INSIGHTS

Face to Face
Session 4–Walk With me

BASIC INSIGHTS

The following information is simply some basic information to help you get students thinking about the
question, “I’ve spent time with God, now what?” and to drive home this one truth: Practice the presence of
Christ throughout your day.

Note: An expanded version of Insights begins on the next page.

1. Realize that God is always with you.

> Joshua 1:9. Joshua needed God’s encouragement as he stepped into the leadership role of God’s people.
> Notice that God didn’t spell out every detail of what the Israelites would face, He just reminded Joshua that
He would be with regardless. Because of God’s presence, Joshua had the foundation to be a fearless, strong,
and courageous leader.
> Know that as you get up from your quiet time with God and move into your day, you don’t leave Him at
the table or by the bed, His presence goes with you throughout the day.

2. Keep a running conversation with God.

> 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Our prayer life with Him is not several segmented conversations that take place
individually. Our prayer life with Him is one continuous conversation.
> That verse does not mean that we are to be constantly uttering prayers to God verbally without stopping.
It does not mean that we should cease our conversation with everyone else on earth and communicate
solely with God. Instead, Paul is suggesting that our communication with God should be something that is
open ended.
> Our prayer life with God is not several segmented conversations that take place individually. Our prayer
life with Him is one continuous conversation.
> When you spend your quality time with God, you will find that your relationship with Him will mold and
shape itself into a constant awareness of His presence in your life.

3. Live out what you read in the Bible.

> James 1:22-25. James encouraged his readers to “doers” of the word, not just “hearers.”
> If you hear the Word and don’t do it, it’s like just glancing at yourself in a mirror and walking away,
forgetting what you saw. That’s not the intention of the mirror. The mirror is intended for us to look at intently
to be able to see the dirt we need to wash off, or the hair we need to get in place.
> The Scripture is not something we are to give a casual glance to and then go our own way. We are to stare
into it intently, allowing God to point out what we need to do to better reflect Him in our lives.
> Starring intently into God’s Word means letting it impact all areas of our lives.
 EXPANDED INSIGHTS
The following information is simply some basic information to help you get students thinking about the
question, “I’ve spent time with God, now what?” and to drive home this one truth: Practice the presence of
Christ throughout your day.

INTRODUCE THE TOPIC

We have spent the past few weeks talking about spending quality time with God. We have talked about what
the nature of our hearts should be when we are spending time with God, and what time spent with God
should look like. We even discussed some strategies that would help us side step a few landmines that might
prevent us from getting the most out of our quality time with God.

But what is all of this extra time with God leading to? Is there an inherent benefit to spending this kind of
time with God, or am I doing it just because He said I should? Well, yes, to both. Let’s not kid ourselves into
thinking that everyone who spends a certain amount of time with God and does his best to maintain a habit
of spending time with Him will find a secret formula for a physical, material world pay-off. What this person
will find, however, is a balanced approach to life designed by the Creator of life.

Look at if from a different angle with something completely non-spiritual. Imagine that NASA has called and
they have elected you to be the first student leader in space. You have dreamt of this chance your whole life
and cannot believe that it is finally going to happen. You are flown to the Kennedy Space Center to begin
your aerospace training for your solo flight, but instead of being greeted by rocket designers and veteran
astronauts, you are greeted by former space monkeys. You know, the monkeys they send into space to test
the biological effects of space travel on living beings. Now which would you rather have training you—the
guy who designed the rocket, or the monkey who has to be sedated before take-off?

God has given us instructions in His Word about how to best live our lives. And those instructions clearly
state that we live best when we live in a relationship with God, His Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Today we
are going to wrap up by discussing what happens after we have learned how to spend quality time with our
Friend, God.

POINTS TO FOCUS ON

1. Realize that God is always with you.

Talk about God showing up in a God-sized way – just look at the story of Joshua. God didn’t just barge into
this story; He had been there all along. Joshua had seen God perform so many great miracles. Joshua had
stood on God’s side when others wouldn’t, and he had experienced the positive aspects of being on the
obedience side of the Most Holy God. But still, human doubt and insecurities can set in quickly – especially
when you’re in a leadership position.

God, however, in His infinite wisdom and mercy – always knows what to say and how to encourage. Look at
his words to Joshua:

Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your
God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

God asked this rhetorical question because He knew well that Joshua would be comforted and reminded of all
the many times that God had come through for Him before and how this time would not be different. Joshua
needed this encouragement as he stepped into the leadership role of God’s people. They had come to the
edge of the Promised Land and now it was time to move across the Jordan and actually begin taking the land.
There were certainly lots of uncertainties and questions about what would face them as they moved across.
Notice that God didn’t spell out every detail of what they would face, He just reminded Joshua that He would
be with regardless. Because of God’s presence, Joshua had the foundation to be a fearless, strong, and
courageous leader. In the following verses and chapters we see Joshua confidently commanding his troops.
Not suggesting. Not hinting. We see him leading with the confidence of God paving the way for him. Isn’t it
extraordinary that subtle and simple encouragement from God can yield significant, God-sized, Kingdom
results for His purpose?

