DAN GOULD

FROM THE INSIDE OUT

Category: Bible Challenge

  • Bible Challenge – 1 John 3

    “Dear children, let us not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we be belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God.” 1 john 3:18-19

    It’s easy to ‘say’ that we love someone but it’s much more difficult to ‘show’ them our love! Don’t get me wrong, our words are powerful.  Sometimes we use them wisely and sometimes we use them foolishly.  Many times our words reflect the intentions and affections of our heart.  The words we use express the desires of our heart.  Sharing these thoughts with others helps them see what is going on on then inside of us.  But John says it’s important not just to say these things but to prove our words to be true by the way we treat others.

    Our words may reveal the intentions and affections of our heart, but our actions reveal the meditation of our heart! Here’s what this means, we can say we love, but we prove our love by the way we act.  As a Christ follower, I can say that I am a Christian, but I prove that I am a Christian by the way that I live.  As a Husband, I can say that I love my wife, but I prove that I love my wife by the way that I talk with her and spend time with her.  As a Father, I can say that I love my boys, but I prove that I love my boys by the way that I play with them and discipline them. Our actions put power behind our words. However, if our words and actions don’t match up, we send others mixed signals causing them to question what we say.

    Today, what will your actions say about you? What will your actions say about Jesus? What will your actions say to your family and friends. Let’s not just say we love, lets prove our love by our actions.

    Father, today, let the meditations of my heart be revealed by my actions.  Help me to not just say “I love You” but to show others I love them by the time I spend with them, and the way I treat them! In Jesus Name, Amen!

  • Bible Challenge – 1 John 2

    “And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.” 1 John 2:3-6

    Have you ever questioned your faith?  Have you ever asked yourself, “Am I really a Christian?” Many times this is a heart shaking question that causes me to evaluate my life and look at the areas that are causing me to question my my faith in Christ. As a Christ Follower, there are 3 things that I must do to have the confidence that John talks about here in this passage:

    1. I must put my FAITH IN CHRIST! – This simply means that I realize who I am (a sinner) Who God is (Creator, The One True God, He is pure, holy, and mighty) and who Jesus is (Fully God & Fully Man, Takes sin upon Himself through the Cross so I could have a relationship with God.)  Click here if you have questions about what it means to have faith in Christ.

    2. I must OBEY CHRISTS TEACHINGS! This is where I adjust my life according to the things Jesus says.  To be honest, it’s sometimes easier to know what Jesus says, than it is to actually do what He says.  But, if i want to have the confidence that John talks about, i need to start applying the things i hear and read, so I can be more like Jesus everyday.

    3. I must FOLLOW CHRIST EXAMPLE! This is where others see on the outside what Christ is doing on the inside. When I truly seek to obey Christ Teachings, I will have a desire to follow His example.

    If anyone of these are out of balance it can cause me to question everything.  But when I have put my faith in Christ, I am Obeying Christs Teaching, and I am Following Christs Example, I have the confidence that John talks about in this passage.

    Father today, help me remember all that Jesus for me! Strengthen my faith as I read your Word.  Convict my heart of the sin that like to hide in the dark places, so I begin to obey you in all areas not just some. Allow me to take the step of faith and follow Christ Example even if it isn’t popular and I get persecuted for it.

  • Bible Challenge – 1 John 1

    “This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. 7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:5-7

    As a kid/teenager I use to love to play ‘Hide & Seek’! We all know that some of the best hiding places are found in the darkest places.  Usually these dark places are hard to find, but when we find them, we tend to go back there to hide because no-one knows where it is but us.

    As an adult, I have learned to hide.  In fact, I am and expert hider! I hide the real me behind several things like: busyness, work, my title, doing good things, knowing when/what/how to say things, and even trying to look better than I am in public. Sometimes, I am afraid of the light because I have gotten so use to the darkness I find myself retracting to.

