November 24, 2024

Crazy Love- Chapter 4: “Profile of the Lukewarm” pgs. 65-68

January 28, 2013 by

matthew 13 44

Definition of LUKEWARM

1: moderately warm : tepid
2: lacking conviction : halfhearted <gave them only lukewarm support>
(thank you, merriam-webster.com)
I think that definition will be helpful as we begin to look at the profile of the lukewarm….
In today’s lesson, Francis Chan gives us several questions to ask ourselves as we take a look at how we {might} fit the profile of a lukewarm Christian. Have you ever heard this term before? Well, based on the definition of “lukewarm” shown above, A Lukewarm Christian would be one who is not living an “all in” type of life following Christ. What does that look like in real life? Well…let’s take a look at some of these questions Chan asks and see how that helps us put together this profile:
  1. Has your relationship with God actually changed the way you live?
  2. Do you see evidence of God’s kingdom in your life? (Or are you choking it out slowly by spending too much time, energy, money, and thought on the things of this world?
  3. Are you satisfied being “godly enough” to get yourself to heaven, or to look good in comparison to others? (Or can you say with Paul that you “…want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death” (Phillippians 3:10)?
  4. Would you describe yourself as totally in love with Jesus Christ? (Or do the words half-hearted, lukewarm, and partially committed fit better?)
The rest of the week’s lessons are going to go into further detail about these descriptions…today is just to start preparing our hearts for the convicting ideas that Chan will be throwing our way. This is certainly not an easy chapter (have we had one yet?) but I believe it is necessary to our Christian walk to be REAL with ourselves and start taking every necessary step to walk the walk God calls us to in order to live out our faith in this world.
Here is a short interview with Chan I found where he discussed this. Please, please, please…watch <3
Let’s Pray:
Lord, this week we are getting super real and we need your help. Father, we want to be changed…from the inside out. We know this won’t be easy or fun, but we understand that it is necessary. We can only do this with You. Help to prepare our hearts today for what You will through Chan’s lessons this week and change us, Lord! We no longer want to be lukewarm, but be burning HOT, on fire, in crazy love with you! Help us, Father. In Jesus’ mighty name we pray, amen. <3
Your assignment:
I simply want to hear what some of the thoughts are that are swirling around in your spirit after reading this post and watching the video. We get way more in-depth tomorrow, so for today…as we scratch the surface…what’s on your mind about being “lukewarm” in your faith? How can we best be lifting you in prayer?
Blessings,
Megan 🙂

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If you are interested in joining this amazing online Bible study for Crazy Love, click HERE to sign up. Once you are registered, you will receive an email with further details.

If you would like to email a private message to Megan in regards to this blog, please email her at: megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com

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Crazy Love: Chapter 3 Weekly Review

January 25, 2013 by

Weekly Review

WOW…. this past week had us digging into our past… living in our present AND looking with excitement and passion to our future! Let’s take a look back at this week’s lessons for a moment together…

Monday, you and I explored our relationships with our earthly father and how we can translate that onto our relationship with God. That can be good and/ or not so good…. but we learned how important it is to understand that God is above all humanity and it is dangerous to our relationship with Him to try to put earthly limits on Him.

Martha shared with us about coming to God with a reverent intimacy. I enjoyed that lesson so much as she walked us through the stages of childhood developement and how we need to look to our heavenly Father with a reverent fear out of the crazy love we have for Him.

On Wednesday, Donna shared with us about how no matter what rejection we might have faced on this earth, that God has wanted and loved us since he formed us in our mother’s womb. We are wanted by Him… always and He will never forsake or turn from us.

Jennifer shared with us on yesterday about what choice we have in all of this….. God will always love us, no matter what… but we all have a choice whether or not to love Him and live for Him in return. We need to know Him and love Him no matter what… unconditionally the way He loves each of us. He deserves nothing less from His children <3

Francis Chan has another amazing video for us this week. Please go watch it now…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xzrv0f-UMQ&feature=youtu.be

Are you just SO struck with the love of the father… SO struck with the love of Jesus that there are no words?

