Is your devotional life dead? Do you even have time with God anymore? This message gives practical principles and steps one can take to grow their relationship with God through communion with Him in the Word and prayer.

<p>Is your devotional life dead? Do you even have time with God anymore? This message gives practical principles and steps one can take to grow their relationship with God through communion with Him in the Word and prayer.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Heritage Academy

Preparing For the End of Time

Dee Casper

1. Why Prayer Matters

God in heaven, thank you that we can indeed come to you in prayer, that you delight to hear from us.

And I'm just asking that you would abide here a while, that you would bless us with inspiration and encouragement.

And I pray that these testimonies would strengthen our desire and our faith when we begin to pray more earnestly.

I pray, Father, at the After Divine Service and Sabbath school, that this would best prepare us for what we're going to share this evening and how to stand at the end of time.

So I just pray that we would remember the lessons learned now to apply them then.

The topic again for this morning is why prayer matters.

And I'm just going to kind of give some testimonies of the power of prayer, what happens when we take this seriously.

The first is a former Bible study friend of mine.

I don't like calling them contacts, it makes it sound like you're using them.

By the way, a Bible study friend of mine is in this room right now, her name is Selena Page.

She's a beautiful woman sitting behind Doug Baker, very sweet lady.

And so we were...I was studying with this guy when I...it was the first Bible studies I gave after Arise, and the man had a severe problem with anger, with bitterness, and with unforgiveness.

It was so bad that every time I would give this guy Bible studies, that while I'm studying with him, something would trigger a memory in his mind of how someone in religion or in his family hurt him.

And then he would just rant on it, and he was angry.

And I would leave every Bible study, from having the time with this guy, I would leave every Bible study being angry myself, just because it was coming out of him and into me.

And eventually I was getting kind of worn out with this, and I realized, like, I'm not just to be a doormat, or, that's probably not the most appropriate way to say this, so let me fix it in my mind before it comes out of my mouth.

I'm not to be the thing that he takes his rage out on.

My purpose is to bless him and to help him, to point him to Jesus who can set him free.

So finally I had to draw a line in the saying.

I said, brother, I got to talk about this, man.

I said, Lord, what do I do with this guy?

And the answer that God gave me was he kind of led me some different texts and ended up doing a Bible study on the topic of forgiveness.

OK, and the importance of forgiveness kind of starting with David, because this guy used the excuse that in Matthew 5-7, I think it's Matthew 5, where Jesus says, and anyone who's angry with someone without a cause will be in danger of judgment and of hellfire, right?

Jesus says if you're angry without a cause, it's bad, But he says, I have a cause.

These people have hurt me, they've abused me, and he kind of liked to...

There's some Psalms that David has, you know, where he talks about asking God to knock the teeth out of his enemies.

And that certainly feels like a good prayer to pray when you're upset, you know.

And so this guy is trying to justify his anger.

So we walked through the life of David and how God intervened in his life, and then we walked through New Testament texts that talk about the topic of forgiveness.

And at the end of this Bible study, I could tell that this guy is really convicted.

And he realized, and I said, brother, I just have to tell you, this is killing you.

You're going to be lost if you don't ask Jesus to give him the ability, to give you the ability to forgive these people.

And every time you go back there, you're reliving the hurt that they put you through.

By the way, they've proven that neurologically, that when you walk through in your mind either addiction experiences that you had or abuse experiences that you had, it's literally like going through it again in your mind.

And it's just making those pathways deeper and deeper in your mind that are harder to get out of.

So anyway, I get to the end of the studies of this guy and I tell him, like, look, this isn't good.

He's convicted, but he started to get a little upset with me because I'm kind of stepping on his toes in dealing with the thing that makes him happy, which is anger.

It's kind of weird, but anyway, that's his thing.

I had to have this difficult conversation with a guy.

I leave Illinois to come work at a school called Heritage Academy.

And so I'm living at 595 Fieldwood Lane, where I'm sleeping right now at Nilda's house, which was previously my house, and I was reminded on a Wednesday that I forgot to pray for so-and-so, that I haven't prayed for so-and-so in quite a while.

And so I kneel down and I pray for this guy and just say, Lord, I really wish that you would set this guy free.

I don't know what's going on in his life right now, but I'm asking that you would set him free.

This is a series of months after I had those Bible studies with him and after I left.

Sabbath morning, I get a phone call, and the caller ID says the guy's name.

And I have 1 of those moments of, it's Sabbath, I really don't want to deal with somebody's baggage right now, and so I didn't answer the phone.

