God's Love

I haven't posted much about the Bible study I'm currently in. Not because I'm not learning a TON. I guess I just haven't taken the time to sit down and write a post about it. And since both kids were asleep before 8pm tonight (yahoo!!)... :)

We're going through Jerry Bridges' "Trusting God". Tonight I was reading about God's love. Matthew Henry observed (after reading Zephaniah 3:17) this:

"The great God not only loves His saints, He loves to love them."

The psalmist David writes of the greatness of God's love in Psalm 103. God's love is higher than the heavens are from the earth. Just as His ways are high above our ways, God's love is more than we can ever comprehend. Bridges points out that

"(God's love) is not only perfect in its effect, it is infinite in its extent."

It's so hard to wrap my finite, human mind around a love like that. When I'm going through an adversity, a hardship, or just something that's not my idea of good, it's easy to forget that. Bridges reminds us to remember who we are. When we start to think that God doesn't care, that if He really loved us why would He be putting me through this...remember what He did for ME. He sacrificed His one and only Son. For me. Jesus willingly died a horrific death, suffered much...for me. I don't deserve His love. I don't deserve heaven. I deserve hell. A speaker once said

"Anything this side of hell is pure grace."

How true that is. May we all remember and humbly seek the cross and the Savior.

New Bible Study

We went to the home basketball game Saturday evening. The kids did good until about the 2nd half of the guys' game (boy was that a good game!). Anna is getting sick--she was up off & on last night coughing and gagging. So to the doctor we'll go tomorrow :( I'm getting better, but sleep is still hard some nights...when I lay down, I usually start to cough. But my lungs feel clear!

Anyway, here are some cute pictures (I think!).

Yes, she's about to poke his cheek...she just can't get enough of him some days! :)
She really does like to watch the games. You should have seen her tonight watching the Super Bowl! It was funny.

Jacob actually watched a bit here & there. He would get excited and point to the players and grunt. What a boy! ;)

We started another Bible study at Grace a couple weeks ago...another Jerry Bridges study: "Trusting God". Wow. Only 2 weeks in and it's already been great! The biggest thing I've come away with so far is this: It SO hard for our human minds to comprehend that God is completely sovereign and in control, even when bad things happen to us (His children). How can He allow evil to happen if He is in control and if He is supposedly a good, loving God? What a hard question to grapple with! But the Bible tells us over and over again that He IS sovereign in ALL THINGS...nothing is out of His control. Satan has to get God's permission to touch God's children. Satan is under God's control! There is not a single thing that is not under God's control. Isaiah 55:8-9 says,

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways," says the
Lord.

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways.

And My thoughts than your thoughts."

Some painful, hard circumstances may come into our lives. We might come to know God's plan for those circumstances and we might not. Job never did...Joseph did. Does that
mean that we should not trust God? If you are going through a difficult time and are having trouble trusting God, I do
NOT want to sound glib and cliche. It's easy to say these things when we are having an "easy life"...much harder to say (and more importantly believe and rust) these things then life is hard. That's one thing Bridges points out--don't
be guilty of breaking a "bruised reed" (Matthew 12:20)--a
heavy heart. I guess my point is, this is going to be
yet another great tool God will use to grow me. It
will hurt, but the reward will be great.

(And I can't get this to format back to the normal margins! GRRRRRRR!!!)

Ladies Retreat

This past weekend, I went on a ladies retreat with our church. It was so nice to get away and be encouraged in God's Word! Our speaker, Kris is always so encouraging and practical...just a great speaker. The weekend's theme was relationships (Rules to the Relationship Road--I hope she makes it into a Bible study!!). The main premise is that if our relationship with God is not right, none of our other relationships will be right. As women, we so often try to fill a void for joy with other people and things, that was always meant to be filled only by the God that created us. Even our husbands cannot fill that void. So we have to stop trying to make them! :) Some highlights of the weekend:

• Our expectations (of others) cause problems. We need to be quiet and let him/her (our husbands, friends, etc.) hear the Holy Spirit.
• If I'm going to love others as I should, I must worship God as three things: Creator, Sovereign, and Savior. Too often we're too casual about our own sin and too impassioned about others' sin.
• The key text was Ephesians 4.

