Proven: Week 8 ~ Wrap Up

Wow! What a week, what an 8 weeks!  I hope you've been as blessed and as challenged as I have been.

Do you know what I love about this week's lesson?  The demonstration of Peter and the disciples going fishing and catching nothing...and then Jesus guiding them to throw their nets in a certain place and them catching all those fish.  We can do nothing on our own, we need Jesus!  We need to listen to His voice and follow His instruction and He will give the increase, He will work through us and in us.  I love that!  As I have prepared for the Sing for the King Ministries fundraiser event I began asking the Lord what He would have me share and He just kept speaking to my heart "Christy, just tell them about me, just talk about me", after all this is all about Him!...so I reminded myself that I had nothing to prove and that I just needed to depend on Him, talk about His love, His grace, His sacrifice.  This night was the benefit dinner and concert, the album launch and my name was "out there" a lot and I desperately wanted it to not be about me and all about Him.  The Jason Lovins Band blessed our church recently and shared a song written about Jason's grandma, I cried listening to it, it is called "I Wanna Be Known" and it's all about wanting to be known for loving Jesus and living like Him.  That is my heart's desire, to be known for being a Jesus girl, loving Him so wildly and radically that it will never be about me.  I want to be obedient in the small things and in the big things...but it's really only the world's standards that categorize what big and small are, isn't it?  There is no big or small in obedience to Christ.  Let's just be..with Him, doing what He's called us to do.

In the Experience section of this week's study:

DREAM

Where could you display God's extravagant love around you? Dream a little.

What needs do you see around you?

What nudge do you feel from God concerning these needs? Which ones may He be wanting you to meet (even if it seems small)?

What is keeping you from responding?

REFLECT

What have you learned about yourself in these weeks?

What have you learned about Jesus?

How has the Holy Spirit convicted you about the way you are living?

What is now your vision for your life, your friends, and your family?

VISION

Let's write a mission statement...

Your mission statement should be based on your passions and what you hope people will say about you when you are gone.  Look over Jesus' prayer in John 17 and consider what it is God has called you to and what He has done already through your life for the good of others and His glory.

Here are some things to consider as you work on this statement:

• Pray and read Scripture. You want your statement to reflect God's heart and purpose.
• Consider your gifts and passions.
• Think about your legacy. How do you want people to remember you when you're gone?
• Reflect on how God has already worked in and through you.
• Seek the counsel and observation of trusted, godly friends. How have they seen God work through you?

So it's your turn. Write a mission statement for your life.

In Jennie's conclusion she says this...I want less days of coping and more days of fighting for God's glory and the good of people.

COMMISSIONING

We are a generation of women that desire to be brave.

May our bravery lead us to sacrificial obedience.

May heaven become more real than earth.

May we see God, really see Him.  And then care more about what He thinks than any other person on earth.

May we go to war against bondage that has controlled us and kept us from living the lives that we were meant to live.

May we crave freedom for God's people.

May the state of our hearts become more concerning to us than our reputations.

May our generation live knowing God is real.

May the religious come back to Jesus.

May the faithless find Him safe to consider.

May we see that heaven is coming and that we have a mission.

I want to see in my lifetime a generation of un-numb, un-stuck, focused missionaries, empowered by the Spirit building the kingdom of God together. - Jennie Allen (Proven)

The more obedient and surrendered I live for Jesus the more fulfilled and free I feel and become.  Let's be free, with nothing to prove because Jesus has already proven everything.  Let's rest in Him, abide in Him, live brave and courageously for Him, outside our comfort zones and loving every minute of it.

https://youtu.be/HmJnl5GqdaA

Be with Jesus

If there's one thing (there's actually many) but if there's one thing that's been speaking to my heart a lot or the most is this: "Be with Jesus"...spend time with Him, everything else will fall into place if I will just spend time with Him.  That's where change will happen, that's where I will really follow His will because I will know Him more and I know the next right step to take.  This week, emptiness...calling...and it doesn't depend upon us, who we are, but who He is and the more time we spend with Him, the more we will realize this and let it sink in.

He wants us to be with Him and then give away what we have been given from being with Him. - Jennie Allen (Nothing to Prove)

Sounds pretty simple doesn't it?  Why do we make things so hard?  Because I want to be seen, to be admired, to be loved...by people?  This CD launch is exciting and kind of a big deal (it would appear) and I want it to be perfect, I want to be perfect...but what if it's not?  Who cares?  I had a reality check the other day, I'm not going to play keys for the concert Saturday...there goes my crutch, I suddenly realized that I won't have the lyrics in front of me...panic attack?  What if I forget the lyrics to my own stinkin' songs?  So what.  And then I thought, what if I do forget or what if I do use lyrics?  What does it matter?  I have NOTHING TO PROVE!  But boy does it seem like I do right now!  And then I get the gentle reminder that Jesus is enough and no matter what, it'll be ok...that I don't have to prove myself, Jesus has done such a work in me and that's what I need to show, to give away...my performance is meaningless, but my worship needs to be about Him, for Him.

