Good afternoon ladies. Can you believe that it’s already week 4? This study has been amazing so far and I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like for the next seven weeks. I’m so glad to be on this journey with each and every one of you. I pray that it is changing your heart as it is changing mine!
Beth stated how the study will unfold from here on out. We are going to approach the Tabernacle and its contents from the outside in to get its full meaning. But in order to do this we need to get a visual of the Tabernacle. I don’t know about you guys but I am a visual & hands on learner. All through nursing school I could read until I was blue in the face – which didn’t mean I was actually taking the information in. It wasn’t until I either saw a picture or physically did it with my own hands that I got the full concept of what was being taught to me. So when Beth instructed us to make a diagram according to God’s directions I was at first a little apprehensive (I’m not the best drawer), but when I started doing it I began to see the Tabernacle in a different light. Even though I had drawn it, I still didn’t’ feel like I had “been” there, as Beth put it, so I researched and found some pictures that helped me visualize what the Tabernacle looked like. Here are a few of them:
After adding the camp, the army of the living God, I was astounded by how many were actually there. Here is a picture with the names of the tribes surrounding the Tabernacle. It does not specify how many were in each tribe as the Bible does. It would have taken about 12 square miles to set up tents for the 603,550 fighting men – not to mention the women and children. Unbelievable!
The whole time I was reading I kept wondering if I had missed something. Why was God bringing in all these tribes? Why does he refer to them as a camp – meaning army, band, company, station? Who are they going to fight? Then I read what Beth said… “We will discover quickly that the children of Israel were on the toughest battlefield of their nation’s history, facing the most vicious enemy of all: Themselves.”
Can I just say that this was a slap in my face. I am really hard on myself and I do believe that a lot of it stems from how I was raised. I know that I am my own worst enemy, and honestly sometimes I hate myself for it. I battled post partum depression after my first child, but it wasn’t the typical post partum depression. I didn’t have the negative feelings towards my beautiful son, I had them towards myself. He was the reason that I got out of bed, he was the reason I went about my day as normal as I could. But I truly hated myself and I couldn’t pin-point why. I hated looking at myself in the mirror. I hated seeing myself in the reflection of a window. I just could stand being in my own skin! So when Beth said, “My own flesh is twice the enemy to me that Satan is” I felt her pain.
2 Corithians 10: 3-5 reassures me that we can use the weapons that God has given us. We may be tempted to use our own methods, but nothing can break down the barriers like God’s weapons!
“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckles around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the spirit in all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” Ephesians 6: 13-18
To withstand Satan’s attacks on us we must use every piece of armor that God has given us.
Think of a difficulty you are dealing with. Test it according to Henry Blackaby’s three questions.
Am I living outside the will of God?
Do I have any unconfessed sin?
Is God simply working His completion in me?
Are you under attack from Satan or from your flesh?
Can I just say that this was a slap in my face. I am really hard on myself and I do believe that a lot of it stems from how I was raised. I know that I am my own worst enemy, and honestly sometimes I hate myself for it. I battled post partum depression after my first child, but it wasn’t the typical post partum depression. I didn’t have the negative feelings towards my beautiful son, I had them towards myself. He was the reason that I got out of bed, he was the reason I went about my day as normal as I could. But I truly hated myself and I couldn’t pin-point why. I hated looking at myself in the mirror. I hated seeing myself in the reflection of a window. I just could stand being in my own skin! So when Beth said, “My own flesh is twice the enemy to me that Satan is” I felt her pain.
2 Corithians 10: 3-5 reassures me that we can use the weapons that God has given us. We may be tempted to use our own methods, but nothing can break down the barriers like God’s weapons!
“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckles around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the spirit in all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” Ephesians 6: 13-18
To withstand Satan’s attacks on us we must use every piece of armor that God has given us.
Think of a difficulty you are dealing with. Test it according to Henry Blackaby’s three questions.
Am I living outside the will of God?
Do I have any unconfessed sin?
Is God simply working His completion in me?
Are you under attack from Satan or from your flesh?