Chan challenges us  to live love-struck by the love of Jesus every day of our life. He challenges us to think about the cross in traffic, at the grocery store or in line at the bank…. to think about what HE did for you and for me and be completely broken again right there. I can’t think of anything more humbling or a better way to keep our focus on Jesus as we live our every day.

No one has ever or will ever love you like Jesus has and does…. HE IS THE greatest love of my life and your life. Do you feel it? Are you letting that fill every part of your heart and soul? This love is stronger than that of a parent/ child relationship because it is flawless…. without any earthly hang-ups and issues. The redemptive work of Jesus on the cross is the most pure love ever….

And its all yours <3

Let’s Pray:

Dear Lord, thank you for the lessons in this week’s chapter. For any of us who still have not been broken by the love you have for us, I ask you today to break our hearts either again or for the first time. Help us feel your love in every part of who we are… to not just want to do our best for you to do it, but because we love you THAT much and THAT completely! Thank you for this provision, Father, as we seek you more completely and fiercely than ever before. Amen <3

Your Assignment:

Do you remember when you “got it”… when you LOVED Him?  Let’s each share those experiences when you “got it.” When you feel in LOVE with Your Creator. Chan urges us to understand this part of the book. It’s not about trying harder to please God, but to REALLY be in love with him…. to make the cross central in your life. It’s about relationship… intimate relationship and not legalism.Please share with us in a comment below about the time in your life when you “got” the Love you have for Jesus!

Blessings,

Megan 🙂

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If you are interested in joining this amazing online Bible study for Crazy Love, click HERE to sign up.

Once you are registered, you will receive an email with further details.

If you would like to email a private message to Megan in regards to this blog, please email her at: Megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com.

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Crazy Love: Week 3 / Chapter 3- dad and DAD

January 21, 2013 by

 

Who’s your DADDY?????

Really….. I want to hear all about him.

Wether you have the world’s greatest earthly father or not, God entrusted you to him for a reason and I would love to know not only what he is like, but what your relationship with him is like.

My dad is a hoot!!! He’s a big old hot mess, but I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love him. Have you ever seen that movie “Big Fish” about the dad who tells the outlandish stories about his extraordinary life and drives his son crazy? Well, that’s MY dad…. but he doesn;t drive me crazy. I Love it and I know I learned how to communicate effectively with other people and how to have great relationships because of him and what an amazing “people person” he is. He has this incredible ability to make a new acquaintance feel like a long-lost best friend…. and it makes my heart happy to see it in action!

Growing up, my dad worked a lot. My mom would have dinner on the table when he got home from work. We would eat together then he would settle in his man-chair for the night and nap until he went to bed. We would sometimes do things together on the weekends, and I really enjoyed that a lot. Some of my best memories are with him at college basketball games or when he would hang out with my friends and I when I had some people over and he would tell them all his wild (TRUE) stories. My dad is a great man… but I never really went to him if I had a problem or needed help. I don’t know why I didn’t, but I always tried to handle everything on my own and really didn’t communicate much of anything about “me”  to my parents unless I really HAD to.

I KNOW I brought this to my relationship with the Lord. I could bring the prayer requests of others to Him like nobody’s business, but I kept feeling God impress into my spirit the question: “What about you?”

YIKES….. I was the one that everyone always came to for help and guidance and I learned at a young age not to share my burdens with my friends because it would always freak them out a bit and they didn’t know what to do. So, I just began to stuff it all down and try to deal with everything on my own. This caused me to not let God into many deep dark places inside me for way too many years. Until I finally let Him in, I wasn’t able to truly live how He called me to and fulfill His purposes on this earth that He intended for me to do. He was begging for me to cry out to him on my own behalf…… he needed me to need Him….<3 And then He helped me heal.

You see, it was a trust issue…. and as Chan says on page 56 “God is more worthy of trust than anyone else, yet for so long I questioned His love and doubted His care and provision for me.”

Matthew 7:11

11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,

how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

People of this earth and even your earthly father will fail you…. but your Heavenly Father never will. We need to immediately stop putting earthly hang-ups on our Great Creator! He alone is perfect and His love never fails!

