Complete in Christ

“I have a great need for Christ, I have a great Christ for my need.” 

                                ~Charles Spurgeon
 

Wondering why you aren’t ever happy?  Feel like something is missing?  Are you constantly searching for something to bring you joy?

Maybe it’s because your need for Christ hasn't been met.  God created you for a purpose and placed within you a desire to need Him in your life.  We read earlier in our Colossians study “…all things were created by him, and for him.”  (Col 1:16)  You’re either living your life for Him as He created you or you’re looking for other things to fill that void.

I’ve been reading and listening to a lot of Sally Clarkson lately.  She gives an example of when she was living in a foreign country and trying to assemble something using instructions in a foreign language.  She didn’t understand the instructions so it was a hopeless case!  But then she found an interpreter and it was easily assembled. 

Our problem today is not with the instructions but with the interpretation.  We’ve put our trust in the wrong interpreter.  We depend on society to tell us what will bring us joy instead of our creator.  Do you even know what the Bible says about your purpose?  About truly having joy? About satisfying your needs?

“And ye are complete in him…” Colossians 2:10

It says you are COMPLETE in Christ.  That’s such a comfort to me!  HE’S ALL I NEED!!!  I don’t have to have a lot of money, power or good looks.  I just have to believe and fully trust in Him.  That’s the secret to life!

Are you feeling incomplete and in NEED this morning?  Get in His word and allow Him to complete you.  Here’s just a few examples to get you started:

Need a Friend – John 15:15

Need Strength-Psalm 46

Need Comfort – John 14:18

Need Joy- John 16:22

Need Peace – John 16:33

Need Encouragement – 1 Corinthians 10:13

Need Wisdom - James 1:5

Need Spiritually Fed – John 6:35

Need Forgiveness – Ephesians 1:7, 1 John 1:9

Need Love-John 15:13, Romans 8:35

Need Grace – 2 Corinthians 12:9

Need a Savior – Luke 19:10, John 3:16-17

Need a New Life- 1 John 5:12

I pray that you will allow your needs to be met by the one who created you and knows you best.  The one and only one who can truly complete you.

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Realizing My Role In Marriage: R-E-S-P-E-C-T

This is one of those posts I really don't want to write but once again I said I'd be honest.  This blog is about me trying to live out my priorities-the good, the bad, and the ugly. So while I'm a little embarrassed here's some of the bad and the ugly!

For the last couple weeks I've been a rather bitter wife.  My husband has been working to provide for our family, coaching and then on weekends he usually is hunting or fishing.  He hasn't been home very much at all.  I'm 35 weeks pregnant and felt that instead he should be home catering to my every need!  Isn't that what husbands are supposed to do while you are pregnant?  Run out for every craving, rub your feet, wait on you hand and foot?

That's not what the Bible says and I've been convicted on that this week during our GMG study.  So many people turn to self-help books or counselors but whom better to listen to than the one who not only CREATED man and woman but the institution of marriage!  He's already laid out the "secret" to a successful marriage for us.  Somehow until this week I'd missed part of it.  I'd read and comprehended  most of it but hadn't really let the 33rd verse of Ephesians sink in and boy is it important!   He created us quite differently but then He told us exactly what the other one needs:

Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.  Ephesians 5:33

There's the secret - Women need to be loved and men need to be respected.  I hadn't felt loved (because of my selfish way of thinking) and so in return I hadn't been respecting my husband.

Our GMG post on Monday was a guest post by Dr. Emerson Eggerich.  He says,

"A husband is to obey the command to love even when a wife does not obey this command to respect, a wife is to obey the command to respect even when a husband does not obey this command to love."

Ouch!  That one hit home!!

Then Tuesday I read:  "Husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it." Ephesians 5:25.

I went to a Bible Study not long ago and loved the way this scripture was brought out. Christ not only died for the church but he gave himself for it DAILY.  Making sacrifices for us so that not only do we have life but we have it more abundantly. While this says husbands you could easily exchange it for wives too. We should strive daily to make our spouse's life better!  It's easy to say we'd die for them but what about those everyday sacrifices we could make to put them first so that their life could be easier and more abundant?

By Tuesday night when my husband got home I was apologizing. No more griping, trying to make him feel guilty when in reality he was trying his best and doing all he could!   And truth be told I know that if I'd of shared any craving or  other want (not even need) to him he would've gotten or done it for me!  As he has many times!

