The School of the Man – Level 1

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Copyright © 2016 by Firehouse Ministries, Inc. Pertinent to everything on this website all rights reserved.  www.firehousemininstries.com

1. How can emotional health impact our spiritual growth?
2. What is God looking for in His relationship with you? When would He like that to happen?
3. The children of Israel were freed from the bondage of Egypt and their enemies destroyed. So like us, as Christians, they were saved and “baptized.” Why was more change required in their lives? Weren’t those two “events” enough?
4. What are some examples from the time of the children of Israel in the desert that illustrate God’s desire for “encounter” with His people?
5. What is the result of living on “old manna?”
6. True or False: A prayer is not just what you say with your mouth but what you emit with your whole soul.
7. Richard gave a definition for Spiritual Growth. What was it?

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1. Heavenly Father, I am so glad You want fresh encounters with me on a regular basis. Thank You that You want me to keep growing and changing and being fascinated with You and to be able to enjoy myself and my life. Guide me and lead me in this process of restoration. Help me say yes to authenticity and no to fakeness. I give You permission to prune my soul where needed and to expose the lies that keep me from love and joy and being impactful. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

2. Receive this prayer over You, “May God help You receive all the resources of heaven that are available for your emotional health and spiritual growth. May He give You a heart willing to let go of those things that are not establishing You in His love and may He give You the courage to think differently, the honesty to feel deeply and the wisdom to make good choices.” In Jesus’ name, Amen.

1. Am I having ever fresh encounters with God NOW?
2. Has my relationship with God been more about laws than encounters?
3. Reflect on any ways this teaching has revised your opinion of God. Talk to Him about that.
4. Wherever you are right now in your spiritual walk, you can be sure that God is interested in moving you towards ever fresh encounters with Him. By taking the time to reflect on what He is saying to you through these lessons, meditating on the Scriptures and praying the prayers, you will find yourself being drawn into more encounters with Him.
5. Receive this prayer over you, “May God help you receive all the resources of heaven that are available for your emotional health and spiritual growth. May He give you a heart willing to let go of those things that are not establishing you in His love and may He give you the courage to think differently, the honesty to feel deeply and the wisdom to make good choices.” In Jesus’ name, Amen.[1]

[1] I am repeating this because it is just so important!

• Personal Application Activity
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John 15:1-13 (NIV)

1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.

10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

13 Greater love has no one than this that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Helpful suggestion: Make sure when you read scriptures as meditation to take your time and stop whenever a verse or portion moves your heart. The goal is not to read a certain amount. It is to ingest deep into yourself the significance of the words and how they apply to you personally. Here is an opportunity for you to fall into a fresh encounter with God if you take the time to receive these timeless words as alive for you here and now.

John 15 gives us a picture of what it means to be a healthy Christian. Using that passage, fill in the blanks:

1. Having fresh, daily encounters with Jesus Christ is identified in this passage by the word
   

   ---

2. The result of having our deepest prayers changed so that the “dead branches” in our lives are lopped off is
   

   ---

3. Two concrete signs in our relationships with others of our having regular encounters with God so that we are changed are
   

   ---

4. Sometimes God heals a person instantaneously, more often it is a process. What is the danger of trying to get fixed all at once and having that as an expectation?
   

   ---

5. Richard said our spirits are in constant communion with God already but that our souls are plastic. What constitutes the content of the soul we have today?

• Emotional Health and Spiritual Growth Quiz
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Questions (with Answers)

1. How can emotional health impact our spiritual growth?

We will have an easier time having intimacy with Jesus with more emotional health. If we have low self-esteem it hinder us from experiencing the depth of His love.

2. What is God looking for in His relationship with you? When would He like that to happen?

God wants ever fresh encounters with us NOW. We need more than just precepts and law.

3. The children of Israel were freed from the bondage of Egypt and their enemies destroyed. So like us, as Christians, they were saved and “baptized.” Why was more change required in their lives? Weren’t those two “events” enough?

Inside of them they were still “slaves” in their way of seeing themselves. The trouble they had emerged out of the lack of emotional health inside of them.

4. What are some examples from the time of the children of Israel in the desert that illustrate God’s desire for “encounter” with His people?

Calling them to meet him on the mountain at Sinai. The Tabernacle of Meeting and the way it would fill with the Glory of the Lord. The cloud by day and the fire by night.

5. What is the result of living on “old manna?”

Old manna is representative of not having an ever fresh encounter. We try to live many years off of the old manna of our conversion experience.  Can’t get life out of it anymore and is not what God intends for us. We are underperforming because we are not properly fed. We don’t have the impact we were meant to have.

6. True or False: A prayer is not just what you say with your mouth but what you emit with your whole soul. True

6. Richard gave a definition for Spiritual Growth. What was it?

How much of my soul does Jesus Christ inhabit? This is a good way to define true spiritual growth.

Quiz Answer Key

John 15 gives us a picture of what it means to be a healthy Christian. Using that passage, fill in the blanks:

1. Having fresh, daily encounters with Jesus Christ is identified in this passage by the word

Abide (Live in me daily)

2. The result of having our deepest prayers changed so that the “dead branches” in our lives are lopped off is

Ability to abide in the Lord and to be able to live fully and feel loved

3. Two concrete signs in our relationships with others of our having regular encounters with God so that we are changed are

Love and Joy

4. Sometimes God heals a person instantaneously, more often it is a process. What is the danger of trying to get fixed all at once and having that as an expectation?

We begin to pretend that we are healed when they are not. Creates a culture of denial.

5. Richard said our spirits are in constant communion with God already but that our souls are plastic. What constitutes the content of the soul we have today?

