<< Week 28 >>
Go through the Study Guide by Dr. Kevin Zadai
Consider The Project given in this Lesson
Warrior Church Home Fellowship Study
Dr. Kevin L. Zadai
Is God Really in Charge?
"If you want what God wants, you've got to be a spiritual person, not a carnal person. You can't process God through your carnal mind."
~ Dr. Kevin L. Zadai
After you watch the video and read the study notes on this page, answer these questions here on the Blog mentioned above:
As for us, we have all of these great witnesses who encircle us like clouds. So we must let go of every wound that has pierced us and the sin we so easily fall into. Then we will be able to run life's marathon race with passion and determination, for the path has been already marked out before us. We look away from the natural realm and we fasten our gaze onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith's perfection. His example is this: Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his, he endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the throne of God! So consider carefully how Jesus faced such intense opposition from sinners who opposed their own souls, so that you won't become worn down and cave in under life's pressures.
—Hebrews 12:1-3 (TPT)
DISCUSSION:
When I was growing up, I was told that whatever God wants, He's going to get. He's in charge. He does what He wants, and He doesn't include us in it. I was taught just to accept what happens, even if things were stolen or there was some sort of fraud involved, or if people got sick or died early, then it was just what God wanted, and God took them. I don't believe it is God who is taking people by stealing and causing all this sickness. In John 10:10, it says that the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, not God, but the thief. Jesus said," But I have come to give you life and life more abundantly." When I got saved and became born again, I realized that the God that my church was serving was not the God of the Bible. They were taking the works of satan and attributing them to God, and they were saying that being baptized in the Holy Spirit, and charismatic Christians are of the devil, and they're being used by him.
I thought to myself, wait a minute, the Holy Spirit was given on the day of Pentecost, and Paul talks about speaking in tongues, raising the dead, and healing the sick, and that we are supposed to do the works of Jesus. That’s what the Bible says. Jesus went around doing good, healing everyone that was oppressed of the devil in Acts 10:38. He gives life and life more abundantly. How could He in any way be compared to that of satan? I choose to walk away from any false ideas about God, be born again of the spirit, accept Jesus Christ, and look for the fruit of the spirit. I'm going to look at the God of the universe as being a God who does good, who heals, and does miracles.
People don't know how to explain when bad things happen to them —they feel like they are not in control. When difficult things occur, we want to file it and resolve what just happened. We may have been believing for something that didn't transpire the way we wanted, so we have to be careful how we process what we can't fix. People have a hard time handling the fact that they have free will. God gives us the freedom to do what we want, but if you want what He wants, then you've got to be a spiritual person, not a carnal person. You can't process God through your carnal mind. At any point, God can let you have your way, even though you might think that you've given Him charge over your life.
o Discuss: Is God really in charge? What would it take for Him to be in charge of your life? Does God make you do something?
When I was with the Lord, I saw that things were a lot stronger and sharper in Heaven than in this world where nothing is sharp, and everybody has opinions. The issue is that we find ourselves in problems, and we can't get out of them because we're not sharp or cut and dry, and certain things are just absolute. If we’d open our eyes to see and open our ears to hear what the Lord is saying through the word of God and just set our gaze upon Jesus, we will understand certain aspects of Heaven and the way it works.
CLOUD OF WITNESSES
We have these great clouds of witnesses who encircle us. They're angels and saints or people who've gone on before us, and they're circling all around us. We must let go of the wounds that have pierced us and the sin we fall into so were not bound so that we can run life's marathon race with passion and determination. We want to heal from our past wounds because there's a path marked out for us by God. To encounter Him, you have to look away from the natural and fasten your gaze on Jesus so you can encounter the spiritual.
o Activation: To set your gaze upon Jesus, close your eyes and look down into your spirit, and allow your spirit to look up at the cloud of witnesses and see Jesus. You're going to see Him with your spirit and gaze upon the one who birthed faith within you, who leads you forward into faith's perfection. Write about what you saw and encountered.
The Father's heart was determined on the joy of knowing that you would be His. He endured what He did on the cross because He foreknew that you were His. God wanted you to know from His perspective all that He encountered because of His love for you.