Now I repented of that later, I need Jesus.

I'm just letting you know that's not a good thing to do, I need Jesus, and I repented later.

But I just didn't want to deal with that.

So the guy leaves a voicemail and on the voicemail I can tell he's super convicted.

He's talking very calmly, very subdued and reflective, and he says, hey, I really need to talk if you can call me when you get this.

I listened to the voicemail on Sabbath, but I still don't want to deal with this guy's baggage and so I don't call him until Sunday.

It's sin, It's selfishness, but that's what I did.

So I call him on Sunday, and he ends up talking to me, and he says, man, I've just been thinking about it recently, and you showed me that what I was doing was wrong, and it was hurting me, and it was even hurting you.

And he said, and when you showed me that, I got mad at you.

He said, I've listened, I've done that Bible study like 10 times.

I've read it and I've read it and I've read it and I've read it.

Like I shouldn't have done things that way.

I was hurting you, I was hurting other people.

Everything changed for this guy in that sense.

Here I am thinking it's a fruitless venture.

Oh man, doesn't he look adorable in his suit?

I lost my whole train of thought, but it was worth it.

Anyway, I was super convicted that I just needed to distance from this situation.

I end up moving anyway, but I forget about the guy, but then I pray for him, and within 3 days of that, the guy is super convicted and realizes that he did something he shouldn't have done, and he repented.

He asked for my forgiveness, and realized that he needed to forgive the people who had hurt him.

That was just 1 example, but that's kind of the least exciting of the bunch, even though it was pretty powerful for me.

It reminded me that I, 1, can't stop praying for people, and 2, that when we do pray, God actually does stuff.

We may not see the results immediately, but God does respond.

And in divine service, we'll kind of cover some practical principles on a prayer and communing with God.

So a friend of mine that was in need of revival, it's someone that I went to Bible college with, and I was in contact with 1 of their parents.

We were praying together for their family and some other things that were going on in their life, and I just had a burden for their family and what they were going through.

All the plans that they're making for their life just don't work out.

I'm gonna go do this, and then that didn't work, and then I'm going to go do a mission trip here, and then they didn't go and do mission work there, and then I'm going to...

2. How to Revive Your Devotional Life

God, thank you that we can have this last time with you this morning during the church service.

And I again just ask that you would be present in a powerful way, that you would give us practical information to grow our relationship with you, to know how to communion with you, to ensure that we are hearing all the things we need to hear and knowing all the things we need to know and above all, connecting with whom we need to connect.

So bless us now, I pray, and I ask this in Jesus' name.

So I'd like to look at the life of John, the Apostle John, first, and then we'll kind of have some principles we'll glean after that.

But first and foremost, even though we're looking at a man who has a lot of good examples in his experience, we're not saying that he was perfect.

John had faults like you and I have faults.

In Matthew chapter 20 to Mark chapter 10, he sought preferential treatment.

He and James asked Jesus, they said, hey, whenever you come in the glory of your kingdom, we want to sit in your right hand and on your left.

And Jesus' response to them is, you have no idea what you're asking.

And it's, they really have no idea what they're asking because the glory of Jesus is literally the cross.

They're asking to be on the cross on the right and on the cross on the left next to Jesus whenever He is in His glory, pouring out His life under the dregs for the people He came to save, which is all of us, by the way.

In Luke chapter 9, Jesus tells the disciples to go and minister in these cities and prepare them, and for his coming.

And some people are like, now we're not that interested.

I know, Jesus, let's call fire down from heaven and consume these people.

And Jesus' response is, you don't know what spirit you're of.

And they sought exclusivity in Mark chapter 9, whenever James and John were doing their thing, and the rest of the disciples, and John tells Jesus, hey, These people were trying to do stuff with us, but we said, no, you can't.

And Jesus says that they're not against us, they're for us.

And lastly, he stumbled in Christ's time of need.

Jesus says that all of you will be made to stumble because of me.

That includes all, because all generally means all.

So even though John got it together, and we'll see that later, there was a moment in John's life where he did indeed stumble and leave Jesus in his greatest time of need.

What I love about John, though, is he has this endearing tendency.

We're going to have a brief Bible study this morning on the life of John, and then we'll go into some basic principles of how to grow our devotional lives.

But I want to kind of use this as a framework of what it can look like for us.

So in Matthew 4, beginning of verse 21, if you've got your Bibles with you, Matthew 4, and I'll begin, as I mentioned, in verse 21.

