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Helpful Bible Study for Women - Part 3

Sat, 24 Feb 2007 10:55:10 GMT

And for the weekend special, I will go ahead and post Part 3 as well! Hope and pray that it is helpful to you!!

lots of love, Violet

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Discipline of Submission

Posture of Godliness

I. Submission – Two opposite expressions of submission

A. Worldly expression of submission – Women are slaves to men and must do what they can to throw off the bands of submission so they can do what they want to do. (In other words – rebellion!)

B. Biblical expression of submission – Someone who willingly places themselves under the authority of the Lord and, in doing so, is willing to place themselves under the authority of those in authority over them.

II. The what of submission.

A. Submit to the Lord! (James 4:7; Eph. 6:11; Rom. 13:12; 2 Cor. 6:7)

B. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands. (Eph. 5:22: Col. 3:18)

C. Submit yourselves to the godly leadership of the church. (Heb. 13:17; Acts 20:28; Php. 2:29; 1 Thess 5:12-13; 1 Tim. 5:17; Heb. 6:12; 13:7)

D. Submit yourselves one to another. (Eph. 5:21; Php. 2:3; 1 Pt. 5:5; Rom. 12:10; Heb. 3:13)

E. Submit yourselves to the laws of the land. (1 Pt. 2:13; Mt. 22:21; Rom. 13:1; Tit. 3:1)

III. The why of submission (Ec. 12:1; Is. 40:28; Jn. 14:9; Acts 2:36; 17:28; Eph. 1:9-10; Php. 2:8-11; 1 Tim. 6:15; Heb. 12:9)

A. When we don’t submit we are in rebellion to the Lord. According to the Word of God, rebellion is the same thing as being a devil worshipper. (1 Sam. 15:23; Neh. 9:17; Pr.17:11; De. 18:10)

B. We submit because we follow Christ’s example. (Mt. 26:39; John 4:34; 5:19,30; 6:38; 8:27-30; 9:4; 12:49; 14:10; 17:4)

C. We submit because we love the Lord Jesus Christ and want to be obedient in all things. (Jn. 14:15, 21, 23; 15:10, 14; 1 Jn. 2:5; 5:3; 2 Jn. 1:6)

IV. The how of submission

A. We spend time with the Lord through prayer, Bible reading, memorization, meditation of Scripture, and fellowship with other believers through exhortation, rebuke, encouragement and accountability. (Jn. 15:1-5; Rom. 15:4, 23-24; 1 Cor. 10:11; 1 Tim. 4:13; 2 Tim. 3:16-17)

B. We choose daily those things that please Him instead of ourselves but the only way we can know what He wants is by reading and meditating on the Word of God. (Jn. 14:15)

Questions -- Are you living in submission to God and to His Word in all areas of your life? In what areas do you need to change so that you are being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ?

Helpful Bible Study for Women - Part 2

Sat, 24 Feb 2007 10:48:14 GMT

-- Well, I am back again after almost 2 weeks of no posting, and here is the second part of the Bible Study taken from "Disciplines of a Godly Woman" written by Barbara Hughes.

Please leave any comments or thoughts which would help be an encouragement to me or to others if you have found this helpful.

lots of love, Violet

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Discipline of the Gospel

I. Two types of ‘Christians’

A. False Christians

1. ‘Christianity’ is just one part of their busy lives. They have their secular work, their social life, their family life – oh, and their ‘spiritual life’ that is only good for Sunday but not for every day of their lives!

2. These people just have their ‘Christian life’ as an experience to look back on. It’s just “the day I said ‘THE’ prayer” or “walked the aisle” or “joined the church.” These people also do not allow anything to affect their daily lives.

3. These people only look for a ‘ticket to heaven.’ They want the assurance that they will go to heaven but are not serious enough to want it to be life changing.

4. These people only want a nice Sunday package for their family. They want a wholesome atmosphere, good moral teaching, occasional meal times together at church, and possibly a Ladies’ meeting every now and then if they’re not too busy, thank you very much! All these things are not wrong or bad in and of themselves but if there is no change within their lives and they are depending on these things to get them to heaven then they are dependent on the wrong things. These things will NOT get anyone to heaven!

