Blog Bible Study Group

New Changes Coming Soon

2007-02-11T12:27:00.000-08:00

Hello, everyone. I wanted to drop a note to let you all know that there are some changes coming to the BBSG! I'm very excited about the changes and will provide more details as they become available. Please be patient with us during this transition. I believe we will all be happy and excited about the new BBSG!

Thank you all for your interest in the BBSG and growing your relationship with God. With love - Tami

Trying again-

2006-11-09T20:55:00.000-08:00

Proverbs 11:14 (New King James Version)

14 Where there is no counsel, the people fall;
But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.

As I've been trying to post before :) I was saying that there is absolute wisdom in this verse. I've seen it go both ways where we don't get enough if any counsel and the opposite where we go to human counsel before we pray. That's what I stuggle with, not taking it to God first and waiting on Him. It's much easier, well shorter, to get sound counsel from friends or mentors in my life and it sounds biblical & wise but I end up feeling like I've taken the short cut or end up second guessing their counsel.

Well, that's all I got for now. I just wanted to post something rather than nothing.

It taken me many months of technical difficulty & misunderstandings & frusterations to be able to finally post today.

Thank you all for your patience with my lack of participation. I enjoy reading your thoughts & insights, it has truly been a source of blessing in my life.

2006-10-15: Proverbs 11:14 - Leaders and the Church

2006-10-15T07:42:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 11 (New King James Version)

14 Where there is no counsel, the people fall;
But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.

Comments/Thoughts/Questions:

I like this verse because it reminds me that we all need help and, if we're in the right group (believers), then we always have someone to turn to for guidance and to hold us accountable for our words/actions. In our church we have our friends, our family (for some of us anyway), our small group leaders, our ministry leaders, our pastor, our pastors in training, . . . whatever the problem or question - there is someone here to help us find the answer. I believe that is part of what a church is for. Helping those who don't understand or are going through a difficult time. But we're also here to help keep things in perspective during the good times.

It's so easy to forget we're here to help others when things in our own life are going so well. This is the time we don't often seek the advice of others - probably because we don't think we need it at the time. Eventually we're reminded we always need someone around to hold us accountable to what we're all here for - to help our brothers/sisters in Christ and to increase God's kingdom by helping people come to know Christ. We all need accountability - for ourselves and for others.

I hope everyone has a good and productive week. With love - Tami

2006-10-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

Like Maren, I still stop by and read all the posts, I swear!

So I am relooking at these verses...

A wise son heeds his father's instruction,
but a mocker does not listen to rebuke.

verse one kind of resonates with me recently as I've been craving to "bossed around." Ha - basically I have been desiring to have a leader sort of tell me what to do. Who could ever really crave rebuke?, but with it and with instruction (from leaders that God provides us) comes growth and blessings (Mark shared on this at Axis a few weeks ago).

From the fruit of his lips a man enjoys good things,
but the unfaithful have a craving for violence.

He who guards his lips guards his life,
but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.

I had a conversation this weekend about the topic of what comes out of our mouths. This morning I was trying to think of some verses about it, so it was a blessing to open this blog and find them. We can be really rash with how we speak, in our exaggerations, in unthought through words, etc. I think this is something I might be working on in my life for a long time yet, but I hope to reach the goal of being thoughtful and fruitful with my lips. Who doesn't want to guard their life and enjoy good things??

A common problem on that note that I deal with a lot is getting really gung ho about something late and night and acting on it in my tiredness (ever seen Jerry Maguire? He does this too). In the mornings I will often regret speaking so rashly (usually via a late night email)...so I have made a general principle for myself to make a note of things that occur to me at night and if I still think they're true in the morning I'll email or say those things at that point. It's really helped!

Does anyone else have any practical ideas as to how we can keep our lips guarded and fruitful??

Break time

2006-10-03T19:37:00.000-07:00

Hey ladies,

I just wanted to let you know I might need to take a short hiatus from BBSG. This month will be total insanity for me. So, I'll try to blog as much as possible, but I wanted to let you know I might be in and out until the beginning of November. I have every intention of picking it back up as full-force as possible then. Forgive me!

Your sist-ah,
Anna Leisa

2006-09-30: Proverbs 13:1-3

2006-09-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 13 (New International Version)

1 A wise son heeds his father's instruction,
but a mocker does not listen to rebuke.

2 From the fruit of his lips a man enjoys good things,
but the unfaithful have a craving for violence.

3 He who guards his lips guards his life,
but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.

Thoughts/Comments/Questions:

Proverbs is an interesting book. It describes life on one side of the coin, then describes life on the other side of the same coin. In this way we know what we're in for when we pick a side. You can choose to live a life following God's word and be considered a wise person. Or we can choose to do as we please and disregard the teachings of our parents. Which can lead to some very bad choices.

Speak well of others and tell of God's gift and we'll receive many blessings. Or choose to - again - do whatever we want and a life of trouble will follow. If we do not stop and think about what we are about to say, people can misinterpret what we say or the tone we use. Arguments have been started by less than a misunderstood word or tone.

What do you girls find interesting about the book of Proverbs? Do you find these few verses interesting and/or insightful?

Have a great week. I'll see you later. With love - Tami

2006-16-2006: Ecclesiastes 1:4-5 - We Are Visitors

2006-09-16T05:43:00.000-07:00

Ecclesiastes 1 (New International Version)

4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.

5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.

Thoughts/Comments/Questions:

These two verses remind me of a line from my favorite TV show, "Gilmore Girls". The episode from season 4 when Lorelai and Sookie finally get the inn they've been wanting. It's an old inn that's falling apart, in desperate need of TLC. Lorelai says as she looks around she realizes the inn is not a part of their lives, but instead they are a part of the inn's life. It's interesting how certain moments in our lives remind us of this.

Suddenly we're nostalgic and - for a moment or two - we're not taking things for granted. We're really seeing everything and everyone for what/who they really are. And appreciating them for that. Can you imagine what our lives would be like if we lived every moment like this? If we truly appreciated everything we have, everything around us, and everyone in our lives - how different it would be? It's amazing when I think about it. I don't want to take anything for granted, yet I know I do every day. It's so difficult to not get caught up in the day-to-day stuff. It's so easy to get in such a hurry we don't make time to slow down and enjoy the short time we have here.

What do you do to get yourself to slow down so you can really see what's around you? How often do you stop and truly appreciate a friend or loved one? Are there times you look back on now and think, "Wow. If I could do that again, I'd make sure I was living "in the moment" this time."? I know there are "a few" of those times in my life. I pray I will be able to live "in the moment" each day.

It was great to see you girls at The Rock last night! Thank you for helping those around you. Have a wonderful week. With love - Tami

Money!

2006-09-15T10:51:00.000-07:00

Aren't money and possessions funny? Naked we came from the womb, and naked we will return, right?

The world may call rich what the Lord would call the poorest man of all, but those who have nothing may be rich in more blessings than we can ever imagine. Then there's people who have a lot of money, but are still rich in the Kingdom. Also those who have no possessions and only bitterness in their heart.

My point? Money is worthless! How much we possess or how much we earn has no bearing toward eternal riches.

Earlier this week I got lost on the Ikea website feeling really discontent with everything that I have ("I should replace all my living room furniture, I need a bed." (I don't) "I want my bedroom furniture to match the bed I want. If I use dark wood in my bedroom can I use dark wood in the living room?"). It was really ridiculous. And it just doesn't matter.

Also, verse 13 reminds me what Mark shared with us at Axis about a submissive heart, and learning from and practicing what our leaders teach to us.

13 He who scorns instruction will pay for it,
but he who respects a command is rewarded.

End transmission. Have a great weekend everybody!

2006-09-09: Proverbs 13 (various verses) - Rags and Riches

2006-09-10T14:38:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 13 (New International Version)

4 The sluggard craves and gets nothing,
but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.

7 One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing;
another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.

8 A man's riches may ransom his life,
but a poor man hears no threat.

11 Dishonest money dwindles away,
but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.

13 He who scorns instruction will pay for it,
but he who respects a command is rewarded.

18 He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame,
but whoever heeds correction is honored.

21 Misfortune pursues the sinner,
but prosperity is the reward of the righteous.

Thoughts/Comments/Questions:

I really like these verses. Not only do they remind us that worldly riches are wrought with trouble, they remind us what true riches are. Yes, we have to work for our money and everything we have. But doesn't that make having them more meaningful? Having to work for something, don't you value it more than if it were simply handed to you on a silver platter? For me I find greater satisfaction in getting things if I have to work for them. Yes, getting gifts is nice; I'm certainly not saying otherwise. But if you have to work and save up to buy something, don't you take really good care of it? Don't you want to do what you can to protect it, so it doesn't get broken? I know that's how it works for me.

Verse 8 makes me really glad I don't have a lot of money.

A man's riches may ransom his life,
but a poor man hears no threat.

Money and fancy things tend to bring more trouble than they're worth - at least in my opinion. If you don't have money or valuable possessions, no one's going to kidnap you or a family member for a ransom, right? And if someone should break into your home and steal some of the things you own - well, it won't cost as much to replace those items as it would if you had lots of fancy expensive things, right?

Verse 11 is one that reminds me what Hollywood and the music industry are really like. One minute you're everyone's favorite, things are going great (seemingly), then you're discarded like an old shoe when they're (movies, music, etc) done with you. Not that all work on movies and/or music is dishonest; it's not. But really, what we see/hear the most of now a days is about violence, adultery, gluttony, and a variety of other things that are aiming to encourage us to think it's okay to behave in these destructive manners. But if you work for your money and save a little each month, the Bible says that money will grow and grow and grow. I love that. Baby steps. So many things can be accomplished through baby steps - and patience.

11 Dishonest money dwindles away,
but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.

I pray you each find these verses encouraging also. I'm really looking forward to reading your thoughts on these verses! Have a wonderful week. God bless - Tami

Balance!

2006-09-07T07:40:00.000-07:00

1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5 for each one should carry his own load.

Whoa! These verses carry some heavy weight! I immediately thought about how they should apply to our family at the Rock, and whether or not as a church we’re in obedience to these. What do you think? Verse 1 is a command, clear and simple. I think it’s a challenging command because it completely contradicts what our current culture says to do. American culture says, “it’s not your life, so get out of their business. ” This verse says, “you’re one body of believers, and responsible for one another, so go deal with their issue.” I think we need to pray for our hearts to become more open to what the scripture calls us to do and more discerning about sorting out what is culture and what is biblical truth. Those things can get muddled often…and I can have a hard heart to scripture because I was raised more by this culture’s standards than standards based on biblical truths. God wants us to stand apart from the world. He wants us to be transformed. I want to be transformed, and I want my heart to be sensitive to those who are led to bring things to my attention. I also want to be more bold (in a loving way) when God prompts me to come alongside someone who needs encouragement or direction, and not shrink away from something God might want to do through me for fear of rejection.

I am also challenged by the warning in these verses, which helps us to remember to check our pride at the door when approaching others. What a delicate balance this must be to be responsible for one another, yet not approaching others in a way that gives any impression that we are more mature or spiritual than the person we’re approaching. We are each accountable to God, yet we are responsible to help each other grow spiritually and obey the scripture. I love this, yet I am challenged by it.

Have a wonderful week, ladies.
Maren

2006-09-02: Galatians 6:1-5 - Accountability and Pride

2006-09-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

Galatians 6 (New International Version)

Doing Good to All

1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5 for each one should carry his own load.

Thought/Comments/Questions:

Verses 1-2 really hit me this morning. I think it's because there were events that happened this summer that I needed to forgive someone for. I have technically done that, but I know I've been holding back a little. I keep waiting for things to start up again. This has caused me to not truly, completely forgive her. At least that's what it feels like. I wonder if we start talking again if that's what's going to bring the bad times back. It sounds strange, I know, but there's really no other way I can explain it. I don't know that I've really followed what these verses say.

Have I really tried to "restore [her] gently"? I know I did during the conflicts, but have I recently? I haven't tried to reach out to her. I haven't tried to test the waters. Should I? Is it time to do that? It's easier to wait or do nothing, but is that really what God wants me to do in this particular situation?? It's something that's been on my mind recently. I keep wondering if things can be similar (because I know they'll never be the same) to the way they used to be. One sure fire way to find out is to start talking to her again. But what if the "bad times" come back? It was so hard the first time. I don't want to have to go through that again. But, "2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."

Does this mean I should keep trying even when the outcome has always been the same? Where do we draw the line on allowing others to hurt us or take advantage of us? Is there a line for us to draw or do we let God do that? I have no answers that lighten my heart. Only ones that bring uncertainty and/or frustration. If any verses come to mind, please share them. Or if you've had a similar experience and don't mind sharing, I'm all ears! :0)

Thank you for listening. I hope I didn't babble on for too long here. Have a wonderful and relaxing week. I'll talk with you later. With love - Tami

What is progress?

2006-09-01T09:24:00.000-07:00

I haven't thought lately about progress and backsliding. How do you really know if you are progressing?

When I look at my past, I see both things. I see where I understand God more and my own limitations and fraility. I also long for my innocence and clinging to God in such a child-like way.

I appreciate your reflections and feel grateful for the challenge it presents to me. I would like others to see my progress in faith. I wonder if they do or not. I don't want to put too much pressure on myself to "progress in faith" because my tendancy is to try to do that on my own. I really need to focus on submission to God and communion with God. I guess that would end up as progress in the long run.

Hola, alla

2006-08-31T06:47:00.000-07:00

That is a great verse (8) and yeah, AL I feel you - that after-run feeling is so satisfying that it's hard to prioritize anything above making our bodies feel that good...but it really has nothing on training ourselves to be more godly.

I love verse 12 and what you shared as well, Tami. Great stuff.

Anyway, several of these verses I've thought a lot about before...but this morning when I was reading it again, those last verses that Tami talked about - verses 15 and 16 - stuck out to me.

Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Yesterday I stumbled across an email I'd written to a friend a few months ago...I was reading my words and wondering "where is this coming from?" My own words were actually an encouragement to me, dare I even say that those words were wise? I was a little sad reading it because I think I was wiser and stronger a few months ago than I am now, and I wonder where that has gone. Am I progressing in a manner clearly evident to other people? I don't know, but I'm definitely not progressing in a manner evident to myself.

So I guess I'm feeling convicted. Convicted to devote myself more to Scripture, to prayer, to my community, to God. I want for the godliest I'll ever be to be the very moment that I leave this earth. I want to always be moving forward and never sliding backwards.

When you guys think back on your past are you normally grateful for how you've grown? Have you ever felt like you've backslid without even realizing it?

That's all, thanks for sharing and allowing me to share as well! I hope everyone has a wonderful labor day weekend!

Movin on up (?)

2006-08-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Lord,
Help me focus on you alone.

Dear verse 8,
You are making me feel okay about not running today.

Dear fellow bloggers,
Two things stuck out to me about this passage:

1) Verse 8's "physical training is of some value" bit has helped me many times to keep my mind (especially concerning my body) in line - if even for just a moment. I'm often thankful I belong to a faith that ignores (or tries to ignore) the temporal. Further, this verse holds so much groundbreaking truth in it: "godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." Enough said! I can't really elaborate on how good that is. Our faith isn't just for eternity and it's not just for right now. It's for both and for everything in between. And do I truly believe godliness has value for ALL THINGS? If so, how does that effect my level of thankfulness?

2) "Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress" (verse 15). Lately, with the arrival of each weekend, I've been thinking, "Is my nature being changed? Am I further choosing to follow God? Am I more fully regenerated this week?" I've been seriously wondering about the idea of progress in faith. It is SO EASY to know the script, but it is entirely different to be a person that increasingly recognizes her idols and lays them down. Am I giving myself wholly to matters of the spirit? Sadly, I can't say yes. But I can say I want to!

2006-08-26: 1 Timothy 4: 8-16 - Faith In Action

2006-08-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

1 Timothy 4 (New International Version)

8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

9 This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance 10 (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.

11 Command and teach these things. 12 Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.

15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Thoughts/Comments/Questions:
Oh, I do so love these verses!! Sure you can workout and have a great looking body, but is it really going to do anything for you in the long run? Not really. But service to others performed in love for Christ will gain us so very, very much! I am reminded almost daily that actions speak so much louder than words. I was just sharing with a co-worker earlier this week that a persons actions should reflect their beliefs. These verses - to me - really speak to that.

I love that verse 12 speaks to those who are "young". I see "young" as being not only a chronological measure but also a spiritual measure. Someone who is physically young should not allow others to deter them from their service to God or showing their faith in Jesus. Neither should someone who is older in age but younger in their faith. I also like that it says a young person can be a role model for others - younger and older. Physically I'm older than many people at The Rock. But spiritually I feel much younger than many of you. :0) But I'm okay with that - well, most of the time I am.

I pray that through my actions and my words I am a good role model for others. I try not to get down about how little I know about the Bible and following Christ. Sometimes it's really difficult to feel like I'm in the "right place" spiritually. I think that because I'm older physically I should be farther along in my faith than I am; that I should know more than I do. It's at these times that I really get into reading the Bible and praying. It helps to remind me that I am where I'm supposed to be.

