Awesome Bible Study Lesson Today

Today was very good for me.  If you haven't noticed, I haven't blogged in several days.  It is Satan definitely attacking me either through my kids' school issues or through the pain in my shoulder as a result of the car accident two years ago.  When he attacks, he definitely attacks hard.

So, to be honest, I have not finished the lessons for this week.  I am three days behind, but what I got out of today's lesson at church really moved me.

This is the week that we studied about thanking the Lord.  God commands us in I Thessalonians 5:18 to "give thanks to the Lord."  It's not a request, but a command.  Every day, something new was pointed out that we need to be thankful for whether it is the people that we struggle with or the results of painful events in our life.  Now, I didn't say be thankful for the pain inflicted, but the results that will come as a result.  It talked about how these struggles and painful things we encounter as Christians, while not caused by God but He helps us through it, produce a ministry in us.  I told my class today about my brother, Kevin, and how I lost him five years ago this year.  I distinctly remember hearing, "I will praise you in this storm" on the radio and I clung to that song to help me make it through my drive to my parents' house.  When the pastor asked if there was anything special we wanted to occur at the funeral, I asked that he offer the plan of salvation because I knew a lot of my brother's friends were not Christians.  As a result of the plan of salvation being offered, I believe it was around seven people that came to know Christ that day.  I know that this will sound odd to some, but that actually helped me cope a lot with his death.  Would I love to have him back?  YES!  In a heartbeat, I would love to him call my name in his odd way just one more time or even sing a song for me and ask me to turn my head so I wouldn't look at him when he sang since it made him nervous.  I guess I look at it as that he didn't die in vain because he now has friends that will meet him in Heaven one day.  One thing that did help me cope with his loss was Johnny's cousin's wife, Jeannie, who shared her similar experience with her brother.  God used her that night to help me get through the difficult time.  It has only been recently that I feel like I have been able to offer myself to others that are going through similar situations.  I am thankful for that and hope that I can offer the same comfort that Jeannie offered me that one night.

I also had some revelations today.  I need to be more thankful for what I have.  The teacher today was saying that if anyone makes over $40,000 a year, that they are considered in the top 1% of the wealthiest people in the world.  Here I complain about not having some stuff in my life, and I live above my means.   I did notice that last year, we, as a family, learned to live off substantially less than previous years, but we made it through just fine.  I had given it over to God and He provided beyond my expectations.  It blew me away.

 I also need to be thankful for my kids.  Strangely, this verse spoke volumes to me today.

"Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox come abundant harvests."  Proverbs 14:4.

I instantly thought of my kids with this verse.  You have to understand that I am a control freak.  When I see their messy rooms, I about lose it.  But as the verse says, the manger is empty but with the ox comes abundant harvests.  They may have the messiest room, but they give me so much love.  Just last night, we were getting on to Colby for his messy room, but he got up this morning and cleaned it and next thing I knew, Bailey and Colby were fighting over who was going to snuggle with me.  That is my abundant harvest!!  It is definitely better than an empty manger!!  The same thing can be said of my wonderful husband!  There are times that tough between us, but in the end, I could not live without him and his unconditional love for me, even when I am not the nicest person. :)

I can't wait to do the rest of the lessons to see what else I can be thankful for!  I have so much to be thankful for.  What about you?

Wow...Satan is attacking..

The last week has been hard on me.  I had a cold/sinus infection for the second time in a month.  That is very unusual for me.  I typically get a cold or two during the year and that's it.  I think Satan is not too happy that I am doing devotionals.  That is my reason for not blogging.  It is not a good one at all.  Satan may have stopped me from blogging for a few days but he didn't stop me from doing my devotions except for one night!  I was determined that he wasn't going to lead me astray!

This week's devotions have been directed to confessions.  The statement that has really hit me is that "Sin is appealing.  Otherwise, no one would do it."  I also liked the statement that confession should not be a result of guilt but a desire to become closer to God.  I guess I have always looked at it as a guilt thing.  I've been convicted about certain things in my life.  I know that that is the Holy Spirit working in me but when I have slipped, it has caused guilt.  It doesn't deny that you will feel guilt because I would think most people would feel guilt for doing something wrong, but the main guiding force for confession should be your desire to come closer to God.  It's like when you have a fight with someone close.  You may have felt guilty for something nasty that you said to them, and you ask for forgiveness because you want nothing to come between your relationship again.  It's that desire for closeness that makes you confess, not the guilt.

In the whole process of this devotional study which is teaching you how to do a devotional, it's given a format for praying.  I'm on the fence about a format for praying because it makes me question my sincerity when praying.  The format is ACTS, which I have heard before.  A is for adoration; C is for confession; T is for thanksgiving; and S is for supplication.  In the process, I have really started thinking about what I adore about God and what I am thankful for.  It suggests that you use some praise songs for adoration.  I've really been thinking about the words of praise songs lately and taking them to heart. 

I think I have about two more weeks of this Bible study and then I am out on my own.  I'm going to be honest.  I am a bit nervous.  Will I be able to keep it up?  That is the biggest challenge!  I pray that God guides me through it and gives me strength because I know that Satan is going to try his best to get me out of the habit that I am trying so hard to accomplish.

Convictions and Confessions....

I like what my devotional was saying today.  Convictions lead to confessions.  They work hand in hand.  You can't confess something unless you are convicted of it.

When we confess, we are also acknowledging our specific sin.  I have been asking God to search my heart and convict me of anything that is unpleasing to Him.  That is hard to do, because as a sinner, sometimes I don't want to give up my sins.  Am I alone in this?  I have a few sins in my life that I have become quite comfortable with yet I know that they are wrong.  I have been praying that the Lord just make them very unattractive to me because I know that Satan has his hand in on it and has a pretty firm grip.  I don't want him to have the grip.  I pray that the Lord hears my cry and helps me break through because I know that I can't do anything without Him!