LBY Week 10-Self Control

"The Holy Spirit is looking for a place where He can be comfortable in your skin." --Beth Moore

Self control. It can apply to anything can't it? Excess in eating, blogging, recreation, time spent with others (including our children, spouses, friends) rather than God, TV, etc.  Satan wants us to be so consumed with anything but God, doesn't he?   Without self-control, we cannot possess fully the entire  fruit of the Spirit.  I liked what Beth said in Day One about self control:

The quality of self-control is that which secures our freedom to love, to experience joy, to know peace, to respond with patience, to act out of goodness, to step out in faithfulness, and to agree with gentleness.  Howe?  Because self-control is the ability to make choices which invite and enhance the authority and filling of the Holy Spirit.  Self-control is the decision to remain within the boundaries of victory!

God is so cool.  I know, you might be wondering where this came from, other than that He is.  But in a leadership group I'm facilitating, we have just started reading the book "Celebration of Discipline".  God has sure intertwined all of my bible studies and ministry endeavors as of late.  Just had to throw this one in.   

As we wrap up our study of the fruit of the Spirit in our Living Beyond Ourselves study, I think about the quote above from this week's video on self control.  We've been talking about the Holy Spirit and the way it empowers us to be able to know and do things that we ordinarily would not be able to know and do...because He is living inside us as Christians.  I guess that is the bottom line, is it not?  That God is inside us and wants to empower us if we would just plug in to Him, THE Power Supply?  Lord, help me to not live in my own power and let Your grace and power be sufficient for me.

1 Cor 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and your spirit, which are God's. (NKJV)

So our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, His "home" upon this earth. How is everyone's "temple" these days?  I must say that about 3 weeks ago I started trying to eat better and exercise more so I had to laugh when the video spoke of the fact that should strive a balance between neglect and obsession with our body's fitness.  Thankfully, I haven't been obsessed this time around. After all, the last thing I need is more stress about a diet.  (FYI-I have though lost 4 pounds just by cutting out the junk I eat and reducing portions a little bit - pretty painless, really).

You know, I could write on and one tonight, but before I end this post, I want to discuss what our lesson said in Day 5 about living victoriously.  Ladies, and gentlemen who stop by, I will devote my life to helping people catch the vision that anyone can have a victorious life through the power of Christ in them if they just exercise a little discipline to get them started and keep them going.  I totally agree with Beth's position (and I believe the bible supports it too) that to have a victorious day, we have to start it with God in the morning.  Jesus did it (Mark 1:35).  David endorsed it and did it (Psalm 5:3).

From Beth, "As often as you are completely cleansed and yielded, you will possess a power that is completely beyond you...".  We all can do it with a little discipline over our lives, including the activities of our households.  Making our lives a sacrifice, not only glories God, but benefits us as well.  Let's all be victorious and let God conform and renew us.  It's time to take our positions in God's service.

Ro 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

FINAL NOTE:  To all of the ladies participating in this study, I have so enjoyed getting to know you through your blogs. It has been a real blessing to me. I pray that you may grow in His grace and that you may be forever changed by this study. It has come at what I believe has been a pivotal year in my life and service to God. God bless each of you and I will continue to "stop by" and see what y'all are up to.  On ya!

LBY 9-Gentleness

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  Against such there is no law.  Gal 5:22-23 NKJV

A brief description of the above, according to Beth Moore, is the following:

1. Love never fails.
2. Joy cometh.
3. Peace rules.
4. Patience waits.
5. Kindness tenders.
6. Goodness does.
7. Faith fights.
8. Gentleness bows.

This week was deep.  I wonder if anyone else I know, upon examination of this verse on the fruit of the Spirit, has ever taken the time to get to the root of gentleness the way we saw in this study.  I sheepishly admit that I've never taken the time to dig deep into the meaning of the word, always just glossing over "gentleness" because I already thought I knew its meaning.  Not so.  My only hope is that Beth Moore uses a different dictionary than I.  :)  But then, I did admit that I've glossed in my study.  Oh well.   Today is a new day.