We are often so stubborn (me especially) and don't want to humble ourselves and admit when we are wrong. However, I've learned that since we are one (Ephesians 5:31) when we love and respect each other then love and respect are usually returned. Of course it also works the other way, when we hurt each other then we are only hurting ourselves!

I love what Whitney says about love and respect and the "Vicious Cycle" in her post this week: 

"Much of our wedding day is a blur, but one thing I’ll never forget is our pastor friend speaking of the “vicious cycle” of love and respect that day.  Since then it has become a popular term that Tyler and I refer to often in our marriage.  It’s the “vicious cycle” that’s explained in Ephesians 5:  when I respect and submit to Tyler out of obedience to God, then it prompts him to respond in love.  And when he loves me as Christ loved the church, I want to respect and submit all the more.  And the cycle continues."

Can you relate? Where is your marriage in this cycle?  Do you need to "re-set" the cycle? 
Here are a couple other blogs on marriage I enjoyed this week:

Being Kind - Joy from Grace Full Mama

Hubby First Hospitality - Karen Ehman   

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Restored, Renewed and Revived

“That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;  And that ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”  Ephesians 4:21-24

Re·viv·al [noun]– the act of restoring life

I mentioned in the previous post that Revival season is upon us in our church association.   I love Spring Revival because it’s so easy to look around us and see things being brought back to life, especially this year as it have been unseasonably warm in our area.  We can already see daffodils,  Bradford pears, and even some Dogwoods starting to bloom.  Life is coming back all around us!

It reminds me of our spiritual lives.  Ideally, we’d all love to be constantly fruitful – blooming with God’s love, peace, and joy all the time. But unfortunately we’re human and just like nature, we go through seasons in our spiritual life. 

When we are first saved, God takes out our stony heart and gives us a new one. (Eze.36:26) Our sins along with the person we used to be our buried and we become a new person.  Unfortunately, being this new person doesn’t just come naturally (or at least it doesn’t for me) from that point on.   

2 Corinthians 4:16 says “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”

Each day I must die out to sin and be renewed by Christ. 

If you look around at the trees during the winter-they’re dead and not much to look at. However, then comes spring, those warmer days when they’re getting the light and the sources of food they need. Then they start to bloom again. Even in our deadest days when we are far from our Light- God is still there.  Even though on the outside we may look and even feel dead and useless- God still has hope for us!  He still has a purpose for our lives! As long as we turn back to Him and get what we need spiritually then He’ll revive us. 

As I study these scriptures this week and prepare for Revival my desire is to truly be restored, renewed and revived:

Restored

“Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”  Psalm 51:12

Sometimes I need to go back to where it all started.   Remember when you were first saved?   I do!  I remember the joy that came from being made new.  I remember rising from the altar and feeling total peace and contentment.  I remember feeling free from sin.   That joy didn’t just end the next day.  It’s still with me, even though at times I must ask God to restore it.  

Renewed

 

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”  Psalm 51:10. 

Sometimes we have to ask God to clean us up!  We must again lay aside the “old man” and His sinful ways.  ANYTHING that is coming between us and God must be cast to the side!  Things have been revealed to me even this week as I’ve studied and prayed for God to show me anything in my life that is a hindrance.  When we put aside these things and clean up our heart, then the right spirit will be renewed!  He can give us an even clearer purpose and desire to do His work!    

Revived  

“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”  Isaiah 57:15

 I love that the first part of this verse tells how big and powerful God dwelling in high and holy places.  Yet the end says that when we become humble and sincerely remorseful then He’s right there with us too!  And why is He there?   Because He’s ready and willing to revive us!  When we truly become humble and willing then He is ready give us back life.

 That’s my desire to be on “fire” for Him and about his business!  I want once again to be renewed in the spirit and put on the “new man:!

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One in Christ

This week our GMG group has started the fourth chapter of Ephesians and we are all over one of, if not the, main message Paul is trying to convey to the church. 

 

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”  Ephesians 4:4-6.

One body

One Spirit

One hope

One Lord

One Faith

One Baptism

One God and Father

See a pattern?  Paul is telling them to lay aside their differences. Because of Christ they are now ALL one!    We can have peace and unity through Christ.  His blood made us ALL one! 

