Heart Over Hype: The Headwaters of Life

Use this curriculum to help you further engage with the sermon, the scriptures, and each other. Allow the Holy Spirit to bring things up to encourage and guide you so that you are always growing in your faith. If the Spirit leads you away from these questions and into conversation and prayer that encourages and points you to Jesus, go for it.

scripture

Read the following scriptures together: 1 Samuel 27:1-28:2.

overview

We see a sad shift in David’s actions at this point in his life and we wonder how did a man after God’s own heart move towards chronic lying and living with an enemy? Verse 1 gives a clear answer: “But David thought to himself…”. Proverbs 4:23 warns us, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” There is nothing more profoundly influential over the decisions we make than the condition of our heart. It’s imperative that we pay attention to and filter what we allow ourselves to see and hear. When left unchecked, these things can start to influence our minds, leading us to choices that ultimately lead us away from God’s best for us. We don’t have to passively allow thoughts to overtake our minds – we can be active and attentive to what we meditate on.

question 1

What are you preaching to yourself? What are you allowing into your heart and mind? Share some ways that you safeguard your own mind. 

discussion

Read Matthew 23:25-26. David’s former obedience didn’t lead to rescue from God, so he takes matters into his own hands and chooses to live among the enemy, in a land he doesn’t belong, in a place God never led him to. As David moves farther away from godly counsel and from the call of God, we see him going deeper into sin as he starts to lie to Achish and completely obliterate populations of people. It’s a slow fade from being aligned with God one day, to finding yourself far away from him and living with consequences that cause you sadness and pain. This is why it’s important for each of us to do daily heart checks and practice the rhythm of confession. Rather than spending our time pointing out other’s shortcomings, we ought to spend more time looking in our own heart. 

question 2

Discuss the danger of taking matters into our own hands rather than waiting on God. Does anyone have a story of when you moved ahead of God? What was the outcome?

A frustrating thing for believers is that our obedience doesn’t always lead to our success – that is, the success we think we need. Our trials can lead us away from God or they can lead us into deeper intimacy with him, and they can refine our character. As we shed our self-centeredness, greed, anger, impatience, and more, we become more like who God is calling us to be and we will have a greater influence for God with those around us. As we know from David’s life, God’s grace gets him out of his own mess and God’s plans prevail. The same can be true in our lives when we live surrendered and in union with him.   

question 3

What are some of the ways God has refined your life this year? Celebrate what he has done. 

weekly application

Be mindful of what you are allowing to occupy your thoughts. Are your thoughts causing you anxiety, depression, anger, or feelings of hopelessness? Find a Scripture or truth of God to use to start replacing the negative thoughts that bombard your mind. The good news is that we can rewire our thinking – it just takes intention and practice. Reach out to a friend to pray with you if you are in a spiral of hopelessness.