In Isa.26:3 it says, "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you". Want perfect peace? Keep your mind steadfast, stayed and focused on Him. We need to learn all that we can about the steadfast mind; embrace the concept, pray for a steadfast mind and seek understanding through God`s word.
Let us take seriously the role that Satan plays when it comes to how we think. Many Christians feel safe from Satan and many don`t really believe that Satan is alive and well and actively leading the spiritual warfare against us. The battlefield is our mind and our only defense is to surround our minds with the word of God. We are absolutely defenseless against the attacks of Satan. The way Beth explains how the mind works was truly an eye-opener for me. Two people see the same event, then Beth writes, “They put the event in different frames and act accordingly. Our reaction depends on how we have framed the event”. Think about this, how many times do we overreact to what we have framed (ideas, opinions, etc) in our own thinking?
Satan can`t make us overreact, but he knows what we are in bondage too. Let`s say your weakness is low self esteem and you see some ladies talking together in a corner of a room, one may glance at you not even seeing you, they may laugh, or seem secretive and you wonder what they are talking about. Believe me, Satan will come in and give you a few suggestions and if you dwell on it long enough you will be framing an idea in your mind that may end up devastating you. BUT, what if several months before at a “Breaking Free Bible Study” you were set free from the bondage of “low self esteem”? Satan may still come after you because he thinks you are not strong enough to be completely free from anything and he wants to convince you of that. Praise God, you prayed early in the morning for God to continue to protect you and to satisfy your every need. You have focused your thinking on God`s word and you are leaning on the truth to get you through the temptation of “wrong thinking”, you, have been set free.
Showing posts with label bible study. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bible study. Show all posts
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Fill My Empty Places
“Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.”Ps.:14
In order to be filled with the fullness of God so that we may sing His praises and be glad throughout the day, we must go to Him in the morning. If we wait until the afternoon or evening then we could be running on empty. Certainly this is not necessary, but I like to meet with God at about the same time and the same place everyday. It`s like meeting a friend for coffee in the morning. There is just something about the consistency of that meeting; you begin to look forward to it and soon you miss it when something comes up and you can`t make it and you think God has probably downed His cup and started on yours. Ok sorry, that was corny as my kids would say. Please don`t think you have to do what I do; you might have another way of meeting with God. The important thing is we need to be filled up everyday in order to have an abundant life in Christ. It only takes a few minutes for God to activate His love to the empty places and then you are equipped to fight the enemy and be satisfied with Him who blesses your day.
Satisfy me Lord, satisfy me with your love, fill up every empty place within me so I can sing for joy and be satisfied with you
In order to be filled with the fullness of God so that we may sing His praises and be glad throughout the day, we must go to Him in the morning. If we wait until the afternoon or evening then we could be running on empty. Certainly this is not necessary, but I like to meet with God at about the same time and the same place everyday. It`s like meeting a friend for coffee in the morning. There is just something about the consistency of that meeting; you begin to look forward to it and soon you miss it when something comes up and you can`t make it and you think God has probably downed His cup and started on yours. Ok sorry, that was corny as my kids would say. Please don`t think you have to do what I do; you might have another way of meeting with God. The important thing is we need to be filled up everyday in order to have an abundant life in Christ. It only takes a few minutes for God to activate His love to the empty places and then you are equipped to fight the enemy and be satisfied with Him who blesses your day.
Satisfy me Lord, satisfy me with your love, fill up every empty place within me so I can sing for joy and be satisfied with you
Saturday, December 1, 2007
God`s Unfailing Love
Until I really, really accepted and believed that God loved me unconditionally I was in bondage to the fear that if I didn`t always do what pleased God, He was out to get me.
As I read over the study for this week about God`s unfailing love, I had to stop and thank Him because several years ago He set me free from this fear. I am so thankful that He didn`t give up on me. I honestly don`t know where I would be today if I didn`t know that God and God alone will always love me.
This past week has been very busy for me. Everyday was filled with something to do, people to call or see, preparing for the study and then the LFM and in-between having time for family. Today as I walked through the woods behind our home, I actually felt a little lonely; I fussed at myself and then prayed for God to release me quickly before I ended up feeling the same way at the end of the day. I was immediately reminded of the last of our benefits, “To enjoy God`s presence”. A peace came over me and I knew that I wasn`t alone at all, in fact I was with the only person that knew everything about me and still loved me.
God fills our every need and every empty place, but we have to know and believe that He loves us or we will miss the abundant life completely.
What an awesome study, “How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”
As I read over the study for this week about God`s unfailing love, I had to stop and thank Him because several years ago He set me free from this fear. I am so thankful that He didn`t give up on me. I honestly don`t know where I would be today if I didn`t know that God and God alone will always love me.
This past week has been very busy for me. Everyday was filled with something to do, people to call or see, preparing for the study and then the LFM and in-between having time for family. Today as I walked through the woods behind our home, I actually felt a little lonely; I fussed at myself and then prayed for God to release me quickly before I ended up feeling the same way at the end of the day. I was immediately reminded of the last of our benefits, “To enjoy God`s presence”. A peace came over me and I knew that I wasn`t alone at all, in fact I was with the only person that knew everything about me and still loved me.
