April 23, 2024

“I AM” Chapter 7 – Day 3: I AM..the LIVING ONE

August 21, 2013 by

2Chron7_14_IAM

What a wonderful way to close out this study knowing that our God is the “Living One.”

 Our Living God from A – Z

A- AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH (HEBREWS 12:2)

B- BREAD OF LIFE (JOHN 6:35)

C- CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD (ROMANS 8:39)

D- DELIVERER (ROMANS 11:26)

E- ETERNAL LIFE (1 JOHN 5:20)

F- FAITHFUL AND TRUE (REVELATION 19:11)

G- GREAT HIGH PRIEST (HEBREWS 4:14)

H- HEAD OF THE CHURCH (EPHESIANS 5:23)

I- I AM (JOHN 8:58)

J- JESUS (MATTHEW 1:21)

K- KING OF KINGS (REVELATION 17:14)

L- LIGHT OF THE WORLD (JOHN 8:12)

M- MEDIATOR (1 TIMOTHY 2:5)

N- NAZARENE (MATTHEW 2:23)

O- OUR PASSOVER (1 CORINTHIANS 5:7)

P- PRINCE (ACTS 5:31)

Q- QUINTESSENCE – THE MOST PERFECT EMBODIMENT OF SOMETHING (REVELATION 1:8)

R- REDEEMER (JOB 19:25)

S- SAVIOR (LUKE 2:11)

T- TEACHER (JOHN 3:2)

U- UNMATCHABLE – NO ONE IS EQUAL TO HIM (ISAIAH 40:28)

V- VINE (JOHN 15:1)

W- WORD (JOHN 1:1)

X- EXCELLENT (PSALM 8:9)

Y- YOURS – HE IS FREE TO YOU IF YOU BELIEVE (ROMANS 10:9)

Z- ZION, KING OF (PSALM 9:11)

Revelation 1:18  I am the living one.  I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever!  And I hold the keys of death and the grave.

WOW!  God’s Word speaks for itself to show us Life (living life-Himself)

People go around asking all kinds of questions daily.  Some of the many questions we have heard are: Who made the trees?  The flowers?  The birds?  The animals?  The earth?  The rocks?  The stars, sun, moon, ocean, mountains?  Who made you and me?  And the answer is:   Someone who is greater, more intelligent than all, made them!

That Someone is the only true and living God. He is invisible to our eyes, because He is a Spirit.  He lives in heaven.  He is eternal.  He has always existed and He always will.  We know Him because we see the things He has made and because He has given us His book called the Bible in which He reveals Himself to us.  We don’t find His bones in a grave, like other gods who have died, because our God lives!

Do you know the only true and living God?  If not, would you like to?  Do you want to be free from your daily burdens of sin and have a sweet assurance of “living” with the “Living One”?

If you are ready to meet the “I AM” and “live” with the “Living One” for eternity then all you have to do is ask Him.

“Dear Lord Jesus, 
I know that I am a sinner, I believe Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood for my sins, was buried and rose from the grave.  I ask You now, Lord Jesus, to come into my heart, and take away my sins, and save my soul.  Change my heart and life, Lord, to be what You want me to be!  I thank You, Lord for the forgiveness of my sins, Your gift of salvation and everlasting life, because of Your mercy and grace!  AMEN.

Oh what a precious journey you will have as you will get to know the “I AM” – the “Living One” now that you have accepted Him as Christ your Savior.  I may not ever get to meet you personally here on this earth, but know, my friend, that I will be praying for you as you begin your new life with Him, and on the day He returns I will meet you in heaven!  Hallelujah!

**********

Let’s Pray:

Dear God,

I thank You for these past seven weeks that we have been able to dig in Your Word together, Lord, and truly get to know Who You Are and who we are in You.   I thank You for any that have received You as Savior and I ask that You help them to continue to dig in Your Word and become the beautiful creation that You intended for them to be and help them to spread this wonderful news of salvation with the world.  In Your name, I pray.

Amen!

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“I AM” Chapter 6 – Day 3: I AM…God’s Workmanship

August 14, 2013 by

Eph2_10

Have you ever wondered just how God made everything?   Have you been sitting outside during the summer looking up at the beautiful sky with all the twinkling stars shining like diamonds, the bright moon shining so bright you didn’t need a flashlight?  What about walking along the beach as the sun begins to pop up on the horizon with it’s beautiful orange canvas?  What about when the skies turn dark and thunder is clapping so loud you need earplugs?   These ladies are some of the many wonders of our Lord from His artistic hands!

Our God of the universe created all this beautiful artwork and more. As you sit and think on these, your mind is captivated by ALL the wonders of God’s creations; and yet, in all these things happening around us, there is still MORE!  Something even greater that He is molding into being.

 His greatest masterpiece of all time = You and Me!!!

God created the heavens and earth and He knew it was good, yet there was still something missing….It was US!!    So He decided He needed to make man in the image of Himself.    We were created to have fellowship with Him.   We were not just an after dinner thought.   We were the special finishing touch to His creation!

Zechariah 2:8 says ”For thus saith the Lord of hosts; after the glory hath sent Me unto the nations which spoiled you; for He that toucheth  you toucheth the apple of His eye.  He says we are His workmanship.”   How about that?  We are His greatest work of art.  We are so valuable that He tells us we are the apple of His eye!

Ephesians 2:10  says “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Did you know there is a Master at work in you?  Did you know your life is a priceless work of art? He is the Master Artist, who is painting, sculpting, chiseling away each day as He envisions you to be.  With every stroke He is shaping your identity in His image.   You can depend on His Masters Art Degree.   You will experience every day as He chisels at you that what you end up with is a “one of a kind”  “not for sale” masterpiece.

Do you have a hard time believing you are God’s masterpiece?  That you are special to Him?  If you question this at all, then that means ol’ slewfoot (Satan) is trying to convince you otherwise.  Don’t let him come in and fill your head and heart up with all kinds of lies.  This is definitely not what our God thinks of us!

How about taking a trip to the closest mirror in your house…go…right now…then come back….and take a long hard look while you are there.

OK, so what did you see?  I pray you saw a beautiful cherished creation, a treasure, a masterpiece!  Because that is what God created when He made you.  But maybe you saw some things when you looked in that mirror that you didn’t like.

Think of your life when you look in the mirror as a canvas that began empty with nothing there but as soon as you were born He began a new work in you creating an astounding depiction of His glory and grace.   I know sometimes you may think “But wait, God…this part of my life is a waste;  don’t draw that!”   But remember these are some special strokes and chiseling that God is having to apply as He is growing us, changing us into His special masterpiece.

Are you willing to let Him paint, chisel you until He gets you right where He wants/needs you to be?

 You are His most prized possession and what matters most to Him is you!

So why not let Him be the creative Master artist that He is and let Him transform you so that you reveal His beauty, His glory and His love, His MASTERPIECE!

A lovely work that comes straight from the Master’s hand.

 When you looked in that mirror did you question, “God, am I your masterpiece?”

If you feel or have felt this way at any time in your life,  open your heart, your ears, and watch this video and allow God to show you who you are or who you can become.

Now say this  “(your name)  is God’s  original Masterpiece!”

 

Let’s Pray:

Dear God,

Sometimes it is hard for me to think of myself as a piece of Your artwork, created to be just who You wanted me to be.  Help me to acknowledge and embrace who You have made me to be.  I’ve had areas in my life that needed or still need chiseling, and I thank You for continuing to be a Master Artist and stroking me daily in areas that need to be fixed.  Help me, Lord, to fully be that person You had in mind as You made me.  Help me to live to glorify You and to fully reveal this wonderful masterpiece that You continually grow and chisel each day!  In Your name I pray.

Amen!

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“I AM” Chapter 5 – Day 3: I AM…Free to Be ME

August 7, 2013 by

GFCHmemverse3

As I thought about this lesson and what God would have me share, two words kept coming back at me and I thought “really God that is what you want me to talk about?” And He kept saying yes, so here we go!

 Do-Over    (what is it?)

In our family, a do-over has consisted of many things in our daily lives, but the most constant one has been when we have been playing Putt-Putt at Myrtle Beach.  Every summer the kids would always have at least one hole they didn’t do so good on and they would ask us, “Can I have a do-over?”  My husband said that is called a “mulligan” and the kids would say “Well, whatever.  Can I have one?”  So right then we made a rule that on every Putt-Putt game we ever played together in our lives we would always allow one “do-over” *(mulligan)* during the game.   Sometimes we would pick the “do-over” on the right hole, but sometimes we didn’t.

As I thought about this story of our family I began to think about our daily lives and how we need do-overs in them too!  Sometimes we say something too quickly to someone or hit the send button on an email, and both times wishing we should have thought a little longer about it before we spoke or wrote.

Have you examined your life lately?  Where are you spiritually?  Are you wishing for something different?  Are you living the life Jesus wants for you?  If all of a sudden you feel burdened by any of these questions…don’t…because you must remember our God is a God of “do-overs!”

No matter what the mistake, the pain, or any hardships, we can call out “Do-over!” and we can start fresh and new!  In order for us to have the freedom that knowing this truth brings we have to truly mean it, not just say it and then do the same thing again.  But to truly mean it— we have to live it!   You may be asking, “Well how do I do that?”  “How do I break those bad habits?”   Here’s your answer…turn your life over to God fully and let Him RENEW you!

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

 When you turn your life over to God He is giving you a “do-over” from all your past; you will see a whole new view of yourself.  You will also realize two truths:

  • God does not see you as a struggling, troubled, or horrible person.
  • Instead, God sees you as His beloved child, made in His image.

It is then we will begin focusing on God and not our mistakes.  We will see that God can renew us.   When we see that by placing all the pieces of our lives before God and staying alert in the ways of God, and by seeing His divine nature growing in us, we will begin to take advantage of the blessings of all the do-overs.

There have been many in the Bible who had opportunities to step up in their journey of faith and yet were not only offered a “do-over” but also new opportunities to serve:

  • King David after his affair with Bathsheba
  • Saul of Tarsus after he hunted down Christians
  • Church of Laodicea after they let their faith fade from passionate to lukewarm

There were also people in the Bible who discovered the blessings of do-overs:

  • Jacob and Esau  (Genesis 33)
  • Both Joseph and his brothers got to start over (Genesis 45)
  • After Peter denied Jesus, he got another chance to stand up (John 21:15)
  • And then there was Paul, he got an entire life do-over!   As Saul he persecuted Christians, but he was transformed on the road to Damascus (Acts 9), received Christ, and began spreading the gospel instead of persecuting it.

Talk about a do-over, that is a total newly born, born again believer! He is a new creation!

If God offers us this kind of do-over, then why is it that we feel trapped, paralyzed; we want to make a change but just unsure about how to do it.  Most reasons we feel this way is because once we’ve messed up we are labeled as a failure by others, we aren’t looking at ourselves like God would.   That’s what needs to change!

We need to realize that we aren’t living the way God wants us to and that we need a spiritual “do-over,”  so how do we get one?

  • Submit
  • Surrender
  • Yield to God

If we aren’t where we need to be spiritually what is keeping us from asking for a “do-over?”  Why are we having a hard time letting go?

Paul has painted us a beautiful picture in Phillipians 3:13-14, to forget what is behind and reach for what is ahead!

As I thought about writing today’s blog God showed me there are two kinds of people that will be reading today: 1) those that have had a “do-over” and, 2) those that need to have a “do-over.”

For those who need a “do-over,” what would it look like for you to be free from your past and become a new creation—a new-born believer?

We serve a God that allows “do-overs,” He will accept you, forgive you, and grow you into a new person.   Yes, this is YOU I’m talking about!  No matter what you’ve done or said, no matter what,  He allows us to start over!  Here’s a good verse for you to consider.

Psalms 116:12-13 says, What shall I render unto the Lord for all of His benefits towards me? I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.

 Your “do-over” is up to you.

 When we surrender our lives to You, God, we stop fighting with ourselves.

If we truly want a “do-over” we can have it.

All we have to do is “ASK”.

 ********************

Let’s Pray:

God, I thank You for “do-overs.”   Help each of us today to feel new, act new, think new; help us to love others like we never have before.  Help us to realize that You are there every moment of every day to help us when we need a “do-over” and to make a fresh start to something that started not so good.  God, I lift up a special prayer for the ones who are reading this that need a total “life do-over;” they need You as Savior!  Help them to see You are waiting in the wings of their day for them to call on Your name, asking to be made a new creation.  Help them to know You give “do-overs” and are ready to give them one right now! And when they receive it, help them lift their hands in praise to You and tell the world!   In Your name I pray.

Amen

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“I AM” Chapter 4 – Day 3: I AM The Way

July 31, 2013 by

John15_11

______________________________

“I AM THE WAY”  is a bold statement.  It’s an exclusive statement and an inclusive statement.

 These three words have powerful meanings:

Bold ~  assured, confident

Exclusive ~ the only one

Inclusive ~ covers all cost

 The definition of “The Way” ~ “an opening for passage”

Do you see it?

We have a definite and planned path to get to the “I AM.”

John 14:6  Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

The Bible does not teach, “For God so loved the world that He gave the world many ways to himself.”  What does John 3:16 say?

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever (that’s the INCLUSIVE PART)  believes in Him (that’s the EXCLUSIVE part) should not perish but have everlasting life.

When Jesus uses the phrase, “I AM,” in Exodus 3:14 He is claiming the name for Himself. He is announcing Himself to us as the One who has come to fulfill His covenant and keep His promise.

When Jesus uses the word “I” in John 14:6,  He declares Himself to be the embodiment of “The Way.”  His planned path is wrapped up in a person.

Without the way there is no going

Without the truth there is no knowing

Without the life there is no living

People are always challenging this verse from the Bible, but this verse will help us to see God has bridged the gap between man and God and Jesus is the one who succeeded in making this bridge the reality for each of us.   Let’s look a little carefully at the statements in this verse:

  •  I Am The Way ~ this statement is not saying He is showing us the way, but that He is the way, He is the journey, He is the opening of the passage, He is the way for us to God, He spans the distance between sinners and God.  When we are all alone, or lost in our daily path we walk, we must remember Jesus is the path. Jesus spells it out so that there can be no mistake of how we get to Him. No one comes to the Father except through Him. No matter how important we think we are. No matter how religious or spiritual we are. No matter how many followers or friends we have, or how many people we have influenced. No matter how good or kind we are.  No matter how devoted we are. No matter how genuine we are.  Everyone who rejects Jesus Christ cannot come to God.
  • I Am The Truth ~ the Bible teaches that truth is not just something that is simply intellectual; it also has a moral dimension to it. John 3:21a refers to doing the truth: “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light…” Jesus reveals God and exposes guilty people. Hebrews 13:8 states: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever”.

Do you remember that scene from “A Few Good Men” when Jack Nicholson said to Tom Cruise, “You can’t handle the truth?” Well what about it? Can we handle the truth?  Let’s not run away from what is right in front of us!

Pilate voiced the question on many minds today. Even though Jesus was standing right in front of Him, he asked in John 18:38: “What is truth?” He didn’t take the time to find out.  We will find what we are looking for in Christ as John 8:32 declares: “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

  • I Am The Life ~ the Bible describes life in Genesis 2:7 as “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.”  God Himself gave life when He formed man and breathed life into him and He gave us life again when He gave us His Son to die for our sins.   In simple words God gave us His Life, then and today. We would be dead without His Life. We become alive when we surrender ourselves to Him. John 5:24 says : “I tell you the truth, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”  Since Jesus is life, we will only find meaning when we commit to His Lordship. John 1:4 says: “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.”

BOLD ~ Acts 4:12: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Jesus is bold all throughout Scripture that He is the only way to the Father, to heaven.  Are we being bold enough with others in our daily walk to teach them the same, or are we holding back from telling others of this truth and giving them the same opportunity to knowing who “The Way” is?

EXCLUSIVE ~ 1 Timothy 2:5-6: “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all to be testified in due time”

Jesus is exclusive all throughout Scripture sharing truths of Him being the only One, the only Way to Him.  He is the only God who is not still in a tomb! He arose and is waiting for us.  Have we shared these truths with others or are we allowing them to somehow think there are other ways to heaven?

INCLUSIVE ~ John 6:37 states: “All those the Father gives me, will come to me and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”

Jesus is inclusive all throughout Scripture describing to us that He covered the cost of salvation for us and all we have to do is say “yes”.

Dr. David Jeremiah stated in one of his devotions: How did Jesus provide the way, truth, and life? Did He just say the words and walk away to do something else? No. He backed up what He said, He made good on His words by acting on them. He gave His own life on the Cross.  He died on Calvary’s tree to provide us the way, the truth, and the life. To not accept Jesus on this very point is to declare (I’m afraid), “Jesus, you can’t be trusted,” or even worse, “Jesus, you’re not telling the truth.” By God’s grace and goodness, we know better than that.

With the answer to this verse now explained you may be asking “How do I get to “the way, the truth and the life?”   It’s simple:  Romans 10:9-10 says, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.  So confess, believe and receive today!

**********

Let’s Pray:

Dear Lord, I pray for every person who has read Your Word and this lesson and I lift them to You right now asking You to speak boldly to the hearts of the ones who may have never received You as Savior and open their eyes to this new truth they just learned today; that You are “The Way, The Truth and The Life” and the only way to You is through You.   Help them to say yes to You today, Lord, and receive the best gift ever given.  Help the ones who are already believers in You to share this same truth with the world and bring new souls to Your kingdom.  We know better —so let’s show it better, in Your name I pray.

AMEN!

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“I AM” Chapter 3 – Day 3: God’s Judgment

July 24, 2013 by

Memory Verse

The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
    he enables me to tread on the heights.

Habakkuk 3:19

________________________________________

Three different prophets…yet all three present similar messages of judgment to the people.

Obadiah – He shares with the Edomites that disaster is coming, due to their blatant arrogance toward God and persecution of God’s children. He told them in verse 15 that all their evil deeds will fall back on their own heads.

Micah – He shares with the people of Israel that judgment will come because of the sins and rebellion of Israel and Judah and he lists their sins (fraud, greed, debauchery, oppression, hypocrisy, heresy, injustice, extortion, lying, murder and many others). Micah does give them hope and consolation as he describes God’s love, when he says the truth is that judgment comes only after countless opportunities to repent, to turn back to true worship and obedience. His message to them was simple:

  • Do what is right
  • Love Mercy
  • Walk Humbly with your God

God shows His anger in action as He judges and punishes sin, but He also shows His love in action as He offers eternal life to all who repent and believe.

Nahum – Nahum’s message is one of judgment against Nineveh and the Assyrians. The Assyrians were a continual thorn in Judah’s flesh. The oppression Judah experienced seemed never ending. In the midst of Nahum’s pronouncement of judgment came a word of comfort, a vivid reminder to Judah of God’s relationship with them.

As I studied these three books dealing with this lesson today many thoughts were racing through my mind, but the one for us to focus on today is this word “judgment.”   Most people don’t like this word.  They find it harsh and basically a “finger pointing” kind of word.Girlfriends Coffee Hour

This word judgment is used in many different ways in the Bible.   Some references teach us it has to do with being judged for doing bad things to other people. Other references pertain to exercising sound judgment or showing a lack of judgment.

This word judgment has a function:  the Bible says that, “When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world,” so judgment is actually to save us rather than to condemn us (1 Corinthians 11:32).

This word judgment also gives us caution/warning:  we are warned in the Bible to be careful about judging others. When we do, we are condemning ourselves because we do the same things to others whom we are passing judgment onto (Romans 2:1).  Society typically judges by appearances rather than by the things that truly matter (John 7:24). The Bible says that “God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14), so we do not need to sit in judgment of one another.

This word judgment will also provide us with solutions/remedies:  It tells us to “stop passing judgment on one another. Don’t put stumbling blocks or obstacles in our brother’s way” (Romans 14:13). Instead, we should judge ourselves (1 Corinthians 11:31).  Mercy triumphs over judgment: “So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you. (James 2:12-13).

I studied a little deeper in the book of Nahum during today’s lesson probably more than others, as this prophet of comfort gave us three truths in Chapter 1, verse 7 about God’s relationship with us:

  •  “The Lord is good”   I believe Nahum wanted the people to remember that God knew what they were experiencing. He wasn’t oblivious to their sufferings, and He had always been and would continue to be faithful to them. God is not oblivious to what is going on in our lives either, and we must remember that God is absolutely faithful to us everyday.
  • God is “a stronghold in the day of trouble”  The phrase “day of trouble” is a reference to any tragic experience of life we will face. Nahum is reminding us that God is our stronghold, He is our fortress behind whose walls we can find our only real security in life. There will be tragedies and problems that creep into our lives but, what God promises is that when that “day of trouble” comes, we are so secure in Him that no situation in life can change His love for us.
  • “He knows those who take refuge and trust in Him”  Nahum points Judah to a relationship of trust in God and that God is completely sufficient to those who take refuge in Him. God knows each of us as intimately as He knew Judah and is fully sufficient to meet us when our life explodes out of control.

Nahum gave a message of hope for God-followers and yet a message of doom for those who oppose Him.

God gives a message of hope to those who repent, believe & receive:     “At one time we, too, were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life” Titus 3:3-7 NIV.

And yet God also gives a message of doom to those who oppose Him:    You will ultimately stand before Him on the day of judgment, and when your name is not found in the Book of Life, you will be thrown into the lake of fire Revelation 20:15.

This word “judgment” begins in our life from the day we are born and will follow us all the way through to our moment standing in front of our Father.

Is there anything we need to change in our life today that will affect the outcome of our coming judgment?  If so, will you make the choice to follow God and live? Or disobey and face the coming judgment?

 It is God’s will for everyone to experience His love and mercy. None should suffer needlessly unless they choose to.

*****

Let’s Pray: 

God, I thank You for each person who reads this lesson.  As they seek the stories of Your judgments in Your Word help each one to see and know that they have a choice: one of hope or one of doom in the decisions about following You/choosing You. Guide them, Lord, to  “do what is right” to “love mercy” and to “walk humbly with You, Lord,” instead of seeking revenge and wanting to make judgments ourselves on others or situations.  Help us to fall at Your feet for You, O Lord, are the only one in a position to judge the actions of others. In Your Holy name I pray.

Amen

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Winning Him Without Words: What About the Kids? Where to start?

December 10, 2012 by

Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not turn from it.  

Proverbs 22:6

 

As we wind down this study we come to last section of this wonderful book and that is “What about our kids” in this journey of our spiritually mismatched marriage.

(what do we do? Where do we start?)

My kids were not the ones who went to church every week with two parents leading them into the church building, or praying with them, or reading the Bible with them, nope it was just me.   Now I am not complaining mind you, but it would have been “wonderful” for both of us to do the leading.

When I had children I was constantly thinking how in the world am I going to raise them in a godly home when the home was not a complete godly unit…and then I remembered how my granddaddy used to teach me saying “Beverly, there is nothing you can do about others, you must just work on yourself, love Jesus yourself, and as He teaches you then you teach them.”

I listened to him and just like I did the 9 years of my marriage before having children I did the same after the children were born……I went to church and took my children with me so they could learn about my Jesus, and learn about WHO will be and make the difference in their life as they grow up.

Even though I took them to church I constantly thought:

  • Am I doing things right
  • Am I teaching them the truth
  • Will they accept Jesus as Savior one day
  • Will they learn to be a prayer warrior
  • Will they love Jesus
  • Will they wake each morning with a desire to live every moment for Him
  • Will they seek a godly mate for their life
  • Will they love God’s Word and want to spend time getting to know Him

My children were learning about God and getting to know Him…both accepted Christ as Savior and then the first big day came when my daughter left for college and then all those same thoughts began creeping back in my head…..except a few different ones…now my thoughts were:

  • Will she remember what she learned growing up
  • Will she stick to the truth in this world of peer pressure
  • Will she not give in to the idea of dating just anyone but continue her commitment to seeking God for her life mate
  • Will she still remain in God’s Word

Oh so many thoughts were swirling around in my head and I could not seem to get enough of wanting to know that she was not straying from the path she was taught.

Then I got the call…the phone call….Mamma I met this guy that I really like….go to the school BCM website and look at his picture….he is so cute Mamma….and I told her hmmmm….let me take a look and so I did…..and my first thought was REALLY?  HIM?  (you know we all do that, those initial judgmental thoughts just based on someone’s looks)……and let me say right now……

 MY JUDGMENTAL THOUGHTS WERE WRONG

 This was the man God set aside for my girl….as her life mate….at that time he was the campus missionary at the college she attended and 3 years later they were engaged/married,  now he is the youth pastor at the church they attend…..and oh how God is moving in their life…..and just think if I had done my normal mamma meddling I would’ve been messing up God’s plan for her life.

So here we are, one child trained and on the path God set for her…..but still one more at home and still my same thoughts creeping in now for this one…

In his high school years my son began showing the same aspects as my husband (not wanting to go to church, I had to “make him go”)  and then the day came when he went off to college…..and here I go with my thoughts again…..and now these thoughts were way different from when my daughter left home….because now that he was in the thought process of “not wanting to go to church”  I knew that the peer pressure of the world would start sinking in heavy on him…..and yes that is where he is now…..NOT GOING….NOT SERVING….not following that path he had been taught as a child…..

 BUT….

 I have the wonderful promise of Proverbs 22:6 that I cling to that He will turn to it……and as he comes home for visits/holidays he sees me continuing to love and serve Jesus, he sees me living out what I taught him all the young years of his life.  He has watched me in times spent in study/devotion…..this has and is the silent witness to my son. He has heard me lifting him up in prayer to God–this is the audible witness to my son.

I await that day to see his faith has not wavered, that he remembers the training he received growing up and that he will make the Lord “priority” in his life.  And I await to see/hear when he says “yes Lord I am here ready to serve” I have not given up….

Oh, What a day that will be!

 So to answer the question of this lesson today; Where to start?   Here’s the answer from Pg. 170 of our study. Help our love for Jesus be so contagious; it can’t help but rub off on our loved ones and when our kids see us loving God in this way, they will love Him too!

 

Let’s Pray:   God I thank you for each lady that has been a part of this study and I pray that your love will seep out through our daily life in subtle effective ways that will influence our children, in your name I pray. Amen!

Your assignment:  Share any thoughts that God brought to your mind as you studied today’s lesson about our kids?

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Our next Women’s Online Bible Study

“Crazy Love” by Francis Chan

Begins January 6, 2013.

To sign up for this new Online Bible Study, click HERE and follow the instructions. You will also be given a link to where you can purchase this bible study. We’re looking forward to learning about this “Crazy Love” with you!!

We would LOVE to have your feedback on this study! Will you take a few minutes to complete the following survey? Your responses will help us create the best online bible study experience for you! CLICK THIS LINK to fill out the short 10 question form. Your responses are completely anonymous, I promise!! Thank you so much!

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Winning Him Without Words: Keep Your Armor On -You’re at War

November 26, 2012 by

When we get up from our bed each morning we are entering a battlefield…many times we have not even had a chance to have our devotion with the Lord or even get a cup of coffee when the battles of our day begins…..

Here is where some of our tug of wars start:

  • Getting breakfast
  • Fixing lunches
  • Doing some laundry/cleaning
  • Getting kids to school
  • Going to work
  • Fixing dinner
  • Getting kids to sports practices
  • Making sure homework is completed
  • Getting everyone showers
  • And on and on and on……

And this list is only a beginning of the tug on our lives and as you notice from our list above, we still didn’t spend any time with God yet.

By the end of our day our brains feel like a battlefield and our hearts have the holes to show the direct hits we’ve taken thru each tug. We sit and ask ourselves “how much longer can I continue and what would happen if I just stopped?”

This happened to me one evening when I fixed dinner and set the table and called my family to come eat.  They all sat down and said to me “awwh I didn’t want to have this tonite, could you not have fixed so and so..they continued for many minutes having something negative to say about the fact that I didn’t fix what “they wanted”.  They had no compassion of the fact that my day was a war zone and that everything that I had encountered was a continuous battle from one moment to the next and yet all they could think about were their wants……so you may be asking “what did you do”.

Well I did what any sweet wife and mother would do in this situation (no it was not fix them another dinner)…..I took every one of their plates and raked it all in the trash can and told them they could all find something to eat on their own and then I took my plate into my room and had dinner alone.

Yes I was having as Dineen called it “the briefest of a pity party”—and so I retreated into my room so I could find shelter to help guide me through what I had just done.  I needed to put on some armor & restore my strength.

In our scripture for today’s lesson Eph. 6:12-17 it explains two parts that we battle in our lives.  Verse 12 talks about what or whom we battle and verses 13-17 tells us about the standing part.

We are on the front lines of battle every morning, and if we get up and let God be the commander and direct the battles, direct our lives, direct everything, then at least when we put on the armor God provides us we are going into the daily battles with strength—we won’t be walking into these daily battles blindly but instead we will be prepared for what will come, and we will be able to hear Him tell us when to strike and when to fall back.

God will be the one to get us through the daily battles and get us through them alive.

Do we want to walk blindly through our battles, letting Satan tear us down, and try destroying our testimony or do we want to put on our armor and do what these verses tell us to do “to stand”.

There will be battles in our marriages that will be coming that we won’t be able to see ahead of time but when they hit, when the interruptions abound, that is when we must, right then, put on the armor and take a stand.

You may be very weak:                                           STAND

You may get weary:                                                 STAND

You may feel fear:                                                    STAND

The roar of battle may be deafening:                    STAND

The devil may remind you of past defeats:            STAND

You may see others fall:                                           STAND

Confusion and chaos may be all around you:      STAND

Everything may seem to be against you:              STAND

You may feel all alone:                                            STAND

You may feel your marriage slipping away:          STAND

 We are strong in the Lord, and in the power of HIS might!   So Stand ladies Stand!

 If you are in a mismatched marriage, there is a soul at stake, so wake up each morning, prepare your heart, put on your armor and stand ready and prepared to help lead your man to the commander by your example.

Let’s Pray:   God I pray for each lady that she would arise every morning and prepare herself with armor on and ready to meet with you on the front lines in our marriages, and allow You to restore us with Your strength in the battles we may face today. In Your name I pray.    Amen!

Your assignment:  Have you recognized any attacks from the enemy in your marriages lately, if so please share with us how you took a “stand” against the enemy and stood strong instead, or if you have learned something new God has shown you from studying today’s lesson that will be of help in future attacks share that with us.

Blessings to you all this week,

Beverly

For the “Winning Him Without Words” Bible Study, you will need the book, your Bible, pen or pencil, a highlighter and a quiet place. You can order the book right through our website by clicking the “sign-up here” button at the top of our webpage; which is also where you can sign up to participate in this awesome bible study!

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Winning Him Without Words: Move from Hurt to Healing – The Seasons of Marriage

November 19, 2012 by

The four seasons (spring, summer, fall and winter)….are they different?

Let’s name some differences we notice as each season comes around:

Spring – the sun rises in the earlier hours of the morning and begins setting later in the afternoon, the days begin to get slightly warmer, spring flowers start to appear, birds start building their nests, some days are cold enough to still get snow and yet some days are warm enough to play out in the garden.

Summer – the days are warmer and longer, we have to protect our skin from the harmful sun rays by using sunscreen, the weather is drier/humid, in some areas it is so hot we can hardly breathe.

Fall – days become shorter, evenings become cooler in the evenings, leaves fall off of trees, strong winds, lot of rain, hurricane season.

Winter – the days are shorter and very cold, sometimes we wake up to find frost or ice, sometimes it rains, sometimes we have sleet and snow.

As each season approaches we experience how our world can be turned upside down, revealing something different as each one comes and goes.

This is the same with our marriages, we have seasons with it too! I love the way Lynn talked about walking thru her garden looking for hints of new growth. How her garden is a marker of sorts, how her garden is a reflection of her marriage journey.

Let’s explore our seasons of marriage and check  and see if we need to do some planting, some pruning, some weeding, spreading the necessary fertilizer so that growth (healing) can occur.

Let’s look at the beginning season of our marriage – I am gonna call this the ooey gooey romantic season – this is the season where we look at each other all the time with “that look” you know the look I am talking about, the one that says you are mine forever and as long as we are together…no matter what we do or look like our life will be perfect forever! Yep these are the early years of marriage, the years that we think we can conquer anything that comes our way, that we have this marriage thing made in the shade, however, there is something that we don’t think about this season at first but it is filled with nervousness, confusion and hurts that we don’t notice at first because we are so preoccupied with “getting married” and being in-love that we didn’t notice the other stuff that was already there.

Now we slowly move into another season of marriage – I will call this the drown or float season…kids have now come into our lives, more bills have come our way, more duties like sports activities-dance classes, stresses on kids to have the name brand clothing and all the new fan-dangled electronics, kids start driving….

Oh and now we move into the next season—kids are out on their own, maybe you have retired, you made it through everything your marriage seasons brought your way so far, you started with your marriage of 2, then onto a family of 4, now back to the 2 of you again. You now sit across the room looking at your sweet geezer and you notice the grey hairs, the wrinkled face and your mind wanders back to all the seasons of your marriage you have had up to now—and you experience how rich the soil in your garden has truly been—you are now sensing the need to have a tilling season…..

As you sit and look at your husband you begin to look down the rows(the seasons) of your marriage and how you were growing in your faith with God and you were growing your children in your faith with God and yet one row of your marriage was not growing with the same speed as the other rows were,  as a matter of fact those rows were what is called “stunted growth”.   The more you learned about Jesus the more you wanted your husband to know and learn.   You wanted to come together in this area of your marriage and bring a harvest “together”, and yet you were doing it all alone…not together like in your ooey gooey season.

You felt lonely even though you weren’t alone, because you now have God.  The old hornworms(Satan) is always waiting for this time  in our marriage so that he can destroy what God is trying to bless, and when we remain in God’s row we discover the power of growth in us and our marriage.

We push pass the lonliness the hurts we experience, we begin cultivating, pruning and reshaping what old smut face is trying to destroy.   We put new soil(God’s Word) in our souls, this is how our season of hurt to healing reveals its power in our marriage.

Our husbands may still be in the row of stunted growth because he hasn’t chosen to move over to the row where Christ is but every season of marriage we go through together is worth the wait, worth every struggle we may face, worth the day-by-day effort we put into making our marriage grow—-but getting to the day of HARVEST means we have some walking to do through our garden(our marriage) looking for signs of new growth, staying on a seek and destroy mission to weed out the worms, traveling through (the rows) the road of forgiveness…..then and only then will we see A HARVEST and survive this season.

Let’s Keep cultivating our marriages and bring home a harvest (our husband) to God…God can use us to till, to plant, to prune, to weed and to spread the fertilizer that our husbands and our marriages need!

Let’s Pray:

God I pray that you show each of us how to cultivate new soil this week in our marriage, in Your name I pray.  Amen!

Your assignment:

Share with us what your season of marriage looks like and how you will cultivate it in order to help bring home a harvest.

Love you all and Happy Thanksgiving,

Beverly

 ____________________

For the “Winning Him Without Words” Bible Study, you will need the book, your Bible, pen or pencil, a highlighter and a quiet place. You can order the book right through our website by clicking the “sign-up here” button at the top of our webpage; which is also where you can sign up to participate in this awesome bible study!

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Winning Him Without Words: Pick and Choose Your Battles / Stand up or Shut up

November 12, 2012 by

Is it really necessary to win an argument?  Why do we want “to win”?

Do we feel that when we do, we have some kind of special power over the other person?

How many of us were/are like the little six year old in our lesson today, when we don’t win, we bawl(cry), we mouth words back to the person showing our total disappointment and we don’t stop doing these things until we get a point across to them in hopes to get a little reward in something.   Probably most of us can answer yes to this question/thought.

Each of us have something growing inside of us that likes “the victory” moments to occur, we like to be able to say “see there I did that” or “I won that”…..and for some reason we especially like to have those moments with our husbands for some reason.     We feel like when we win a battle that we have won the most ultimate gift of the day until tomorrow when something else happens and we are trying all over “to win again”.

I am here to say we will “NEVER” win, not the true gift anyway as long as we are just trying to win a “daily battle/conflict” in our marriage, because you see all those are just temporary “wins”, they have no meaning, they have no permanence, all they have is a temporary feeling and then they start all over the next morning.

Do we sit and think about the daily battles “before” we choose one to battle over?   I love what Gods Word tells us In Luke 21:14 NIV “but make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves.

This verse tells us that we are able to make a decision not to worry, that we should Resolve and settle in our minds not to meditate and prepare beforehand how we will make our defense and how we will answer.

To meditate means to roll something around in our mind. Worry is simply rolling unpleasant possibilities around in our minds. Not to prepare beforehand how we will responsd to those who disagree with us is a real step of faith. We are then forced to rely on whatever God brings to our minds. By not preparing a battle and rolling these scenarios around in our minds we are now opening our minds instead to receive wisdom from God.

Worry can sneak up on us and we find all sorts of negative possibilities seeping into our minds uninvited and unwelcome, it is when conflicts in our marriage will begin to creep in, all because we want to win a battle, we want to gain an inch of ground in the argument.

 Why can’t we just “keep our mouths shut”

 We must remember that the ones of us who are believers and any of our husbands who are not believers do not see things the same way. One sees with God’s eyes and the other with the world’s eyes.    Thankfully Lynn tells us on Pg. 109 that “we believers view life through the lens of God’s Word, we filter the day’s events and process them through the truths we discover from reading our Bible daily and the time we spend in prayer and our husband processes life from some other source.   This makes our marriage a tough one to live every day and this is one reason why we have “daily battles”.  These are the times we have to decide to “stand up, or give up”  –  really is that what it has to be?  NO!    instead the process in these daily battles  needs to be us becoming mature in Christ and learning to pick and choose our battles carefully and prayerfully.

We all have things to learn from some of these battles we go through but we need to discern the unimportant issues and as we have all heard before “simply agree to disagree” with our husband.

We can’t win our marriage on our own, we can’t take on the role of Jesus in trying to get our marriage to a place where we want it to, instead we need to give our daily battles to God and let Him do all the changing, stop pushing our faith and belief on our man to the point where we argue about it or even the simplest things that take away the focus of God in our lives and in our marriage.

Ladies our husband will see God has changed us, we don’t have to try and make him see and then the key that will unlock these battles is a “transformed life in Him(our husband) and a transformed life in us (our marriage)”

Let’s just surrender our need to win a battle and instead embrace and surrender our marriage, let’s be the peacemaker and let Christ handle all the rest!

 

Let’s Pray:   God I pray for each one of us as we will face upcoming battles in our marriages, help us Lord not to choose the battle but instead look to you and help us to decide if the issue/battle is truly worth this conflict we will face, and help us Lord instead to surrender it to you”  In your name I pray. Amen!

Your assignment:   Tell us how you resolve conflicts/battles in your marriage.   How do you pick/choose your battles?   How many of you never have any conflicts/battles with your man, if so teach us your method and how it can help us to grow this area of our marriage.

Love you all,

Beverly

For the “Winning Him Without Words” Bible Study, you will need the book, your Bible, pen or pencil, a highlighter and a quiet place. You can order the book right through our website by clicking the “sign-up here” button at the top of our webpage; which is also where you can sign up to participate in this awesome bible study!

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Winning Him Without Words: Trade Perfection for Authenticity – A Fine Linen Belt

November 5, 2012 by

This was another difficult chapter for me this week and I kept struggling with what God would have me to share with all of you. God is beginning to open buried places inside me that I have buried for years and I know that I have tried to be the “perfect” wife over all these years instead of what God showed me thru this lesson which is “Beverly I want you to be the authentic wife”, the woman who shows her true self that you were the day you said “I do”.   The one I want your husband to “see” because when he “sees” that, he will then see “me”.   Oh what an epiphany He showed me tonite about how sometimes I do just “show” God instead of “live” God in front of my husband.

In today’s lesson, we find a very interesting illustration.  God tells Jeremiah to buy a new linen belt and wear it around his waist. At that time, a linen belt was an intimate piece of clothing, comparable to the underwear of today.  After Jeremiah wore the belt, God directed him to take it off and hide it in some rocks near a river.  Several days later, God told Jeremiah to return to Perath and retrieve the belt.

After sitting in the elements, the belt that was once perfect and clean was ruined and completely useless.

The belt was symbolic of the people of Judah.  They were once a people who were close to God, just as the belt was once close to Jeremiah.  Over time, the people of Judah allowed pride to come into their hearts, and this pride was as damaging to the people of Judah as the elements were to the belt.  Eventually, that pride ruined them and rendered them completely useless to God.

If we are not careful,  we will be like the people of Judah in our marriages, we can allow the “elements” to damage our relationship with our husband.  We can start to feel alone, left out, like we are just two people living in the same home together but separate and pretty soon, we end up ruined and completely useless as someone who can reach inside our husbands lives and hearts.    We need to make sure we “stop and pay attention” to what we are saying and doing in our marriage and being sure we are being the living representation of Christ in our homes.

That doesn’t mean being perfect, it means being authentic!

As I was with my mom and sister this weekend during one of our bible study evenings my mom broke down and shared some things in her life that happened about 50 years ago that she had no idea that either of us knew, it was so relieving to finally hear her tell this story.   I have been knowing this about 15 years, however, she had no idea that I knew.    She finally had some break thru moments that evening, because she was being “authentic” with us after all these years.

Here are a few things that came to my mind as I studied this lesson that I think we need to be reflecting and showing our husbands:

  • Our hearts – what is in there
  • Our minds – what are we thinking
  • Our soul – what are our desires

Understand I know that some of our husbands may not want to hear these things, but if we approach him at the right time and in the right demeanor (meaning we have taken it to God first before we hit him with it)   I truly believe he will be more receptive to hearing our authentic selves and not the pretend tiptoeing around spouse we are currently being.   As Dineen shared with us; I also know that many of us don’t have the freedoms to voice our beliefs to our husband but we can live boldly through our actions, and through knowing Christ is there with us thru every moment to speak to us and lead the decisions and our words.

Let’s pray:

God I pray for each lady this week as we stop and pay attention to what each day and each moment in our marriage is saying to us and that You help us to be effective  “fine linen belts” in our homes. In your name I pray. Amen!

Your assignment:

Dineen shared with us that she asked God to connect the dots with this story He gave her in this chapter about how it related to being unequally yoked, and He gave her a picture of how the believing spouse can be that fine linen belt….    So after you read this lesson “trading perfection for authenticity” did God show you something specific to help “you” connect dots for your marriage, if so would you share your thoughts with us today.

 

For the “Winning Him Without Words” Bible Study, you will need the book, your Bible, pen or pencil, a highlighter and a quiet place. You can order the book right through our website by clicking the “sign-up here” button at the top of our webpage; which is also where you can sign up to participate in this awesome bible study!

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