Take the BIG ADVENTURE challenge!
November 22nd, 2009 by DUZIE received No Comments »
The BIG ADVENTURE Explained
By Dan & Suzie Potter
There are many adventures one can take in this life, mountains to climb, oceans to navigate, animals to tame and space to explore, but the greatest adventure is bigger by far. It is the daily interaction with almighty God. This adventure is all about a real friendship with Jesus, made possible by a loving Father through the mysterious and marvellous work of the Holy Spirit. The adventure is so grand that we can only call it “BIG.” God will never by climbed, navigated, tamed or fully explored, yet He wants to be known and be near.
The “BIG Adventure” is your daily experience with the eternal power and knowledge of all life. Are you ready for Adventure? God doesn’t want to just be observed from afar, He desires intimacy with us. How do we participate in this BIG Adventure? Like all great friendships it requires time and communication. Not because we have to, but because we want to.
There are four areas to explore in the BIG Adventure, each one is important in the friendship process. It does not matter the order of communication or the amount of time spent in each area. The important fact to remember is God wants to spend time with you each day. Do you want to spend “God Time” with Him?
God sends us a letter everyday. It is His Word. It contains truth for our life. We need to take time to “READ” this letter, the Bible, everyday. This may be just one verse, paragraph, chapter, book or several different passages. One of the jobs of the Holy Spirits is to guide us through God’s Word.
John 16:13 says, “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” (NIV)
John 14:21 also says, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” (NIV)
“READ” is not about God loving us more if we will do it. It is totally about us Loving God more, by spending time “READING” what he has written to us.
When God’s Spirit reveals something to you from His Word, take time and write it down so that you do not forget the message he has for you that day. You can also memorize the verses so God can bring them back to your attention later.
We cannot just “READ” we also must “LISTEN.” We need to take time to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to us. In Psalms 119:10-11 it says, “I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (NIV). We must understand that God has much to say to us and He is free to speak to us in different ways; through His Word (Heb. 4:12), direct communication (John 8:47,10:4), situations (Eph. 1:17-19), and People (1 Tim. 4:13, 2 Tim. 4). Our job is to slow down our life, and take time to stop and “LISTEN.” He wants to communicate with us. Do we want to hear what He has to say? When He speaks, take time to write down what he is saying to you. Check your information with the Word, because God will never tell your something that is against His Word and also share what you hear with your friends and leaders.
One of the great mysteries of God is that he wants us to “SPEAK” to him. To tell Him about what is going on in our life. He knows everything, but he wants to hear our perspective, to ask him for advice (James 1:5), to share our successes (2 Kings 18:5-7) and to confess sin and let Him clean us up (1 John 1:8&9). He wants us to need Him (Phil 4:19), to lift him us as King (Psalms 44:4-8) and at the same time sit in his presence as a son or daughter (Psalms 16:7&8). “SPEAKING” can take many different forms like communicating praise, confession, thanksgiving, and giving requests. It can and should happen all through the day, but this “SPEAK” time is a set appointment just to write a personal letter back to God.
Finally take a look around. What is happening in your world? Where is God at work? What are you experiencing? As you look at your life or the lives of others do you have questions? What are your dreams? What did you do and what are you planning to do? Think about writing Poems, Art, Songs – “WRITE.” If you do not “WRITE” today, tomorrow it will be gone. Everyday contains experiences of growth and personal perspectives of life on earth. Take a minute or an hour everyday just to paint words on paper that show you actively participated in life.
In Proverbs 3:3 a son is instructed to remember the important things, bind them around your neck, and write them on the table of your heart. (NIV) “WRITE” and you will remember longer.
The BIG Adventure is just that, an Adventure. In any adventure there are days of great discovery, and days of only seeing the suns rotation. Like in any friendship there are amazing moments, and times of just staring at the walls together. But if you want to claim friendship with Jesus you must be willing to get involved with Him everyday.
Here is how you can start: Keep count for a while. The first day on your BIG Adventure put the number 1. Start off by having a goal of 30 days straight on the BIG Adventure. If you happen to miss a day, challenge yourself to start back at number 1 again. After you have gone 30 days, keep the challenge going to 60 days, then 90 days. Then shoot for a year, then life! If you miss a day, just start again. It is not about missing a day’s BIG Adventure. It is totally about your desire to meet with God every day!
Do not be satisfied to only observe museum fossils or discoveries of others, when you could daily be living the BIG Adventure with God.
Tags: Bible, BIG Adventure
Posted under: Bible Studies, Uncategorized
