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Three Essential Questions

After watching the message take some time reflect on the following three questions.  

1. What did you hear? What point in this message was most impactful for you?
2. What do you think? How did this message challenge, change, or affirm your thinking?
3. What will you do? How will you put into practice what you've learned today?

THREE KINDS OF SOUL DESERTS:

• WHEN THE HEAT TURNS UP
• WHEN YOUR HEART TURNS COLD
  
• WHEN YOU'RE GIVING OUT MORE THAN YOU'RE TAKING IN
   
  "O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand Psalm 63:1-8 (NIV)  
   
  "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if
  we do not give up." Galatians 6:9 (NIV)
  

Action Plan:  At the end of each day for the coming week, evaluate the balance in your day between what you are doing for your soul vs what you are doing for others. Is it balanced or is it one-sided?

• A DESERT IS GOD'S WAY OF GETTING YOUR ATTENTION
  
  "Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. In that day," declares the Lord, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master.' I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked . . . In that day I will respond," declares the Lord—"I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth; and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and oil, and they will respond to [my people]."     Hosea 2:14-23 (NIV)
  
• YOUR VALLEY IS NOT A DEAD END, IT'S A DOORWAY
   
  WHAT TO DO WHILE YOU'RE WAITING IN THE DESERT:
  

1. PREPARE TO MEET GOD THERE

"A voice of one calling: 'In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.'"  Isaiah 40:3-5 (NIV)

• WHEN GOD SEEMS SILENT IT'S BECAUSE HE IS LISTENING

Action Plan: This week, find time in your day to go for a walk or sit quietly in a park, and recite Isaiah 40:3-5 then sit and listen.  Finish this moment of quiet with a specific prayer of help.

2. START PLANTING SEEDS NOW

"The seed is the word of God . . . The seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and
good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop." Luke 8:11, 15 (NIV)

3. ELIMINATE UNNECESSARY DISTRACTIONS

"Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain."  Isaiah 40:4 (NIV)
 
Action Plan:  Before going to sleep this week, take a moment to quickly journal what you did throughout the day.  It will be hard to be honest, but try.  At the end of the week, group similar activities together and evaluate the time you spent doing activities that distract you from God.

4. SEARCH YOUR HEART FOR IDOLS

"I will remove the Baals from her lips. No longer will their names be invoked."  Hosea 2:17 (NIV)
 
"Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs."  Jonah 2:8 (NIV)
 
"They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves."  2 Kings 17:15 (NIV)
 
Action Plan:  Review your journal from Question 3 and look for hidden idols.  What steps do you need to take to eliminate them from your life?

5. SING TO THE LORD

"With singing lips my mouth will praise you . . . I sing in the shadow of your wings."   Psalm 63:5,7 (NIV)
 
"There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the days she came up out of Egypt."  Hosea 2:15 (NIV)

Weekly Action Steps

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