Gentleness

meekness, mildness, forbearance.  Primarily it does not denote outward expression of feeling, but an inward grace of the soul, calmness toward God in particular.  It is the acceptance of God's dealings with us considering them as good in that they enhance the closeness of our relationship with Him.  However, praotes (the Greek for gentleness) encompasses expressing wrath toward the sin of man as demonstrated by the Lord Jesus....This meekness does not blame God for the persecutions and evil doings of men.  It is not the result of weakness...but the actiivity of the blessedness that exists in one's heart from being actively angry at evil...That virtue that stands between two extremes, uncontrollable and unjustified anger, and not becoming angry at all no matter what takes place around you.

What a definition, huh?  You might want to reread this one.  The bold represents my emphasis of what really spoke to me.  I'm still digesting it. 

Gentleness is an inward grace of the soul ---- not being mad at God for the situations He has placed us in.    So gentleness really is more than not killing bugs!  :)  Just kidding.  Gentleness takes submission, humility and a teachable spirit.  Is anyone else feeling a little bruised from this study this week?  I'll break down my thoughts on these items:

Submission - the foundation of gentleness.   After all, how can we accept God's dealings with us peacefully if we aren't submitting to His sovereign will for our lives.  I heard Jill Briscoe speak one time about "unpacking".  She said that if we are ever in a difficult situation beyond our control that we needed to accept it, "unpack our bags" and just live there because we were in God's will.    "Unpacking" is like giving up control to God.

Humility - the Greek word for humility "encompasses the idea of arriving at a correct estimate of ourselves...Humility is the correct estimation of ourselves which results from a correct estimation of our God."  Again, once we remember that God's ways are higher than ours, we will stop throwing our little temper tantrums and just submit with gentleness.

Teachability -  How can we be teachable if we are too busy fighting God to get our own way?  I guess that is how teachability ties into gentleness.  We must have a willingness to learn from where we are, realizing that God has placed us in our specific circumstances for a reason.  "To miss God's Word in our circumstances is to miss God.  To miss God is to miss the point."

In summary, I'll quote Beth again from day 5:

God commands that our teaching comes from "an inward grace of the soul" that He refers to as "gentleness"...teaching with humility...with an attitude of submission...with an awareness of our own sins and a forgetfulness toward the sins of the flock...leaving condemnation to God and conviction to the Holy Spirit, God's teacher is the vessel while God's Word packs the punch.  Does gentleness mean weakness?

Lord, give me a teachable, submissive, humble Spirit....a gentle spirit, with that inward grace of the soul.  I do want that, even though the learning is hard sometimes.  Help me to never question You or Your plans for me, knowing in my heart that You are truly good, all the time.  Amen.

LBY-Week 8 Faith

I love the fact that because of my blog's devotional nature, I can essentially write about what I've learned in the  "Living Beyond Yourself" any time I want.   It seems of late that the two bible studies I'm doing, my daily reading, and our Sunday church sermons are all converging upon me with the same message.  A message of faith.    Actually, I already posted a little about faith in this post last week from another study.  Check it out if you like!

I'm not going to post a summary of the week's lesson to speak of here as I usually do.  You see, I've also recently started Jennifer Rothschild's "Walking By Faith" study with a small group I lead.   So I've been hit on by God with faith lately, most of which I'll save for my post tomorrow.  As for now, let's look at this verse:

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.  (Hebrews 11:6)

To me, this verse is the key to our Christian lives.  After all, aren't we supposed to be all about doing all things for God's glory? (1 Cor 10:31)  Isn't that pleasing to him?  Without faith it is impossible to please God.  And without first having faith we won't be able to get more faith.  Wild. 

First of all, we can't please God if we don't believe that he is for without that belief in a higher being we will never know His son Jesus and thus will never be reconciled to Him.   We can't please God if we aren't even able to have fellowship with Him because our sins have separated us from Him.   Once we believe, we will receive the Holy Spirit of God inside us who will empower us to have more faith, a fruit of the Spirit. 

