1 John 3:18
“We must not love with word or speech, but with truth and action.”
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Are you a “loving” mom, or a mom who is “in-love” with your child?
Is it important to you to be your child’s best friend, or to be one that shows them true love?
I’ve been both. I’ve been the one that shows love discipline and teaching; and I’ve been the one who just wants to be their best friend! Let’s fact it, parenting is not for the faint-hearted, is it??
Priscilla makes some very good points in this chapter:
- Our primary goal as mothers is teaching our children God’s truth.
- Love doesn’t always come in the form of words.
- Love is an action.
- Parenting is not an easy job!
- Parenting is a rewarding job!
- A fair share of your actions toward your children will not always translate love.
- Sometimes kids see our love action as being too strict, or overbearing.
I remember times when my kids were little when they used to think that I was over-protective, to the point that they told all their friends that I wouldn’t let them play out in the street for fear that a plane would crash into them! 🙂 Yes, it was a joke, but in their eyes, they really did see me as too protective. In my eyes, I was loving them. Huge difference.
We used to laugh about the plane crashing into them, but today they are both mothers, and the one daughter who used to joke about the plane the most, is the mom who is the strictest with her children! Ha! I just want to look at her one day and say “When will the plane crash??” 🙂
I’ve seen parents who think their only responsibility is to be “friends” with their kids. Friends to the point that it was unheard of to say “no” to their kids. I saw this in my own home when my husband and I moved under one roof. He had two teenage boys still at home, and his only goal was to be their friend. All I saw was two boys who were headed for a serious crash when the reality of True Life hit them! They had much to learn that life wasn’t all about getting whatever they wanted, when they wanted it. This type of “friendship” with his boys caused us, and the boys, a lot of heartache for the first few years as a family. But, my husband began to see how important it was to change that relationship with his boys and start teaching them to be responsible adults, who would be ready for real life when they left home. It wasn’t an easy change-over, that’s for sure. But we all made it out alive, Praise God!
Really, the only advice I can give new parents, or parents with fairly young children at home, please stop worrying about being their best friend! As Priscilla said in this chapter, True Love is serious business! We have the responsibility of training this human life in the way he/she should go, so that when they are old, they will not depart from it. Your children need YOU to be a parent….not their friend. There’s always time to be their best friend later in years, when they really need it!
As my youngest said to me one day, “Mom, you were always the hardest on us; but because you were, I always knew that you loved us.” You will never know what music that was to my ears!
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Let’s Pray:
Father, we lift our children to You today and we thank You for the awesome responsibility You have given us. We thank You Lord for loaning these children to us for a short period of time, to train them in the way they should go. We thank You Lord for the patience we will need during this time of actually demonstrating our love through action, and not just through words. Help us Lord to be the parent that YOU need us to be for each child in our life.
Father, for struggling families out there, Lord, I ask for Your help in repairing damage that has already been done. Help restore the relationships that have gone sour. Help restore forgiveness, as well, Lord.
In Jesus’ Name, AMEN!!
Your Assignment:
Please leave a comment below telling us in what way you struggle the most in demonstrating love to your child, in action. How can we pray for you today to have a better relationship with your child(ren)?
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Don’t forget, on October 1st, we will begin our brand new Online Bible Study, right here, entitled “Winning Him Without Words” by Lynn Donovan and Dineen Miller. If you are in an unequally spiritual marriage, you won’t want to miss this study!! It is AMAZING!
To sign up for this study, please send an email to: Womens@GirlfriendsCoffeeHour.com and we will send you all the details you need to get started!
Don’t forget to stop by Craig’s blog to see what the guys are up to with The Resolution for Men.
www.adversusmundi.wordpress.com
Be sure to jump on over to our Facebook Group for the daily activity!! If you do not yet belong to this group, and would like to, send us an email at GirlfriendsCoffeeHour@gmail.com with FB GROUP in the subject line, and we’ll be glad to add you!
That’s it for today! Megan will be here tomorrow blogging about the next chapter, “The Soul Shaper”. I hope you will join us!
Living Intentionally to Be a Blessing to My Children,
Resolution for Women – True Love
Resolution for Women – Chapter 11 – Loving My Children
“We must not love with word or speech,
but with truth and action.”
1 John 3:18
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This week we dive into Chapter 11 full force and learn how to resolve to train our kids in righteousness. How to demonstrate to our children how to really love God with all their hearts, minds, and strength, and to train them to respect authority and live responsibly. This is going to be yet another amazing Chapter!!
