Day 2: Gold, Silver and Precious Stones

So, then those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. 1 Peter 4:9

Did you get the chance to meditate on this Scripture??....

God's Word is full of examples of people who were tested and tried--it seems all too often that involves suffering of some sort. This is what God Word's tells us to do in the face of suffering, "...commit...to (our) faithful Creator...." Is that our first response when we suffer or feel the result of being tested? I'll admit, it's not always mine.

I usually take the "long way home," if you will. It seems easier to me, for some reason, to look at my life from my own perspective and try to figure things out. That tends to get me nowhere except frustrated! My eyes can't quite see the way God's can, and my heart is usually deceitful without His Spirit guiding me (Jeremiah 17:9). I usually end up on the same page with God, but sometimes it takes me a long time to get there... I have also found that God, knowing my tendencies, sometimes takes me the long way. For instance, over the past two years or so we've made a pretty big transition. We moved across the state just after our youngest was born. Another note to add to that, we moved away from our families, friends and community that we had established over several years! We were excited about the move initially because of my husband's new job. But when I realized what all that entailed, I began to feel scared and alone. However, the process of selling our house, which took over a year, and actually getting moved took SO long that we were just ready!!! I realized I needed this time to adjust to the idea of moving and to actually want to go! If we had moved quickly and everything had been smooth, I believe it would have been even harder! Still today, almost a year after officially moving, I am struggling a little. But God is slowly building our community here with His people, and I am trying, desperately, to rely on Him.

These times when I've struggled or suffered through being tested have always brought me closer to the Lord, even if it's the "long way home." And I so much believe that is the point! In Revelation 3, it talks about being lukewarm and what Christ thinks about that.

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot, I wish you were one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth. Revelation 3:15-16

Christ doesn't think very fondly about us being lukewarm. These times push us toward Him or away from Him! Another reason in 1 Peter that he encourages us to turn to our faithful Creator and do good. There is never an excuse for us to not trust God! Even in hard times. It's not easy, and it's often not our natural reaction. But with Christ's power we can do it!!! Even through this study we have encouraged one another and heard testimony of Christ's power in our lives!

I want to encourage you all to read Hebrews 11. This is one of my favorite passages in all of Scripture! Many have called it the "Faith Hall of Fame." (Kinda silly, but you'll see why!) It is such an encouraging passage especially through times of suffering.

In your life right now, is God testing you? Or what are ways you have been tested in the past? How has God proven to be your faithful Creator?

Sisters, I want to take a second and encourage you all!! It is already Week 3!! Can you believe it? I don't know about you, but God is teaching me SO much already! I am excited to be sharing in this with each of you. Stay strong! As the initial excitement wears off, I pray God's Word will continue to light a fire in you that will keep you going strong for the remainder of this study! I praise God for each of you!!! Okay. Here we go.....

Day 1: The Freewill Offerings

"...we rarely discover anything monumental about God without discovering something momentous about ourselves. With every revelation comes an invitation to adjust our lives to what we have seen."

Did you discover anything about God today??... Let me share what I discovered.... Our God is one who gives because He is faithful, not because of anything I do. In that, He also invites us to give back to Him.... This might be a side note, but God has been laying this on my heart for several years now. Have you ever noticed how practical God is? When you read Scripture, do you see over and over and over just how well He knows us? I mean, a God who would instruct His people where to bury their excrement (Duet. 23: 12-13) is one who is quite practical in nature, don't you think?? Now, don't get me wrong, our God is wild in nature as well. But for now, I want to focus on the practicality of our God and His ways.

Matthew 6:19-21 talks about "storing up treasures in Heaven." v. 21 says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." I believe this is a practical reason God gives us the opportunity to give--specifically money or "treasures." Verse 21 of Matthew 6 spells it out, wherever you put your treasure ($), that's where your heart's going to be! How many of you own a house? Or pay rent to an apartment? Do you take care of that living space? Is your heart in it? How many of you own a car? Do you take care of it?.... The list could go on... God knows that where we put our treasure, our hearts are also involved. So, He gives us the opportunity to give those treasures to Him knowing that our hearts will follow! Other "treasures" of ours are time, things we own (our homes, cars, etc.)... If we will freely surrender these things over to Jesus, our hearts will follow! They must! If they don't, then stop giving of them!... It may be time to reevaluate....

And finally, I also believe this is very much a trust issue! When we give we have to trust that God will provide. I love the way Beth Moore said it, "How often we expect big things from God without preparing for big things from him!" This is it, ladies! When we give of ourselves, we are saying to God, "I expect YOU to take care of this! I trust you, Lord." What joy is found in resting in God's hands as He takes care of us. Whether it is God taking care of your personal needs from giving money, time and energy or trusting that He will provide for the Kingdom through what you give! Either way, He is more than capable! And how awesome to think, as Beth pointed out, that our hearts (since they follow our treasures) will be "woven into the fabric of the place God has chosen to manifest His presence!" Awesome!


What is your freewill offering to the construction of Christ's Kingdom? And what will you do with the revelation God has given you today?

Week Two: New Starts and Barren Hearts

Clothes That Last

How awesome has this past week's study been? Personally, it's forced me to dig deep and really wrestle with some heart issues I've been struggling with for awhile and in the process start giving them up to God so that He can begin His healing work in me. Whew! BIG sigh of relief! I am loving this study! I can't wait to see what God reveals next in the coming weeks!

Today's study talked about the final provision God provided for His children in the wilderness: Clothing. Now, I don't know about you, but I like to shop for clothes - especially shoes. LOVE shoes! The higher the heel, the better, in my opinion. Can you imagine God being choosy enough about clothes that He might be interested in whether I bought flats as opposed to sling-back high heels?