I really like the last 2 verses:
15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

I love that we're told to really go after our faith through reading, teaching, and action. And that others (and ourselves) can see our spiritual growth through these things is way too cool! Then, to know that our actions and service to others can have such an amazing affect on someone else . . . wow! That just by watching us, seeing how we live our lives and treat others, from that someone can come to know Christ and be saved. I really have no words that adequately describe how this affects me!!

I really enjoyed reading your posts over the last week! I pray you are each finding the verses useful/encouraging/thought provoking. Have a wonderful week, ladies! With love - Tami

Searching...

2006-08-25T07:04:00.000-07:00

Here's another reason why shorter amount of verses is great: It makes me search harder!! With a long chapter there are so many verses, it's easy to find one that speaks to you....this psalm was more difficult for me...I had to read it several times, and really let the verses sink in before something struck me. I think that's just great. I don't know about you guys, but it's good for me to dig deep into verses I think don't apply to me right now.

ANYWAY. I love verse 6:

6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.

I love the picture this gives of what it looks like to hope on, and wait on God...like we're watchmen patiently awaiting and looking for the sun to rise in the morning. Every day they wait and watch, expecting it to come. It's a beautiful image for us to, every day, wait patiently and expectantly for God. What if the sun didn't rise? That would be unheard of. I want to feel like it's unheard of for God to not show up every day.

On another note, I was really inspired and convicted from Tuesday's Axis meeting of being fully and passionately devoted to my church family. So I just wanted to say that I love you guys, and I'm grateful to be able to consider you all close family!

Don't Stress Out

2006-08-24T20:46:00.000-07:00

Hi, ladies! I found your posts interesting and encouraging. I'm really glad that you also are finding "shorter is better"! :0)

Maren, I'm sorry you felt you had to post something elaborate for each week. That certainly is not the point of this Bible study. Some times more (aka: elaborate) is not always better. I'm very glad to hear you've removed that self imposed requirement. I honestly do not want anyone feeling they have to make a long and/or involved post each week. Some times a few sentences can say so much more than 3 or 4 paragraphs.

If you feel like you're getting stressed out because you can't think of a lot to post, then just remember - "shorter is better!" :0)

I hope you have all had a wonderful week and that you've seen God's love at work in your life. See you tomorrow. With love - Tami

in the depths

2006-08-24T07:01:00.000-07:00

The verses that really hit me were vs 5-6

"I wait for the Lord my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope."

This verse is reassuring. His promises are really true. Lately my emotional and intellectual reactions to what life throws me has blinded me from clinging to the truth of his word. I just watch Satan play at the weakness of my emotions, and again I feel angry and guilty that I allow myself to be "in the depths" over pettiness or things I know God is in control of. Thank God for forgiveness. Even when I do not feel the truth or comprehend his promises, they are true. They do not fail, and within them is hope.

Verse 6 is also beautiful. "My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchman wait for the morning." I just like it - maybe because if I had to stay up all night - I would be so wiped out and so eager for morning to come.

Take care girls. Lisa

long lost groupee

2006-08-22T11:00:00.001-07:00

Hi Ladies,
Thanks for your grace in my lack of posting, and thanks for
continuing with this: I've been reading posts as I can and have
been blessed by your efforts!!! I'll preface this post with; I
haven't been posting because I think I feel the expectation (brought
upon by myself) to post something elaborate or concise based on the
scripture. Now that the verses are shorter, and that I've hereby
released myself from said expectation, I will try to post more
regularly, but without the expectation of anything really
spectacular...!

3 If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?

4 But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared.

5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.

These verses are beautiful and each carry such weight: I repeated
them to myself several times just to help myself really soak in
what they mean. They're short, but really powerful. Who really
could stand if all our sins were kept record of? What would my
life be like if there were no atonement for my sins? I believe I
would be leading quite a drastically different life, struggling
with the idea of guilt and shame and sorrow for how my life is
versus how I wish it were...but praise God that He has relieved
me of all of that, and that there is new life in forgiveness
through Christ and that I can take a deep breath every morning,
knowing that His mercies begin afresh each day (Lamentations).
If there were none other, that would be reason enough for a
lifetime to fear God. I'm still meditating on, "in his word I
put my hope"...asking myself, do I really do that on a regular
moment-by-moment basis? Do I put my hope first in His word or do
I put it in other things, and if those things fail, resort to
His word? I truly want my hope to be only in His word...

Take care, and see you all tonight!
Maren

2006-08-19: Psalm 130 - God's Mercy

2006-08-18T20:17:00.000-07:00

Psalm 130 (New International Version)

A song of ascents.

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;

2 O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.

3 If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?

4 But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared.

5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.

6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.

7 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
for with the LORD is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.

8 He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.

Thoughts/Comments/Questions:

Recently it seems I've been struggling with various aspects of my life. More so than I ever have. I've always been one to make a decision, act on it, and move on to the next item on my list. But in the last couple of weeks I've had a really difficult time making any decisions, let alone acting on them. Especially when I tend to change my mind before I really have a chance to act on the decision. I don't like uncertainty in my life. I like order and knowing where things are going and how I'm going to get there/what needs to be done to get from point A to point B. I find myself getting very stressed about all the things I can't seem to make a decision about, which is causing me to doubt myself and my possible decisions even more. It's a vicious circle of doubt and uncertainty that I really want to stop.

Psalm 130:1-2 are so very, very true for me recently. I've always had conversations with God. Sometimes just me babbling about my day or thanking Him for something or someone being in my life. I still thank Him for these things but I also find myself begging Him for help with these situations. Asking for clarity and focus. The days go on and I wonder if He hears me. Oh, I know He does, but why does this continue? Mark has often said that God has a reason for everything He (God) does. So there must be a reason for this time in my life. But what is it? In time - God's time - I hope I'll be able to look back on this and see what His reasoning is. Until then, I look to Psalm 130: 4-6 (especially verse 5) and pray I'll soon see a light at the end of the tunnel.

4 But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared.
5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.

I have no questions for this chapter (sorry, Christine). I hope you find peace/hope/light/encouragement somewhere in this chapter, as I have. You are each unique and wonderful individuals. I pray you'll have a great week. Be safe and see you next week. With love - Tami

Delay On My Additional Comments

2006-08-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let you girls know that today did not go at all as expected. I will try to write up my additional comments for you later in the week. Have a wonderful week. I'll talk to you later. With love - Tami

2006-08-12: Job 22 - Peace-Where Is It?

2006-08-12T07:03:00.000-07:00

Job 22 (New International Version)

Eliphaz

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2 "Can a man be of benefit to God?
Can even a wise man benefit him?

3 What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?
What would he gain if your ways were blameless?

4 "Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
and brings charges against you?

5 Is not your wickedness great?
Are not your sins endless?

6 You demanded security from your brothers for no reason;
you stripped men of their clothing, leaving them naked.

7 You gave no water to the weary
and you withheld food from the hungry,

8 though you were a powerful man, owning land -
an honored man, living on it.

9 And you sent widows away empty-handed
and broke the strength of the fatherless.

10 That is why snares are all around you,
why sudden peril terrifies you,

11 why it is so dark you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.

12 "Is not God in the heights of heaven?
And see how lofty are the highest stars!

13 Yet you say, 'What does God know?
Does he judge through such darkness?

14 Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us
as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.'

15 Will you keep to the old path
that evil men have trod?

16 They were carried off before their time,
their foundations washed away by a flood.

17 They said to God, 'Leave us alone!
What can the Almighty do to us?'

18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,
so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked.

19 "The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;
the innocent mock them, saying,

20 'Surely our foes are destroyed,
and fire devours their wealth.'

21 "Submit to God and be at peace with him;
in this way prosperity will come to you.

22 Accept instruction from his mouth
and lay up his words in your heart.

23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
If you remove wickedness far from your tent

24 and assign your nuggets to the dust,
your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,

25 then the Almighty will be your gold,
the choicest silver for you.

26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
and will lift up your face to God.

27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows.

28 What you decide on will be done,
and light will shine on your ways.

29 When men are brought low and you say, 'Lift them up!'
then he will save the downcast.

30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."

Thoughts/Comments/Questions:

Oh, boy. This chapter says so much. And asks us to really examine our lives. Then offers hope to those feeling lost. I think this is my new favorite chapter. Probably because I really need it right now. I thought I had things figured out. But as it turns out, not so much. Each day there's a different conclusion. I'm happy, I'm sad, I'm confused . . . and it starts all over again the next day. I'm not a big fan of roller coasters to begin with and emotional ones are even worse. I really wish I could just figure this out and be done with it. To make things more difficult there's another - hmm - 'scenario' to deal with, too.

That one's not easy either because he's a friend and I don't want to hurt his feelings. But at the same time I'm not going to agree to something that's going to make me feel like crap either. We've talked about this 3 times that I can specifically remember. And yet - he's still here; being very persistent. And becoming somewhat insistent. He's smart and funny and basically a fairly decent person; so it's hard to tell him no all the time. But I know "yes" isn't an option because there's really no future there. Perhaps I should view him as a distraction from the roller coaster??

The verses in Job 22 that are really helping me right now are 21 -28:

21 "Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. 22 Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart. 23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove wickedness far from your tent 24 and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines, 25 then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you. 26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your face to God. 27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows. 28 What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways.

Verses 21-23: this is where peace is! I love these verses!
Verses 24-25: if we let Him, God will be the most amazing treasure we can ever find. He will provide for us much better and more abundantly than any amount of money ever could.
Verses 26-28: once we realize/accept this, we will have even greater peace; when we put God first it's truly amazing what happens in your life; He always hears our prayers, but by putting God and His wants first, we fulfill our promise to God and find even greater peace and joy than before in the events (or non-events) of our life; because of that other people can see something "different" about us that affects them in a way that - eventually (hopefully) - will lead them to God or to a closer relationship with Him.

Those are the highlights for me right now. I have some additional comments about the first few verses, too. But I need to get to WWF now, so I'll write more after I get back. I hope you will each have a wonderful day - maybe I'll get to see you at the picnic today?!

With love - Tami
P.S. - any prayers you want to send my way for assistance in getting off this roller coaster will be greatly appreciated. :0) Thank you - TLS

Metamorphosis, please.

2006-08-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

I've been really wrestling with what true Christianity looks like. Am I changing? Am I ACTING like the regenerated person I am? Are my brothas & sisters? I'm sure we'd all agree that it's easy to know the script, but much more difficult to act and speak from a completely transformed Jesus-esque spirit. So I see that jealousy and pride and fear have gotta go, but the practical steps away from those things are difficult (You mean I can't just gossip or feel hurt for a minute?). They are costly. Christine is speakin' the truth; it physically HURTS to not feed the flesh. It's so much easier to excuse my moments of weakness and do what comes "naturally." Yuck!

I am sooo encouraged and simultaneously convicted by these verses, especially...

5. Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

6. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;

7. The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.

8. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

I have GOT to stop excusing my own bad actions and behaviors, even if they just exist for a moment. I pray that our minds (and thus our lives and actions and words) will be fully inhabited with God and His Spirit. Sincerely, I pray we will be led by the Spirit alone!

God's Will

2006-08-07T08:21:00.000-07:00

This chapter is some deep water.

AL and I have been talking about some heavy stuff lately...and Friday night I had the opportunity to choose between my flesh or my spirit. I went up to her and said "okay, so why again am I doing this thing that I must do?" and she gave me all the reasons, and finished by saying "This is your opportunity to choose the Spirit's Will over your fleshly desires." I will never forget that! Every ounce of me wanted to follow my flesh's leading - it hurts to follow the Spirit - physically, it hurts!

Verse 6 of this chapter reads The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. God can choose to take things from us, He can choose to really do whatever He wants with our circumstances (we do belong to Him after all), but what a wonderful promise that He will give us life and peace as we are controlled by the Spirit.

Were any of you convicted by Friday's message? I, for one, was more convicted by that message than I have been at church in 5 years (since I was saved I think!). PLEASE GOD! It's so simple, but it can be applied to absolutely every single area of our life.

Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. (v. 8)

Is this not enough reason to flee from sin? Is this not enough to make us truly desire to never be controlled by our flesh ever? If our life's desire is only to please God, then we should also be desiring a pure relationship with God, a life completely controlled by the Spirit - and our circumstances should have nothing to do with our actions.

In fact, what I've been thinking about is this: If my circumstances were as low as they could be, as crappy as humanly possible, should I complain? Would that be pleasing to God? Does God not want me just exactly where I am? So wouldn't it be most pleasing to God to remain and live in all circumstances controlled by the Spirit?

I was also just going to mention that v. 38-39 has got to be the most beautiful promise in the entire bible. Nothing can separate us from God's love. Nothing. Nothing created, not even death or demons, can separate us from God. This should give us peace, it should give us hope. Someday soon we'll be with God, and that's going to last an eternity. In the meantime once we have invited the Lord's Spirit into our hearts, NOTHING can take it away. We are there. We have been promised a place in God's Kingdom. This isn't going anywhere!

That's all I have to say, I look forward to reading everyone else's reactions to this chapter - thanks Tami for sharing how this chapter is impacting your personal life right now! I love the personal application!

2006-08-05: Romans 8 - God's Will

2006-08-04T23:14:00.000-07:00

Romans 8 (New International Version)

Life Through the Spirit

1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,[a] 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature,[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.[c] And so he condemned sin in sinful man,[d] 4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6The mind of sinful man[e] is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7the sinful mind[f] is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

12Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation - but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.[g] And by him we cry, "Abba,[h] Father." 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Future Glory

18I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that[i] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

More Than Conquerors

28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,[j] who[k] have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died - more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."[l] 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[m] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Footnotes:
a. Romans 8:1 Some later manuscripts Jesus, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit,
b. Romans 8:3 Or the flesh; also in verses 4, 5, 8, 9, 12 and 13
c. Romans 8:3 Or man, for sin
d. Romans 8:3 Or in the flesh
e. Romans 8:6 Or mind set on the flesh
f. Romans 8:7 Or the mind set on the flesh
g. Romans 8:15 Or adoption
h. Romans 8:15 Aramaic for Father
i. Romans 8:21 Or subjected it in hope. 21 For
j. Romans 8:28 Some manuscripts And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God
k. Romans 8:28 Or works together with those who love him to bring about what is goodÂwith those who
l. Romans 8:36 Psalm 44:22
m. Romans 8:38 Or nor heavenly rulers

Thoughts/Comments/Questions:

How do we really know what God's will is? Is it what makes us feel "good" when we are thinking about something? Is it what makes us feel challenged when we are thinking about something?

I'm not sure. I pray a lot for God to make things obvious to me. Sometimes He does, but mostly things just go along. It's the times that He grants my request that I really question where the answer came from. Is it really God that's granting my request for making something obvious? Or am I just seeing what I want to see and attributing that to "God's will"?

Tonight was a great example. I asked Him to make a particular something obvious to me. Then, after the service, someone said we should talk. That combined with a couple other happenings during the last week make me wonder - did God just say, "Okay. Here ya go."? I'm not sure. On one hand I hope so. On the other - well, I have to have a talk with someone now and that frightens me a bit. Talking to him isn't frightening, it's the topic that's a lscaryscarey to me. But at the same time it's good that we're going to talk about things.

I'm not sure if this is my flesh or God that I'm struggling with. Maybe it's a little of both. I continue to praguidanceidence in this and that I don't get so distracted by it that I start to drift away from God. That definitelynately be bad and not make me happy at all. Please pray that this talk goes well and results in what God has in mind for us. Thank you all. And I'm sorry to have "dumped" this on you guys. I hope you understand my need to vent!

I look forward to reading what your thoughts are on this chapter. Have a great week. I'll talk with y'all later. With love - Tami

2006-07-30: John 10 - Do You Know The Voice Of Jesus?

2006-07-29T00:17:00.000-07:00

John 10 (New International Version)

The Shepherd and His Flock

1"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." 6Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.

7Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.[a] He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

11"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

14"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me- 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father-and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life-only to take it up again. 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."

19At these words the Jews were again divided. 20Many of them said, "He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?"

21But others said, "These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"

The Unbelief of the Jews

22Then came the Feast of Dedication[b] at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade. 24The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ,[c] tell us plainly."

25Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, 26but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all[d]; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. 30I and the Father are one."

31Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, 32but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"

33"We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."

34Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are gods'[e]? 35If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came-and the Scripture cannot be broken- 36what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am God's Son'? 37Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. 38But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." 39Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.

40Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. Here he stayed 41and many people came to him. They said, "Though John never performed a miraculous sign, all that John said about this man was true." 42And in that place many believed in Jesus.

