{"id":15646,"date":"2013-11-07T00:01:47","date_gmt":"2013-11-07T06:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=15646"},"modified":"2013-11-06T22:13:24","modified_gmt":"2013-11-07T04:13:24","slug":"16-day-love-challenge-chapter-4-love-boast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2013\/11\/07\/16-day-love-challenge-chapter-4-love-boast\/","title":{"rendered":"16 Day Love Challenge: Chapter 4 – Love Does Not Boast"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"16daythursboast\"<\/a><\/h3>\n

Boast~ To puff oneself up in speech vaingloriously,vanity. To speak of or assert with excessive pride.<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n

Then they said, \u2018Come let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches the Heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the earth.\u2019<\/p>\n

Genesis 11:4<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Why is it that we feel so inadequate? \u00a0If we are made in His image—and we are—and He created us to be exactly who<\/em> we are, why are we not content<\/strong>? \u00a0The parable in the Bible that this book talks about could very well be modern day, in any setting, church, Bible study, or soccer field. \u00a0And as Christian women seeking God, we are not exempt from this. \u00a0The enemy loves nothing more than taking two strong women, who are leaders for Jesus, and dividing them against each other. \u00a0A house divided against itself will not stand. We easily forget who the real enemy is and we start fighting each other.<\/p>\n

We start comparing ourselves: whether we feel better about ourselves and become prideful, or, we feel less than and retreat. \u00a0These thoughts are quiet at first. \u00a0But eventually we start living them out loud; and then we slip into a pit of self-pity that leads to self-destruction. \u00a0Friends, let\u2019s remember who the real enemy is.<\/em>\u00a0 Let\u2019s remember that when we become proud or boastful, we are no longer an effective warrior princess for the Kingdom of God.<\/p>\n

Remember Gideon in the Bible? \u00a0We find his story in Judges starting in chapter 6. \u00a0At first he is a humble servant threshing wheat in a winepress, just doing his own thing. \u00a0He is staying out of the spotlight and trying to provide for and to protect his family. \u00a0The angel of the Lord appears to him and tells him that he is going to be a great warrior for Yahweh! And that he will defeat the Midianites and tear down the altar of his own father Baal. Gideon tests God several times before he actually believes God. \u00a0The prophecy actually comes true and Gideon goes on to defeat the Midianites and tears down the altar of Baal and defeats the enemy with only 300 men, clay jars, and lit torches. \u00a0He was humble… until he wasn\u2019t. \u00a0Fast forward after he wins some battles, Gideon starts boasting and taking credit for himself. \u00a0He actually asks people for their jewelry to melt and make himself a form of an idol. \u00a0After Yahweh had given him all that he needed to defeat the enemy, Gideon forgets who deserves the glory and takes it for himself. \u00a0He goes on to live successfully for the rest of his life but he loses that contact with God that he had and he no longer hears God’s voice. \u00a0What a terrible place to be!<\/p>\n

As children of the King, we are equipped and ready to do any task that God has set before us. \u00a0He has given each of us different gifts and talents to use in the life that He has planned out for us. \u00a0All of us are different…no two alike; aren\u2019t we blessed? \u00a0When we place ourselves above others we are prideful, and when we place ourselves below others we are saying God isn\u2019t enough. \u00a0Remember, His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). \u00a0He is weaving a beautiful tapestry in our lives, every one of us a new design of His glory. \u00a0He is the Master, not us. \u00a0He is the Creator, not us. \u00a0He deserves the credit, not us. \u00a0Your life in Him is the greatest story and being all that He created you to be is the greatest gift we can give back to Him!<\/p>\n

We began today looking at Genesis 11:4…the Tower of Babel had just been built and the people were boasting about their creation. \u00a0Humans trying to hard to leave a mark of themselves on earth. Don’t you know that when you devote yourself to His glory you are leaving your mark on the world? \u00a0An eternal mark; don’t cheat yourself of the most glorious privilege of all, bearing the name of Jesus!!<\/p>\n

Here are some verses in His Word about boasting:<\/p>\n

\n

Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring.<\/p>\n

Proverbs 27:1<\/p>\n

You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it.<\/p>\n

Romans 2:23<\/p>\n

\u00a0People who boast \u00a0of \u00a0their wealth don’t \u00a0understand \u00a0they will die \u00a0just \u00a0like animals.<\/p>\n

Psalm 49:20<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Let’s pray<\/strong><\/span>:<\/p>\n

Dear Heavenly Father, You are our Creator, our Master; and You are worthy to be praised. \u00a0May we never forget Who the Blesser is and may we never become too content to give thanks for all You have done for us. \u00a0Help our thoughts to stay focused on You so that we don’t get caught up in comparing ourselves to each other. Help us to remember who the enemy is and to put our energy into fighting him and not each other. \u00a0Lord, may we never take credit for what You have done in us, for us, and through us. \u00a0And when we become too proud, humble us even if it is painful. \u00a0For whatever you have entrusted to us can be taken away if not used for Your glory. \u00a0Forgive us for our pride and for boasting and stepping on each other to get to the top. \u00a0We love You and we ask that You continue to equip us for the task You have set before us. \u00a0In Jesus’ name we pray.<\/p>\n

Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boast~ To puff oneself up in speech vaingloriously,vanity. To speak of or assert with excessive pride. Then they said, \u2018Come let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches the Heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the earth.\u2019 Genesis 11:4 Why […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":15652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[4346,4416,4347,4417,4419,3821,425,4418,4414,4415,4421,4420,4424,4422,4423,1140],"class_list":["post-15646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-womens","tag-16-day-love-challenge","tag-boasting","tag-cherie-zack","tag-comparing","tag-gen-114","tag-gideon","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-judges-6","tag-love-does-not-boast","tag-luke-189-14","tag-prov-271","tag-psalm-4920","tag-rebecca-lecompte","tag-romans-223","tag-tower-of-babel","tag-womens-online-bible-studies","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/16daythursboast.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-44m","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15646"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15655,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15646\/revisions\/15655"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}