They Call This a "Guest Post"...

So I think in the blogosphere, they call this a "link-up" and it's supposed to send "traffic" from one person's blog to another.  The lexicon surrounding blogging is MIND-BLOWING, but I digress...

I wanted to point y'all to Lori's blog where she has posted her thoughts from Ephesians 4.  She also has a whole quilting tutorial on there if you are super-motivated and have some free time!

We'd love to hear from more of you- link us to your blog, comment, or email one of us & we'll get your impressions out there to encourage others.

We'll be at my house this week- call or message for directions!

Bear with Me, Please

Be completely humble and gentle;  be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Ephesians 4:2

This is not the only time we are encouraged to bear with one another.  We are also told to  bear with one another in Colossians and I have to tell you they really weren't my favorite verses.  I am being called to yet another higher standard.  Not only do I have to love my brothers and sisters but also I need to bear with them.  This means that when my feelings are hurt, when I am inconvenienced by somebody elses short comings, offended by a thoughtless word, or I am in the company of someone whose mood is less than pleasant I have to put up with them.  I need to love them even then, in all their prickly-ness.  This is not just loving, but loving unconditionally.

A few days ago when I came across this verse again, I just about skimmed over it with 'yeah, yeah, I got it' running through my brain. But God didn't leave me in my shallow thinking and I felt compelled to take a closer look.   The first part of the verse says be completely humble.  So this is when irritation is overcome by understanding. (or perhaps if I am going to be completely honest with you, arrogance is overcome by humility).  Humility calls us to remember that we are no better than anyone else.  In fact, when we are humble and take an honest look at ourselves we have a greater awareness of our flaws and it makes it easier to extend grace and to be gentle in our judgment and treatment of others.  We remember that we are simply fellow sinners in need of grace.

Althought it is a simple conclusion that you have probably already drawn for yourself, for me it comes down to this.   If I am brutally honest with myself, bearing with my brothers and sisters is not a lot to ask when I think about how often they bear with me.

Reflections and Questions

Reflections -

Although the group was a bit smaller Thursday the sharing was great.  The teaching we have received and the lessons we have learned have been so exciting.  What an incredible blessing!  Many shared what a joy their quiet times had been and how much was added to it when we came together to share.

We spent a little time looking back at Galatians 3:3 Are you so foolish?  After beginning with the Spirit are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?  When we last met a few questions were posed.  What is the goal and what does it look like when we try to attain it by our own human effort?  This week we were reminded that the goal is not just salvation but a restoration of the relationship God intended for us at creation. 

Discussion on Belshazzar and his father, Nebuchadnezzar, revealed that there is a difference between a reverent heart change that occurs when we come face to face with the Holy God and a belief that results in no change.  Both of these men saw incredible evidence of God's might and power and although briefly impressed, it did not change their hearts or their lives.

It was noted that Daniel's life reflected God to all who encountered him.  He was always mentioned in conjunction with God, the pagan rulers all knew about the God he served.  May we live lives that reflect God that way to the watching world, and may we have faith like Daniel.  When Darius' decree that anyone caught praying to any god other than him be thrown into the lion's den Daniel didn't even pause before he went to his room and knealt to pray, just like he always did.  Daniel had seen many jews die and suffer horribly so he had no mistaken idea that he was going to be spared.  He was able to step out in faith because he knew the God who holds his life in his hands and that he could trust him.  May we know him that way too!

The dangers of legalism, works salvation, and self- righteous behavior were revealed in Galatians.  God calls us to boast in the cross of Jesus Christ alone.  What a challenge it is to keep our focus on Christ.  We all seem to be prone to falling into two traps:  an unhealthy, exagerated idea self-importance and value or a very low view of ourselves as it relates to others.  We are only able to view ourselves correctly when we view ourselves according to the cross, through the lens of God.

Questions -

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe.   Ephesians 1:18


What is the hope to which He has called you?  What are the riches of His glorious inheritance? And finally, what is the incomparably great power for us who believe?

Take some real time to reflect on these questions.  It is easy to breeze over them because we think we know the answers in our hearts but what would we say to an unbeliever or a new believer if they asked us?  Can we put it into words?


I am looking forward to reading your responses and discussing it more Thursday night!

Defaulting to Doubt

Good morning, ladies!
Wanted to share a quick thought with you from my Sunday reading...

This is from Daniel 4-

S-   "O Belteshazzar (Daniel), chief of the magicians, since I know that a spirit of the holy gods is in you and no mystery baffles you, tell me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation."  Daniel 4:9

O-   King Nebuchadnezzar has had another scary dream and wants Daniel to interpret for him.

A-   The king's kneejerk reaction, even after witnessing the protection of the three (FOUR!!) men in the fire, is to revert back to the mindset that Daniel has some sort of "magical powers".  He has relied on sorcery and withcraft for the entirety of his reign and it is what he runs to when he is scared. He fails to recognize that The One True God is behind Daniel's ability to interpret dreams.  It made me think: when backed into a corner & scared...

WHAT IS MY DEFAULT MODE????

I have seen God's protection, grace, & provision over and over- both in my life and in others'- why do I still doubt Him?  I have had Jeremiah 29:11 engraved on my heart for as long as I can remember- why do I still struggle with this?

P-   Lord, thank you for loving me despite my unbelief.  Thank you that you have a default mode of kindness, provision, & forgiveness!  Please help me change my thinking to one that trusts You! Amen


So, what are Y'ALL learning this week?? Excited about Thursday night!