But without exercising our faith, it will not become stronger.  It would stand to reason that based on my key verse above (He 11:6) that the stronger our faith, the more pleased God will be with us.  So is anyone ready to "exercise"?  We exercise our faith by stepping out of our comfort zones and trusting God to guide us through the dark one step at a time.    We must trust in His promises and be motivated by His words to us that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. 

I've mentioned stepping out in faith to do new things for God.  But the "through" faith Beth Moore speaks of in the vide also provides some opportunities for us to please God.  As we work through the difficult times in our lives, trusting that God has a blessing for us on the other side of the trial, we will also please God.   Through the trials, God will make us conquerers, not quitters, and allow us to be better soldiers for Him.  As Beth said, faith fights.

Easier said than done you say?  Of course.  Diligently seeking God does not come about without intention on our part.  We must know what God's Word says to us so we can know what promises He has for us.  We must know what God's Word says so we can truly get to know who God is in order for us to be able to trust  Him.  Then, as our hearts intertwine with God's, we will understand what He is calling us to do.  Only then we can confidently step out in faith for Kingdom work, fighting the good fight.

Addie	Heather*	Carol
M	Rach	Jeana
Jenn	Amanda	MamaB
GiBee	Boomama	Maria
Blair	Heather	Nancy
Janna	Flipflop	Robin
Sherry	Patricia	Tara
Lauren	HolyMama!	Faith
Christy	Eph2810	Karin
Leann	Rachel	Janice
This is a list of the women participating in the study and the links to their blogs. New postings on the study will be published for the next ten weeks, between Friday 8pm - Saturday 8am. Please feel free to visit each of us and comment. Everyone is welcome to participate in this discussion as we seek to live beyond ourselves. May God bless you richly from the hearing of His word.

LBY Week 6-Kindness & Goodness

I am sitting here in my home office, after all of the Mother's Day festivities, and after finishing this week's video that focused on "Goodness" from Galatians 5:22.  I can't describe what I'm feeling except to say that as the tears flow down my cheeks as I absorb what I've just heard, I know without a doubt that God has touched my heart in a mighty way.

A quick review of the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22) according to Beth Moore is as follows:

1. Love never fails.
2. Joy cometh.
3. Peace rules.
4. Patience waits.
5. Kindness tenders.
6. Goodness does.

Goodness does.   It was just a week ago that I mentioned to a good friend that I wanted my life back.  I didn't really mean it, but I was weary in all of my well-doing.  You see, my schedule for the past 13 days, outside of working 30 hours a week, included the following:

Retreat planning meeting & preparation: 3 hours
Women's ministry planning meeting & preparation: 3 hours
Small group bible study preparation: 3 hours
Adult ministries planning meeting: 1 1/2 hours
Database meeting: 2 hours
Ladies' Tea Preparations & Event: 3 hours
Other ministry stuff: 8 hours
Mothers' Day dinner for my family: 3 hours

I do a lot of doing, and I love the doing - this is not a complaint.  The above doesn't include time I'm spending reading another book for a leadership training program ("Called to Influence") that I'm taking a group through and the fact that I still must maintain my household & marriage. Goodness does. I didn't feel so "good" last week when I was complaining though.  Why, because I was disobeying God in feeling weary in the well-doing.

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.  Therefore as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.  (Galatians 6:9-10 NKJV).

I liked what Beth Moore pointed out regarding the word "weary" here.  She says "to become weary doing good means to give in to trouble; to become exasperated by difficulty, be defeated in spirit, discouraged, or faint-hearted; to despair, lose heart."  I thought it was interesting how she stated that the enemy (Satan) does everything he can to make us quit and then turns around and calls us "quitters"!  Satan doesn't respect us for our unbelief in God's promises because he knows God is believeable.  Wow.

Let's not be quitters no matter how tough the going gets so that we can have the last laugh on the wicked one.  Our sole purpose on this earth is to be a blessing to others.  We were called to benefit the world by imparting God's goodness.  And lo and behold, by doing good, we find the presription to heal our very own souls. 

Our "prescription", as Beth Moore pointed out that got to me so, was stated in Isaiah 58:6-11.  I'm not going to put the passage here, but I will quote the bullet points from our listening guide based on the passage:

If you spend yourselves (on doing good)....