Footnotes:
a. John 10:9 Or kept safe
b. John 10:22 That is, Hanukkah
c. John 10:24 Or Messiah
d. John 10:29 Many early manuscripts What my Father has given me is greater than all
e. John 10:34 Psalm 82:6

Thoughts/Comments/Questions:

Oooh, I love this chapter! It's so amazing to me that Jesus calls us each by name and that if we come to Him, He will never let us go. And even better, He will never allow someone to take us from Him! That is such a huge comfort to me. There have been times in my life when it seemed that I was all alone; that no one - not even God - was with me. But, looking back, I can see that He was there. He put someone in my path to help me along the way. The choice to follow or to not follow was left up to me. And I thank God I chose to follow Him. If I hadn't I certainly wouldn't be here now.

My fear now isn't "is He here?" I know He's here, He's with me all the time. My fear is I won't recognize when He's calling my name. Or that I'll think it's Him calling me, when really it's not Him at all. That fear causes me to second - and sometime third & forth - guess myself, my motives, my actions, and/or my words. It's really frustrating. And yet, here in verses 4-5, Jesus says He knows us and we follow Him because we know His voice.

4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice."

I know there have been times that I've followed the wrong "voice". Does that mean I don't know the voice of my shepard, of my gate? Or does it mean I ignored Him or put my own desires above God's? The answer, for me anyway, depends on the situation I guess. Is God really that "little voice" inside us telling us when we should or shouldn't do something? Or is it the devil in disguise?

I am so thankful for having you girls and so many other people at The Rock to talk with and hang out with. I know being around believers has many, many benefits. Not the least of which is having people around that lovingly tell you when you're incorrect and encourage you to become more like Christ. Being more like Christ and being around other Christians makes it much easier to recogize His voice when He calls. Prayer is also a great way to help us stay focused on what's really important.

There are so many great mentors at The Rock for fine tuning our prayer lives. It's so great to see and hear the different ways in which people pray. It's encouraging because it shows us that there is not one specific way to pray. There is no "proper" way to pray. Everyone has their own way of praying - and God hears every one of them! So please be sure to talk with God daily - multiple times a day. Continue getting to know the voice of Jesus, so - especially in times of trial - you'll easily be able to hear Him when He calls.

This is another verse from John 10 that I really love!

29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all[d]; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.

God is definitely "greater than all". I really don't understand how anyone can think otherwise. I know it's because they don't believe in Him, but . . . it still just doesn't make any sense to me. How else do you explain so many things in the world? Flowers for example. Where did the first flower come from? If not from God, then where? Did it just suddenly appear out of nowhere, without any help at all?? No, I don't believe it did. And dirt? And water? What about the gases that make up the stars we see? Oh, I could go on and on about this, so I'm gonna stop now before my tangent becomes a tyraid. Suffice it to say - I believe God is the creator. Without Him we would be nothing. Actually, we would be less than nothing because we wouldn't even exist. That defiantly makes me sit up and take notice. And then on top of all that - after creating us, God sent His son to save us from our own sins. Again - me, sitting up and taking notice.

I have had a couple of small (only because they didn't last very long) priority struggles recently. I have asked God to keep me focused and not let me be distracted by things and events. He has answered my prayers and I am grateful for that.

I care for each of you and pray that you'll keep God as your number one priority. Know and trust that He will provide you with everything you need. With love - Tami

Here's my heart Lord, take and seal it

2006-07-22T08:46:00.000-07:00

What struck me from Psalm 73

2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.

This verse and the others following remind me of the 3rd verse of a favorite hymn "Come thou Fount of Every Blessing"

Oh, to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be
And let Thy goodness like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart Lord, take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above

It seems goofy, but this song makes me cry. It is so true. It is a good reminder of how dependent I am to God and his sealing my heart to him alone.

I've been noticing a lot of scriptures mention the condition of your heart/ your desires. At least those references have been jumping out at me.

This Psalm starts with acknowledging a promise that the Lord is good to those who are "pure of heart."

Then that heart is contrasted with those of the world:"7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits."

21 When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.

It is comforting to know despite our weak hearts - we cannot run or hide from God. In fact He holds our hand. I like that thought of him holding my hand and guiding me like a child into his glory.

I have to talk about one more verse.

Verse 25 was the one that struck me initially "Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you."

It reminds me of the old camp song "Lord, you are more precious than silver.... and nothing I desire compares with you."

Oh that my heart would be so pure and that desire would penetrate all aspects of my life and actions.

2006-07-22: Compassion and Understanding

2006-07-21T22:56:00.000-07:00

Psalm 73 (New International Version)

1A psalm of Asaph.
Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.

2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.

3 For I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 They have no struggles;
their bodies are healthy and strong. [a]

5 They are free from the burdens common to man;
they are not plagued by human ills.

6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
they clothe themselves with violence.

7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity [b] ;
the evil conceits of their minds know no limits.

8 They scoff, and speak with malice;
in their arrogance they threaten oppression.

9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
and their tongues take possession of the earth.

10 Therefore their people turn to them
and drink up waters in abundance. [c]

11 They say, "How can God know?
Does the Most High have knowledge?"

12 This is what the wicked are like -
always carefree, they increase in wealth.

13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure;
in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.

14 All day long I have been plagued;
I have been punished every morning.

15 If I had said, "I will speak thus,"
I would have betrayed your children.

16 When I tried to understand all this,
it was oppressive to me

17 till I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny.

18 Surely you place them on slippery ground;
you cast them down to ruin.

19 How suddenly are they destroyed,
completely swept away by terrors!

20 As a dream when one awakes,
so when you arise, O Lord,
you will despise them as fantasies.

21 When my heart was grieved
and my spirit embittered,

22 I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before you.

23 Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.

24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

27 Those who are far from you will perish;
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

28 But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds.

Footnotes:
Psalm 73:4 With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text struggles at their death; / their bodies are healthy
Psalm 73:7 Syriac (see also Septuagint Hebrew Their eyes bulge with fat
Psalm 73:10 The meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.

Thoughts/Comments/Questions:
As the beginning of this chapter describes, it is often so very difficult to be a Christian - a true, God fearing, God following Christian. There are so many temptations trying to pull us away from God. It is sometimes easy to become discouraged by the world around us. I believe that is why it is so very, very important to surround ourselves with good Christian examples. The Rock is an amazing source of great examples to follow! I really am so thankful that I came back to The Rock when I did. I sometimes wish I had come back sooner. But I guess sooner just wasn't part of the plan. Or was I giving in to temptation rather than following the prompting of God? It's an interesting question and I really don't have an answer. I do know that I am where I'm supposed to be at right now though and that's a great comfort to me.

God has an amazing amount of compassion for everyone - even those who everyone else ignores and avoids. He takes care of them if they are following Him and His commandments. People who have not accepted God and/or who do not know God will find His ways odd. They will look at us who follow Him and wonder why we behave, talk, and dress the way we do. But in their hour of need, when we are there to help, they will thank God for our compassion - which we all know is really His compassion. Because without Him, without His example, we wouldn't serve others as we do. It's such an amazing thing to see the awe, amazement, and gratefulness of someone we help! Even if there's nothing said, so much is said with just a look.

My favorite verses from this chapter: verses 16 - 28!

I can't remember the last time I told someone what God has done for me. I thank Him all the time for answering my prayers and for giving me all I have. Through my actions and words people (I pray) can see God in me. But I also need to be telling people why I act and talk the way I do. It's part of what God has asked of us. Even though it puts some of us (me) in an awkward situation, sharing is part of following God; of being a good example to others.

Do you remember the last time you shared with someone what God has done for you? Or for someone you know? Was the person you were talking with a Christian or a non-believer? Or maybe someone who has lost their way and is need of encouragement to find their way back to God? When was the last time you talked to someone at The Rock that you've never talked to before (whether the person is new or not)?

I will be praying for each of us to have opportunities to share God with others this week. And I encourage each of you to introduce yourself to someone at The Rock on Friday. Spend a few minutes with that person then introduce him/her to someone else. It may be difficult or awkward at first, but it really is worth it. You never know - you may be the reason that person comes back the following week. :0)

With love - Tami

Our BIG Lord

2006-07-21T09:25:00.000-07:00

First off - I really apologize for my lack of responses these past couple weeks. I could offer excuses, but really I've just not prioritized it like I should be.

Thank you again for putting so much work into this, Tam (can I call you Tam?), let me know if there's something I can do to help - maybe just be more consistent in responding?? Ha!

I don't have much to say in addition to what's been said...but I've got to give a big "Amen, sister" to Anna Leisa. God is BIG!

You trampled the sea with your horses,
churning the great waters.

That's one BIG horse.

Over the last couple months, I've glorified myself so much. If something hasn't been about me, I think I've had a little temper tantrum in my heart (see my blog for further explanation)...but what? Have I forgotten who the creator is? Have I forgotten how BIG God is? I think I could use a good healthy amount of respect and fear for our BIG God. I'm teeeeeny tiny - why do I think that my little problems need to be fixed all the time...and rationalize by not understanding that me not getting what I want could actually be something God wills for the good of His Kingdom!?

I'm not sure that recently I've been "coming back" to my faith, but I think I've backslid a bit...so your last question has been a really good one to dwell on...

"Do you try to make up for lost time when you "come back" to your faith? Or is it more like you're starting over again - not from the beginning necessarily, but from some point in the past?"

I guess I don't know...I think I'm not going to try to go back and fix what the last couple months have been for me...but instead I want to make every effort from here on out to "Seek first His Kingdom." Does that make sense? God's graciously wiped my slate clean (once again), and the only way to respond is to get back on my feet and give it another go...

THAT'S ALL I HAVE!! I look forward to seeing most of you ladies at church tonight!

Much love from the cube,
Christine

Our Prodigious God

2006-07-21T07:40:00.000-07:00

Whoa. I LOVE portions of the Bible that remind me how enormous God is in comparison to everything else. He simply and majestically overarches everything. Like, how pleasantly daunting are these verses:

4 His splendor was like the sunrise;
rays flashed from his hand,
where his power was hidden

10 the mountains saw you and writhed.
Torrents of water swept by;
the deep roared
and lifted its waves on high.

The mountains writhed??? God is so powerful, the earth moves and is shaped in his presence. The physical and spiritual make-up of everything around me is in God's control and bends at His will! I am so thankful for that. I was stressing about people (well, certain people) a lot this week. I was worried about how they were responding to me, or if I was "good enough" and handling things well enough to gain their support. Then, it occurred to me that 1) I DO NOT LIVE FOR PEOPLE. They cannot be my idols. And, if I find myself wanting to exalt their opinions, I need to recognize that as idolatry, and 2) GOD WILL INCLINE THE RIGHT PEOPLE TOWARD ME AT THE RIGHT TIME. God can move the hearts of anyone to be favorable toward me, whether I by earthly standards deserve it or not. He is above my actions in every way. And if someone thinks negatively of me, good. It's just another chance to go out of my way and try to be like Christ.

T'hat's it! Easier said than done. Does anyone else struggle with this?

2006-07-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

The one thing that sticks out to me in verses like this are between v.4-15:

4 His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his
power was hidden.
5 Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps.
6 He stood, and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal.
8 Were you angry with the rivers, O LORD ? Was your wrath against the streams?Did you rage against the sea when you rode with your horses and your victorious chariots?
9 You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrows. Selah You split the earth with rivers;
10 the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep
roared and lifted its waves on high.
11 Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear.
12 In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters.

These verses where God's glory and effects on the earth just stop me in my tracks. My study Bible says that a lot of it are allusions to God bringing Israel out of Egypt (raging against the sea), or helping Joshua and Israel fight their enemies (making the sun stand still).
These are all things in nature that are obviously bigger than man and outside of our control in so many ways. We stand in awe at creation and it's grandeur, and God treats it like clay for his own purposes. A God that big deserves the response from Habbakuk at the end of the chapter - no matter what happens or what my life looks like, I am thankful to God. He is in control; he is bigger than I am, bigger than anything on this earth, and my life is dust compared to him. But he still takes care of me.

2006-07-15: The Universe Fears the Lord - Do You?

2006-07-16T07:09:00.000-07:00

Habakkuk 3 (New International Version)

Habakkuk's Prayer

1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth . [a]

2 LORD, I have heard of your fame;
I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD.
Renew them in our day,
in our time make them known;
in wrath remember mercy.

3 God came from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.
Selah [b]
His glory covered the heavens
and his praise filled the earth.

4 His splendor was like the sunrise;
rays flashed from his hand,
where his power was hidden.

5 Plague went before him;
pestilence followed his steps.

6 He stood, and shook the earth;
he looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains crumbled
and the age-old hills collapsed.
His ways are eternal.

7 I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,
the dwellings of Midian in anguish.

8 Were you angry with the rivers, O LORD ?
Was your wrath against the streams?
Did you rage against the sea
when you rode with your horses
and your victorious chariots?

9 You uncovered your bow,
you called for many arrows.
Selah
You split the earth with rivers;

10 the mountains saw you and writhed.
Torrents of water swept by;
the deep roared
and lifted its waves on high.

11 Sun and moon stood still in the heavens
at the glint of your flying arrows,
at the lightning of your flashing spear.

12 In wrath you strode through the earth
and in anger you threshed the nations.

13 You came out to deliver your people,
to save your anointed one.
You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness,
you stripped him from head to foot.
Selah

14 With his own spear you pierced his head
when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,
gloating as though about to devour
the wretched who were in hiding.

15 You trampled the sea with your horses,
churning the great waters.

16 I heard and my heart pounded,
my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
to come on the nation invading us.

17 Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,

18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights.
For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.

Footnotes:
Habakkuk 3:1 Probably a literary or musical term
Habakkuk 3:3 A word of uncertain meaning; possibly a musical term; also in verses 9 and 13

Thoughts/Comments/Questions:

Do you fear the Lord? Do you, at times, find you're getting complacent in your faith? Taking what the Lord has given you (family, friends, a job, a home, etc) for granted? What happens that brings you back to fearing the Lord and being grateful for the gifts he's given you? What do the images described in Habakkuk 3 make you see? Do you try to make up for lost time when you "come back" to your faith? Or is it more like you're starting over again - not from the beginning necessarily, but from some point in the past?

I'll be writing more later this week. I wanted to get the post out here so we could all be thinking about it. Please check back to read everyone's thoughts and/or questions about this chapter.

Have a wonderful week. With love - Tami

Your Love Oh Lord, reaches to the Heavens

2006-07-09T17:01:00.000-07:00

This chapter reminds me of the song "your love" by Third Day..

"Your love oh lord reaches to the heavens,
Your faithfulness stretches to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains.
Your justice flows like the ocean's tide."

It's simple, yet very powerful. God, I will sing of your great love forever to let everyone know of your faithfulness.
Q & A
Do you feel you are being subjected to God's punishment?
Punishment - no, discipline - yes. If I was not a believer, I would be subjected to God's punishment ( eternal damnation). I know the Lord corrects and disciplines those He loves. "God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness" Hebrews 2:10
Just as a father disciplines his child, so our heavenly Father disciplines us. It is a part of the whole picture that is being painted. We become more like the father in our relationship with him. Through the thick and thin, we grow, ideally, to become more like our Heavenly Father.

When you feel His punishment, do you resist returning to Him?
"The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." Psalm 18:2
The Lord is the only one who can deliver me from sin. He is my rock and my stronghold. When it seems as though I can't take anymore, I remember how fortunate and blessed I am to know Christ as my personal savior. Nothing compares to the joy of knowing Christ. "the joy of the Lord is your strength. " Nehemiah 8:10.
Just as a father has unconditional love for his son, God takes care of us in the same way.
To return to God is a return to love.

Once you return to God and following His commandments, do you feel better?
Yes, there is great peace in knowing Christ and obeying his commands. In those times when I find myself discouraged I look to the Word and find encouragement and a new perspective. My spirit is renewed with joy and strength.
God brings the trial. It's up to me how I respond. "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." Philippians 2:5 :)

2006-07-08: Psalm 89 - Those Who Stray

2006-07-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

Psalm 89 (New International Version)

A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite. [a]

1 I will sing of the LORD's great love forever;
with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.
2 I will declare that your love stands firm forever,
that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
3 You said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David my servant,
4 'I will establish your line forever
and make your throne firm through all generations.' "
Selah

5 The heavens praise your wonders, O LORD,
your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD ?
Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings?
7 In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;
he is more awesome than all who surround him.
8 O LORD God Almighty, who is like you?
You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you.
9 You rule over the surging sea;
when its waves mount up, you still them.

10 You crushed Rahab like one of the slain;
with your strong arm you scattered your enemies.
11 The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth;
you founded the world and all that is in it.
12 You created the north and the south;
Tabor and Hermon sing for joy at your name.
13 Your arm is endued with power;
your hand is strong, your right hand exalted.
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
love and faithfulness go before you.
15 Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you,
who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD.

16 They rejoice in your name all day long;
they exult in your righteousness.
17 For you are their glory and strength,
and by your favor you exalt our horn. [b]
18 Indeed, our shield [c] belongs to the LORD,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.
19 Once you spoke in a vision,
to your faithful people you said:
"I have bestowed strength on a warrior;
I have exalted a young man from among the people.
20 I have found David my servant;
with my sacred oil I have anointed him.

