(This is a many-week series. I will just edit this post each week and add the notes for that particular week. I'll work hard to do it in a timely manner. So, please keep checking back.....)
We are on a chase for the “wild goose,” but it’s not a fruitless or unnecessary chase like the term has been used for in the past. I googled the term and it says a wild goose chase is a hopeless quest. To the contrary the wild goose chase is of the utmost importance!! The “wild goose” is the Holy Spirit (that’s the name the Celtic Christians gave to Him).
I am typing out my notes for you to enjoy. These are from a class I am taking at my church on Wednesday nights. Our Worship/Associate Pastor, Greg Lemley, is teaching the series of classes. The classes are based on the book Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson
Week 1:
Who is the Wild Goose?
1. The Holy Spirit is a Person (not a force or an it)
2. The Holy Spirit has a Name and a Purpose (Comforter—One called alongside to help).
Four Elements of the Holy Spirit’s Personality:
1. Intellect (1 Cor. 2:11; Rom 8:26-27) He knows the thoughts of God and God’s will.
2. Feelings (Eph. 4:30) He can be grieved.
3. Will (1 Cor. 12:11) He has a plan and gives the gifts of the Spirit.
4. Actions (Acts 13:2) He speaks, testifies, convicts, intercedes, guides into truth, reveals God’s word.
In today’s world, we are given so many things and everything is much easier than it used to be. Therefore, we don’t want to have to do hard work or search for anything. We want everything handed to us. The Holy Spirit does not work that way. He is mysterious. He cannot be trapped or trained. When you go hunting, you spend a long time preparing for the hunt. We must prepare ourselves through repentance if we want to find the Holy Spirit. If you lose focus during the hunt or get distracted you may totally miss what you are hunting for. The same goes for the Holy Spirit. Keep your focus on seeking the Lord and living a repentant life, don’t get distracted by life and discontinue the search.
The Holy Spirit does not necessarily operate in a logical manner. Isaiah 55:8-9 says….”For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways…”
We must SEEK to FIND the Holy Spirit.
Week 2: (I was holding a sleeping Caleb and Sandy took notes for me. Sorry, I don’t have any elaboration from this week.)
Living A Life of Spiritual Adventure
The Holy Spirit is a Divine Person (Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14) He is part of the three-in-one God!
The Holy Spirit Bears the Attributes of God
1. He is eternal
2. He is omniscient—all-knowing (John 16:12-13)
3. He is omnipotent
4. He is omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-10)
The Holy Spirit Also Does The Works of God
1. He is involved in creation (Genesis 1:2)
2. He is involved in regeneration (Psalm 104:30; Ezekiel 36:26-27; John 20:21-22)
3. He is involved in Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16)
4. He is involved in resurrection (Romans 8:11)
Symbols of the Spirit
1. Wind
a. Hebrew word is Ruach
b. Greek word is pneuma
c. John 3:8
2. Water (John 7:37-38)
3. Oil (Luke 4:18)
4. Dove (Luke 3:22)
5. Seal (Ephesians 1:13)
At some point during this class, I remember someone mentioning that the clearest possible medium for sound is flame! Wow! Remember Moses and the burning bush???
Week 3:
Caged Christians: The Cage of Responsibility
Have churches done to people what zoos do to animals? Have churched tried to tame Christians in the name of Christ?
“Every man dies, but not every man really lives!” William Wallace Braveheart
Lesser responsibilities overtake the important.
All of us were born and all of us will die.
Our day-to-day responsibilities numb us to the possibilities around us and the passions within us.
We’ve become cages with the bars of ‘things to do’.
Matthew 8:21-22
21Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
22But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
We must count the cost of following Jesus. We turn our responsibilities into excuses and lose great opportunities.
Responsible irresponsibility means refusing to allow our human responsibilities to get in the way of pursuing the passions God puts in our heart.
Do I let my day-to-day responsibilities drown out my passions. My greatest responsibility is to Jesus Christ.
A Biblical example of ‘responsible irresponsibility’ is Nehemiah. He was the cupbearer for the king. I’m sure that he did not have much skills in building a wall. But, he was willing to be used by God to rebuild the wall.
God often uses us at our point of greatest incompetence. Don’t let what you can’t do keep you from doing what you can in Him. He’ll let me be a vessel in the areas that ‘I can’t’. Will I let Him?