We must learn to yield:

• Change is healthy: Paul encourages believers to walk worthy of our high calling--humble, tolerant, and gentle...I must diligently work to have peace in my relationships.
• The Trinity should be our example for relationships: unity, humble, working together
• Relationships takes us beyond our normal strengths!

We must learn to stop:

• We are commanded to no longer walk as an unbeliever. As Kris said: Paul doesn't tell us to pray about, to have a group study about it...he simply tells us to STOP IT!
• I am on assignment by God to bless those He has put in my path.
• Ask yourself every day "Am I enjoying God?"
• Be a good listener (duh!)
• Slow down and evaluate your relationships.
• STOP the sinful behaviors. Kris said we all have our "pet" sins. We must STOP those and replace those behaviors with something else. We give the devil a foothold with those "little" sins and that is a dangerous thing to do!
• Eph. 4:29 (go read it!)...she gave this illustrations--a dad gave his two children a tube of toothpaste and 2 paper plates and then left the room. He came back later and, of course, they had all the toothpaste squeezed out. So the dad told them "Okay, now put it all back in the tube." Of course, that is impossible. He said that toothpaste is just like our words. You can never "put them back"--ever.
• Not forgiving others shows that I don't understand what I've been forgiven. Jesus allowed himself to be tortured FOR ME...to save ME.

If I forgive, I promise to:

• Not bring up this sin and use it as leverage.
• Not repeat their sins to others and then sin, myself, by slandering.
• Not dwell on the sin.

• Forgiveness is an event and a process...you can't just "forgive and forget". But I need to hate my sin as much as God does.
• Forgiveness is NOT peace at all costs.
• There's a difference between an apology and asking for forgiveness. An apology implies that it was a mistake. (I've been working on this with Anna.)

What a growing weekend it was! She had quiet time questions to work through and those were challenging as well. I would highly encourage you to look at Kris' website and pick a Bible study to do (either on your own or with a group--she has CDs and DVDs with them) or even get her to speak at your next women's event at your church. God has used her in mighty ways and she is a humble, willing servant.

The End

Our Bible study has ended :( It was so hard, but it was so good. I can't recommend enough this study. I really encourage you to get it and go through it.
In his last chapter, "Where do we go from here?", he suggests asking your spouse/brother/sister/close friend to evaluate you in the presence of the subtle sins he discussed throughout the book. Today was not a very good day for my anger/frustration, I don't have to ask Aaron about that!! He says to ask for honest feedback and to NOT SAY ANYTHING in response. Even if you don't agree with what they say...God may be trying to use that person to open up areas you have been in denial about!
You could use a scale like this:
1-not a problem
2-occasionally a problem
3-frequently a problem
4-characteristic of your life
Do you want the list of subtle sins??? (I know you just said no!!) Here they are anyway. It's going to hurt.

1. Ungodliness
2. Anxiety and Frustration
3. Discontentment
4. Unthankfulness
5. Pride (moral self-righteousness, pride of correct doctrine, achievement, & independent spirit)
6. Selfishness (our interests, time, money and inconsiderateness)
7. Lack of Self-control (eating & drinking, temper, money, tv, hobbies, impulse buying)
8. Impatience & Irritability
9. Anger
10. Sins of the tongue (gossip, slander, lying, harsh words, sarcasm, insults, ridicule)
11. Worldliness (money, vicarious immorality, idolatry)

WOW! What a list. I want to share more about a couple of the chapters, but not tonight. I must sleep! Sleep has not been Anna's friend recently :( It's craziness.

