Tyler West

#Struggles “Rediscover REST”

“Did I lock the car door?” “What was I supposed to do at 3pm tomorrow?” “That meeting is going to be great…unless it isn’t…Oh Lord what if it isn’t?” “I wonder what she/he is up to?” “One more level and then I have to go to bed” These are some questions we are struggle with…some more than others! How many of these questions involve technology late at night? And the harder we try to get work done it seems like the less we actually get done! We are overwhelmed, frazzled and frenzied! How do we actually find rest?

Genesis 2:1-3    Hebrews 4:1-11

• Realize Our REST Is DISRUPTED
  • God created the earth and instituted rest. Not because He was tired, but to institute the joy of work being complete. He gave us rest to enjoy His creation and we were able to until we sinned in the Garden. Sin alone (disobedience) withholds us from entering into to God’s rest. Instead…we find ways to fill our live(s) with activities or laziness to fill our rest instead of enjoying all of God’s creation and all He made us to be. We end up having all we think we need and yet never feel satisfied.
• In CHRIST Our REST Is RESTORED
  • Because sin separates us from God we can’t enter into His rest unless sin was defeated. In Christ alone our sin has been defeated. It is His work that allows us to be free from sin and we now have the opportunity to enter into true rest with God. With Christ we not only get to enjoy eternity but the here & now. We now get to enjoy every one of the other 6 days because we have entered into the rest of the 7^th…not we have labored the other 6 days so now we rest. We start from rest not from labor!
• RHYTHMS of REST in OBEDIENCE Bring JOY
  • The hardest part about rest is we have to actually schedule it in our current world. We live in a world that is constantly engaged and constantly stimulated. The once rapid 24hour news cycles has now turned in what feels like the 24 minute news cycle. There’s always something to do, some feed to scroll through. Yet, when we set aside time to rest in the Lord…rest in His power….rest in His work…the fruits of the Labor are so much more sweet and last far beyond us!

Take Away:
Is “stillness” even something you want? What would you give up to get it? Why might you avoid being still?

What steps will you take to “do your best to enter into His rest”?

Interested in More About Our Thursday Night Bible Study: CLICK HERE
Find Out How You Play a Part to #JoinSpartanburg: CLICK HERE

#Struggles “CAREless”

You’re running late for work…you pass a car broke down & see a family stranded on the side of the road. “There’s plenty of cars around…surely someone else will stop…I am late after all”. You make it to work 3 minutes late (thankful no one noticed). At lunch you notice someone at the front holding up a long line of folks digging for change to pay for their order—“Surely they brought money in before they came…I’m going to be late getting back to work for lunch”. That person walks out of the store empty handed. The day is almost over…one stop at the grocery store to grab one more thing to make dinner just right. You see a man put a can of soup in his jacket—“Why is he stealing…there on sale 3/$1 after all”. This can be a picture of what we see every day. All around us are others at their lowest, but do we see them or do we just walk past them and move on? It’s easy to do, but as we grow to be like Jesus what did He do to not be CAREless and how can we do the same?

