Lesson 20 What Am I Believing God For? | David and Robin Watters

The Preface:

I remember when our son Caleb was a teen, there was a time when I longed to give input in his life, but he made it clear he didn’t want it from me. He did find other men whom he sought input of, which I was thankful, but as His dad, I longed to be able to help guide him, disciple him, teach him, etc. As I reflect on that time, I have often wondered if that is how God feels about me.

In the little book, “My Heart, Christ’s Home,” Robert Munger describes this picture so well when he talks about the “living room” of our hearts.

“I remember one morning rushing downstairs, eager to be on my way. I passed the living room and noticed that the door was open.

Looking in, I saw a fire in the fireplace and Jesus was sitting there. Suddenly in dismay I thought to myself, “He is my guest. I invited Him into my heart! He has come as my Savior and Friend, and yet I am neglecting Him.”

I stopped, turned and hesitantly went in. With downcast glance, I said, “Master, forgive me. Have You been here all these mornings?”

“Yes,” He said, “I told you I would be here every morning to meet with you. Remember, I love you. I have redeemed you at great cost. I value your fellowship. Even if you cannot keep the quiet time for your own sake, do it for mine.”

The truth that Christ desires my companionship, that He wants me to be with Him and waits for me, has done more to transform my quiet time with God than any other single fact. Don’t let Christ wait alone in the living room of your heart, but every day find time when, with your Bible and in prayer, you may be together with Him.”
My Heart Christ’s Home – Robert Munger

The Passage: John 1:35-51

Commentary:

John the Baptizer and his disciples had enjoyed a good day of ministry, baptizing and teaching the crowds. As the crowds dissipated, John and his disciples reminisced about the day before yesterday. They could laugh now, but they could not have done as much the day before. They recalled how the group of high faulting religious leaders had traveled all the way out from Jerusalem, through Bethany, Jericho and across the Jordan just to check them out. Previously, John had the nerve to call them a brood of vipers and to rebuke them publicly when they came for the first stage of their investigation. Now, they had come, not just to observe, but to interrogate. It sure was funny to think about now, but boy was it stressful yesterday.

It had been some weeks since John had baptized Jesus. John’s disciples would never forget that day. The sky had opened up, they had seen the Spirit descend, they had heard the voice from heaven. John had testified, what they saw was the very thing the Spirit had told him would happen to THE ONE He would declare as the Messiah. What a day that had been.

Then, just yesterday, as they reminisced together, John had recognized Jesus in the crowd and had yelled out for everyone to hear, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

As they visited, John looked up and saw Jesus again, but He didn’t stop this time, He just walked by on the road. As John saw him walking by (John 1:36) he commented to his disciples, “Hey guys, there goes the Lamb of God.” When Andrew and Nathaniel looked and saw him too, they went running after Jesus.

It’s amazing how quickly each of these guys dropped everything to follow Jesus.

John and Andrew, after hearing the declaration by the Baptizer, as Jesus was walking by, they dropped everything and ran after him. Their response to Jesus’ question (what are you seeking) clearly indicated they were ready to become his disciple.
Andrew found Peter the next day and told him he had found the Messiah, Peter didn’t hesitate either, he followed Andrew.
With Philip, all it took was Jesus saying, “Follow me…”
With Nathaniel, Jesus did something even more amazing. In his statement to Nathaniel, he declared what Nathaniel had just been thinking about and meditating on as he sat under a fig tree! (John 1:47-48) He was reading about Jacob’s ladder (Gen 28:12). Jesus displayed his omniscience in one sentence, convincing Nathaniel He was truly the Messiah and declaring Nathaniel would see much more than Jacob when he saw the angels ascending and descending.

As they witnessed what Jesus said and did, these guys became convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, and chose to follow Him by faith.

The Purpose:

What was God doing? Why did He have this written down?)

For each of these guys, Jesus said or did the very thing they needed to be convinced of His Messiah-ship. They had been waiting for and looking for the Messiah. As a result, it didn’t take much convincing. They knew what to look for. When they saw it, they embraced Jesus by faith, and followed Him.

