WHO ARE WE??
"Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a NEW CREATURE; the old things are passed away; behold, new things have come."
2 Corinthians 5:17
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Our Current Bible Study
Breaking Free: Making Liberty in Christ a Reality in Life
by Beth Moore
by Beth Moore
About Me
- Melanie
- I am a wife and a mom, seeking the face of the Lord and learning to trust Him for everything.
What Is Living To Praise Him?
It is a blog designed for a women's online Bible study, a place to strengthen and develop friendships, a place to learn more about Jesus, and a place to share your thoughts and concerns.
The first Bible Study, Breaking Free: Making Liberty in Christ a Reality in Life, by Beth Moore, starts Monday, September 7, 2009. A schedule for the study is posted in the month of August. If you would like to participate in the study, just follow these steps:
1. Purchase the book
2. Read (according to the lessons found in the schedule)
3. Log onto the blog
4. Look for the most recent "lesson"
5. Click on the comment section **If you are not already a member of blogspot.com, you will need to register
6. Leave your comment(s) about the lesson
You can jump into the study at any time!!! OR...If you don't want to read the book, you can visit the blog and read along anytime.
If you have something personal you would like to discuss, please email me at livingtopraisehim@hotmail.com
Who am I? I am a southern girl at heart who loves the city. I am a Wife to Scott...and computer guy, amazing Dad, and exceptional Husband AND a Mom of three little ones...Isaac 4, Eric 2, and Lauren 7 months. I am so in love with the Lord and I want to help build “His kingdom here on earth as it is in Heaven”. I'm going to be participating in this study right along with each of you. I am hoping to develop new friendships, strengthen the ones I have, and learn more about the Lord!!
Can't wait to study with you!
Living To Praise Him-
Melanie
The first Bible Study, Breaking Free: Making Liberty in Christ a Reality in Life, by Beth Moore, starts Monday, September 7, 2009. A schedule for the study is posted in the month of August. If you would like to participate in the study, just follow these steps:
1. Purchase the book
2. Read (according to the lessons found in the schedule)
3. Log onto the blog
4. Look for the most recent "lesson"
5. Click on the comment section **If you are not already a member of blogspot.com, you will need to register
6. Leave your comment(s) about the lesson
You can jump into the study at any time!!! OR...If you don't want to read the book, you can visit the blog and read along anytime.
If you have something personal you would like to discuss, please email me at livingtopraisehim@hotmail.com
Who am I? I am a southern girl at heart who loves the city. I am a Wife to Scott...and computer guy, amazing Dad, and exceptional Husband AND a Mom of three little ones...Isaac 4, Eric 2, and Lauren 7 months. I am so in love with the Lord and I want to help build “His kingdom here on earth as it is in Heaven”. I'm going to be participating in this study right along with each of you. I am hoping to develop new friendships, strengthen the ones I have, and learn more about the Lord!!
Can't wait to study with you!
Living To Praise Him-
Melanie
To be beautiful
ReplyDeleteThese are areas, I’m still struggling with. For years I never felt beautiful because I had acne and the first thing friends and family would say when they saw me was ‘what’s wrong with your face’. It’s even sadder when the person with whom you are in a relationship starts asking the same questions. There are days especially when I’m having an acne flare-up or when the scale isn’t doing what I expect it to do that I just don’t feel beautiful or desirable. I wonder sometimes if that’s why I don’t get asked out and if I’ll ever be married. I know I shouldn’t think that way because the Word says differently. When I read chapter 25 and saw the quotes from Solomon, I had to go read the full chapter which led to me reading the entire book. My favorite verse is Sol 6:3 “I am my beloved and my beloved is mine.” When I read that it was like Yes someone really loves me, I mean the world to HIM. Now do I deserve it, probably not but HE still loves me. So now when the doubt hits, I have that verse memorized so that I have something to fall back on.
To be fruitful
I know that I firmly believe that the one thing I was created for was to be a wife and mother. It is so hard to be still and wait on God. There have been many frustrating days and tearful prayers. I helped to raise many of my friends’ kids; in fact the eldest of the bunch turned 16 last month. I am the only one of my friends that doesn’t have children. I feel like there is a part of my life that is missing. I know I’m supposed to be whole in HIM and I pray for that everyday but I’m getting there. It’s really hard at 36 when your parents/friends start asking when if you’re going to have children especially when it’s something they know you’ve always wanted. You go to family gatherings and everyone is asking why don’t you have kids or what are you waiting for? I know they don’t mean any harm but it is very hard when you are constantly defending your dream when the ‘world’ keeps telling you it’s getting too late. To give me strength, I think of the great women in the Bible such as Sara and Rachel. They had a promise and though at points in their lives they doubted and were not in alignment with the Father’s promise, they eventually waited and they received their promised children. I pray that HE will keep my heart and mind so they don’t grow weary and give up hope that promise of my children will be fulfilled.