    However, I am learning the importance of staying in the Light and allowing the Light of Christ to search out the dark places that I tend to find myself hiding.  Sometimes this process is painful and causes me to experience fear, shame, and brokenness.  But regardless of the pain, the process is always freeing. It brings me to a deeper understanding of Christ love and of Gods grace and mercy!

    Father, I confess that sometimes it’s easier to hide in the darkness than to live in the Light.  Today will you search me and reveal to me the places that I am hiding.  Help me put a deeper faith, trust, desire, and even effort in living in your Light today and each day after this. In Christ Name I pray, Amen!

  • Bible Challenge – James 5

    “Confess your sins to each other & pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power & produces wonderful results.” James 5:16

    Confess your sins to each other …. But what if they ________  ….. I can do this on my own no-one else needs to know, after all, I’m probably the only one that deals with this …. I don’t have close enough friends to share this type of stuff with.  Sound familiar? Have you caught yourself thinking any of these thoughts when it comes to confessing your sin to another person?  I know I have said all of these plus some.

    Let’s face it, there is a big risk we take when we expose the things we try to hide and confess the sin that we are ashamed of and many times addicted to, to other people. However, when we humble ourselves and confess our sin to God and to others, we take a new stance against the sin that we try to hide, that tends to keep us controlled and trapped no matter how many times we have prayed the prayer telling God we’ll never do it again.  We will take a new stance against the sin that we know is keeping God at distance.

    Is it scary … YES! Is it necessary …. YES! Sin is serious, and its time that we take it serious and stop trying to fight against it in our own power! We have to stop believing the lies that Satan has caused us to believe, and we have to believe that when we live by God’s Word, we will experience the power and promise found in Gods Word.

    When we confess our sin to others, it engages them in the battle with us.   It allows them to stand with us, pray for us, and hold us accountable. The Bible says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” (Pr 27:17) The Truth is, we need each other! Let’s stop trying to battle sin alone. Let’s be honest, it hasn’t worked that well for us so far has it!?!

    Father, help me not just read this verse and focus on the promise at the end of the verse. Help me to face my fears by stepping out in faith and taking the risk by confessing my sins (not just the easy ones but the difficult ones) to others.

  • Bible Challenge – James 4

    “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.” James 4:7-10

    The word humble literally means to not be proud or arrogant. It means having a feeling of insignificance, inferiority, subservience. It’s simply understanding that we honestly aren’t as good as we pretend to be. In fact, being humble is the realization that even when we are at our best, it’s still not good enough.

    When we humble ourselves before God it means that we realize that when compared to His standards, we don’t match up! That even on our best day, it’s still not good enough because we live in a sinful world. In fact Isaiah said it like this “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags.” (Is 64:5)

    Ouch right! When we truly are humbled in Gods presence we will see who we really are and how much we need Him. Being Humble is a deep word that many times is easy to say but difficult to truly live out. However, when we are truly humbled it causes us to be broken of our sin and challenges us to deal with temptation differently. When we get to this point of realizing our continual need for God, the Bible says we will be lifted up to a place of honor. Now, we may never experience this honor here on this earth in this kingdom, but one day, when we are with Jesus in His Eternal Kingdom, we will be lifted up and honored.

    Here are some questions that I am asking myself today:
    1. Am I truly humbled by the presence of God, or has it become a routine?
    2. What sin in my life is keeping God at a distance?
    3. Were is my heart divided, part worldy/part godly?

    Father, help me to have a humble heart so I can truly see who I really am, what is keeping me from having a deeper, stronger relationship with you, break my heart for the things that break yours and let me live in a way that pleases you and encourages others to know you in deeper ways!

  • Bible Challenge – James 3

    “Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.” James 3:2

    Growing up as a teenager, I could cuss with the best of them! There was a time I would have been proud of that statement. But now, I work hard to control what I say. I wish I could say that I do this well all the time, but sometimes things slip, or I say things I shouldn’t, or I simply say to much.