1 John 3:16-18  Luke 8:40-48

• Compassion REQUIRES ACTION (1 John 3:16-18)
  • The hardest thing about making a difference is when the rubber meets the road. It’s one thing to talk about making a big impact and other to live a life that makes a big impact! The latter requires action!
  • With the rise in Social Media the body is actually changing. Studies are showing that the brain releases more dopamine (which can lead to addiction) in individuals who are involved with Social Media. In a Selfie Centered world the body is actually rewarding itself by promoting itself on Social Media.
• Compassion INTERUPTS (Luke 8:40-44)
  • Jesus was on His way to get some rest and the crowds “overwhelmed” Him and yet 2 people interrupted His path from one place to the next. Isn’t that crazy…of all of the people there 2 people interrupted Jesus & they were able to encounter Him!
  • In our world we have so much information it’s hard to process tragedy…especially on a timeline. It goes from happiness and sadness to tragedy and back to happiness. We can move on quickly without having to feel. Compassion helps us to see the blessings in interruptions.
• Compassion COSTS (Luke 8:45-46)
  • Jesus shows us here that it will costs us to be compassionate about others. In this whole story the woman who touched Jesus’ cloak was healed and Jarius’ daughter was brought back from the dead!
  • It’s so easy to have a feel good story by clicking like or a link instead of actually caring about the individual. Look at recent tragedy(ies) and how easily folks can get behind them and yet when the next tragedy strikes everyone moves to that one instead of actually walking with others through the tragedy (and it’s aftermath). That costs time…and yet it’s one of the biggest reward there is to give someone your time.
• Compassion CHANGES LIVES (Luke 8:47-48)
  • At the end of the story, the woman was not only healed she was able to talk with Jesus and learn that her faith that He is who He says He is lead to her being healed. Imagine what she did after that…TELL EVERYBODY! The impact was greater than just that moment!
  • The craziest thing about compassion is that it not only changes the lives of those around you but in turn changes yours. When you talk to someone who is a mentor or coach one of the most often used phrases is that “They have taught me more than I could have ever taught them”

Take Away:

• Everyone think of something you feel bad about not feeling bad about. Then, take turns finishing the sentence, “I couldn’t care less about _____.”
• Who is someone you love who could really use some actual care this week? What will you do to reach out to them?

Interested in More About Our Thursday Night Bible Study: CLICK HERE
Find Out How You Play a Part to #JoinSpartanburg: CLICK HERE

#Struggles “Authenticity”

Halloween is such a fun time of year! We always tell our children to stay away from strangers and not to just go with someone because they offer you candy…yet on this one day a year we let our children knock on strangers doors and accept candy! How confusing :D? But honestly, isn’t it fun to dress up to look like someone else and get rewarded for it? We have best costume, scariest costume, best couples costume, theme costume and on & on. But Nov. 1^st always comes and the masks have to come off. Yet in our day to day we get stuck so much in keeping the masks on trying to get rewarded for being everything but our true selves. So how do we get past the mask?

Exodus 34:29-35   2 Corinthians 3:13-18
What Mask(s) are you wearing?

• Your Mask COVERS More Than YOUR FACE (2 Corinthians 3:13-15)
  • Paul is referencing Moses’ mask here, but we can miss the point of Moses wearing the mask until it’s unpacked here. Moses wasn’t trying to hide that he had been talking with God, but was actually hiding everyone from seeing God’s radiance hide from his face.
  • How do other’s react when we put our masks on? Do they fall in love more with what your mask represents or you? What if I take the mask off and they don’t like what they see? There is power in the mask…but somehow we can get lost in our masks. When we do we live out our masks covering more than our face…it covers our hearts and hides who we truly are. Israel was stuck in the same time frame—the veil (mask) is still covering their hearts because they have missed that Jesus has torn the veil for them to have a relationship with God!
• Don’t Be AFRAID to live UNFILTERED (2 Corinthians 3:16-18)
  • Paul describes here what happens when we take the mask off and accept Jesus for who He is as our Savior. Israel is stuck in the Law of Moses that came off of Mt. Saini in trying to earn their way to God instead of just accepting Jesus for who He is!
  • When we accept Jesus for who He is & remove the mask of sin in our lives we have freedom. Instead we get to live unfiltered free lives in Christ…not lives of works to be perfect, but lives understanding we aren’t perfect but get to be perfected by Jesus alone. Focus on listening to Jesus and doing what He says…not your follows & likes!

We’ve been focusing on the mask you wear and how it specifically affects how others see you, but can you really see others for who they are when you wear the mask? Or are you more concerned with what will happen when the mask falls off? Think of that and how the mask in your life hold you from the freedom Christ died to give you. Live the unfiltered unmasked life & be all Christ made you to be!

Take Away:

• What mask are you wearing? What efforts do you take to pre-plan conversations? What are some situations where you find yourself showing “the me I want you to see”?
• What step can you take to challenge yourself to be authentic this week? If all of your ideas are within social media and not in real life, what will you do to challenge yourself to open up in person?

