What a blessed weekend I have had with grandchildren, baseball, and football! We went to a Braves game on Friday and then watched football on Saturday with our grandchildren. We all donned our orange jerseys and piled onto the couch together to cheer on the Vols. As they say, “Train up a child…”

This is a fun time of year for me as the first weekend of college football signals the beginning of the fall sports season, with cool weather, warm, fuzzy socks and blankets, bowls of chili, apple scented candles, and pumpkin spice everything! Yet, baseball season hits its peak at the same time, and I love my Atlanta Braves! This time of the year is heaven for sports fans!

As exciting as it is to celebrate with food, fun, and family as we hoop and holler over every yard gained on the field, every play of the opposing team halted, and every time a player makes it to home plate, that is nothing compared to the excitement of discovering the victory we have in Christ and the rewards of abiding under His umbrella of protection and provision. He has so much in store for us; may we never take it lightly! We have ample reason to celebrate and rejoice! So, let’s take a look at some of the take aways from this week of our study.

Day One

We began this week with a look at Jesus’ series of teachings about demonic oppression. He gave a three part response to the crowds who accused Him of casting out demons with Satan’s power.

First of all, it would be senseless for Satan to be working against himself, for a nation divided against itself will fall. Therefore, there is only one other conclusion, and that is that Jesus must truly be who He says He is. The religious leaders just didn’t want to admit it. This also points us to the fact that one of Satan’s tactics against the body of Christ is division. If he can get us to work against each other or get sucked into relationship drama, we will not be as strong or be a true reflection of the glory of God. That is what he hopes, but that is not what we will give him as long as we keep our eyes on Christ.

Jesus also illustrated that Satan may be strong and holding down his fort, but a stronger man, Christ, is now present who can overpower him and take back everything he has stolen from God’s people. It is wise that we never overestimate or underestimate the power of our enemy. He is a powerful foe, but he is no match for the power of God working in and through us. He comes against us with deception, trying to trick us into believing anything that is contrary to the Word of God about who God is and who we are in Him. However, we have the Truth of God’s Word that can set us free from His bondage of lies.

He has many other weapons in which we would be wise to learn to recognize and stop before they have a chance to cause damage in our lives as well. We have the power and authority of Jesus working in us to “Nip it in the bud!”

Lastly, Jesus warned that it is not enough to be made clean, but we must also be full of something to prevent us from being vulnerable to even more intense attacks from the enemy in the future. We need the Holy Spirit who comes to abide in us when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. A house swept and clean is an invitation for the devil and his minions to return with a vengeance, but when we have been set free from demonic oppression and strongholds in our lives, and we allow the Holy Spirit to take up residence within, we can walk in perpetual victory!

Day Two

On Day Two, we learned what a true treasure each one of us is to God. That knowledge can prevent the hypocrisy of trying to earn our sense of value through works, and trying to appear better to others than we really are. When we understand that we are God’s treasured possession (Deut. 7:6), we no longer have something to prove. We can just be real and accept the righteousness that Christ paid such a heavy price to bestow on us.

Additionally, understanding our value to God sets us free from other worldly pitfalls. One is the fear of those who oppose us. After all, what is the worst they can do? God is the only one who can affect our eternity, and He has done everything to ensure that we will have eternal life, if we will only accept His free gift.

He also sets us free from shame and helps us boldly declare Christ before the world. Then, we know that He will one day also declare us before God.

Another weapon in the devil’s arsenal, greed, is an ugly and powerful force that can latch its claws deeply into our hearts, but knowing our value before God can break its grip. “Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15 NIV). Colossians 3:5 tells us that greed is idolatry. When our desire for things grows beyond our desire for God, we have a powerful idol in our lives. To break its grip, we must worship God first and foremost and love Him with all our hearts; renew our minds daily with the Word of God; walk in the Spirit and put away the works and desires of the flesh; cooperate as the Spirit does a humbling work in our hearts and allow His Fruit to flourish in our lives; and very importantly, be a generous giver. When we give generously and sacrificially to others, we break the power of greed!

Finally, knowing who we are to God and how much He truly loves us, we can trust Him to meet our needs and set us free from worry. When you feel the urge to worry, turn it into prayer instead. Choose to put your trust in God, and He will set your heart at peace.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God,which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 NIV

Day Three

On Day Three, we focused on living in a state of watchfulness and readiness as a faithful servant. We will be held accountable for the knowledge and the responsibilities we have been given and how we use it. We want Christ to return and find us faithfully serving. May we continually “long for his appearing” and never give up.

As we observed the actions and attitudes of the leaders of the law, we noticed that they were not only rejecting the truth for themselves, but they were hindering others from the truth. This is a form of spiritual abuse, and we also identified other forms of abuse that are all too common in our modern time as well. Unfortunately, there are serious consequences for knowing God and continuing to oppress His people.

God is a merciful God, but He is also a just God. He will reward or punish according to what we have done with our lives. To those of us who have been given much, much is required. I want to faithfully invest everything God has given me for the sake of His Kingdom, and waste nothing!

Day Four

Jesus revealed more of his character and His heart in Luke 13. We see Christ as compassionate and heart broken toward the people of Jerusalem. We see a protective and nurturing side that longed to hold them in His arms as a hen gathers her chicks under her feathers, but they were not willing. I also see Jesus as one who was not intimidated by bullies, who was persistent to see God’s purpose through to the end, and a continued obedient and submissive attitude toward the will of the Father.

