Pastor Dan Fitzgerald
Open or Closed
Highlights:
What can close our heart:
A lack of faith
Disappointment
A fixation on ourselves
Forgetting where we have come from
The GOAL of each act of faith is not to do miraculous things, but to ENGAGE in greater intimacy with the God that makes the miraculous possible.
The SUCCESS of acts of faith is not measured in outcome, but in obedience – OBEDIENCE to the KIng whose leading we are to follow.
When we CLOSE our hearts to God’s leading in an effort to protect ourselves, we are robbed of the abundance of a life following God’s leading.
The real danger is not in FORGETTING our old lives, but in FORGETTING the commitment we made to Christ.
Discussion Questions:
Pastor Dan asked: when was the last time you walked out in a supernatural act of faith and met God in the miraculous? What keeps you from engaging (or being “closed”) to the supernatural?
Faith = right now; Faithful = right time (trusting in the sovereignty of God). What does this mean to you? Who do you see walking out in faithfulness that you can you emulate and aspire to be like?
What legacy/mission/ministry has the Lord called you to? As you answer that question, what position is your heart in? What sign are you wearing around your neck?
If you find that, like many of us at times, your heart is closed, ask yourself this: what is your goal? Whose Kingdom are you building?
Key Scriptures:
13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms,placed his hands on them and blessed them. Mark 10:13-16
10 When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied,12 be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Deuteronomy 6:10-12
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21