Let’s pray:

Lord, help us see the areas where we are putting flawed human traits onto You. Open our eyes to this, Lord, and help us repent. We want to give all of ourselves to YOU whole and complete! Heal us of our earthly relationship hurts so we can fully begin to understand the depth of your love for us. Help us to trust and give you everything. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen <3

Your Assignment:

What hurts or hang ups are you still hanging onto from your relationship with your earthly father that you need to stop putting on your relationship with God? We want to pray along with you for healing in this area <3

Blessings,

Megan 🙂

_____________________________________________________________________

If you are interested in joining this amazing online Bible study for Crazy Love, click HERE to sign up. Once you are registered, you will receive an email with further details.

If you would like to email a private message to Megan in regards to this blog, please email her at: megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com

 

 

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Crazy Love – Week 2 / Chapter 2 “You Might Not Finish This Chapter” Weekly Review

January 18, 2013 by

Weekly Review

This week has been all about living in the present and living each day as if it were our last. Here’s a re-cap…

Monday, I shared with you about living each day as if you don’t have another…not putting things off and certainly not wasting time we have on this earth.

Martha had some pretty bold words for us on Tuesday about it being not about YOU. She warned us that we all really need to get over ourselves. Ouch…. But so very true.

On Wednesday, Donna shared with us about legacy and had us ask ourselves a very important question…. “What will you leave behind?”

Jennifer shared Brooke’s story with us on Thursday and we were all totally inspired to action about how fully we are living our lives to point people to God!

Yes… this has certainly been a powerful week and I pray each lesson has been a blessing to you <3

 

Francis Chan has THIS video for us about Chapter 2. Please watch it now…..

 Your Assignment:

What is your one BIG TAKEAWAY from this chapter and Francis Chan’s video for us for this week? How has this kicked you into action for change? Please share with us below 🙂

Let’s Pray:

Dear Lord, thank You for another week and for the blessing of this study. I pray that as we go into our weekend, that You continue to mold our hearts and help us to begin today to live like we have no tomorrow. Help us turn hearts to You, Father, and live OUT LOUD for Your glory! In Jesus’ name we pray, amen! 

Blessings,

Megan 

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If you are interested in joining this amazing online Bible study for Crazy Love, click HERE to sign up.

Once you are registered, you will receive an email with further details.

If you would like to email a private message to Megan in regards to this blog, please email her at: Megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com.

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Crazy Love – Week 2 / Chapter 2: “You Might Not Finish This Chapter” pgs. 39-40

January 14, 2013 by

James 4 13-14

Do you live each day as if your life could go on forever… or like you could die at any moment?

A little light discussion for today, right? I know, I know….. you’re thinking:

“But Megan….. it’s MONDAY!!!!!!” Yes, it is… and what if it was your LAST?

If you’re anything like me, on any given day you are spread in any number of directions. You are top chef, home manager, taxi driver, appointment setter, taker and reminder. You take care of everyone in your life…. and pray you maybe have some time in your day to care about YOUR hopes, wants, dreams ands needs in there, too.

Mr. Chan brings to our attention in our reading today that “on the average day, we live caught up in ourselves.” Ouch. I hate to admit this as much as you do, but he’s right….. isn’t he? Today needs to be the day that you look at every day forward (including today) differently.

Just stop for a second and catalog what all had to happen in order for you to even be reading this blog….. What does that REALLY look like? It doesn’t just happen, you know?  I’m not even going to get unto how you actually got to the place where you are reading this blog because I could write for days just on that idea alone……. but simply for your computer to be able to function in such a way as to bring these simple words and images on a screen for your eyes to feast on….. THAT is amazing. I realize that this blog is probably not a life-saving thing for you and you would certainly survive if, for some reason, technology wasn’t being your friend today and you were unable to read these fine words……

….but how AWESOME is it that it DOES work? Each little megabyte and gigabyte…. they all work together for the glory of God to give you some food for thought as you prepare your day. That is pretty neat… and it is certainly bigger than you or me.