B. True Believers – these people realize several different things.

1. They have a lot of baggage or sin in their lives that only the Lord can change. Rom. 8:9-13; 1 Cor. 6:19, 20; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 2:10; Heb. 9:14; Titus 2:14;

2. They seek to spend time with the Lord which results in building a relationship with Him. Jn. 15:4-6

3. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit produces a life of fruit that becomes obvious to the world. Jer. 31:33-34; Rom. 6:6; 8:1-14; 13:14; Gal. 5:22-26; Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:1-17

4. There is a time of pruning within their lives (Jn. 15:1-3) which the end result should produce the peacable fruit of righteousness. (Heb. 12:1-11)

5. They are not above the Master and there will be times of persecution within their lives when they stand for God’s truth! Jn. 15:18-25; 1 Pt. 3:13-17

6. They realize the importance of seeking to build a relationship with other believers on the truth of God’s Word in love. Jn. 15:12-17; 1 Pt. 3:8-12

7. They realize that every area in their lives will begin to change because the gospel changes our very soul. 2 Cor. 5:17

1. Which one would you consider yourself, the first or second ‘Christian’? Why?

2. Is there something in your life that would give forth a testimony that you are different from the world? Could someone pick you out as a Christian by your ‘walk’ or ‘lifestyle’? Could you be convicted as a Christian by the way you live your life?

3. What could you do differently by the grace and help of God?

II. The Gospel!

A. God’s gospel – Gal. 3:8 God’s gospel is about what GOD has done not what man needs! Eph. 2:8-9

B. Christ crucified – 1 Cor. 15:1-4

1. Jesus died for our sins. 1 Cor. 15:1-3

2. He was buried and rose again. 1 Cor. 15:4

3. Jesus is prophecy fulfilled to every gospel promise in the Bible. Gen. 3:15; Lk. 24:24-27; Cor. 1:20

a. We cannot work for our salvation. Jn. 6:28-29

b. Only believe through the faith God gives us Rom. 10:9-11; Eph. 2:8-9

III. The Gospel is everything!

A. It defines us.

1. We are made in the image of God. Gen. 1:26-28

2. We are sinners without hope. Gen. 3; Is. 53:6; Rom. 3:23; Eph. 2:1-3

3. We can be saved from God’s wrath. Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:3-9

4. We can be adopted into God’s family. Mk. 3:31-35; Jn. 1:12; 3:5-8

5. Once we are saved we are partners with all the saints for the gospel’s sake. Php. 1:1-6; 2:14-15

B. It motivates us.

1. We have purpose in life through the gospel. 1 Cor. 10:31; Col. 2:7; 3:17

2. It is part of every aspect of our lives. 1 Cor. 10:31; Col. 3:17

3. It is the foundation of our very lives. 1 Cor. 3:5-11

C. It satisfies us – the gospel gives us everything we need for life and godliness. 2 Pt. 1:3; Jn. 4:13; 7:37-38

1. How can we show forth to the world that the gospel is the answer for everything in our lives?

Helpful Bible Study for Women - Part 1

Sat, 10 Feb 2007 11:22:48 GMT

I have actually gone through this book by Barbara Hughes several times but this time I am making outlines of each of the chapters and studying Scripture on the areas discussed. I have decided to post this on the blog, just in case it might help someone else in their Christian life. This is more of a self-study outline. I have given points but it is up to you to study out the verses to make sure that it matches up to what Scripture says.

Also knowing that I am just learning about studying these things out myself, if anyone out there does see something that goes contrary to Scripture feel free to let me know by pointing out what the Bible says and how it relates to the rest of Scripture. I will be happy to study it out again with more enlightenment and re-post!

Having said that, below is the first chapter.

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Discipline for Godliness!

I.   Types of Discipline
     A.   Legalism – self-centred – these people do something to gain merit with God.
     B.   Lack of discipline – these people refuse to do anything that would take them out of their comfort zone.
     C. True discipline within the life – these people are changing in their lives because they love and want to please the Lord. Jn. 14:15, 21, 23; 15:9-16; 1 Cor. 9:25-27; Rom. 6:18-19; Eph. 5:2; 2 Tim. 4:8; Heb. 12:1; James 1:12; 1 Jn. 3:16

II. Reasons for lack of discipline within the life.
     A.   Fear of legalism.
     B.   Laziness
     C.   Lack of teaching.
     D.   Fear of being called legalistic because of a true love and desire to serve the Lord.

1. Which one of the types of discipline would you place yourself in? Do you seek to please the Lord in every area of life or is it too much effort? If there is not true discipline within your life what do you think would be the reason for not loving the Lord and desiring to please Him in every area of life? Which of these reasons for lack of discipline or others would you say is keeping you from serving the Lord? In what way can these areas change within your life?

A nice visit with Esther!