Mind, will, emotions. It is marked by what we do. Our history, our decisions, our beliefs

The Evolution of Desire in the Human Soul

Desire is a function of the Man (see teaching on Four Living Creatures). It is a fundamental part of his soul that is with him always. The fact that he possesses this quality is because he is made in God’s image and God has desires. God desired to create the heavens and earth. He wanted to create a special piece of it to have fellowship and relationship with. He longed for people to want him with their ability to desire so He gave them free will. Jesus exhibited desires while He lived here. He desired to be about His Father’s business at 12 years old. He desired so much to win back companions for eternity that He was willing to suffer and die to make it happen (see Romans 12:2). It is quite moving to hear Him tell His disciples in Luke 22:15, “I have fervently desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” We can never grasp all this meant to Him. He was facing a horrible trauma at the same time He was focusing on how that decision would get for Him the thing He most desired: humanity—humanity to be with Him forever, forgiven and able to share His light, life and love! A bride to come in union with Him.

We have seen that the qualities of the Man are reflected in the force of nature, gravity. Gravity is a stabilizing force in the universe that keeps things in place and in relationship to one another. Gravity is created by PRESENCE. Anything that has mass has its own gravity, us included. So the earth’s gravity affects us but so does that of the people and things around us. We are captivated by earth’s gravity but the earth is captivated by the sun’s gravity and the sun is captivated by our galaxy’s gravity which is held by greater galaxies. You get the picture.  Everything that has mass in the universe has its own gravity. Gravity is very much like desire. Everybody wants to draw things to themselves and everybody is affected by what others around them want. If we get free from one thing that is “holding” us by its gravity, then we are free to move into orbit around something else! There are two main ways we can be drawn in this matter. Towards God or away from Him.

Jesus said, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to myself.” (John 12:32) He knew that when His body died it would create a fundamental change in the universe where now His gravitational force would become compelling and ultimate. Everything would end up before Him eventually, for better or worse. In the meantime, we have a journey through life of the evolution of our desires. Will the path lead us to Him or away from Him? What is the evolution of our desires and how can they end up being fulfilled by the “Desire of the Nations”?

Everyone is born with the desire to give and receive love, for relationship and connection. Without it, an infant will die. But because we have the Divine design inside of us, there is a hunger for Him. He is the ultimate magnet that exerts a drawing force on us all. As we progress through life, our desires get sounded out and developed. Finding out what we want is meant to be an interesting and fascinating journey. Using our free will, we grow in knowing ourselves and discovering what we like and don’t like, what we want and don’t want. But that process can be fraught with difficulties and wrong turns. There can be many dead ends of pursing our desires and finding out that particular things don’t satisfy. And then we are on to something else.

The relationship between an infant and its mother is a fascinating illustration of gravity. The mother longs for the infant and desires to draw the baby to herself. But she allows herself to be affected by the gravity of the baby as well. The infant cries out for the mother or care-giver in a frantic hope to draw her to herself. Her survival depends on it. Later, the baby seeks to engage others and draw them to her by catching their eyes and smiling at them in mini-connections. The baby is orbiting around the mother but in some ways the mother is orbiting around the baby!

Before sin entered the world we were meant to be full of God and others were meant to be full of God. When people desired us they would get some God. When we desired others we would get some God. Instead, nobody automatically offers God and no one automatically gets God. 

Suppose an infant has basic needs met to the point that she survives but her deep desire that someone wants to be with her is never fulfilled. She will continue to experience this desire as unmet but will begin to find other ways of trying to meet it. She may become an experienced people pleaser, or someone who strives always to be perfect. She can give up hope of ever succeeding in getting this desire met and begin to pretend she has no desires. As life goes on, she may try many different avenues to get what she wants—to draw it to herself. She may orbit around many idols. Whoever she is connected to in the way of relationships will be affected by her ways of trying to get that need met.

Ps. 38 was written by David when he was in the throes of difficulty. He had sinned and now he was recognizing that his desires had led him astray (once again?). So the psalm gives a great illustration of someone wrestling with their desires before God and looking to have them reoriented towards God, the only One who can truly satisfy.

Psalm 38  (NKJV)

ˡO Lord, do not rebuke me in Your wrath,
Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure!
² For Your arrows pierce me deeply,
And Your hand presses me down.

³ There is no soundness in my flesh
Because of Your anger,
Nor any health in my bones
Because of my sin.

David recognizes his desires have drawn him down a path away from God and into looking for fulfillment in something that doesn’t satisfy.

⁸ I am feeble and severely broken;
I groan because of the turmoil of my heart.

He is in a broken state and he has no peace.

⁹ Lord, all my desire is before You;
And my sighing is not hidden from You.

David is being totally honest with God. He is showing God this part of his heart that got him into trouble. He is laying these desires out before God and letting him know how much he longed for and hoped for satisfaction.

¹⁵ For in You, O Lord, I hope;
You will hear, O Lord my God.

²¹ Do not forsake me, O Lord;
O my God, be not far from me!
²² Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation!

David is turning his heart towards God and beginning to hope in Him. He is using his desires to propel himself towards God and get into orbit around God. This will extricate him in time from the power of the other thing that had him in its power.

David was a very passionate person. He had big desires, a big heart and big expectations. He recklessly trusted God to protect him and prevail. He danced before the Lord with all of his might. He wanted 24 hour worship so anytime day or night he could hang out with God. But being in touch with his desires also got him into serious sin and trouble. Murder and adultery and testing the Lord by having the army counted. Yet he was considered a “man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14).

David was in touch with himself and his desires, to say the least. It gave God opportunity to work with him and develop him. David wrestled with God and God didn’t mind the struggle at all! It brought changes in David and put him increasingly on a path drawing him to God.

Jesus found it easier to work with people who were more connected to their desires: prostitutes and tax collectors. He struggled to connect with those who were in denial about having desires such as the seriously religious folk. Jesus wasn’t afraid of sin and sinners. He was troubled by hard hearts that sought to hide their deepest desires from him and themselves.