Your Reading Assignment for this Week:
Monday: Read pages 206 thru 210: True Love
Tuesday: Read pages 211 thru 216: The Soul Shaper
Wednesday: Read pages 217 thru 221: The Intentional Encourager
Thursday: Read pages 222 thru 226: The Discipline Dealer
Friday: Come back here for our Weekly Overview
Be sure to come back here each day of this week to read our blog posts about this awesome chapter from The Resolution for Women by Priscilla Shirer. We have just 2 more sections to complete before we end this current bible study! Wow! Where did the time go!!
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I would like to take this opportunity to ask for your prayers for my family. We lost a very dear loved one this weekend, to cancer. He was my step-father for many years. He and my mother were divorced many years ago, but he always remained my step-father in my heart; and always remained the PawPaw to my children, and their children.
Delvis Glenn Chandler
you will be missed by many.
We love you!
Rest In Peace
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On October 1st, right here on the Featured section of our blog, we will begin this 13-week bible study
“Winning Him Without Words…
10 Keys to Thriving in your Spiritually Mismatched Marriage”
by Lynn Donovan and Dineen Miller.
We will cover topics such as: Staying Connected to Your Man, Discovering the Essentials to Love; Trading perfection for authenticity; Cherishing each new season, and so much more!! This book is amazing ladies, and I can’t wait to get started studying it with you!! You will need to purchase this book for this study. This book, a journal, and your bible is all you will need to participate.
If you haven’t already signed up for this particular study, please email us at
Womens@GirlfriendsCoffeeHour.com
and we will send you all the details you need to get signed up!!
Enjoy the rest of your Weekend!
In His Love,
Resolution for Women – Weekly Overview “Fulfilling My Husband”
Happy Friday!!! 🙂
Here is this weeks video blog!! 😉
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Have a GREAT Weekend Everyone!
See you on Sunday!
The Resolution for Women – How do you Heal an Unbroken Heart
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom Shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I, Send me!
Isaiah 6:8
Wow, what a week to have me blog for this chapter! I just came back from a life changing trip to Nicaragua. This wasn’t my first mission trip though, in fact, last year I went to Guatemala with all intentions of going back. God started working on me way before we left on August 11. I signed up to go to Guatemala then a Proverbs 31 She Speaks conference was scheduled in the same month – due to financial reasons I had to choose one or the other. I chose Proverbs 31 as I felt like God was working on me to expand my personal ministry and begin writing or speaking. So….I registered for the conference. A few weeks later at church I see where my own church is taking their first independent mission trip to Nicaragua! Immediately God let me know that I was supposed to be on that team – so I cancelled the conference registration and joined the missionary team. My wonderful husband had given me the conference money which I now needed for the mission trip and I was able to raise the rest without issue. Yes, God was at work. When I almost raised all the money needed, the people at work asked me how much more I needed, I told them $125 – they raised $82 for me. I talked to our pastor taking us, his records had me only owing $80 and I had just received $82! I preface this story telling you this so you understand how from the very beginning, when I was asking God to show me what ministry activity I was supposed to participate in – He was there – setting me up the entire time.
With that resolved, Like Priscilla in our story today, I now prayed for a broken heart – for the biggest, cracked, shattered, brokest broken heart because you just can’t heal one that is unbroken. I truly wanted to FEEL the pain, I wanted to understand, I didn’t just want to go through the motions. I needed to be broke. Does that make sense?
The first 5 days of our mission trip were spent in a village called Salinas Grande. It is on the ocean and is built around a salt mine. It was about 8 miles of dirt roads, Many houses were lean-to’s wrapped in black plastic, some were block but were open to weather. People rode horses and yes, we saw many horses with make-shift wagons (piece of flat plywood) that they would ride multiple people or things on. Most had electricity with mostly 1 lightbulb hanging for light. However running water was not an everyday gift in most houses. People went with buckets and containers to get their water; sometimes on bikes, sometimes on horses, sometimes walking. Oh yes, the heart was breaking already. Thank you Jesus. How can we have so much and they have so little? Why God?
We met a 90-year-old beautiful, precious woman at one of the feeding programs. She was manually hoisting the water from a very deep well with a bucket and pulley. Our guys tried to lift the water to see how she managed, they could not lift it far! God, she’s 90 and happy, I said. This is life for her; but why? We all have clean running water into our homes – and this elderly sweet lady had to drop a bucket into a well for hers? More heart break….I gave this woman the biggest hug I could possibly give. There is no language barrier with a hug! And the GREATest news…..We had a person on our team who dealt with water pumps at work and we were able to give this her running water at the flip of a switch. No more pulling her water up with a 10 gallon bucket!
