OK, I just lifted my head from my work today (writing a book and putting the finishing touches on our two upcoming schools in Thailand (Photojournalism and Content Creation for missions) and realized there were only 18 week’s left in the entire year.
This happens every year.
I putt along being busy, always busy, then on some day about 2/3 through the year, I realize how short the time is if I want to make this one a “significant” year. (Mid life does the same thing in a much more scary way, right?)
Jesus Quest
JQ is the most amazing thing I’ve been involved with all year. We’ve seen “old time Christians” revived in their faith and newbies grounded on their journey with Jesus.
So, I’d like to propose a challenge for you. I’m going to do a seven week Jesus Quest sprint via email blast and I really hope you’ll join and make it a priority. It may very well be the most important thing you’ll do all year.
How it’s Different
Jesus Quest is not a Bible study. It’s a guided group experience in Action Discipleship. That means we actually DO, not talk about, one practice of Jesus each week. It becomes our focus all week in our devotions and it is the ONE item on our daily to do list.
Hope you’re ready!
When will it Start?
More Good News! No waiting! Let’s start now.
Click the Video Below. Check the CHAT below all week for our ongoing reports on what Jesus is teaching all of us as we do his teachings.
We’re going to actually be disciples of Jesus, not just students of the Bible!
Jesus Quest Week One: Master Your Things
Here are the Prayer prompts for this week:
Spend 15 minutes each day before the Lord working your way through an honest conversation with the Holy Spirit to answer these questions. Then get up from your prayer time and take action. The point is to do the teachings and practices of Jesus, not just study them. If you will dedicate yourself to applying the ways of God to your own life, you will see tremendous progress in your life in just seven weeks.
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## Jesus Quest Week 1: Mastering Your Things - Let Jesus Help You Master Things
### Day 1: Mastering Things We Ingest - Food, Drink, Medicines, and Stimulants
**Scripture Reference:** 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
> "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies."
**Reflection:** Our bodies are a gift from God, and what we choose to ingest impacts our health and well-being. Jesus invites us to trust Him for health and healing rather than relying excessively on substances or fearing unhealthiness. When we view our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit, our consumption choices become acts of worship and stewardship.
**Prompts:**
1. How does viewing your body as a temple of the Holy Spirit change your perspective on what you choose to ingest?
2. Are there unhealthy habits or fears controlling your choices about what you eat, drink, or consume?
3. What substances—food, drink, medicines, or stimulants—might be hindering your physical health or spiritual well-being?
4. Are there habits of hoarding, overeating, or over-relying on medications that may indicate a need to trust God more for your health and safety?
5. Do you over-medicate? What does that say about you?
6. Do you celebrate and honor your experience of eating good meals, savoring your meals and focusing on the power of a shared meal to build relationships?
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### Day 2: Trust in God's Provision - Houses, Clothing, and Resources
**Scripture Reference:** Matthew 6:25-26, 31-33
> "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ... So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
**Reflection:** God provides all of us daily with all that we need—our homes, clothing, and resources. Today is an opportunity to release what no longer serves us, freeing our hearts and minds for the new days to come. It is also a time to celebrate the lifetime provision promised from our Father. We can live in peace, confident that our needs will always be met.
**Prompts:**
1. Despite all the blessings in your life, is there any poverty mindset still living in you that contradicts Jesus' teaching about God's provision?
2. Is your space cluttered by too many possessions? Do you have an obsessive need to continually buy more things?
3. Do you have expensive possessions that make you feel a trace of arrogance or superiority over others?
4. Do you live in conscious gratitude for the level of house, clothing, and transportation you own?
5. What possessions or attachments do you need to give away as a surrender to Jesus today?
6. What fears about your needs can you release to Jesus today, trusting in His promise to provide?
7. Is there something in your home, closet, or life that you need to declutter or give away?
8. Is there anything you need to burn, donate, or destroy because of its hold on you?
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### Day 3: Mastering Technology and Tools - Especially Mobile Devices
**Scripture Reference:** 1 Corinthians 10:23-24
> "'I have the right to do anything,' you say—but not everything is beneficial. 'I have the right to do anything'—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others."
**Reflection:** There's never been a tool greater than the mobile phone. It can do seemingly anything! As with all things, this amazing tool has become a major source of bondage to children of God around the world, causing anxiety, depression, and becoming a gateway to materialism and harmful content. Disciples must take a serious look at the outsized role their phone has in their life and ask whether this tool is truly serving God's purposes.
**Prompts:**
1. How does Paul's teaching about beneficial versus permissible apply to your relationship with technology and tools?
2. How often do you check your phone without a specific reason, and what do you feel when you can't check it?
3. Can you go a full day without using your phone, like putting it in a box for 24 hours? If not, what stops you?
4. Do you feel anxious, restless, or incomplete when your phone is out of reach or turned off?
5. How much of your phone use is purposeful (e.g., work, learning, connecting meaningfully) versus mindless scrolling or habit?
6. Have you ever missed out on in-person moments—like conversations or experiences—because you were focused on your phone?
7. Do you use your phone right before bed or first thing in the morning? How might this affect your connection with God?
8. If someone asked you to turn off your phone for a day each week as a spiritual discipline, how would that idea make you feel, and why?
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### Day 4: Things Believed to Have Value in Themselves - Status, Luck, and Security
**Scripture Reference:** Matthew 19:21-22
> "Jesus answered, 'If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.' When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth."
**Reflection:** Some possessions we hold onto not for their practical use, but because we believe they bring us confidence, status, luck, or security. These items can become idols that compete with our trust in God. Jesus challenged the rich young ruler to examine what truly had value in his life, and He asks us the same question today.
**Prompts:**
1. Like the rich young ruler, what possessions or status symbols might be keeping you from fully following Jesus?
2. Do you have anything that you feel brings you confidence, status, or luck apart from God?
3. Are there possessions you use to impress others or establish your identity?
4. Do you hold onto any objects or charms believing they will bring you luck or protect you from harm? How does relying on these affect your trust in God's protection and sovereignty?
5. If Jesus challenged you as He did the rich young ruler to abandon 100% of your possessions and come follow Him with only the clothes on your body, what fears or feelings might emerge?
6. Does having extra finances make you feel more secure than trusting in God's provision?
7. How would your life change if you truly trusted the Father to be your 100% provision and security from cradle to grave? What fears would melt away?
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### Day 5: Gratitude and Stewardship - Celebrating God's Provision
**Scripture Reference:** 1 Timothy 6:17-19
> "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."
**Reflection:** God has richly provided us with everything for our enjoyment, but He calls us to hold these gifts with open hands. True mastery over our things comes not from accumulating more, but from recognizing God as the source of all provision and using what we have been given to bless others and advance His kingdom.
**Prompts:**
1. If you've ever bought a book, that action alone places you in the top half of all humans, financially. Do you feel rich? Why or why not?
2. How does Paul's instruction to "put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment" change your perspective on your possessions?
3. How often do you thank God for the amazing way He has always provided for you?
4. How do you need to change to be "rich in good deeds" and "generous and willing to share" what God has given you?
5. What would it look like to hold your possessions with open hands, ready to use them for God's purposes?
6. What is God telling you to give away this week?
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