Too often the answer for wrong desires is to try and annihilate that part of the person that has wrong desires. One thing I have observed in many years of counseling people is that someone who is sexually abused has similar symptoms as someone whose sexuality was ignored and treated as if it didn’t exist. It is interesting how these two opposite wounds, one of abuse and the other of neglect, can result in the same types of problems.

God created people to have desires. God created people to be sexual. There must be some valid way of being those things or He would have never made us that way. Plus this is a way we are made in His image. He has desires and the fact that He wants to bond and be “one” with His people (see Eph. 5:32) is obviously the characteristic in Him that we resemble by longing to be “one” with another in sex.

Pursuing our desires in ways that are contrary to God’s will won’t leave us happy and satisfied in the long run. Ultimately it will bankrupt our souls where we settle for a momentary pleasure at the cost of our over-all well-being. Many people have had to fight with that part of their soul to get it back into God’s orbit and tasted and see what God has to offer to fulfill them.

On the other hand, others have never allowed their heart to utter the words: “this is what I want” or “this is what I desire” openly. They can’t admit it to themselves, much less to God. Their souls are seriously undeveloped and unopened to self, others and God. Their lives are shallow and sterile. To have fruit there must be union. For there to be union, there must be a knowing and offering of self.

God seems willing to accept us right where we are. What if our desires are twisted and hung into orbit of destructive things? He will meet us there and help us get free. What if we are shut down and afraid of ever admitting we have desires and needs? He will meet us there and help us to look for the real self, find it and develop it. His goal is to win our hearts so we want Him, we desire Him.

Back to gravity. Our deepest belief is our most powerful prayer. We draw people, situations, and things to ourselves by it. It’s our gravity. Isn’t it fascinating that by the power of our own “gravity” we are able to create a little “universe” around ourselves?  But as we align to God and get into His orbit, it changes our “gravity”, it changes our “universe. People will increasingly be drawn into or repelled by) our orbit by His gravity. This will bless or offend them depending on which way they want to go, towards or away from Him.

Nancy Moelk

©Firehouse Ministries, Inc.

October, 2015

Enjoy a poem written by Nancy on desire:

Desire

Awaken, O Soul,

To the desires of God

Set in place before all time.

Cower not

At the swollen pain

Of unmet needs and aching longing.

Be not bitter

And deny not their intensity.

Their vast hollowness is a great avenue

For the King of Glory

For the Bridegroom

For the giving, filling, Lamb.

Greater consummation awaits the soul

Stretched by longing

Opened by pain

Tempted by ecstasy

Postured by hope.

Poem by Nancy Moelk

Firehouse Ministries, Inc. 2001

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Copyright © 2016 by Firehouse Ministries, Inc. Pertinent to everything on this website all rights reserved.  www.firehousemininstries.com

Questions

1. How does the desire of man resemble the force of nature gravity?
2. What is the relationship between PRESENCE (which comes as a result of something having mass) and gravity?
3. What is the relationship between idolatry and desire?
4. Are desires good or bad?
5. What are some of the things we need to have in life in order to develop our desires?
6. What are the two things that cause a soul to expand? How is Jesus Christ an example of this?
7. Is it difficult for you to bring your “real self” before God? Why or why not?

Just a note about desire:

I did a search on the internet for desire in the Scripture and looked up several of the websites that came up. I was disappointed to see that there was almost no reference to God’s desire or of the possibility of desire being a good attribute of our hearts that could benefit our lives and our relationships and our mission or goal in life! In an upcoming class we will hear a talk from Richard about “The Godly Use of Desire and Ambition” which gives this sorely needed positive view of a very important part of our souls.  It is truly frightening how often as Christians we are encouraged to ignore or deny an important part of our being instead of facing it and bringing to God to be affected by His presence!              NM

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Heavenly Father, You know me and are excited about me as the person. You thought up before time, the one I am now and the one I will become into eternity.  Help me to bring each part of my soul and all of my desires to You and not be ashamed.  Help me not to run away from You or from my own deepest desires. Bring me to the point where I find real, moment-by-moment delight in both who You are and, also, in who You created me to be. Fill me with the Light of Christ and remove any veil that blinds me to Your truth and love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Personal Application Activity

1. Is it difficult for you to bring your “real self” before God? Why or why not
2. What is an area of your life you need to “sound out” before the Lord?
3. Think about what you desire the most. Be honest and don’t be afraid to lay it out there. Ask God to show you what you are trying to get out of that person, thing, situation, sensation, etc.
4. Get into His presence by first just saying aloud what you appreciate about Him and the specific ways He has intervened in your life.
5. Next ask Him to help you see what you are trying to get as a room in your heart into which you have never yet invited Him. At that point, ask Him to come into that room and start making it a lovely and beautiful place as it is eventually filled with Him.

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Scripture for Meditation

Psalm 38

⁹ Lord, all my desire is before You;
And my sighing is not hidden from You.

David is being totally honest with God. He is showing God this part of his heart that got him into trouble. He is laying these desires out before God and letting him know how much he longed for and hoped for satisfaction.

Psalm 38 

¹⁵ For in You, O Lord, I hope; You will hear, O Lord my God.
²¹ Do not forsake me, O Lord; O my God, be not far from me!
²² Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!

In Psalm 42 David is again going before God in the “hungriness” of his desires. See if you can too!

Psalm 42: 1-5

As the deer pants for streams of water,

so my soul pants for you, my God.

 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When can I go and meet with God?

 My tears have been my food

day and night,

while people say to me all day long,

“Where is your God?”

These things I remember

as I pour out my soul:

how I used to go to the house of God

under the protection of the Mighty One

with shouts of joy and praise

among the festive throng.