The children were beautiful. They would come to the feeding programs at lunch time and get a nice hot lunch. These are funded by missionary teams through Open Eyes Ministries. They would come up on bikes or walking with their empty bowls and spoons and for some, this might be the only full meal a day they get. Can you feel my heart shattering…..being totally broken. And I prayed for this! I needed this! The ladies would cook over their fires, no stoves for them, preparing a big bowl of rice, a big bowl of beans, and a big bowl of some kind of meat and vegetables and we would serve these beautiful little people. We’d play with them – they loved to play ‘football’ (soccer), we had some doing the hokey pokey with us and a translator – All God’s people, but living a different kind of life.
We went into a pastor’s home for a sewing ministry – the young girls were learning how to sew and were making school uniforms to help furnish uniforms to the children at schools that didn’t have the money for them. Someone in ministry had gotten them Brother Sewing Machines to work with – they looked so out-of-place in this pastors open house with chickens and little biddies running through it – they even had a couple of green parakeets running around – but they were happy. It was HOT and there wasn’t much air running through the house, but here these girls sat learning a trade because someone cared. Amazing Grace! God is so good! The navy blue skirts they made had perfect pleats. I stood in awe. I had to donate to this ministry. They were working so hard to give back and they didn’t have enough themselves. —-crash, shatter—-bang…
I know this is getting long-winded, but I have to tell you about the final straw! We went into the schools to teach lessons to the children. We taught Honesty, Optimism, Integrity, and on the last day we took them the gospel. I had the opportunity for the first time to stand up in front of this class and teach them about taking Jesus into their hearts, asking for forgiveness of their sins, teaching them that their slate would wash clean, and they would be new. In my class, I had 22 students and a teacher pray the prayer of salvation! Oh be still my heart! Further shatter…..completely broken – emotionally exhausted. We had 94 total give their hearts in the school that day!
I will end by telling you that I left Nicaragua with a shattered, broken, destroyed heart. God made sure that it would never be the same again. Even as it healed, the remnants of the cracks would remain. I now know that my heart is in ministry for the lost. For those that do not know Jesus Christ. I am on a life mission to be part of the groups that change things in the world for those are less fortunate, and many times lost. I won’t ever be the same person after this trip. God used it to change me so I in turn could change the lives of others. I’m thankful to Jesus for shattering my heart. For showing me the way. I pray that if you have never had your heart spiritually broken, you pray for it. Pray that God takes it and shatters in it pieces. The beauty of what you feel afterwards will change your life as it did mine.
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Let’s Pray
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for breaking my heart. Thank you for allowing me to share my broken heart with others; allowing me to be a vessel for you. Bless each one that reads this blog today and each one that doesn’t. I pray that you will work in our lives, in our hearts, and mold us and shape us to be missionaries to the world – starting right here in our own towns and cities. Thank you for the running water, the electricity, the way of life we have here in the USA. Work with us so that we can take some of our wealth, spiritually and otherwise, to other places in the world, blessing your children there as we are blessed. We ask these things in your name, Amen.
Your Assignment:
Perhaps you’ve been burned when trying to reach out too drastically, people have taken advantage of you or misunderstood your motives; but when you to go minister Christ’s love to another person, what is your real reason for going? What’s a better way to evaluate your success than with measurable, feel-good results alone?
After you have commented below, go back to our Online Bible Study Group on Facebook to see what our Daily FUN Activity is. If you do not yet belong to our OBS Facebook group, and would like to, please send an email to:
GirlfriendsCoffeeHour@gmail.com
We’ll send you the details needed to get you into this group!
Don’t forget to stop by Craig’s blog to see what the guys are up to with The Resolution for Men.
www.adversusmundi.wordpress.com
With Big Hugs and a Big Heart,
<3 Kelley
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Resolution for Women- Look Again
I feel so ill-equipped to write the blog post for today’s lesson. I pray you will bear with me as the Lord leads my fingers as they dance across the keyboard…..
Have you ever found yourself in a similar circumstance to the one that Priscilla describes in today’s lesson? Maybe it was at your church or a conference or even watching the news on television….. but have you ever been bombarded with image after image of horrible, unspeakable travesty that make you want to run from it and hide you face?
I have.
For me, it happened a month or two ago when I was catching up one afternoon on Facebook……
I’m “friends” with many of the teens I work with at church Thursday nights and, as you can imagine, I like to encourage them in their walk with the Lord in social media channels like Facebook. On this day, I was at a loss for what to say.