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28

“Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.”  Colossians 3:11

Christ himself even prayed for unity in the church:

 

"That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us:  that the world may believe that thou has sent me.”  John 17:21

So Christ died for it, Paul was thrown in prison for it but we still struggle to live in it.   We may blame it on others and the words they say or things they do.  But is it really them or is it us?  Paul gives us some guidelines and characteristics we should live by to help us live in unity:

 

“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  Ephesians 4:1-3

First of all he tells us to walk worthy of being a Christian. In other words walk like Christ.   Then he gives us some specific characteristics:  lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, and forbearance.  Here’s a little on what Matthew Henry says on each of these in his commentary:

Lowliness – The opposite of pride, humbleness.  “By pride comes contention, by humbleness comes love.”

Meekness – not provoking others, not easily provoked or offended; showing patience and humility, submissive

Long Suffering – patient bearing of injuries, without seeking revenge

Forbearing One Another  - Loving them despite their faults as Christ has loved and forgiven us

That’s a lot to live up to and look at our own lives before we start blaming someone else!  If we truly walked like Christ, had these characteristics and focused on what unites us not divides us then we’d find ourselves dwelling together in unity.  

If you’re attending a church regularly then I’m afraid to say that I can just about guarantee there will come a time when someone is going to say something that’s going to hurt your pride or offend you.  I know they have me before.   The difference comes with what we are going to do about it.  Our first instinct is to lash back, hold a grudge, or just pack up our bags and head to the house!  When really what Paul is telling us here is that it’s often our own selfish pride that causes the confusion and discord.  Chances are the person who said or did something did not mean to intentionally offend us but because of our own selfish pride we were easily provoked and took it that way. 

I hope the next time this happens to me I can evaluate my own life and respond as Christ would.  Focus on the things that unites us not divides us!  If necessary, give the other person grace, forgiveness, love and prayer just as Christ would.  We can accomplish SO much more when we are working together for Christ as one!  After all,

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”  Psalm 133:1

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Comprehending God's Love

"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole fmaily in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God."  Ephesians 3:14-19

As we continue in Ephesians, I am more amazed with every verse at Paul’s love and concern for the church.  I love what he is praying here.  He’s asking God to let his fellow brothers and sisters truly comprehend God’s love.   A love that has no limits – it is unconditional, boundless, powerful, pure, sacrificial, and inseparable-just to describe it in a few words.  A love that Francis Chan describes as “crazy” and I’m quite sure that if we truly loved like Jesus in today’s world that’s exactly what we’d be called-crazy!  I wonder how many of us truly “get” it or even try to understand it?  I’ve wondered if I truly understand it. 

I think Paul did, as much as this mortal body can anyway. Here he was imprisoned yet saying “Don’t worry about me.  Don’t become discouraged because of what’s happened to me.”  Instead of praying for himself or drowning in self pity he was praying for the “inner man” of his fellow brothers and sisters.    It’s too much for this selfish outer man to understand.  In verse 19 Paul says “it passeth knowledge.”  It doesn’t make sense to this outer flesh.  That’s where the Holy Spirit comes in. 

So why would Paul even be praying for them to comprehend God’s love?  I think he wanted his brothers and sisters in Christ to understand God’s love so that they could show His love.   If we’re a Christian, that pure, unconditional love is in us because God is in us.  We’re filled with it but do we allow it work in us and to show forth in our lives?  Loving each other isn’t simply a request from God it’s a commandment. 

“This I my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.”  John 15:12 (emphasis added).

  That’s some serious love and when we begin to even slightly comprehend that love then we can understand the love we should show to one another.   Still not convinced he literally means love like Jesus? 

“Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”  1 John 3:16

Love involves sacrifice.  Love involves action.  One of my personal favorite verses on love is:

“My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”  1 John 3:18.  

  In some ways I think God slowly reveals it to us – as much as we can handle at one time.   For example, has someone ever tried to teach you something just by telling you and you think you get it.  However, once you really start practicing and doing it on your own then you start to fully comprehend it.  I’ve always learned more by doing than hearing.  I think that’s how God’s love is.  We can read our Bibles all day and even memorize it; however, the more we experience and exercise his love and trust in Him then the more he fills us with a greater understanding of His love.