 Why, my soul, are you downcast?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise him,

my Savior and my God.

Helpful suggestion: Make sure when you read scriptures as meditation to take your time and stop whenever a verse or portion moves your heart. The goal is not to read a certain amount. It is to ingest deep into yourself the significance of the words and how they apply to you personally. Here is an opportunity for you to fall into a fresh encounter with God if you take the time to receive these timeless words as alive for you here and now.

Man’s Desire Quiz

1. What is the role of our being allowed to make mistakes in our development?
2. What type of relationship is going to provide a setting for that to happen?
3. What do you see in David that represents a person dealing with their desires?
4. The deep desires to be wanted, loved and honored are often behind the roots of our sin. How can seeing why we have sinned and bringing those desires before God benefit us?

Challenge Questions

1. How could you apply what you are learning here to the old saying that “God hates the sin but loves the sinner”?

2. Is God more interested in focusing on our sins or on the deep desires fueling our sins? What would He like to do for those deep desires? Ignore them or fulfill them?

3. How could you apply what you are learning here to Jesus’ saying to Simon the Pharisee and company, “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”[1]

[1] Luke 7:47, New American Standard Bible

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Questions Answer Key

1. How does the desire of man resemble the force of nature gravity? How is it a picture of desire?

Anything in the universe that has mass has a gravitational force. We all have something inside that is drawing things to ourselves. Our deepest belief system tends to cause us to draw things into our lives.

2. What is the relationship between PRESENCE and gravity?

The greater the presence, the greater the gravity it has to draw things to itself.

3. What is the relationship between idolatry and desire?

We have valid desires and when we seek to meet them in inappropriate ways that replace God it is idolatry. An idol is something we have decided to orbit around instead of God.

4. Are desires good or bad?

God is desire driven. We have desires because we are made in his image. Not good or bad just a part of who we are.

5. What are some of the things we need to have in life in order to develop our desires?

A safe person to help us sound them out and find out what we truly want and don’t want.

6. What are the two things that cause a soul to expand? How is Jesus Christ an example of this?

Intense and difficult suffering and wide, amazing, unconditional love. Jesus had greater love than anyone else and he suffered more than anyone else. He had the most expansive soul ever.

7. Is it difficult for you to bring your “real self” before God? Why or why not?

Personal Application Answer will vary

Quiz Answer Key

1. What is the role of our being allowed to make mistakes in our development?

It is a normal part of growth and finding out what our deepest desires are.

2. What type of relationship is going to provide a setting for that to happen?

One in which we feel safe and accepted the way we are. We also will feel loved for who we are and not how we perform.

3. What do you see in David that represents a person dealing with their desires?

He was very intense and passionate. He got in trouble with his desires out of control but let that be an opportunity for wrestling with God and sounding out his heart before Him. “All my desire is before you and my sighing is not hidden from you.” David said. He was totally honest with God.

4. The deep desires to be wanted, loved and honored are often behind the roots of our sin. How can seeing why we have sinned and bringing those desires before God benefit us?

When we bring our deepest self before God and let him know what we need it can draw us into intimacy and right relationship with him.

Challenge Questions

1. How could you apply what you are learning here to the old saying that “God hates the sin but loves the sinner”?

The reason God hates sins (pride, murder, envy, idolatry, greed, lust, lack of zeal for God, etc) is because He hates the effect it has on His beloved child whether he/she is the one doing the sinning or being affected by it. Underneath the sins committed by each person is someone made in His image who was created for good, and mostly, created for unbroken relationship with God. God is really in love with the person. He doesn’t just want to stop the sin as if it is just all about Him. He wants to restore His child back to health and wholeness and communion with Him in that area. (I have often compared this to my experience with changing diapers on my kids for 10 years—never once did I confuse the baby with what was in the diaper, no matter how messy it was!!!)

2. Is God more interested in focusing on our sins or on the deep desires inside us that we may have tried to fill in sinful ways? What would He like to do for those deep desires? Ignore them or fulfill them?

He is more interested in focusing on the deep desires. He would like to connect our desires to the true source of their fulfillment, Himself.

3. How could you apply what you are learning here to Jesus’ saying to Simon the Pharisee and company concerning the repentant prostitute, “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”[1]

The prostitute had been willing to face her wrong pursuits of the quest to satisfy her soul. She was now baring her soul and pouring it out on Jesus and looking to him to both forgive her and begin to provide her with what she really needed. She had embarked on that “heart level” relationship with Him that He is so looking for in all of us. It was and still is a challenge for people like the Pharisees to have with Him while they are still trusting in their own ability to be good and proper.

[1] Luke 7:47, New American Standard Bible

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Copyright © 2016 by Firehouse Ministries, Inc. Pertinent to everything on this website all rights reserved.  www.firehousemininstries.com

Questions

1. How can opposition be an opportunity for us? How does it show if our boat of life has holes in it?

2. What are the four ways that we may be being opposed?

3. What are some reasons why the enemy is able to oppose us?

4. What can our reactions to opposition show about our hearts?

5. How can God use opposition to point out idols in our life and help overturn them? How does he use it to develop our character?