Comments

So I have a question about the comments. I really appreciate all of them that I get and I feel like I should respond to each one so you guys know how much I like reading them. But do I need to? I know when I leave a comment, unless I ask a question, I don't usually check back to see if the blogger responded (and even when I do, sometimes I forget to check back!!). And then there's another quandary...if another blogger comments and I want to respond, do I do so on my blog or on theirs?? hmmmm....
Okay, I've got to finish my Bible study for tomorrow. Last one. I'm kind of sad about that. It's been a really hard study, but it's been so good, and I enjoy the fellowship. The next one there won't start until the middle of January. It certainly wouldn't hurt me to read through the book again, that's for sure!

Conviction

This week's lesson (Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges, in case you missed my last post-which wasn't last week!) mopped the floor with me. Judgmentalism and Sins of the Tongue. OUCH.
When he covered judgmentalism, he talked about different aspects than I'd ever really considered. One of which was about doctrine or our beliefs about church/worship. There is a very fine line between holding our Biblical convictions and being judgmental of those who have different views. But how do you balance between standing up for key Biblical doctrine and expressing disagreement with someone who advocates unsound doctrine...in ways that don't turn into character assassination (that question is from the study guide). Bridges points out that we can still sin, even if we judge in accordance with Scripture, if we're doing it with with a self-righteous attitude.
Another aspect of judgmentalism he talked about was the critical spirit--someone who looks for and finds fault with everyone and everything. Have you ever been around someone like that? It's not fun. It's depressing and uncomfortable. Someone who sees someone they don't even know and says "Why on earth are they doing that? That is just stupid. They are wasting their money." etc.
Now, the "sins of the tongue". Well, Bridges included gossip, slander, lying, critical speech, harsh words, sarcasm (what?!), insults, and ridicule. Holy cow! Ouch, ouch, ouch!
He defined gossip as the spreading of unfavorable information about someone else, even if it's true. So even if your next door neighbor is an alcoholic, that doesn't mean it's not gossip when you talk about him and his drinking. When we say something critical about someone, even if it's true, we should ask ourselves first "does this need to be said...will this only tear this person down or will it build them up?" I think those 2 questions would pretty much put a cap on a lot of the things we say!

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but
what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace on the
hearers. Ephesians 4:29

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my
heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my
redeemer. Psalm 19:14

Wow! Not only should we guard our words, we should guard our hearts, too! That means that getting mad at hubby dearest and making a smart remark is sin. That means that growling in frustration when Anna doesn't listen for the TENTH time is sin. I could go on for ages here. The Lord has really convicted me about this. It's hard! But I know it's good. Just like Mom & Dad always told me "I'm doing this because I love you" (usually after a little discipline). God simply wants to refine me to be more like His beloved Son. How awesome is that? God loves us enough to give me these trials and test me--not because He likes to sit on His throne and watch me squirm, but because He loves me so much and He knows that these things will draw me closer to Him and drive me to be more like Christ (if I choose to let them!). I really encourage you to get this book and study guide. Even if it's just a study you do on your own or with your spouse. It is so eye-opening and GOOD!

Alright, I hope this post made sense. I better get to bed!!!!

Quickly

Just quickly wanted to share something as I'm reading through this week's lesson for my Bible study (which is on pride and selfishness...ouch!)
There are several different types of pride that the author addresses. One of which is "pride of achievement". At first I was thinking, I don't really think I have trouble with that one, and then he points out the parent angle! How many times has someone complimented me on how well-behaved Anna is, or how beautiful my children are, or how easy-going they are? And of those times, how many did I say or think "Thank the Lord for His gift of that in her/him"?? I certainly realize that God had a lot more to do with how my children look than anything I did, but don't we, as parents, take "pride" in how well our children behave in public????? As I'm learning (or being reminded, really), that success came from God. Not to say that I haven't put diligent effort into training my children and teaching them manners, but who gave me that instinct, that ability and desire to so? GOD! Bridges gives the example of a Christmas letter, telling "Our son graduated summa cum laude from Yale". As he points out, there's nothing wrong with telling friends and family that news. The sin of pride comes in not giving God the glory for that accomplishment! Am I getting my point across?
Okay, I really need to finish up so I can go to bed! But that really hit me close to home and I wanted to share it while I had time and, quite frankly, while I remembered it!!