We always act like we have more time… That we will just do “it” tomorrow or that “it” can wait. What if there is no tomorrow? Y0u certainly would have missed this message if you didn’t read it today and I can’t help but then think that maybe lives would miss out on your perspective about it as a comment that you didn’t post as a comment for the world to see all because you missed the message.

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Goodness gracious…. please leave a comment today because it certainly is not guaranteed that you will be able to do it tomorrow 🙂

I think that NOW is a good time to pray <3

Dear Lord, thank You for this revelation as we begin our second week of this study. Help us today to begin anew living in the moment and not caught up in the past or the future…. but letting YOU lead and guide our steps in the now to be able to live abundantly in Your presence daily. Thank you, Lord, for this provision! Help us to live with a new sense of urgency with Your plan in the forefront of our hearts and minds. We love You Lord and we thank You for this guidance. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen <3

Your Assignment…..

How DO you live each day??? Do you live each day as if your life could go on forever… or like you could die at any moment? What do you need to change TODAY to begin to live with the urgency that God wants of you? Please leave me a comment below and let’s get this conversation started without delay!

Blessings,

Megan 🙂

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If you are interested in joining this amazing online Bible study for Crazy Love, click HERE to sign up. Once you are registered, you will receive an email with further details.

If you would like to email a private message to Megan in regards to this blog, please email her at: megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com

 

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God and Life Balance: Take God With You

January 13, 2013 by

Hello Friends!

This is week 2 of learning HOW to be successful with balancing your relationship with God and other things in your life. Today our focus is going to be on taking God with you throughout your day.

Do you do this already? If so… good for YOU!!!!! It’s not something that comes naturally for us to do and it takes some work on your part to make it a habit. Let’s dive right in and take a closer look at HOW we can keep God with us throughout our day, no matter where we go or what crazy situations we find ourselves in!

 

girl on rocks

1. Pray

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always,  pray continually,give thanks in all circumstances;for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

I want to challenge you not to limit your prayer time to when you wake up or when you go to bed… or even before you eat a meal. God calls us to pray, to stay in constant communication with Him throughout the day. He cares about your school day and even your soccer practices…. your time with friends and even the guy you like in 6th period. He wants you to talk to Him about your concerns at home and even about what to wear to prom! He cares about you that much, dear heart….. and wants to hear from you more than you know!

2. Be Still with God

I know you are super busy. I know you move from one class to the next and one activity to the next all day long. But, in His Word, God calls us to take time to be still.

Hebrews 4:10-11

…for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

Throughout your day, you are bombarded with information and noise which make it pretty impossible to hear from God. As you are able to give yourself time in your schedule, God will certainly meet you right where you are and help you rest and feel balanced through His promises. Please, dear sister… make a commitment to make room in your schedule to be still with your Heavenly Father.

3. Share The Good News!

Mark 16:15

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

God calls us in His Word to share His good news through all the earth. Do you talk with your friends about God? What about your relationship with Him? I know those types of conversations can be hard to start-up, but I do know that God will guide you and give you the perfect words to say if He nudges you to share about Him! I think that is a pretty awesome way to keep God with you during your day and to help stay balanced. Not only will that keep Him on your mind and your heart, but I know it will make Him so happy to know You care about Him enough to tell people about how He has changed your life! What a blessing!

Next Sunday, I will be back and ready to talk to you all about Accountability and how that fits in with your God and Life Balance. I hope you will come back and let me know how everything is going as you work on maintaining balance in your life every day! This will certainly help to prepare you for the GCH:decaf new online Bible study of NOT A FAN starting in just a few weeks!

Let’s Pray:

Father God, thank You for being with each of us everyday as we strive to walk in step with You and Your will. Come with us, Lord. Be with us all day long as we do our best for Your Glory. We ask for Your wisdom in discerning what changes You might have us make in order to have more time to be still with You and keep You with us always. We love You and thank You for this mighty provision. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen <3

 

Blessings to you all,

 

Megan 🙂

 

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If you are interested in more information about GCH:decaf, email us at: GCH_Decaf@girlfriendscoffeehour.com.