    But I don’t think I am the only one, I think maybe you have the same struggle when it comes to the words you use, how you use them, and where you use them. Words are powerful and the Bible says that “the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. it can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.” (v.6)

    What you say and what you don’t say is important. Controlling your tongue isn’t just a matter of saying, writing, updating your facebook status, with the right words at the right time, but it’s also a matter of knowing when or what you shouldn’t say, write, or update your facebook status with.

    James talks about a tamed tongue and an untamed tongue. One is controlled, one is careless. One is wise, one is foolish. One is helpful, one is hurtful. One is humble, one is boastful. One speaks Truth, one speaks Lies. One is positive, one is negative. Our words are powerful! Our words are important. How you choose to use your words says a lot about you and your relationship with Christ. How will you use your words today?

    Father, today, help us control our tongue so that you can be glorified in all things today. Help us to think before we speak or write so we can use words of life instead of the careless words of this world. Help us to be wise in this area so it can begin to transforms the other areas of our life and our witness to our family, friends, and strangers. Let others see a difference in us by the things we say! In Jesus Name, Amen


  • Bible Challenge – James 2

    “What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that faith save anyone?” James 2:14

    Don’t talk about IT, BE about IT! This has been a phrase that has been piercing my heart all summer.  Let’s face it, it’s easy to say that we are Christians, but it a whole different thing when we try to live out the things we say we believe.

    Growing up as a kid, I was taught this phrase, “Actions speak louder than words.” If we were to pause for a moment and think about what our actions are saying, it might scare us. Many times, good or bad, we are labeled by our actions. When our words and actions align these labels tend to be positive. However, if our words and our actions conflict, these labels tend to be negative.

    I’m wrestling with this thought but I think there is a lot of truth to it, many times our words reveal the intentions of our heart, but our actions reveal the meditation of our heart! It’s a powerful thing when our words and our actions actions align with our Faith in Christ Jesus. Don’t be fooled, people are watching! They are comparing the things we say with the way we live and they are more likely to listen to us when they see our words and actions don’t conflict.

    So here is the challenge for today, let’s put our faith in action.  Let’s show the people around us what it means to have a relationship with Christ not just by the things we say, but by things we do. Don’t just talk about IT, BE about IT!

    Father today, help us to live out the things we say we believe. When the temptation comes to do something that is in opposition of what we believe, empower us to resist that temptation. Let our actions speak louder than our words so that you can receive all the glory and others can see the difference you are making in our lives.

    “Preach the gospel always, If necessary use words.” ~ St. Francis of Assisi.

  • Bible Challenge – James 1

    “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” James 1:22 (NLT)

    I was 18 the first time I read this verse. My youth pastor had been challenging me to begin reading the Bible, and each time he challenged me I gave some lame excuse. Finally one night, I remember climbing in bed, picking up my Bible and thumbing through the page trying to find a place to start reading. To be honest, I was skeptical and at the time didn’t really understand why or how reading the Bible daily would change anything.

    That night, I decided to read one chapter each night for at least a week.  Since the book of James was only 5 chapters, I decided to start there. As I started reading, God began to work in my heart. It was as if this letter was written directly to me because I was going through these things. I was going through some serious trials where I was searching for who I really was and what I was going to do now that I had graduated from High School.  I was dealing with a ton of temptation. Sometimes I’d give in and sometimes I wouldn’t.

    But then I read these words, “But don’t just listen to God’s Word. You must do what it says.” Those words pierced my heart! I was convicted because I grew up in Church and I had heard God’s Word being taught on several occasions, but I wasn’t doing anything to apply the things I was hearing, I was just going through the motions.

    I remember, thinking to myself, how come no-one ever showed me this verse before. I mean come-on, I’ve been in and out of Church since I was a baby, my parents were Sunday School teachers, my grandfather was a pastor, and I am just now reading this.