Respectable Sins

I've mentioned a few times about the women's Bible study I'm currently doing at a local church...I wanted to talk a little more about it. It's called "Respectable Sins" by Jerry Bridges. It is very good! The title itself is very interesting, and catches your attention. Here is a quote from the book:

"The very word, sin, which seems to have disappeared, was once a
proud word. It was once a strong word, an ominous and serious word...But the
word went away. It has almost disappeared--the word, along with the notion. Why? Doesn't anyone sin anymore? Doesn't anyone believe in sin? Karl Menninger "Whatever Became of Sin"

It's an 8 week study and these are the "respectable" sins Bridges covers (there are more than one in each week's session)

1. Ungodliness
2. Unthankfulness
3. Anxiety
4. Frustration
5. Discontentment
6. Pride
7. Selfishness
8. Impatience
9. Irritability
10. Anger
11. Judgementalism
12. Sins of the Tongue
13. Lack of Self-Control
14. Envy
15. Jealousy

YIKES!!! How many of us have many, if not all, of these sins daily/weekly? Bridges points out that sin is sin to God. We are quick to let ourselves off the hook for our impatience b/c it's not as bad as adultery or murder, so it's not as big of a deal to God. But as he points out "God has not given us the authority to establish values for different sins" (p. 20). Did Christ die on the cross only for the murderers, adulterers, and theifs? "All sin is serious because all sin is a breaking God's law" (p. 20). He warns that these subtle sins are scary because we trick ourselves into thinking that they're not that bad, or worse, not even thinking about them. Think about Isaiah 53:6

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all"

Bridges says "Shall we presume on God's grace by tolerating in ourselves the very sin that nailed Christ to the cross?" (p. 29). Wow! Putting in that perspective--that my anger at someone cutting me off is sin and THAT sin nailed Christ to the cross. God cannot look on sin--any sin. Big or small, it is still heinous in the sight of God! Something that he says he "preaches" to himself every day is the Gospel. When I started reading that chapter, I thought I don't need to preach the Gospel to myself every day. I know that Christ died on the cross to save me from eternal separation. I've been taught that for as long as I can remember. But he points out that without the Gospel, we have no hope of dealing with these subtle sins. Through the Gospel, we have hope-hope that God knows and will forgive and cares and wants us to overcome these sins. And hope that He is there to help us overcome them. Bridges uses several verses to "preach" the Gospel to himself every day.

• Psalm 103:12; 130:3-4
• Isaiah 43:25; 53:6; 1:18; 38:17
• Romans 4:7-8; 8:1
• Micah 7:19
• Ephesians 1:7
• Colossians 2:13-14
• Hebrews 8:12; 10:17-18

They are all verses that assure us of God's forgiveness. How many times do we hear people say "How can God allow such things to happen?" God does not tempt us (read James 1:13-14). "...he does bring or allow circumstances to come into our lives that give us the opportunity to put to death the particular subtle sins that are characteristic of our individual lives." (p. 44) It never fails! If we start trying to work on something in our lives (spiritual or otherwise), Satan will work hard against us! Last week the study was on frustration. Last week was FULL of frustrations for me with the kids!!! Anna was just out-right naughty (which rarely happens!) and Jacob was just into E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. and decided to scream practically all day every day! You can bet your hat that Satan was trying his hardest to make me sin (which I did) and discourage me from working on my sin of frustration.

Bridges believes that all of those other subtle sins stem from a root sin of ungodliness. Does it offend you when I say that you're ungodly? It did me when I read it! But I thought ungodliness was the same as unrighteousness. It's not. Unrighteousness "refers to sinful actions in thought, word, or deed....Ungodliness describes an attitude toward God." (p. 53) Ungodliness can be going throughout a day giving little or no thought of God. How many days have I done exactly that? We have an accountability to God, as believers. Our prayers have become ME centered instead of GOD centered. We forget our dependence on God for everything--our very breath!

Okay, I think that's enough for now :) I'll try to post some more later. It has been a very humbling study, but a good one!