A life beyond amazing st.., p.1
A Life Beyond Amazing Study Guide, page 1
© 2017 David P. Jeremiah
Box 3838, San Diego, CA 92163
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by W Publishing, an imprint of Thomas Nelson. W Publishing and Thomas Nelson are registered trademarks of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.
Published in association with Yates & Yates, LLP, www.yates2.com.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version. Public domain.
Scripture quotations marked NIV taken from the New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved
Edited by William Kruidenier
Thomas Nelson titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.
ISBN 978-0-310-09117-2
ISBN 978-0-310-09118-9 (eBook)
First printing October 2017
Information about External Hyperlinks in this ebook
Please note that footnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication.
Ebook Instructions
In this ebook edition, please use your device’s note-taking function to record your thoughts wherever you see the bracketed instructions [Your Notes] or [Your Response Here]. Use your device’s highlighting function to record your response whenever you are asked to checkmark, circle, underline, or otherwise indicate your answer(s).
Contents
Ebook Instructions
How to Use This Guide
Introduction
LESSON 1: A Life Beyond Amazing (Selected Scriptures)
LESSON 2: A Life of Love (Ephesians 5:1–2)
LESSON 3: A Life of Joy (Selected Scriptures)
LESSON 4: A Life of Peace (Selected Scriptures)
LESSON 5: A Life of Endurance (Selected Scriptures)
LESSON 6: A Life of Compassion (Luke 10:25–37)
LESSON 7: A Life of Generosity (Selected Scriptures)
LESSON 8: A Life of Integrity (Selected Scriptures)
LESSON 9: A Life of Humility (Selected Scriptures)
LESSON 10: A Life of Self-Discipline (Selected Scriptures)
LESSON 11: A God-Inspired Life (Selected Scriptures)
Leader’s Guide
About Dr. David Jeremiah and Turning Point
Stay Connected
How to Use This Guide
The purpose of this study guide is to reinforce Dr. David Jeremiah’s dynamic, in-depth teaching and to aid you in applying biblical truth to your daily life. This study guide is designed to be used in conjunction with Dr. Jeremiah’s A Life Beyond Amazing book and audio series, but it may also be used by itself for personal or group study.
STRUCTURE OF THE LESSONS
Each lesson is based on one of the messages in the A Life Beyond Amazing audio series and book and focuses on specific passages in the Bible. Each lesson is composed of the following elements:
• Outline: The outline at the beginning of the lesson gives a clear, concise picture of the topic being studied and will provide a helpful framework for you as you listen to Dr. Jeremiah’s teaching or read the book.
• Overview: The overview summarizes Dr. Jeremiah’s teaching on the passage being studied in the lesson. You should refer to the Scripture passages in your own Bible as you study the overview. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture verses quoted are taken from the New King James Version.
• Application: This section contains a variety of discussion questions designed to help you dig deeper into the lesson and the Scriptures and to apply the lesson to your daily life. For Bible study groups or Sunday school classes, these questions will provide a springboard for group discussion and interaction.
• Did You Know? This section presents a fascinating fact, historical note, or insight that adds a point of interest to the preceding lesson.
PERSONAL STUDY
The lessons in this study guide were created to help you gain fresh insights into God’s Word and develop new perspectives on topics you may have previously studied. Each lesson is designed to challenge your thinking and help you grow in your knowledge of Christ. During your study, it is our prayer that you will discover how biblical truth affects every aspect of your life and your relationship with Christ will be strengthened.
When you commit to completing this study guide, try to set apart a time, daily or weekly, to read through the lessons without distraction. Have your Bible nearby when you read the study guide, so you’re ready to look up verses if you need to. If you want to use a notebook to write down your thoughts, be sure to have that handy as well. Take your time to think through and answer the questions. If you plan on reading the study guide with a small group, be sure to read ahead and be prepared to take part in the weekly discussions.
GROUP STUDY
The lessons in this study guide are suitable for Sunday school classes, small-group studies, elective Bible studies, or home Bible study groups. Each person in the group should have his or her own study guide.
When possible, the study guide should be used with the corresponding audio series. You may wish to complete the study guide lesson as homework prior to the group meeting and then use the meeting time to listen to Dr. Jeremiah’s teaching and discuss the lesson. If you are a group leader, refer to the guide at the back of this book for additional instructions on how to set up and lead your group time.
FOR CONTINUING STUDY
For a complete listing of Dr. Jeremiah’s materials for personal and group study, call 1-800-947-1993, go online to www.DavidJeremiah.org, or write to Turning Point, P.O. Box 3838, San Diego, CA 92163.