6. Give an example of the enemy opposing someone.

7. Give an example of God opposing someone.

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Prayers

Heavenly Father, give me discernment about the opposition I encounter in life whether it is from the enemy, the world, myself or You. I am willing to be wrong about some of my assumptions and am open to You teaching me more about where opposition comes from in my life. Help me to change where I am opposing myself. Help me to stand firm against the enemy where he is opposing me. Help me to respond according to Your desire if the world is opposing me. I know sometimes You want me to turn the other cheek and other times You want me to make boundaries and fight for Your truth. And when You show me that You are opposing me, help me to humble myself and be willing to cooperate with whatever You are trying to do in me.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Personal Application Activity

1. Can you think of a time when you have opposed yourself? Did you ever blame that on the enemy?
2. How about a time when the world opposed you?
3. Give an example from your life when God was probably opposing you. What was the result of that?
4. Ask God to give you better discernment to know in the seasons of your life when there is opposition where it is coming from.
5. Ask God to give you some mentors or peers to walk with you in growing to hear God’s voice better and gaining experience in discernment.
6. If you are not yet a part of one, think of creating a small group where you can practice praying and prophesying over one another and seeking God’s wisdom for your lives.
7. Spend some time talking to God about the times you have blamed Him for bad things that were probably you opposing yourself or the enemy or world oppressing you. He would enjoy hearing the one He loves knowing Him like He really is!

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Scripture for Meditation

1 Peter 5:5

All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

Psalm 119: 75-76

I know, Lord, that your laws are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.

May your unfailing love be my comfort.

From Lamentations 3

24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;

26 It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

28 Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him.

29 Let him bury his face in the dust—there may yet be hope.

30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace.

31 For no one is cast off by the Lord forever.

32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.

33 For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.

Helpful suggestion: Make sure when you read scriptures as meditation to take your time and stop whenever a verse or portion moves your heart. The goal is not to read a certain amount. It is to ingest deep into yourself the significance of the words and how they apply to you personally. Here is an opportunity for you to fall into a fresh encounter with God if you take the time to receive these timeless words as alive for you here and now.

Who Opposes Us: The Enemy or Ourselves, The World or God?” Quiz

1. Why is it important to identify who or what is opposing you at any particular time of your life?
2. How was King David and Bathsheba an example of a person opposing himself? How was Joseph’s story an example of God opposing someone?
3. What would be an example of a combination of the world and the enemy opposing a person?
4. What can be the consequence of a person not discerning who is opposing him/her?
5. What are some of the reasons for God opposing a person?
6. Can we create opportunities for the enemy to oppose us through our belief system?
7. What do you need to do when you realize that God is opposing you?

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Questions Answer Key

Questions (with Answers)

1. How can opposition be an opportunity for us? How does it show if our boat of life has holes in it?

It provides a test to show where we are weak and needing repair?

2. What are the four ways that we may be being opposed?

By ourselves, the enemy, God or the world.

3. What are some reasons why the enemy is able to oppose us?

He has to have an entry point in our lives. We have agreed with him by our belief systems, we are harboring unresolved negative emotions or we have made wrong choices or out belief system is out of alignment with truth.

4. What can our reactions to opposition show about our hearts?

It can show where we need healing, where we are weak. It gives us a big hint that something is wrong.

5. How can God use opposition to point out idols in our life and help overturn them? How does he use it to develop our character?

When we get into opposition because of having made decisions to go after things other than God, it gives an opportunity for God to develop our character and he does it out of love for us.

6. Give an example of the enemy opposing someone.

Someone who has been heavily involved in a sin or witchcraft is trying to get free and they have a series of setbacks or illnesses fall on them as the enemy tries to assert his right over the territory of their soul. Or any kind of ministry that saves and heals people will provoke some opposition but if God wants you doing that even though you will have some pressure it will not be crushing. (Many other examples possible.)

7. Give an example of God opposing someone.

Here are three possibilities, to name a few:

• A person has been trying to get into ministry for many years and can’t seem to make it happen. God is opposing them in this because they have terribly low self-esteem and would use the ministry as just another band aid to fix the disease of their soul that says they need to be “spiritually important” in a group to have value and worth.
• Or God gives someone a clear prophetic word which they ignore for years before attempting to obey (all with good reasons). They have some physical and financial setbacks during this period.
• Or God answers a person’s humble prayer to send someone to help them grow spiritually but then they decide that person is somehow not to their liking or “appropriate.” For several years after that they seem to stay stuck and “flat” spiritually or they just continue to go through the motions of a relationship with God but can’t understand why the intensity and freshness has gone.

Quiz Answer Key

1. Why is it important to identify who or what is opposing you at any particular time of your life?

Our response to it will vary based on the answer to that question.

2. How was King David and Bathsheba an example of a person opposing himself? How was Joseph’s story an example of God opposing someone?

David made bad decisions and made a mess of it. God was seeking to train and prepare Joseph for greatness.

3. What would be an example of a combination of the world and the enemy opposing a person?

The persecution of Christians is a combination of evil choices of people in the world and demonic inspiration.

4. What can be the consequence of a person not discerning who is opposing him/her?

He can continue to suffer the same types of trials over and over again. Each response to who is opposing us will vary particularly when we are opposing ourselves or God is opposing us. Change will be required of us and to not know that can keep us stuck.

5. What are some of the reasons for God opposing a person?

He wants to change them, develop their character, give them something they don’t have.

6. Can we create opportunities for the enemy to oppose us through our belief system?

Yes.

7. What do you need to do when you realize that God is opposing you?

Be still. Ask him what he is after in them, why he is opposing them.

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Copyright © 2016 by Firehouse Ministries, Inc. Pertinent to everything on this website all rights reserved.  www.firehousemininstries.com

Questions

1. If the enemy is hanging on to us and bothering us, what gives him an opportunity to do that?

2. What role do unresolved negative emotions, bad choices and false belief systems play in our being manipulated by the enemy?

3. We need to be like little children in order to receive a relationship with God that restores our souls. What are some of the attributes of little children? Name at least three.

4. What does the expression mean, “Take the parent out of our God and the God out of our parent?”

5. Besides our own bad decisions that have led to footholds of the enemy in our lives, what other source of evil must we deal with and its consequences?

6. What role does unresolved negative emotions have on the enemy’s ability to have a foothold in our lives?

7. What is the result of a foothold being destroyed in our lives? How does that affect our everyday life and our relationship with God?