When they saw the fulfillment of their faith, they were also quick to invite others to come and see as well.

The Plan:

As I ask these questions of myself, I encourage you to ask them too.

What can I learn from this? What is God saying to me and my life from this passage?

These guys were looking for the Messiah. They anticipated the Messiah’s coming. They believed what God had said, and were looking for and watching for the “signs.” They fully expected to see the fulfillment of God’s promise. What does it take for me to believe what God has said?

What do I need become more aware of?

Do I know what God has said? Am I looking for God to do what He has said? Will I embrace it when I see it?

What promises do I need to be reminded of and embrace today? I encourage you to take some time to think about God’s promises that you need to be reminded of and make list. Here’s the list I came up with for myself:
- Phil 1:6; Rom 8:28 God promised He has begun the good work of conforming me to his son. Everything He is doing in my life is for that purpose. How confident am I in that promise?
- John 20:31 His desire is for me to know and be convinced, without a doubt, He is who He says He is. Do I allow the things that happen in my life to do that?
- 2 Cor 9:6-15 God promises to provide for my ministry so I will be enriched in every way, so that I can generously carry out His ministry through me to the thanksgiving of those I minister to.
- Eph 4:11-13 God desires to use my gifts and my life to build up His church so that we all, collectively grow into maturity, to the measure of the stature of Christ, being conformed to His image.
What am I expecting God to do as a result of those promises?

Embrace what He has said, and rest in Him with confidence.

How does God want me to engage with this? What does He want me to do because of what He is saying here?

Take time to thank God for these promises and praise Him for what He is going to do. Then, be watching for it… and as I see God doing what He said He would do, I need to share it with someone.

The Power; Declarations of Truth:

The power to change is in the implementation. We can talk all we want, make lots of plans, but until we do something about it, we will never change. What is the one thing I need to do as a result of this study today?

God is in constant pursuit of my heart. He wants me to come to know Him and leads / orchestrates the events of my life so I will come to know Him more. He wants me to believe what He has said, so that through my faith in Him, I will find life (John 20:31).. a life of abundance filled with confidence in Him.

When I experience that, I need to invite others to come and see so they can experience it as well. This week has been full of encouraging things that God has done. Here’s some things God did that I need to share:

Our Son Andrew and his wife have been working really hard to get Andrew through college without debt. They just paid off their final bill for his last semester about a month ago. We are so proud of them. Then, this week, they received a letter from his university informing them that they have been granted a “Future Michigan Educators Stipend!” It’s enough for them to use to buy a second car which they are in desperate need of. God is so good! He did it just because He can.
- John 20:31 His desire is for me to know and be convinced, without a doubt, He is who He says He is. Do I allow the things that happen in my life to do that?
- 2 Cor 9:6-15 God promises to provide for my ministry so I will be enriched in every way, so that I can generously carry out His ministry through me to the thanksgiving of those I minister to.
We asked last week for people to pray for our dental needs coming up this summer. We were anticipating close to $5000 in dental bills. A missionary friend wrote this week to say they have a dentist who has done work for them, as well as gone to their mission field in Alaska to do dentistry for missionaries up there. She offered to contact him on our behalf. He has agreed to take care all of it at no charge!
This is the God we serve. Our faithful unchangeable God, whose love is as great as his power, and neither knows measure nor end!
This week God encouraged me with the fulfillment of Eph 4:11-13 God desires to use my gifts and my life to build up His church so that we all, collectively grow into maturity, to the measure of the stature of Christ, being conformed to His image. We gave our students a “needs assessment” asking them to rate their interest in various topics that we could cover in the 2 months of the program. The topic that came out as the one with the greatest interest was learning how to listen well and ask better questions. That’s the foundation of Coaching. So, God gave me the opportunity to share the foundations of what coaching is and teach some practical skills about how to listen better, and how to ask powerful questions.