S9E13 - Shelter Classrooms
Fourthstream - Finding Hope
Our God IS Shelter! Under Shelter courses you will find five different yet integrated paths for growing in the depth of God’s Shelter. There are videos and notes featuring the authors/teachers at . To join this community click on the join button. 1. 19 Principles: The Heart of What Jesus Taught His FollowersSome of the most central teachings of Jesus - both for personal growth and helping others. 2. God’s Man/God’s Woman: Making It CountFinding the integrated teaching of Jesus on men and women building the Kingdom of Heaven together. 3. Strong Home Legacy: Leaving Your Mark On The...
info_outline
S9E12 - The Call To Make Disciples
Fourthstream - Finding Hope
Jesus instructed His followers (disciples) to make disciples just as He did. Let’s break this down a bit. This comes from Matthew 28:16-20. #1. “But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.” It is important to note that Jesus remained on earth 40 days after His resurrection (Acts 1: 3). “To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.” 40 Days. Hundreds and even thousands of eyewitnesses...
info_outline
S9E11 - The Call to Knowing God
Fourthstream - Finding Hope
The entire Bible has been given to us so we may know God, understand a life of God- honor, and live in a manner "worthy" of the One Who created us. Six times in the letters the words "manner worthy" are used to describe the walk of a God follower. It means we honor God (As well as ourselves) by placing honorable weight upon our great God. Let's think through what Paul taught the Philippians in 3:1-21. It will help illuminate the concept of the call to knowing God. This carries on the conversation about Engage Training from the last episode. Useful to us for sure! "Finally, my brothers,...
info_outline
S9E10 - Your Strategic Plan 3 - Engage Training
Fourthstream - Finding Hope
When Jesus announced His Kingdom He began to select a group of men and women who would follow Him by pursuing the example He had shown them and the Words from His Father He had communicated. This included a number of things reflected in the amazing display of "God coming near" (Immanuel) to save humanity from futility (our lives counting for nothing) and judgment for falling short of the image we were created to honor and multiply within each of our lives. Here are some of the threads Jesus taught in the word and works of His hands: √ Integrating what they knew or did not know...
info_outline
S9E09 - Your Strategic Plan 2 - Jesus Centric
Fourthstream - Finding Hope
This diagram tracks the recurring woven threads throughout God's Word (over 62,000 connections!). As you consider your personal strategic plan for spirituality we have considered: √ King First - then Kingdom - then Church/what Jesus taught about spirituality √ Cultivating Deeper/skills for unlocking the Word Today we discuss the big picture on the Word of God, and what we like to call Jesus-Centric. What this means is that the entire Bible revolves around the person Jesus. Genesis 1-11 and the human story. Genesis 12-52 and God's choice of Abraham (Israel) to redeem the...
info_outline
S9E08 - Your Strategic Plan 1 - Cultivating Deeper
Fourthstream - Finding Hope
Finding our first King - then Kingdom - then Church balance is important for our spirituality. Obviously we have given this much thought, but you should investigate this yourself. Our purpose for pursuing this was to make sure we were prioritizing how we invested our time, our talents (gifts), and our treasures (resources). Having an effective and growing strategic plan for spiritual life it is imperative to set markers which come from the Word of God you can use as your compass throughout your journey. We've tweaked this allot through the years, but having a plan for cultivating deeper...
info_outline
S9E07 - Kingdom Coaching
Fourthstream - Finding Hope
There are many ways of being mentored in spirituality. While this may come from significant people in our lives, books we read or study, favorite music et al, I have found that the Spirit is Jesus' voice inside of me is the most substantial. He is always ready to teach me and shape me and lead me in the direction Jesus wants for me. “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will...
info_outline
S9E06 - Strategies for Weekly Kingdom Connectivity
Fourthstream - Finding Hope
It is one thing to understand the concept of First King - then Kingdom - then Church, but another to live a life directed toward connection with your King. The first thing is to decide where you stand on Jesus. A great teacher? One of many unremarkable religionists? Someone into whose hands you can place the welfare of your soul? We can talk about what Jesus taught about authentic connectivity, but only you can intentionally embrace whether or not He is who He said He is. Once you have made this determination you may then move into what it means to submit yourself to His authority,...
