Contentment Study: Prayer

Good morning!

I wanted to share my prayer for this upcoming study.  It's the prayer that I often pray for people I love, people I want to see grow into Christ their Head, women like you on this list who desire to see TruthHimself and follow Him.  It's based on this Scripture:

"When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out!'  The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, 'Take off the grave clothes and let him go.'"  ~John 11:43-44

A little background, so bear with me, please :-) 

Throughout my 20 years of homeschooling, I have learned that I cannot bring my children (or anyone for that matter) alive from the dead, spiritually speaking.  As we learned in our last study about prayer, I can set the table through prayer and discipleship in my own life so that people I love have not only the choice of walking away from Jesus but also the life-giving choice of walking to the feast He offers (Psalm 34:8).  But ultimately, each person I love must choose to respond to Jesus' calling them out from their spiritual deadness; I cannot choose for them. 

Contentment Study: Intro

Hello!

I'm getting excited about this study! And I want to share some thoughts with you as we begin again, using the Precepts study book Money and Possessions: the Quest for Contentment.

First thought: When you read the Scriptures outlined in the book, use your own Bible and read the context around the selected Scripture. Make notes in your own Bible. This is especially easy if you have an inductive study Bible with wide margins.

Second thought: Take a day or two to simply meditate upon the Scripture you've read, praying that God will reveal TruthHimself to you as well as any principles that you can apply to your own life. 

Third thought: Finally, whatever the Lord has revealed to you, meditate on that for a few days and see if you can summarize in a few words what God is teaching you. This step helps to personalize your study, as you learn to listen to the Spirit-in-you and then follow Jesus.

I hope these three thoughts benefit you in some way as we move forward in our personal walks with the Lord, as His bondservants.

Linda
Moderator
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TruthHimself/

A Hoarder or Minimalist

My husband is at work, my two older children are at college, my third child is working his part-time job  this morning, and my two younger ones are just waking up… so I have a little more time for sharing!  :-)

Yesterday my three younger children and I began a study by Denver Sizemore called 13 Lessons in Christian Doctrine.  I had the opportunity to share a metaphor with them that I'd like to share with you as well.

When we become born-again Christians, God places us right in the center of Christ's holiness (as we learned on this list from our first study).  We simply (but not easily) need to abide there and live out Christ-in-us. 

Often though we can't see that Treasure that is in us because we are too clouded with self.  I used the example of two homes with which my children are familiar:  their grandmother's home and their siblings' apartment. 

Sabbath Keeper

Hello, everyone,

Just sharing what the Lord affirmed in my heart this morning:

As a disciple, a Sabbath keeper does not rest on one day of the week but rather rests in Christ's finished work every day of the week.  He is our Sabbath!

Thank You, Lord, for affirming what You placed in my heart years ago (Christ is my Sabbath) with a deeper revelation of how to practice this principle:  do not strive to do Christ-like things but rather rest in Christ's finished work every day.

In one word:  abide!