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Fourthstream

King, Kingdom & Community

THE ENCOURAGERS!

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“Like one who takes off a warm garment on a cold day, or like a loosening of crusty build-up, is he who brings music to a troubled heart.” – Proverbs 25:20 

Have you ever felt really down and then heard just the right words of encouragement from someone or some source? It can be so liberating! Someone cares. Someone understands. Someone notices. This is the idea behind the word encouragement in the God Story. It means to come alongside another person and to bring refreshing to both heart and soul.

I am not an encourager by nature. I didn’t experience it much growing up so it has been arduous to learn – to say the least. I believe that the “words of a brother or sister in adversity” is truly a gift from God. It takes caring. It takes discernment. And much intentionality. Encouragement must be realized within the arena of not merely doing good for what we can get – but from what another person receives from our words.

Acts 4:36 talks about Barnabas. His name meant “son of encouragement.” People who engage as encouragers are doing the work of God. When we come alongside someone to strengthen them in their trials we are blessed with the power of the Spirit. God loves you. You are unique and special on the earth. You matter to the Living God!

Selah.

The Encouragers
The applied gift of encouraging words
Love Kiss

BOOK BY BOOK 10/Exodus 1-16

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Joseph’s story is hard to beat for drama. Job’s story is filled with deep insight into the purposes of God. How can it get any better?! The 70 family members of Jacob’s tribe find themselves numbering in the millions after a span of 430 years. Wow. The organizational headaches. The human drama.

God deals with nations but always tells His Story through everyday people like you and me. So – now it is time to meet Moses. And what a crazy ride. So much of spiritual life is waking up to the fact we are in the middle of a very purposeful and active story. And even though we may never find the notoriety of a Moses – does this really matter when we consider the source of true meaning?

“Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; and the LORD would speak with Moses. When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would arise and worship, each at the entrance of his tent. Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.” – Exodus 33:9-11

By placing Exodus and Leviticus side by side we can learn much about the spiritual transition we also can make, as we leave Egypt in the rear-view mirror and head to the promised land. Genesis: Origins of the Human Race/Origins of the Chosen Race. Exodus: Exit from the Bondage of Sin. Leviticus: Worshipping God from the heart!

Prepare to encounter some of the God Story’s deepest teaching on what it means to trust and connect with God. And to not. Check this out:

“And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations!” – Revelation 15:3

Dave & Burnadette

JESUS & THE GOOD NEWS

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How do you feel about Jesus? Do you know much about Him? What specifically have you experienced in your relationship with Him? In what ways do you feel connected within His unfolding Kingdom? How do you view the differences/contrasts between church and the Kingdom? How well has historic and church history represented God’s Son?

“What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life – and the life was became publicly obvious, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was revealed to us – what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”  – 1 John 1:1-7

I have found that to understand the scope and the impact of the Good News, it is imperative to see the unfolding role of the Son of God in the big picture process.

The Eternal Story
First, the Son has no beginning or end. Read Colossians 1:15-20. What do you learn about the Son of God?

The Prophecy Connection
Was Jesus expected? Check these out!

The Arrival
What did the wise men of the east expect? See Matthew 2:10-12
Why did the Holy Spirit need to make Mary pregnant with baby Jesus? Because only God could do what needed to be done!

The Work
I have come to set hearts and souls free…John 8:31,32/What does this look like?
You are My Friends…John 15:12-14/What does this take?
You are doing my work…John 9:4-5/What does this mean?!

The Promise
John 14:3  What is the promise?
Revelation 22:1-5  What will the fulfillment look like?

For conversations with kids and teens (and adults perhaps?):
Jesus and the Good News Conversation sheet
Jesus and His Followers Conversation Sheet
Jesus for the entire World Conversation Sheet

Also, the Streamsbook is a great personal experience in face to face interaction with the Gospel. Go to COURSES on Fourthstream.com to find the Streamsbook resource – for your own encouragement, or to use to establish another person in the greatest Story ever to have occurred on the face of the earth!

A few great song links for your family:
Shine Upon My Heart
Jesus is the King
Revelation 22

CONSCIENCE 12/Spacious Places

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The LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey…”  – Exodus 3:7-8

This is the story of all humanity, whatever race, region, or tribe from which we come. Affliction follows us all the days of our lives. God stands ready to deliver those who turn our hearts toward him. His hope is for our freedom.