6 comments:
isn't this SO true?!... i believe we could all say it, WE are our own worst enemies! i think we are quick to blame someone else, when truly it is our own flesh that is dragging us down!.. i also want to point out that God's "weapons" are not typical weapons of the world! righteousness, truth.... i also think of the fruit of the spirit! the things that God calls us to are usually very different from our normal mindset and what the world does. for instance, when the world needs to fight a battle they get a sword or "fightin' words" even. but Jesus gave us an example through His temptation with satan, and God in His Word reveals to us our weapons--it's the Word itself, it's truth, righteousness, etc. this is often hard for me to wrap my mind around, but it's riddled throughout Scripture!! God defends us. we are called to His righteousness and truth and to LOVE--even our enemies!
something i'm struggling with right now--today--is being too busy. i know i've mentioned this a few times, but i feel like i'm making myself extra busy in order to make the time pass while my husband is out of the country. i'm realizing how unfair this it to my kids--we're all exhausted and it's not helping ANY of us deal with his absence! it's making me more jittery and less peaceful, in fact! so, i know i need to renew my mind, focus on my kids and help them deal with daddy being gone for a few days! (sounds pretty immature, if you ask me!) but seriously, i'm being honest here.... i know i'm out of His will when i'm busying myself instead of relying on Him.... so, here's me. kinda crazy right now. wanting to think i can handle this! i'm good... but truly, i'm sort of a mess and i'm making my family pay for it... so, these next few days are crucial to whether i will allow God to sustain me or choose, once again, my own remedy (which does NOT work!) sillyness, really... but i just want to be honest. there's my confession.
Sara- I can sympathize with you totally - I've been there! When Todd was gone, the mornings and the evenings before bedtime were the HARDEST - you know, the times during the day when he would normally be home with us! And as a stay-at-home mom, those days were LO-ONG, let me tell you! It was so tempting to fill up those hours with "busyness" - and some days I REALLY did! I think it's normal to be lonely. And I think it's normal for our first instinct to be to just "power through" on our our own strength. I LOVE your honesty (and it's not silliness)...and I will say that I think if we rely on God and just turn it over to Him admitting that there is no possible way we are going to be able to handle this on our own, He really does come in and fill in those lonely spots! Looking back over our experience at the beginning of the summer, I can't give any other explanation as to why I didn't lose my mind except that God must have been right there beside me smoothing over the rough spots. I think my mantra every morning was, "Please God, please help me make it through one more day." And He really did, I have to say. We made it through, and it ended up not being so terrible. I've been thinking of you so much over the last few days! Ten days is a long, long time with no daddy in the house!
Sarah- I LOVE the diagrams! Good research! They were so much better then my measly drawing (hee, hee)!
I am constantly warring with my flesh it seems! The whole "renewing of your mind" thing is hard, Hard, HARD! And all too often I give in - MOST often, I would say. I found it interesting that she pointed out how we many times will blame attacks on Satan instead of looking inward to see where we are in our walk because it's harder to rebuke our flesh. So true! It's much harder to look at ourselves because then we have to change things...tough to think about.
Sara - I can only imagine what you must be going through without Shane there with you. I did this very same thing when Kris was out of town. It does help to numb the pain of him being gone, but it also depleted me of all energy. You are a great mother and wife - it's alright to miss the ones we love when their away. Just don't wear yourself out in the process. You have so much going on in your life right now so you have a right to be a "mess" as you called it. We all handle things differently, and just remember that God has already set aside the day's mercies & compassions! You know I'm here if you need me!
Meghan - You made a great point about how we are so quick to blame Satan. Granted he is at the root of all evil and he tempts us everyday, but we know right from wrong and we are in charge of making our own choices!
This is something that I'm trying to work on. Understanding when it is my wrong doing, or is it Satan working against me? Does that make sense? Like Beth said, "My own flesh is twice the enemy to than Satan is." It's hard changing our ways & renewing our minds, I'm trying to look at things in a whole new light - somethings are easier than other, but it's still an ongoing challenge!
it's all so backwards, sometimes. does anyone else think so??... i mean, when we come up against something or someone--we want to fight, bully, make known that we are in charge or whatever!.. but God says choose my peace, speak truth, rely on me! instead of bucking up against someone and trying to overpower them, Christ says "humble yourselves" and He takes care of us! wrapping my mind around this is hard, but it's worth it! in those times, when i've gone against every natural inclination, it's been so freeing and wonderful! God's peace floods through and i can see things so much clearer (probably because i haven't muddled it all up with my own way of fixing things!) i'm thankful that God's ways are not my own--i really don't have a clue!... thanks for the encouragement, friends! you guys are wonderful!!!
It IS so freeing and wonderful when I go against my natural inclination - which is totally to fight back - well, to be honest, at least in my MIND I fight back (remember, I'm passive aggressive so I'm really, REALLY good at the evil eye and the silent treatment, etc..etc... :)) I'm not sure why I can't seem to remember just HOW freeing and wonderful it is when I get in situations! Why is it so hard to shove my pride aside and BE humble? I guess maybe it goes back to those "rights" I seem to think I'm entitled to...and a lack of patience...and a fervent desire to control my universe and everything in it...
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