Chapter 3

First off I want to invite any potential Women of Grace out there who are interested to come hang out and fellowship with us Saturday night! Get a hold of me if you need details.  We would love to have you even if you can't make it to our regular Bible Study.

It was exciting to see many praises in response to our prayer requests from group last week!  It is so cool when you can see God working and give testimony. :D

Our study this week talked about Shame.

It is easy to blame ourselves when life leaves us disappointed.

• It's important to know ourselves enough to know if shame is keeping us from God.  Pray for God to reveal to you any shame that is keeping you from His love.  Write whatever comes to mind.

Read Genesis 3

Before the Fall, Adam and Even didn't have any concept of shame.   Their sin caused them to loose their innocence.

• Compare Genesis 2:25 and Genesis 3:10.
  

  Gennsis 2:25- they were naked and felt no shame
  Genesis 3:10- they hid because they were afraid

• In Genesis 3:11, God asks Adam why he eats from the tree. Adam blamed Eve for giving him the fruit.  And God because He gave him Eve.
• What blessings did Adam and Eve walk in before they knew shame? They had everything, God walked with them in the garden everyday.  They had a perfect relationship with him.
• Who did God curse first?  What curses followed? The serpent, then Eve, then Adam.
  

  Adam and Eve on trial: Here we are confronted with how holy God is.  Before God pronounces His judgement on Adam and Eve, He asks them a series of questions.  The word naked appears repeatedly to communicate the shame they felt that wen far beyond what they felt in front of each other,  God didn't leave them in their shamed naked state.  God sacrificed life, the blood of animals, to cover them.  Even here we see the provision He made for His children to cover their sin., a foreshadowing of the blood He would shed on the cross.  (God Loves Broken People, pp 178)

• Read the following verses-
  
  • Psalm 25:2-3
  • Romans 9:33
  • Romans 10:11
  • 1 Peter 2:6
They all reiterate anyone who hopes/trusts in Him, will never be put to shame.

"It seems that in a world mortally wounded and disobedience and fatally infected with the disease of sin, shame has a role to play in god's redemptive purposes.  God intends to use even shame to bring us to Himself, where we can live free of shame forever. " (God Loves Broken People, pp 30). 

To find the kind of sactifying shame God intends for our good, consider the following--

1. Say the right things to yourself.
2. Feill your mind with the truth of God's Word.
3. Surround yourself with loving, godly people.

Fill in the blanks beloew with your own steps toward a balenced view of brokenness.

1. Today I will tell myself the truth and say:________________________________
2. I will meditate on the following scripture:________________________________
3. I will seek out ____________ this week because I know this person encourages me in my faith.

 Next WED will be at Amy's House :-) Bring something for our OCC box...

 We hope to see you at DD on Saturday Evening :D

PS What's you best Gift from this week... 

baa baa black sheep

Not quite doubled but we were up from 3 to 5. We had a blessed meeting yesterday round Jessica's kitchen table.

It was with a heavy and weary heart that I drove yesterday.  I was so not in the mood for Bible Study.  Frustration and cares of the world weighing me down. As I turned onto her street the heavens opened and then rains poured down! Isn't that fitting, I thought snidely.  It would start pouring as soon as I got there.  Hearing me arrive Jess had the door flung wide by the time I trudged there.  Stepping into her cheerful living room I felt my weariness melting away.... I smiled and joked about seeing the dark skies over her house as I drove.  But inside I could certainly see the light that comes from gathering in Christ's presence.

Soon our gathered coffee in hand around the table, sharing our hearts.  Each it seemed had a burden.  Lifting each other with encouragement and then in prayer. I love these girls and our little group so much. <3

I shared this blog entry about balance, from The Better Mom site.  I just got in my inbox just before I headed out for study.  Seemed appropriate!  Pop on over and check it out. :)

On to our study...Chapter two... Bummer Lambs and Black Sheep

 

This just maybe one of my favorite chapters in the whole book.  In case you are not familiar with the term, a bummer lamb is a lamb that has been rejected by the mother.  Like in the case when a sheep has multiple offspring  and can not produce enough milk.  The ewe will choose to feed some and reject others. In the spiritual sense, we are all bummer lambs.
Then there are black sheep, the ones who choose to walk away from the Good Shepard.  Maybe you have recently chosen to go your own way; you are tired of waiting on God.  Rebellion has taken a grip on your heart, and you can't seem to find your way back because your aren't sure if you deserve His grace.  (pp 173)

•  Do you identify most with the bummer lamb or the black sheep?

 Just as sll of us qualify in some ways as bummer lambs, so all of us qualify in all ways as what we call black sheep.  But your sin-- no matter how dark a stain you think it has left-- can never keep you apart from God.  Only your stubborn will can do that. (pp 19 emphasis added)

 He brought me out into a spacious place;
    he rescued me because he delighted in me.

Psalm 18:19 NIV

•  Write down the benefits if bring a bummer lamb shared in the chapter.

"All to often , these needy vulnerable, precious lambs simply die.  Their little spirits break and they give up the will to live.  The ones who do survive--- the ones who find the strength to overcome their mothers rejection-- are the ones who get taken in and cared for by the shepherd.
......bummer labs are in fact the most blessed of all the sheep in the pasture because they are the most personally and intimately cared for by the shepherd.  They develop a kind of relationship with the shepherd that the other sheep can't even dream of.  they experience a love that far surpasses anything the pasture and sometimes fickle ewe have to offer.
When a shepherd calls to the flock, guess who run to him first? (pp 15)

 Read John 10:1-21

• Write our some of the roles of the shepherd mentioned in the txt.
  