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Prayers

Heavenly Father, thank you that I am not in charge of my own healing.

You love me and approve of me right now as I am but you never cease to be interested in setting me free from any way that I am stuck or in bondage.

Help me to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as He moves me forward in being free to be the joyful and free person you created me to be.

I was meant to have a life full of deep connections with you as well as meaningful and loving relationships with others based on the ways I am able to love myself as you do.

I want to see myself and treat myself as you do.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Personal Application Activity

1. Can you think of any area that you may be cooperating with footholds of the enemy?
2. Have you ever seen God set you free from an area of bondage?
3. What have you learned about your soul from this lesson that you didn’t know before?
4. Spend some time in God’s presence. Start by telling Him how much you appreciate what He has done for you, this is a very easy way to begin to feel the warmth of His presence which comes from the Holy Spirit living inside you.[1]
5. Once you feel His presence ask God to give you a feeling and sense of your “spirit man/woman” who is already perfectly connected to Him. Sit and rest in this part of yourself that is already seated in the heavenly places in Christ.

Helpful Hint:

This is a something that may take some time to do well but if you never try you will never even know it is a possibility. Richard developed an exercise around this. Imagine you are diving into a clear body of water. Ask God to help you swim toward your own spirit person. Placing your hand on your mid-section (solar plexus area) will help you focus on your deepest being. As you do this you may see yourself swimming towards a ball of light. That is your spirit. Try to get there and just rest in it and sit with the Holy Spirit in that place inside of you.

[1] If you struggle to ever feel His presence then you need to consider that you may have some unexpressed negative emotions stuffed inside of you that are blocking the road to your feeling Him. You may also need some deliverance related to those negative emotions or other bondages from various sources. Or you could be angry with God about different circumstances in your life. I pray God will lead you to the proper resources to get “unblocked.” Getting some individual help through prayer counseling could help you. Richard and I don’t take everyone who asks, but we may be able to direct you to another prayer minister who can.

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Scripture for Meditation

Ephesians 4:26-27

“In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.”

Proverbs 14:8

The sensible man’s wisdom is to consider his way, but the stupidity of fools deceives them.

Proverbs 14:12

(New American Standard Bible)

There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

1Peter 1:18-19

For you know that you were •redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from the fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.

Proverbs 19:8

He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who cherishes understanding prospers.

Helpful suggestion: Make sure when you read scriptures as meditation to take your time and stop whenever a verse or portion moves your heart. The goal is not to read a certain amount. It is to ingest deep into yourself the significance of the words and how they apply to you personally. Here is an opportunity for you to fall into a fresh encounter with God if you take the time to receive these timeless words as alive for you here and now.

“Identifying and Destroying the Enemy’s Hold on Us” Quiz

1. List all the negative emotions and attitudes you can think of that would give the enemy an opportunity to oppress a person. List at least 6.

2. The following list is an excerpt from “Unshackled From Your Past” by Nancy Moelk. Read it and identify what some of the negative emotions would be resulting from these deep belief system that would lead to an enemy foothold for each of the grief issues listed. Try to list 2 for each.

Here is a short list of unresolved grief issues.

1. I am not wanted.
2. I have been displaced in my parent’s affections by another (or others).
3. I have been abandoned and must take care of myself.
4. I am rejected for who I am.
5. I have been negated as a source of information, particularly about myself and my feelings.

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Questions Answer Key

1. If the enemy is hanging on to us and bothering us, what gives him an opportunity to do that?

Unresolved issues in our soul that are out of alignment with God and divine order.

2. What role do unresolved negative emotions, bad choices and false belief systems play in our being manipulated by the enemy?

Our soul, our mind, will and emotions can be out of order due to our own sin and the effect of other’s sin upon us. The enemy is able to use that to manipulate us.

3. We need to be like little children in order to receive a relationship with God that restores our souls. What are some of the attributes of little children? Name at least three.

Needy, dependent, powerless, open to relationship, vulnerable.

4. What does the expression mean, “Take the parent out of our God and the God out of our parent?”

We often imagine God to have the qualities that our parents had. We expect our parents to be perfect like God.

5. Besides our own bad decisions that have led to footholds of the enemy in our lives, what other source of evil must we deal with and its consequences?

Other people’s bad choices can leave us quite afflicted.

6. What role does unresolved negative emotions have on the enemy’s ability to have a foothold in our lives?

It gives him an open door in us.

7. What is the result of a foothold being destroyed in our lives? How does that affect our everyday life and our relationship with God?

We are released from the problems and pressure from it. Our relationship with ourselves, others and God improves.

Quiz Answer Key

1. List all the negative emotions and attitudes you can think of that would give the enemy an opportunity to oppress a person. List at least 6.

Unforgiveness, Anger, Fear, Resentment, Guilt, Shame, Bitterness, Hardness of Heart, Selfishness, Abandonement, Hatred, Rejection, Malice, etc.

2. The following is an excerpt from “Unshackled From Your Past” by Nancy Moelk. Read it and identify what some of the negative emotions would be resulting from these deep belief systems that would lead to an enemy foothold for each of the grief issues listed. Try to list 2 for each.

Here is a short list of unresolved grief issues.

1. I am not wanted.
2. I have been displaced in my parent’s affections by another (or others).
3. I have been abandoned and must take care of myself.
4. I am rejected for who I am.
5. I have been negated as a source of information, particularly about myself and my feelings.

• _Almost any of the above list can apply to these depending on the individual choices of the person.