God fills our every need and every empty place, but we have to know and believe that He loves us or we will miss the abundant life completely.
What an awesome study, “How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”
Monday, November 12, 2007
Get Me Out of the Ashes
This week has touched my heart in so many ways. I think we all have a hard time seeing ourselves the way the bible says that God sees us, but as I studied day 2 and 3, I began to feel so special to God that I had to stop and thank Him for making me beautiful. And even as I write the word beautiful it is hard to believe that God would see me as beautiful. As I prayed I thought,” God, years ago you reached down into the ashes and pulled me out of the past of being a victim of hurt, anger and unforgiveness and you gave me a new hope in you and I am so thankful”, you really did make me beautiful.
I have received many insightful things from this week`s study and I pray that you have too. We have a hard time seeing God`s ability to do something with the circumstance we are in. I love the sidebar on pg. 129, “An unhappy woman needs a change of heart more than of circumstances”. Wow, that is good. I can remember saying to my husband, “Let`s move away from all of this”. He would always just hug me and remind me that we would just move the problem with us. He was more right then he imagined, because some of the problem was my thinking that life would never be the same again. I needed a change of heart and God took me right where I needed to be and He comforted me and provided for me. He took away my mourning and gave me gladness and He gave me a song of praise instead of despair just like He said He would.
I love the treasure on day 5, “Come and share your master`s happiness”, Matt. 25:21.
Isa. 61:1-3 “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me….He has sent me…to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair”.
What a Savior we have,
I have received many insightful things from this week`s study and I pray that you have too. We have a hard time seeing God`s ability to do something with the circumstance we are in. I love the sidebar on pg. 129, “An unhappy woman needs a change of heart more than of circumstances”. Wow, that is good. I can remember saying to my husband, “Let`s move away from all of this”. He would always just hug me and remind me that we would just move the problem with us. He was more right then he imagined, because some of the problem was my thinking that life would never be the same again. I needed a change of heart and God took me right where I needed to be and He comforted me and provided for me. He took away my mourning and gave me gladness and He gave me a song of praise instead of despair just like He said He would.
I love the treasure on day 5, “Come and share your master`s happiness”, Matt. 25:21.
Isa. 61:1-3 “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me….He has sent me…to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair”.
What a Savior we have,
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
I want to be a princess
I hope you are as excited as I am about what we are learning in our study. I am thanking God for all the new wonderful truths I am able to apply to my life. I always like to learn things that I can actually use to make my life more consistent with the word of God.
As I said yesterday, I love this week`s study and I think you will too. The first day has already told me I am a Princess and all little girls want to be a princess, right?
As a little girl I remember loving to dress up in my mom`s dresses and pretend to be a princess. Mom was about 4 foot 9 and weighed maybe 90lbs so her dresses almost fit me and my friends and she had some beautiful dresses. My dad was a contractor and would often build things in his workshop. He used a hand shaver, I`m sure that you younger girls have no idea what I am talking about, but stay with me because you are going to be sorry you did not not have these curls to play with. When he would shave a board the shavings would come off like a long curl, much like a grain ribbon that you pull a pair of scissors through and it curls to put on a pkg. When he knew I wanted to put them in my hair he would try to make them as long as he could. My friends and I would pin them in our hair and we would have beautiful blonde curls as we played for hours, pretending to be princesses.
The most exciting thing is, we don`t have to dress-up, put curls in our hair and” PRETEND” to be a princess. All we have to do is become a child of the King. Tamar was a princess because of being a child of a king, but her king didn`t have the courage to stand up for her. Her king was not “The King”, the King of Kings, Creator of the Universe, the Holy One, Lord of Hosts, Sovereign Ruler of all the Earth, My Personal Heavenly Father.
This is a wonderful truth, don`t stay in the bondage of thinking you are not worthy like Tamar did, get those ashes off your head and put on your mended royal robe, you are free.
As I said yesterday, I love this week`s study and I think you will too. The first day has already told me I am a Princess and all little girls want to be a princess, right?
As a little girl I remember loving to dress up in my mom`s dresses and pretend to be a princess. Mom was about 4 foot 9 and weighed maybe 90lbs so her dresses almost fit me and my friends and she had some beautiful dresses. My dad was a contractor and would often build things in his workshop. He used a hand shaver, I`m sure that you younger girls have no idea what I am talking about, but stay with me because you are going to be sorry you did not not have these curls to play with. When he would shave a board the shavings would come off like a long curl, much like a grain ribbon that you pull a pair of scissors through and it curls to put on a pkg. When he knew I wanted to put them in my hair he would try to make them as long as he could. My friends and I would pin them in our hair and we would have beautiful blonde curls as we played for hours, pretending to be princesses.
The most exciting thing is, we don`t have to dress-up, put curls in our hair and” PRETEND” to be a princess. All we have to do is become a child of the King. Tamar was a princess because of being a child of a king, but her king didn`t have the courage to stand up for her. Her king was not “The King”, the King of Kings, Creator of the Universe, the Holy One, Lord of Hosts, Sovereign Ruler of all the Earth, My Personal Heavenly Father.
This is a wonderful truth, don`t stay in the bondage of thinking you are not worthy like Tamar did, get those ashes off your head and put on your mended royal robe, you are free.
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