  1. he calls them by name
  2. he loves and cares for them all
  3. he acts as the gate

• Why is trust in the Good Shepherd for the bummer labs and black sheep essential?
  We have to trust that Jesus can and will see us through to the other side.  Certianly sometimes the shepherd has to take the sheep though some scary places in order to get to the good things on the other side.
• Name some tangible blocks in your mind, heart and personal history that keep you from trusting fully that Jesus can carry you to safe pastures.
  
  1. cares of the world
  2. pride

I love this part...

The more time we spend with our Good Shepherd, the more we will hear His voice that says,  "I love you as you are and you belong to Me." 

Next week Magda's :) And we have our shoe box and will collecting goodies for as many boxes as we can fill between now and November for Operation Christmas Child.

And so far at least three of our number are taking part in the CROP walk. :) Join us in walking or donate to the cause here.

Not waving...

Today was our first Bible Study.  We started small, three of us gathered in my kitchen. :) It was a good time of fellowship and sharing but I am really hoping next week perhaps we can double in size! :D

We talked about presceptive.  How our attitude can color the way we view situations.  How sometimes we need to take a step back and readjust.

I shared my devo from "Jesus Calling" --

Rejoice in Me always!  No matter what is going on, you can rejoice in your Love-relationship with Me.  This is the secret of being content in all circumstances.  So many people dream of the day when they will finally be happy: when they are out of debt, when their children are out of trouble, when they have more leisure time, and so on.  While they daydream, their moments are trickling into the ground like precious balm spilling from overturned bottles.
Fantasizing about future happiness will never bring fulfillment, because fantasy is unreality.  Even though I am invisible, I am far more Real than the world you see around you.  My reality is eternal and unchanging.  Bring your moments to Me, and I will fill then with vibrant Joy.  Now is the time to rejoice in My Presence!  (Jesus Calling, pp266)

We also discussed Operation Christmas Child.  We decided to pack two boxes (minimum) one for a girl and one for a boy.  I will have a box next meeting and we will continue collecting until its time to send them off. :)

Now on with the Study....
Chapter One is entitled I'm not Waving; I'm Drowning.

• Define in your own words what it means to be broken.  Shattered.  Helpless. Feeling like I am falling apart.
• Sheila quotes Stevie Smith's poem, "I was much too far out all my life/ And not waving but drowning." {The poem talks about a man thrashing about in the surf fighting for his life.  But is unable to gain help from people on shore.  Some of them even waved back thinking he was merely waving}   What is your own drowning experience.  How did you survive?
•  Some brokenness stems from sin in our lives
• What do the following verse say about sin and how God's people respond?
  
  • Isaiah 6:5-- Woe to me
  • Psalm 51:1-9--  praying for deliverance
  • Luke 5:8-- go away from me Lord
    
    These verses certainly show how detestable sin is to God.  How it can be uncomfortable to be around God when we are lost in sin.  I like how the Psalms passage also offers a ray of Hope...Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean, wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.  Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.  (Ps 51:7-8)

"I have often found anger more comfortable than fear. Anger gives me the illusions of control, while fear leaves me naked and exposed."  (God Loves Broken People; pp 2)

• When we are faced with conflict, it is easy for our sin nature to react.  We tend to go where our comfort zone is, whether that is to respond in anger or to retreat in self-pity.  What does your "sin comfort zone" look like?
• Read Psalm 88.  Personalize each paragraph to reflect your prayer and confession to God. 
• Though this Psalm ends in lamnet, how does it show faith in God.

" Isaiah gives us a second hook on which to hang our hats.  Not only do we rest on the solid rock of the Word of God, but we are called to open our eyes and see what God is doing in us and preparing for us right now!  God speaks through the prophet to tell us," (God Loves Broken People; pp 12)

See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way is the desert
and streams in the wasteland.  (Isaiah 43:19)
{This is a personal favorite of mine.  And one I committed to memory when I was going through my own "drowning" experience.  It was one I had to say over and over and over again.}

Shelia goes to talk about how we sometimes spend our life looking in the rearview mirror so to speak.  But who can drive starring in the review mirror.  We must keep our focus on the road ahead of us.

"God says to you and me, "It's time for something new in your life.  I open up new roads to you.  I want to fill the desert of your soul with living water and satisfy your thirst with heaven's swift, cool brooks.  Don't dwell on the past, and refuse to camp in the tragedies of your history or family background.  Leave it all behind!  And then come with Me, for I have something brand-new in mind for you.
So with one hand firmly gripping the Word of God, and the other hand reaching for the fresh future God is busily at work preparing for us, let us walk together on this journey into God's best.  It maybe hard, but it will be worth it.  (God Loves Broken People; pp 13)

I am looking forward to next week. :) I encourage everyone to bring something from their devo this coming week to share, as well as some "gifts" you experienced this week....and perhaps a little something for our shoebox child. ;) Next Wednesday we will be at Jessica's, 9:30 am :D  Talk to me or Jess if you have questions or need directions.  I look forward to see you and am praying for you this week!

The plan right now is to meet every WED (except the WED before Thanksgiving).  This will put our last Study on December 12th.  We will then have our Christmas Party on Dec 19.  And then a break for Christmas and possibly the month January.   We are also hoping to have a fall family outing to an apple and or pumpkin patch followed by a chili get together.  More details on that to come as well as a Mom's Nite our to DD sometime SOON!!

Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is our first official meeting of Women of Grace!  I am very excited.  I have missed our Bible Study this summer and ready to get back at it.

The first meeting will be at my house.  Rumor has it next week Jess will be hosting. :)

We have some lovely journals and pens ready to aid us on our new journey together.

I am planning to make these babies for a little snack...

Source: passthesushi.com via Amy on Pinterest

Com'on over and join us!