Listen Here

Copyright © 2016 by Firehouse Ministries, Inc. Pertinent to everything on this website all rights reserved.  www.firehousemininstries.com

Questions

1. How does it help us to know that God grieves? Has your opinion of God changed at all in knowing that about Him?
2. Whether we had good or bad parents, why is it important to grieve losses associated with them?
3. Each stage of grief takes us one step further in embracing pain and letting go of trying to avoid accepting the loss and its effects. What happens if a person gets stuck in one of the levels of grief?
4. The last stage of grief is reconciliation and forgiveness. Is it possible that a person may need to cycle through all the stages again even after having come to resolution in certain areas?
5. How does having a close relationship with Jesus Christ aid us in moving through the grieving process? What is necessary in our lives for the grieving process to take place?
6. Does a person force themselves to grieve or does it happen naturally?
7. What is the prerequisite for grief to happen?

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Prayers

1. Heavenly Father, help me to be safe in my relationship with you so I can grieve my losses and get on with a happier and healthier life. Give me grace to face and let go of unforgiveness and other negative emotions that I may harbor. Help me to come to you with authenticity and look for fresh encounters that will bring me out the other side of grief into the joy and love I was meant to experience daily.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

2. Imagine that God is speaking the following passage over you in order to impart wisdom deep into your soul:

Put you name here, there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

A time to be born and a time to die,

A time to plant and a time to uproot,

A time to kill and a time to heal,

A time to tear down and a time to build,

A time to weep and a time to laugh,

A time to mourn and a time to dance[1]

[1] From Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

Personal Application Activity

1. Can you identify some times when you were able to grieve?
2. Some times when you needed to grieve but couldn’t?
3. What helped you or inhibited you in these times?
4. What does it mean to you personally that God is “distressed”(Isaiah 63) by our suffering?
5. Have you ever grasped that God was so distressed by the thought of us suffering apart from Him for all eternity that He was willing to pay a heavy and painful price to give us a way to be with Him forever instead?
6. Meditate on that and talk to Him about it.

Some deeper thoughts about tough times:

The Loving Crushing of God

He became my enemy

That I might be His friend

He crushed me ‘neath His stone

That I might rightly mend

He hunted me like prey

That I might be His child

He led me to my death

That I might have His life

Nancy Moelk

Romans 9:33 and Hosea 2:14-15

ãFirehouse Ministries, Inc. 2001

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Scripture for Meditation

Genesis 6:6 (King James Bible)

And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

Isaiah 63:7

I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the LORD has done for us– yes, the many good things he has done for Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses.

John 14:18

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 

Isaiah 63:7-9

I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, …according to his compassion and many kindnesses.

He said, “Surely they are my people, children who will be true to me”;

And so he became their Savior.

In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them

In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them.”

Helpful suggestion: Make sure when you read scriptures as meditation to take your time and stop whenever a verse or portion moves your heart. The goal is not to read a certain amount. It is to ingest deep into yourself the significance of the words and how they apply to you personally. Here is an opportunity for you to fall into a fresh encounter with God if you take the time to receive these timeless words as alive for you here and now.

“God Grieves and Leads us to Grieve” Quiz

1. What losses did God suffer through in his relationship with people?

2. Describe how the Pharisees handled their anger and unresolved grief issues.

3. During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. How does this verse reinforce that Jesus was “fully human”?

4. List the six stages of grief.

• _
• _
• _
• _
• _
• _

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Questions Answer Key

1. How does it help us to know that God grieves? Has your opinion of God changed at all in knowing that about Him?

It is easier to give ourselves permission to grieve and to know it is normal.

2. Whether we had good or bad parents, why is it important to grieve losses associated with them?

We were created for perfect love and even the best parents will fall short of it. Every place we grieve gets full of God.

3. Each stage of grief takes us one step further in embracing pain and letting go of trying to avoid accepting the loss and its effects. What happens if a person gets stuck in one of the levels of grief?

She will suffer a low grade depression and be unable to finish letting go of the loss.

4. The last stage of grief is reconciliation and forgiveness. Is it possible that a person may need to cycle through all the stages again even after having come to resolution in certain areas?

Yes, often dealing with a loss will create a remembrance of other ungrieved losses.

5. How does having a close relationship with Jesus Christ aid us in moving through the grieving process? What is necessary in our lives for the grieving process to take place?

The safer we are, the more likely we are to automatically go into the grieving process.

6. Does a person force themselves to grieve or does it happen naturally?

No.

7. What is the prerequisite for grief to happen?

Safety and security relationally.

Quiz Answer Key

1. What losses did God suffer through in his relationship with people?

He saw all that could have been. He knew all the suffering and problems that could have been avoided. He also suffers from them rejecting Him.

2. Describe how the Pharisees handled their anger and unresolved grief issues.

They were passive aggressive. They blamed others for their problems and refused to look at their own issues.

3. During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. How does this verse reinforce that Jesus was “fully human”?

He had difficulties. Not everything was easy and effortless for him. He had struggles and emotions like we do.

4. List the stages of grief.

Shock/denial, Anger, Sadness, Depression, Bargaining or Magical Thinking, Resolution/Forgiveness

Listen Here

Copyright © 2016 by Firehouse Ministries, Inc. Pertinent to everything on this website all rights reserved.  www.firehousemininstries.com

Questions

1. What does your picture of God have to do with receiving and maturing in love? How does God feel about our having an inaccurate picture of Him? What does He want to do about that?

2. Overall if you can hear how God sees you and others and how He feels about you and them, what will you learn? What fills His heart and mind? Is it what is good or what is bad about you?

3. What will happen if someone accentuates what is “right” about you?

4. Can we receive love in our minds? What is the proper relationship between our spirit person and our mind? How does the Holy Spirit fit into this?

5. What are the different parts of a person?

6. What is the role of each of them?

7. What did God love about David? What was David’s goal in his relationship with God?

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Prayers

Take 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a and make it personal to yourself. Put in God’s name wherever the word “God” occurs and put your name in as the recipient of His action.