Reflections On Last Night-

It was such an encouragement to hear all that had been gleaned from Daniel 1-3, and Galatians 1-3.  Many thanks to all who were able to come and share.  Here are  just a few of the gems from last night.

It was stated that the overall theme was Give God the Glory Because He is in Charge.  What a wonderful thing to remember.

Daniel 1:8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief officals for permission not to defile himself this way.

What does the world offer us that we should perhaps not  partake in or enjoy less of.  The king believed he was offering the best he had to them. There are many good thing that are offered to us today that we overindulge in or that have just become distractions to us that we should perhaps choose to abstain from.   Also, the idea that Daniel recognized the authority of the officials and asked their permission.  Not only was God faithful to God but also he respected the authorities God had placed over him.

Daniel 3:26b-27 So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them.  They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

What a miraculous and complete deliverance!  Not even a smell of fire on them.  God is the God of complete rescue.  He walked in the furnace with them and then delivered them unharmed with no evidence that they had been in the furnace at all.  This is such a beautiful picture of our deliverance.  Jesus is here walking around in this sinful world with us and he will deliver us to the father, pure, free from sin and without even the smell of sin on us.  We have complete salvation through Christ!

Galatians 3:3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?


What is the goal Paul is talking about and what does it look like when we are trying to attain our goal by our own human effort? 

I would love to hear from you!

Vegetables & The Gospel of Catherine

Good morning!

I wanted to share a few thoughts with y'all on the readings we have been doing.  First of all, who didn't love the Daniel passage that encouraged healthy eating?  Moral of the story?  EAT YOUR VEGETABLES!!!!

I read Galatians 1 this morning and wow!  It hit me like a brick.  There was so much meaty stuff in here, but I chose the following verse on which to focus:

"I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel."  Galatians 1:6

Let's break this down... in much of Paul's writing, he's gentle and loving when exhorting other followers.  Not here.  Within the first paragraph of his letter, he rails them for their sinful ways.  I have no idea what is going on in Galatia during this time, but I know what is going on in my heart when I read this.

I am not deserting the religion on which I was raised.

I am not deserting my church family.

I am not deserting my good, ethical way of life.

I am deserting Jesus.

Ouch.

I asked myself:  What's worth more?  For what am I deserting Him?  This is where it's really easy to read this verse and say:  Oh I'd never become a Kaballist.  (Easy for me- I hate those little red bracelets!)  The Galatians may very well have been choosing to follow false teachers & pagan practices during the writing of this letter... but it's just as likely that their "different gospel" was much like mine.


The Gospel of Catherine involves my distrust of His provision.


The Gospel of Catherine involves my faithlessness when it comes to His plan for me & my family.

The Gospel of Catherine involves my selfishness with my time, money, & talents.

The Gospel of Catherine breaks Jesus' heart.

This was a hard but fruitful lesson for me.

How are YOUR quiet times going?  Gwen and I would love to hear from you!!  Comment here or email one of us and we'll post your thoughts on the blog.

Hope everyone's weekend is off to a great start!!

It was good to see everyone there tonight and I am really looking forward to seeing those of you who were not able to make it as well.  This summer should bring us all lots of encouragement!  To illustrate the Divine Mentor method of journaling I will share my thoughts from tonight by the method.

I had been giving much thought to tonights meeting and praying for guidance as to what I was to share with the women tonight.  Yesterday's quiet time answered my prayer!  I was so touched by God's sweet provision and I hope you are blessed.

1 Kings 17:7-24

New International Version (NIV)

Elijah and the Widow at Zarephath

⁷ Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. ⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him: ⁹ “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” ¹⁰ So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” ¹¹ As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
¹² “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”
¹³ Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”
¹⁵ She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. ¹⁶ For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.
¹⁷ Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. ¹⁸ She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”
¹⁹ “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. ²⁰ Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” ²¹ Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”
²² The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. ²³ Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”
²⁴ Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

S - 1 Kings :24  Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of god and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is truth."

O- My first reaction to this passage is: Really??  Now she knows?  Hasn't God been supernaturally refilling her flour and oil for that last several months?  I want to leave it there, and I recognize that I am guilty of the same mistake.  However, the Holy Spirit points something out to me. In His mercy, he brings me deeper.  Truly, the woman had faith all along.  It took faith to make a cake for Elijah with the last of her flour and oil before she made some for her son and herself.  Faith was not new to her.  In God's mercy and kindness He was showing himself to her each day in His provision, just like He does for me.  Then she hit a moment of crisis, her son died.  She responds in anger, she almost seems to forget the nature of God. This is a place I think we have all been. God's response is so much kinder and merciful than mine would have been.  I don't think I would have been very patient, but God, who never tires of showing us who he is and calling us into a deeper relationship with Him, shows himself to her again and miraculously restores her son to life.  I love her reaction - '"Now I KNOW..."  This is the word that strikes me and touches my heart.  The meaning of that word 'KNOW' grows deeper, bolder, more complete each time he shows us more of Himself.  Again and again I can say, "Now I KNOW" and it means more each time.  It is the journey towards knowing without a doubt that Jesus is enough.  What a loving God we serve!

A- I serve a God that pursues me relentlessly.  His desire to show Himself to me and grow my faith and trust in Him has no limits.  May I pursue HIm with zeal, recognizing His amazing love for me!

P- Thank you God that you love me and you pursue me.  Thank you that you have given me your word so that I can know you better.  Forgive me that I don't spend more time in your presence and your word enjoying you and developing intimacy with you.  Draw me ever closer to you Lord on a daily basis.  Amen

This is my prayer for you as well!  I can promise you that if you spend daily time with God the return on your investment will be immeasurable.