Of course, that might be going a bit far (still fun to imagine, I say), but it is pretty amazing to think that if He paid that much attention to detail when He created the flowers in the field which do not last, how much greater does He care and provide for us - we who are made in His own likeness!

And even better:

I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10

Because of Jesus' ultimate sacrifice on the cross, we get the precious gift of being clothed with garments of salvation and righteousness! Um...yes, please! I'll take a "garment of salvation" and a "robe of righteousness" over any ensemble I could buy from Target any day! Incredible, don't you think?

God revealed Himself to His children through His constant care and provision. He still does. In what ways has He recently shown you His heart by providing for your needs?

Glorious Morning

...The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning, new every morning. Great is your faithfulness, oh God. Great is your faithfulness!...

I remember singing that song in church as a little girl and not really giving it much thought except for the fact that I liked it. After today's lesson, I can't seem to get it out of my head...and for good reason! Aren't you so glad that His mercies renew every day? That they are, according to Beth Moore "...always there, available every day, prior to our need, and in direct proportion to every moment's demand..."?

I will admit the gathering part can be a little tough. Me, I'm a fairly scheduled, structured person. LOVE schedules, LOVE to plan. I just really like knowing what's coming next in any given day/month/year. I like feeling prepared. I really don't like surprises. I know, weird.

I"m sure it's not surprising that I'm also a chronic worrier (knots in my tummy, sick feeling, mild panic - you get the picture) because I'm constantly obsessed with what's going to happen tomorrow, a month from now, a year from now. Yeah...in my world tomorrow's trouble is always stealing today's joy!

But slowly, and not with out some struggle and mass quantities of prayer on my part, I'm learning to let God be my daily provision and resting in the incredible knowledge that his mercies really are new every morning. I can live in the present and let tomorrow take care of itself! How amazing is His faithfulness!

What about you? Are you able to live in the moment, trusting God to be your daily provision? Do you believe his mercy and grace renew every morning? Or do you worry and fret and obsess over the future wondering how you're going to get through another day, let alone the rest of your life?

The Trouble with Old Appetites

The Comfort Zone. What is there not to love about the Comfort Zone? It's safe. It's familiar. It never changes.

Perfect, right?

Not so much. It's also boring, miserable, and lonely. I know. As a bonafide lover of the Comfort Zone, I speak from experience.

Right now, my husband is feeling called by God to move our family back to Nebraska so that he can plant a church. This is a terrifying prospect for introverted, Comfort Zone loving me. Furthering Christ's mission aside, the thought of being ripped from my nice, comfortable, well-insulated, suburban life to be transported into the wild unknown sends me over the edge! I was just talking recently with a friend about how sometimes it seems easier to stay where we are, miserable, than to break free and allow God to work out His purpose for our lives and as a consequence, find happiness. I feel this way often because it's just so scary to step out in faith! My heart knows what to do, but my mind gets in the way! I identify completely with the Israelites who yearned for the familiar because it was familiar - even though they knew that what God had in store for them was going to be so much better than they could possibly imagine. Look at what He had done for them already!

And as I struggle and pray and pray and struggle regarding the future of our family, one thing I know for sure is that I can't have it both ways. I have to make a decision: I can choose to stay in the relative safety of my Comfort Zone, even though that may mean damaging aspects of my marriage (because Todd is a nice husband and would never force me to go anywhere I didn't want to go even if that meant sadly forcing him to suppress a call from God), or I can take the plunge and whole-heartedly choose to trust God completely - no matter where that might lead us.

Because the thing that's even more terrifying to me than stepping out of my Comfort Zone is the thought of becoming cold and complacent in my relationship with the Lord!

The Bittersweetness of Marah

Today's lesson really, really applied to me. But before I go any farther, can I just say how much I love the way Beth Moore continually shows us how the Old Testament is constantly pointing to Jesus? That even as far back as the beginning of time, God's plan to bring us a Savior was being worked out! The way the Old and the New Testaments interconnect and weave together so seamlessly the story of salvation for God's children never ceases to amaze and thrill me!

OK! Back to today's lesson. Bitterness is something that seems to come so easily to me as I walk through life - definitely not an aspect of my character of which I'm proud. I tend to be introverted and shy and extremely passive-aggressive, and I usually view problems in a slightly negative light. It's so easy for me to feel wronged by others and to hold on to that wrong (classic grudge holder right here!) forever.

When I came to this in our reading, it brought tears to my eyes:

"Why wait any longer? We are here for such a brief time. In order to heal, you may need to start by forgiving. Yet you may fear as I did, 'If I forgive, that will make it all right, and it's not all right.' Let God whisper into your ear what He whispered to me: 'No, My child; forgiving will make you all right.'" (Beth Moore, 2007)

How I pray to be able to let go of the bitterness in my life and forgive so that I can experience my own Elim!

What about you?

Has God ever led you to taste your own bitterness? If so, what was the occasion, and how have you allowed Him to sweeten your bitter water?

A Glimpse of the Wilderness

Welcome to Week Two ladies!

How amazing was the way God provided for His chosen children in the wilderness? By manifesting himself by day in a pillar of cloud and by night in a pillar of fire, He made sure they continually had the comfort of his protection and presence. Can you imagine what that meant to the Israelites as they journeyed in dangerous uncertainty across a rocky and barren desert into the unknown?

I really like the analogy of God as a loving parent and caregiver to His children - looking out for us, protecting us from our enemies, soothing our worries and fears, encouraging us to have faith and to be trusting and obedient.

Which brings me to today's Heart Question:

Have you ever thought of the impact of your faith on your children's future? What difference can this realization make in your daily walk with God and in your parenting?