#NamesOfGod2014 Volume V

Recap: Vol I, II, III, IV.

Chapter 10 Pausing For A Moment - Chapter 12 The Lord Who Sanctifies You

I love how in the opening of this chapter, she states how she simply reacts to situations rather than truly listening and relying on God.  We all do this and we all need to strive to fix this.

Now, I'm not going to lie to you.  Marking the words in this exercise was challenging for me.  I really don't grasp things or ideas that way.  It's just not in how I learn.  So this section really didn't help me. I can see the reasoning behind it and hope that you (who do like it!) found it beneficial. 

Here we are introduced to another name, Jehovah-nissi, meaning "The Lord is My Banner."

I want my banner to wave high and proud.  On judgment day, I want My Banner to show my obedience to Lord.  I love how it says "You are not alone on that battlefield; look to the Lord your banner." 

Isn't it nice to know He has us and comforts us when we most need it?!

Jehovah-mekoddishkem is the next name given to us.  This means the Lord sanctifies you. 

What did you think of this week's studies?

**Also, I want to bring your attention to something.  I know most of you have heard of The Unveiled Wife.  Well, I was chosen as one of the bloggers to participate in doing her 30 day devotional study.  I am starting it today and would love to have some of you do it with me as well, if you would like. 


I am hoping this will provide a new outlook on my marriage with Brian.  We are still newlyweds, but I know some days I could do more as his wife to support him.  I am ready to God to show me something in this study.  I'm eager to learn.

I will be posting my final review on September 1, 2014.


Let's let God control our lives and marriages. 

#NamesOfGod2014 Volume IV

I have to admit, I'm at the beach this week, so this post might be shorter than they normally are for regular weeks. In case you missed my previous weeks then check out Vol. I, II, III. 

This time I'm covering Chapter 9: The Lord who Heals

Very early on in this chapter, we find a statement that says Ignorance is bliss.  That's exactly how I feel a lot of days.  It says we live in our own world, ignorant to the reality of how much we need God.  

We want to change the world ourselves.  We want to make the most of our days, but we don't want to be bothered with others troubles. To me, these are the days when God is challenging us the most.  He wants to see us reach out our hands to those in need, those who need our love. 

We are introduced to another name, Jehovah-rapha.  This means the Lord who heals!

Today, stop and take a hard look at yourself.  Are you sharing The Word? Are you helping those who need relief? Are you telling of God's wonders?

Jehovah-rapha is the Great Physician. If you need physical, emotional, or spiritual help then you need to seek Jehovah-rapha. 

Keep God close. He is listening.  He will heal.

#NamesOfGod2014: Volume 1

I'm terribly heartbroken that I am late with this post, but sometimes that's the way the cookie crumbles.  It's not going to stop me from posting because this is for Him and I want to know all I can.

So, if you are joining me today, I want to let you know this is my first installment of my thoughts/reflections on Kay Arthur's book, Lord, I Want to Know You.  Two of my favorite blogs to read, Rachel of Rachel Rewritten and Nicole from Bloom are hosting this study.  I love both of their hearts and their obedience to God to go forth in leading this study for us. 

So, on with the goods.  If you haven't seen/heard this study is happening then go on over and order your book at Amazon or go to your local LifeWay store.  I am so pumped to see what the Lord will teach me.

Days 1-4

In the introductory part of this book, God is mentioned to be a "protector."   That alone just speaks to my soul.  When I'm troubled, I turn to God.  When I have something big and exciting on my heart, I turn to God.  All throughout the day I find things that are happening because of Him.

A protector is what He is to me.  He protects my soul.

When you are in trouble, who to you turn to?  I'm going to bet a lot of you turn to your husbands, or partners.  I do.  It's natural to want your significant other to fix things or share your feelings. But why do you turn to them instead of God?

Do we need that physical touch? A hug? A pat on the back?  Are we becoming a body of people who are shallow to life and need physical interaction instead of facing our giants with God in our prayers?

I love that this book states that as Christians we have feared and stepped back from "boasting in the name of God," which means "to have confidence in."  Our people are focused on physical touch, or things we can tangibly see and hear instead of the Lord talking to us.  We ignore that.