• your light will rise in the darkness
• the Lord will guide you always
• your needs will be satisfied
• your frame will be strengthened
• you will be like well-watered gardens

Friends, today is the day, if we aren't doing it already, to start spending ourselves for the lives of other people.  Our world is a hurting world and we have the cure.   We are called to be people of influence for God's kingdom. 

Lord, thank You today for this water for my weary soul.  I thank You for picking me back up time and time again and filling me up so I can keep giving out.  I do know that doing good for You is a healing touch.  Your are truly my light, my strength, and my song.  Amen.

Addie	Heather*	Carol
M	Rach	Jeana
Jenn	Amanda	MamaB
GiBee	Boomama	Maria
Blair	Heather	Nancy
Janna	Flipflop	Robin
Sherry	Patricia	Tara
Lauren	HolyMama!	Faith
Christy	Eph2810	Karin
Leann	Rachel	Janice
This is a list of the women participating in the study and the links to their blogs. New postings on the study will be published for the next ten weeks, between Friday 8pm - Saturday 8am. Please feel free to visit each of us and comment. Everyone is welcome to participate in this discussion as we seek to live beyond ourselves. May God bless you richly from the hearing of His word.

LBY Week 6 - Peculiar Patience

When I started  this week's homework on Patience for Beth Moore's "Living Beyond Yourself", I had no idea what I was getting into.  Quickly, I realized that patience is a very deep rooted virtue!  You see, I thought that patience was just the ability to wait on God through circumstances (you know, waiting in lines, waiting on things to go our way, waiting on people to see our way of thinking).   Come to find out, while I thought I was making progress in this area, God made sure this week that I knew otherwise.

First of all, and this was the easy part to digest, I was amazed to see that there are two different types of patience mentioned in the bible:

Hupomone: Patience in circumstances, inspired by hope.  James 5:9-11, Patience of Job

Makrothumia: Patience with people, inspired by mercy.  Galatians 5:22:23

Notice that the patience mentioned as the fruit of the Spirit type of patience is the one dealing with people.  God knows that we need more help in dealing with those aggravating people placed in our lives than we do with the circumstances we find ourselves in.  After all, we can sometimes get out of a circumstance but we can't always leave a person! 

The next part regarding patience was the most profound to me.  I just didn't realize that patience was so complex. 

Forgiveness, Patience, Mercy

Did you know that patience is void of judgment?  Beth states that "patience and judgment are opposites and impossible to exercise simultaneously...The mercy that inspires biblical patience contains an ingredient which overrides the temptation to judge."  Chew on that a minute.  Right now I'm thinking that I've got some re-evaluating to do.

In the parable of the merciless servant, Matthew 18:15-35, we see a story of forgiveness and mercy.  In verse 26, the servant begs his master to have patience with him in repaying his debts.  This patience was given, but was inspired by mercy.  Read what Beth has to say about this parable and the relationship of forgiveness, patience, and mercy.

The parable of the merciless servant is about forgiveness...a forgiveness prompted by patience, and a patience perfected by mercy.  If we neglect the necessity of forgiveness, we fail to complete the portrait of biblical patience.  Patience is the vessel through which God pours His mercy.  Mercy is fueled by forgiveness.

Pretty deep, huh.  Now we can apply patience to our lives in a whole new way.  We can have the patience because we are slow to judge but quick to forgive and quick to grant mercy.  Patience is inspired by mercy which is fueled by forgiveness.

Wow.  I'm still affected by this study and am praying to God how to be more merciful to the people in my life that God is challenging me with so that He can purify me as gold.  Lord, help us all.

Addie	Heather*	Carol
M	Rach	Jeana
Jenn	Amanda	MamaB
GiBee	Boomama	Maria
Blair	Heather	Nancy
Janna	Flipflop	Robin
Sherry	Patricia	Tara
Lauren	HolyMama!	Faith
Christy	Eph2810	Karin
Leann	Rachel	Janice
This is a list of the women participating in the study and the links to their blogs. New postings on the study will be published for the next ten weeks, between Friday 8pm - Saturday 8am. Please feel free to visit each of us and comment. Everyone is welcome to participate in this discussion as we seek to live beyond ourselves. May God bless you richly from the hearing of His word.