If you would like to send a personal message to Megan, you may email her at: Megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com.

 

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Crazy Love – Week 1/ Chapter 1: “Stop Praying” Weekly Review

January 11, 2013 by

 

Can you believe the first week of the incredible study is coming to a close? I am in shock! What an awesome week! Not only have the blogs been amazing, but I have enjoyed reading all of your comments and insight so much! God is so good! Please join me as I take a brief look back on week one…

Monday you and I were urged to stop praying and start exploring how we are coming to God in our quiet time. Mr. Chan asked us to take some time to dig deep and really take a look at our posture as we come into the presence of Our Lord and Savior.

Martha took a deeper look at God’s vast creation with all of us on Tuesday and she also had us think back about our relationship with our earthly father. We were asked to meditate on God’s greatness and wonder.

Donna took us on quite a journey on Wednesday as we explored the many attributes of God. We were asked to take a look at what holds us back from acknowledging God for who He is.

On Thursday, Jennifer worked through with us how so many aspects of God are bigger than anything we can even comprehend. We read about Isaiah and John and we were urged to again to be quiet and still before our Creator as we focus on His greatness in awe.

Francis Chan has a video for you as we complete chapter 1. I would love for you to watch it now….

In this video, Mr. Chan talks about asking God to create something new for you… not to repeat great quiet times you have had with Him in the past but a NEW awesome time with Him and in His presence! A new fire… a new passion! Let’s take a hard, real look at our prayer life where it maybe has become routine and breathe new life into it TODAY!

Let’s Pray….

Lord, thank You for all of the wonderful insight given to us this week about our prayer time with You. Thank You for so faithfully meeting us right where we are, and Father we thank You for breathing new life into our souls today! Help us to be contagious, spreading your light to all the lives we interact with today and may our passion for You be evident to every life we touch. We love You in a crazy way, Father, and we ask You to keep stoking this fire that is growing within. We crave to be forever changed by You and Your Word. In Your Son’s matchless name we pray, Amen <3

Your Assignment:

Remember yesterday when Jennifer asked you to really think about what the first words out of your mouth would be when you are in the presence of God…. if you literally saw Him right in front of you?  You KNOW it is TIME to fall CRAZY in love with God, ladies……. How will you NOW incorporate THIS new posture and language into your prayer time with God? Leave me some comments below all about it!

Blessings,

Megan 🙂

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If you are interested in joining this amazing online Bible study for Crazy Love, click HERE to sign up. Once you are registered, you will receive an email with further details.

If you would like to email a private message to Megan in regards to this blog, please email her at: Megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com.

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Crazy Love: Week 1 / Chapter 1: “Stop Praying” (pgs. 25-26)

January 7, 2013 by

 

Were you shocked by Mr. Chan’s 1st chapter title…. STOP PRAYING?

I think it is one majorly BOLD statement….. so you KNOW I love it! 😉

I pray with all my heart that it made you stop for a minute or two in order to fully understand why THAT would be the first thing he would ask you to do.

The Bible tells us to “pray without ceasing,” but Francis wants us to STOP praying. So what does he mean??? Well….

For some of us, our relationship with God has turned into only coming into His presence when we have a grocery list of demands from Him. Ouch. Now is a good time for a heart check and really understand the place we are in with our relationship with Him. Are we just wanting to take and take and take but not give Him our time and devotion in return?

I urge you to stay with this thought for a little while today and really dig deep into your heart and soul to see what your heart condition is like as we begin this journey to be OVERWHELMED by our relentless God.

Francis Chan asks us to view this video from his website. If you haven’t been able to view it yet, please do so now…

Our God is sooooo big! This presentation is certainly overwhelming and awe-inspiring! I know that I have been through seasons where I have been so boastful as I have come to the Lord…. full of “me me me” talk and so conceited in my language to our Creator. If that sounds like you today, please repent and quickly make this right. Your heart condition is so important and we all need this reminder now and then…….