It’s not always easy to love others, just to be honest, some try to make it difficult.  But have you ever stopped to think that’s the ones that may just need God’s love the most?  How about those times you neglected to put God first until something came up then you hit your knees?  Did God say “Sorry you’ve not put me first even after I’ve told you time and time again-even after I’ve already helped you out of this same circumstance?”  No, he didn’t.  Instead, God was still there right where you left him and once you were back in his grace you felt even more loved and closer to Him.   Maybe that’s why Paul understood God’s love better than others.  God’s love had reached him when he was about as low as someone could get.   When you don’t feel others are being “fair” to you or treating you like you want to be treated then that’s when God’s love can shine the brightest.  Do you we get that?

What if you loved like Jesus in your relationships?  What if …

Ø  We loved our spouses like Christ loved us? 

Ø  We loved our brothers and sisters in Christ like He loves us? 

Ø  We loved our children like God loves us?

Ø  We didn’t wear our feelings on our sleeves or “puff up” when things didn’t go our way but instead expected and willingly gave more than we received from our relationships. 

Ø  We didn’t judge or criticize but prayed more for the “inner being”.  

Ø  Instead of giving up on each other, we gave more of ourselves.   

What if we really started to comprehend God’s love and to do what the Bible says-show it!! 

 Novel idea huh?

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Amazing Grace: My Story

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)  Ephesians 2:4-5

This week in Ephesians I have been taken back to a time when I was 7 years old.  A time when even though I was a sinner God still loved me and showed me mercy and grace.  A time when (as my Daddy says) it became personal to me.  God was no longer just  Abraham, David and PaPaw's God-but through Christ he became MY God! 

I'm thankful that I can look back 24 years later and still be amazed!  There are so many things we get excited about and want to share with others.  God's grace should definitely be one...so here's my experience of grace...

My parents always took me to church as a little girl.  If the church doors were open then we were there!  I'm thankful for the church I went (and still go to) where the truth and the whole truth was (is) preached, including hell. I'd never done anything incredibly bad yet by nature I was a sinner (Ephesians 1:3) and just as guilty as anyone else.  Soon conviction set up and I was terrified of dying and going to hell.  I can remember asking my Daddy to wait until I went to sleep before he did.  One night he even took me outside and we walked around the house as he showed me there was nothing to be afraid of outside.  However, it wasn't what was on the outside I was afraid of it was what I DIDN'T have on the inside!  I was living dead.

Then on Sunday, January 17, 1988, we were having a wonderful service with testifying and then the church was singing a song and fellow shipping.  I remember looking around and wishing I had that joy and peace all of them were talking and singing about! 

Our pastor came to me and honestly I don't even remember what he did or said-I know what he DIDN'T do-he didn't drag me to the altar, tell me what to pray or just to sign a card.  All I really remember is him coming to me and then I went to the altar on my own free will.  I don't even remember the exact prayer I prayed but I do remember the feeling when I came up from the altar.  It's impossible to put it into words.  You'll never know until it happens to you-until it becomes personal to you.  But just to name a few-free, peaceful, joyful, loved, and accepted!  I had received God's amazing GIFT of salvation. 

Paul also says in Romans:

For he that is dead is freed from sin.  Now if we be dead with Christ we believe that we shall also live with him; Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.  For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.  Romans 6:7-10

I who was once dead to sin became alive in Christ!  How about you? Has it became personal to you?  Do you have an experience with death and then God's grace to share?

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Thanks Living

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.  ~W.T. Purkiser




       I've been blessed beyond measure.  I could start thanking God for my blessings now and still not be done by the end of Thanksgiving Day.  But with all those blessings comes great responsibility.  What if God looked not at what you're saying today but the way you are living and using the blessings He's given you?  Would He truly know how thankful you are or would He see someone who's taken what He's given for granted?

"...For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required..." Luke 12:48

        God wants us to be thankful but I believe even more than just hearing us say it he wants us to use our blessings for His glory!  I started thinking about some of my greatest blessings and the responsibilities that come along with them.
I'm thankful for..

1. My relationship with Christ and the plan of salvation.
2. My beautiful daughter who turns two this Thanksgiving.
3. My wonderful husband who sees the worst of me and loves me anyway!  Who also makes daily sacrifices so that I can live out my dream of being a stay-at-home Mom.
4. The rest of my family, my church family and SO many wonderful Christian friends!
5. All my "needs"- a roof over my head, clothes on my back, shoes on my feet, food on our table, good health.

          God wants us to be thankful but I believe even more than just hearing us say it he wants us to use our blessings for His glory!  I started thinking about some of my greatest blessings and the responsibilities that come along with them.