Interested in More About Our Thursday Night Bible Study: CLICK HERE
Find Out How You Play a Part to #JoinSpartanburg: CLICK HERE

#Struggles “Friend”

We all want to fit in, be liked and have a group of folks we feel accepted with. Every superhero we dream of still has one or two folks in his/her life that they trust with their secret. Relationships require work and intentional effort from all involved to make it work…otherwise it falls apart. Often though, we get caught up more in being accepted by others than being in a relationship with others. It leaves shallow relationships that don’t stand the test of time but fall apart from a tweet, snap or status update. Technology connects us from the world apart; however, when it’s used in substation for relationship it leads to an addiction to instant gratification/acceptance, be more connected yet more lonely and in a place of shallow superficial friendships instead of ones that walk through life’s circumstances together.

Acts 15:36-41  2 Timothy 4:9-18
So how can we practically define, and live out, “Friend” more than just likes/favorites on a page?

• BE PRESENT
  • In Acts we can see the very highly debated first Church split…Barnabas takes John Mark and Paul takes Silas. Barnabas, meaning Son of Encouragement, was the one who took Paul under his wing when he returned from his conversion on the way to Damascus. The rest of the Church only remembered murderous Saul, not changed Paul. And, that friendship would last through out Paul’s life…even when Paul comes to the end of his life (as seen in 2 Timothy as Paul agrees that John Mark was profitable to Ministry and affirms Barnabas taking him under his wing as he did Paul).
  • Often presence is what will make the difference. We can get stuck in thinking presence is only about being able to physically touch someone. It’s more than that—it’s being a part of someone’s life by the impact you make (when for the better is the gist).
• BE ENGAGED
  • What we can learn about Paul and Barnabas’ friendship is that we can see that even through the tough times and bitter disagreements we can still be friends. Paul longs to see his friends as those who were like his Facebook friends desert him at the end of his life. It wasn’t about the amount of likes Paul got, or number of sermons he preached or the letters he wrote that he longed for at the end of his life…but instead he longed for his friends! That’s what the value of a true relationship is.
  • Engaged in someone’s life is knowing about the other person. Knowing their joys, struggles, funny stories, what makes them tick and even what makes them shut down. We can only learn that when we actively engage in someone’s life not just click a button on a status. Engagement isn’t just a step to take to marriage…it’s a step every relationship must take to stand the test of time.

In America right now the average person has 320+ Facebook friends and only 2 close friends…and at least 25% say they don’t have any close friends. That’s not how the Lord intended for us to do this life. We aren’t here to live a life that is only impacted by our earthly existence…but yet one that is built to make an eternal impact. And going through life alone severely, if not completely, diminishes our chances of making an impact beyond our life time. Today is the day we make the change…today is the day we chose not to #struggle and do life alone!

Take Away:
What does the word “friend” mean to you? What are the different ways you use that term?

How can we be a better expression of Hebrews 10:24-25? What can we do to make that true of our relationships?

Interested in More About Our Thursday Night Bible Study: CLICK HERE
Find Out How You Play a Part to #JoinSpartanburg: CLICK HERE

#Struggles “Contentment”

If we are honest with ourselves everything can be going our way…and then that one post hits, that one text, that one wedding invitation! And we are left asking how do they get that and I don’t? If we are completely honest social media hasn’t helped that but actually taken keeping up with the Jones’ from just our next door neighbor…to our friends in a different state (or even country). Eventually we all get to a place where the lie doesn’t work, we continue to compare what we have with those who have “more” and we tie our self worth into the things we have. So how do we break this? How do we get past the struggle of contentment?