21 My hand will sustain him;
surely my arm will strengthen him.
22 No enemy will subject him to tribute;
no wicked man will oppress him.
23 I will crush his foes before him
and strike down his adversaries.
24 My faithful love will be with him,
and through my name his horn [d] will be exalted.
25 I will set his hand over the sea,
his right hand over the rivers.

26 He will call out to me, 'You are my Father,
my God, the Rock my Savior.'
27 I will also appoint him my firstborn,
the most exalted of the kings of the earth.
28 I will maintain my love to him forever,
and my covenant with him will never fail.
29 I will establish his line forever,
his throne as long as the heavens endure.
30 "If his sons forsake my law
and do not follow my statutes,

31 if they violate my decrees
and fail to keep my commands,
32 I will punish their sin with the rod,
their iniquity with flogging;
33 but I will not take my love from him,
nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.
34 I will not violate my covenant
or alter what my lips have uttered.
35 Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness -
and I will not lie to David-

36 that his line will continue forever
and his throne endure before me like the sun;
37 it will be established forever like the moon,
the faithful witness in the sky." Selah

38 But you have rejected, you have spurned,
you have been very angry with your anointed one.
39 You have renounced the covenant with your servant
and have defiled his crown in the dust.
40 You have broken through all his walls
and reduced his strongholds to ruins.
41 All who pass by have plundered him;
he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
42 You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
you have made all his enemies rejoice.

43 You have turned back the edge of his sword
and have not supported him in battle.
44 You have put an end to his splendor
and cast his throne to the ground.
45 You have cut short the days of his youth;
you have covered him with a mantle of shame. Selah

46 How long, O LORD ? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath burn like fire?
47 Remember how fleeting is my life.
For what futility you have created all men!
48 What man can live and not see death,
or save himself from the power of the grave [e] ? Selah

49 O Lord, where is your former great love,
which in your faithfulness you swore to David?
50 Remember, Lord, how your servant has [f] been mocked,
how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations,
51 the taunts with which your enemies have mocked, O LORD,
with which they have mocked every step of your anointed one.
52 Praise be to the LORD forever! Amen and Amen.

Footnotes:
a. Psalm 89:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
b. Psalm 89:17 Horn here symbolizes strong one.
c. Psalm 89:18 Or sovereign
d. Psalm 89:24 Horn here symbolizes strength.
e. Psalm 89:48 Hebrew Sheol
f. Psalm 89:50 Or your servants have

Thoughts/Comments/Questions:

This is a great description of how powerful God is. He created everything, controls everything, and gives protection to those who follow Him. He swore to protect David and keep him strong in the face of him enemies (verses 20 - 25). God also promised to protect David's future family line. But He also said he will punish them if they stray from Him (verses 29 - 37).

Verses 38 - 46 tell of how David's family have been defeated, beaten, stolen from, etc. It's also questioning why God has allowed this to happen. And for how long He will allow it to continue.

Is it because they are not following God as David did? Have the people not returned to God? Are they not following His commands?

Do you feel you are being subjected to God's punishment? Have you strayed from God and His commandments? When you feel His punishment, do you resist returning to Him? Once you return to God and following His commandments, do you feel better? Is everything better right away? Do you still have to deal with unpleasant matters?

For me, when I stray - as all people do from time to time - it usually takes me a bit before I admit that I'm not doing what God wants me to do (cause sometimes I can be stubborn). I whine and complain to myself because things may not be going my way or because I just don't "feel good" about anything. But once I stop disobeying God and His commandments, once I admit that I'm doing something wrong, I start to feel better. After I ask for God's help with whatever is going on at the time, I do feel better. It's a sense of peace that fills me immediately. Yes, I still have to deal with the matters at hand. But I have a different perspective on things. I actually feel like I can accomplish things and make it through whatever trial it is. That in no way means its easy - but at least I have the peace God brings and that makes it bearable.

Have a great week. I hope everyone enjoys their first week of summer small groups! Talk with you later. With love - Tami

2006-07-01: Hebrews - God Understands

2006-07-01T06:28:00.000-07:00

Hebrews 2 (New International Version)

Warning to Pay Attention

1We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

Jesus Made Like His Brothers

5It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come,
about which we are speaking. 6But there is a place where someone has testified:
"What is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
7You made him a little[a] lower than the angels;
you crowned him with glory and honor
8and put everything under his feet?[b]In putting everything under him, God left
nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject
to him. 9But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now
crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of
God he might taste death for everyone.

10In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through
whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through
suffering. 11Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of
the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. 12He says,
"I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises."[c]
13And again,
"I will put my trust in him."[d]
And again he says,
"Here am I, and the children God has given me."[e]

14Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - 15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. 17For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for[f]the sins of the people. 18Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Footnotes:
Hebrews 2:7 Or him for a little while; also in verse 9
Hebrews 2:8 Psalm 8:4-6
Hebrews 2:12 Psalm 22:22
Hebrews 2:13 Isaiah 8:17
Hebrews 2:13 Isaiah 8:18
Hebrews 2:17 Or and that he might turn aside God's wrath, taking away

Thoughts/Comments/Questions:

I'm not really sure what to say about this chapter of Hebrews. There was something that struck me about it when I started reading it. Verses 14 - 18 really hit me.

14Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - 15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

Wow! That's amazing that God did this. And he did it for us! How is it possible that someone would do this? How could He know what we go through and be able to help us through out our lives? - He is after allrall. (Which seems to be an extension of the question and an answer to the question all at the same time.)

16For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. 17For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for[f]the sins of the people. 18Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Well I guess that answers my last question! How does He know? Because He sent His son to live on Earth, take on the sins/temptations of the world, and pay the price for all of us. He knows how to help us, how much we hurt in the bad times, how much we rejoice in the good times because He was here through Jesus. This really amazes me; how God provided us with this "simple" 'get out of jail free' card. Have you ever thought about how God really knows how to help us? I mean in a practical way - how does He know? I used to just kind of pass it off as, "Oh, He's God. Of course He knows." But not anymore. This set of verses tells how He understands and a little more of why He sent His son to die for us.

I know there's more to this chapter than the last few verses, but these are the ones that really stand out to me right now. But what do you guys think of:

2For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?

Can one escape just through doing nice things for others? Or by having a good heart? I think we can agree these are good things, but without Jesus, they aren't going to "free those who all their lives [are] held in slavery by their fear of death" (verse 15). How many people do you know who help others and volunteer endlessly but are still trulyuely happy? They are searching for something, but haven't found it yet. And no one has shared with them how to find the happiness/joytrulyuely living. Granted a Christian life is certainly not always a "happy" life - just ask Mark Darling :0) - but there's always comfort in God's presence and in His family.

How many people do you know that are looking for something more in their life? Have you talked with them? Started a friendship with them? Do others see in you what they would like in their life? Have you asked God to provide you with opportunities, understanding, and guidance to share your life/experiences with those who are looking?

I look forward to reading your posts. Have a wonderful week. I'll see you ladies later! With love - Tami

Wait patiently- but how long?

2006-06-29T14:39:00.000-07:00

"Delight in the Lord and he will give you all the the desires of your heart?"

What are the desires of my heart? Is there anything I am earnest for? Do I follow God with my whole heart?

"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him."

My next question to myself - where is my security? Can I wait? Is it in the Lord?

I read this simple Christian novel this week about a teenage girl who died of leukemia. It really touched my heart as the sister wrestled with "Is God listening to my prayer?" "Does God really care?" "Why is he letting her die?" In the end the mom said to her daughter that she wasn't praying for just physical healing. She said "we're all dying. Life is not what we are trying to hang on to. We're praying to release her into God's will."

Anyway, this really hit home because my sister in law is very sick with cancer. There's a very real possibility that she will not recover. Of course my heart's desire is for her to heal completely. I plead to God for her and my brother and their little girl. We've been praying for 2 years and 7 months now. She went into a year's remission and the cancer came back. I can't imagine why he would take her from this earth. I'm terrified of how my brother would react. It's hard to "wait for the Lord." It's hard when you don't understand his ways or his timing. It's hard because I know what I think is best and my greatest fear is that my thinking does not line up with what God sees as best.

Yet this Ps 37 is so full of promises- God will protect the righteous and provide for them. He is their stronghold in time of need. He will not fail us. Really my prayers for my sis-in-law need to be for her soul and for God's glory in the midst of this -and for the protection of my brother's soul. If it is God's will that she die sooner than later - then He must know why and what is best. But the desire of my heart is that she live to see her grandchildren and then go to her eternal home:) We'll see.

Whoo - Psalm 37

2006-06-27T12:06:00.001-07:00

Hey guys, I don't have a lot of time, but since I'll be going on vacation tomorrow, I wanted to make sure I posted at least a little bit about my thoughts on this week's psalm.

Yesterday I had kind of a rough day. Nothing terrible, but I definitely cried in the workplace...which is not something I enjoy doing...just felt so unsure of some areas in my life, I experienced (in the bathroom stall, good place to let the tears fall) the pain of how it would feel to sacrifice something I've really been desiring.

I opened my bible after this and read from Psalm 37, then I emailed my friend Rachel. This is part of what I emailed her (sorry to be lazy and cut and paste...):

These are the verses from whence salty liquid drops fell from my eye sockets:

4(H)Delight yourself in the LORD;
And He will (I)give you the desires of your heart.
5(J)Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.

7[b]Rest in the LORD and ( M)wait [c]patiently for Him;

At this point I began to cry again and I thought to myself "okay, well, how do I delight in the Lord right now?"

23(AQ)The steps of a man are established by the LORD,
And He (AR)delights in his way.
24When (AS)he falls, he will not be hurled headlong,
Because (AT)the LORD is the One who holds his hand.

Those verses brought me delight - no matter how hard I fall, I will not be hurled headlong...and God is delighted with the way that HE chose for me and that HE will establish and make happen.

Thanks for reading my thoughts, and for sharing so honestly y'all's reflections as well!

Oh, Anna Leisa!

2006-06-25T23:00:00.000-07:00

Oh, Anna Leisa, honey don't give up hope! God will help you when you ask Him to. All I can offer right now, off the top of my head, is pray, pray, and pray some more. I almost cried reading your post. The verse that comes to my mind is Philippians 4:6-7.

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (NKJV)

These verses always give me hope when I feel overwhelmed by life. I know God will provide for us, that He will give us the strength, and everything else we need, to get through all circumstances. And I know we'll come out the other side a 'better' person for having trusted in Him and gone through the troublesome time.

Lord, please provide Anna Leisa with the knowledge and strength to overcome temptations of the flesh. Show her the way to strengthen her faith in You by resisting fleshly temptations. Provide her with the support she needs to not only make it through the difficult times but to learn from those trials so she can grow and teach others through her example. Thank you. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Anna Leisa, I will keep you in my prayers. Remember there are always people around you that are willing to help you when you're having troubles. Or to just listen when you need to talk. Please let me know if there's anything else I can do for you. Be strong and consistent! And remember, "with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26 - NKJV) With love - Tami

Like a microbe

2006-06-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

My flesh is such a baby! Oooog! I have been so frustrated with my lack of trust and hope in God the last couple weeks. I know God intends for us to live a steady life, despite our circumstances. And I WANT to. But my stupid flesh remains tumultuous and easily injured by the physical world. I hate it. I'm having a difficult time hoping. I acknowledge with my mouth that God is good and that He holds for us the best in His hands. I want to believe that if I am seeking Him with my whole being, He'll take care of my needs and wants. (At the same time, I don't want to seek Him just for the benefits He may offer. I want to seek Him because He is soooo worthy.) And yet, there is a huge pool of doubt in the center of me. I don't think I even have faith like a mustard seed. I think it's like a microbe. My faith is like a germ. I want at least mustard-seed faith, darn it. Actions and verses and quiet times aren't enough. I want to be completely replaced by God, infused with Him. Any suggestions?? I need God to replace my fear with hope!

Parts of Psalm 37 in the NASB read this way:

3. Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
5. Commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
7. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.

So I guess those verses answer my questions about growth in God. But it's so much easier said than done. At times like these, it's very clear there are two competing interests within me: my flesh and my spirit. I think I'm growing a little weary of the fight. I want the spirit to win in me, always. I would appreciate any tips or prayers. I'm feeling a little discouraged.

2006-06-24: Psalm - Patience and Faith

2006-06-25T04:19:00.000-07:00

Psalm 37 (New International Version)

1 [a] Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;
2 for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
3 Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret-it leads only to evil.
9 For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.
10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.
11 But the meek will inherit the land
and enjoy great peace.
12 The wicked plot against the righteous
and gnash their teeth at them;
13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he knows their day is coming.
14 The wicked draw the sword
and bend the bow
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose ways are upright.
15 But their swords will pierce their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
16 Better the little that the righteous have
than the wealth of many wicked;
17 for the power of the wicked will be broken,
but the LORD upholds the righteous.
18 The days of the blameless are known to the LORD,
and their inheritance will endure forever.
19 In times of disaster they will not wither;
in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.
20 But the wicked will perish:
The LORD's enemies will be like the beauty of the fields,
they will vanish-vanish like smoke.
21 The wicked borrow and do not repay,
but the righteous give generously;
22 those the LORD blesses will inherit the land,
but those he curses will be cut off.
23 If the LORD delights in a man's way,
he makes his steps firm;
24 though he stumble, he will not fall,
for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
25 I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.
26 They are always generous and lend freely;
their children will be blessed.
27 Turn from evil and do good;
then you will dwell in the land forever.
28 For the LORD loves the just
and will not forsake his faithful ones.
They will be protected forever,
but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off;
29 the righteous will inherit the land
and dwell in it forever.
30 The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks what is just.
31 The law of his God is in his heart;
his feet do not slip.
32 The wicked lie in wait for the righteous,
seeking their very lives;
33 but the LORD will not leave them in their power
or let them be condemned when brought to trial.
34 Wait for the LORD
and keep his way.
He will exalt you to inherit the land;
when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
35 I have seen a wicked and ruthless man
flourishing like a green tree in its native soil,
36 but he soon passed away and was no more;
though I looked for him, he could not be found.
37 Consider the blameless, observe the upright;
there is a future [b] for the man of peace.
38 But all sinners will be destroyed;
the future [c] of the wicked will be cut off.
39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
40 The LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.

Footnotes:
Psalm 37:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, the stanzas of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Psalm 37:37 Or there will be posterity
Psalm 37:38 Or posterity

Thoughts/Comments/Questions:

I'm concentrating on verses 1-20; though I really like verses 39-40 also:

39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
40 The LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.

It's so good to know that God will help and protect me when I need it. All I have to do is ask for His help and He will provide what I need. Granted what I want and what I need may very well be two different things, but God knows how things will work out in the end; I don't. So trusting in Him and what He provides will always end up with a better result than continuing to push for what I want. "take refuge in him" - I love that.

Okay, verses 1-20. These verses show that patience wins in the end. We are to put our faith and trust in God and His plan. Know that He will help us through the tough times. Know that He will repay us for our faithfulness to Him.

Verse 8 tells us not to be angry or worry - it will only increase our pain. Instead let God handle it. In His time the situation will be resolved according to His plan. But only if we leave it up to Him. This is something I struggled with throughout last week. Trying to deal with someone's jealousy is not easy. Especially when you don't want to lose that persons friendship. I had to continually remind myself:

5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:

I continually prayed for guidance and to be shown how to deal with the situation. I'm still waiting for an answer. :0) Until then, I'll continue to remind myself of verses 5 and 8.

I like verse 13:

13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he knows their day is coming.

I know the evil people of the world will be judged by God. But I don't always have the patience to sit back and wait for that time. We aren't always supposed to do nothing in the face of evil. There are times to act. But how do we know when to do nothing and when to do something? Does the answer lie - at least in part - in verse 5?

5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:

I believe it does. I believe prayer for guidance is also key in this area. (See Philippians 4:6-7.)

Psalm 37:4 is awesome!

4 Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

I read this and think, "Oooh, that's so sweet. I love God!" :0) He wants us to be happy, but He wants us first to be happy in Him. If we are happy and/or strong in our relationship with Him, He will not only give us what we need, He will also give us what we want. But how do we know when God is giving us what we want? Sounds like a silly question right? But think about it - sometimes what we think we want and what we really want are two different things. But God knows our heart. He knows what we really want and what will give us what we want. So how do we recognize it when it's not what we think we want? And what happens if we don't take it the first time? The second time? Does God continue trying to give us what we want? I believe He does.

I also think sometimes we are so focused on what we think we want that God has to beat us over the head with what we really want before we see it. But once we do and we accept it - I think it can be nothing less than amazing. We'll still have trials to face and difficult times to get through; but,

7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

18 The days of the blameless are known to the LORD,
and their inheritance will endure forever.
19 In times of disaster they will not wither;
in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.

So, in patience and faith, follow the Lord and He will take care of us. That's awesome!!