Going on from there, he being Jesus saw 2 other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, he called them." Then it says in verse 22, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Now, if fishing were a hobby, we would think, yeah, big deal.

They're willing to give up their hobby to go hang out with Jesus.

This is their means of providing for themselves.

And The equivalent is basically for someone to walk to the front door of the business that they run, drop the key to the door, walk away, never to return.

This is a really big deal, but there's something about Jesus that's so intriguing to John that he's willing to follow wherever he goes.

It's another telling of this and a little more information and potentially something that happened right after the Matthew account.

Luke 5, beginning in verse 1, "'So it was, as the multitude pressed about Jesus to hear the word of God, that he stood by the lake of Gennasaret, and saw 2 boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.'" Luke 5, now verse 3, "'Then he got into 1 of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land, and he sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.

The seashore and the incline kind of serves as basically an amphitheater, and water, voices travel very well over water.

I walk in the mornings, I'll walk by 3ABN, and there's this couple that lives across the lake, but I kind of walk on the bridge that kind of splits the lake in half, and I can hear when they argue because water carries all the way, or, you know, sound carries all the way across the water.

I've always felt like going over there, knocking on the door and saying, hey, just so you know, everyone on that side of the water can hear what you're yelling at each other about.

But they have big scary dogs, so I've never had the courage to do that.

So in verse 4, when he had stopped speaking, he said to Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.

First of all, this guy may not know his head from a hole in the ground when it comes to fishing.

Like, you're going to tell fishermen how to fish?

But again, there's something about Jesus.

And so in verse 5, but Simon answered and said, Master, we've toiled all night and caught nothing.

Nevertheless, at your word I will let down the net." And I dig this about Peter because even though when Jesus asked him to do something that makes no sense, you know what he does?

And if Jesus is saying it, it must be in my best interest, so yeah, let's give it a go.

Verse 6, and when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their net was breaking.

So just imagine, just think in your mind the sounds that are going on in this particular trip.

People are shouting for joy, they're excited, they're calling the people in the other boat to come over, the nets themselves are breaking.

So in verse 7, they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.

And they came and filled both the boats so that they began to sink.

This is kind of like if someone were to do it, play slot machines, where they kind of pull the thing and they get 777, and then the thing just blows up.

Too many coins are coming out of this thing.

The little plastic cup they give you is full, and they're just trying to find things to fill this because it just keeps coming.

But just like their boats are sinking, y'all.

It's a miraculous catch of fish that's so bountiful that both boats are beginning to sink.

And when Simon Peter saw it in verse 8, he fell down at Jesus' knees saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." Paul says in Romans 2, 4 that the goodness of God leads to repentance.

When you know that you don't deserve the goodness of God and you come face to face with the supernatural goodness of God, the response is generally the same.

Verse 9, for he and all who were with them were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken, which must be a big deal because they catch fish all the time.

And so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon, their business partners.

And Jesus said to Simon, do not be afraid, from now on you will catch men.

So when they had brought their bows to the land, what did they do?

You want me to feed you myself, but I'm asking you to read it.

It says, they forsook all and followed Him.

Now, again, this is, if their profession is fishing, and they have filled 2 boats full of fish to the point that they're sinking, fish equals money.

They have 2 boats full of cash money and what do they do?

They leave them by the seashore and go and follow Jesus.

There's something about Jesus that is so enticing to them that they're willing to leave the most profitable business venture they've ever had in their lives, the most profitable day of their business, they're just walking away.

So Jesus is approached by the ruler of the synagogue, Jairus.

Now what type of relationship do Jesus and the synagogue rulers have at this time?

3. How to Stand at the End of Time

Father in heaven, thank you for this privilege for the last time to share with these students this school year, and I just pray that you would, again, be here in a powerful way, that you would give us practical, encouraging ways to ensure that we can stand when we enter a time of trouble such as has not been since there was a nation.

I know that you're rooting for us and not against us, and that you delight and long for us to be ready.

So just open our eyes to the importance of the decisions we're making now, and how to best be ready when that time comes.

Speak, O God, I pray, and I ask this in Jesus' name.

If you see in the picture there, there are 3 Hebrew men with a fourth figure in the furnace with them.

That's actually what we're going to be talking about.

Now to give some framework here, Daniel chapter 3 is relevant because of Daniel chapter 1.

Daniel chapter 2 is relevant because of Daniel chapter 1.

They were given a very difficult situation from their being brought away from Israel.

