Crafting A Holy Life 1. Prayer
Crafting A Holy Life 2. Obedience
Crafting A Holy Life 3. Mediation
Crafting A Holy LIfe 4. Worship
Men, Following Jesus,
Helping Other Men Follow Jesus
Brothers. Here are some notes for the studies on Crafting a Holy Life. Let me know if you have any questions.
Crafting A Holy Life 1. Prayer
Crafting A Holy Life 2. Obedience
Crafting A Holy Life 3. Mediation
Crafting A Holy LIfe 4. Worship
What Do You Do When You Are Confronted With Your Sin?
1.–When we are confronted with our sin we usually deny it. Hide it cover it.
2.–We tend to excuse it. We rationalize and “reason” out way out of it.
3.–We try to minimize it Call it “really stupid” confess only what is easily forgivable.
4.–We partially confess.We blame others and don’t take responsibility for it. Eve blamed the serpent. Adam blamed his wife.
5.–We feel remorse for it but don’t forsake it and hate it. (Why did God forgive David but not Esau?) (Hebrews 12:17; 2 Cor. 7:10) Grief over consequences vs. grief over broken relationship) (Psalm 51 “against thee and thee only have I sinned and done evil in Thy sight”Admit it but continue in it. Delay…
6.–What is the right response when we are confronted with the reality of our own sin? REPENT. It was the first command of Jesus. It was the first message of John the Baptist. It is the entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven. There are models of penitent prayers in the Psalms. (Psa. 6; Psa. 25; Psa. 32; Psa. 38; Psa. 51; Psa. 102; Psa. 130; Psa. 143) “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whosoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13) But what do you do when the burden of guilt is too great to bear? When you have a revelation of your own depravity?
November 9, 2022
Greetings men. Bethel Men will meet this evening and every Wednesday evening in the Bethel Library (the room just to the right of the main stairs as you enter the east doors). We meet from 7 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. We will take a break on Thanksgiving week (We will not meet Wednesday, November 23). We will not meet December 21 or 28 but we will continue beginning January 4, 2023.
Bring your Bible and a friend this evening.
November 1, 2022
Good brothers of Bethel and others. This morning I shared some material I called a “Holiness Hack.” Here I the notes I handed out and promised to include here.
The Principle of Imitation:
You will tend to become like
whoever you train yourself to admire
Who do you want to be like?
He who walks with wise men will be wise,
But the companion of fools will be destroyed.
Proverbs 13:20
Ultimately we want to be like Jesus, but we are “wired” to imitate others we can physically see. God intends for us to find others with admirable qualities of holiness and be like them.“He who walks with wise men will be wise…”
- Galatians 4:19 My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you
- Luke 6:40 “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.
- 1 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore I urge you, imitate me.
- Philippians 3:17 Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.
- Philippians 4:9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:6 And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,
- 2 Thessalonians 3:9 not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us.
- 1 Timothy 1:16 However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.
- 1 Timothy 4:12 Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
- Hebrews 13:7 Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.
- 1 Peter 5:3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;
- Acts 20:28-38 This is why older, godly Christians are so important in a Christian fellowship.
Here is how the process works:
1. the behavior is modeled
2. the behavior is admired and imitated
3. I accept by faith that the behavior is God’s will
4. I trust the prompting/enabling power of the Holy Spirit
5. I repeat the behavior (Romans 6:18ff)
6. I continue over a prolonged period of time
7. I am among others who support the behavior
8. Over a period of time it becomes the behavior I deeply desire. (affections)
“…A companion of fools will be destroyed.”
- Proverbs 12:26 The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray.
- Proverbs 22:24 Make no friendship with an angry man, And with a furious man do not go
- 1 Corinthians 5:11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.
- 1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”
You don’t need many friends.
What kind of friends do you need?
1. You need friends who fear God and obey Him.
Psalm 119:63 I am a companion of all who fear You, And of those who keep Your precepts.
2. You need friends who refresh you in the things of the Lord. 2 Timothy 1:16 The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain;
3. You need friends who will stimulate you to love and good works. Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works…
Bethel Men
Men, Following Jesus,
Helping Others Follow Jesus.
October 26, 2022
This evening we talked and studied the scriptures about what it means to walk in the Spirit
“But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:18–25, ESV)
“Walking in the Spirit is continually obeying
–the impulses of the Spirit in
–the power of the Spirit which produces
–the fruit of the Spirit.”
When a man discovers his life filled with the works of the flesh, he should examine his heart and ask himself, “When did I ignore or disobey in impulse of the Spirit, a teaching of scripture, or the example of Jesus, which led to this?” He should then return to the area he left the path of obedience and obey in the power of the Spirit until it produces the fruit of the Spirit.
Thank You. Wisdom! Praying much for you and your faithful men, “To Be Used Of God”.