Showing posts with label Bible study. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible study. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

How to Heal

I came across this passage today and thought it was so beautiful.
The prophet Isaiah had an amazing way of putting things.
I like how he could put things so profoundly, yet so simply-
if you do this, then you get this.
And this is an amazing way to live as it is-- this is a incredible goal to have for my life--
and look what the benefit is.
Healing.
God satisfying my needs.
God's guidance.
You can't beat that.

Isaiah 58:6-11 (New International Version, ©2010)
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness[a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail

Monday, January 25, 2010

For Such a Time as This

There are some days when I feel so misplaced.
So much like I don't belong anywhere.
Like when I see a group of older ladies giggling over coffee, who have obviously been friends for a lifetime... and I wonder if I will ever have that.
Or when I see a family playing together at the park.
I wonder if I will ever feel like I truly fit in somewhere again, if there will ever be a place for me where I am truly accepted for who I am, and can be my real, true self. Vulnerable. Open. Honest. And loved anyway.
Sound familiar?
Sometimes I wonder if I was born in the wrong time period.
As a child, I sewed my own clothes just like the ones that Laura wore on Little House on the Prairie, and wore them to school...complete with bonnets and boots (yes, my mother let me go to school this way for 2 years! Can you believe this?) (Her excuse, by the way is, "You were Gifted; we didn't want to get in the way of your creativity." Uh huh. And I had no friends... why, we wonder? HA!)
The 1800's may have been perfect for me.
I also would have made a great hippie. If I had been born just a few years earlier, that would have been GREAT. Long hair, amazing music, absolutely incredible clothes, lots of love... everything except the drugs. Yep. Maybe I should have been born then. Maybe I would have fit in.
Ever feel that way? That you're just in the wrong decade? Century? World?
The thing is...
God has a plan.
Ever read the book of Esther?
Oh if you haven't, I wish you would. Better yet, do Beth Moore's study on Esther with a group of women from your church and really, really get into the story. You'll learn more about yourself and about Esther than you can ever even imagine.
Esther was a beautiful young Jewish girl who was brought to the King when the old Queen pretty much just ticked him off and he'd had enough of her. So he needed a new Queen. And long story short, Esther was it. But someone else was having the Jewish people killed, and Esther had to hide the fact that she was Jewish. Its an intense story, and I find parts of it awfully amusing. Lots of drinking and partying and men huffing about.)
One of my favorite parts is where her uncle tells her in Esther 4:14 "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"
Esther was brought to be Queen RIGHT at that time, that perfect time, by God, to save the Jewish people (you're going to have to read the rest of the story on your own to find out.)

You,too, are in the world for such a time as this.
And so am I.
God has a plan for our lives. A perfect plan.
He didn't just accidently put me here to live in 2010 by accident. You either.
I didn't accidenly miss the 1960's even though I feel like I would have fit in better there.
God put me (and you) here,right now, for a purpose. To accomplish HIS plan.
There's a reason you are here. And there's a reason you are here RIGHT NOW.
Maybe you know what it is. Maybe you don't. But there still is one.
Maybe you are meant to save someone. Maybe you are meant to serve the Lord with Gladness as a janitor, a teacher, a mother, a prayer warrior, a nanny. Maybe you are meant to give Glory to God through your artwork, your writing, your prayers, your time. Something. But its something that needs to be done now, in the 21st Century... today.

As the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 139:16...
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.


God knew before the world began that you would be here today, in 2010. He has a reason for you... for such a time as this.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Top Ten Questions

Found this at http://www.biblicalspirituality.org/newyear.html thanks to my pastor, and it gave me some really interesting things to think about. Since I can really use some distraction tonight, and turning to God is always good for that, I'm going to try to come up with my own answers.
What would you say? Feel free to copy/ paste.

1. What's one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?
Spend more quiet time with God... more time talking to Him about HIM...less time asking for things, more time just enjoying His prescence and learning about Him.
2. What's the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?
To bring me a best friend that will last a lifetime. A real best friend who lives close by me, that I can go shopping with, have girl-talk with, do each other's hair if we want, go out to lunch, talk about our husbands and our jobs, tell secrets to each other, go to each other's houses, our husbands will be friends, she will be a strong Christian who loves to talk about God.

3. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?
More personal time wtih my husband, just enjoying each other-not over housework, but just hanging out.
4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?
Actual Bible study and Scripture memorization. I've started on it- awesome new Bible program is helping.
5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?
Internet! Less time on the internet, and more time reading (easy to do) and more time doing Bible studies.
6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?
E-mailed someone a few weeks ago about volunteering in a certain part of the church that I never have before. It might start in February.
7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?
My brother-in-law, Wally.
8. What's the most important way you will, by God's grace, try to make this year different from last year?
Become more bold in sharing the love of God.
9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?
Take ADD meds more consistenly so I can concentrate better ;)
10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?
Help raise children, show them the great love that the Lord has for them, be a comfort for them, be a healer for them, and a good role model.

Friday, March 27, 2009

It's Tough Being a Woman


This week at church we finished doing Beth Moore's ESTHER Bible study. The subtitle of Esther is this: It's Tough Being a Woman. I think that I loved this particular Bible study more than any other I've ever done. I just adore Beth Moore, and she was so funny in this study that at times I wondered if she'd lost her mind (in the cutest way, of course!) And I loved reading the story of Esther, which I'd never heard before. A beautiful queen who saves her people, risking her life by revealing her identity, saving the Jews from the evil Haman, a man who plots against Mordecai and ends up getting a taste of his own medicine. A story about turn-arounds and God coming in to rescue the weak and the needy at just the right time. A story about an orphan girl who came into her own power. Love that.

I've never yet considered myself a woman. Although 40 is on the horizon, the title of "woman" doesn't yet fit me. Being short, shaped like a 12 year old adolescent boy, and having the voice of an 11 year old, "girl" still fits me.When I was still teaching in an elementary school, substitutes often tried to get me to line up with their class. At best, people refer to me as a "nice young lady". I'll take that! But I don't know that its tough just being a woman. I think its tough being a human being, period.

How many of you who read this blog think its tough being a woman? I wish that more of you would post replies to my entries. I want to know more about you. I know there are at least a dozen of you who read, and many more who pop in, from all over the world. I want to know, what is the toughest thing about being a woman in your part of the world? What is the toughest thing about being you? What is it that you need? What would make your life easier? A best friend? A new car? A husband who knew how to do dishes? A new heart?

Sunday, February 8, 2009

100 Ways to Simplify Your Life by Joyce Meyer

I have just finished reading this great book by Joyce Meyer (she rocks!!) called 100 Ways to Simplify Your Life.
I gotta say, my life was so complicated for a while that it took me several weeks to read said book.


Her book, however, is filled with awesome ideas for simplifying life, such as:
#1 Do 1 thing at a time (that's hard for me-- I'm a multi tasker, but I'm working on it.
#5 Don't worry about tomorrow (whew! Don't get me started!)
#24 Be quick to forgive (heaven help me!)
#60 Organize (can I please hire someone?)
#85 Be generous (this is actually easy for me because I love to be a blessing to others)
#71 Wise up before you burn out (I got that one just in time when I finally quit my teaching job last fall when I was ALREADY burnt out and about to have a break down)


I am making my own list of ways to simplify my life, of things I can do without. I am slowly learning (I've got to face it, these days I am a slow learner, but through God's grace, I'm getting faster as time goes by.)
Been thinking a lot lately. Been learning some things. Been listening to God a little faster than I used to (Yah, He says, you're getting a clue at last, ding-dong.) (You've got to love my Yahweh.)