I want to live out my thanks by...

1. Walking daily with Him.  I want to listen and obey His voice and become His hands and feet on this Earth.  I want others to see Him in me and want this personal relationship too!
2. Showing "Miss Priss" an example of a Godly woman, a supportive wife, and a loving Mother so that she too will one day have a relationship with Christ and can also be those things.
3. Be more grateful and supportive to my husband.  Let him know how much I love and appreciate him instead of taking him for granted!
4. Keep in contact with family and friends!  They're always there for me I want to be there for them too!  Random acts of kindness, phone calls, text messages, visits, etc. just to let them know I'm here and praying for them!
5. Keep the house clean and do all I can to create a peaceful environment.  Wash those clothes and cook the food with love, sharing with any that need it.  Take care of myself and treat my body as what it is a temple where Jesus dwells.

          I could go on and on.. but I think you get the point.  Even in those little blessings and in the trials I believe God gives them to us for a reason -maybe to use as a "teachable moment" for us or others involved (yes, someone is always watching your reaction) or maybe to share with someone to help life them up or through a difficult time.

         So don't make this just about one day-turn your Thanksgiving into Thanks Living and show how truly grateful you are!

A Love that God Demands

There are times during my Bible studies I’m uplifted and encouraged and then there are those times my eyes are opened and I’m convicted.   This week I’ve been convicted and inspired.

Courtney from Good Morning Girls started off our study this week by sharing this video:

Here was a 21 year old girl in a foreign country taking care of 13 orphans.  She has sacrificed EVERYTHING to follow Jesus and be his hands and feet.   See how I felt convicted and inspired? I loved Katie’s words “God doesn’t ask us to help others, he demands it.”  So true!  It’s not a request, it’s a commandment!  She makes it seem so simple as she says “I didn’t want to go hungry so I didn’t want them to go hungry.”  In a way it is that simple, it’s our society andus that have made it complicated.

Then yesterday our scripture was from 1 John 4:11-12:

Beloved if God so loved us we ought also to love one another.  No man hath seen God at any time.  If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 

We may not see God but He’s all around us.  I thought about Matthew 25:34-46 where the King rewards those that gave him food, drink, clothes, and visited him. They were confused and asked, Lord, when did we see you?   The King’s response was “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”   In our fleshly eyes, someone may not seem like much but God thought enough of them to send his Son to die for them and he commands us to show that same love. 

 In her book Kisses from Katie, Katie says:

As I read and learned more and more of what Jesus said, I liked the lifestyle around me less and less.  God began to grow in me a desire to live intentionally and different from anyone I had ever known. Slowly and surely I began to realize the truth:  I had loved and admired and worshipped Jesus without doing what he said.

I started this blog because I didn’t like the message society was portraying about a “perfect, ideal life”.  I wanted to slow down, simplify, and live according to my priorities.  Slowly but surely God is showing me more too.  Here in America (or even closer in my own community), we have families living in poverty, dads without jobs, and children without homes all around us.  Yet, I read a statistic that according to the National Retail Federation, Americans spent $310 million on constumes for their pets this Halloween!  I can only imagine the statistic on frivilous spending over Christmas!   Seriously?  Can we not see something wrong with this picture?

Someone once told me “You don’t have to be on foreign soil to be a missionary.”     There are needs all around us no matter where we are.  We can start even in our own homes, churches, communities, wherever the Lord leads us!  I don’t yet know exactly what God wants me to do but I know that it’s more than I’m doing now.   This is the perfect season to notice those needs around us and show God’s love.   However, the only way we are going to notice is if we stop and take the time to really pay attention, listen to others, and listen to God.  Then we can show His love-after all He demands it!

How about you?  Has God been speaking to you to do more?  Are you already doing more?  I'd love to hear about it?

P.S.  I realize the last few weeks I've only posted on Women in the Word Wednesdays.  Hopefully, by the end of the week I'll be able to catch up on other things in my life! :)  

Greater Is He In Me

"Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." 1 John 4:4

    This has been a trying week but I'm so thankful that God is greater than anything I may face in this world!  Just a few hours ago He answered another prayer and helped a dear friend through a difficult surgery.  He's never failed me yet and I am fully convinced He won't!

     I'm also thankful for my Good Morning Girls group!  Most of them and their families came to our house last Saturday night for a hayride and bonfire and we had such a great time!   It's wonderful to be able to fellowship with some wonderful Christian families.  These ladies have been such an encouragment to me!