To simply display God has become my greatest goal. What could be a greater calling than to live so that God's great grace is magnified in our lives? - Jennie Allen (Nothing to Prove).

So, this week and always...let's seek Him, spend time with Him, abide in Him.

Week 8: Called ~ The End of Emptiness

Called. I looked up the definition of the word called and this one caught my attention - "to give a name to".  That's what Jesus does, He gives us a name.  Our family name shows to what family we belong to and it's just like that with Jesus, when we belong to Jesus we are part of His family...we are called.  Forgiven and set free to enjoy this life with Jesus instead of strive and toil.

In this week's video, Jennie reminds us again that Jesus says you don't have to be perfect, I've been perfect for you.  Isn't that a relief, isn't that a comfort?  The more I am obedient and walk in my calling, my relationship with Jesus and live sold out to Him, the less empty I feel.  When I said "anything" to Jesus He showed me things beyond what I could've ever imagined.  This calling leaves me fulfilled.  And the more I trust Him and obey Him, the more fulfilled I am.  It's not about doing big things, it's about being obedient to Jesus...saying yes to Him.  What if we all just did the thing God put in us to do every day? - Jennie Allen (Proven)

This week we will see how our obedience flows out of a relationship with Jesus, out of being loved.  Jesus shows the disciples this extravagant love in John 21...what love!

This week:

Watch the Lesson 8 video ~ Click Here ~

Read NTP (if you have it): Chapter 11 "No Longer Empty" and "Final Thoughts"

Proven Study Guide: Lesson 8 (Read/Study John 21)

Answer Questions from the study guide (pages 152-153)

Describe the apostles' fishing experience prior to Jesus appearing on shore.

What was different after Jesus appeared?

Describe Peter's response to seeing Jesus.

Why do you think Peter responded this way?

What did Jesus provide for His disciples that morning?

What do you think He wanted from them in that moment?

What do you think He wants from you in this moment?

Proven: Week 7 ~ Wrap Up

What have we learned this week about Jesus' love for us, His humility, His grace?  His cleansing is the only way to be free, His blood makes us free.  He is waiting for us, to confess and to repent.  We talk about being real, genuine, authentic but there is nothing holy about authenticity without repentance. Authenticity is the necessary soil for repentance, but if healing comes from Jesus, then confession is only the first step.  Grieving and leaving our sin is the next one. (J. Allen, Proven)

Step into the Stream
What sin are you afraid to bring to Jesus?

Wade in Deeper
Write a letter from God to you concerning your sin. What would God say to you about His love and forgiveness for you?

Quench Your Thirst
Identify patterns in your life that keep you from confessing your sin. Get a few notecards and write out some verses that remind you of the truth of God's grace when you fall into one of those patterns of shame. Stick those verses everywhere - in your car, on your bathroom mirror, on your bedside table.

The Overflow
Go on a walk with a mentor or friend you trust and share what God is teaching you about His grace. Ask each other these questions:

1. Where are you craving grace?
2. In the past, how have you experienced God's grace in your life?
3. What is keeping you from bringing your sin to Jesus?

Fraudulent Living

When we began this study several weeks ago I told you I would pour out my guts to you, would share intimately with you, would be an example to dig deep into the innermost recesses of our hearts and lay everything out.  And I've wondered over the past few weeks if I've really done that or asked myself what I can confess to you.  Here's my confession...I feel like a fraud today, like I haven't done enough, shared enough, spilled my guts enough and I need your forgiveness.  That's sin number one.  Sin number two...I'm a perfectionist, maybe that's laughable to some of you, ahem, but it's true and with this crazy CD recording I faced that perfectionism head-on this week.  And to be "perfectly" honest, it's not perfect and that's okay.  But I tortured myself pretty good and those around me (the hubby) with incessantly listening and ridiculing myself.  I even texted my producer and asked him to make one more change after I had given him the go to master everything.  He graciously obliged but geez...I'm a handful.  How ironic is all this?  God had to remind me that I have "nothing to prove" and remembering this truth gave me peace.  When I began this recording process I had a clear goal, to glorify God, encourage those that would listen to it (my target is offenders) and share the Gospel through music, and help support Sing for the King Ministries.  I believe this is still intact and will indeed remain the goal but somewhere along the way I got in my own head and started over thinking, put too much pressure on myself, and dwelt too much on how this or I would be perceived.  And wonderfully enough, through this study this week I am reminded that my dirt does not define me, my inadequacies and perfectionism is not who I am and I can let it go..I'll try to let it go.  I really do want God to be in control of my life...I really do want to be led by the Holy Spirit instead of my own selfish ambitions...I really do want God to have the spotlight instead of me...I really do want Him to use me for His Glory, my good, and His Kingdom.  I really need His help, I really need your help...to keep me accountable, to call me out...love me enough to do it.

So many of our problems come when imperfect people try to act as if they have it all together.  We all have been there.  And what's the result?  We hide behind images we create of happy, clean, impressive lives.  We are exhausted.  - Jennie Allen (Nothing to Prove)