    God really used that verse to get my attention. Today, as I read this, I’m reminded of how important it is to be TOTALLY PRESENT when I am hearing or reading the Word of God. Sometimes it’s easy to sit down to read and glance over what I am reading because 1) I’ve read it before or 2) because my mind is a million and one other places at that moment. However, being Totally Present means that I am reading or listening with an expectation that God is going to speak to me through what I am reading or hearing. It means that I’m not only going though the motions, but motions are going through me. (that sounds cheesy but I think that’s a really deep statement). Bottom line, it means that I begin to adjust my life, no matter how easy or difficult it may be, to align with the things God says in His Word.

    Today, my prayer is that God would speak to each of us through His Word and that we would begin to adjust and align or lives around His Word. That when we read it, when we hear it that we would be Totally Present and allow His Word to change us from the inside out!

    Father help us to not only hear your Word, but help us apply and do the things we hear and read so that our life will align with your Word!

  • Bible Challenge – Starts 9.13.10

    On Sunday, September 12, 2010 I role out a reading plan for Fusion that I believe will help students and adults engage in a daily reading plan that will take their walk with Christ to a deeper level. Because of this vision, I’ve created a reading plan that will help all of us to stay on track. I would love it if you picked one up and started it on Monday with the students. I’m challenging all of us to read one chapter a day, five days a week starting in the book of James. Very doable! If you need a Tri-Fold pick one up in the student center. If you are following this blog, just check here daily to see where we are going. This leads me to my next point!

    On Monday, September 13, 2010 I am going to start blogging right here what I have read each day. It follows along with the reading plan and I am doing it in hopes that this blog can be a source of encouragement and a place where students, leaders, and others can post comments about what they gained from the daily reading. Here is what the post will look like from me each day.

    1. I will write out the verse or passage that spoke to me from the daily reading.
    2. I will write an application as to how I will apply that verse/verses
    3. I will write a prayer asking God to give me the courage and power to apply this truth to my daily life.

    But that’s not all, I am challenging you to begin to journal your thoughts in a Journal, or here in a comment. Could you imagine how our ministry would look if all of our students and leaders took this serious and began to get in their Bibles in this way. Could you imagine the resource that could be created if we posted our learning’s on this blog page? It could inspire and challenge others to get into Gods Word. I don’t know about you, but this EXCITES ME!!!!

    Here is where I need your help … will you join me? Will you do this yourself, get your leaders in your group to do this, and encourage students to get involved in creating the Habit of spending time with God daily by reading His Word. I hope you will stack hands with me and be an active participant in this vision of getting people in the Word this year!!!

    Remember our challenge this year – BE the LEADER you want your students to BE!

    It’s going to be exciting! Are you IN?

  • Mark 6:7-13

    “And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil[a] spirits.” v. 7 (NLT)

    The Disciples were sent out in pairs.  Individually they could have reached more areas of the country, but this was not Christ’s plan.  The advantages in going out by twos include:

    1. They could strengthen each other.
    2. They could provide comfort in rejection.
    3. They could give each other discernment, and fewer mistakes would be made.
    4. They could stir each other to action as a counter to idleness or indifference.

    Our strength comes from God, but He meets many of our needs through teamwork with others.  As you serve Christ, don;t try it alone.  – NLT Life Application Study Bible

    Today: Who are you teaming with to share Christ with others?  Do you have someone that you can stack hands with so these 4 things can happen in your life?

    Prayer: Father, you have called us to be light in dark places, to share the hope of the Gospel with love and compassion.  But for some reason fear gets the best of us.  We fear what they might say, or what they might ask that we can’t answer.  Help us not to fear, but to trust that you will guide us and give us the power we need at the appropriate time,  whether it’s sharing with someone who is open to you and we are received with love, or sharing with someone who is closed to you and rejects you and persecutes us with words or action.  Regardless of the outcome, let us go with Boldness and Power that comes from you through the presence of the Holy Spirit.