This was the post I woke up to this morning from one of the girls in my group on 1 John 4:4 (quoted above):

Good morning girls !!!! Today's verse just kinda goes with John 16:33.....I love that verse so much, I'm gonna post it AGAIN !!!! "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Greater is HE that is in us than anything the devil ever thought about throwing at us !!! God is so good !!! I often let the cares of the world really get me down. I thank the Lord for reminding me that there is nothing He can't handle !!!! Beside this verse in my bible is says "Satan limited". Instead of giving in to defeat and letting the devil win, I want him limited. He may try and get me down (and he often does) but I'm not out of the game yet.
Lets join together today in prayer for Wendy and every family member. Lets limit Satan !!! He has tried his fiery darts on us this week, but greater is HE that is in all of us !!! Boy, the Lord really is amazing!! I thank Him for sending just what I need when I need it !!!! I think I could have church this morning.....ya'll want to ??!!!

      Talk about a way to start out the day!  I'm thinking about printing it out and reading it every morning ;)  I'd love to start everyday with a reminder that God is in me and has the power to limit Satan!   Together anything that I face we can handle! 

    Thought I'd share a picture of just the girls we took Saturday night.  A few of us are missing, hopefully they'll make it to our Christmas party!

Our Ultimate Teacher and Guide

Let therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning.  If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.  And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.  These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.  But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that man teach you:  but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.  1 John 2:24-27

                This week in my Good Morning Girls Group we are finishing up the second chapter of 1 John.  I’ve really enjoyed this reminder of the Holy Spirit being our ultimate teacher and the Bible our guide.  In a world filled with antichrists it is comforting to know that the Holy Spirit dwells within us to let us know what’s of Christ and what is not.   We may not have Jesus in the flesh but he left us well equipped.

                These scriptures talk about two ways to protect ourselves from the antichrists:

1.       Letting what we have ”heard from the beginning” remain in us, which would be God’s Word.

2.       Abiding in the Holy Spirit so that we will know the difference between the truth and a lie.

John Piper summed it up well when he said “The Word of God and the Spirit of God are our only hope for stability in a world filled with antichrists.”   When we truly study and plant God’s word in our heart and draw just as close as we can to the Holy Spirit then God will open up our eyes and show us the truth.  I thought about the last line of the Casting Crowns song “Voice of Truth” :  “Out of all the voices calling out to me, I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth.”  Are you close enough to hear the voice of truth today and if so, are you obeying it?

Thought I’d also share my SOAP sheet today.  Sorry it’s incredibly messy but we had lots of scripture today!  I LOVE this method of studying!  I downloaded the sheet and key word color guide from GMG.  J       

A Message Throughout the Ages

So far this week in our Good Morning Girls Group we’ve covered 1 John 2:12-14. 

I write unto you little, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.  I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning.  I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one.  I write unto you little children, because ye have known the Father.  I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning.  I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

Notice in these verses John addresses the little children, the young men, and the fathers.  I believe he’s talking in a spiritual sense here writing to everyone from the very young in Christ to the elders.  He’s writing to the “little children” those that have just came to know the Father and been forgiven for Christ’s sake.   He’s writing to the “young men” those Christians that have been in the way for a little while and already won some battles.   They have God’s word in them and at this point in their lives they also still have their strength.  Finally, he’s writing also to the “fathers” those that have “known him that is from the beginning.” 

It doesn’t matter what age we are God’s word has something for us!  Isn’t that amazing how it can speak to the very young of heart on up??  It never gets old!  We can read a passage at one point in our lives and apply it - then read it later and see even deeper in His word and apply it to our lives again! 

No matter where we are spiritually there’s always room for us to grow in God’s word.  Peter said “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.”  (1 Peter 2:2)  I love that word “desire”.  If we want to truly grow from one spiritual stage to the next we must desire to know more about God’s word.  We must not just read it but apply it to our lives to that we may be fruitful and become the Christian God wants us to be.  

Abby from Trusting in Him, who’s in my GMG group, said it best when she said yesterday, “I’m glad God always knows exactly where we are, and His word gives us exactly what we need, when we need it most!”  I’m so thankful for his powerful Word and pray that I will always apply it to my life so that I can grow spiritually!  Have you seen what He has in store for you in his Word today?