We are here to serve God…. He is not here to serve us. He loves us and truly wants us all to have the desires of our hearts, but we need to strive to want those desires to line up with His. The more we grow closer in our relationship WITH Him, the more our will and His will fall in line together. So awesome! What an incredible promise from our Lord and Savior!

Let’s Pray:

Dear Heavenly Father, we come to You this morning asking for forgiveness if we have come to You in any way at all except full or awe and adoration. Search our hearts today, Father, and help us to see where we need Your supernatural cleansing in our souls. Help bind any condemning thoughts but give us a strength in our spirit that can only come from You to know that we will be changed from this day forward. We love You, Lord, and we thank You for bringing us together for this study. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen <3

Your Assignment:

In the grand scheme of life, you ARE insignificant…… but to God, you are EVERYTHING and you are VITAL to fulfilling His purposes on this earth. Let’s begin today exploring in a deep way HOW we really are coming to God. Is it with humility or entitlement? Are we BOLD or timid? Is it with adoration and thanksgiving or pride? Please share your thoughts with us in a comment or two here on our blog…

Blessings,

Megan 🙂

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If you are interested in joining this amazing online Bible study for Crazy Love, click HERE to sign up. Once you are registered, you will receive an email with further details.

If you would like to send Megan an email in regards to this blog, please send it to: Megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com.

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God and Life Balance… with Megan Smidt

January 6, 2013 by

phil 413

 

You all know I have 5 kids, right?

My oldest is 21 and my youngest (sweet Vicky) is 14…. and the one thing they have all struggled with is balancing their life with their relationship with God.

Yesterday, my dear friend Coleen Hayden shared with you a glimpse into what it looks like to seek the Lord as she will be blogging about this for you the next 4 weeks. I hope you had a chance to read it! If not, you can see her post here.

I will be doing a very similar thing over the next 4 weeks, but I will be discussing with you what it really and truly looks like to be able to balance having a wonderfully intimate relationship with God and also still have time for all of your important activities.

Being a teen, you are BUSY… I know! If you’re like my teens, you might have a few things on your plate like…..

  • church
  • family (maybe even in 2 houses…)
  • school
  • a job
  • sports
  • work
  • serving
  • hobbies
  • friends
  • boyfriend
  • ____________________

 

SO……. How DO you balance your relationship with God and other things in your life????

Well, you MUST be spending time with the Lord every single day! I am talking real, quality, in-the-Word time with God. Hopefully, you have a parent or other family member at home who has modeled this for you. If not, it’s okay….. Coleen will be going over this with you on her blog for the next 4 Saturdays. You can also be talking about this in our secret Facebook GCH:decaf fellowship group!!!

What else do you need to get and maintain this balance? Here are a few things we will be discussing over the next 4 weeks….

  • Take God with you throughout your day
  • Give your schedule to God
  • Accountability
  • Values vs. priorities

I do hope that you will take this journey with me over the next 4 weeks! I would love for you to be able to not only protect your time with God but also be able to feel confident about all of the other aspects of your life that are important to you. If you can learn this now, you will be amazed at how much easier life will be as more and more responsibilities get put on you as you continue to get older. This will be instrumental in helping you to not just be a FAN of Jesus…. but be one AMAZING FOLLOWER!!!!

Let’s Pray…

Dear Lord, thank You for giving each of us such big hearts for You. Help us as we begin to intentionally make time to deepen our relationship with You every day. Give us all that time back in our day for Your glory, Lord. Help us balance all of the demands of our time and begin helping us to discern what activities or demands on our time might not be what You have for us in this season. We love You and thank You for this, God! Amen.

Blessings to you all,

Megan 🙂

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If you are interested in more information about GCH:decaf, email us at: GCH_Decaf@girlfriendscoffeehour.com.

If you would like to send a personal message to Megan, you may email her at: Megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com

 

 

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It’s All Because Of Crazy Love…..

January 4, 2013 by

If you’re reading this, God brought you here for a reason. I hope you know that in your dear heart, precious sister.