What blessed me personally about this day of study was the reassurance of God’s protection of us over the works of the enemy. Satan tries pretty hard to stop God’s purpose in our lives, and he can throw arrows at us from every angle, but the good news is that he cannot succeed. “When we live under the umbrella of God’s authority and seek to obey His commands, the enemy may oppose us and even oppress us, but he cannot thwart the fulfillment of God’s plan for our lives. Any permission he receives to oppose us will only be issued for the greater victory of God.” Obedience to God is the key to immunity from the enemy!

If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. John 15:10 NIV

Day Five

We concluded this week with a series of three parables that illustrate the great rejoicing that ensues when something or someone who was lost is finally found. Jesus was referring to the tax collectors and sinners to which he came to save, but the religious leaders were criticizing Him for it.

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Luke 19:10 NIV

The third parable is the one we spent the majority of time studying, the Parable of the Prodigal Son. With the same illustration of the umbrella from Day Four, the son walked out from under the umbrella of his father’s authority, which also included his father’s protection and provision, and the consequences were beyond his expectations. He spiraled down a path that took him farther and cost him more than he ever expected to pay. Isn’t that the way sin is?

Rebellion can so twist the heart that one cannot see the consequences of leaving a healthy, loving, and even wealthy environment in order to live a life of indulgence and foolishness. The son withheld no pleasure for himself, but he wasted his entire inheritance on “riotous living.” Eventually, he ran out of money, friends, and fun, and he was left completely destitute.

He had been raised to see pigs as low, filthy animals, and his downfall ultimately led him to the lowest of lows – the depths of a pig trough. Often times when a person gets lost in a life of sin and debauchery, it usually takes a “rock bottom” experience to make them come to their senses. It was here, as he drooled for the pig’s food, that this prodigal finally woke up and realized his foolishness, and he was ready to go back home.

He rehearsed what he was going to say to his father before embarking on his journey home, but he never got the chance to say it. I can imagine that the pain of his consequences was finally greater than the humiliation of having to face his father, and that is when he was finally ready to return. He could have returned anytime, but there are times we need to learn the hard way before our hearts are in the right place for restoration.

When his father saw him from a distance, indicating that the father must have been keeping an eye on the horizon for his boy, he ran to meet him. The father wrapped his arms around his son and held him tight. Before the son could open his mouth to confess his sins, he was shut up by his father’s kisses. Grace and forgiveness were greater than the son’s guilt!

What a picture of God’s great love for us! He pursues us and welcomes us home with great celebration and joy!

We took a short detour through Hebrews 12 and learned how God disciplines us as a father disciplines a son. If the son in the story had not experienced the pain that his foolish living had caused, he might have never returned. Also, if we don’t experience conviction or chastisement for our sin, we would likely continue to wallow in a lifestyle that is far beneath our place as children of God and experience far less than the inheritance He has for us. If there were never negative consequences for our sin, we would have to question whether or not we really are his children and if the Holy Spirit truly does reside within us, because He disciplines those He loves as sons. God does not punish us for his pleasure, but He administers discipline out of His great love for us in order to restore us and draw us back to Him.

Embrace His discipline and learn from it. Allow Him to lead us into the best life He has made available for us in order to bring Him the most glory. Don’t settle for less!

“When we accept Christ, we are brought into a family of ‘more than conquerors’ (Rom. 8:37). To live in defeat simply doesn’t make sense! To be beaten down by the harsh elements of life when we could be shielded from so much is insane. Under the umbrella of God’s authority we are not immune to some hard winds and getting our faces wet in the furiously pelting rain, but we cannot be defeated by them. May we quickly come to our senses when living any other way!”  

As you can see, we covered a lot of ground this week! I hope this has been a blessing to you and that you are taking in these valuable lessons and applying them to your life. May you continue to see the nature of Christ more clearly and be drawn more intimately into relationship with Him as we turn the corner toward the home stretch of this study. We don’t have far to go!

Have a blessed week, and I hope to see you in a small group this week!

Week Seven Discussion Questions

ICE BREAKER: What is one of the weirdest trends from your teenage years?

“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.” Luke 11:22 NIV

QUESTION 1: In Luke 11, Jesus refers to Satan as the strong man and himself as the “someone stronger.” Jesus has defeated Satan and has already given us back some of the things he had stolen from us. Can you think of ways God has already divided with you some of the spoils of Satan’s defeat?

Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Luke 12:15 NIV

QUESTION 2: Believing our great value to God frees us from strongholds such as fear, shame, greed, worry, and hypocrisy. In what ways can we guard against greed?

Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering. Luke 11:52 NIV

QUESTION 3: We learned about what it means to be a faithful and watchful servant on Day Three, and we also took time to identify examples of spiritual abuse. It is a serious thing to know God and oppress others in His name. Give a few examples of what you think might constitute spiritual abuse.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Luke 13:34 NIV

QUESTION 4: What do you learn about the character of Christ in Luke 13:34?  Why could he not protect Jerusalem as he longed to do? What can we learn from this? How can we abide or remain in Christ and His love?

But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. Luke 15:32 NIV

QUESTION 5: What kinds of things motivate a person to leave a healthy, loving, and even wealthy environment?

Homework for the Week

1. Please work on the five days of homework in Week 8: “The Answer,” pp. 170 – 192.
2. (Optional) View Beth Moore’s video. (This is not required because of the cost. The study can be completed without the videos.) Here is a link to the viewer guides with the answers if you are unable to view the videos.
3. Attend a small group meeting in our Heart to Heart Facebook group. 
4. Scripture of the week:

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Luke 18:22 NIV