I know I concentrated on verses 1-20; but certainly feel free to also comment on verses 21-40. Thank you each for your time and commitment to this Bible study group. I pray it is as helpful to you as it has been to me. With love - Tami

Mission Trip Blues

2006-06-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

I posted this on my blog, but it was fitting here too because Colossians 3:2-3 are helping sustain me tonight. So, sorry for the repeat, but:

Wow! I have been hit with the post-mission trip blues today. It may be from severe exhaustion and lack of sleep, but my mind has been messing with me and I've felt under attack since about 2 this afternoon. I spent a lovely afternoon with Christine, went to Kevin and Khris' wedding and got to see Maren and Karl before they're off for a week. I went home, knowing I didn't have the stamina to make it through the reception and got really down. However, I was justing thinking of the verse from Philipians 4, "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say rejoice." I've been listening to a teaching by Herschel Martindale about rejoicing in all circumstances and being joyful in the Lord, not by what's going on in my life. He used the story from Luke where the disciples came back and were excited by the Lord's power working through them. Jesus told them not to be excited by that, but by eternal life. I've really been meditating on that. So, as I was down, I started thinking of the verse in Colossians 3, "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you have died and your life is with Christ in God." As I wondered how this was called to my mind (that was the phrase that I was thinking, it made me remember the verses from Lamentations 3: "But this I call to mind, therefore I will have hope. The love of the Lord is steadfast. His mercies never cease. Great is thy faithfulness. His mercies are new every morning. The Lord is my portion says my soul, therefore I will hope in Him. The Lord is good to those who wait on Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." I am weary and tired, but I have hope and I will not be discouraged because though my body is beat-up and my mind is exhausted the Lord is my portion and I do have hope. The Lord has offered me more than I could ever ask for and I rejoice in that, not in my circumstances.

How do I love thee?

2006-06-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

First, I want to thank you for your insights. It is amazing to me that often comments are made on verses I overlooked or breezed past. Second, I love the personal stories - how you have experienced God at work in your lives. So encouraging...

"Set your mind on things above." Mark seems to talk about this a lot - or maybe I just need to hear it a lot :)

It is difficult for me to know how this works. I know it must be a fundamental change in my thoughts, words, actions, and choices of situations to be involved in. I think also it has to do with how I perceive the people and opportunities that God presents to me. People - that is one thing that does not pass away. So, as I strive to focus on the things above, I know it has to do with relationships.

I need to spend more time in prayer about relationships and choices as they come up each day. Then maybe I will be able to hear God more clearly and respond to people with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and forgiveness.

I think the biggest battle with my earthly nature right now has to do with selfishness and anger. Most of the time it comes up with Jesse. Maybe I am well trained to be kind in public :) My patience wears thin sometimes at home. It is amazing though how Jesse's mom treats her family. She is the epitomy of love in action. Where my patience would wear thin, she becomes persistent and flexible. What amazes me the most is the lack of bitterness/resentment behind her kindness. She really just loves people. I've seen so many people act in kindness and self sacrifice only to become frustrated, critical, feel unappreciated, and grow weary. Maybe that boils down to a lack of forgiveness. I'm not sure.

I'm just glad we have a patient, forgiving, long-suffering God who will never give up on transforming us.

Just the word

2006-06-16T14:33:00.000-07:00

Wow. These verses are so powerful. I was humbled reading them.

I truly believe the core of the gospel, of a truly changed life, is in these few verses.

1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Just these words are enough to spend a lifetime meditating on (and letting change my spirit). I've been thinking a lot about the desires of my flesh this week. A really important relationship of mine ended. My flesh didn't like it AT ALL. In the end, it's times like this that force me to practice what I preach. The practice costs so much more than the preaching. And I know it's more valuable in the long run.

Putting my hurt and my jealousy and my flesh to death HURTS. Death hurts!! (That probably doesn't seem like a revelation to anyone else, but to me...it's priceless! If I want to truly see the end of me and the beginning of Christ embodied in this physical casing, I have to accept some suffering.)

12Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Two things about this section that struck me:
1) I change clothes every day - at least once per day. I LOVE that the verb here is "clothe." To me, it implies that this (a renewal of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness & patience) is needed every day. I really want those characteristics to mark me! Sometimes I feel like "Boo. No one likes me. No one is interested in finding out about me," or whatever selfishness is puking out of me at the moment. BUT, I don't need others to be a source of happiness/love for me. In fact, they can't! Because I am dearly loved by God, I can get my love needs met in the most perfect way. And this should translate into me loving others with arms open and no expectation of return.

2) Forgive. Forgiveness and I came face to face this week. It was a mini-showdown. I needed to forgive someone and had decided I would do that - on my own time. And then I just glanced at my Bible. And it occurred to me that it isn't just sufficient to forgive. It isn't even sufficient to fully forgive. It is necessary to fully forgive INSTANTLY, in the very moment of offense. Yikes. Still working on this one...

Okay. Enough of me. Sorry 'bout the long post. Christine, I LOVED your blog title! Just kill the flesh!! It's jihad. Really! Jihad is also commonly and traditionally understood as an inner struggle, a holy war within an individual for an increase of righteousness. We're doin' it!

killing the flesh and embracing the peace

2006-06-16T09:15:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been a busy week at work. Normally I have more than enough computer time...but this week, I had none tues-thurs! I knew I should've responded to this on Monday! I am assuming everyone else is having a crazy week too, but I'm ready to put my two cents in now! Please forgive me, I kind of just went through verses and wrote thoughts - there isn't a lot of good flow! Okay, here I go:

5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[b] 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Last night Anna Leisa and I met up with some coworkers of mine. Being with them made me realize how much God has changed me over the years, but also reminded me of how easy it would be to slip and fall back into old behavior. I want to be a light to them, so it made me eager for God to really kill all my selfishness, and anything in me that would be a hindrance, or a stumbling block (as Herschel shared at the singles conference) to the work He has to do. This is what the verses above reminded me of.

I also love passages in the bible that tell us how to clothe ourselves or how to act – with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, love, peace, filled with the Word, a willingness to correct others and to be corrected, and through everything – gratitude to God. (v. 12-17) I can sometime get discouraged when bombarded with don'ts, so I love to read positive instruction. I hope to become more and more like Christ in these areas...I'm very much an unfinished work...

As always, I’m a big fan of your questions, Tami.

Do I remember a time when I knew the “peace of Christ?”

After I came to know the Lord, it was a big old time of peace. It felt strange, circumstantially my life was in an upheaval…but I’d never experienced such joy and peace in my life. This is, of course, a natural fruit I think to finding salvation, but there have been many other times when I’ve experienced this peace!

I’ve learned over the last couple years that there are two prayers that God seems to answer immediately: Prayers for humility (ouch) and prayers for peace.

There have been times when I’m just completely overwhelmed by my circumstances – I was discussing a week with Anna Leisa last night where I had a big job interview, it was the busiest week of the semester (school-wise), my parents flew into town, I was graduating, regular leaders/small group meetings, and my car was overheating twice a day (in december). It’s times like those where my natural tendency is to tell God to wait for a minute while I get out a piece of paper and map out every minute of the week just to make sure, by my own power, I can get everything done!

One simple prayer – “God give me peace about this.” It’s surreal, this peace. Circumstances remain, but the mindset changes, the perspective changes, and the peace enters. It’s beautiful!

When have I admonished others with wisdom or were the recipient of such wisdom?

Seems like every day of my life recently! The last couple times, I’m not proud to say, I’ve gotten a little bit defensive. Even in praying about it later, I would say “thank you Lord for providing me such counsel and accountability and wisdom, but I still think...” No buts. I need to get rid of the buts, and simply thank Him. What a wonderful gift He’s given me in providing women who will tell it to me like it is - who have been graced with wisdom, and are willing to pour it out on us less wise folk.

Anyway, I absolutely love this chapter!!

23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.

I have this verse on a little notecard taped to my second monitor. I'm looking at it right now. What a great reminder of the attitude we should be putting on at all times!

2006-06-10: Colossians - To Follow God

2006-06-11T19:37:00.000-07:00

Colossians 3 (New International Version)

Rules for Holy Living

1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[b] 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

12Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Rules for Christian Households

18Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

19Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

20Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

21Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.

22Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.

Footnotes:
Colossians 3:4 Some manuscripts our
Colossians 3:6 Some early manuscripts coming on those who are disobedient

Thoughts/comments/questions:

This is an amazing chapter to me. I love the first 4 verses - when God comes back all of us will be right there with him! That's awesome! But there are some rules to follow. They're not always easy ones to follow. Verse six tells us "the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience" - so does this mean those of us who fail to follow the rules are going to feel God's wrath? I don't believe so. For those who have accepted Jesus as their savior, they are protected; saved from this judgment. However, God still wants us to obey His law and calls upon us to honestly do our best to follow His word. He understands we will fall from time to time. But, I believe, with honest repentance will be forgiven. Not only that but with an open heart and willingness to seek Him we will be rewarded for our efforts to follow His will for us.

Verses 12 - 24 tell us what we should do and how we should treat others in a way that will please God. I really like verses 14 - 17!

14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Do you remember a time when you knew "the peace of Christ"? Or when you "admonish[ed] one another with all wisdom"? Perhaps you were the recipient of the wisdom? Did you stop and thank God for providing you with someone who cares enough about you to help you get back on God's path?

I have been fortunate enough to have "a few" people put in my path to help me along the way. It's certainly not easy to accept the criticism (aka: teaching) even when I know what I'm being told is correct. But - eventually - I get over my stubbornness and accept it and the fact that it was told to me in love/caring for me. Sometimes all it takes to help someone along is a simple word of encouragement from a friend - or sometimes even a complete stranger.

The last verse, verse 25 - youch!

25Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.

"and there is no favoritism." - even for those who have accepted Jesus? I thank God this is not true for the followers of Christ. So long as we ask forgiveness for our sins, our slate is wiped clean. It's like our sin (aka: our "wrong") never happened. That's amazing! But if someone has accepted Jesus as their savior but does not follow God's word and does not seek forgiveness from God for their sins; does verse 25 apply? Will that person receive no favoritism?

I'm really looking forward to reading your posts this week!! :0) And I sincerely apologize for not getting the post out earlier. I hope it was worth the wait. Have a wonderful week! With love - Tami

Saved through childbearing - another perspective

2006-06-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

I haven't drawn any specific conclusions in regard to vs. 15, but I thought this was an interesting perspective. These are the ideas of John MacArthur... I'm just pasting his words. He wrote 4 sermons on the topic of 1 Tim 2 - very interesting. The link will bring you to them.

"The salvation spoken of here is not salvation from sin. It cannot refer to Eve since the future tense is used ("she shall be saved"). Furthermore the use of the plural pronoun "they" indicates that more than one woman is in view. Some think this verse refers to Mary's being saved by bearing Christ, but that is foreign to the context. The use of the plural pronoun clearly indicates that all women are in view here.

A. Women's Salvation Defined
The Greek word translated "saved" (s[ma]oz[ma]o) can refer to being saved from things other than sin. This verse is saying that through childbearing all women are delivered from the stigma of a woman's having caused the Fall. A woman led the human race into sin, yet women benefit mankind by replenishing it. They have the opportunity to lead the race to godliness through their influence on children. The pain of childbearing was the punishment for her sin, but bearing children delivers her from the stigma of that sin."

Wow! That's Quite A Bit Of Info!

2006-06-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

Anne, thank you for your thoughts on the verses and the reference to Created to Be His Helpmeet. I apparently should read this book for additional insights into this line of thought. :0) I understand the man is the head of the family and the church - or at least that he's supposed to be (he doesn't always act like it). It just seemed very odd to me that the Bible - well, okay, Paul says - that women shouldn't talk or teach or anything. So I'm very glad to hear that is not really the case. And don't many women teach (intentionally or not) by virtue of what they do - how they talk - etc?

Anna Leisa, your insights on verse 15 are amazing! I love that people can go back to the original Greek and find a new/different meaning to what the Bible is saying. I would never have thought of it in this 'saved by the child' kind of way. I'm really glad you found this. And you're right, Jesus did treat women with a tremendous amount of respect. And God even commands us to "honor thy mother". So, I'd say He really doesn't want women to be ignored or made to feel inferior. As much as I don't like to say it, I guess He just wants us to "know our place" within the church. And that should then translate into "our place" in the world.

Am I on the right track with this or no??

Thanks so much for your insights into this chapter, ladies! It's been very insightful.

You win, discussion about gender roles

2006-06-06T23:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, fine! I give. As much as I DON’T want to talk about gender roles in the church, it feels like there’s no way around it lately. :)

Some notes:

I don’t know where I stand (personally) on this issue – not that my personal stance really matters. In fact, to be fair, I should probably lay my personal feelings totally aside. Ultimately, I am willing to submit to the opinions of others and to what the Bible says.

Some things I stole word-for-word from the world wide web that relate to this passage, with the verses in brackets:

[I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man.]

Paul could just as easily have said, “Do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man,” but he didn’t. So we have to take this as a description of Paul’s practice, not as an instruction.

[But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.]

A better way to approach this passage is based on the grammar in the original Greek language. In the original, it says, “she will be saved in the childbirth.” This has the sense, “Even though women were deceived, and fell into transgression starting with Eve, women can be saved by the Messiah - whom a woman brought into the world.”

Okay, so those are things to think about.

I think it’s most important to remember that Jesus treated women with a dignity and level of respect that was unheard of in his time. AND God himself chose a woman to be the physical vessel of Christ. He could have easily chosen to bring Christ to earth in a different way.

And let’s not neglect verses 9 & 10! They are soooo good. I want none of my value to come from the ornaments I add to my appearance! I want all of my self-worth to come from knowing Christ. Adjusting my understanding of how to do this and acting accordingly is crucial, I think. Any tips?

SILENCE!!

2006-06-06T15:19:00.000-07:00

tee hee...yeah, I love those verses. umm. I can approach a couple of them, but not the rest. And the only reason is because I've read the right book, I think...
I don't know if you've read it, Mrs. Q or Lisa, but I'm sure you've heard of it - Created to Be His Helpmeet. Anyone who is going to be or is recently married should really read it, it will rock your world of what you think it's like to be a godly wife...
Anyway, she directly addresses that same issue - women being silent in church:

11A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.

Basically, it's gender roles. They're real, they're pretty cool. The silence is not in general, or even around guys, but this fits in with why women shouldn't be pastors. Because God made men to be the heads of marriages and households, having women placed in positions of authority over them, such as in a church setting, is not glorifying to God. It's usurping the authority that God has given to men in those types of relationships. The idea is most definitely NOT that women are unqualified or unable to teach, not intelligent enough to expound on the Bible or theological topics. In fact, it's often the opposite. Because women tend to be well spoken, and are so persuasive, so sensitive to spiritual things, it's really almost dangerous to let them teach men. Because then they would use their natural abilities and end up leading the men, instead of the other way around. I don't have the book with me of course, so I can't expound on it very thoroughly, but that's the idea. It's not that women are inferior, it's a matter of honoring God by respecting the position that He's placed you in. I understand that will ruffle feathers in general, maybe that's a discussion for another time...
The other part, about being saved through childbirth, I'm not so sure. I know that bearing and raising children is also an amazing opportunity to honor God and your husband, but maybe I'll look into that specific verse a little more, and pray about it, like Anna Leisa.
Interested to hear your thoughts!!

BBSG Get Together - Thurs, June 8th

2006-06-05T18:13:00.000-07:00

Just in case you didn't get the email:

Okay, I've tallied all the responses I received to the email shown below. Looks like the 8th works for all but one person, so Thursday, June 8th it is!

What: BBSG Get Together - appetizers, drinks, and in-person introductions/chatting
When: Thursday, June 8th at 630 pm (for about 45 mins to an hour)
Where: Applebee's (by Lake Calhoun)

Thank you for your participation in the BBSG. I look forward to seeing you all this Thursday!

With love - Tami

2006-06-03: 1 Timothy - Are You Kidding Me?

2006-06-03T07:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, I read this chapter and have many things to say, though I can't say it's anything positive. I'm sure there's a reason for what this chapter says but I don't get it. Okay it's really just the last 5 verses that I really don't understand at all. - Tami

1 Timothy 2 (New International Version)

Instructions on Worship

1I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time. 7And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.

8I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.

9I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, 10but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

11A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. 13For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. 15But women[a] will be saved[b] through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

Footnotes:
1 Timothy 2:15 Greek she
1 Timothy 2:15 Or restored

Thoughts/comments/questions:

What exactly is meant by verses 11-15? Are there other verses in the Bible that clarify what this is saying? Any thoughts and/or insight into this are very much appreciated.

Small parts in the Big Kingdom

2006-06-02T08:15:00.000-07:00

"Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.

In this verse I see how very important it is for each of us to be a part of the whole body. Each part serves in a different way through one spirit, one body. As it says, "God has arranged the parts in the body, just as he wanted them to be. " So we come just as we are, and God uses our gifts just as He arranged them to be.

As for the question Christine proposed:
Do you think it's more important to serve God in areas where you are gifted or in areas where you are weak (to strengthen those weaknesses)?