Genesis 4:1-15

• CELEBRATE OTHERS BLESSINGS (Genesis 4:1-7)
  • Here we see the story of Caine and Abel! Both are bringing offerings to God. Both have laid them at His feet! Yet, one is accepted and the other isn’t…there has been much debate over the years as to why God accepted one over the other! But, when we only focus on that one thing we miss the real issue here—comparison! Regardless of the reasoning behind one offering being accepted over the other (Abel’s offering is a foreshadowing of Jesus sacrifice for our sins) what we see is the comparison trap of Cain vs Abel instead of the obedience to do as God said! God promised Cain’s acceptance if he turns from sin…the promise He still gives us all today! What would have happened if Cain celebrated Abel’s blessing instead of despising it?
  • Many times today we get stuck in comparison of other’s having “more blessing”, “more favor” than ourselves instead of just listening to Jesus and doing what He says! We save ourselves a lot of hurt, stress and sleepless nights when we focus on the obedience Christ has for us instead of trying to justify why we deserve what others have. This is the trap the enemy will use to drown us in our struggle instead of stepping into our calling!
• SOW GRATTITUDE (Genesis 4:8-15)
  • The story ends with the typical “haves vs. have nots” ending we all live today! Cain brings Abel to a secluded place and kills him! And why? Because he couldn’t get past the comparison with Abel instead of just doing what God called him too!
  • When we look at our lives, we can often feel like Cain…wishing the worst on those who are more blessed than we are. Yet, if we were to be grateful to have what we have how much different is that perspective for each of us (most of the time we get here when tragedy strikes)?

It’s very hard, if not impossible, to have a heart of gratitude and a heart of comparison. When we fight to celebrate the blessings of others and sow gratitude it blows our heart of comparison away. In a world fighting more than ever to “one up” we have to keep our hearts in check more than ever! When you see others around you thriving take a moment and Celebrate their blessing & be thankful for what you have…you’ll be surprised the at the freedom you will have in that!

Take Away:
What are some differences between comparing yourself to God’s standard and comparing yourself to the world’s standard?

How will you sow gratitude through Christ’s strength this week? Specifically what do you commit to do?

Interested in More About Our Thursday Night Bible Study: CLICK HERE
Find Out How You Play a Part to #JoinSpartanburg: CLICK HERE

Soul Detox “The Seduced Soul”

Ever go to an all you can eat buffet? The flashing lights, the choices, the great price…kids even eat free! When you walk in it seems like such a good idea…BUT then the aftermath hits! You feel like garbage, your tired and you realize it was probably a better idea to just cook something at home. We miss thinking about all of the MSG’s and manufactured ingredients in the food there designed to make us eat less & not process well in our body. Following Jesus can be like that for us…we often try to substitute the real thing with something that seems good in the moment but leaves us feeling worse than before we found it. The Seduced Soul does this constantly…filling itself with something other than what can truly satisfy.

Deuteronomy 4:15-31
How To Detox the Seduced Soul

• TEAR DOWN Your IDOLS (Judges 6:25)
  • Moses is telling the Israelites to remember God and not idols as they step deeper into God’s Promise. He reminds them that if they don’t they will miss out on the promise of God and the joy that only He can give.
  • In Judges we see Israel has done what Moses begged them not to and turned to idols for worship…and God instructs Gideon to take down the ashera poles his father had placed up for Israel to worship.
  • We may think that this is “old time” talk, but let’s look at what can be idols in our lives: Career, Money, Food, Social Media, Status, Time, Conversation, People’s Opinion, Fitness (extreme), Sports, Gaming and Stock Market…just to name a few!
• FILL Your SOUL with GOD (Psalm 42:1-5)
  • David is describing the constant state of our soul. Our soul is constantly searching for something to fill it and the only One that can truly fill it is God!
  • We try and try to substitute filling our souls with everything but God…and we are left empty moving on to the next thing that fills the void until we turn to Christ alone!
  • In our lives we have to take a hard look at what we are filling our lives with…it won’t show up in the mirror but will in honest reflection and seeking God to find it. The more we fill ourselves with this world the less room we have for God…and the more we fill ourselves with God the more we see the things of this world won’t satisfy.

If you want to know if something is an idol in your life…it’s not what you turn to in the tragedy…it’s what you turn to daily to satisfy your boredom & overwhelmed. It’s a pretty good indicator of something being an idol in your life. No one is immune to this…we just have to be honest with ourselves and let go of what holds us back from moving into all God has for us!