Basically, they were turned into eunuchs by means of eunuch turning into-ness, because I want to be PC this evening.

And anyway, they were turned into eunuchs and were forced to march nearly a thousand miles through the desert to Babylon.

And just imagine how humiliating and degrading this is to these young men.

They were taking the upper echelon of Israel into Babylon.

So that involves people who are higher in esteem, whether it be royalty or the intelligent young people that they could train in the Babylonian schools and prepare them to be Babylonian servants, right?

So in Daniel chapter 1, when they get to Babylon, they're different.

Other Hebrews are brought into the presence of the king, but Daniel and his 3 friends refused to eat from the king's table, whether it be the delicacies of his table and the alcohol and so on, they refused.

And they said, just give us water and vegetables, which kind of worried the king's servant, because Ashpen asked them, because he thought, if you guys look worse than the others, I'm going to get in trouble.

And after 10 days, It was very clear to everyone that they were exceedingly wiser than everyone else.

And so they were brought into favor with the king at this stage, were actually given higher positions already in Daniel 1.

They were faithful to the charge they were given in their homeland.

They were faithful to God in their decisions.

So when Daniel 2 came and Daniel, the king tells in Daniel chapter 2, when the wise men ask for time, he says, you're just buying for time, and you're not going to get it.

If I don't get the dream and the interpretation, you're all going to die.

But when Daniel goes up and asks the king for time, he's given time.

Because he stood for God from the get-go in his experience.

He didn't think, oh man, I better get serious about God now that I'm in prison.

Like he was continually yielding his decision-making to God every step of the way.

So Daniel 3 is significant because we get to this story where a decree is made, and the decree is basically that...

It's absurd, really, but in Daniel chapter 2, King Nebuchadnezzar saw a statue, right?

Gold, silver, bronze, iron, and then iron and clay mixed in the feet.

And he's told that a kingdom inferior to his is going to rule after him.

He's not too pleased about this, but he's humbled in Daniel 2, right?

At the end of Daniel, given the explanation, he literally falls on his face before a castrated servant and declares that, your God is the guy.

That's pretty amazing, the king of the known world saying that to this young servant.

Daniel chapter 3 comes around, and he's not too happy with this idea of metals other than gold, so he decides to erect a 6 cubit by 66 cubit statue, I think, on the plain of Dura that's made of solid gold, And He's commanding that everyone from the surrounding nations come and worship this idol, this image.

And as they get to the plain of Dura, they play the music, the music goes doo-bee-doo, and everyone's supposed to bow on their knees to the image.

And like these 3 obdurate weeds on the plain of Dura, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who are referred to in Babylonian names for reasons I don't understand, Hanani, Meshach, and Azariah are their mama-given names, but for whatever reason, they get the Babylonian names, but Daniel keeps the Hebrew name.

But anyway, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they don't bow down.

Like the decree happens, but they don't bow.

And the king's initial response is 1 that he's not too happy.

If you want to turn to Daniel 3, I'll read a few lines from this.

I want to kind of summarize for time's sake this evening, plus I'm under the assumption that most of us have heard this story.

If I'm wrong in that, my sincerest apologies.

But Daniel chapter 3, We'll say in verse 9, so actually verse 8, therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and accused the Jews, these 3 Jews.

By the way, I'm absolutely certain of the fact that there were Jews who did bow.

It's awkward because these 3 didn't bow, because I'm sure there's more than 3 Jews there.

You, O King, have made a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, and symphony with all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the gold image.

And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast in the midst of a burning, fiery furnace.

There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

These men, O king, have not paid due regard to you.

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Series

Preparing For the End of Time

2. How to Revive Your Devotional Life

Transcript

Description

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

"Tell It Again"

God’s Love Language

56m

The Three Angels’ Messages and the Shaking

1h 15m

Revelation of Jesus Christ

1h 17m

Devotional Life

Devotional Life - Part 2

1h 4m

Experiencing Righteousness Through Faith in Christ

5. The Mind of Christ and the Impending Conflict

59m

Andre Waller Weekend

03 The Killer’s Gospel

57m

Waiting and Warning: Echoes from the Book of Ezekiel

1h 6m

Workshop: Dealing with Conflicts In Ministry

Dealing With Conflict and Adversity in Ministry in the Home

53m

Building a House for my Wife

53m

GYC SE 2012 Seminar: Lessons in Warfare

Special Forces

51m

The Living One

47m

Sound Doctrine