To live happily ever after
ReplyDeleteI’m one of those hopeless romantics. I believe that there is going to be Prince Charming that will sweep me off my feet. Now I have some realistic expectations so please don’t think I’m nuts yet. I have two great examples of Prince Charming in my spiritual life right now. Pastor Brett Fuller and Bishop Glen Ferguson. I don’t think there are two men whom I have met who have loved their wives more. I know there are life issues they go through so they probably not happy everyday but they love each other and if it had not been for God they’d not be together. They are the first to let you know this also.
Therefore with the examples I have above I will not give up hope on meeting my Prince Charming neither will I give up my hope of being a doctor (that was my other dream). I had always thought that meant a medical doctor but years ago gave up that dream when I couldn’t deal with the hospitals and especially hurt children. I never thought there’d be an opportunity to pursue this dream and then a few months ago the opportunity came and I will be starting a doctoral program in Jan. Am I nervous? Heck yes but I know I can do all things though Christ who strengthens me and I believe that this school is one of those things I’ve stopped and started knowing that I was stopping some things from being fulfilled in my life.
Beth asks ‘how has God brought happiness from pain in your life’? Where do I start? First, when I lost what was the love of my life, he showed me years later that I had received love and that though the romantic relationship ended, I hadn’t lost the extended family along with it. When my older brother passed and all the drama that went on afterwards in my family, he brought peace in my life. All is still not resolved but there is a peace that all will be well in the future. When situations in life have me hurt, lonely or just plain down, He provides relief by just sending HIS Word to you in a song, in an email or even a phone call. That part I just find amazing. HE sends what you need when you need it and sometimes before you even pray for it. I just love that.
I really enjoyed reading chapter 25, To Be Beautiful. How refreshing and reassuring. I really loved the beginning of the chapter when Beth was talking about how other's will say to her, “Oh, you have the perfect hair, or you are so skinny, or you are so pretty” and how none of that makes any sense....if you do not feel beautiful, you do not feel beautiful. It doesn't matter how you do or do not look on the outside. And it doesn't matter how other's see you. It also doesn't matter how many times someone else tells you that you are beautiful. I think a person can only feel beautiful if she believes that she is. How can a woman know she is beautiful? If Christ is your mirror!! After surrendering my life to Christ and letting Him clean me from head to toe, I feel the most beautiful I have ever felt in my life. I know that I am His and He is mine, and that to Him, I am the most beautiful thing in all of creation. What a blessing!! I could really relate to the part in chapter 25 when Beth said that “most people I know who live free have experienced a serious stronghold or hindrance they fought to overcome.” I did not come to this freedom easily or quickly. Yes, I did have to fight!! But with Jesus on your side you will ALWAYS come out victorious!!
ReplyDeleteChapter 26 was very eye opening. I loved how Beth wrote that being fruitful is so much more than having your own physical children!! God has placed a desire in almost every person (especially women) to disciple something or someone(s). And that does not mean just your own physical children. The options are endless!! From adoption, to foster children, to your community, church, orphanages, mission fields, the homeless, refugees, women's shelters, nursing homes....I could go on and on!! God called us to be fruitful and tell others about Him and His love!! To raise up the next generation to do it better than we did.
This chapter was also a reminder that although I am a Wife and a Mommy now, that my children are growing up...as we speak...and that God has called me to do many things beyond this season. And to not forget that....but to always be content where He has me, b/c there are way to many things that happen along the way!! From the first weeks I became a Mommy, I have always looked at each of my children as a gift, given to me (and my husband) from God. And that they came through us. They do not belong to me...they belong to God. I always think that they WILL some day be grown men and a grown woman....someone's husbands/fathers and someone's wife/mother. Don't get me wrong, I try to enjoy every second with them as my little one's but with a constant reminder that being a Mommy to little one's is only a fleeting moment, but I will be their Mommy forever.
Oh and this comment...“Once we fall in love with Christ, we are so taken with His beauty, we want children who look just like Him.”....this is so true and so amazing!!
What a wonderful "fairy tale" God has written for us:) He has made us beautiful in His sight. Even when we don't feel as though we are, when we look in His mirror we see His image of us! I love how Beth pointed out that being fruitful, does not mean we have to bear physical children. I know several godly men and women who mother/father "children" that's not their own. It is such a blessing to see those who are barren, not to give up hope, but to reach out and accept God's call to parent someone who needs them. And He has written for us to live "Happily Ever After"! It is a free choice that we have, sure we will face obstacles, but He has already won the victory and we win with Him! We get to live "Happily Ever After" in eternity with Christ our Lord!
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