March 28, 2024

Gone Astray?

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The Lord is good and does what is right;
He shows the proper path to those who go astray.
He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them His way.
Psalms 25:8-9

Are you confused?  Lost?  You don’t know what to do next?  Or have you knowingly wandered off the path you know was set before you?  Remember, God knows everything—all you need to do is ask Him for help and He will guide you.

Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom, imprisoned in iron chains of misery.
They rebelled against the words of God, scorning the counsel of the Most High.
That is why He broke them with hard labor;
they fell, and no one was there to help them.
“Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress.
He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom; He snapped their chains.
For he broke down their prison gates of bronze; He cut apart their bars of iron.
Psalms 107:10-14, 16

One thing I love about God is that He is accessible.  Even though He lives where we cannot physically see Him (like we would our friends or family), He is still ever so close to us.  He also has a limitless wealth of wisdom and knowledge, and He is willing to share with us!

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you.
He will not rebuke you for asking.
James 1:5

God can be mysterious, but the more and more we grow in relationship with Him, the more and more we can understand Him.  So, go to God and let Him set you straight.

Eden

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When the first light brightened the dark
Before the breaking of the human heart
There was You and there was me
Innocence was all I knew
‘Cause all I had to know was You
We were running underneath the trees

I wanna see Your face to face
Where being in Your arms is the permanent state
I want it like it was back then
I wanna be in Eden

I remember how You’d call my name
And I would meet You at the garden gate
How the glory of Your love would shine
And I remember when the stars were young
You breathed life into my lungs
Oh I never felt so alive

I wanna see Your face to face
Where being in Your arms is the permanent state
I want it like it was back then
I wanna be in Eden

To be naked and unashamed
In a sweet down pour of innocent rain
I want it like it was back then
I wanna be in Eden

Where my eyes can see the colors of glory
My hands can reach the heaven before me
Oh, my God I wanna be there with You
Where our hearts will beat with joy together
And love will reign forever and ever
Oh my God I wanna be there with You

I wanna see Your face to face
Where being in Your arms is the permanent state
I want it like it was back then
I wanna be in Eden

To be naked and unashamed
In a sweet down pour of innocent rain
I want it like it was back then
I wanna be in Eden


~  Singer / Songwriter: Phil Wickam  ~
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As you listen to these words, do you feel like you’re in the Garden? I do, and I feel like I am waiting for my afternoon visit with the Creator. Can you even imagine? Every morning, hearing the birds chirping and the wind breeze is just right and the flowers and trees are breathtaking and you fellowship with the Lord. He is your best friend and you get morning and afternoon standing appointments with Him every day.

This song is about the first man, his wife, and their love story with God. In the beginning it was just them and they were always in His Presence. Until that day when it all changed and they saw darkness and sin and they tried to hide from God. And when they were cast out, and Adam looks back 100 years later, he is longing for that time of his life when His Maker was his everything.

Same happens today with us, when we go through something really hard and we have such a bond with Him and He is our everything because we are so weak we can’t do anything by ourselves. Then we get on our feet and life goes on and we forget to have those daily chats. Then we start to long for that time we felt closest to God. We may not long for the hard part of that time but the closeness we had with God…we miss. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

We can have that ‘Eden’ experience daily by really spending time in His Word and really talking with Him like He is there. He IS there and He longs to meet you at the Garden gate. He longs to meet you face-to-face. A quiet time set aside to just be with God is vital to this relationship. Think about it. What if you and your husband, or your best friend, never spent any time together, one on one and you just texted every now and then. How could you be close? Obviously you wouldn’t be. And I don’t have to tell you that life is just better and more joyful when God is center and first.

So today, I challenge you to set aside time to meet with Him. Every day, spend quiet time with Him in the Garden. I personally think that He deserves our first words—the beginning of our day. I think you will find that if you do this, your relationship with God will be unshakable. And there will be a joy beyond anything you can imagine. So, in the comment section, tell us how you are going to do this, where you have this time and what time works best for you…I’m so excited for you! It’s a journey, the best one.

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Let’s pray:  Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for wanting to spend time with us and for creating us with a desire to just be with You. Eden was beautiful and amazing and we can recreate it daily. You have given us trees, flowers, and sunsets. Oceans and sand and artwork everywhere we turn. Help us to never take You for granted. For You are always there, even when we move, You never leave us or forsake us. We love You and we praise You. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

GCH:decaf – Letting God Into Our Study

Hello there everyone!  

I know that we have been doing interviews and that is probably what you are expecting from me today.  I know you are probably wanting to get to know another friend that will be doing this study with you, but truth be told I was unable to interview someone this week.  I was nervous about what I was going to do, kind of feeling like a failure.  I was praying about it a lot and then God gave me an idea.  One thing I have learned in my life is that no matter what – God always comes through.  When I think there is no solution, the Lord opens my eyes to HIS solution!  Just when I was worried about my blog this week, God came through with the most perfect idea for a blog post for you.  I may not have a decaf friend to introduce to you this week, but I have another friend who I would like to share with you this week, Jesus!

I am wondering how many of you have done a Bible study before.  My first study was in 6th grade.  We did a study on Job at church.  I still remember things from that study.  One thing I really liked about the study was that we prayed before we discussed the study.  The leader would welcome God to our study that day.  Being eleven years old, I was kind of confused as to how God can be in our study with us.  I believed that God was there, but I could not see Him so if it were not for that prayer, I would have completely forgotten that God was really there with us doing the study with us.  He was the most important part of our study.

Let God In

God is the most important part of GCH: decaf.  God has placed each and every one of you here for a reason.  God desires to be apart of not only this study, but our lives too.  Without God, there is really no point in doing a Bible study.  As we start our new study, Not A Fan, let’s think about what God wants this study to be.  What do you think He wants you to learn?  What do you think He wants to you say?  There is something for each and every one of you that God has prepared for you in this study.

I have done this study years ago.  When I did this study, my take away moment was learning to picture myself following God everywhere I go.  This has made my relationship with God even closer.  It has helped me remember that even though I cannot see God, He is there, desiring to have me make Him the most important part of every aspect of my life.

I want to dedicate this blog to honoring God for bringing us together and giving us this opportunity to make new friends and grow closer to Him.  I want to invite God into every aspect of our group!  Giving God control of this study can only guarantee one thing: It will be better than anything we can picture or imagine!  Letting God into our study, we let Him transform this study into something HUGE, something better than we could ever do on our own!  I do not know about you, but I am really excited to grow closer to God with all of you.  Would you like to get to know God more and more?  I hope you see Him as your friend, comforter, and Savior.

For me, God is where my heart is.  God is the reason why I am here.  I love God so much.  I look to Him as my Father, and Protector.  He is the most important thing in my life.  Let’s share today who God is to us.  I thank God so much for being exactly what we need!  I thank Him for being a part of this group!  I thank Him for loving us!

Love and Prayers,

Diane

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If you are interested in sending a private email to Diane, you may email her at:  Diane@girlfriendscoffeehour.com