I've had this conversation a couple times this past year..
If God is nudging you to serve in areas where you are weak, I think it's a great opportunity for growth. It's a great opportunity to see God use you as a vessel for His wonderful glory.
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9
God's power is shown perfectly in weakness. When we feel most inadequate or incapable of doing anything on our own, we can turn to God and He is faithful and we are capable of all things only with Him. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." phil 4:13
When we apply our weakness in serving, we depend on God so much more and thus we build trust and faith in Christ. This makes a wonderful opportunity for Christ's power to shine through us.
Serving on the Usher/Greeter team has been a great opportunity to build trust and faith in Christ. Being a quiet person, this opportunity has allowed me to develop a more out going, and welcoming attitude towards new comers as well as the church body.
I am thankful that God's power shines through weaknesses!

New Kid on the Block (Hangin' Tough)

2006-06-01T22:01:00.000-07:00

My sisters!

I am really excited to join you and DIG IN to God's word. I just want to devour it and see it change us all. And I need some serious changing! (Side note: I am a little afraid that if I saw some of you on the street, I wouldn't know who you are! But, I'm sure that'll be remedied soon.) I am going to strive for complete honesty - and not censor based on what I think sounds good. (Feel free to hold me accountable!)

About the gifts and, more importantly, the Giver:

Christine passed along a great question and an equally great point about weakness being the vessel God inhabits. God is so awesome, by the way! No other religion (as far as I know...?) believes in a god that swoops into individual's lives and actually USES their weaknesses, like our good God does. In fact, I think most people would say their weaknesses are unacceptable to God or the god they serve. I often take God's L-O-V-E for granted.

At about verse 4 & 5, I couldn't help but think of the difference between practices and principles, like the guest speaker at the Rock spoke about a couple weeks ago. He said something that has stuck with me: "Principles should be the same for every Christian, but how we practice them is different." The verses (in the Amplified version) are below:

4 Now there are distinctive varieties and distributions of endowments (gifts, extraordinary powers distinguishing certain Christians, due to the power of divine grace operating in their souls by the Holy Spirit) and they vary, but the [Holy] Spirit remains the same.
5 And there are distinctive varieties of service and ministration, but it is the same Lord [Who is served].

And THIS is what I was really challenged on, when I read through Tami's post:
When I think about spiritual gifts, am I really staying focused on God? Is He being served?

I catch myself thinking too much about myself (trying to analyze and figure out my gifts and traits) and not enough about their purpose, which is just to worship and glorify God. He's so worthy of it all. And he kind of hit me with that (gently, of course) just now when I was in the shower (it was a clean revelation). It is ALL meant to be for His glory. I am supposed to be nothing but a duct for God's love to this world and of a worshipful response to what he puts in my life (good or bad).

I'm not sure what my gifts are. I'm sure I don't use them like I should or as often as I could. In fact, I think there can be serious danger in using them. I mean, if my pride's in the way, something that might otherwise serve God could end up being something I use to serve myself. How do I stay away from this? Any suggestions?? Anybody else struggle with this?

I'm sure I've typed your ear off. Sorry if it was helter-skelter. Thank you so much for this opportunity. And thanks for reading my first BBSG post!

tired of this competetive world

2006-06-01T15:57:00.000-07:00

Christine, thanks for your honesty. It is refreshing and inspiring. I'm afraid I do not have much inspiring to share on this passage, but I will answer some of these questions.

What are the special gifts God gave me? and do I use them every day?
Okay, this is an awkward question for me. I guess that I believe God asks me to encourage others and pray for them. Everyday? Not well. I have a long way to grow.

My Commentary: I believe that more important than labeling strengths and weaknesses as gifts is taking advantage of opportunities that come your way to strengthen the church as a whole. I also believe this means encouraging others in their gifts and supporting them whenever possible as they work to accomplish things for God's kingdom. Right now I feel so out of the loop at church that I certainly am not daily building the unity of the body by my participation or encouragement to the extent that God calls all Christians.

Which one is my weakest? Do I work to strengthen it?
I struggle to differentiate between my weaknesses as an individual and spiritually. I believe they are certainly intertwined. I guess I would say as a gift - evangelism is not my strength. What do I do to strengthen it? Lots of ideas here. I pray for opportunities and courage. I read of examples in scripture. I suck. Okay, enough said.

More Commentary: To me the crux of this passage lies with the Jesus' prayer for his disciples to all be "one" just as He and the Father are "one." The church of Corinth had many divisions, as I remember, and could use that encouragement. Unity is against our human nature. I find myself comparing myself to others and desiring to come out "on top." I hate that about myself. That's why I love vs. 25-26 which call us to have concern for one anohter, suffer together, and rejoice together. A little more love. A little more time given for each other. I could work on that.

Lisa

I'd like to roll the ball

2006-06-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

Tami, thanks for posing discussion questions. Have you been doing this all along? Perhaps I am just noticing now...anyway, thanks, it makes it easier to start talking!

My answers are: No, no, no, people, and no.

Spiritual gifts are a difficult thing for me to think about - It's a difficult task to pick out your own spiritual gifts. I'm not a woman of many talents - I don't say this for pity's sake, it's just a fact. I can't really speak well, or sing well, I'm not extraordinarily smart, and I'm not that good with people (let's face it - I'm awkward).

I try not to get bogged down by what I can't do, on the contrary I find myself overcome with joy and gratitude to God for loving and choosing someone who has so little to offer Him in return.

God's power is shown best in my weakness...sometimes I wonder if maybe my weaknesses are my spiritual gifts and my service to Christ is my failure (to bring Him glory, 2 Cor. 4:7).

Okay...I think the assumption that my weaknesses are my spiritual gifts is kind of a cop out. I should probably try to figure this area out a bit more.

So, my co-leader this year used to ask us a lot:

Do you think it's more important to serve God in areas where you are gifted or in areas where you are weak (to strengthen those weaknesses)?

I'd like to present that question to you guys, in light of this passage. How would you answer?

I find comfort in verses 22-23, not for myself, but for the broken and weak believers all over the world who far less to offer than myself:

Those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor.

I'd love to see the people who couldn't hope to find any glory here on earth be honored for offering up just the little they had.

That's all I have for now. Thanks for reading!

2006-05-27: 1 Corinthians - Do You Know?

2006-05-27T19:05:00.000-07:00

1 Corinthians 12 (New International Version)

Spiritual Gifts
1Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. 2You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

4There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit into one body - whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

27Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues[d]? Do all interpret? 31But eagerly desire[e] the greater gifts.
And now I will show you the most excellent way.

Footnotes:
1 Corinthians 12:10 Or languages; also in verse 28
1 Corinthians 12:10 Or languages; also in verse 28
1 Corinthians 12:13 Or with; or in
1 Corinthians 12:30 Or other languages
1 Corinthians 12:31 Or But you are eagerly desiring

Thoughts/Comments/Questions:
Do you know what special gift(s) God has given you? Do you use that gift every day to the benefit of God? Do you know what the other gifts are? Which one is your weak point? Do you consistently work to strengthen your weakest gift?

This chapter lists out the spiritual gifts God has personally handed out to each of us in varying degrees through the Holy Spirit. Knowing what our primary gift is allows us to see how we can serve God to the best of our ability. Knowing what our weakest gift is allows us the opportunity to seek out growth opportunities. To strengthen our weaker gifts we must rely on God to show us the way and give us what we need to succeed in our growth. By using our primary gift and strengthening our weaker gifts we grow closer to God and strengthen our relationship with Him. By working on building our gifts we also serve as a good example to other Christians and to non-believers.

I think it is important to occassionally use the gifts listed in verses 8 - 10; to become familiar with each of them. We never know when we will need to use one of the gifts we have been given. I think we should make them a part of our every day life so we are ready at a moments notice.

This chapter also talks about how the body of Christ is made up of many individuals (verses 14 - 26). Each individual is just as important as the next. Why is that? I believe it is because God has given each of us different gifts and those gifts work best when they work together in harmony. We cannot work together in harmony if we believe one is better than another.

24 . . . But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.

With outreach-evangelism coming up this summer I can't help but wonder if The Rock planned to offer the S.H.A.P.E. classes again just before summer small groups start. These classes help to identify what our gifts are. This knowledge can assist us in serving God and our community to the best of our abilities this summer. If you're wondering what you're gifts are or if you'd like to see how you've grown since the last time you took the classes; please go to The Rock website and sign up for the classes on or before May 30th.

Please be sure to share your answers to the questions above with us this week. I look forward to reading your comments/questions and participating in the blog discussions.

for the beauty of the Lord

2006-05-26T13:06:00.000-07:00

I’ve been meditating on this chapter, and on your comments all week, and haven’t been able to come up with a coherent post…I’ll try my best now:

I’ve been pondering this thought all week: what a strong warning Jude gives us about those who follow their own evil desires and rebel! He uses strong imagery to describe them and refers strongly to their eternal punishment and destruction. Obviously this is a very vital issue as far as Jude is concerned, and as far as God is concerned. My thoughts: Jude is considering this more important than encouraging us in our faith, for the sake of our eternities, and so that we don’t fall into the sin of rebellion and waywardness, and as I see it, ultimately for the glory of God…

Here’s my 2 cents on the “hating the clothing” part: It reminds me of Ephesians 5:3, “But among you there must be not even a hint of sexual immorality, or any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.” There are so many reminders in scripture of how God intends for us to be pure and blameless, without fault; his bride. Here’s another that I’m thinking of; Ephesians 5:25-27 “And you husbands must love your wives with the same love Christ showed the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by baptism and God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.” How beautiful this is, that Christ died to make us beautiful and presentable to himself. We weren’t required, nor did we have the capacity, to clean our lives up enough to be clean and pure and beautiful to him. Jude understands this, and is urging us to crave purity and be repulsed by any hint of immorality. He is grieved by how people have prostituted the grace of God and made something so beautiful and sacred into something so vile. He must be quite adept to the temptations we all face that can so easily trap us into the slippery slope of sin and selfishness and rebellion, which I believe is why he is compelled to warn us so intently and make apparent that those people are living among us today.

This chapter, I believe, is dedicated to a desire to give glory and honor to God by admonishing his church to remain pure and holy and blameless, so that upon the day of judgment, we will bring him glory and honor. I love the Lord so much for what he has done for us, and my heart rings with echoes of what Jude is saying: God deserves more than even our lives! He deserves so much glory and honor and the least we can do is live in purity in an effort to reflect him here on earth and bring him honor. And what a comfort it is to know that I not only cannot do this without the Holy Spirit working in me (a temple of the Holy Spirit), but God in his kindness gave me the Holy Spirit so that I have the capability of honoring him as the Spirit makes me more and more blameless and holy as I trust Him to do so. Jude is so good to remind us in verse 20 to trust in the Holy Spirit to do this (not ourselves), as we have no ability to do it on our own.

My humble thoughts,
Maren

hey jude

2006-05-26T10:39:00.000-07:00

I really liked what you guys have said about this chapter so far, I'm going to stray a little bit because that's not really what hit me so much...but it's ok, different is good!

I was talking with a friend this week about how God speaks to us, and I gave an example of themes that keep coming up in what you read in the Word, or conversations, message topics, etc, things that keep being repeated as a way of God getting your attention or trying to get you to look at something a little closer. What jumped out to me from Jude was something that I've been seeing over and over again lately... interesting.

In our small group we've been going thru some smaller books of the Bible just to look into the Word and get an idea of how to study or read it and pick it apart a little, also see what topics or questions pop up. We were mostly picking books because they were really short and we could get thru them in a couple hours (most of the time). What we ended up seeing was that there was continually a call to beware of false prophets, to be on your guard, to not blindly accept anything that's been given to you, but test the messages you hear to make sure they're true. So reading verses 3 and 4 really stood out quickly (I read it in NLT):

v.3 Dearly loved friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the truth of the Good News. God gave this unchanging truth once for all time to his holy people. v.4 I say this because some godless people have wormed their way in among you, saying that God's forgiveness allows us to live immoral lives. The fate of such people was determined long ago, for they have turned against our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

If you pay attention to media and the news, you can see that things like the DaVinci Code and discovering a lost "Gospel" of Judas, even down to religious groups protesting at funerals of fallen soldiers - all these are examples of people who are trying to interpret the Gospel into something that it's not intended to be, and for the general public who don't pay attention and just take whatever they hear without filtering or processing the information, it will definitely skew someone's perceptions on Christians, the Church in general, and God. And things like that come into our circles as well, I know that small groups have had to deal with several people taking their wrong behavior and justifying it with Scripture.

Then what happens?

v.12 When these people join you in fellowship meals celebrating the love of the Lord, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are shameless in the way they care only about themselves. They are like clouds blowing over dry land without giving rain, promising much but producing nothing. They are like trees without fruit at harvesttime. They are not only dead but doubly dead, for they have been pulled out by the roots. v.13 They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the dirty foam of their shameful deeds. They are wandering stars, heading for everlasting gloom and darkness.
v.16 These people are grumblers and complainers, doing whatever evil they feel like. They are loudmouthed braggarts, and they flatter others to get favors in return. v.17 But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ told you, v.18 that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to enjoy themselves in every evil way imaginable. v.19 Now they are here, and they are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They live by natural instinct because they do not have God's Spirit living in them.

THIS is why we need to be careful of what we listen to and what we put stock in. People espouse ideas that are trendy or popular because it's easier and cooler than actually learning something for yourself and sticking to your guns when people oppose it. These verses drive home to me the idea that I NEED to know what the Bible says so that I'm not taken in by someone who sounds good but is living a lie. Also, it's for others. In my NLT version, verse 22 says we're to show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. What better way to show mercy to someone than to gently lead them to the truth and help solidify their shaky foundation? You can't do that unless you know the truth yourself, and you are secure in your faith.

There's a reason that Mark did his series on living a revolutionary life. Because it's the only way to "continue to build your lives on the foundation of your holy faith." (v.20) Because it's something that people are struggling with at the Rock. They want to reach out to their friends, but they're not always prepared to be able to snatch others away without being contaminated themselves. I know there's a lot of questions about "what's appropriate?" but if we were focusing more on building the foundations of our faith instead of our little lists of dos and donts, maybe we'd get a little further along with reaching out to others and stopping the division of these godless people before too much damage is done.

ok, and I truly love the doxology, it's the best ever:

And now, all glory to God, who is able to keep you from stumbling, and who will bring you into his glorious presence innocent of sin and with great joy. All glory to him, who alone is God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Yes, glory, majesty, power, and authority belong to him, in the beginning, now, and forevermore. Amen.

Hating even the clothing

2006-05-26T04:43:00.000-07:00

I've been pondering this last verse "hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh" since reading your comment Tami.

I think you are probably correct in wondering if we are to hate the immorality on tv and movies. I struggle with that. Not hating the immorality, but knowing where to draw the line. It seems every form of entertainment is stained by immorality. It's like the many teenagers that say "I don't listen to the lyrics. I only listen to the music." or "The music really doesn't influence me or my life." The truth is obvious, but the denial is great. I'm not sure that I even recognize all of the filth that inundates me on a daily basis. Discernment is something I need to pray about for sure and true faithfulness to Christ. Thanks for bringing it up.

No you're not the only one.

2006-05-23T14:21:00.000-07:00

Hi, Christine, thank you for your comments and the questions.

In answer to your first question - no, you're not the only one who gets freaked out by verses like that. I also get more than a little fearful when I read verses like that. But at the same time I feel a great sense of relief knowing that I'm saved by Jesus. I admit I do sometimes have a very non-Christian reaction at times, such as when I'm mad at someone or a general group of people. That's when, after reading a verse like this one, I usually react with something like, "HA! Yeah, so there!" I should probably feel bad about that. I need work on that.

I was also encouraged - and relieved - by verse 21. It's really good to know that Jesus is looking out for us and is always helping us get closer to God. Our part is to listen and obey; which isn't always easy.

From verse 23:
to others show mercy, mixed with fear, hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

Are we to show mercy as God does? I honestly don't think any of us is capable of that. But we can do our best to forgive the trespasses of others and be slow to act in anger. The dictionary defines mercy as, "compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm"; "an event to be grateful for, esp. because its occurrence prevents something unpleasant or provides relief from suffering"; it's an act "performed out of a compassionate desire to relieve suffering." From this I would say we are to forgive those who hurt us - even if we don't really want to, even if we're still hurting at the time. We need to or the hurt will end up distorting our views which will slow our progress toward God. Showing mercy to others is, often times, one of the most difficult things to do. It is also one of the most powerful ways to show God's love for people, His influence on their life, and what helps bring nonbelievers to Christ.

I think "mixed with fear" could be telling us to be careful that, in trying to "snatch others", we do not give in to the temptations of the world. It can be easy to lose sight of our original goal and purpose if we immerse ourselves in worldly activities and areas. Especially if we don't keep ourselves grounded in God through prayer and contact with other Christians. If we have fear that we'll fall into the traps we're trying to save others from, I believe we're less likely to actually fall.