LBY Week 5-Peace

Peace.  Everyone wants it and if they don't know that they want it when they find it they know it is what they've been missing.   I spent the last week in Las Vegas and as I took time out to do each day's lesson, I couldn't help but think about the lack of inner peace in our world today.  People look for satisfaction in the thrills of this life only to find that in this world they will never find what they are looking for.  My heart goes out to the "peaceless" souls who try to make it through this life's journey without the peace of God.  Do you have peace?  I'm not speaking of the peace of a boring life because there is no activity and thus the waters are smooth, but the peace of an exciting life with the peace inside of us that only Jesus can give. 

I do have that peace, most of the time.  Why? I have peace with God because Jesus, the Prince of Peace, is my Savior and my Lord.  He is the source of peace through the reconciling power of His blood on the cross.  (John 14:27, Ro 15:13, Gal 5:22) Peace starts through a saving knowledge of Jesus.  Without it, our minds and hearts will always be in a state of unrest as God seeks us out and attempts to draw us to Him.

The second reason that I have peace is because I really do try to keep my eyes focused on eternity, what Jesus wants me to do (even though I feel as if I often fall way short of His expectations for me).  I love the chorus of that old hymn "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus".

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

If, no matter my circumstances - relationship problems, ministry problems, heatlh problems, etc. - I keep my eyes focused on Him and what I'm really on this earth for, I will have peace and joy no matter what because I won't be able to see anything else in the brightness of His love and purpose for me.  If you can sometime, try this exercise to illustrate my point.  At night, turn off all of the lights in a room except for one and look into the light (please don't blind yourselves).  If you are really focused on the light do you see anything else?  So it is with Jesus and our problems.  If we focus our "eyes" on Him, our problems, although still present, will seem small or "dim" in the light of His glory.

I guess you can figure out that I'm not doing a typical summary this week of the lesson.  However, you are getting what God spoke to me personally.  God has really been speaking to me the last couple of weeks about the number of commitments I have in my life.  I've been feeling a little stressed, even though I have a lot of fun with everything I'm doing, because of all of the activity.  As Beth Moore sad in the video on peace - I have peace like a river, not like a pond!  And, let me tell you, with all I've got going on with ministry, my job with my husband and maintaining my home, I'm on a white water river!  Can anyone else relate?

So I guess my big lesson was a reminder that the more I pour out of myself to others with ministry involvement, the more personal alone time I need to spend with Jesus, abiding in His love and peace.  I need to spend more time just sitting still in His presence, even if it takes me 15 minutes of sitting there to let my mind slow down to a stop and let the adrenaline cease running.  Just as I spend time in the word of God every day, I need to spend more time in personal prayer and silence....just listening.

Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thansgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will gurad your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Lord, I want the peace that only You can give.  Please show me how to make frequent & serious stops of doing, doing, doing and let me just rest in your presence.  Amen.

Addie	Heather*	Carol
M	Rach	Jeana
Jenn	Amanda	MamaB
GiBee	Boomama	Maria
Blair	Heather	Nancy
Janna	Flipflop	Robin
Sherry	Patricia	Tara
Lauren	HolyMama!	Faith
Christy	Eph2810	Karin
Leann	Rachel	Janice
This is a list of the women participating in the study and the links to their blogs. New postings on the study will be published for the next ten weeks, between Friday 8pm - Saturday 8am. Please feel free to visit each of us and comment. Everyone is welcome to participate in this discussion as we seek to live beyond ourselves. May God bless you richly from the hearing of His word.

Joy Cometh ...

... and the "crud" leaveth.   :)  I am SO ready to be well again from this flu.  I guess the one thing I can count on from past experience is that it doesn't last forever.  So, to my suffering friends around the world...there is hope!!