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 14:18:36 GMT

Well, today Mark and I took in the blankets to Eva and Esther. When we arrived, Esther was crying because she said she felt lonely. She was so excited to see us and said, "My boy is here! You've really cheered me up since you came to see me, pet!" She still had tears in her eyes but you could tell she was already starting to cheer up! Mark got another chair for me as there was already one beside her chair so that he could sit next to her. He shared with her that he had been in Africa preaching the gospel.

"Oh, have you?" she asked.

"36 people came to know the Lord!" he concluded. She was very excited over that and did stop crying.

After that we chatted for a few minutes then I got up and went over to Eva, the lady that sits next to Esther. She is very good to let us know how Esther is doing when we arrive and is very sweet. Anyway, I made up a blanket for Eva and gave it to her. She was so pleased to have it!

Next, I gave Esther hers and she was very excited about it. She really liked it and talked about it for a couple of minutes. I then borrowed it from her to show what crocheting looked like to one of the residents whose name is Mary. Mary does knitting and was interested in seeing what the crocheting looked like. I took it back to Esther and Mark took a picture of Esther and I.

As we were sitting there I went over and felt Esther's hands and they were pretty cold! I asked her if she would like to cover them up with her new blanket and she said yes. Mark covered her hands up then Esther asked me, "You gave this to me, didn't you?" I replied that I had. I thought that was pretty exciting that she remembered me giving her the blanket. Normally she doesn't remember much of anything. Anyway, I covered Eva over as well since she said her hands were cold. Here they both are enjoying the warmth of their blankets.

Anyway, we had a really good visit with Esther and I was so glad we were able to spend time with her today!

Safely Home

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 14:51:38 GMT

Here is an excellent book that I have read several times. This book is by Randy Alcorn about the persecution of believers in other countries. It is very interesting especially considering there is quite a bit about heaven and the Lord in it! As the players are going through what they have to in the 'Shadowlands' those that have reached eternity are watching what is happening in the lives of 2 men in particular. One is in America and persecuting Christians by not allowing them the freedom of worship within the job situation and the other man is in China being persecuted for being a believer by those in authority. Both knew each other in college but parted ways and hadn't seen each other about 20 years. A series of interesting events bring them back together for a time and the Lord works through the situation.

How many times do we fear being persecuted possibly to the point of death? How willing are we to suffer for Christ whether through loss of reputation (like Joseph), through friends and family that won't have anything to do with us anymore because the truth of God's Word convicts their hearts, or even through death?

Jesus tells us that as He was hated by the world, so would we be hated by the world. The world loves its own and if we are true believers, the world will hate us just as it hated the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us dwell on the Lord Jesus Christ so we will be ready when a time of persecution comes our way!

New Blankets and a Visit to Esther

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 14:24:41 GMT

Well, considering Mark is blogging about Liberia on Love4Missions, I figured it was best for him to stick with that while I move the other bits to my blog! Hey, having multiple blogs do come in handy, don't they?

The first two pictures are the blankets that I have been working on. They will go to Eva and Esther but I will get pictures and post them when we give it to them but it wasn't done today. Well, the dark in the first blanket is a green and the dark colour in the second blanket is a dark purple. It didn't come out as clear as I wanted it.

Today, Mark Jr. and I went to see Esther at the nursing home. Although she was bright and cheery, she had no idea who we were. At first she told us that Mark and his group would be coming to visit sometime. Of course, I told her we were part of Mark's group! She didn't quite understand that then I told her that Mark Jr. was her great grandson. Of course, she agreed though she had a puzzled look on her face. We did have lunch with her and she was chatting up a storm. This included several funny things which she said and had us laughing! A tv program was on called 'Loose Women' and they were talking about sales and shopping. One of the women said that she hated sales and when she didn't have much money she would go to sales to buy things just to put in her closet. She went on to say that she did it purposefully and wouldn't want to wear them because they came from sales. Of course, Esther had a couple of things to say about that.

"Funny person, that woman is," she commented to me.

"I agree!"

"If she's going to buy something then she needs to wear it instead of just leaving it in her closet!" was her next response.

Mark and I both laughed over this and I told Esther she was absolutely right. It was only a strange person that bought clothes just to store away. Of course Esther made several other comments that were quite funny although true.

When we finished eating and it was almost time to go, we knew we had to wheel Esther back into the other room where her chair was. I tried to get her foot onto the place where the feet are supposed to go but it hurt Esther too much so we just left her and I was extra careful with her feet. Esther didn't complain and I did tell her I wasn't trying to hurt her. She clasped my hand and said, "I know, pet!"

All in all we had a great couple of hours with her even though she couldn't figure out who we were! Oh, well, maybe next time!

