Gleanings from Experiencing God

We are now in the sixth week of our study of Experiencing God, which means we are nearing the half-way point of our study! One of the activities in Unit 5 is to go back over the previous four units and review the most significant verses or statements recorded at the end of each day's study.

I think it would be great for us to hear what you have gleaned from the study so far. If you will, please send me an email with a summary statement (two or three statements will be ok) and let me know what you are learning. Unless you object, I would like to post your responses on the blog. I look forward to hearing from you.

Below are the things I recorded at the end of each day. These twenty statements are not all that I have gained from the study. They are only a sampling of the content of each lesson. For each Scripture reference, hold your mouse over the reference to read the Scripture.

If you prefer, you can click here to download or print a copy.

Unit 1

• Philippians 2:13; John 7:17
  
• The question is not "What is God's will for me" but "What is God's will?"
  
• What are we doing in our church that we could do without God?
  
• God does not tell us what to do, then send us off to do it. He works and invites (calls) us to join Him where He is already working.
  
• 1 Cor. 1:26-31. God uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things.
  

Unit 2

• The Bible is not about man's walk with God, but a record of God accomplishing His purpose. The Bible is not man-centered but God-centered.
  
• Moses required forty years of exile in a wilderness to get him back on track with God.
  
• The key to knowing God's will is not a method, but a relationship. It is listening to the Spirit speak through the word of God and confirming it through peace in our hearts.
  
• John 8:47
  
• Nothing is more pathetic than having a small character and a big assignment.
  

Unit 3

• Everything about our lives, our understanding of God, and our relationship with Him depends on our understanding that our purpose for existing is to give God glory.
  
• God did not create us for time, but for eternity. Our focus should not be on our past but on our future – on becoming like Christ. Romans 8:29
  
• Every scripture speaks the same message – salvation is God's prerogative. We are saved because He chose us, not because we invited Him into our hearts. (John 6:44; John 6:65; Luke 10:22; John 15:16)
  
• God is working in our world. We do not work and ask God to bless our work. He calls us to join Him in the word He is already doing. We are blessed as a result.
  

Unit 4

• The Scriptures are a record of God's revelation of Himself to people.
  
• Obedience is an outward expression of your love for God. If you have an obedience problem, you have a love problem.
  
• Deut. 6:24-25. When God gives a command, He is not restricting you. He is freeing you. God's commands are designed to lead you to life's best.
  
• God works through people whom He chooses when He chooses to call them, regardless of their relationship to Him. (This is not exactly what Henry Blackaby taught, but it is closer to the truth of the matter than what the workbook says.)
  
• People do not seek God unless He is at work in their lives. As Jesus passed through a crowd, He always looked for where the Father was at work. The crowd is not the harvest field. The harvest field is within the crowd. (I would have said this differently: The crowd is the harvest field, but the crowd is not the harvest. The harvest is found within the crowd.)
  
  • Isaiah 46:11. What God initiates He always completes.
    

Thanks, PD.