Joshua is only one of many biblical characters who had a strong relationship with God. It is always
encouraging to look back at some of these great men and realize just how incredibly ordinary they were. It
doesn’t take long to realize that most of the guys really had nothing special going for them; they were just
willing to listen and spend time with God.

Take David for example. We looked at some of his writings the past few weeks, but we haven’t discussed
maybe his most famous story of killing the giant, Goliath. As the youngest of all his brothers, David’s
insignificant responsibility was tending to the family sheep. This young man with no military training or
experience had more faith in His God than the most dedicated soldier of his day. It was this extraordinary
faith and relationship to God that gave him triumph as a less than ordinary guy.

Take your pick of any biblical character that was victorious for the glory of God and the commonality among
all of them will be their relationship with God. These men walked with God and talked to God. They adored
Him, praised Him, and worshiped Hi—with their words and with their lives. And God walked with them. He
listened to them, received their worship, and guided their actions in ways that glorified His name and set the
right life path for them. They were far from perfect, but had their hearts and minds focused on Him so that
He could work through them and their imperfections.

As you continue your habit of spending time with God, and lead students to do the same, allow the truth that
God is always with you to sink into your spirit. Know that as you get up from your quiet time with Him and
move into your day, you don’t leave Him at the table or by the bed, His presence goes with you throughout
the day.

2. Keep a running conversation with God.

The church Paul had started in Thessalonica on his second missionary journey did not happen without some
extreme controversy. In fact, the opposition to Paul’s teaching about Christianity became so strong that he
had to slip away from the city under the cover of darkness (Acts 17:10). Paul traveled about 50 miles away,
but was tracked down by some of the Jews from Thessalonica so he had to travel another 250 miles to
Athens. It was here that he would wait for Silas and Timothy.

It was under these extreme conditions that Paul wrote to the Thessalonians. With such strong opposition to
the teachings of Jesus, the Messiah, it must have been very tempting for them to turn their backs on the
truths revealed to them by Paul and go back to their old ways. Understanding these circumstances make it
easy to understand why Paul instructed them to “pray constantly” in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

That verse does not mean, however, that we are to be constantly uttering prayers to God verbally without
stopping. It does not mean that we should cease our conversation with everyone else on earth and
communicate solely with God. Instead, Paul is suggesting that our communication with God should be
something that is open ended. We all sit in some type of public prayer on a weekly basis, and when we hear
someone else lead a prayer it almost always ends with “Amen.” The only time this doesn’t happen (usually)
is when a group of people gathered believers has people taking turns praying in the group. We reserve the
“amen” for that last person who is what?.... “CLOSING” in prayer! What a contradiction to what Paul says!

That last person praying in the group should not “close” the prayer with any word. Sure, he or she might end
a prayer by saying, “amen,” but according to Paul, it’s not over after that. The line is still open. The modem is
still connected. The door is still ajar. When we “close” in prayer, the only thing we should be closing is that
particular meeting together. We do not hang up on God so we can walk to the parking lot and get in our cars
to leave; after all, He is walking to the car with us. Instead, each person in that meeting walks away and God
is still on the line because He wants us to “pray constantly.” The prayer is not over because our prayer life
with Him is not several segmented conversations that take place individually. Our prayer life with Him is one
continuous conversation.

Students and adults seem to always get a chuckle out of this verse by asking, “Well, what about when you’re
driving your car? If you close your eyes to pray will God keep you on the road?” Though somewhat
humorous, that’s just poor interpretation of the Scriptures (not to mention that it assumes you have to close
your eyes to pray). Paul spoke such a truth to the Thessalonians and to us in that short verse.
When you spend your quality time with God, you will find that your relationship with Him will mold and shape
itself into a constant awareness of His presence in your life. You will not feel alone, and you will not feel
defeated. God’s presence on your life will be strong, and you will find yourself living the “pray constantly”
command in verse 7 without even trying to do so consciously.