It's the last part of this verse that I'm having trouble with: "hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh." Is "clothing" a metaphor for "our surroundings"? And "stained by corrupted flesh" a metaphor for the visible and audible decline in morality; the increase in sin - the XXX book and movie stores, the language and sex scenes so often heard and seen in TV and movies now, etc? Is this saying we are to hate these things because they are what is keeping us from God? I don't know. Anyone else have thoughts to share on this?

Still chewing

2006-05-22T07:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, first thought from me on this chapter:

wow, eternal damnation. (verses 5-7)

Am I the only one who is scared silly when they read verses like this?? This is not only the punishment that we rightly deserve, it is the punishment that many will receive (perhaps some that I love dearly).

I was encouraged as I read on by verse 21 (Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.)

And as we wait, we are called to "snatch others."

I hope and pray that we as individuals, we as a local church, and we as a body of believers can be obedient to this command.

Thanks for tying this in with the summer projects this summer! Great thoughts!

I also find the end of verse 23 very interesting as well:

to others show mercy, mixed with fear, hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

Mercy, fear, and hatred all in one command...any thoughts on this??

Who Ever Thought . . .

2006-05-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

Who ever thought "snatching someone" would be a good thing?!? :0) Hee, hee! That's awesome!

Lisa, thank you for your insights into this chapter. I know if you continually pray to God your desire to rely on Him will come to pass. Though it will probably be one of those things that Rob was talking about last night - it'll probably take a life time to accomplish. I have to admit, I don't think that's a bad thing. :0)

I look forward to reading comments from the rest of you throughout the week.

To keep you from falling?

2006-05-20T08:35:00.000-07:00

1To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ:2Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
I love the greeting in this book. I have purpose, I have value, and I have protection all in Jesus. I'm especially moved by the words "kept by Jesus Christ." It's funny that I struggle and seek these things that I've already been given. Why are my eyes blind so often?

Same with the doxology. We used to sing these words at summer camp...

24To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy. 25to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

This simplicity - that Jesus is able to keep us from falling, and that He can present us before God as blameless.... This simplicity is so humbling and so comforting. He can really do that for me.

Growing up I somehow thought that if you were a good enough Christian, somehow you would grow strong enough to resist temptations and immorality. When I read of the immorality in this passage I am reminded by the reference of Cain, Korah, and Balaam that God's people are not exempt from temptation or falling. I know I need God's help to keep me from stumbling and to bring me to a place where I "snatch others from the fire," but if I really believe this then I need to put verses 20-21 into practice. 20But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

That is my challenge for this week - more prayer and seeking God's forgiveness - more dependence on God - practicing mercy and love to those around me. Maybe then my natural instincts will stop preventing God from using me as a tool for snatching others.

2006-05-20: A Reminder From Jude

2006-05-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

Jude 1 (New International Version)

1Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,
To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by[a] Jesus Christ:

2Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

The sin and doom of Godless men

3Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. 4For certain men whose condemnation was written about[b] long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

5Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord[c] delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own homeÂthese he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

8In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. 9But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" 10Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animalsÂthese are the very things that destroy them.

11Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion.

12These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualmÂshepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprootedÂtwice dead. 13They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

14Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him." 16These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

A call to persevere

17But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." 19These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

20But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

22Be merciful to those who doubt; 23snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fearÂhating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

Doxology

24To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joyÂ 25to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Footnotes:
Jude 1:1 Or for; or in
Jude 1:4 Or men who were marked out for condemnation
Jude 1:5 Some early manuscripts Jesus

Thoughts/Comments/Questions:
In reading this I can't help but think about what our summer small groups will be doing - reaching out to those in our communities. The verses that really stand out to me are:

14 - 16: Adam's prophesy of God coming with ten's of thousands to judge everyone for what they believe and what they've done and said. It's an amazing picture.

17 - 22: be patient and trusting while waiting for God's return, don't let the ungodly sway you in your purpose to serve God; lean on Him when you feel pulled in the wrong direction; and (this, to me, really points to summer small group's purpose)

22Be merciful to those who doubt; 23snatch others from the fire and save them

We'll be out there over the summer showing God's love through service to others. The devil will try to discourage us (verses 18-19). Before going out each day, pray that God will protect you and provide you the opportunity to talk with people in your area about what He wants for them (to bring them to Him; to save them from the flesh through mercy, love, and forgiveness; that He loves them). They may not agree to accept God right there or go to The Rock or another church; but you've planted the seed. At that point it is up to that person to decide to let it grow or to keep it in darkness.

Be diligent (always keep your eyes open for opportunities) and be careful (pray for guidance before doing or talking) in bringing people to the Lord. Remember, sometimes what someone really needs is just to see a smile or hear someone say, "Hello."

Please share your thoughts/comments/questions about this book and/or my post with the rest of the group. Thank you all for your participation in the BBSG!

BBSG Get Together

2006-05-16T16:49:00.000-07:00

Hello, ladies! It's nice to have all of you here. I'd like for us to get together for a half hour or so this month. It'll be a "hi, nice to meet you and see who you are" type thing. Very informal. So that I know everyone can attend this first meeting, please send me two dates (with a time frame) that you're available to meet. I'd like the dates/times by Friday (19th) evening. I'll post the final date and time on Saturday morning.

Thank you all for the time you've spent in the BBSG site. I've really enjoyed reading your comments. With love - Tami

Hello!

2006-05-16T05:56:00.000-07:00

Hi Ladies!

Rachel Maren = Maren Q. (of Karl and Maren Q.) :)

Thanks for letting me join you! I'm just getting started,
so I'm going to jump in from where we're at and not try
to catch up on everything...I think that would be a lot
to do. I'm excited to join you, and I wanted to "introduce
myself" to the group!

Maren

Proverbs wisdom

2006-05-13T09:29:00.000-07:00

and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

To know that the Lord is our source for knowledge, wisdom and understanding gives me much hope. This world is very deceiving with it's wavering opinions and ever-changing knowledge. To know that we have God, who is the same now and forever, is so encouraging. "The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." Psalm 18:2
What beauty, to know that as this world and things in it change, God stays the same. We can put our trust in Him.

12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,
13 who leave the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,
14 who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
15 whose paths are crooked
and who are devious in their ways.

I can think of many times when I have been 'saved' from the ways of the wicked because of the wisdom God has given me. As I remember my youth, and times when I wasn't faithful to God.. I recall points where I had trials that were very delicate and difficult for me to handle, yet He was still there through the tough stuff whether I knew it or not. This reminds me of the song we sang last night, "when we are are faithless, he is faithful".

Joy moment

2006-05-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

Tami, when you said that God sat Joy next to you that night and encouraged you to keep crying, I couldn't help tearing up myself. That so beautiful.. reminds me of the song we sang last night and the part where it says "Fling wide you Heavenly gates"!!
God's loving arms open for you. Ready and willing to take you back..

Another Thought

2006-05-13T08:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, well I have something to add to this weeks post. I believe this chapter also very much applies to everyday life. The temptations of the world are around us every day. We are all tempted to do things that do not honor God. It can be a passive temptation - to read a novel instead of the Bible; to go for a walk instead of talking to a brother/sister in need. It can be an aggressive temptation - to have sex with your boyfriend instead of saying no; to go out and get drunk instead of going to church. Thinking we know better than God is probably one of the most difficult temptations to overcome when things are going good in our life (because we're so happy we don't realize what's happened).

Proverbs 2 reminds us of these - and other - daily temptations. But we are also given ways to defeat the temptations of the world - seek God for wisdom, guidance, and protection. Do this daily, even when things are going good; for it is in those times when the devil takes the greatest joy in seeing us fall. Don't give him that satisfaction. Instead, knock the devil down through your constant faith, love, and devotion to God! :0) The rewards God provides us far out weigh the worldly satisfaction we may feel at the moment of temptation. For me, the feeling I get when I do what is right is so much better than any feeling I've received from doing something I shouldn't.

That God has listed so plainly in Proverbs 2 the way to defeat sin and temptation is great! I love it!

Thank you for listening again.

2006-05-13: Encouragement In Proverbs

2006-05-13T07:10:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 2 (New International Version)

1 My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
3 and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He holds victory in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
9 Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair - every good path.

10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.
12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,
13 who leave the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,
14 who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
15 whose paths are crooked
and who are devious in their ways.
16 It will save you also from the adulteress,
from the wayward wife with her seductive words,
17 who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God. [a]
18 For her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
19 None who go to her return
or attain the paths of life.
20 Thus you will walk in the ways of good men
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will live in the land,
and the blameless will remain in it;
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

Footnotes:
Proverbs 2:17 Or covenant of her God

Thoughts/comments/questions:

In this chapter I find encouragement. The first set of verses tells us that if we seek and follow God honestly and continuously He will instruct us on what is good and right (verses 1 - 11). The chapter also tells us how God will protect the faithful in hard times. But do I know what "the fear of the LORD" is?

5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

I believe it is outlined in the last part of this chapter (verses 12 - 19). These verses describe many of the ways we can fall away from God. But there is encouragement before this list of falling points; for God tells us how we can avoid the pit falls of sin (again verses 1 through the first part of verse 12).

11 Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.
12 Wisdom will save you

Then He tells us what will happen when we follow Him faithfully:

20 Thus you will walk in the ways of good men
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will live in the land

This is amazing to me! To know that I can seek God and He will provide for me whenever I need something - that's awesome! How can someone love me this much? For Him to give me all the facts, to show me both the negative and the positive consequences of my actions so I can make a fully informed decision - that's so cool! Many people say there's nothing like the love and understanding of a mother. That's true; but even more than that, there's nothing like the love and forgiveness of God.

I'm so thankful to have Him in my life. I kind of left Him for a little bit when I left The Rock the first time. While I did not fallcompletelyy away, I did know there was something missing. The first night I was back at The Rock I knew what it was that had been missing - my seeking God more fully. I sat in church that night and cried for I don't know how long. Thankfully God sat Joy beside me who comforted me and actually encouraged me to cry more. She understood the big reason behind it - God had welcomed me with open arms back into His house. It was the best feeling in the world. So, when times get tough, when I feel like things are getting to be too much - I turn to Him for guidance.

8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.

Please share with the rest of the members your thoughts about this chapter.

P.S. - I'm sorry this post is a few minutes late. I didn't get the inspiration for the chapter until late last night. And I didn't write up my thoughts until this morning. Thank you all for your understanding. With love - Tami

reality check

2006-05-11T13:40:00.000-07:00

Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."

Ok. Personal application moment. God has been stretching Seth and me in lots of different areas lately. It's been in such a way that I've been struggling with trusting God and running ahead in my mind, making plans with what seems to be obviously set before us as God's providence and trying to fight that urge in favor of watching God move without any of my own expectations.

Most of you know, Seth lost his job a couple weeks ago. It was a surprise, but he was already looking for a job, had a couple prospects. He was wanting to make a job change by June, this was just a little sooner than we planned for, no big deal. He had an interview at the end of his first week of unemployment with a company he really wanted to work for. It was a job, not exactly where he wanted to be, but at least a foot in the door of a good company, with an old friend who he trusted and room to grow. Problem: it was a LOT less money than what we were expecting that position to pay, a big cut from what he had been making. But he was going to talk to them about if they could help him out and start him a little higher on the pay scale.

I also got a call that same week for a job position that seems perfectly suited for my experience and would be a significant pay increase. I was thinking that it looked like God's got this under control, he's going to make a way to make up the difference, and maybe a little more.

Last Friday, Seth got offered the job position that was open, but no dice on higher pay, they wouldn't give him any more. Yay! He has a job! God provides and he was only unemployed for 2 weeks! But that's not a lot of money...and we've already been cutting back to make ends meet!
The good part is they'll give him overtime! He's asked for as much as he can get...and they also think there will be another position open by the end of the summer that will be higher paying and more along the lines of what he's been doing for the last 4 years

So I went thru 2 interviews for the position I was contacted about, the last of which was on Monday. Toward the end of the interview, I was getting some verbal signals from the lady that I wasn't necessarily too encouraged by, and it would be at least 2 weeks before I would know anything for sure. I start thinking - if this doesn't turn out, am I going to be able to find another job like it? It's sort of a niche position that not too many companies have or need people in. I was a little melancholy on Monday night into Tuesday (you saw it J, not pretty) and having a hard time seeing where God could turn this into something good. We're already a paycheck short this month because Seth didn't work for 2wks, we just put in GOBS of money to fix Seth's car last month, we're considering going to New Orleans next month with the Rock, but that may mean that Seth would have to take the week unpaid because he's not eligible for vacation time yet. It all mounted up in my head, and I saw no hope.

Thankfully I've got good friends who kick me in the butt and give me encouragement, and my God is so good that he reminds me of all the verses that have been my strength the last few weeks since all this started. It's just been up and down, and up and down, one day I think I can see where God is pointing us, and starting to make plans, and the next day I'm perfectly in the dark. I know where I want to go, and where we're planning to go, but it's not turning out so much that way.

Then I read Tami's post about James 4, and these verses, and I have to laugh at myself.

Who am I to tell God the way things are gonna be? I have to daily put these plans at God's feet and say that when things happen and how things happen are up to him. That's not something I'm used to. I usually can see where things are going and they end up pretty much how I expected them to be.

This is definitely one of the biggest test of my faith that I have endured, probably because so much more is on the line. I've never had a house payment before, I've never been married and wanting kids before, waiting on God's timing. It's kind of harder than I thought. But I've seen God's grace and his favor. He has been so faithful, and I can't imagine him not continuing to be faithful. I know we've got friends praying for us, and it means a lot.

Bleaugh! this is going to degenerate into mushyness....I'll be done now. Those are the verses that stuck out to me. The end! =)

Laura, I am challenged by

2006-05-10T22:24:00.000-07:00

Laura, I am challenged by the first verse from James 4 you quoted: "When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on Him, He will lift you up." There is a long standing issue I've been working on trying to forgive someone for. I can't seem to find a way to do it. This verse reminds me that I have to rely on God at times like this to get me through it, to give me the strength, and the words to do it. I know it will make me feel better - like you said who doesn't want to be lifted up by God? But I still hesitate. Other convicting and/or encouraging verses you want to share will be appreciated. Thank you.

Interestingly enough that second verse you point out: "you want only what will bring give you pleasure" - and then you say we all try to avoid arguing with others (among other things we want to avoid). I actually, sometimes - not always, but sometimes - like a good argument. It clears the air and gives the friendship a chance to grow stronger. Or at least that's how I see it any way. Is that weird??

Christine, you've brought

2006-05-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

Christine, you've brought up some really good points. I definitely know what you mean about music, movies, and Target! I used to go to Target all the time - and I would be surprised when the total bill was less than $80. Often times it was much more than that but anyways . . . I don't go to Target much any more.

I think it's awesome that you're wanting to take some time out and get back to the "roots" of Christianity by spending time with your "lost" friends. To talk with them and show them through your friendship and deeds what God does in your life is a huge move in gathering new people to God. I also think it good that you're scared you'll end up wasting your time on "worldly things". Sound strange? Well, I think it's good because I believe you'll be paying attention to what you are spending your time doing. You'll make a more conscience effort to not fall into that trap. And I think your fear and your desire to do God's work will both keep pointing you to the verses you need when you need them. Keep praying and asking for guidance. I really believe you'll be provided opportunities to do great things!

Jodi, I love your post!

2006-05-10T21:41:00.000-07:00

Jodi, I love your post! Especially the part about you've asked plenty but . . . perhaps with the wrong motive. I pray a lot and many times God says yes. But there are many times when He says no, too. Maybe I've asked with the wrong motive - or it just isn't something I'm supposed to receive a yes to.

Being single, yes there are many benefits to this. You don't have to check with the "better half" before making plans; there's less laundry to do; you don't have to clean up after anyone, "sole possession of the remote control, that's very important" (a line from "While You Were Sleeping"). But for all the benefits of being single there are some drawbacks, too. And sometimes those drawbacks far outweigh the benefits.

I love verse 14! "yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." It really helps put some perspective on my view of life, of how I think things should be. I sometimes find myself getting caught up in what I want, where I want to go, what I want to do. I start making plans and get excited about what's in store for me. Then suddenly I remember this line from a song (I unfortunately cannot remember the artist name right now), "if you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans". Then I get this picture of God in my mind: he's smiling and laughing/chuckling, saying, "you're funny. You really are. But no." And somehow I find that very amusing. It always makes me laugh. :0)

Drawing close to God

2006-05-10T14:56:00.000-07:00

Christine- I have to agree with you, this is a tough chapter to live out. I dont enjoy misery, sorrow or gloom in my life, however, this is where our growth and character builds. James 1:2 states"Whenever trouble comes your way let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow." So When we're in trouble or being tested, we should make it an opportunity for joy and growth. When we share our grief and sorrow filled moments we grow closer to God, and this is His very desire.
"When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up"
So who doesn't want to be lifted up, especially by our Heavenly Father? God wants to be our best friends. He wants all that we have to give.Its difficult for me to imagine how a perfect God could want to be in a close relationship with a sinful human being. ? Always breaking the heart of God because of our sinful nature.The truth, is we are as close to God as we choose to be. Prayer is a source of growth in our spiritual lives and brings us closer to God. The more we desire an intimate relationship with God and get to know his character qualities, the more we care about what He cares about.
"..you want only what will bring give you pleasure"
We want to avoid the tough stuff. We despise that difficult conversation, or that performance review at work ... or other dreadful things. I know I've been there.

