This week we’re picking up where we left off in talking about taking a _____________ end of the year inventory.
What does it mean to ________with the Lord in relationship with Him?
We’re Created to be in Relationship with God
See Gen 2:8-9; 15. Gen 2:31 And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. Mankind, along with all of creation was declared “Very _______” by God. God didn’t just leave them in the Garden and say “have a nice life, Adam and Eve”! He _________ them there. Genesis 3:8 tells us 8 Now they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, So, it was God’s _____________ to visit Adam and Eve in the cool of the day (likely early morning).
Our reaction: hiding
But, what is Man’s reaction to God’s ___________________ to walk with Him? It is a consistent _________________ of God’s invitation Even Adam and Eve, who were ___________________ filled with delight that they were going to get to spend time with God when they heard the sound of God walking in the Garden had a very different reaction after sin had entered their lives. We see it very clearly in Genesis 3:8b and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. In fact it is only through God’s gift of the faith to believe that ANY of us ______________ to the drawing of the Holy Spirit, and come to faith in Christ.
Even we Christians fill our time with empty activities like television, video games, hobbies, and other activities. All of these can be a serious drain on our time if we’re not careful—and much of it is procrastination as we do ______________ else rather then get alone with God and get real with God. We know that there are areas in our lives where we fall _________, and we’ll do about anything rather than letting God deal with them and change our hearts.
Our reaction: the blame game
In Genesis chapter 3, beginning in 12 The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me some of the fruit of the tree, and I ate.”
Put Faith into Action
So, What do those that walk with God have in common? Enoch Gen 5:24 24 Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. The picture here is that Enoch was in ________ with God for those 300 years, obeying God and loving Him. Noah. Gen 6:9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. Noah _________ God when He said that he would destroy the earth with a flood. And Noah put his faith into ___________. Constructing the ark was no small task—it probably took decades to build. Walking with the Lord means putting faith into __________.
Patient Endurance
We need patient endurance to finish this race, There are _________ in the way. The first hurdle is ______. Fear was Adam and Eve’s emotion as they tried to face God in their sins, and their reaction was to ________. Fear is the first enemy of _________. The fear of what other people think should never prevent us from obeying the Lord (see 1 Sam 15:24; John 9:22). If Noah had felt that way, he would have never built that ark. Psalm 91 speaks of the one who “dwells in the shelter of the Most High” and who says of God, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust” (verses 1–2). Fear has a way of telling you that you can’t do it, that you’re not good enough, not strong enough. But, in good times and in bad times, we look to God for our _____________. Phil 4:13 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. You are able to overcome, __________ of Christ’s strength in you. It doesn’t ________ on you! God makes you ________ than enough.
Gal 6:9 tells us not to grow tired as we do God’s will for our lives: Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Good things take _______ and that we won’t often see immediate results. But that doesn’t mean our efforts are ____________. It takes time and patience, but when you finally reap a harvest, it is well _________ the effort!
We need perseverance to finish this race. Hebrews 12:1 tells us to run with perseverance: Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
The biggest thing standing in the way of doing God’s will with our lives after fear is _______. It trips up our feet so that we can’t run. Sin will mess up your ability to _________ from God, and __________ Him and do His will. If we _____________ our sins to God He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
Our patient perseverance has a purpose. Romans 5:3-4 lets us know that Perseverance Produces Character: Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. It doesn’t do us any good to dwell on our inadequacies, and to fixate on the fact that we haven’t _______________ yet. It just discourages us. Even if we fail sometimes, we can let God dust us off and pick us up. When we face difficult things in our life, we always have a choice: we can give up or go ______________ and grow in character.
Remember that we are not alone in our Journey. God both goes before us and is our rear guard behind us. In Deuteronomy 31:8 we are reminded that we’re not walking alone The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” In2 Corinthians 4:16-18 we are reminded Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. God sees the whole picture. The things we see are just a tiny ___________ of the big picture.
If you need hope in as you walk with God, get in your prayer closet, and get in your bible. Romans 15:4 reminds us For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. All of those accounts in the Bible of God’s servants who faced ______________ difficult situations and still made the ___________ to keep moving forward in faith, without knowing what the __________ would be are there for our instruction and our good. Job did all the _________ things, but faced difficult situations and praised God in the midst of them. Paul was ________________over and over again, beaten, shipwrecked and he still chose to praise God and continue his work. Jesus, of course, is the ultimate example of patient endurance. He did ___________ wrong and still went through adversity, pain, and hardship…for all for us.