Responsibilities are the ‘cage’ that keeps us from chasing the Wild Goose. Am I being responsible about the right things--the God-ordained passions that He’s put within me?
Week 4:
The Cage of Routine
When the sacred becomes routine, we miss the adventure of the Wild Goose.
List some of the routines in your life:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
EXODUS 3--Moses and the Burning Bush
1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up."
4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!"
And Moses said, "Here I am."5 "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." 6 Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7 The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."
11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
12 And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you aan]">[a] will worship God on this mountain."
13 Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"
14 God said to Moses, "I am who I am . b]">[b] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "
15 God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, c]">[c] the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.
16 "Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.'
18 "The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.' 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.
21 "And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. 22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians."
God can show up any place, any time and turn your life into a Wild Goose Chase.
We call them "divine appointments."
If you let routine rule your life, you'll never get where the Wild Goose wants you to go!
Exodus 3:4 (NLT) - "When the Lord saw that He had caught Moses' attention, God called to him from the bush, 'Moses! Moses!'"Do you see how God has to "get" our attention? Will it take something so extraordinary for me?
Without routine, life can be chaotic. Here's the Catch 22: Once a routine becomes a routine, you need to disrupt it.
God doesn't want to be lip-sinced. He wants to be worshipped!
Sacred routines become empty rituals.
One of the greatest dangers we face spiritually is learning how and forgetting why!
How To Maintain Discipline While Changing Up The Routine:
1. Read a new translation
2. Start a fast
3. Keep a journal
4. Change your pace (speed up or slow down)
5. Change your place.
Mark 1:35 -- "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed."
Luke 5:16 -- "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."
When you change your pace and your place, you usually get a change of perspective!
The Wild Goose chase isn't just about getting to a particular destination; it's about enjoying the journey!
The Wild Goose keeps things crazy!
I like to say that He (the Wild Goose) keeps me stirred up! He does this when I let Him move in different ways in my life. He's doing that right now and I'm so thankful that He's stirring me. He's sifting me, too. That Refiner's Fire is pulling all the yuck to the surface.
What about you? Are you willing to let Him stir you, move you, get you out of routine?
The Cage of Assumptions
Please forgive me, Lord for letting my assumptions cage You in. I'm sorry for thinking that if You worked in a certain way last time, You will work in that exact same way today. Or, if You did not seem to move in a situation before, that You won't move in my situation today. Forgive me for assuming that You cannot be creative and do a new thing. Your Word says that Your mercies are new every morning and great is Your faithfulness. Your Word is full of the "new" things that You will do. Never let me forget that. I don't want to cage You in again. I want to always be expectant as I wait and watch for the 'new' thing that You will do--every single day! I trust You, Lord. Please open my eyes to see the 'new' things that You want to show me. In Jesus' Name, amen.
We miss the adventure of chasing the Wild Goose when we trust our assumptions more than we trust God.
8 FOOT CEILINGS
Gen. 15:1-6
Notice that God took Abraham outside. Why did God take Abraham outside?
God had to take Abraham out of his surroundings, so He could change Abraham's outlook by moving him out of his comfort zone. The ceiling was hiding the promise God wanted Abraham to see.
Are there any ceilings in your life? Anything that's keeping you from getting a panoramic view of God's promises?
We lose perspective when we lose sight of the promises of God.
Write down 3 promises of God from Scripture that you need to pull into your sight; that you need to remove the ceiling from.
Our biggest problem is that we don't think God is bigger than our biggest problem.
We reduce God to the size of our biggest problem.
CHALLENGING ASSUMPTIONS
Children don't make assumptions. They swim in the seas of possibilities.
Unfortunately, at some point in our lives, most of us stop asking questions and start making assumptions.
Romans 4:18-21
Faith is not logical. But it isn't illogical, either. Faith is theological.
Logic questions God. Faith questions assumptions.
What 8 ft. ceilings have you placed on God? What promises have you given up on? What assumptions are keeping you caged?
3 COMMON ASSUMPTIONS
1. I'm too old (Job 12:12).
2. I'm too young (1 Tim. 4:12).
3. I'm not ready (John 2:1-11).
Am I allowing who I am (one of the three things above) to keep me from being who I can be?
Last laugh......Read Genesis 21:1-7.
God followed through on His promise to Abraham and Sarah. He did it in a totally 'new' way.
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