Trip to Gatwick

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 15:07:09 GMT

There will be no pictures this time because our cameras are on the plane with my husband! I have lost a husband for about 2 weeks and am suffering the blues due to him being gone. I never did like for my husband to be gone any length of time; however, a person must deal with it and get on with life.

Today was the FIRST time I drove all the way from Gatwick Airport to our house. Now, Gatwick is in London and truly a nightmare if you get lost. I must admit that I ALMOST got lost but my oldest son rescued me (he's the one that does the directing when I am in the driver's seat!) He is VERY good in giving directions when the map is in front of him so that is exactly what he did. The whole idea was to go from the M23 (m stands for motorway) to the M25. I stayed on the M23 because I thought I was in the lane they said to be in. Obviously I wasn't! Outside of that one little bitty mistake, I made it all the way back on my own.

Mark is on his way to Liberia to do a load of preaching there! This is quite exciting and I look forward to hearing what is happening with him. I will share what I can and leave the rest for him to share upon his return!

Taggee or Taggor? (Hey, I just wanted to add a little class to the name!)

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:17:51 GMT

Ok, everyone out there! You have only eskypades to blame for this. Apparently, I have been tagged by him and must give some weird things about myself, six (6) that is! Now, I have copied his rules as this is one of the rules of the game (well, maybe not copying his rules but making sure the rules are there for everyone that has been tagged to read. Of course, if you just copy the rules I copied then you won't have to write the rules yourself. Then again, these may not be quite clear enough for you and you might want to REWRITE the rules! Yes, that's it! If you are tagged in this then make sure you REWRITE the rules and write me right out of the rules!) Anyway, on to the rules and the weird things about myself.

"The rule for this tagging thing is that whenever a person is tagged (henceforth named the Taggee), said Taggee must write a blog listing six (6) weird things about himself (or herself). Additionally, Taggee must also include these rules (not necessarily using these words) in the weird blog. At the end, Taggee must then choose six(6) people to tag, upon which time Taggee becomes Tagger and the whole mess starts over again."

Disclaimer Notice: These rules were written by eskypades, henceforth known as eskymeister, and doesn't necessarily mean that they are backed or believed or endorsed by ztnelv. They are only rules and I have heard rules were meant to be broken. Of course, I myself am a stickler for rules (ask my husband www.xanga.com/Love4missions) and get very upset when others break the rules; however some rules I cannot believe are meant to be followed no matter what is said by anyone else!

(Actually, I liked the way he said the rules and I really didn't feel like writing them up myself so I just copied his and added what I wanted to say! Sorry, Stephen!)

Now, to the six (6) weird things.

1.) I don't really believe anything I do is weird! After all, there is normally a very good reason for ALL that I do, I just haven't figured it out yet!

2.) I LOVE tomatoes, anyway they come! I can eat them cooked or raw. I can eat them big or little. I like them spiced or plain! If you want to give me tomatoes I will accept them with loads of gratefulness in my heart toward the giver of tomatoes (unless they're rotten then I will be sad, because I didn't get them before they went rotten!)

3.) I like jalepenas. The spicier they are the better!

4.) I love to put my jalepenas in my cooked tomatoes.

5.) I could eat this all the time and never have anything else except toast for breakfast (ask my family)!

6.) I married the same guy twice on my wedding day! (I really wanted to be sure he was stuck with me and this was the best way of doing it!)

(Outdo those weird things, if you can!)

Ok I tag these six (6) people!

1.) www.xanga.com/kayteo
2.) www.xanga.com/Proverbs_31
3.) www.xanga.com/weadopt2001
4.) www.xanga.com/WolfePack4
5.) www.xanga.com/piecedtreasures
6.) www.xanga.com/BRAATENS

As eskymeister so elegantly put it, "Go henceforth, blog and tag!" (Almost sounds like he knighted us and makes you want to stand proud and tall. "Hey, I have been knighted to blog and tag by the eskymeister himself!"

New Year's Eve!

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 20:46:21 GMT

Well, here it is New Year's Eve. I doubt we will be staying up to see the new year in as we haven't done it in years. Maybe we're getting too old for that kind of thing!

