SPIRITUAL PREPARATION FOR MEN'S GROUP

 Those of you who've known me over the nearly 25 years we've been a fellowship, know that I try very hard not to motivate you with guilt, or fear. A life of guilt, fear, and retribution was the hallmark of my Christian experience in my childhood, and teenage years.  The fear of never doing enough, or living up to what people said I had to do, shaped my existence well into my early adulthood.  Even after coming into the freedom of Christ paying it all, I've had to fight against guilt throughout my adult life with some success, and then there are times I revert to my default 'training' from my youth. So, my desire for this blog is to encourage you to increase your spiritual preparation for our Sunday Bible study without putting you under the weight of feeling that you are a failure if you don't.  So, before I jump into how to spiritually prepare for our studies, I'm going to tell you to RELAX, enjoy the journey, and TRY to implement some of the ideas I'm going to put before you.  

In the last blog we discussed the physical items you might want to have available as you study our source material. I used these tools all my adult life, and have grown accustomed to having them 'out' and positioned for study. Believe it or not, this is a spiritual preparation. 

FIRST: Find a place, whether it's small, or an entire room where you can spread out your study tools.  I call this; Making Room.  Making room is simply setting aside a spiritual meeting place for you to read, write, and meditate upon what you are studying. I had a pastor while I was stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base who viewed his office as the tent of meeting, and his desk as the Holy place. The office space was where he sought Christ the light of the world, broke the bread of fellowship with staff and lay members. His desk became the Holy of Holies whenever he opened his Bible and began to seek God for a message for the next service.  He told all of us men to similarly seek a place where you are alone with God, free of distractions from the world, and able to lean back and close your eyes in prayer at any time.  He told us that he'd often fallen asleep in his office chair while praying for the message. There is no sin in falling asleep while in God's presence.   

POINT: Make Room, Find a Place, and purpose to meet God for a word from Him.

SECOND: Find a time!  During my adult years I always found a way to make a study space. It was always fun for me to do that.  I've emptied out closets, set aside corners of bedrooms, and at one point in my life, I even made myself an office space. It's always been easy to do. What wasn't and still isn't easy to do is find time.  Time is harder to give up than money, or things.  I can't count how many times I've heard someone say "I need some 'me' time."  or an even less selfish phrase like "I just don't have time."  I know when someone loves me if they are willing to give me time.  Your wife knows that, your children know that, and believe me God knows that.  I've told you all numerous times how much time I spend studying for our Sunday morning meetings.  I would be lying if I told you that over the last three years I've missed spending all that time studying for our men's group. So, let me make it bearable, and affordable if you give value to time.  Find time!  Whether it be thirty minutes, or an hour, dedicate yourself to as much time as you can afford to study.  

POINT: Make time, start small, enlarge your tent as you go.  

LASTLY: Pray to receive!  There are times I hate the word 'prayer' because of the negative connotations associated with it. Prayer is often portrayed as someone kneeling or sitting with hands clasped in a false display of reverence, with their faces contorted into a pained stoic expression.  Dear God in heaven, how would you feel if your wife looked at you like that when the two of you talked. (Long Pause here while you grasp what I'm alluding to.) Spiritual revelation doesn't come from how hard you squeeze your sphincter muscles and how eloquent your words are.  MY ADVICE for approaching God for revelation is a simple phrase that basically has this nugget at its core. "Hi God, I don't know anything without you revealing it to me. What do you want me to know."  Pause, which is polite way of saying shut up, read up, or speak up. Study time is not the time to solve all of the worlds problems and let God know your opinion on how to fix them. Your are the empty plate that He is going to put the bread of His word on, and the two of your are going to commune over it together.  

POINT: Open your mind, open your heart, and open your spirit to receive His Spirit.

Okay there you are!  Make space, make time, and open yourself up to receive.  Wow, too hard right? NOW, to absolve you of any guilt, and to place you in a position to live your life free of condemnation. You don't have to do anything I've written. None of my suggestions will affect your salvation, none of it will keep you from going up at the last trumpet. Any one of you can continue to come to our men's group without opening the study material during the week and still receive good stuff. I promise you, you'll be able to enjoy God's awesome word at no extra cost to you.  That is a promise.  No guilt, no condemnation, no shame.  You'll never hear any condemnation from my mouth.  

Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling, and skillfully teaching the word of truth.  2 Timothy 2:15  AMP      

Oops!  I didn't do that!  Bro. Paul did that.  I didn't tell him what to say, I promise.  I was trying real hard not to put you under any guilt or condemnation, but then he shows up.  I hate it when that happens.  I mean really, what did he know about life?  He didn't have a wife or kids, he didn't have a job, (well he was self-employed) but he was his own boss and didn't have to worry about pleasing anyone but God.  Well, now that I think of it, he did have those pesky Roman soldiers guarding him, and he was always being hounded by the Jewish religious leaders trying to kill him, or get him killed. Never mind how many letters he had to write to help gentiles understand this new Jewish sect called "the Way.'  Paul had no worries.  Just study and write.  Right?  

Unlike today's generation, there is no award for just showing up.  HOWEVER, there is amazing great joy when what you've prepared for bears fruit.