This BEAUTIFUL daughter of the King who I met through my own children at church had started dating a Muslim boy, had renounced her Christian faith, and was excited to show off her new look wearing her burqa veil. I didn’t know what to do. I could not click “like” but I also didn’t want to make her feel like she isn’t beautiful to me…… I wanted to reach through my laptop screen, scoop her into my arms, and help encourage her right back towards her Heavenly Father…… but I didn’t know how to do that in the constraints of reality… so I prayed.
I prayed a lot.
I started reading more and more about the Muslim faith and a woman’s place within that religion/ culture. I kept praying and learning and I found out that many members of my church family had been praying too.
THIS MORNING I popped on Facebook to post today’s FUN in our Resolution Group and I saw this gorgeous face staring back at me once again and my heart sank. Yes, I have been fervently praying for this precious soul, but I still have not acted on encouraging her or speaking into her life in any way…… and then God nudged me….
He reminded me that she sees every single word I post on my own Facebook page every day. She has not unfriended me so I get to assume that she has at least read one or two encouraging things I have posted! However, I know that God is calling me to be more bold than this with her heart…. and I know He will equip me with all I need to do His work in speaking into her heart…. or any other dear heart that He might show me that is in need of His pure, unconditional love.
My town has been in the national news over the recent past about many of our residents not being happy about a Muslim Training Center that is enlarging its current structure here and I am sad to say that I do not feel that some of my brothers and sisters in Christ here have handled their disapproval of this in the most constructive or Godly manner…. I don’t want to fall into that category…. but I also want to respond in a way that glorifies our Father and shows love for all people. I know he will give me the words to share with any young woman He puts in my path and I know He will also equip YOU to represent His Kingdom in a mighty way for whatever cause He places so intentionally on your dear heart.
Habakkuk 1:3
3 Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Priscilla reminds us that God puts these images and circumstances in front of us for a reason….. it is simply up to us whether we choose to do something about it or not. I know it is hard not to look away or just pray that SOMEONE ELSE will make a difference with it… but why not allow yourself to be that instrument, that willing vessel for God’s work to be done in this earth? Certain injustices will stir your heart in ways it wouldn’t the heart of another. God has divinely designed YOU to specifically impact that injustice in a unique way that only YOU can, dear sister. I know you don’t feel ready, or able, or prepared…. that’s what God is for!
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Let’s Pray
Dear Heavenly Father….. please please please break our hearts for what breaks your’s!!! Then, we ask that you give us the courage that only can come from You to act in such a bold way as to make a difference for Your Kingdom. We no longer want to stay idle….. we know that You have been preparing us to take action in this season and may You get all the glory, Lord! Give us your eyes, give us your heart, give us your love and give us your strength for we know we could never do this in our own power. Help us to lift one another up as we search our hearts, Lord, and may our relationships be ever strengthened for this stand we will take. In Your Son’s name we pray, amen <3
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Your Assignment:
In the comment section below, tell us about what global or local devastations are you currently seeing that stir compassion in your heart? What has kept you from doing something to help? What is one thing you can do and would be willing to make time to do?
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After you have commented below, go back to our Online Bible Study Group on Facebook to see what our Daily FUN Activity is. If you do not yet belong to our OBS Facebook group, and would like to, please send an email to:
GirlfriendsCoffeeHour@gmail.com
We’ll send you the details needed to get you into this group!
Don’t forget to stop by Craig’s blog to see what the guys are up to with The Resolution for Men.
www.adversusmundi.wordpress.com
Many blessings,
Megan 🙂
Resolution for Women – My Heart
What breaks your heart as it breaks the heart of the Father?
Is it abortion?
Is it child abuse?
Is it human sex trafficking?
Is it child pornography?
Is it the homeless?
Is it the spiritually lost?
Is it 3rd world poverty?
Or is it your own backdoor neighbors?
What is it that brings your heart to full compassion and mercy?
What breaks your heart so badly that it makes you get up and do something about it?
That’s what the lesson is about this week, in The Resolution for Women.
It’s a chapter on finding what breaks your heart and makes you want to go out and help, or lead, or feed, or clothe???
The Father’s Heart — It’s finding out what breaks the Father’s heart and then asking Him what He wants you to do about it.
“He has showed you, O Man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and
to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8
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Let’s Pray
Father, break our hearts for what breaks Yours.
AMEN
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Your Assignment:
In the comment section below, tell us about what breaks your heart.