If you were to take all of Hebrews 12 and Romans 12, and couple it with the total transformation that comes from the renewing of your mind through the word of God, you would see how the combination empowers you to live your life beyond what you can see in the natural. Whatever you put into something is what you are going to get out of it. You cannot blame God and say, "I put in this amount, and I got nothing out of it." God is not mocked. You will always reap what you sow.
Warrior Church Home Fellowship Study
Dr. Kevin L. Zadai
Galatians 6:7: Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
We need to focus just like Jesus did. The joy set before Him was you. He endured the cross for you. Before you were ever born, He knew you. You can gaze upon Him and finish the race. When your focus is on Him, then you can see that He is really in charge.
o Discuss: What it feels like knowing that the cloud of witnesses is watching and cheering you on from the heavenly realm. Talk about yielding to God and what it's like to have Him in charge of your life.
PUTTING GOD IN CHARGE
If you want God to be in charge, you can choose Him and say "Yes" with your mouth. Trust Him, and know that the reason He has given us free will is He loves us, and He has complete confidence in us that we can make the right choices. Yield to Him, and say yes. He is on your side. He already knew when you became born again that you have within you what it takes to win. He gives you many situations to choose Him, and the cloud of witnesses are cheering you on. It warms God's heart when you choose Him. It's been rigged for us to win. Kind of like the book that's written in Heaven for you is rigged, even though it's a choice. We choose to win. It's a choice because God doesn't want us to feel like we're doing this because we have to. He wants to know it's because we want to. When He sees you choosing Him over and over again, He feels safe with you. The real jewel is because when He feels safe with you, He's going to let you come in closer.
The more you yield and abide in the heart of God, the more you'll begin to know what He likes and dislikes. Everything flows out of our relationship with Him. We have to be careful not to change or shift our theology based on what we go through, especially ministers of the Gospel. We have to be careful not to minister out of a soulish place. Abiding and yielding to God and His word is how we steer clear of that. The Bible says choose blessing or cursing. The more you know His heart, the easier it is to understand where the blessing is and what God's will is for your life. You'll begin to know that He wants you to reach out to people and to save souls.
When we choose to yield to God and get in that flow, and in the river of yielding, we have chosen blessing. We have the choice to decide the opposite of God, and we don't want to go there. You need to grasp certain things about God being in charge of your life and how He honors your own will. When you choose Him, you don't want to make your own decisions outside of Him. You'll want to answer to your commander in chief and submit to Him, and God will share with you, His will.
AGREEING WITH GOD
God's enemies are on the earth, and they're working against Him and His will, so you may not see certain things come to pass that He reveals to you. That's why He needs us to agree with Him and implement the will of God on the earth. You want your will to take the back seat so you can see His will come forward. That's how you can engage with God on His level.
• God loves you so much, and the love you return to Him becomes a greater love when you have decided that you love Him and want to serve Him.
• Your love becomes greater when your decision to follow Him wasn't made out of fear.
• You give, not because you're forced to give. You give because you love God, and you've determined in your heart what to give.
• When you give, you don't do it out of compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver (see 2 Corinthians 9:6-7).
• You serve God in every area of your life.
1. Discuss: God’s love and how this love increases between you and Him when you don’t love Him out of fear.
2. Discuss: How giving is determined in your heart. It’s not done out of compulsion or being told how and what to give.
3. Do you think that God would let you go astray? Why would that be, or why would that not be?
4. What kind of hindrances might you or other people have that would cause us not to serve God in every area of our lives? What are people struggling with that can be resolved just by talking about it?
5. Share something God has done for you this week or in that past where He has shown faithfulness towards you.
PRAYER:
Father, in the name of Jesus, we just thank you for everything you're doing through Warrior Fellowships. We thank you for your spirit that is meeting all the needs. We pray for everybody's health, their body, Lord, that you would touch and do miracles, signs, and wonders amongst us and heal every feeble one among us.
Father, every sickness and disease I drive out in the name of Jesus. I command poverty and lack to go in Jesus' name. I rebuke, and I send out every evil spirit, every hindering devil in the name of Jesus. I break the power of the enemy over you in the name of Jesus. I pronounce Jubilee over you now in Jesus' name, and I thank you, Father, for eyes that see and ears that hear, that the warriors all over the earth will hear your voice and know that you are a mighty and good God in the name of Jesus.