God is patient with me (put in your name in)

God is kind towards me.

God does not envy nor boast

God is not proud.

God does not dishonor me.

He is not self-seeking

He is not easily angered at me

He keeps no record of my wrongs

God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

He always protects me

He always trusts me

He always hopes in the best potential in me

He always perseveres in love for me no matter what the circumstances

 God never fails me. Never.

Amen.

Personal Application Activity

Make this psalm your own. Talk it over with God.[1]

Psalm 139:1-4, 13-18

You have searched me, Lord,

and you know me.

2You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

4Before a word is on my tongue

you, Lord, know it completely.

13For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

15My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place,

when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

16Your eyes saw my unformed body;

all the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

17How precious to me are your thoughts, God!

How vast is the sum of them!

18Were I to count them,

they would outnumber the grains of sand—

when I awake, I am still with you.

Something to think about:

Is it possible to work very hard for God, have interesting spiritual experiences and/or know the Bible very well and yet still not have a tangible experience of God loving you?

Has this ever been true of you?

[1] When I want to make a Psalm my own, I will read it every day for at least several days. Each day I will try to focus on just a verse or two and reflect on how it applies to me, what promise if God making to me, what is He like according to this verse, etc. I keep asking questions such as those to help me make it real. Over the years I have asked God to show me a psalm in certain seasons to cling to. Applying psalms to real life is so much better than reading them as poetry and as if they are not the heart reaching out to touch God and His Heart reaching out to touch us.

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Scripture for Meditation

Insight Point: You can make one list of all the things these verses say about what God has done, another list of all they say about you. That is one way to make this personal.

Psalm 139:1-4, 13-18

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

You understand my thought from afar.

3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down,

And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.

4 Even before there is a word on my tongue,

Behold, O Lord, You know it all.

13 For You formed my inward parts;

You wove me in my mother’s womb.

14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Wonderful are Your works,

And my soul knows it very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from You,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;

16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;

And in Your book were all written

The days that were ordained for me,

When as yet there was not one of them.

17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.

When I awake, I am still with You.

Helpful suggestion: Make sure when you read scriptures as meditation to take your time and stop whenever a verse or portion moves your heart. The goal is not to read a certain amount. It is to ingest deep into yourself the significance of the words and how they apply to you personally. Here is an opportunity for you to fall into a fresh encounter with God if you take the time to receive these timeless words as alive for you here and now.

“Receiving and Maturing in Love” Quiz

1. What are some of the times that David would talk to God and interact with Him? List at least 5.

2. Psalm 139 refers to David’s womb experience. Was this just poetry or something more?

3. At what stage in our lives are we most capable of receiving love? How is this part of us an advantage in our relationship with God?

4. Explain what this verse means: “Freely you have received, freely give!”

5. What does the infant inside of us need? What does the child part need?

6. How did God feel about David’s passionate intensity? How did that intensity benefit David? How did it get him into trouble?

7. How did David demonstrate his confidence in the Person of God and His love for him?

Click here for Word Doc

Answers to Questions

1. What does your picture of God have to do with receiving and maturing in love? How does God feel about our having an inaccurate picture of Him? What does He want to do about that?

You will have a picture of God based on your experience with authority figures. It is not OK to God if we have believed lies about him and he wants to show us what he is really like.

2. Overall if you can hear how God sees you and others and how He feels about you and them, what will you learn? What fills His heart and mind? Is it what is good or what is bad about you?

He is delighted in who you are and filled with joy at the thought of you. He focuses on what is right and good about you.

3. What will happen if someone accentuates what is “right” about you?

It will precipitate growth in you.

4. Can we receive love in our minds? What is the proper relationship between our spirit person and our mind? How does the Holy Spirit fit into this?

We can only receive love in our hearts, in our being. Our spirit needs to be in charge, coaxing our minds. The Holy Spirit fills our spirit and then our spirit instructs our mind, will, emotions and our bodies.

5. What are the different parts of a person?

We have a spirit, soul and body.

6. What is the role of each of them?

Our spirit exists with God and is in communion with Him. Our soul, our mind, will and emotions is how we interface with the world with our personality and our body is where we interface with others in our senses.

7. What did God love about David? What was David’s goal in his relationship with God?

God loved the zeal and passion of David and his giving himself totally to whatever he was doing. David’s goal in his relationship with God was to have God inhabit his life moment by moment.

Answers to Quiz

1. What are some of the times that David would talk to God and interact with Him? List at least 5.

When he was happy, sad, angry, after a defeat, after a victory, in the morning, in the night, etc.

2. Psalm 139 refers to David’s womb experience. Was this just poetry or something more?

He was appropriating the presence of God for that time of his life, which may have had rejection.

3. At what stage in our lives are we most capable of receiving love? How is this part of us an advantage in our relationship with God?

As an infant. So if we can let that part come out and be with God, we will have so much more of Him.

4. Explain what this verse means: “Freely you have received, freely give!”

We will only give what we have received. If our relationship with God has been shallow and just in the head, we will only be able to give that.

5. What does the infant inside of us need? What does the child part need?

The infant needs to behold and be beheld. The child needs to experience joy.

6. How did God feel about David’s passionate intensity? How did that intensity benefit David? How did it get him into trouble?

God enjoyed that about David, it brought him closer to God. And when it got him into trouble, God’s dealing with him and discipling him also brought him closer to God.

7. How did David demonstrate his confidence in the Person of God and His love for him?

He turned to God no matter what and believed that God could provide what was lacking.

• Good Grief by Nancy Moelk (Booklet)
• Unshackled from Your Past by Nancy Moelk (Booklet)
• Gratitude and Stepping into Freedom from Pain by Richard Kinney (Paper)

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