I figured this was a good time to reminisce over this past year. We started off the new year with high hopes of what we wanted to see happen within our lives, within the church, within our relationships both in the family and outside of the family (friends, to be specific), and also within our relationship with the Lord. Some of the hopes have been realized but, looking back, most of the hopes have not. At one point, I would have said that this is extremely disappointing and heartbreaking. In the end, the Lord still knew what it is we needed within our lives for us to become more like the Lord Jesus Christ. I can't say that this year has been an exciting year (it hasn't) nor can I say that this has been an easy year (not a year I would want to redo). Most of the year has been full of heartache, disappointment and loads of pain (physically, emotionally and spiritually) yet, in the end, I would not have traded it because the things I have learned have far outweighed the pain, heartache and disappointment.

I have learned that the Lord Jesus Christ is by far the best Friend I could ever have. I know the first thought that would have gone through my mind if someone had that on their blog. (You mean you're just NOW learning that??) No, I would have to say I am continuing to learn that and the lesson is being brought even deeper into my heart than it had been previously. Isn't it amazing the things we can know in our minds and even somewhat in our hearts can be brought even deeper into our hearts than we previously realized? It's not like a new lesson learned but kind of like a lesson relearned but better because it means even more than what it had previously, it's ALMOST like a new lesson, but not quite. (If this doesn't make sense to you, that's alright as it makes perfect sense to me! )

I mentioned friends in a previous blog and what I had learned through a friendship here in England. Friends can come and go but our relationship (friendship) with the Lord should never change. Granted, that is easier said than done but the Lord NEVER changes in any situation. He loves us the same and while my love for Him may wax hot or grow cold, I can still seek out an intimate relationship with Him at any point. Abiding in Him is never too late. Sometimes it's easier to DO things for Him instead of BE WITH Him that way I don't have to be bothered about a relationship. This has been my focus for many years (not that I purposefully thought of it in that light) and I am finding that it's more enjoyable being with Him than it is doing things for Him. Of course, when I am with Him the things I had to force myself to do FOR Him come a bit more naturally because while I spend time in His presence He does the work through me. Isn't that interesting? I spend time with Him because I want to abide in Him and get to know Him, He begins working in my life and basically does all the work through me so it isn't me that does it, it's the Lord that does it! WOW! Amazing concept! This is good for me because then I don't have to fear what man thinks and yet I know I still have SO MUCH MORE to learn! I am on a road of learning that I don't want to get off. This year may bring more pain, heartache, and disappointment but with the Lord's help and HIM working in me, despite the person (myself) being in the way, He will take me even further next year than He has this year.

To summarize, I am so thankful that the Lord is the one that has SAVED me and is also the one that KEEPS me and also the one that CHANGES me. Thank you, Lord, for EVERYTHING!

Have a Happy New Year and even more important, may the Lord work in your life this brand new year. His mercies are new every morning and great is HIS faithfulness!

Messages

Mon, 25 Dec 2006 16:05:59 GMT

I have a little story to tell about this picture. The other day when I was desperately trying to finish the last blanket for Christmas, the boys and I had a little discussion which led to the following picture. The discussion started when the boys were talking about their mp3 players and everything they had on it. They were given money by an uncle and they decided they all wanted one. They not only had music put on it but they had several of the messages that Mark had preached and had put on his sermonaudio website. They mentioned how many songs they had and how many messages they had. I think Mark said he had 90 songs and 12 messages which only added up to about 25% of memory on the mp3 player. I had been seriously thinking about what I could do with an mp3 player and how it would help me in my spiritual walk with the Lord. The songs are not as interesting to me as the messages or even being able to use the player to help me learn verses.

Well, after they were done talking, I felt it was my turn to say something. "I don't have ANY messages," I announced to all of the boys and Mark, as well, since he was sitting right in front of me at the computer.

Our oldest son, Mark, looked at me and said, "You're right, mom, you don't have any messages and we need to remedy that, don't we?" While I was wondering what he was going to do, he went into his bedroom while Sterling moved off into his room. Within seconds, Mark reappeared with some orange sticky notes, Sterling gave me yellow sticky notes, and Trenton gave me blue sticky notes.

These are the ones from Mark (with the exclamation marks he put on):
I (he made a heart for love) u!
your the best mum ever!!!!
you do a very good job!!
you crochet beautifully!!!
keep going!
I like your purple t-shirt!
your a genius!!!

These are the ones from Sterling:
I (he made a heart to stand for love) you
You are good at crocheting
You are wonderful

These are the ones from Trenton:
I love you.
Wow! woW! (the second wow is spelled backwards he told me)
Mothers of little boys work from son up to son down.
You are doing great!

Then all three expressed that I had more messages than they did. I told them I was really pleased with my messages and I wouldn't say anything else about not having messages! How can a mom complain when all three of her children give her such wonderful messages? I love my boys and they ended up posting all their messages on me!