So many people are scared to talk about God in public.  We see and hear every day of someone being jailed or killed for telling of God' love.  But why does that stop the rest of us?  We have lost that confidence.  We are letting Him down.

Let's focus on the statement on page 10.  "I saw that as a woman I am to treat my husband in such a way as to give a correct opinion or estimate of him as a man."

This just stood out to me.  I value my duties as Brian's wife. I know what we do separately will in some way or another reflect back on our spouse.  However, I never thought of it as a measure of him as a person and his loyalty.

Do you love your spouse and glorify him/her? God created you to live for His glory and for His pleasure. This is an essential part of our Christian walk.

Wednesday in the Word: Worry

Good morning, loves.  I'm linking up with one of my favorite bloggers, Jenni, from Frankly, My Dear.  It is so nice to know that there are other Christian women out there who want to show their love for the Lord.  I adore seeing Jenni's posts every Wednesday morning and I always think to myself that I wish I could just remember to get mine written.  Well, guess what? It happened this week and I'm here to share my heart with you. 

 

Worry.

 

This is a word we all know, and all hate.  I'm by nature a worrywart.  Over the years, I've had many friends come to me for advice or just to share their hearts about current issues.  I always do my best to listen and give them good sound advice, or my opinion.  But that's never stopped what happened after our talk.  I began to worry.  I would worry for them, for their heart, for the others (if there were) involved, and what the outcome would ultimately be for the issue.

 

I would take things to heart, sometimes too much to heart.  And that's when I turned to God to give me a solution to still be able to be that kind of friend that someone feels they can come to, but yet I can lean more on His timing and let Him handle the worries, not me.

 

Matthew 6:34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

 

This verse is exaclty what I needed in my life.  I needed to hear that is is normal and okay for me to want to carry the wordly worries, but I should not let that remain on my shoulders.  God knows the outcome before I even know the problem.  Stop and think about that for a minute.

 

God knows the OUTCOME before we know the PROBLEM. 

 

He's a mighty God. 

 

Every day we will find a new "struggle" in life, but we cannot let that take over our hearts.  God wants us to live a good, faithful, spiritual life and help spread His word.  We can't be overcome with the world's problems and slack in our duties to God. 

 

I'm not at all saying this will be easy.  Life isn't easy.  Hard life decisions aren't easy.  But what you can find easy is God's love. 

 

He will provide for you, if you shall let him.

 

So the next time you, or someone else, face a hard time in life just rememeber Matthew 6:34. God WILL be there for you.

 

Happy Wednesday, friends!

{Open Invitation}

Lately, I've been focusing more on my relationship with God and how He would want to be react in certain situations. The fact is, life isn't always fair and people will not always abide by the rules.  But it is up to us to decide how we handle things.   I decided to give more of myself to God.  After all, He is the best remedy for anything broken.   So, with that said, this year I've been dumping myself into several devotions.  Along the way I had came acorss the SheReadsTruth series and knew I wanted to participate.  However, I was in the middle of an already ongoing, and time consuimg, devotional so I knew I needed to wait.   Well, then came along Kaitlyn and Elise.  They are hosting a serious of In The Word link-ups where they take a devotion from the SheReadsTruth site and then link-up to discuss.     I am beyond thrilled to have found this link-up and can't wait to get to see what all the other ladies have to say.  I have recently cleaned out my reading list.  Some of the blogs I used to follow just aren't what I want to be seeing anymore.  In all that, I've found more than half of that number back in good, Christian, blogging women.  I am so proud to be a member of this community.   Blogging sisters for God! :)   Won't you come along and study with us?   First study: Hosea!  

Made To Crave: Week Two.

Made To Crave, Week Two: DETERMINATION "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert." - 1 Peter 5:-7-8    This week we took a look into Chapters 4-6 of Made To Crave.  (If you missed my Week One Review, you can find it here.)    When you are in the middle of weight-loss, does it make you feel more goal-oriented, or self conscious when you have a friend, co-worker, etc. experiencing losing weight and finding a new, healthier life?   In my own personal trials, it has burst my bubble more times than energized me.  I have a flaw that lets me look at other women and see what I "wish I had that she does" and let that get me down and out.  If I hear of a friend losing weight, I'm immediately happy for her but then I start to wonder why it isn't ME that is losing that kind of weight.    That is a nasty habit of mine, that will need some work (and lots of prayer!) to break.    BUT, with that said, I would LOVE to have a friend start the journey with me.  It absoultely makes a huge difference in having a person you have to "report" to besides yourself.  I can lie to myself and go on, but to tell my work-out buddy that I had that piece of cake at 3AM is a walk of shame.   This bible study is so helpful!  :)  I am DETERMINED!      