Dr. Jeremiah’s Turning Point program is currently heard or viewed around the world on radio, television, and the Internet in English. Momento Decisivo, the Spanish translation of Dr. Jeremiah’s messages, can be heard on radio in every Spanish speaking country in the world. The television broadcast is also broadcast by satellite throughout the Middle East with Arabic subtitles.
Contact Turning Point for radio and television program times and stations in your area, or visit our website at www.DavidJeremiah.org/stationlocator.
A Life Beyond Amazing
INTRODUCTION
Jesus of Nazareth wasn’t the only influential figure who appeared on the Judean scene in the two centuries surrounding His birth. But He is the only one who changed the world because He was the only one from God (Acts 5:33–39).
Why were people drawn to Jesus? Why did they follow Him then, and why do they still follow Him today? For at least three reasons: His miracles, His teachings, and His character. Jesus’ miracles and teachings have received ample attention through the years, much more than His character. Ironically, it is His character that Christians have been called to develop. He has not charged His followers with producing miracles or creating teachings of their own. (We have His miracles and His teachings in the Scriptures.) But we have been empowered to display His character.
What was His character like? The people in first-century Judea were not used to a person who lived a life of love, joy, peace, endurance, compassion, generosity, integrity, humility, and self-discipline day in and day out. Everyone is loving sometimes, joyful on occasion, and peaceful when in non-stressful circumstances. Said another way, everyone has moments, or days, when they demonstrate the opposite of Jesus’ character. The people of that day were not used to someone demonstrating those and other godly traits all the time. Jesus’ character, as much as His miracles and teachings, caused people to continually ask, “Who is this Man?”
Fast forward to Paul’s letter to the Galatians, where he draws a distinction between “normal” people and Spirit-filled people. We know what the character of “normal” people is like (Paul gives some examples in Galatians 5:19–21). But then Paul does what Jesus’ biographers didn’t do: he gives a list of nine character traits that born-again people can cultivate in their lives, calling them “the fruit of the Spirit” (verses 22–23). Jesus was anointed by, and filled with, the Holy Spirit and manifested these traits in His life—the fruit of the Spirit of God in a human being who was submitted to the Spirit’s lordship. And the same can be true in the life of a Christian who is submitted to the leading of the Spirit of God. We can have the character of Jesus Christ. We can manifest the fruit of the Spirit.
Paul later wrote that the ultimate purpose of the Christian’s life is to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). As we submit to the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, we allow Christ to live His life through us: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God” (Galatians 2:20). How do we know when Christ is living His life fully through us? When our lives show the fruit of the Holy Spirit; when our lives are loving, joyful, peaceful, enduring, compassionate, generous, faithful, humble, and self-disciplined.
When we live a life like that, we will be living a life that is beyond amazing—a life that the world is not used to seeing and a life we cannot experience on our own. It is the purpose of this A Life Beyond Amazing study guide to paint a picture of a life that displays the fruit of the Spirit. It is a life yielded to the Holy Spirit so He is free to reveal Christ in us to the world around us.
The world today needs the same thing the first-century world needed—the presence of God in our midst. And when the followers of Christ today manifest the fruit of His Spirit, the world today will be drawn to history’s most beyond-amazing life: Jesus Christ.
LESSON 1
A Life Beyond Amazing
SELECTED SCRIPTURES
In this lesson we are introduced to the theme of a Christian life beyond amazing: the roadblocks, roadmaps, and results.
Jesus Christ lived an amazing life and attracted followers wherever He went. But the same can’t always be said of His followers today, the Church. When we understand that our salvation is more than just a past event, we catch a biblical vision for the amazing life God wants us to experience.
OUTLINE
I. The Roadblocks to a Life Beyond Amazing
A. A Misunderstanding of Salvation
B. A Misapplication of “Works”
C. A Mistaken Idea of Spirituality
II. The Roadmap to a Life Beyond Amazing
III. The Result of a Life Beyond Amazing
OVERVIEW
In a recent book, I asked the question, “Is this the end?” The answer to that question is, “No, but you can see it from here.” Meaning, every day we are getting closer to the return of Jesus Christ. That raises another question: “What kind of people do we need to be to live in an increasingly chaotic and unpredictable culture?” In other words, regardless of what is going on around us, what kind of people does God expect us to be?
The answer is in this series of lessons. We need to be the kind of people described in Galatians 5:22–23—people who manifest the fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That is the kind of person Jesus Christ was. The indwelling Holy Spirit wants to manifest the presence of Christ in and through us as well.