Take Away:
Why do you think idolatry is such a common problem for so many of us?

What do you think will be the most difficult part of tearing down the idols you currently worship?

Interested in More About Our Thursday Night Bible Study: CLICK HERE
Find Out How You Play a Part to #JoinSpartanburg: CLICK HERE

Soul Detox “The Tortured Soul”

If you have ever taken some time off from working out  physically you know what it’s like to feel tortured! After your first leg day the soreness can make every steps feel like torture…not to mention not feeling like sitting down or standing up! Our souls can be the same way…we can be tortured from something in our past hindering us from taking steps forward. It can leave our focus solely looking back instead of remembering that every step forward helps the soreness go away! David was in a similar situation in the Bible! He was tortured from the murder, adultery and lies from his relationship with Bathsheba…so how did he detox his soul to move forward?
Psalm 51
How To Detox the Tortured Soul

• CONFESS Your SINS Instead of CONCEAL Them
  • David was trying to live his life well on the outside while being tortured on the inside…then Nathan confronts him on his sin with Bathsheba! That was a freeing moment for David! He was able to confess his sins to God and a brother as well as repent to move forward!
  • Many times we get so caught up in trying to make everything feel good we miss out on the poison that concealing sin does to us! We try to bury it instead of facing it and walking through it with a trusted brother! Confession isn’t just to God…it’s to those in trusted community! When we do that James 5:16 reminds us that our prayers are powerful and effective
• CHRIST Will Set You FREE
  • When we turn to Jesus and let Him do what only He can…that’s when we are set free! David can’t keep stepping deeper into all that God has for him until he beats the sin that’s holding him back by confession and repentance.
  • We can get so caught up in trying to free ourselves and make things better on our own that we forget that Christ alone is how we get past our sins. Anything we do to overcome sin is Christ working through us to overcome…not our own power.
• FIGHT The LIES We Believe about the THINGS WE’VE DONE
  • Often once we confess sin we think it will continue to hold us back. Here’s the thing, there will be consequences from our sin; however, it doesn’t mean that we can’t move forward. Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sins…so for us to think anything we can do will stop us from doing what Jesus made us to do we are fooling ourselves!
  • Satan will constantly remind us of our past to prevent us from stepping into all God wants for us…in fact he’ll torture us with it. When we have surrendered our lives to Christ, the enemy doesn’t hold our future—only Christ does! So don’t let the lies you hear about the things you’ve done stop you from being all Christ make you to be!

The tortured soul is overcome with confession…once it’s out there you can be set free from it. Don’t let holding it all in stop you from moving forward in all Christ has for you!

Take Away:
What was one of the most physically painful things you’ve ever endured? How well did you handle the pain?

How have you seen unconfessed sin be poisonous to your soul or the soul of another? What steps can you take this week to be set free?

Interested in More About Our Thursday Night Bible Study: CLICK HERE
Find Out How You Play a Part to #JoinSpartanburg: CLICK HERE

Soul Detox “The Heavy Soul”

Every wondered why we always have plastic bags at the Grocery store…I mean they usually hold all we need in them…but you put 2 sodas or a gallon of milk in one and your going to be cleaning up a mess soon! Sometimes that’s how we feel from the inside…like the stuff we keep carrying are weighing us down so much that we are about to be a mess and broken apart! If you have ever felt that way you are not alone! Throughout the Bible some of It’s biggest heroes have heavy souls! David was no different! He was the giant slayer, the king, the man after God’s own heart…yet he still had a heavy soul!

