BrAvE - I aM tReMbLiNg InSiDe

I'm really behind on getting my thoughts on this Brave study posted, but I WILL DO IT!!!


Week 4 of the Brave study by Angela Thomas is titles "I AM TREMBLING INSIDE."


We all have fears. We fear things, people, rejection, bad news, etc. The week starts with this paragraph:
From the circle of my fears, I have many times stood PARALYZED in the middle when God was calling me to the edge.  I have SETTLED for safe even though God call, "JUMP into MY arms; I have you!" I have allowed mediocre when I knew God wanted excellence.


That paragraph makes me think of children at the pool.  Their mom or dad is in the pool, they are standing on the edge of the pool, nervous but wanting to jump... desiring to splash into the water.  Their parent yells our "I've got you... come on!" The child trusts. They jump, without fear. They may come up a little startled, water up their nose, or not knowing which way is jump... BUT THEY JUMPED.

Many times, God calls us.  He yells out to us "JUMP!", "Come out of the water!", "TRUST ME!", "follow me", and fear PARALYZES us. Why? Why don't we trust? I don't know the answer to that question. When called to do, to go, to talk... why don't we JUST DO IT? FEAR! Because of our fears, we settle for safety when God has a pool of delight, fulfillment, and eternal joy waiting to catch us in. (I know that's corny but go with it).

Throughout this week of the study, I really honed in on 2 amazing promises of Christ. 

1. HE IS OUR CONQUEROR!!! 

My Jesus conquered sin. He conquered Satan, He conquered death and the grave!! Hallelujah!! 

And guess what??? We are more than conquerors through HIM WHO LOVED US! (Romans 8:37).  He can and will conquer our FEARS and ANXIETIES.  

When I was a little girl (and still some today) I feared many things.  I was terrified of storms, mixer trucks (cement trucks), and something happening to my mom.  I constantly lived in and with those thoughts and fears.  I would cry and hide in thunderstorms because I was so fearful of tornadoes. I would LITERALLY make my mom get off the interstate if I saw a cement truck (thank you RESCUE 9-1-1, that show ruined me!). Everyday at daycare, if my mom wasn't there to pick me up at 5:00, I would freak out. I would have thoughts and fears that something had happened to her. 

We live like that still!  I know people, especially as a women, have worries and fears.  We become obsessed and overwhelmed with fears. We are not called to be worry-warts.  We are called to be faithful. We are called to be conquerors.  I have fears or becoming unattractive. of getting bad news. of having someone I love die. I fear not meeting other people's expectations. I fear making the wrong decision. I fear. I fear. I fear. I forget so often that I HAVE BEEN SAVED!! I have freedom. I have a CONQUEROR. He is the only one who can free us from our fears. CHRIST HAS ALREADY OVERCOME THIS WORLD! 

For all of us who are in Christ, we have NOTHING left to do but PURSUE THE VICTORY!!  How comforting to know that HE IS IN CONTROL!! (I don't have to be because I'm really bad at being in control). We can overcome fear, and RECEIVE VICTORY (ahh... I love that word!) because of the life and blood and freedom in Jesus Christ! 

2. HE IS OUR COMFORTER

Brave means that you turn to GOD for COMFORT. Brave does not mean enduring heartache and trouble ALL ALONE! 

Many of us choose to do it alone. Think we have it under control. WE DON'T. We need a comforter.  We need brothers and sisters to run through trails with.  We need... we are not able alone. 

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.

2 Corinthians 1:3

He is the GOD of all comfort.  He is able to bring ease and FREEDOM from the pain, even in our sufferings. It doesn't matter what you are facing at home, with your bills, at the doctor, at work, in your own heart... HE is the God of all comfort. He is good! 

Angela asks the question 'How have you experienced a deeper comfort that could only come from God?' 

My answer is that I have seen victory in trusting Him. VICTORY! Everything may not turn out like I had planned or had envisioned or had wanted, but when God gives victory it is better than the feeling you get when your favorite sports team wins after triple overtime, nail bitting, field goal!! I have SEEN and FELT and EXPERIENCE victory from Christ and that is my comfort. He isn't my magician who makes everything perfect, but He is the Warrior who battles for my soul, my allegiance, and my victory. I am thankful. He is victorious - I have a husband who hungers for the Word, desires to be a man of Christ, lives a pure life, longs to see lives changed by the power of Jesus' name, lives everyday in a humble and joyful manner, worthy of the GOSPEL! - THAT IN ITSELF IS A VICTORY!  

I don't know what pool you are looking into from the edge.  

I don't know what path you are on that if you moved to the edge, you would see the beauty he is making in your life.

I don't know what mountain he is wanting you to climb to have victory on the top.

All I know is that we should JUMP. We should RUN to the edge. We should hike our way up Mt. Everest to experience victory. We should hit our knees every morning to remind us of HIS TRUTH that has the power to conquer and overcome our fears.  He is bigger. He is greater. He is freedom from our paralyzed, mediocre life!!! 

BRAVE Study - I aM uNdIsCiPlInEd

Week 3 of BRAVE study

Are you undisciplined??? I'm sure we all are in some most areas of our life. If you answered YES... read this!!! :) If you answered no... well you probably should read it even more.


Angela asked us at the beginning of the week how we felt about the topic of undisciplined.  One of my greatest enemies is... myself. I'm very prideful at times so I suspected that God would teach me humility and the fact that I AM SO UNDISCPLINED. I was expecting to learn... and I did.  When I think of the word DISCIPLINE I get an image of a ruler in my head. My mom told me stories a lot growing up and I remember some about getting swatted with a ruler when she did nothing wrong got in trouble. So... I fully expected a ruler to swat my hand/heart a few times... I was right. 


We all struggle with some area of undiscipline. 
What's your list? Maybe they are similar to mine:
eating habits * exercise * writing letters to friends * calling people I love * cleaning * focusing  on the important things * (and more)


God can change every lack of discipline in our lives and be the strength we have not known. I loved this quote from the book because often the strength I know is MINE... not very reliable. I am weak. He is STRENGTH.


In Romans 7, Paul describes my brain - there's a war everyday about doing the things he doesn't want to do and not doing the things he wants to do... (you have to read that passage like 4 times b/c it's like the fuzzy wuzzy was a bear rhyme... just craziness but so good!)
Paul said that our ONLY rescue from the war in our flesh comes from God through Jesus Christ.  Maybe you can't stop eating chocolate. Maybe you make constant excuses for not reading the Word. Maybe you are lazy. No matter how many areas of undiscipline you can think of, Jesus is the answer. No matter how many years you have struggled, Jesus is the answer. No matter how discouraged you may be, Jesus IS THE ONLY ANSWER. 


Many of us struggle with lack of discipline because we have given control to something else. Jacob talked on this with the youth last night. Many people will pray the prayer and believe they are saved, but their lives are still about them. God doesn't have control.  Many times, we, as brave Christian women give control to other things and people in our lives. Why? We put so much trust in stupid things. Think about it, everyday we trust - elevators, chairs, cars, the people around us driving, computers, banks, etc... but we don't trust the King of the Universe who made it ALL and knows us INTIMATELY! That makes NO sense! 
We are obviously weak, but striving to be BRAVE, women. Our strength can only come from ONE source! ONE - and that's not us, or a relationship, or a job, or a circumstance... it's CHRIST! He is strength. He is bigger. He is our refuge. He is our discipline. Strength comes from humility and obedience to Him. He is more than enough.

Strength and Discipline comes from Holy Dependence:

*my favorite thing of the week*

What if on this earth we will never be completely disciplined in every area of our lives at the same time? And what if that's on purpose? A design element. A Creator component. An intentional decision by our God so that a HOLY DEPENDENCE is required for us to mature toward each new place of discipline.  

Maybe God allows my lack of discipline because it keeps me running to Him. His strength is the source by which I will grow into greater discipline.  He makes me able to take the next BRAVE step.  Maybe if I work up tomorrow completely disciplined, perfected even, I would think more about myself and my great accomplishment and less about God and how much I need Him.

I do not speak for God, and the Scriptures do not elaborate here, but what if a perfectly disciplined life was never God's intent? What if He intended HOLY DEPENDENCE for life-long growth toward Himself?

GROW TOWARDS HIM. Run to Him... weaknesses and all.

A thorn???? Um... still a little confused

This week's Brave topic was:

I am suffering a thorn

okay.


Paul talked about suffering a thorn in 2 corinthians. He begged for God to remove it... didn't happen because God was teaching and revealing to Paul that HE is sufficient in WEAKNESS!! 

Angela acknowledges that some women will be perplexed (good work huh?) about this subject... YEP! 


She describes a thorn as someone, something, a sin, etc that is constantly there and causes pain, doubt, discouragement CONSISTENTLY. 


I thought and thought and thought... and OF COURSE I have issues. Yes, people get on my nerves sometimes. Yes, there are relationships in my life that aren't good. Yes, I am insecure but that doesn't control me. but... a thorn?? Not sure.  There is ONE thing in my life currently that causes pain and doubt and trouble - not gonna explain any details about this... maybe one day - so as I went through the study I applied the material to that one thing.  I don't know if it is "correct," but it's what happened. :)


Angela really emphasized a few things

• A thorn cannot be removed by your own power 
• The originator of the thorn is SATAN
• A thorn torments the soul with pain and doubt
• A thorn weaves discouragement into your heart
• The piercing of a thorn produces weakness
• God decides when to remove a thorn

I don't know if you are experiencing a THORN... you can definitely tell me about it if you are! But, the most important things I took from this week relates to the result of a thorn when you give it to God - 

His GRACE is Sufficient!!! Hooray!! 

God promises over and over in His Word that He works for the GOOD! He uses evil for GOOD. His grace is seen in our weakness and in our submission to Him.  Whatever is in your past or your present or your future that is "bad" GOD WILL MAKE IT SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL - just like a rose in the midst of the thorns!!! 

The reason God allowed Paul to experience the "thorn in his flesh" was to keep him from becoming CONCEITED.  God CALLS us to humility!!!!! 

This is soo cool: Humility is a part of the character of God! 

Psalm 113:

¹ Praise the Lord!
   Yes, give praise, O servants of the Lord.
      Praise the name of the Lord!
 ² Blessed be the name of the Lord
      now and forever.
 ³ Everywhere—from east to west—
      praise the name of the Lord.
 ⁴ For the Lord is high above the nations;
      his glory is higher than the heavens.
 ⁵ Who can be compared with the Lord our God,
      who is enthroned on high?
 ⁶ He stoops to look down
      on heaven and on earth...


The LORD STOOPS DOWN! He humbles Himself to know us. To love us. WOW!!! Cool, huh??? He calls us to be humble so we can be more like Him. 


Throughout the Old Testament God promises HONOR to the humble (Proverbs 15:33, 18:12, 29:23).

Those who have humility:

Are regarded by God (Isaiah 66:2)

Are delivered by God (Job 22:29)

Are lifted up by God (James 4:10)

Are exalted by God (Luke 14:11)

Are the greatest in God's kingdom (Matthew 18:4)

Receive more grace (Proverbs 3:34)

Are upheld by honor (proverbs 18:12)

and my favorite....

ENJOY THE PRESENCE OF GOD 

The high and lofty one who lives in eternity,
      the Holy One, says this:
   “I live in the high and holy place
      with those whose spirits are contrite and humble.
   I restore the crushed spirit of the humble
      and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.

Isaiah 57:15

I love the words RESTORE and REVIVE and I need them daily.  We all need courage and we all need His presence.




Humility finds its origin in the character of God.  God adds blessgings to the humble.  Acceptance of our circumstances gives us humility.  WE are to put on this valuable attribute and wear our humility to bring GLORY TO GOD.


God is all-powerful and when He brings power to your weakness, BUCKLE UP. You will see mountains move and hearts of stone made new.


This is so true. In the thing I decided was my thorn - I claimed God was who He says He is and I claimed that He is powerful and I prayed and I trusted and I have seen VICTORY! 
That has been a word that I have cherished over the past year... V.I.C.T.O.R.Y.
Victory over sin, over doubt, over fear, over shame brings beauty, glory, honestly, goodness, and restoration. 


I pray for whatever your thorn or situation is that you will see victory and healing and that HE IS SUFFICIENT. HE IS ENOUGH. HE IS GOOD. 

Week one of BRAVE

So... I have THOROUGHLY enjoyed my first week of Angela Thomas' "BRAVE" study!!! 

I am dumb and didn't put 2 and 2 together!!! God really blessed me this week.

So... I am a "devo leader" for a women's group at church. I don't know why I was asked to be the leader b/c I feel like the other women have SO MUCH to offer and I want to learn from them, but here I am... the leader. Our last meeting of the semester was in May. I was feeling REALLY WORN OUT! You know the feeling - overwhelmed, exhausted, want to lock yourself in your closet and cry for a while kind of feeling?? And I suspected I wasn't alone. I came up with a devo that could have turn into a sermon very easily about being WORN OUT.  I even blogged about it here.  Then I started this study and didn't realize that the topic "I AM WORN OUT" would be exactly what God was leading me to talk about to the ladies group at church!!! I even used ANGELA THOMAS' 8 PROVISIONS FOR THE WORN OUT WOMEN!!! HELLO? Anyways... when my distracted mind FINALLY realized it... I got really excited! How fun that I was being leading to teach a small group of women this devo and the leaders of this Bible felt the same guidance to teach more women about it!!! Oh... my God is always up to something!! I love it!! :) 

But the week was so RICH!! Here's some quotes: (italicized = my emphsis/thoughts)

Day 1: Maybe some women are more organized. Maybe some live inside stronger (hotter) bodies.  But the truth of our humanity is that NO SUPERWOMAN EXISTS ON THIS EARTH. (what a HUGE reminder to my over-active brain!). We each have been created by God, fully human and walking around with human needs and human frailties.

I AM HUMAN! HE IS ABLE! 

The man declares, I AM WEARY, O God;

I AM WEARY, O God, and WORN OUT! Proverbs 30:1

Day 2: God knows that good work makes a good woman good and tired. WIPED OUT. Flat as a pancake. Work is supposed to make you tired. It's how we're supposed to feel when we've given all we have to take care of our families or to finish a big assignment or to get to the other side of final exams. We're supposed to be tired... You see, we won't EVER get to some spiritual place where we balance just right and delegate just right and never experience weary or worn out again. Honestly, I think if you get there, YOU MAY BE FORSAKING SOME REALLY GREAT WORK GOD IS CALLING YOU TO DO!!! 

Day 3: May of us are doing great worldly things to care for ourselves and yet not living with an INSIDE STRENGTH to counter our SOUL WEARINESS!!!!! - Getting deep here ladies!!! Don't just depend on your coffee (of frap for me), pedicures, and shopping for rest - HE IS OUR STRENGTH! ouch! 

Isaiah 40:28-31 (also used in my previous WORN OUT blog!)

A HOPE FIRMLY CENTERED ON THE LORD RENEWS OUR STRENGTH! 

Day 4: YOUR CREATOR GETS YOU!!! (I love this!! I love when people GET me - I don't think many people truly understand me, but WHAT COMFORT to know that my Savior and Sustainer GETS me!! AHH!) He understands your crazy life. (at least one of us does! ha!) He knows that you work until exhaustion. He SEES how many people need your time, your input, and your energy.  He is COMPLETELY aware of your design. God cares for His worn-out girls. Really and truly HE DOES! 

Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened and I WILL GIVE YOU REST!!!  Matthew 28:11 

Day 5: This day was a lot of Scripture that relates to the last 3 provisions. All Scripture is wonderful and refreshing but I loved this thing that I'm about to tell you. This was under provision #8 Godly friends refresh your soul.

When Paul wrote to the church in Corinth he said that his friends Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus (my friends don't have very interesting names) "have refreshed my spirit and yours. You should recognize the value of people like these!!!!" 1 Cor. 16:18. 

Maybe we meet two or three people who refresh our souls. 

As I read this, I just wanted to call my besties and have a cuddle fest!!! I have WONDERFUL women in my life who ASBOLUTELY refresh me like no one else!! I am so grateful for my mommy and my closest friends!! :) You refresh me everytime I talk with you.

But think - Are you a soul refresher?????? 

I pray I am. O... I pray I am. 

That was just a snapshot of my week.  During the video session Angela said something so powerful. If you know me, you know I'm awful with quotes so I can't promise it's accurate but this is what it meant to me:

I WILL NOT LIVE AFRAID OF BECOMING WORN OUT. I WILL LIVE FOR THE GLORY OF GOD, BECOME TIRED, AND BE RENEWED BY HIS STRENGTH. I WILL HAVE PERFECT AND ETERNAL REST WITH MY SAVIOR IN HEAVEN!! 

Yay for the first week!!! Hope you were blessed by it too!!!