Monday, October 19, 2009

Lesson 7: Chapters 18, 19, & 20

"He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted." Isaiah 61:1
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3 comments:

  1. Angela BiggsOctober 24, 2009 at 5:09 PM

    I am most thankful to be able to say that as I child I never suffered any form of child abuse. I thought Beth used some beautiful words in chapter 18 to help picture Christ coming to heal those who are hurting.

    I pray that if any of you who are doing this Bible study did encounter child abuse in any form that you will be able to find a way to be free of that burden after doing this lesson.

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  2. ChantelOctober 30, 2009 at 9:14 PM

    I am glad to know and we should all be blessed to know that God was with us even when we weren't with Him. I grew up with godly grandparents, and can remember a time when my mom went to church. But for several years I was out of church. I can remember the night before I started back into church, I was drinking in my own home...12 years old:( That was insane! I became a christian shortly after starting back to church! I found a wonderful youth pastor and family that led me and kept me through my teenage years in felllowship with Christ! It is because of God sending them to me that I am sitting here now doing this Bible study. Unfortunately,when I was being victimized I was not in church and too young to understand what was going on. I have found forgiveness for my victimizer,but he still needs to ask for forgiveness from God. I know even though he hurt me, God will still forgive him if he repents. It is not easy being around that person today, but I know my God is there to help me through. Satan still tries to remind me and use the past against me all the time, but I try to resist him. I have no trust in people with my children and I pray everyday for their safety. God gives me a peace, but I still do not let my guard down. I have only told about 6 people in my entire life about my childhood abuse, so please keep it among our bible study family. Heaven forbid my family found out:( It is so true how satan uses and tries to still use it years later to cause you to sin. Most people who are caught up in sexual sins have been abused as a child. I praise God I found him before I started too far down the wrong path. He delivered me from hurting myself even more. It was hard to trust and share myself with my husband at first but praise God he was a believer and helped me through my fears! I pray that if anyone else has been a victim, that you can learn to forgive and start healing. Know that it wasn't our faults or anything that we did. God can move you past that point in your life and use our experience to help others.

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  3. MelanieNovember 8, 2009 at 11:20 AM

    Wow...I needed this week off more than I realized, so I could really get caught up. My family and I were in St. Louis 2 weeks ago and we came home with the H1N1 (nice parting gift huh?) so we spent over a week recovering from that! Needless to say, I got pretty behind in the study. And I didn't want to rush through or skip anything. This study is too good for that.

    This lesson was very moving. Starting with Ch. 18 and broken hearts. One of the main statements that really spoke to me was......“One of the primary reasons God sent His Son to this earth was to bring tender salve and relief to those whose hearts have been broken.”....that gave me such peace just seeing that in print and knowing that it's true. Only God can completely heal and mend shattered hearts. I can honestly say that I know that for sure. It is not until your heart has been completely and uterly bashed AND you have tried just about everything imaginable to heal your heart ONLY to find out that going to God with all the broken, mashed, crushed pieces that ONLY He can put them back together. I have been there and can testify to that!! Also, knowing that God was there for me...even when I didn't know it...or know Him...wanting to help me....WOW...that's amazing! AND that His main reason for sending his precious Son, was for our broken hearts. And no matter what you have been through...how great or how small...knowing that He is there and his goal is to mend us and heal us is the most comforting thing in the world!!

    I also loved the illustration she used about what the difference is b/w an aching heart and a broken heart...that a broken heart is one that is hemorrhaging. What a visual. If your heart has ever been hemorrhaging, you know that it feels like you are going to die...and if it was hemorrhaging for real, you would die. But, to be honest, that is not such a bad place to be. You may think I'm crazy, but being broken and hemorrhaging means you can't make it anymore...you are on your knees...crying out to the Lord. And that's just where He wants us to be...because only He can fix us. And don't we all have do "die" to ourself in order to be "re-born" in Him? I know I did...and still do on a dialy basis. BUT...God doesn't want us to hurt...He only wants what is best for us...He wants us to experience Joy, Love, Peace,...and all that He is.

    Chapters 19 and 20 were so moving. I am so thankful to God that I have not been a victim of childhood victimization. My prayer is that if you have, that you would experience the healing, peace, and forgiveness Beth talked about in these chapters. I also pray for protection for all of our children and grandchildren.

    This was my favorite part of these two chapters:
    God didn't “author” Beth's (or anyones) childhood victimization, however He did allow it. WHY?????
    1.He knew that she would have to seek Him diligently for healing; and in healing, she would come to know her Healer.
    2.He know glory would come to His name through the miracle of restoration and subsequent ministry
    3.He knew she would be compassionate to people who have been hurt in childhood.
    4.He knew that the crime of childhood victimization would “come out of the closet” in this generation, and He desired to call forth Christian spokespeople to address it from His Word.
    5.He wanted her to teach how to make freedom in Christ a reality in life from the passion of personal experience.
    REASON ENOUGH!!

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