Okay.  I need to stop letting the decongestant talk and get to business.  As I listened to the video on "Joy" of a Beth Moore study I'm participating in, I couldn't helped but be overcome by thoughts of some dear Christian friends I know, and even those I don't know, who are experiencing the kind of searing pain from life's circumstances that is temporarily dampening their joy.

I love to encourage people.  To listen to them, take their hand, to put my arms around them and tell them that they will see a brighter day is something that really blesses me.  Hope.   Don't we all need it?

In black and white, and sometimes red, on the pages of our bibles we can see the truth of God's promises through the tears brought on by our circumstances if we know where to look.  As I watched that video last night, Beth brought to remembrances some of my favorites words of life and I'll share them here.

For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life:  weeping may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning.  (Psalm 30:5)

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.  He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, brining his sheaves with him. (Psalm 126:1-5)

Tell me these aren't words of life to your weary soul.  Joy cometh, my friends, no matter where you are!  The bible tells us so.  Our Savior, Faithful Friend, and Creator of the whole wide world tells us so.  As Beth so eloquently says it, we will never learn how to dance before Him if we never learn how to mourn before Him.  Like Christ, we too can endure anything...anything, if we know that we will have that jumping-up-and-down- dancing-around-busting-at-the-seams kind of joy waiting on the other side of our trials.  We will have that you know, if not in this life, in heaven.  Guaranteed.  Just keep your eyes on Jesus and we can rejoice in the Lord no matter what.. 

Hebrews 12:1Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,  2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

LBY Week 4-Joy

And he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."  Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (1 Cor 12:9 NKJV)

Strange verse to start off a discussion about joy, huh?  Well, I haven't had a very joyful week as I came down with the flu (fever/sinus kind) on Tuesday and have missed out on some of the most beautiful spring weather we've had here in KC to date.  Oh, and did I mention that I missed my tee time on Wednesday because of a 100 degree fever?  Waaahh.  I guess I'm good at boasting about my infirmities, not boasting in them as Paul says he would most gladly do.   Can I still have the power of Christ resting upon me when I'm complaining?  Probably not. 

Maybe I should correctly say that I haven't had a very happy week in my struggle to survive, and althought the fever is gone, as of today, the coughing has begun. (Cough, cough, sniff) After all, our sources of joy are not in our circumstances, correct?  Joy comes in the following packages:

1. Our salvation.  (Ps 51:12)
2. Discovery of our perfect treasure, Jesus (Mt 13:44, Luke 10:21)
3. Restoration.  (Ps 71:20,23)
4. Abiding in Christ. (John 15:1-17)
5. Fellow Christians (1 Thes 2:19-20, 1 Thes 3:9)

I guess I should say that the joy of the Lord has been my strength this week (Neh 8:10), literally.  I have my salvation. I've discovered some cool things in scripture and reflected on how God has restored me from some events in my life in my recent past.  I've been abiding in Him because I couldn't abide on the golf course and I've got great Christian brothers and sisters in Christ.  Last but not least, I am well enough, barely, to attend the Casting Crowns concert tonight with some beloved "sistren" tonight as I'd planned. 

So I'll leave you with a quote from Beth (end of day 4) that I believe if applied can sustain our joy through anything:

"When we allow God to train us so that receiving and obeying His Word becomes our "high," we will know the fullest expressions of His joy."

Have a great day, sisters!

LBY Week 3-Love

1 Corinthians 13:4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

In week 3 of our Living Beyond Yourself (LB Y) study we focused on love.  Learning what love is and what love isn't.  Learning about how that no matter how much I think I've grown as a Christian in the past few years, I still have way more to learn and that God will always remind me of that fact.    This brings me to the concept of agape love.

Agape love.  Commitment rather than feeling.  Unconditional.  Not a new concept for me, however when I am forced to examine my life in the light of scripture I find myself dreadfully lacking here.  Not with everyone, but in certain corners of my world.  Why do I have to be so impatient?  God is patient with me, no? 

God is patient, God is kind.  God loved the world including you and me so much that He sent His only Son from His home in heaven down to earth to bear the punishment for the sins of all of us so that we might inherit eternal life.  We celebrate His death today and His glorious resurrection in 2 more days.  I thought it was really cool that I ended this week's homework today (Good Friday) and the discussion was about God's agape love for us. Love in action.  Charity.  We celebrate that ultimate act of love today.  How precious.