It is important to carefully track the God Story inasmuch as it provides a framework for understanding God and man. This means we can not only understand the plan and purposes of God, but may also place ourselves in the middle of the greater story.

It would be an understatement to say that mankind is lost without God. We are simply dead. The story of Genesis and Job (the oldest books) make it quite clear that unless God intervenes, there is no hope for deliverance of the soul. His Son would become the conduit for faith that would deliver any searching heart. His commands (the big ten etc.) clarify our predicament. Without our Creator we will experience separation forever.

Enter the Good News of Jesus and the gift of His Holy Spirit. We are given insight into how to live within the circle of a clear conscience. The Thou-Shalt-Nots are markers to explain what internal bondage looks like. The Spirit brings conviction and forgiveness into our own circle, and allows us to live in open spaces.

“But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”  – 1 Timothy 1:5

Selah! (lift this up to the highway of our God!)

Your Wide Open Spaces Conversation Sheet
A Good Clarity Song

CONSCIENCE 11/No Coveting or Craving

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The word covet means to take pleasure in something which belongs to another. In essence it is the self-invitation to “live free to crave.” It also has a nuance of stealing the butchered and prepared offerings of others by our choice to covet. God’s Law was given to the Jews (and to humanity) to clearly define what it meant to please God – as well as to clarify what it means to spit in His face.

Once again we are looking at a commandment which has relational implications. My choice to covet what belongs to another will always result in a cost for me as well as the person my mind and heart have targeted.

“But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead.” – Romans 7:8

As with rejecting the other freedom commandments, coveting/craving what belongs to another not only costs us something, it robs the other person of his or her satisfying joy. This also helps with clarity:

“Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. Specifically, ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet – these are summed up in the truth that you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the way we fulfill what God requires.”           – Romans 13:8-10

When His commands are observed our consciences are free to dance the dance of life, and to do so with huge satisfaction of heart, mind, and soul.

Coveting Conversation Sheet
A Difficult Days Song

CONSCIENCE 10/The False Witness

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A deceptive witness = telling misleading, incomplete, or untrue stories about yourself or someone else.

God is pretty big on witnesses to corroborate things. He particularly comments on this broadly in Deuteronomy.

“A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.”  – Deuteronomy 19:15

Jesus Himself refers to the need for witnesses as we hold one another accountable for how we treat others.

“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
– Matthew 18:15-18

We live in a world culture who believes “if I simply say it – it is true.” The results of this are devastating to the soul. Inherent in the God Story is the fact that we cannot trust ourselves, so we must submit ourselves to one another in order to have a healthy society. This is why God gave His people His Law. And why He introduced spiritual and social and moral accountability.

When we freely give false witness (lie) about others without accountability we do harm to one another. Countering this propensity begins with truth between myself and God, and then a clear, true conscience toward others. This is a free way to live, and avoids the bondage of what occurs when we intentionally speak falsely about our neighbor. As well as how we rob others regarding reputation etc. when we do such things. Sobering.

Your False Witness Conversation Sheet
A Good Truth Song

CONSCIENCE 9/Do Not Steal What Belongs to Another

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Like so-called black lies and white lies, there is a behavioral continuum when humans process levels of thievery (he looks so innocent, doesn’t he?).

Here is a story of the heartbreak of something stolen and the unjust parents who allowed it to happen.

“Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you came, and blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.” When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” 

And he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.” Then he said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” 

But Isaac replied to Esau, “Behold, I have made him your master, and all his relatives I have given to him as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?” Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” So Esau lifted his voice and wept. 

Then Isaac his father answered and said to him, behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling, and away from the dew of heaven from above. By your sword you shall live, and your brother you shall serve; but it shall come about when you become restless, That you will break his yoke from your neck.” 

So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”   – Genesis 27:33-41

This account is hard to read. It is so severe. It is so final. It has such far-reaching implications. It is another example of the disorder that was unfolding on the earth – even in the homes of God’s chosen people. How could this even be considered remotely fair? Is it just? I there a difference?

And what does it teach us?

“Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all men, and the pure heart without which no one will see the Lord. 

See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.”  – Hebrews 12:12-17

How in the world do we escape roots of bitterness once they have grown into full, flowering plants? And this happens whether the seeds are sown in ignorance or on purpose! Think through the analogy…

The Stealing Conversation
A Heart Stealing Song