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"Livin' Large" Page 1  | 2 | 3
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Mike Slaughter  |
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 I'm
really excited about these next four weeks because I'm going to ask
you to go deeper and spend some time every day in Bible study and reflection
on the Word. In a minute I'm even going to tell you the book I want
you to be reading every day. It only has four chapters in it. We'll
go there in a minute, in preparation for listening to God this week.I've
been out traveling this week. The airport we landed in Wednesday night
closed down immediately after we got there because of a threat against
Three Mile Island. The next night we took off from that airport and
shortly after we left it closed down again. They found explosives in
a suitcase in a bus terminal that's close to my son in Philadelphia.
September 11 has forced us to think hard and think deeply about what
really matters in our life. We didn't mean to but we settled into routine.
You get out of bed just like you always do. You climb into the shower
just like you always do. You gulp down your coffee and Danish just like
you've always done. You drive to work in your new car just like you
always do. You put in a full day's work just like you always do. You
go back home to the couch just like you always do.  But
if you do what you've always done you get what you've always gotten
- spiritual barrenness. We didn't mean to but we became spiritually
soft. Barren. When we fall into those routines, our lives no longer
bear the same kind of fruitfulness for God's purpose. So I'm excited
about these four weeks when we are entering into a journey around the
question, "Will you grow?" I'm going to ask you to spend some time every
day this week in the book of Malachi. It is the last book of the Old
Testament. It's only four chapters long so maybe for the next six days
you will read those four chapters straight through every day. Or you
might read two chapters a day and go back and forth. Whether it's 15
minutes, 30 minutes or an hour, reflect on that book and write down
what you hear God saying. Ask God to show you the next step. We're going
to have a commitment weekend on November 10 and 11. |
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| Isaiah 54:1-3 1: "Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband," says the LORD. 2: "Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. 3: For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities. |
Open
your Bibles to Isaiah 54. God is speaking about the problem of spiritual
softness, barrenness. Verse one, "Sing, O barren woman, you who never
bore a child. Burst into song, shout for joy because it's about ready
to change for those of you who were never in labor. Because more are
the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband," says
the Lord. God is ready to do a bigger thing. God has a bigger plan for
your work. "You must enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent
curtains wide." Stretch is uncomfortable isn't it - to go to the next
place where God wants us to go? "Lengthen your cord, strengthen your
stakes, for you have spread out to the right and to the left. Your descendants
will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities." |
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