4-Week Devotional Challenge

(Week 4: Jan 29-Feb 4,2012)

Name _____________________

Sunday

The Lost Are Found

Matthew 11:1-5 After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.[a] When John (the Baptist), who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else? Jesus replied, Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy[b] are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. In this passage, we find John the Baptist sending his disciples to Jesus, to ask if He is the Messiah that people have been waiting for. John already knew who Jesus was. John baptized him, saw heaven open up and the Spirit of God descend on Jesus like a dove (Matthew 3:13-1). So John must have either been asking this question to strengthen his own faith or the faith of Johns disciples. Jesus response to the question, Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else? is quite remarkable. Go back report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. We know Jesus is who He says He is because these amazingly miraculous things are happening. Wouldnt ya know it? That reminds me of a song! Who woulda thought In the song The Lost Are Found (by Hillsong from their album God Is Able, which can be listened to through your headphones using YouTube, Spotify, or Grooveshark), we hear the Bridge lyrics repeated numerous times:
The lost are found The blind will see The lame will walk And You our God forever You will reign The dead will live
4 2 1

We all need healing, dont we? It may not always be physical healing, but it may be emotional healing from our past. If its neither of those for you, I can be sure that we all need healing from our sin. We sin more than we know or are willing to admit. What is it that you need healing from? Is it physical, emotional, spiritual, sinful? Ask God to point to where you need healing. As you listen to the song and hear the Bridge part of the Lost Are Found sung over and over, let that power of Jesus being proclaimed wash over your hurt and heal you. Find hope and rest in the power of Jesus!

Monday

Try to come up with 3 things to pray for when you look at each picture.

Example: Glass of Water Picture (1) God, thank you for access to fresh, clean, healthy water. (2) Help people all over the world who dont have access to clean drinking water. (3) As water cleans and purifies, clean and purify my heart, oh God.

Tuesday

I Need Thee Every Hour

Written by Annie S. Hawks in 1872 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God. 2 Corinthians 3:5
12 am________________ 1 ___________________ 2 ___________________ Some hymns and praise songs stand the test of time because of their great lyrics and melody that resonate with the human heart. I Need Thee Every Hour is one that has done that. Take a moment to write what you are doing each hour during a typical day on the left side of this sheet (if you dont have typical days, just pick any day of the week). In his book, The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence claimed to be as close to God while working in the kitchen as when praying in the chapel. The Lord, after all, is always near us, thus wherever we are is holy ground. That was the experience of Annie Hawks, a housewife and mother of three in Brooklyn, New York. I Need Thee Every Hour was written on a bright June morning in 1872. Annie later wrote, One day as a young wife and mother of 37 years of age, I was busy with my regular household tasks. Suddenly, I became so filled with the sense of nearness to the Master that, wondering how one could live without Him, either in joy or pain, these words, I Need Thee Every Hour, were ushered into my mind, the thought at once taking full possession of me. When Annies husband died sixteen years later, she found that her own hymn was among her greatest comforts. I did not understand at first why this hymn had touched the great throbbing heart of humanity, Annie wrote. It was not until long after, when the shadow fell over my way, the shadow of great loss, that I understood something of the comforting power in the words which I had been permitted to give out to others in my hour of sweet serenity and peace. Listen to (or sing) the song I Need Thee Every Hour. I suggest listening to the Jars of Clay version from their album Redemption Songs if you want to hear a contemporary version. Otherwise, Fernando Ortega does a great traditional. As you listen, admit to God that you are in need of him every hour of every day. Thank Him for always being near to us, whether we can feel Him or not. Verse 1 I need Thee every hour Most gracious Lord No tender voice like Thine Can peace afford Verse 2 I need Thee every hour Stay Thou near by Temptations lose their pow'r When Thou art nigh Verse 3 I need Thee every hour In joy or pain Come quickly and abide Or life is vain

3 ___________________
4 ___________________ 5 ___________________ 6 ___________________ 7 ___________________ 8 ___________________ 9 ___________________ 10 __________________ 11 __________________ 12 pm _______________ 1 ___________________ 2 ___________________ 3 ___________________

4 ___________________
5 ___________________ 6 ___________________ 7 ___________________ 8 ___________________ 9 ___________________ 10 __________________ 11 __________________

Chorus: I need Thee O I need Thee, Every hour I need Thee O bless me now my Savior, I come to Thee

*Bible Required Devotional*

Wednesday

Blog Your Faith

According to Wikipedia, there are over 156 million blogs in the world. Are you a blogger? Or do you read blogs? Twelve years ago they didnt exist. Blogs are a result of the easy Internet access people have today. You dont have to be famous. You dont have to be qualified by position or prestige. All you need is a computer, an opinion, and a hankering to write, and you too can have a blog. Blogs provide people an outlet to express their personal feelings and thoughts. However, since blogs are on the Internet, anybody can read them. So while blogs are personal, theyre by no means private. The Book of Psalms, the worship manual for the Hebrew people, was somewhat like a blog. In it, David and the other writers expressed personal feelings of worship, petition, and thanksgiving to God. Their intimate expressions toward Him were not kept private. They were intended for use in public worship. Read Psalm 40:7-10. Notice the personal nature of verse 10. David had a desire to proclaim Gods righteousness, faithfulness, salvation, and love before the masses. Remaining silent about his faith wasnt an option. As followers of Christ, we have to adopt the same attitude. While our faith is internal and intimate, we cannot keep it to ourselves. If everyone considered their faith not for public consumption, who would tell others about Christ? Our faith has to be like a blogpersonal, but for the world to see. The cry of Davids heartproclaiming Gods righteousness, faithfulness, salvation, and love before the worldmust also be the passion of our lives. Our faith is most definitely personal, but by no means private. 1) What are some practical ways you can go public with a private matter like your faith in God?

2) You may have been raised in a family that taught you belief in God, or you may spend a lot of time with others who proclaim Jesus as their Lord and Savior. But what makes your faith personal? If you dont feel that your faith is personal, what can you do to take greater ownership of it?

3) What are you passionate about? How can you express Gods righteousness, faithfulness, salvation and love to others through the things youre passionate about?

Thursday
Verse 1 Victim of our sacrifice Gift of love a perfect life All for a wayward bride All for a wayward bride Verse 2 See the lion and the lamb How He sits at Your right hand Waiting to come again Waiting to come again Chorus 1 Oh great love of God Who takes away the sins of all of us Gone forever Heaven opened wide in Your resurrection You won't be denied Bringing life to the dead and dying Verse 3 Servant king of rich and poor Beggar that the world ignores Oh let me see Your face Hidden in simple things Chorus 2 Oh great love of God Who takes away the sins of all of us Gone forever Heaven opened wide in Your resurrection You won't be denied Bringing life to the dead and dying You won't be denied We will rise and we'll sing forever Bridge This is not a song this is a revival A revival This is not a death this is us waking This is a return back to life Oh Your life all I'm living for Your life in my life Oh it's life that I'm dying for Oh great love of God Who takes away the sins of all of us Gone forever Oh great love of God We'll sing forever CCLI License No. 559268

Worship
Listen to Oh, Great Love of God by David Crowder Band (Album title: Give Us Rest or (A Requiem Mass In C [The Happiest of All Keys])) or another worship song (Listen in your headphones if possible). You can find the song using YouTube, Spotify, or Grooveshark. (On YouTube, the 2nd video that comes up titled 2-07 Oh, Great Love of God had better audio quality) Just some fun facts from an obsessed fan (Jeremy): This is the David Crowder Bands Last album which was released Jan 6, 2012. The album was #1 on iTunes for a couple of days, and currently sits at #2 on Billboards Top 200. Quite an amazing feat for a Christian band, huh! What do the lyrics tell you about who God is? List everything you can think of from the song. __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________

Which lyrics speak to you the most? What words really touch your heart? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ What can you give God praise for? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Listen to the song one more time, letting your heart and soul sing it to God

Read: Luke 12:25-34

(If you cant find a Bible, look up the passage on www.biblegateway.com)

Friday

The main thing I remember or learned from this Scripture is __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ Here is what God is trying to teach me through this Scripture __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ As a result of this, today (or tomorrow) I will. __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ Right now I need to pray about. __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________

Saturday

Know the Word

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. James 1:22-24 If you look at studies of peoples attitudes toward the Bible, its easy to get discouraged. The vast majority of Americans arent really interested in knowing Gods Word, much less living it out. If you believe in Christif you have accepted His sacrifice on the cross as payment on behalf of your sinsif you have committed to living your life with Gods will and desires as your guidesif you have done these things, not knowing Gods Word is unacceptable! Heres the deal: God gave us His Word so we could know Him, His story, and His ways. We cant separate our belief, or our faith, or our following, from studying and knowing the Bible. Its literally impossible. What keeps you from studying your Bible? Is it time? Is it lack of desire? Are you intimidated? Do you think it is boring? Does the conviction of Scripture make you uncomfortable? Write your reason(s) here:

The most important thing you can do as a Christ-follower who is committed to growing in their faith is to figure out what keeps you from reading your Bible. Once you know what it is, fix it! Read your Bible. But dont stop there. Let the words of Scripture affect your life. Live out the words of God. Its what He has intended all along. Is the Bible important to you? Its a serious question. If its not important, you wont commit to studying it. So, is Gods Word important? Why or why not?

The Bible tells us how we should live as Christ-followers. How does the Bible influence the way you live your life?

If youre feeling like digging into the Bible right now, start reading the book of James. Its clear, to the point, and full of application.