I guess I'll conclude today by sending everyone here.  It was my post from earlier today, inspired by LBY's lesson today.  I didn't label it LBY because I was trying to play by the "rules" after all and not post early.   I pray that everyone is able to take some time the next few days and remember what the Easter holiday is all about.  I also pray that each on of us can seek to be more like Jesus in how we love others.

Addie	Heather*	Carol
M	Rach	Jeana
Jenn	Amanda	MamaB
GiBee	Boomama	Maria
Blair	Heather	Nancy
Janna	Flipflop	Robin
Sherry	Patricia	Tara
Lauren	HolyMama!	Faith
Christy	Eph2810	Karin
Leann	Rachel	Janice
This is a list of the women participating in the study and the links to their blogs. New postings on the study will be published for the next ten weeks, between Friday 8pm - Saturday 8am. Please feel free to visit each of us and comment. Everyone is welcome to participate in this discussion as we seek to live beyond ourselves. May God bless you richly from the hearing of His word.

Free At Last - LBY Week 1

Whenever I participate in a bible study it is always amazing to me how God can give me something specific for my life at the exact moment of the study as well as give things to other people.   It is unimagineable to me how God can keep track of everything going on as well as everyone's thoughts in a way that He can make all of it work together for good.  The commencement of this study was no different. 

You see, our church is starting a new phase in its life cycle.  We are having our first ever service in a church building that is our own this coming Sunday.  We've been told that typically when a church movies into a building from a temporary facility that attendance doubles almost overnight.  So...when I, as the director of Women's Ministry at said church, start a study entitled "Living Beyond Yourself", I feel that I'm about to learn and live doing just that.  I, as well as the rest of our church leadership, are just waiting for the ride to begin.

What spoke to me the most in this weeks study revolved around the topic of leadership.  To quote Beth Moore about the foundational truth of this study, she says: "Christ in us not only guarantees life in Heaven but also Christ in us grants the astounding invitation to live beyond ourselves on earth."   As I live out the upcoming months, I will remember that "through the inflitrating power of the Holy Spirit, I can do things I couldn't, feel things I didn't and know things I wouldn't.  Lord, thank You for being with me and working through me!

Regarding influence and its power, is it any coincidence that I'm preparing in the next few weeks to take a group of women in our church through "Called To Influence", a leadership "training" program?  I don't think so.  God apparently know when I'd start both this study (LBY) and "Called to Influence" because in week 1 of LBY we saw the power of influence.   As Beth says on p. 9,  "For reasons we may never know, God entrusted to womankind a most wonderful and terrible gift:  the power of influence."

Finally, of the things that impacted me the most from this week's study, I was reminded about how I need to concentrate on pleasing my "Audience of One" rather than anyone else.  Being in a position of leadership is a wonderful thing to be entrusted with but comes with a price.  We can't ever please everyone around us with our decisions, but we can try to please our Father in heaven.  This was a great reminder to me once again.  With everything I do, I will try to think as Paul from Galatians 1:10 :

"Am I now trying to win the approval of men , or of God?  Or am I trying to please men?  If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."

Lord, help me to be Your servant.  Help me to fully trust in You and only You so that I can live beyond my capabilities.   Let me seek out a life fully consecrated to You. 

Addie	Heather*	Carol
M	Rach	Jeana
Jenn	Amanda	MamaB
GiBee	Boomama	Maria
Blair	Heather	Nancy
Janna	Flipflop	Robin
Sherry	Patricia	Tara
Lauren	HolyMama!	Faith
Christy	Eph2810	Karin
Leann	Rachel	Janice
This is a list of the women participating in the study and the links to their blogs. New postings on the study will be published for the next ten weeks, between Friday 8pm - Saturday 8am. Please feel free to visit each of us and comment. Everyone is welcome to participate in this discussion as we seek to live beyond ourselves. May God bless you richly from the hearing of His word.