I call such a life “a life beyond amazing”—the abundant life Jesus came to give us (John 10:10). It is an impossible life apart from the Holy Spirit. But it is possible by His power and presence. In this series we will examine each of the nine dimensions of the fruit of the Spirit, one at a time.
The Roadblocks to a Life Beyond Amazing
Are you, or the Christians you know, living a life beyond amazing? If not, what is getting in the way? How can we remove the impediments? I know three obstacles that can stand in our way.
A Misunderstanding of Salvation
First, we mistake the nature of salvation by thinking of it only in the past tense—something that happened “back then.” But the Bible views salvation in three “tenses”: past, present, and future.
First, we have been saved. At a moment in the past we placed our faith in Christ and were saved. Second, we are being saved continually and daily delivered from the power of sin. Finally, we will be saved for all eternity in God’s heavenly kingdom. So our salvation is three-fold: from the penalty of sin (past), the power of sin (present), and the presence of sin (future) (Romans 13:11).
Unfortunately, too many Christians are stuck in the past. They fail to walk in the ongoing blessings and benefits of salvation in the present. They know they were saved from something, but they have failed to realize they were also saved for something. And what we have been saved for is a beyond-amazing life. It’s like being adopted into a family and then spending many years coming to realize the benefits and blessings of that family. As author Craig Barnes says, “How long does it take to become a Christian? A moment—and a lifetime!”
Becoming a Christian is not the end of one kind of life, it should be the beginning of another: a life beyond amazing!
A Misapplication of “Works”
The New Testament is clear that we are not saved by our good works; we are saved as a gift of grace (Ephesians 2:8–9; Titus 3:5). But it is also clear that we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Ephesians 2:10; see also Titus 3:8). We are not saved by good works but for good works. Too many Christians think that because their salvation is a gift, they can be passive about it until they get to heaven. Not true! We are saved unto an active, Christlike life while on earth.
A Mistaken Idea of Spirituality
Some Christian teachers promote an idea of spirituality called “the deeper life.” Essentially, they say, “Let go and let God.” It means to put our trust completely in God (a good thing) to accomplish everything in us without our involvement (not good). I believe this view downplays the importance of the Christian’s responsibility to be active in pursuing the spiritual life; we have to fight the good fight of faith. Yes, God does the work in us, but we actively pursue those things that we know God is working in us to accomplish. Our spirituality is active, not passive. It takes time; it doesn’t happen all at once.
Our initial salvation happens in a moment of time, but the working out of our salvation—our conformation to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29)—takes a lifetime.
The Roadmap to a Life Beyond Amazing
Having identified the obstacles that stand in our way to a beyond-amazing life, where do we find the roadmap?
Philippians 2:12–13 is a good place to begin—Paul balances our work and God’s work together: “Work out your own salvation . . . for it is God who works in you.” Please note that Paul is not saying to work for our salvation but to work out our salvation—live it out as God does His transforming work in us. It’s like a miner who works to bring to the surface something God put deep in the earth. God put it there (in us), and we work to reveal His work in us. We work out what God has worked in. The New Testament holds our work and God’s work in perfect balance—and so should we.
Peter agrees: God’s “divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). But we are to add to our faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love (verses 5–7). We are to give “all diligence” (verse 5) to these things. That sounds active, not passive, to me!
What does that roadmap look like? Paul continues in Philippians 2: we will be found “blameless and harmless” in the midst of a chaotic world (verses 14–16). That’s how we shine God’s amazing light in a dark world—by maxing out what God has done for us and in us. We are to work out our salvation daily, bringing to light the glory of Christ in us for the world to see.
Paul wrote to Timothy to “reject” the bad things and “exercise” himself toward godliness (1 Timothy 4:7). The origin of the word “exercise” is the Greek word for gymnasium. We are to go to the spiritual gym daily to perfect our spirituality. The Holy Spirit doesn’t force us to conform to the fruit of the Spirit; He enables us to pursue them by His power. That is the roadmap to a life beyond amazing.
The Result of a Life Beyond Amazing
If we remove the roadblocks and follow the roadmap, what will be the results of the life we will live? I call it character—the bridge between our past and future salvation experiences. The life we now live between those two consists of the godly character we pursue and develop with the help of the Holy Spirit. We are to pursue traits like the fruit of the Holy Spirit and others in an active way, enabled by the Spirit. As our character is transformed, we work out our salvation in the present. But it doesn’t happen overnight while we sleep. It happens as we exercise our character so it is conformed to the character of Christ.
Author Pat Goggins has expressed what it means to develop character through self-discipline:
