God Who Are You and what can You do for Me?

Discussion Questions:


How have you dealt with your “wounds” up until now?
Have these “wounds” become a part of who you are?
Do you desperately want to get rid of them?

1.What's funny is the first thing that came to mind when I read the study guide and then the discussion question are the wounds I've inflicted upon myself.  Of course they've always involved others but I tend to "regret" my own actions and self inflicted pains the most.  I suppose that is because the are things God reveals to us as we mature and grow.  They become stepping stones towards a better life with Christ. But, how easily satan uses them to discourage us and develop roots of self pitty, regret, unforgiveness, etc.  I tend to think about these things too often or when I do think about them I still have emotional feelings about them.

I also realize that apart from my own personal wounds, the ones people do to me, tend to make me feel like I've done something wrong.  I would describe myself as someone who is quick to forgive in most cases or I will part ways from a hurtful party if I think it will continue.  Usually if I can't resolve the situation through proper forgiveness or parting ways I will get angry with them in my heart.  This brings out in me a very cynical side!

2. I would like to say no, but I'm sure in some ways the wounds have become part of who I am.  Either I'm better from them, growing and maturing through them, learning to forgive and model Christ's love.  Or, I've developed a method of avoidance!

3. Of course.  I'd love to forget them all but I know this isn't even possible.  I do know I can hang them on the Cross and only allow them to be something positive in my life.  I'm working on that one...

Overall I truly love my life and I can honestly say there aren't many wounds to really even speak of.  God has protected me a lot in my life and I've been sheltered from a lot of pains I think others experience.  Haven't we all considering we live in America!  To some my "wounds" would seem silly and irrelevant.  I want to keep a pure perspective about the wounds in my life and not let my mind ponder on them too often.  As I said, I brought most of them upon myself! :) 
All of my wounds become His wounds and that I want to consider daily.

God Who Are You and what can You do for Me?

This is for Session 4 which I missed by a long shot this week due to preparations for a big event I'm planning this weekend.  But, I did finally get to the session and would love to answer the discussion question!

Who is master of your life? Who are you allowing to rule over you? Your job? Baggage from the past? Unforgiveness? Hatred? Anger? Unhappiness? Your children?

1. I want to say Jesus Christ is the master of my life but I also know that often times my children, my husband, my at home work take precedence over Christ as my master.  They become small idols that I define myself by even when I know not to.  Our pastor talks a lot about idolatry b/c it is the thing we do most often when we replace Christ with something else in our life.  We begin to define our value by what those things say rather than what Jesus says about us and did for us.

2. My children often rule over me.  Not in the sense that they are disobedient or defiant but that I spend so much of who I am with them, about them, for them, etc.  I know all mommies get that!  I pour myself into them and raising them and often not even as much as I would like to or as much as I think I should.  I hear the devil tell me I'm not good enough, I'm failing, etc.  Truth is I know that I can handle all things God has given to us and although at times I might fall short, I'm doing my best through Christ who strengthens me.

Perfectionism is my other Lord and although I have made much progress I know I have a long way to go with this.  It is the perfect opportunity for the Devil to tell me I'm not good enough.  I hope to someday make this weakness a strength! :)

God Who Are You and what can You do for Me?

How comforting is it to you to know that God is with you, through the good and the bad, always protecting you and always loving you?

My husband and I have only been married for 5 years and in that time we have had 4 beautiful, wonderful children.  Before marriage my life was mostly predictable.  I was attending college, dating a Christian young man that would become my fiance' for a short time, and on occassion visiting my family.  I was never too far away from home.  I took care of myself, for the most part, but always had the assurance that my parents would help me if I ever needed it.  Life was cozy in a sense.  I knew God was with me but didn't tap into that as much as I would say I do now. 

Now, as a mother of 4, a wife, a homemaker, and a woman truly finding her own along this journey with Christ I have been overwhelmed by the presence of God in my life and in our life.  The beginning of God's "real" presence in my life began when my engagement started to crumble.  There was no reason for why I shouldn't marry this man yet so many reasons for why I felt God calling me away from him.  After obeying God at that point in my life the path closer to God really began.  I began to hear Him whisper to me, even when things were the loudest.  I felt His hand guiding my path even when it didn't make sense. 

After 5 years now of seeing God's provision, placement, calling, and desire for our lives I can say without hesitation that we will follow Him to the end (hopefully with not too many questions along the way, we are still human!).  He has shown himself to me enough times now that I cannot deny His powerful presence!

My prayer is that those around me, the ones we love that do not love Him, would begin to feel, see, taste, and know that He is GOOD!

Precious in God's Sight

I was kindly reminded by one of the wonderful ladies over at At The Well that I hadn't yet posted concerning the "God...who are You & what can You do for me?"

This week was session 2. It was great. The discussion questions are:

1. What does it mean to you to know that you are precious in God's sight?
2. Can you think of a time in your life when you've experienced, firsthand, the LORD's faithfulness?

My thoughts:

Precious in God's Sight

I can honestly say I haven't thought about this question much in regard to myself. I often think of this in regards to my children. That God sees them as precious the way that I do, only magnified.

Precious to me has a sense of innocence about it and I know my heart too well to believe that I am innocent! Ha, the foolery of it all thinking I would be innocent. But, in God's eyes, through Christ's blood I am. I need to remember that on a daily basis. I need to re-define myself as God's precious daughter the same way I would describe my own daughter who in my eyes is TRULY precious.
If I could re-define myself accurately, find my whole position in this world in Him, it would change my outlook on my life at all points, even those I'd like to keep to myself!

It blesses my socks off to think that even through my sinful heart, God still finds me precious. He can no longer see my sin, the bridge between His heart and mine has been repaired, and loves me with such depth that I desire nothing more than to live up to his expectations of me, His desires for me, His path for me.

The Lord's Faithfulness

This one is much easier for me to answer.  God's faithfulness is the amazing, striking point of my life thus far.
I grew up in church but did not come from a home where two parents knew Jesus.  I went to a great little private school in Phoenix, AZ that my parent's had to sacrafice to provide even though I did not have two believing parents.  Jesus drew me to a Christian University my first year of college, even though it was so expensive and farther away from home, and He provided the funds to achieve it.  For the rest of my college experience God continued to keep me close to Him in the greatest of opportunities to fall away, liberal america!  The list of circumstances that God either delivered me into or out of could go on for a long time.  He has been holding my hand or carrying me every step of the way, all the way into the core of His heart, which has only recently truly become my heart's desire.  I've always loved Him, known Him, known about Him, tried to Follow Him, obey Him, but NOW, I live for Him.

 

 StacyLeeArt

StacyLeeArt

 

Who is God to me?

As I was blog hopping I stopped by At the Well, one of my favorite blogs, and they have started a new study.  It's a study that Jenifer Jernigan from By His Grace Ministry is teaching.  This is week 1 and the discussion question is "Who is God to You?"

I can't help but think about the book, The Shack and God being portrayed as a Big, Black Woman.  I know there was much controversy over this portrayel of God, the One True God of the Universe, but aside from the controversy there was something I completely related to with that portrayel of God.

God has no gender but He made us in His image which means there are attributes about men and women that reflect God to us.  We are all familiar with God as a Father but seeing God with characteristics similar to a mother shed new light on God's love for me.

God is tender

God is decisive

God is joyful

God is loving

God is protective

God is nurturing

God is comforting

God is colorful

God is watchful

God is mindful

God is LOVE

I could go on and on about who God is to me so I'm focusing on these elements that I hadn't discovered or felt quite as near as I did before.  I've only come to embrace these attributes of God recently in my adult relationship with Him.

These are the attributes I need to see in God more often.  Not to forget all the other attributes of God (All Powerful, All Knowing, Ever Present, Shepherding, Sacrificial, Longsuffering and so on).  I know I will never cease knowing more about God and growing closer to Him, He is too vast and deep to ever stop pursuing.