Week 1 | Our Potential
Weather | Hot and Muggy
Pax arrived at 6:15 for the first official week of this 3rd F gathering. There were some bananas, protein bars, and fresh “ground” coffee, courtesy of Sparky.
This was the second week for Killing Kryptonite. The reading assignment was chapters 1-2. Most Pax were able to complete the 30 minutes over the last 10,080. If you missed this week, it is not too late to start. We will do a quick review next week. All Pax are still welcome to attend. I still have 1 more book for sale.
We opened in a prayer for this book study and to ask God to open our hearts, ears and minds for what he is going to accomplish.
Purpose of this book:
- Learn to Identify our Spiritual Kryptonite
- Learn how to eliminate it from our lives and destroy it forever
- WHY? – So that we can live in complete freedom and live up to our full potential in Christ
Our Potential
We should all feel frustrated that we are living below our potential (if not, please repeat last weeks assignment). This is a good thing. It is how God is setting us up to see the target. We need to be able to identify the target if we are going to aim for it.
Desires
- What is our greatest desire? What was your greatest desire as a child? How did it change as you spiritually matured? All these celebrity suicides…something is missing.
- The only way to fill that void (also identified as sad clown) is with a relationship with our Creator.
- God has planted eternity in our hearts
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NLT): Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.
Chapter 1 – The Avoided Question
- Do we see a significant difference between the people of God and the people of the world? Do we followers of Jesus stand out?
- Generations of followers in the Old Testament that flourished. Whole Towns.
- No government welfare programs, no handouts.
- How was that possible?
- They all lived God-Centered Lives
- Do our lifestyles differ significantly from society?
- Look how the gospel spread in the book of Acts.
- Are we as effective as the early church was in reaching their world?
- With all this technology, shouldn’t we be more effective?
- Are we using technology? Or is technology using us?
- Did it say somewhere in the back of the bible (in the very fine print) that God should stop moving like he used to after Steve Jobs and Bill Gates?
- Are there ways we can be more effective in our families? Workplaces? Communities?
- Take Action
- How does your life stand out?
- How would your life be different if you lived more like Jesus?
Chapter 2 – Introducing Kryptonite
As God’s children, our lives should reflect him.
1 John 4:17 (NASB): By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.
As He is, so we are…right NOW in this world.
In 1 Corinthians chapter 11, Paul speaks to this spiritual kryptonite. In his letter to the Corinthians he points out their awareness of disobeying God, yet doing it anyway. James states it this way:
James 1:15-16 (NKJV): Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
If sin is not dealt with, it brings forth death. It is our spiritual kryptonite. What are some things that are “not that bad” or “not hurting anyone” that we do on a regular basis? What are some things that we are pretending to ignore the Holy Spirit’s conviction? How can we expect to reach our full potential in Christ if we don’t even listen to Him?
I can personally identify with John Bevere’s story of being so nice to everybody in his early years of ministry. Avoiding confrontation, always trying to be uplifting. Trying to please everyone and gain their approval. This was not being loving though, it was merely fearing their rejection. God told him that if he really loved people, he would tell them the truth even if there was a good possibility they would reject him. So from that moment the pendulum swung to the complete opposite side, John spoke truth but lacked tack and tenderness. What was really lacking was the most important thing, true love. We need to learn to speak truth in love.
For me, like probably most us, that can look a look a little different depending on the audience. It is important to keep in mind that their perception is their reality, and always speak to everyone in a loving manner.
Take Action
- We are called to live like Jesus NOW.
- Assessing our daily lives, would you consider yourselves weak or strong?
- God will turn our weaknesses into strength.
- Ask God to identify weaknesses in your life.
Homework:
- The next week’s reading assignment is Chapters 3-5.
- Please read through Chapter 5 (no more than one chapter per day) by next Saturday 6/30.
Thought for the week:
The Power of One. Acts 17:6 …”These who have turned the world upside down.” The Church is like the human body, although parts are separate, if one should fail it all dies. If one person sins against God, can it affect a whole body?