Made To Crave: Week One.

Hello there, my lovely blog friends.  I mentioned back in the beginning of the year that I was planning on being more involved with various Bible studies.  I also invited each of you to participate with me in the Made To Crave Bible Study.  If you haven't had a chance to look into the study (and would like to) all the information you could need / want can be found by clicking here.  We are only in the first week, so there is plenty of time for catching up!   This particular bible study is based on the book by Lysa TerKeurst. 

AMAZON

  I have a Kindle (Thanks hubby!) so that's how I'm choosing to do my study.  But if you want the order yourself a hard copy, you can certainly do so.  Also, if you have an Ipad or Iphone, you can download the Kindle app and use it as I'm using my Kindle.  Pretty neat technology these days!     This week's word: Empowered.   What comes to mind when you see this word? I see someone I'm currently not.  Yes, I said NOT.  This blog and this study are going to be real ya'll.  I'm not going to fake it and make like I'm getting so much out of something if I'm not.  I want God to break down my walls and EMPOWER me.    And even though I don't think I'm currently empowered, does not mean that I cannot be later on in this study.  This is a long study for a reason.  We didn't gain all the weight overnight, so we cannot expect lose all temptations and cravings overnight.  It's a study, a test.    In chapter three, Lysa talks about wishing for a flower garden after seeing a man planting one.  This, too, she realizes is not something that happens over night.  But yet, it takes time, patience, and even good and bad days.    For many of us, this bible study will seem hard at first, and even harder to continue, but with the things we learn and the skills to become empowerd- WE CAN DO IT.   Are you a planner? Do you thrive on plans? I certainly do, almost sometimes working it's way into a flaw.  I love guidelines, rules, time limits, etc.   The Bible and your body are your timeline, your reason, your empowerment.   Let's make the most of it together.   Dear God, Unsettle Me.  

Let's talk God!

  Hello, loves!  How is 2014 treating you so far?  I must say, I'm loving mine.  Brand new year brings about brand new opportunites for yourself.  If you are a "scheduler" and a Type A personality like myself, then you see endless chances to get things back on a good schedule.   Reading my Bible more is actually my #1 task this year.  I will admit that I have tried three different times to read the Bible from front to back, and failed each time.  And oddly enough, I get to the same spot each time.  I just get lost in all the long names, I suppose.    So this has been on my mind, and since my wonderful husband bought me a new Bible for Christmas (complete with the new happily married name!) then this is now the time to try once again.  BUT this time, I don't want to pressure myself.  I am currently in the middle of a few Bible studies that I encourage you to try yourself.   Being that I am a newleywed, I am beyond thrilled to be doing the Wife After God challenge this year. It is 30 days of devotions and time with your Bible to help you be a better Godly wife to your husband.  If you are interested, please feel free to visit Unveiled Wife, where she is leading this challenge.   Oh, and don't worry if you are thinking it's already Jan. 7th and you're behind.  I'm actually not on the same time-line as they are, but I caught up last night.  So it doesn't matter WHO else is doing it with you and when.  God's word isn't on a time limit.  

 

Now, item #2 on today's Let's Talk about God post, is that I am so excited to share that you can download FREE Beth Moore books for your Kindle, or Kindle app.  Please see this website to get your books.  This is a fantastic chance to get Beth's books.  She is amazing, and I know you will love her.  Also, she is coming to Memphis in August and I am going! Maybe some of you can too, and we can meet??!     Aaaand, item #3 is the devotional I mentioned in my last post. I am joining in from Jan. 19 -March 1 for a devotion and Bible study entitled Made To Crave.  See the website for more information, and let me know if you will be joining me!   This is your time, ladies, to get better in line with God.  Let's make it worth it!