"If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that."
This part of the chapter reminds me to live a life fully surrendered to Christ. "..your will be done.." Prayer bends my life to the will of God. It is through submitting my desires, my thoughts, my life to Christ that His will is done. "... take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:5
"Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins."
This is especially convicting when I look at servanthood. There is always room for improvement and opportunities to do more. Do we make sacrifices for this world, or for God? Is it ok to suffer and trouble ourselves to do the good we ought to do? "But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God" 1 Peter 2:20

2006-05-09T10:35:00.000-07:00

Note: Sorry about using a different translation, I was reading it from my bible (which is NASB), and then cutting and pasting from the same version on bible gateway…I didn’t really think about it being different from the one posted here. Anyway, on with the post!:

You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

I have a really hard time with this verse. Not a hard time as in “I can’t believe it.” In fact, I have a really easy time believing in it! We only have to look around us to see how much this world sucks, there is despair at every corner as people continue and continue to “follow their hearts.” Jeremiah 17:9 says that “the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick.” God has made this clear as day, yet the world continues to live by this mantra where their heart is on a pedestal as the ultimate idol. Sin has corrupted this world to the point where it barely even resembles what He initially created for us.

So...anyway, the problem I have with this verse is that my flesh just cries out for things of this world. I love tv, I love movies, I love music, I love target and ikea…Can anyone relate to this?

I decided last week that I wasn’t going to lead a small group next year (Jodi, we should talk about that!), my motives being that I want to spend my time building one-on-one relationships, and I want to have more time to invest in my lost friends. I put a lot of prayer into this decision, and I know it is the right one, but I’m really afraid that I’ll waste the time I’m given to entertain myself with all sorts of distracting and aesthetically pleasing things. You ask and you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures (v. 3). Except I asked and I did receive, as far as I can tell my motives are pure, but I’m still afraid of that last part…

So how to submit to God? He tells us:
Submit therefore to God Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. (v. 7-10)

Woah, that’s some pretty heavy stuff. I read this and say “yep, so true, God loves the humble, he loves those who mourn and weep and are miserable.” Except I then put down my bible and go hang out with a friend to laugh the night away! If you know me, you know I laugh a LOT. When I think about this I practically have an internal temper tantrum with God - I don’t want to be miserable!!
This is a tough chapter to put into practice!

I really like verse 15, maybe a good exercise in humiliation would be to daily pray to the Lord: If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that. No matter how much I whine to the Lord, His will will be done in my life and it is not my right to judge how He builds His kingdom – I want to do “this or that” for the Lord, whatever “this or that” turns out to be. Even if it means marrying a mime who hates television and movies. :)

This is a challenging, but great chapter! I like how the last verse (though I didn’t talk about it at all), is so directly related to the last chapter we read, nice segue Tami!

Singleness

2006-05-08T18:55:00.000-07:00

After having brunch with married people Sunday morning and certain things that have been in my life and mind - my sister having another kid, etc. I've been thinking more about my 'gift' as a single person. Now, I'm fairly content and recognize fully the advantages of being single. There are many things I wouldn't want to give up and hearing conversations about how hard it is to be married, I am darn thankful that I'm single. Marriage scares me in some ways and I'm glad I don't have that trial to endure.

HOWEVER, there's a part of me that does still ache and yearn to be married. I admit that there are moments when I have a world-class pity party of why I'm not married and it can be very ugly. Ok, how does this relate to James chapter 4?

"You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you know know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?" James 4:2-4a

"You desire and do not have, so you murder." (2a) If you hate someone in your heart and mind, you murder Jesus teaches us. How many times in my mind have I been jealous against someone who is engaged or married and I compare myself to them? I murder people right there. I have made tremendous strides in the past year, but I have to work to capture my thoughts so that I can be truly happy for them and not focus on my own selfishness. Anyone recognize that from Mark's sermon on jealousy a couple of weeks ago? How convicting!!

"You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel." (2b) Again, see above. How many fights or struggles have I had because of my jealousy? Also, I get angry with some guys that I've known throughout my life that in my mind things should be different, and they're not, so I fight and quarrel. Sigh.

"You do not have, because you do not ask." (2c) Well, I think I've asked plenty, but. . .

"You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." Dang. Am I asking out of selfish motives? Am I asking because I think that being married will fulfill a longing that God put in me to draw me closer to Him?? Probably. And, chime in married ladies, I KNOW that being married doesn't fulfill all those things and married people get lonely and feel unfulfilled.

"You adulterous people!" (4a) Yes, when I look to man to fulfill my desires, I cheat on God. "It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man." Psalm 118:8 Man - mankind - even when I look to my girlfriends to comfort me sometimes instead of running to the almighty, I'm cheating on God. Does He not put trials in our lives to draw us closer to Him? "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." James 4:8

"Do you now know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?" (4b) I was telling some girlfriends last week that it's sometimes a struggle to feel of value in my familiy. I'm this outsider who isn't married; doesn't have kids. What worth do I have? In the world, I'm not leading a normal life - there's something wrong with me. But, this verse gives me so much hope! It's ok that I'm not married or have kids. It's ok if I don't always fit in with my family. My focus needs to remain on God and serving Him and not worry about what the world thinks. If God wants us to be married because that's His will, he'll make it happen. If I do have the gift of singleness and that's how I need to serve Him. Well, His grace is sufficient to get me through everything. The important thing is: "Set your mind on things above, not on things that are on Earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." Colossians 3:2-3

And in verse 14: "yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and than vanishes." I can't waste my time worrying about what tomorrow will bring. We have so little time and I can only trust that God has His best for me to serve His purposes, not my own passions."

Good Works

2006-05-08T18:49:00.000-07:00

I LOVE James!! One of the things in the book is about works vs faith and how one gets saved. James 2:14: "What is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

Last night at small group, we had quite a discussion on why we do good works. Are there different levels of rewards in heaven? If we do more, are we storing up more treasures in heaven? Is it a selfish motive that we do this? From pondering that, the last verse in the chapter struck me, "So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." James 4:17. To know what is right and not do it is sin. When we sin, the Holy Spirit convicts us and grinds against us. This verse says to me that we do good works because the Holy Spirit does not want us to sin. We can rebel and not do the right thing, but because of the Spirit living inside of us, we do what is right.

I think of the story of Corrie Ten Boom and when she forgave her concentration camp guard - she could not, but the Spirit inside of her could. There are many times I think of that. There are things I don't want to do - think I can't, but the Spirit inside of me can. Orpah would tell us that we need to do what feels right; to take care of ourselves. There are many things I would rather not do, but the Spirit that lives inside me because I have accepted Jesus Christ as my savior compels me and gives me the strength to do it anyway - "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Phil 4:13

2006-05-06: James 4

2006-05-05T22:48:00.000-07:00

James 4 (New International Version)

Submit Yourselves to God 1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
4You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?[a] 6But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."[b]
7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
11Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
Boasting About Tomorrow 13Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." 16As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

Footnotes:
James 4:5 Or that God jealously longs for the spirit that he made to live in us; or that the Spirit he caused to live in us longs jealously
James 4:6 Prov. 3:34

Thoughts/comments/questions:

This is a chapter I originally read back in November 2005. At that time there were 2 verses that really struck me. Having read it again tonight the same verses stand out to me. They remind me of how to handle difficult situations. It's a good reminder considering some of the things I'm faced with right now. The first verse that stands out is:

10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor. God gives you strength to get through any situation - if you ask for His help. Then He gives you credit for sticking with it till the end.

Second was verses 13-15:

13Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."

So often we tend to think we are in control of our lives. Then when something bad happens, suddenly it's not us in control, it's not our fault this bad thing has happened. The truth is we are in control of our lives. God has given us the power of free will. He allows us to make the choice to follow Him or follow man. If we choose to follow God we should not view our lives as our own. If we are truly following God we have given Him back our life and He is in control as much as we allow Him to be. So we should not make decisions based on what we want our life to be like. Instead we should make decisions based on what God wants our life to be like.

Sometimes it's difficult to do what He wants because it takes us out of our comfort zone and/or challenges us to grow. But the Lord has a plan for us - one we cannot even begin to imagine. Seek His guidance and follow His will for you. He will give you the strength and wisdom to complete the task sucessfully. These are very encouraging passages for me right now.

Is there a particular verse or set of verses from James 4 that stands out for you?

oops - 1 more thought

2006-05-05T16:31:00.000-07:00

One more thought. So, where is the line between not doing things to cause someone to stumble and pleasing someone? There are extremes. One of my favorite verses since 2006 started has been,

"For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to
please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant
of Christ." Galatians 1:10

How do you think that verse plays in with the chapter?

Who am I?

2006-05-05T16:30:00.000-07:00

Oh - and 'j' is Jodi Bonkoski. You all know me! I'm glad you decided to join. This is so excellent to be challenged to really focus on a selected scripture and I LOVE hearing what you lovely ladies are getting out of it!

My 2 cents

2006-05-05T16:14:00.000-07:00

Tami - like you this was a really well timed chapter for me.

Verse 8 - "If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's."

This reminded me of Colossians 3:23, "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men." One of my cliches, is: It doesn't matter what you do if you're not doing it for the Lord. We can be 'good people', but there are a lot of 'good people' in the world. It needs to be for God's glory and with our hearts in obedience to him - which then reminds me of 1 Samuel 15:22, "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen that the fat of rams." But, I'm getting off topic.

Verse 11 - "As I live, says the Lord, ever knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God."

I like this because it says to me, 'Don't judge others; they will give account to the Lord.' I can't judge a person's heart and one day the Lord will judge everyone. It doesn't matter if I think it's wrong. God knows everything - who can conceal anything from Him. We had a small group lesson this year on the entire topic of, Can you conceal anything from God?

Verse 22 - The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God.

There are certainly things that I'm convicted of, that other people may not be. Others - even Christians think I'm crazy for it. I know what God wants from me and to compromise would be a slap to Him. So, there are things that I do keep to myself. They're not wrong for other people to do, but they're wrong for me because of how God uniquely created me. It's hard not to get frustrated sometimes that others are permitted to do things I'm not, but I have to remember that God has his best intentions for me.

General Thoughts - One of my other cliches, that I especially like to tell leaders is that our lives are not our own. What we do affects others. Mark's saying is, "What leaders do in moderation, followers do in excess." That's so true. I forget how much people are watching me. Even at work, they know I'm a Christian. When I start stumbling, they know it, and what kind of a witness am I? So many people are turned off by hypocrisy and I have to watch my actions not to add to that perception.

I think this chapter is also great on legalism. Again, thinking of 1 Sam 15:22. God wants our hearts, not to necessarily follow a book of laws and edicts. We need to be sensitive not to cause someone else to stumble. It's easy sometimes to follow someone else's convictions because it looks good - and it can make us look good as a Christian. But, if it's not something God's convicting us for, are we doing it for Him or for appearances?

No Need to Hide

2006-05-04T15:16:00.000-07:00

Reading Romans 14, I'm reminded of a series that Pastor Mark gave about a year and a half ago called "No Need To Hide". I remember this message the most because he talked about everyone's different quirks and personalities. Pastor Mark so boldly went through his quirks and it was hilarious. It really emphasized the point that we are all God's children and are all family and we all have different belief's. I know I"m touching on what other people have said but I'm amazed at the Rock of how many different people we have and how we all think and act differently yet we get along and love each other anyway. Some people smoke, others don't, some have tattoos and others don't....yada, yada, yada. The Rock is so different from other churches I've been to because people are who they are and for me this is the first place where I felt I could be myself quirks and all!

12Yes, each of us will have to give a personal account to God. 13So don't condemn each other anymore. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not put an obstacle in another Christian's path.

These verses really had an impact on me while reading.......it makes you think more about judging others because they have different political views or what we eat. We individually have to face God in the end and worrying about other people's shortcomings or other point of views is not the way, instead we need to encourage one another and stay strong.

Romans 14

2006-05-02T10:56:00.000-07:00

I love this chapter in Romans, it's always been a good reminder for me to consider what others believe and not belittle them for those convictions.

When I was in school, there was a big deal about summer mission trips and lots of people would go on them. The very 1st week after school was done we would do a team building "Ropes" program designed to get us ready to work together as a team and also challenge ourselves physically and spiritually. One of the things I really brought from that is they made a point to continually remind us not to discount anyone else's fears, desires, hopes, prayers, convictions, anything. The idea was that each of us have feelings and beliefs that are particular to us, and no one else can place value or take value away from them but us. Because of this we should take care not to belittle or dismiss anything that anyone said or felt. As a team, we're supposed to build each other up and encourage one another.

We have no right to tell someone that what they believe isn't as important or as "holy" as what we believe. We can't tell someone that their feelings or convictions don't matter. It's easy to do these days, especially with hot button topics and more ideological separation even between Christians. It would be easy to consider someone not as holy because they think it's ok to drink, or even to have a drink without considering that someone in your group maybe struggles with alcohol or similar addiction. Either way, you could be causing someone to stumble by questioning their commitment to God or by allowing someone to justify destructive behavior.

This is sort of rambling and not pulling together like I wanted it to, so I'll wrap up. =) In general, I think the passage reminds us that we're not alone, we all live together and affect one another, so we have to be careful to appreciate others' differences and be considerate of them. We don't have to agree, we just shouldn't flagrantly ignore others' preferences. That's definitely selfish and definitely missing the point of the freedom we have in Christ and the love we're supposed to be showing to others.

Reflection on Romans

2006-04-30T09:10:00.000-07:00

One part that struck me was this verse:
19Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

I really am a peacemaker, but I am also obstinant. I like to be right and I have difficulties taking correction. So, my instinct is to defend myself if I am doing something that someone else believes it is wrong. It challenges me to think of their faith above their judgment on my actions. Just because I think it is okay to do something doesn't mean I should... OTHERS first.... God's PLAN and PURPOSE first...

okay... but what if they don't judge me?... what about non-Christians or struggling Christians?.... What if they think drinking is okay or whatever the thing may be? Will my drinking with them help our relationship or hinder it? How can I tell how it will affect their faith? Do I need to only listen to Christian music with them to prove my commitment to Jesus? I don't think so, but I wonder...

Introductino

2006-04-30T09:03:00.000-07:00

Maybe everyone could give an introduction of who they are. I have guesses, but I'm not sure.

Let's see... I'm Lisa Rhody. I've been going to the ROCK since Jan 2003. I just got married this fall to Jesse. I live in St. Louis Park. I teach preschool in Champlin. Right now we are not in a small group, but praying about which one to join. Last year I was in Jodi Bonkoski's group. I miss hearing other people's perspectives on Scripture and being challenged by their commitment to Christ. Hope this is not too boring to you :)

2006-04-29 A Chapter From Romans

2006-04-29T00:02:00.000-07:00

Romans 14 (New International Version)

1Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. 2One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
9For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. 10You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. 11It is written: " 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.' "[a] 12So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. 14As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food[b] is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. 15If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. 16Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.
19Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.
22So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

Please share with the group any questions and/or thoughts you have on this chapter.

When I first read this chapter I was amazed at how much it struck me. It was very much an answer to my prayer. Just before I had read this chapter I had prayed for assistance in "productively interacting with someone". I truly believe in the power of prayer but God amazes me all the time with the things he does for us.

This chapter in Romans reminded me that everyone is different and we need to accept each other - the good and the bad - for who we each are. We need to respect each other and our differences. We need to find a way to work with each others weaknesses and strengths. Just "dealing" with someone in their weakness isn't going to make things better, less frustrating, less annoying, etc. I think we need to turn these obstacles into learning experiences so we grow in ourselves, in each other, and especially in our faith to bring us closer to God.

I hope you enjoy this chapter and I pray it helps you when you find yourself in need of "productively interacting" with someone.

What in this chapter do you find the most thought provoking? Do you see a situation in your life where this chapter will help you?

Welcome to the Blog Bible Study Group (BBSG)!

2006-04-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

Thank you for your commitment to help other women grow closer to God and stronger in their faith while you also grow and strengthen your relationship with Him. Throughout each week as we read the Bible and the member's posts we'll also gain a better understanding of each other. I pray this will allow us to grow as individuals and as women in Christ. I would also like this to be an opportunity for each of us to learn through the Bible and each other what we can do to be an excellent Christian example to others in the communities we live, work, and visit in.

I'm so excited to have each of you here! I honestly believe we're all here for a purpose. I know we can each provide some insight to various Bible verses and/or chapters. I can hardly wait to get started! I will be posting the first chapter for discussion on Saturday, April 29, 2006 by 10 AM. Remember to check back often to keep the conversation(s) going!

I look forward to serving each of you by facilitating the BBSG. Have a great week! God bless. With love - Tami