Girls, it was so great to be with you all yesterday! I love Sundays for so many reasons, and you each are one of them. I know that the class yesterday was different and more informative, but I wanted to share with you that there are resources to help you glean from God's Word in a way that will speak to you personally. We all will learn and study differently. I wanted you to have an overview of just a few of the resources out there that you might want to know more about as you begin to study the Bible daily.
I struggled with doing that yesterday, so I pray that those who were new will stick around and see what our regular class is like! I pray also that something spoke to you. I have also prayed that you left knowing that studying God's Word is for all of us!! Pastors, Beth Moore, Kay Arthur, Billy Graham and others are using the resources that I showed you yesterday. Jay has been to seminary, and those are a few of the main things he uses in sermons and teaching. It's not complicated or mystical...but it is powerful to be in a personal and growing relationship with Almighty God!
Renee, you had my most favorite question of all...how do we start? Let's start right now...
Take a few moments today to quiet your heart in prayer. Find a quiet spot that you can steal away and focus on God and what He wants to say to you today. Open up to God as you would a loved one sitting with you over a steaming cup of hot tea. Rest in these moments knowing that God loves you and desires you.
Read 1 Samuel 1:1-2.
What sticks out to you in these verses?
Look at the words..."And Hannah had none." How do you think Hannah felt? What are your thoughts on this situation?
Hannah didn't have children while her husbands other wife did. We know that in Biblical times barren women were ridiculed and seen as less important than those who could give their husbands children. But, even today as women it would be difficult to not have children if we desired that in our lives. Can you feel the weight of those words now..."and Hannah had none"?
You may have children today, but there is something in all of our lives that we desire. Perhaps we desire love from a parent that we have "had none" growing up. Maybe we desire a godly marriage that doesn't exist right now. We might desire a thriving spiritual life.
What do you deeply desire that you do not feel that you have right now in your life?
We must take that opportunity in that desire and need to fellowship with God in prayer over that. We will see the passionate prayer that came from a desperate desire in Hannah's life. We will see that Hannah took that desire to God with a groaning so deep that others thought she was either insane or drunk.
Take time today to those deep desires to God. He will answer you. He will change you. He will give you the desires of your heart...either through a "yes" or by filling your heart with Himself so that your desire is met.
Journal a few moments on your own personal thoughts. What is God saying to you right now? What desires do you need to share with Him? Allow Him to fill your cup today!
Share your thoughts with us! We want to hear from you today. Encourage us with what God is saying to you!
I love you all and will miss you terribly! Thank you for being in this class and for sharing your life with me. I am so glad God has brought us together for this journey in thriving everyday!
THRIVE!
Frances
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2 comments:
Oh...this is one of those "This is for me" moments. I've realized I must "work" on one "desire" at a time. Otherwise, I feel too much burden - which is getting in the way of the one relationship that I desire most, with Christ.
Lainie ~ that was an AWESOME moment yesterday. Thank you so much. It solidifies that our paths were meant to cross.
I wanted to meet Arron yesterday, but I couldn't fin you after I talked w/ Frances. Next week...
Frances ~ Thank you so much for allowing me to fill your ears after service. That was a lot to spit out at someone.
Everyone~ Have a Blessed Labor Day Monday!
Love,
Angela
No routine yesterday at all in my home, and I did not even look at anything all day....not a good start of my week. Wow, I cannot say that I know exactly how Hannah feels...but I have a co-worker that has no children and that deep desire has never left her. It is an obstacle in most every situation or conversation. This has built a fortified wall around her and she will not let anyone in. She is not a christian and the bitterness that she feels toward God is evident all over her life. I pray that God uses our working relationship to start taking some stones out of that wall because right now she can hear nothing from me.
Angela I love you!!
Sit with us next week, you are MORE than Welcome!!!
Frances, tell Jay that our family enjoyed him so much Sunday. The kids kept saying that they felt like they were little again and it was story time in SS. We really felt like we were there.
Have a great day!!!!
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