Ways I am learning to simplify:
1. Don't hang out with people that are full of themselves, are selfish, are inconsiderate, moan & complain about everything,are not going to be edifying to my life .
2. I don't need to fit in with people that I used to think I needed to fit in with. Especially people that turn out to be part of above said group.
3. Put God 1st in my day. Make God the biggest part of my day. It's really true that all other things will be added unto you. Makes life much simpler.
4. Do not feel rushed or compelled to answer e-mails or posts on bulletin boards the day I receive questions/replies/e-mails if I am not ready to answer. I doubt that someone else is sitting at their computer anxiously awaiting my reply. I'm not that important.
5. Giving my things away to people who need themright away is a lot easier than saving things all up in my garage to have a garage sale this summer just to make a little money, and its a much bigger blessing to people. I might be able to make $100 in a garage sale, but by giving things away to people, those items might be worth thousands of dollars to people who really really could use them now.
6. I listen to CD's of Joyce Meyer and Beth Moore and Michael W Smith in my car on my long long drives to work. Saves me the frustration when I am caught in VERY long lines of rush hour traffic.
7. Don't argue with people when they are convinced they are right. Especially about Christianity. There are people who are going to be convinced that Christians are wrong, no matter what. Their hearts are hardened and their eyes are blind. This is a sad fact that even God has pointed out in the Bible. They are not going to understand, no matter how much I write or try to point out the truth to them. I will try once or twice to point out the truth, but I'm not going to waste any more of my time arguing or convincing. That's not my gift.
8. Rely on truth. This week I have been amazed and fascinated by some things as I have finished reading all of the New Testament and about half of the Old Testament. Its incredible. But that's another post. My life is being made much simpler as I learn to rely on what is true and weed out all the false things the world has to offer.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Shake the Dust off My Feet

In the end there is, always, the leaving.
Today I was once again, sadly, reminded that people, even people I look up to and admire, will always let me down and disappoint me. That people are never truly who I think they are. That fact always surprises me, because I always in my heart want to have great hope for other people, I do not want for them to let me down. And yet, most people in some way or another, do.
That is not their fault, of course. That is the nature of human beings. I let people down. They let me down. Its what we do to each other.
Its a fact I need to let go of and move on.
The only One who will never, ever let me down is Jesus, the only One who will never leave me, forget me, the only One who never changes, never leaves, and is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Thank God for that.
Today I cleaned out my classroom. I have poured 13 years of my life, and thousands of hours of overtime, into my job as a special education teacher. I have worked on report cards on New Years Eve when I should have been at a party. I've worked on yearbook as its editor (no help, no yearbook committe, no stipend) on Christmas Day/ New Years Day/ Valentine's Day all by myself. For many years I have spent well over $1,000 a year (I'm afraid to make estimations, because I know its way more than that) of my own money on buying materials, food, and clothing for my students to make sure they had what they needed.
Yet today while cleaning out my classroom I had three people from the district watching me, scrutinizing my every move, taking notes and looking at checklists, to make sure I didn't steal anything that belonged to the district.
As though I have suddenly lost my educator code of ethics, my Christian values, and everything I have ever believed in.
This disappointing day just serves as confirmation that I did the right thing by getting out of the educational field for a while. I needed a break in so many ways.
It made me so sad, that while I gave them everything I had, in the end they saw me as nothing more than a potential thief.
So I must let go, once again, of the admiration I once held for my bosses, my district, my illusions that I held that as a teacher, other people would see me as Someone. Something. A Teacher.
Not necessarily.
As Jesus said in Mark 6:11:
11And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them."
So I must again leave a place that I have loved.... which I have done so many times this year, and God knows how difficult it is for me to do but I know He has me do it because its for my own good, but why exactly does it have to be so damned HARD?...
And here I go AGAIN....
Leaving.
But coming. Because I have to leave the old place in order to move on to the new place. So I go.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Handling Stress

Raise your hand if you're under stress right now! I refuse to give in and complain, but I'm under my fair share right now and then some. Work is a little crazy, as I'm short one teacher aide but have an abundance of high-needs children. My days are filled with autism, wheelchairs, tube feedings, giving 3 and 4 year olds bottles, changing diapers, filling out paperwork in triplicate, documenting everything I do with each child, attending meetings, ignoring fits, and trying to find time to teach in there somewhere (there isn't much time for teaching... which is what I THOUGHT I went into this job for.)
As a stress reliever for the whole class, I've worked in a lot exta singing-and-dancing acts this year :) I've found that prancing around to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star helps hold off a bit on the toy-throwing and the crying (for the kids too...ha ha!). We do just about all our learning to music, thanks to Scholastic's Early Concepts Sing a Longs and Circle Time Sing a Longs. They're a big hit. My class also loves to listen to The Beatles and The Mamas and The Papas. Do they know what's good, or what?
For me, I'm heading off to a Beth Moore Bible study on Wednesday Night. Its on "A Woman's Heart." I'm really looking forward to it. First, to learning more and getting some additional healing for my heart, which I desperately, achingly want and need because my heart has been broken so deeply in the past year, and secondly, I'm looking forward to meeting new friends.