3. Live out what you read in the Bible.

The entire book of James could be summed up by placing it in a “put up or shut up” category of Scripture.
Since it may be awhile before the theological community embraces that category, we may have to simply
discuss it as a book dedicated to Christian living. No matter how you think of it though, it is an excellent book
geared toward the big pay-off of spending quality time with God. James wrote this book to a Jewish audience
that was scattered in different communities. Being the half brother of Jesus, James was initially a skeptic of
Christ (John 7:3-5). It is interesting given this understanding that James would transition to such a solid faith
in Jesus as to write this Epistle that speaks to living like his half-brother, the Messiah.

Let’s look at an excerpt from James:

But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the
word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his own face in a mirror; for he looks at himself, goes away,
and right away forgets what kind of man he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of
freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who acts—this person will be blessed in
what he does. James 1:22-25

James’ message in chapter one is very clear as he spoke to the actions one should take having read the
Word. To “be doers of the word and not hearers only” would have spoken loudly to that Jewish community.
James is probably writing this not very long after the resurrection of Christ, so the church is still very young.
He encouraged these Jewish Christians to take action on the things of Christ. He encouraged them to abide
by these teachings and not just listen to them.

He also mentioned in verse 23 that if anyone is only a “hearer” and not a “doer,” that “he is like a man
looking at his own face in a mirror.” If you hear the word and don’t do it, it’s like just glancing at yourself in a
mirror and walking away, forgetting what you saw. That’s not the intention of the mirror. The mirror is
intended for us to look at intently to be able to see the dirt we need to wash off, or the hair we need to get in
place. The Scripture is not something we are to give a casual glance to and then go our own way. We are to
stare into it intently, allowing God to point out what we need to do to better reflect Him in our lives. We see
whether or not our actions reflect the teachings of Christ. We see whether or not our prayer lives are
constant and continuous. We see if our reactions to life circumstances resemble Christ’s reactions. And we
see a host of other insight about how our lives are reflecting not just what we believe, but what God has
planned for us. James encouraged his readers to look closely at themselves in the mirror of God’s Word to
see if they looked like Christians.

One of the greatest side effects of spending quality time with God is that the things that are important to
God become important to you. There is an old saying about no dirt being able to pass through the mind
where a little dust will not settle. What that means is that if something filthy goes through your mind, some
of the dirt is going to settle in and stay right there—in your mind. The same is true for the good things that
we put into our minds. When we begin to spend quality time with God, we will be filling our minds and hearts
with the things that God finds glorious, holy, and good. Those holy thoughts will give way in our lives to holy
actions and make unholy things seem less important and less tempting.

One thing to remember, however, is how much the enemy will attack you once you begin making these
great strides in your Christian walk. Satan loves nothing more than pushing believers away from their quiet
times and making other things seem more enticing. He will do all he can to interfere with the time you have
set aside to spend with God.

Another thing to have in the front of your mind is how you will respond to others who are not on the same
journey as you. There is an incredible danger among teenagers and adults who begin forming a close
relationship with Jesus Christ. As they begin to spend more and more quality time with Him, their lives begin
to take on a shape that looks more like Jesus than it does them. Sure – that’s great news. The only problem is
that others who are not spending the same time with God are not having the same great spiritual victories of
conquering sin in their lives or looking like anything resembling Jesus.

That fact in itself can set up the believer who is closer to Christ to be less tolerant of the person who is not
walking closely with Him. This happened to a teenage girl I know, a senior, who as a result of spending more
and more quality time with God became convicted that she needed to remove other things from her life – not
“bad” things – just things that were taking her focus off of Jesus. She began changing the way she talked,
changing the way she dressed, and even broke up with her boyfriend of two years so she could focus on
Jesus instead of boys. Wow! Talk about a life change!

The only problem with her new found standard of Christian living is that no one in her school could
understand it. Not even her “Christian friends.” The result for this young lady was that she found herself
feeling alone in her world; she felt as if she was doing her best to live as Christ, and it left her with an utter
disgust of her Christian friends that were not living for Him at all. Do you wonder if Jesus felt the same way
while He was on the earth that this senior girl felt at school?

I wonder how many times Jesus was frustrated with the people He was teaching or the people that He healed
because they went right back to the things that got them in trouble in the first place. I wonder how many
times He got frustrated that His disciples, the people closest to Him, could not look objectively at His
message because of their own spiritual immaturity. How frustrating it must have been for Jesus to deal with
people.

As we close this unit, reflect on the past few weeks of getting in the habit to spend quality time with God.
Think about the strategies that you have adopted and are continuing to adopt as your spiritual journey to
have a closer relationship with God takes shape. You will find that spending that time with Him, realizing that
He is always with you, and praying constantly to Him will have you living out those actions for Him and His
glory in your everyday life.

KNOWN Insights is published quarterly by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Item Number 005160006.
ISSN Pending. © 2008 LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Published in the United States of America.
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