Your Personal Grow-Pray-Study (GPS) Guide

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Keep Calm and Quarantine On

Monday – Read Job 42:2. Job expresses faith in God’s wisdom and God’s purposes. In a time of pandemic, where it seems as though God is either testing us or abandoning us, where do you see things working together for the good? Where do you see a spite house that you’ve formed against God that needs to come down?

Tuesday – Read Job 42:7. God is disappointed with Job’s friends. In his hour of greatest needs, his friends caused even more pain and hurt. They gave poor advice. Think of the times when a friend has been the most caring during a trial. How did that help you through? Think about the times when friends have been the least caring and have caused more pain. How did you forgive them?

Wednesday – Read Job 42:8. God tells Job’s friends that he will deal with them according to Job’s prayer. Job prays for their forgiveness. Who do you need to pray for today that has hurt you?

Thursday – Read Colossians 3:13. God calls us to forgive as we have been forgiven. Take a moment to write out those things that you’ve done wrong. Then, draw a cross over all those things, saying “The blood of Christ covers this.” Now, do the same thing with a list of things people have done to you. 

Friday – Read Ephesians 4:31. The main problem with our unforgiveness is that it changes who we are. Unforgiveness makes a bitter, hateful, spiteful person. That’s not who we want to be. How has unforgiveness made you into someone you don’t recognize? How have you seen unforgiveness make others into someone unrecognizable?

Saturday – Read 2 Corinthians 5:17. Being a new creation means that Christ  is constantly pouring out forgiveness into our lives. As a new creation, we want to be more like Christ. Where do you need to pour out forgiveness in your life right now, tearing down your spite house?

You can also watch this week's sermon or read the full message & GPS here.

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Keep Calm and Quarantine On

Monday – Read Job 23:10. Job confessed that after God has tested him, he’ll come forth as gold. Think back on your life to the greatest “tests” on your faith, your limits, etc. How have those times refined you or made you who you are today?

Tuesday – Read Job 2:11-13. When Job is in shock, he sits for seven days in silence. What is the most effective and healthy way that you’ve found to deal with grief, bad news, or heartache? Do you need to take time to go through that process right now?

Wednesday – Read Job 23:16-17. Job is at the end of his rope. Sorrow has overcome him. He says “God has made my heart faint.” When have you felt the most sorrow in your life? Have you ever been afraid to, like Job, let it all hang out and cry over that?

Thursday – Read Job 23:2. Job is experiencing the struggle of feeling God’s silence. We struggle with God for two reasons:

1. We doubt His wisdom
2. Because we doubt His wisdom, we want to be in control. 

When you have experienced this in life? Take time to pray that you would be able to let go of control and let God be God. 

Friday – Read Job 23:17. Even though Job struggled with God’s silence, he refused to be silent himself – continuing to reach out to God in prayer. Don’t let life beat you don’t to the point where you stay down forever. Don’t give up. Pray to God for strength. 

Saturday – Read Job 42:12. God takes the bad in Job’s life and transforms it. Think about your past again, much like you did on Monday. How have those negative moments been used for the good in the rest of your life?

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the excerpt from the article by Pastor Paul David Tripp on “Refining: Unattractive Ore, Refining Fire, & The Gospel of Refinement” at WWW.PAULTRIPP.COM. Other books from Pastor Tripp:

• New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional
• Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family
• My Heart Cries Out: Gospel Meditations for Everyday Life
• What Did You Expect? (Redesign): Redeeming the Realities of Marriage

You can watch this week's sermon message or read the full PDF of the sermon message & GPS.

Day 1: Read Job 14:1-2. I don’t recommend you send this Bible verse on any baby announcement card or baby gift card. I do recommend you appreciate and learn from Job’s honesty. He’s in pain, and he’s honest with that pain. He doesn’t cover it up. He doesn’t hide from it. Where are you experiencing pain in life? Take time to pray to God about your pain, to ask for His presence and peace, and to see the hope He gives in the painful problem you face.