info_outline
S9E05 - Stories Of Shelter
Fourthstream - Finding Hope
God IS shelter. We NEED to be sheltered. We need each other to remind us of what is IMPORTANT. We are surrounded by chaos, turbulence, and are so vulnerable to the weaknesses, pitfalls, and schemes of unprincipled men and women. How do we find our way through? There appears to be a clear path! "Hear my cry, O God, and listen to my prayer. From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a shelter for me, a tower of strength against the enemy. Let me travel under Your pillars and let me take forever protection...
info_outline
S9E04 - Kingdom Structural
Fourthstream - Finding Hope
Because understanding the Kingdom is so critical to our spiritual lives, let's take some time to absorb the core message of Jesus when it comes to building in a manner that is pleasing to Him. We have already mentioned that the Kingdom is mentioned in the Gospels over 100 times and the church only twice. So the Kingdom message was clear to Jesus and to His disciples. In the book of Acts after the "church" (called out assembly) begins to emerge: "To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and...
info_outlineThere is a spirituality which finds roots in God's Son Jesus Himself. While there are many religions, there is only one proven to be the Son of God, and He is the King over His Kingdom. This is the Story of the God Story.
What this means is massive, and today we will cover several of the core amazing things about experiencing Kingdom spirituality. It is authentic, connective, and filled with promise for the life to come.
√ How does this result in finding true meaning in my life? The expansiveness of God is beyond our imagination. We are quite limited in grasping this, and yet God has withheld nothing from us in understanding His ways. As we will all take our last breath eventually, what is it that will make my life count? A big deal.
√ How does it differ from other religious pursuits? A consideration of all religion in history reveals many shortcomings, including historic christianity. Kingdom spirituality is very personal and powerful. It is the ultimate gift from our heavenly King.
√ How can I find shelter within His Kingdom? What IS shelter? How do I find it? Why does it matter to my existence, and more importantly, to my soul.
Let's dive in.
Both John the Baptist and Jesus began their "public ministries" with the words: "Turn away and turn towards, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew) They did not say that the church was at hand - but the Kingdom. This is because the God-order is this: King first, then Kingdom, then church. Each has unique things to bring to a person who is looking for authentic faith. All three can be deeply relational, but it is the King and His Spirit who animate authentic spirituality. Make sense?
Today we talk about five aspects of authentic Kingdom Spirituality.
Friendship
“You are My friends if you do what I command you." John 15:14 "And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as being made righteous," and he was called the friend of God." James 2:23 Easy, right? What does His friendship require by way of His commands? How is a person "made righteous?" Where have you come so far in your friendship with God? What does it look like? Where do you hope it will go?
Identity
It is hard to imagine being God's special treasure, and yet this is exactly who we are. Not based upon our personal merit, but because God has set His affections upon us and paid a huge price to buy us back from spiritual death. We have simply become the apple (pupil) of His eye. When we understand there will only ever be one of us, that we were bought with a huge price, and that His plans for us are beyond our wildest dreams - then we are beginning to understand our identity.
"For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11)
The King is Lord over all. The Kingdom will endure forever. The Church will become the bride of Christ.
Purpose
There is nothing random about what God is doing, or why He selected you to be a part of His Kingdom! When we see ourselves as friends of God we are made free to grow in intimacy with Him. Experiencing His friendship IS hearing His voice. When we grasp our uniqueness in the plan of God our identity expands.
"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
Our destiny is to learn and bend to His purpose. This is how we "find ourselves."
“He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it." (Matthew 10:39)
Satisfaction
As all of this unfolds over days, months, years, and decades we move more deeply into the waters of the Living God. We learn what being sheltered "under His wings" looks like. It is not a taking away of difficulty or pain - only smooth sailing. It is satisfaction of heart as we become acclimated to the things that are important to God - and those which are becoming important to us.
"He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and protection." (Psalm 90 and 91 - shelter Psalms of Moses?)
Hope
All of these things result in hope. Not the kind of hope where I "hope something happens" but the hope which grows as we place ourselves in the hands of our King. We learn to "...but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." And as Paul also mentions: "...and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
These are some of things which help us to live in the shelter of Kingdom spirituality!
Dave and Burnadette