I’m Megan and it is so very nice to meet you! I’m one bold Jesus Diva and I love that our Divine Creator has crossed our paths so intentionally as we begin 2013 and prepare our hearts for Girlfriends Coffee Hour’s latest online Bible study for women…. Crazy Love.

Have you heard the song “Crazy Love” by Hawk Nelson? If not (and even if you have…) PLEASE drop everything you are doing and watch this music video:

 

 

I’m not sure if Hawk and Francis are friends or even if they even know about each other, but the lyrics of this song so perfectly encompass what the Crazy Love journey is all about.

“They say it sounds insane, we say that we’ve been changed

By the power of crazy love

This world, it looks at us like we’re ridiculous

Maybe it’s all because of crazy love”

Have you been changed?

Maybe you got saved last week or maybe you were saved back in 1975…. I don’t know your story, but I am eager to learn it! Maybe you were changed for the first few years, but lately you have struggled with not “being of this world.” Is that you? I know that I have lived through those seasons and it is so hard because you KNOW what you SHOULD be feeling inside and you CRAVE it…. you NEED it, but it can be so hard to find your way back. Relationships take TIME….. and building our relationship with our Heavenly Father is no different from any other earthly relationship we have. I am so excited to see your time with Him change and grow as we go through this study together. If you invest your precious time and give God all you have through these next weeks, people will surely be saying that you sound INSANE from the power of God’s CRAZY LOVE!

 

Do people look at you like you are ridiculous?

I had a very limited amount of shopping time before Christmas which had me out in the stores in the hustle and bustle of the busy season! I think you can imaging that many of the check-out lines I homesteaded in were full of some pretty cranky elves. One circumstance I found myself in, many of my fellow shoppers were actually visually and verbally upset with me for not “losing it” with the frazzled worker. I actually ended up crying with her and praying over her cash register with her because I was so sad for how frustrated she was. One woman actually told me that I was “crazy.” I’ll be honest with you, it felt good! While I have my moments just like every other human, I know that God was up there smiling and happy with my job well done… and what a stand for His Kingdom! You might think I’m crazy too, and that’s okay….. but by the end of this study, my prayer is that you would, in a heart-beat, jump out of line and lay hands on that machine along with me! In Jesus’ name!

It’s all because of crazy love, dear sisters… and it IS contagious! Bless you for taking this bold stance in faith and know you are not alone! <3

Blessings,

Megan 🙂

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Hey there, ladies! Just a quick note from me (Jennifer) to say I am so excited to begin this study with each and every one of you! The depth and breadth of God’s love for each and every one of us surpasses anything we can even imagine. How does it feel to know you are LOVED that much? To know that no matter what you’ve done or think you’ve done, that God still loves you with an all-consuming love and desires a deep, personal, intimate relationship with you?

I know some of you may read that and think “He wouldn’t love me if He knows what I’ve done”. Let me tell you, sweet sister… God already knows what you’ve done. And He loves you anyway. He is just waiting for you with arms wide open. He is waiting for you to run to Him and begin walking alongside Him and do this life together.

Are you ready?

Are you ready to experience what God’s crazy love for you is all about?

Our study begins this Sunday, January 6, 2013!

What you will need:

  • Your Bible
  • A copy of the book CRAZY LOVE by Francis Chan (hardcover, paperback, ebook – whatever you choose!)
  • A notebook, pen, and highlighter to take notes while reading!

How the study will work:

Every Sunday, I will post your weekly reading assignment.

Mondays-Thursdays, right here on the the blog, a member of the women’s blogging team will post their thoughts regarding that day’s reading assignment. Read the day’s assignment in the Crazy Love book, come and read the day’s blog post, leave a comment for the blogger. Then head over to our SECRET Facebook group and discuss what you’ve read! The FB group is where we will dig deeper into what we are reading. This group is private and no one outside the group will be able to see what is posted.

Fridays – Weekly wrap up and study video

Saturdays – off/catch-up day (if needed)

If you have not yet joined the study, there is still time! Head on over to our sign-up page and get registered! We can’t wait to study along with you!

Much love and blessings,

Jennifer

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