Psalm 142
How to Detox the Heavy Soul

• Remember GOD’S FAITHFULNESS in the PAST (Psalm 142:1-3)
  • Like David here we can get caught up in missing out how God has let us slay giants, fight bears & lions and be spared from a king who wants to kill you! God’s past faithfulness always shows his future provision
  • When we look at the Past and see God in it we can’t help but see how He will show up in the future…but when we just see ourselves we will always be overwhelmed
• CRY OUT to God in the PRESENT (Psalm 142:3-6)
  • How guilty can we all be here? We want the world to know we are “doing great” when we are unraveling. Who better to cry out to than God? Remember what lead you to Salvation…wasn’t it a cry out to Jesus? Quickly do we forget how effective crying out to God where we are right now can be for us to hear His voice like never before.
• TRUST in GOD’S POWER for your FUTURE (Psalm 142:7)
  • David ends His cry with assurance that God’s power alone will get him through this. When we rely on our strength alone we will always come up short…but when we rely on God alone we can’t fail! David only sees 400 people who he can’t take care of…but little does he know that these 400 will be the mighty man that will help him in many battles to come! David’s trust in God alone helps him to keep pressing forward!

Many times our heavy soul can not only weigh us down; but make us miss out on all God has for us through those around us! When my soul is heavy…I can be paralyzed! But to get out of being stuck I have to look to God in my past, my present and my future!

Take Away:
What troubles are you currently dealing with that are contributing to your heavy soul?

What’s keeping you from placing your full trust in God for the future? What steps will you take to fully trust in God?

Interested in More About Our Thursday Night Bible Study: CLICK HERE
Find Out How You Play a Part to #JoinSpartanburg: CLICK HERE

Soul Detox “The Restless Soul”

When we think of restless we often think of a younger version of ourselves on a sugar rush…or all jacked up on Mountain Dew (if you know you know :D). But really…many of us live with restless souls every day…we keep seeking but never finding…staying busy but never satisfied. Sound familiar? In a world with 24hr news cycles and more information than we can process thrown at us…that can be the constant state of our souls. But what if Jesus died for you to experience more than rushing from one thing to the next? Let’s see how we can Detox the Restless Soul!

John 11:28-44

• Find REST in GOD ALONE (John 11:28-31)
  • What’s really crazy is the only people at the beginning of the story resting in the Lord is Jesus and Lazarus…think about that. That’s the world we live in and can miss everyday. We can be so “busy” we miss the time to just “rest and be” in the Lord.
  • Rest in him doesn’t mean we aren’t working…it just means we are dependent alone for Him to do what only He can do
• Be STILL before GOD (John 11:32-37)
  • Mary finally gets to be place to be still before the Lord. She doesn’t feel like anything can be done, but also surrenders to Him to know that if anything can be done only Jesus alone can do it.
  • How many times to we just get still before the Lord and say “If anything can be done only You can do it”. That’s what moved Jesus…not her anger with him for not coming sooner or her state of grief…but her submission to Him that only He can fix it. When we submit that authority to Jesus it’s amazing how He can bring dead things to life!
• WAIT for GOD (John 11:38-40)
  • At this moment only Lazarus was the only one waiting on the Lord…and he really didn’t have much choice to wait. Everyone else was reminding Jesus how He didn’t come through in their time…yet Jesus reminds them that it will all come to pass in God’s time.
  • How often do we do the same thing? We say “Jesus is you had only moved then” or “If you would have only done this/that”…yet when we just submit to His timing we get to be part of a miracle—otherwise we just fester, overwork and miss out.
• REFLECT on God’s GOODNESS (John 11:41-44)
  • Jesus models something we all can…He submits to God’s goodness alone to move. Jesus wanted this miracle not so that He got fame…but so that others around Him could see that the Father sent Him and He is who He says He is.
  • Often, we can get stuck trying to lift up our name instead of the goodness of God. When we reflect on His goodness and power—the work He does through us is limitless

As I look at this story and the restless souls I wonder where I sit: Am I like Jesus resting knowing God is going to move in His goodness alone? Am I like Mary who sits still before the Lord knowing only He can change the circumstance? Am I like Martha and the Jews who expected Jesus to move their time alone and not it God’s? When I see who I am being like it the story it’s amazing how it always draws me closer to Jesus.

Take Away:
What’s keeping you from finding rest for you soul in God?

What are you waiting for God to do? How patient are you being?

Interested in More About Our Thursday Night Bible Study: CLICK HERE
Find Out How You Play a Part to #JoinSpartanburg: CLICK HERE