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After you have commented below, go back to our Online Bible Study Group on Facebook to see what our Daily Activity is. If you do not yet belong to our OBS Facebook group, and would like to, please send an email to:
GirlfriendsCoffeeHour@gmail.com
We’ll send you the details needed to get you into this group!
Don’t forget to stop by Craig’s blog to see what the guys are up to with The Resolution for Men.
www.adversusmundi.wordpress.com
Living Intentionally to Be My Very BEST for Him,
Resolution for Women – Chapter 9, My Heart – PLUS … BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!
“He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and
to walk humbly with your God.”
Micah 6:8
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This week we deal with the heart. What does God want from our heart? This scripture above gives us a clue: He requires us to pursue justice; love mercy; and walk humbly with Him. He wants our hearts to break for what breaks His heart. He wants us to have a revelation of what His will is. He wants us to respond to what God has called us to. He wants us to have His heart.
This week, we are going to see the heart of God and what He wants our heart to look like! It reminds me of a song that I will post below….. READ the lyrics and let them sink deep into your heart. Pray these lyrics as a prayer to our Lord & Savior!
What stirs compassion in your heart?
What tugs at your heart?
Your Reading Assignment for this week:
- Come to our blog on Monday, where Christi will do a preview of this weeks topic “My Heart”
- Come to our blog on Tuesday, where Megan will be discussing pages 164-168 “Look Again.”
- Come to our blog on Wednesday, where Kelley will be discussing pages 169-173
- “How Do You Heal an Unbroken Heart”
- Come to our blog on Thursday, where Beverly will be discussing pages 174-179, “Mercy Me”.
- Come back on Friday, where we will do an overview of the week, AND sign this weeks resolution!
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Now for our BIG ANNOUNCEMENT….
Our Next Women’s Bible Study
Girlfriends Coffee Hour is so excited to announce the next brand new Online Bible Studies that will begin October 1st!
If you are struggling with being in an unequally yoked marriage, this study is for YOU!!
“Winning Him Without Words –
10 Keys to Thriving in Your Spiritually Mismatched Marriage”.
To join this study, please send an email to GirlfriendsCoffeeHour@gmail.com with “Winning Him” in the subject line. We’ll send you all the details you need to get signed up!
This book is based on the scripture from 1 Peter 3:1 “…they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives.” This Online Bible Study will be led by Christi Wilson, Founder of Girlfriends Coffee Hour. Beverly McCormick and Donna Day will help with the blogging for this study. You won’t want to miss this study!! It is AMAZING!!!
If your husband does not share your faith, you may feel like you are walking a tightrope of spiritual survival – guarding the flame of your belief in Christ, yet unable to share it with the person you love most in the world. But your spiritually mismatched marriage can be a vibrant, blessed relationship where you’re free to grow in love with God and your man!
Winning Him With Words, written by Lynn Donovan and Dineen Miller, both Christian women married to unbelieving husbands, is your invitation to thrive instead of survive! This study begins October 1st right here on our website: GirlfriendsCoffeeHour.com.
PLUS, YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS OUR OCTOBER CONFERENCE CALL!!!
Mark your calendars also for October 2nd when Lynn Donovan,
one of the authors of this book, “Winning Him Without Words”
joins us for our monthly Conference call!! More details to be given soon!!
If you’ve made it this far, GREAT! Because I am actually giving away a FREE copy of “Winning Him Without Words” to ONE person. This person will be randomly chosen.
All you have to do is:
1. Comment below WHY you want to win a copy of “Winning Him”
and
2. Comment on our FACEBOOK Community Page why you love Girlfriends Coffee Hour! (Click HERE)
You MUST do BOTH in order to be entered into this drawing!
We will announce the winner on our FB Community Page Monday Morning!!!
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Be sure to check out our Teens & Singles blogs, also, for details on their next study, as well! Go back to our front page … CLICK HERE … and you will see the Teens & Singles blogs under the Featured blog. This is going to be an amazing time with GCH!!
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If you haven’t signed up for our Online Study Groups on Facebook, and you want to be a part of this amazing trend, send us an email at GirlfriendsCoffeeHour@gmail.com, and we’ll email you the details that you will need to get added to these groups! You will have a blast with women all across the world who loves the Lord, and enjoys studying His word!
Wow! I’m tired just from typing all this! We have some AMAZING things happening here at Girlfriends Coffee Hour, and we hope you are enjoying the ride, as well! Stay tuned for more announcements this week!
