reflect what God says is possible?