Day 2: Read Job 14:5. Job reminds us if you want a reason for despair, you’ve got one. Life is limited. Pain happens. Job could have simply wallowed in self-pity. Job sees the problem and is honest to lament from his point of view. He doesn’t doubt God or drop his faith in God, but he does declare where he is at with God. Job sees the problem and holds on to hope. Pray honestly to God about where you’re at, and what you need to help you hold on to hope.

Day 3: Read Job 14:7. Besides your own life, where have you seen God’s hope at work?

Photo by qinghill on Unsplash

Day 4: Read Job 14:7.  What is your “sprout in a tree stump” story that gives you hope today? As you look at a problem you are experiencing, where do you see a small detail, a sign, a gift of God’s hope for you today?

Day 5: Read Job 14:8-9. Where do you need to remind yourself if there is a hope for a tree, there is hope for me.? How have you sensed God’s presence and peace in your life this past week? Where do you need to experience His presence and peace today? 

Day 6: Read Job 14:14. The noun “renewal” Job uses, comes from the verb he used to describe a tree sprouting in Job 14:7, leaving little doubt that, with the term renewal, he has hope. Job claims renewal in the midst of his darkness and death. And it all comes from a single, solitary, seemingly insignificant detail of a sprout on the stump of a tree. Where have you experienced a renewal of hope in your life in the past year? The past month? Where do you need the Holy Spirit’s renewing touch of hope?

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading these two books:

• Great Lives: Job (Great Lives From God's Word) by Charles (“Chuck”) Swindoll
• Where Is God When It Hurts by Philip Yancey

You can watch this week's sermon message or read the full PDF of the sermon message & GPS.

In this weeks Message, Pastor Travis taught us the C.A.R.E. MODEL OF A LAMENTING PRAYER:

Complain: It’s OK not to be OK!

Appeal: Appeal to God’s character and who He is.

Remind: Remind God of His promises to you.

Express: Express trust in God’s wisdom and the things we don’t understand.

Remember -- “Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” - (Psalm 30:5)

Monday – Read Job 3. Job’s prayer of Lament is deep. Have there been times in your life where you’ve felt like Job – cursing the day of your birth? How did you make it through those feelings? Take time to thank God that you got through it. For the following days, you’ll be encouraged to read a song of Lament, and use the C.A.R.E. model of prayer each day. 

Tuesday – Read Psalm 12.

• Complain:
• Appeal: 
• Remind:
• Express:

Wednesday – Read Psalm 86.

• Complain:
• Appeal: 
• Remind:
• Express:

Thursday – Read Psalm 22.

• Complain:
• Appeal: 
• Remind:
• Express:

Friday – Read Psalm 13.

• Complain:
• Appeal: 
• Remind:
• Express:

Saturday – Read Psalm 31.

• Complain:
• Appeal: 
• Remind:
• Express:

You can watch this week's sermon message or read the full PDF of the sermon message & GPS.

Monday – Read Job 1:13-19. Can you relate at all to Job’s catastrophe? If so, how? Take a moment to write down the great losses and hurts you’ve experienced in life. Take time to cry out to God, lamenting those moments. 

Tuesday – Read Job 1:20-22. What is the first thing Job did when he learned about these tragedies? Why did Job bless God’s name? What name of God gives you courage and strength in your trials?

Wednesday – Read Galatians 2:19-20. Paul talks about the justification by faith, through the work of Jesus. He says: “The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith.” How has your faith kept you going through the difficult times?

Thursday – Read 1 Corinthians 12:1-10. “My power is made perfect in weakness.” What does God mean when He says this to Paul? How does it change the way you look at your own circumstances? 

Friday – Read Psalm 73:26. Take time to pray for all those situations and circumstances in life where you need God’s strength now, more than ever. Take time to pray that others would seek that same strength. 

Saturday – Read Matthew 11:28. Surrendering to God comes with rest. When you surrender to God, you are saying: “You can handle this, Lord!” God responds by giving us rest. Take a day to rest and refrain from work.

You can watch this week's sermon message or read the full PDF of the sermon message & GPS.