Living Intentionally to Be My Very BEST for Him,
Resolution for Women: The 3% Difference
“Blessed are those whose way is blameless”
Psalm 119:1
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As I read this chapter, I just couldn’t stop thinking of Girlfriends Coffee Hour and how much of what Priscilla was saying about us needing friends to hold us and keep us accountable to living a life of integrity, just fits with what GCH is all about!!
But, before I go there, I want to discuss the 3% difference. All I can say is OUCH! This is a tough chapter! I’ve had to look at myself with a magnifying glass this week, so I could find everything that was keeping me from living a life of Integrity!! I’ve had to look deep into what my life really is like behind closed doors, and not just what I put out there for everyone to see. Again, OUCH!!
The information that Priscilla shared about the rat poison and how just 3% of the whole ingredients of rat poison is what actually kills the rat….while the other 97% is what draws the rat to the poison!
What draws you to the poison? Is it television shows, books, music, gossip, lying, stealing? Is it what you look at on the computer? Is it that glance at work with your co-worker? What is it that is drawing you closer to the rat poison?
Integrity to me means doing the right thing even when others are not looking. It means doing the right thing….period.
When you leave Wal-Mart, do you park your cart next to your car, or do you put it in the cart rack?
Do you gossip about others in your life? In your church? At work? In front of your children?
Do you talk mean about others? In front of your kids, and then expect them not to bully others?
Do you stand aside while someone is digging for extra change to pay their grocery bill? Or do you offer to help them by giving them the extra change they need?
Do you hold the door for others as they enter a building at the same time as you? Or do you walk through as if they didn’t even exist?
What do you watch on television?
What do you look at on the computer?
Every one of these things fit into the 97% category that entices you to get to the 3%! Did you know that? If not, now you do! What are you going to do about it?
There are so many things satan uses to try and trip us up; to taint our integrity. Sometimes we don’t even realize it…until it’s too late.
We are Christians. We are to be the light of the world. We are to bring honor and glory to the name of Jesus. We are to be on our guard, so that our minds are not dulled, as it says in Luke 21:34.
We are to protect our minds, our hearts, our homes, and our walk with the Lord. We are to stand up and ask for accountability if we are struggling with a certain area in our lives. We are not to allow even a hint of immorality, impurity or greed enter into our lives. (Eph 5:3)
Even a hint…. Just 3 % is all it takes to kill a rat. Just 3%. Think about that for a minute. Out of 100% of the rat poison….all it takes is just 3% to kill the rat! The other 97% is what tastes good, looks good, and feels good to the rat. But it’s the 3% that kills him…. Just 3%.
We could stand all day and look at just that small tiny little 3%, but ask yourself about the other 97%. What is it in your life that is drawing you, feeding you, enticing you, and making you “feel” good?
You know it’s there. You’ve known it was there for quite a while now. You’ve tried your best to get rid of it…to tame it….to stop it…to put it aside….but it just keeps coming back to entice you.
That’s where accountability comes in. After you’ve made the choice to step away from these things and start living a life of integrity, confess this to the Lord, and then reach out to someone you trust who can hold you accountable to that choice you have just made.
Girlfriends Coffee Hour is a great place to do just that! A group of Christian women who love the Lord; who strive to live their lives to bring honor and glory to our Lord; who strive to encourage one another; lift each other up in prayer; and support one another along this journey.
GCH is a place where you can come to let your hair down….to get real. To laugh. To cry. To pray. To fellowship with women all across the world, who are in this journey together!
GCH is a place for others to hold you accountable. We won’t coddle you. We won’t baby you. We’ll give it to you just the way you need it. Straight up and in truth!
For some, it’s just what they need. For others, it’s a good kick in the pants. For even others, it’s just what God has called them to.
If you are looking for a place to call home; a place to come for fellowship; a place for accountability; a place to pray for and encourage others and to be prayed for and encouraged, we want to be here for YOU!
Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend”. That is the scripture the Lord gave us for this ministry. We want to help sharpen you to be the very best that you can be for our Lord and Savior!
We love you! I hope today’s lesson sinks down deep into your heart. I hope it brings you to a place where you will give your ALL to the Lord, so you can become your very best for Him! That’s what we pray for you!
Let’s pray:
Father, as I lift each woman who reads this blog today, I ask that You reveal Yourself to them in ways they’ve never seen before. Help them, Lord, to dig deep and really search their hearts for things that are prohibiting them from walking in integrity. Help us help them, Lord, as we walk alongside them today and every day, to bring You glory and honor! We love You Lord, and we constantly want nothing more but to bring You honor in all that we do, and say! In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Your assignment:
Describe below in our comment section how we can help hold you accountable to what God is doing in your heart this week. What would that look like, and would you be willing to submit to it?
