SESSION SUMMARY

God is at work today reconciling a lost world to Himself through His Son Jesus Christ. God invites you to be involved with Him. When you obey, He accomplishes His work through you in such a way that you and those around you know God has been at work. When you experience God working in and through you, you come to know Him more fully. As Jesus said, “This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and the One You have sent—Jesus Christ” (John 17:3). You come to know Him as you experience Him in your life.

Despite the glorious opportunity we enjoy to experience close fellowship with God, we all have a tendency to depart from that relationship in various ways: through worldly distractions, by carelessness in our spiritual lives, and by a deliberate choice to walk away from God. Evidence that we have drifted from God includes: not hearing from God anymore, a loss of joy, an absence of spiritual fruit in our life, and a loss of victory. To prevent this from happening, you should diligently guard your heart; surround yourself with people who will hold you accountable; fervently seek to love God with all your heart, mind, and soul; and make it a practice to immediately obey whatever God tells you.

And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our meeting, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

• What stood out or impacted you from the chapters?
• Are you presently waiting on the Lord to fulfill His word to you in some way? How do you spend your time waiting?
• What is something God has accomplished through your life? How did people witness God's activity as He worked through you? How have you given glory to God for what He did?
• Take a moment to consider any evidence in your life that you have wandered from your love relationship with God. Are you regularly hearing God speak to you? Is your life filled with the joy of the Lord? Are you seeing spiritual fruit in your life? Are you experiencing victory?
• Are you presently loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? If you are not, what might you do today to rekindle your love for God?
• Do you have people in your life who feel free to share their concerns with you when they see you departing from your love relationship with God? If not, what might you do to enlist a friend to help guard your heart?

EXPERIENCING GOD TODAY 

God longs for you to desire Him and His ways. Read the following prayer from the psalmist and make it your own. Ask the Lord to lead and guide you in all His ways for His glory.

“Teach me, LORD, the meaning of Your statutes, and I will always keep them. Help me understand Your instruction, and I will obey it and follow it with all my heart. Help me stay on the path of Your commands, for I take pleasure in it.” (Ps. 119:33-35) 

Reflect on your walk with God. Is it more vibrant and powerful now than it has ever been? Or has something been lost? If you sense you are not walking with God as closely as you once did, ask the Holy Spirit to alert you to any areas where you have been guilty of departing from God. Return to Him quickly and wholeheartedly.

*This content is a condensed and consolidated version ends of chapters 19 and 20. This is in no way original content to Fellowship Greenville. This content is from the book Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby, Richard Blackaby, and Claude King (copyright 2008). We are thankful for the use of the content and the impact it has had.