Now head on back to our Online Bible Study Facebook Group for the Daily Activity, and be sure to let us know today what this chapter has said to you! If you don’t belong to our OBS FB Group, and would like to, simply send us an email at: GirlfriendsCoffeeHour@gmail.com and we’ll be happy to send you the details you will need to get started!
…don’t forget to read what the men are up to over on Craig’s blog…
www.adversusmundi.wordpress.com
Have a BLESSED Day!!!
The Resolution for Women: Structural Soundness
“Blessed are those whose way is blameless”
Psalm 119:1
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It just would not be right if I typed one more word without quoting Mrs. Shirer from page 147…
“No doubt, this point of resolution calls for an intimate, personal, introspective look at what’s going on in our hearts and homes. It touches on some of those allowances we make behind closed doors, in the quiet of our dens and living rooms, where laziness and leniency have been known to hang around after dinner and stay up into the wee hours. That’s why, honestly, it often requires a resolution like this before we recognize that these things we’ve been sanctioning with our time and attention are a glaring contradiction of who we are and what we say we believe.”
It is all about compromise, ladies….. and with God, THERE IS NO COMPROMISE!
These compromises can come in many shapes and forms and you can probably easily justify them…..
- watching a movie or television show you shouldn’t watch
- listening to music you shouldn’t fill your ears with
- flirting with an old flame online
- reading a book you shouldn’t be reading
- eating food in amounts you shouldn’t be eating or to fill a void
- ________________________________.
I am not interested in telling you what parameters you should have in place for this, because that is not my place 🙂 BUT…. I really would like you to take a good hard, honest look at what you are spending your time on and filling your precious senses with and decide whether you are compromising purity and virtue for the sake of entertainment.
O U C H….. yes, this hurts…. but it is more than necessary that we rip this band aid off in one clean yank rather than continue to live this charade.
We cannot continue to discourage one thing in public and then derive pleasure from it behind closed doors. The world, and God, needs us to stop being one thing on the outside and something entirely different on the inside. He NEEDS this from us in order to fulfill His purposes AND for us to be living in the fullness of what He has for our lives.
THIS is integrity.
Structural Integrity is when something doesn’t just look good, it also has strong functionality. What is the use of a house that looks nice if it will fall apart at the sign of any storm? You wouldn’t want to be seen in a gorgeous new dress if you knew that if you bent down, it would rip at the seams from weak construction. We cannot continue living day-to-day in the hypocrisy of our own actions.
Priscilla shared something with us in this chapter that MUST be shared here. John Wesley (an evangelist) received these words from his mother:
“Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off the relish of spiritual things- in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind- that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself.”
Yikes!!!! So dear sisters, which do WE want more…. God’s best, or your personal favorites?
Psalm 101:2-3 (NLT)
2 I will be careful to live a blameless life— when will you come to help me?
I will lead a life of integrity in my own home.
3 I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar. I hate all who deal crookedly; I will have nothing to do with them.
The verse gives us some guidelines that we would do well to live by:
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Have no tolerance for evil.
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Closely monitor the type of people you allow to influence you
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Recognize your need for divine help
So….. the big question to ask ourselves here today is: “Are you who you claim to be?”
Understand that God’s goal for you through your integrity isn’t to take away all of your fun, like it might look on the surface. He wants so much more for you than that, dear one! His goal is to “position you as a clean, pure, available recipient of His best, most fulfilling blessings.” He needs you to leave all of these compromising distractions behind so that He can fill you with His best!
That’s what I want and I hope you want it, too! Let;s dig deep today, my dear friends, so that we can once and for all be a complete open, pure vessel ready for God’s best!
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Let’s Pray:
Dear Lord, You know how hard it is for us to let go of these worldly pleasures so I ask You to please kelp give each and every one of us the strength and courage we need today to stand for YOU and Your best for us! Impress upon our minds, hearts and soul what You need us to stop compromising in and help us to kick it all to the curb! We want to begin living the same life in private that we profess to live in public. We want YOur best, Lord, and although it won;t be easy, we know it will be worth it! In Your Son’s pure name we pray, amen <3
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Your Assignment:
What do you participate in right now that weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, and/ or takes the relish off spiritual things? Please share with us in a comment below….
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After you complete this assignment, then go back to your Facebook Group and see what Megan has for us for our daily activity. I’m sure it is going to be interesting!! If you do not belong to one of our FB Groups, and you wish to be added, please send us an email to: GirlfriendsCoffeeHour@gmail.com, and we’ll be happy to add you!!
Join us back here tomorrow where we will discuss the next chapter of this section: The Three Percent DIfference.
Be a blessing,
Megan <3
…don’t forget to read what the men are up to over on Craig’s blog…
The Resolution for Women: All Clear
Jeremiah 31: 34
“I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sin.”
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Don’t you wish forgiveness was as easy as Priscilla describes in today’s chapter, using the “Delete” button? I mean look at the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s! Perhaps if only one of them had used the ‘Delete’ button years and years ago, the incredible family feud that has gone on for so many years, taking many lives, would have been long over – instead they have made history over a lifetime of unforgiveness. In scripture it tells us the following ~
“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” Ephesians 4:32
Being around someone you don’t like and being kind is one thing; however, forgiveness has to be the hardest pill for us to swallow. “Excuse me Lord, you want me to forgive Her“? [emphasis] How many of us have asked that question over and over with various people in our lives. It’s so much easier for us to just ignore people – stop associating with them – or chalking them off in our lives rather than doing as Jesus would and forgiving them. It’s built into our flesh – it’s human – there is no “delete” button.
How many of you have someone in your life that you need to forgive? How many have a dark cloud hanging over your head because this issue is not resolved? Doesn’t it truly keep cropping up? Perhaps you miss a family function because of this or you actually find yourself missing this person you’ve chosen not to forgive~ both situations very irritating, keeps the wound festering even long after the event. Unfortunately, we cannot seem to hit that “delete button” to free them and to free us.
Well, it’s time to hit the “delete” button. Scripture makes it clear. Jesus has made it clear. Do not let one more day go by without reaching way deep down inside of your heart to forgive to, lift the burden this carries on your life. Not only will you feel better yourself mentally and physically, but you will be following the desires of God’s heart. THIS is worth it all by itself!
So, if forgiving others is tough, what about the need to forgive yourself? Well, that’s a whole different story, huh!?
The following story is true and it breaks my heart to tell it; however, it’s a story that truly screams out forgiveness in every sense of the word so I need to share it.
I have a friend and when he was away one day, his oldest son was riding his bike outside and fell; his mother ran out the door to rescue him. Unfortunately, while mom was outside with her injured son, his 2-year-old brother went through an opened sliding glass door and into the pool drowning. Horrifying, right? RIGHT! Can you absolutely imagine the pain of this mother? Do you think she has forgiven herself today? The true answer is, I honestly do not know for sure. Her mistake cost her son’s life ~ that is a level of forgiveness I cannot even imagine having in this situation.
And, what about this little guy’s father? This baby boy was the apple of his eye, his heart – and now he was gone due to an accident caused by a simple mistake. An open door. And he wasn’t there to protect him. He couldn’t save him. Outside of not being able to forgive himself, what about forgiveness for his wife? The wife who left the door open that his baby went through The turmoil that must have (and likely still does) cause him agony. How does one dig that deep?
Here’s the GREAT part. Here’s the part we need to get and understand…..Priscilla says, “No human forgiveness is strong enough, not even your own, to ever free you from the torturous remainder of your offense and the cloak of guilt in it lays on your shoulders” – did you hear that NO HUMAN FORGIVENESS IS ENOUGH . There is only one way to lift that black cloud, to free yourself from the bondage and years of suffering and that is to accept the gift that Jesus Christ has given us – the gift of freedom – freedom from our sins. He forgives US – we in turn need to forgive others.
Priscilla says it best when she says, ‘He felt the crown of thorns pressed onto His head. He took the beating……..He hung on Golgotha’s tree. That’s when you received all the forgiveness you’ll ever need. When he cried, ‘It is finished!’. It was done.” – The ‘DELETE’ button pressed. For us. For each and every one of us.
Do not let another day go by without forgiving yourself or someone else. Press your Delete button today. Jesus did.
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Your Assignment:
Now it’s time to go back to your Facebook Online Bible Study Group to see what your Daily Activity is!! I’m guessing it’s going to be a fun one!! If you are not currently in one our FB OBS Groups, and would like to be, please send an email to: GirlfriendsCoffeeHour@gmail.com, and we’ll be glad to add you!!
Love,
Kelley <3<3
Read all about Craig’s Resolution for Men Journey here: www.adversusmundi.wordpress.com
