Priscilla Shirer

Good Morning Girls,
So, are you enjoying this month's book?  I sure am.  I love how Priscilla is using the journey the Israelites made out of Egypt to the promise land to mirror our spiritual journey out of the bondage of sin into freedom. I enjoyed the illistration of the elephant.  It made me think of the song, Shackles by Mandisa.  "Get these shackles off my feet so I can dance!" Oops there I go dancing again! :)

Anyway, I thought I would share with you Priscilla's blog.  I know not everyone has time to read additional blogs, but for thoes who do, Priscilla's is wonderful.  Here's the web address. http://www.goingbeyond.com/archive/201102

Also, she posted a video that I wanted to share with you. I enjoy hearing from the author of a book I'm reading so I thought you might too.  Hope you enjoy it.



Have a great day!
Kimberly

Thursday Night's Meeting

I am so excited about this week!  Bible study on Tuesday night and Book Club on Thursday night! Whoo hoo!  It's going to be a busy week of preparing. 

Speaking of preparing, who still has to finish their book?  You can't see it, but my hand is high in the air!!!  I think the Lord knew what kind of month this was going to be and allowed our book to be shorter than most! Praise the Lord for his foreknowledge!

Anyway, Lord willing, we'll meet at my house on Thursday night at 6:30 PM. Darra and Kim have snacks this month. Even though my family has had two birthdays and Valentine's day, I'm still looking forward to some sweets!  I look forward to seeing you all.  If you can't make it, please let me know.

Oh yea, our books came in so I'll hand them out Thursday night.

See you Thurday night!
Kimberly

When Obedience Becomes Radical

Radical. There’s that word again. Girls, have you noticed certain themes continue to present themselves in each book we read? In chapter three the theme of radical obedience is present to us…again. We’ve seen this concept before in Crazy Love and Becoming More than a Good Bible Study Girl. The word radical got me thinking. Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines radical as very different from usual or traditional. So radical obedience would be obedience that is very different from the usual or traditional obedience.

What is the usual obedience for our generation? For the average, dare I say it; lukewarm church goer obedience means going to church once a week, giving a little to God, praying some and reading your Bible- usually on Sunday during the service. Those of us who do more that that are viewed as extreme or radical people.

I’ll never forget a conversation my husband and I had with our new next door neighbors a couple of weeks after we moved into the neighborhood. (Names have been changed to protect the non-believers LOL)

“You’re going to love the people around here, Amy said. “They are so sweet.”

“Yes, but watch out for Mike and Mary. They are a little radical about church.” Doug cautioned.

“Really? How so?” I asked.

“Well, they go to church like all the time!” Doug replied. “They even go to church activities and they’ll be asking you to go with them.”

At the time I didn’t know Mike and Mary, but I thought “Great, there will be someone in the neighborhood we can relate too.” Rodney and I laugh about that conversation. You see Mike and Mary went to church once a week on Sunday mornings. They did attend some of the extra activities and did ask their neighbors to join them. However, our family went to church three times a week and talked to our neighbors about their salvation. I can only image what Doug said about us behind our backs! We must have seemed ultra radical!

Lysa begins chapter three with her story of God’s instruction to sell their house. Now think about that for a minute. Sell… your… house. Francis Chan did the same thing. I’ll be honest when I first heard that it sounded extreme to me. But if we take a glimpse into scripture we see that this is how the first church acted.

“Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, 35And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.” Act 4:34-35

To our generation it sounds crazy to sell our land and houses to provide for others. Yet Jesus instructed a young man in Mark 10:21 to “sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor.”

So maybe selling a house in obedience isn’t radical to Jesus just to our generation.

Lysa talked about giving up television for two years and the changes it had on her. She did this in obedience to what she felt the Lord was impressing on her heart. She had these words to encourage us,

“One thing you can be assured of is that God has already worked out all the details of what your obedience will accomplish-and it is good. We need not fear what our obedience will cause to happen in our life. We should only fear what or disobedience will cause us to miss.” (page 45)

So I have to ask myself, would I be willing to do these types of things? I’d like to say yes, but in my gut I know I might not be able too.

“God wants to know if we’re willing to give up what we love to Him who loves us more. He desires for us to open our fists and trust Him with absolutely everything.” (page 49)

Lord, I knew you want pure obedience from me. I’ll be honest in the fact that I am fearful of being that obedient. Help me to open my fist on all that I hold dear. Open my heart to release the grip fear of losing someone or something has on me. Teach me that You, Jesus, are enough. Encourage me to trust you will all my heart. Help me to love you more. Amen.

Posted by Christy

All I can say at least for the Ladies that are reading this, sorry guys, if there was ever a MUST Read book out there for women after Gods heart, this one is it. “What Happens when Women say YES to GOD” by Lysa Terkeurst. All I can say is thank you Kimberly for being obedient to God’s call and picking this book. I enjoyed Lysa’s first book we read but this one, Oh yeah….I’m loving it.


And I know it is just because it is exactly what I need at this crossroad in my life that God has put me here and said, okay, how willing are you to be a woman that says Yes to me? Which means being radically obedient, I’ll get more into that in another blog I’m sure because I’ve read the book but now am going back to reread it so I can digest it even more.

But right now one of Lysa’s phrases I am going to quote is from 113 of the book.

“To be radically obedient is to keep God’s vision clearly in front of us, to be so busy looking at what He wants, looking at HIM, that everything else becomes less important.”

She has many more spots I can and probably will be using going forward but that my friends is the key point for all of us. Man or woman.

Instead of letting satan and his world distract us thru small or big daily issues and keep us focused on that, we have to snap out of it and away from that focus and to always keep God’s vision in our view. We need to stop limiting God’s plans for us by being disobedient or impatient. We have to believe that God’s Power and Strength are unlimited and ours to use as He Wills. We have to step out of our comfort zone and complacency and continue seeking the Truth in His Word and by spending time with HIM so that we can become spiritually mature.

*Pg 94 of the book,

“A real sign of spiritual maturity is looking to God not for comfort and convenience, but for purpose and perspective. Comfort and convenience lead to complacency while purpose and perspective lead to the perseverance that is evident in those living a truly devoted life.”

It won’t happen over night and is a life long process that many will give up on because it is challenging. Yet, it is so worth the challenge, especially when we allow our perspective to change. (pg 95, Lysa “Our changed perspective helps us to see God in EVERYTHING)

Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to HIS Purpose."

Instead of accepting our comfort zone and being complacent, we need to remember this limits God’s Best for us. We don’t deserve it by any means being the sinners that we are, but once we accept Christ as our Lord, our Savior, our Brother, our Bridesgroom and our King for ever, we are washed clean of our sins when we confess them to Him and ask for forgiveness. When He takes up residence in our Hearts, we should never again want complacency, we should be ready to do whatever HE wants us to do, help those HE puts in our paths to help, and be radically obedient by listening to His Voice call us as HE wills.

Romans 5:1-5 "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope;

And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

I know whatever God has on this path will be filled with tribulation because the enemy doesn’t want me to have a Yes Heart for God but I also know that regardless of what may lie ahead, Christ has already promised that HE has went before me and has prepared the way. He will never leave nor forsake me and has given me His Power and Strength even in just calling and claiming His Name so I will have the Peace that only HE can give because I know as I listen to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and direction, I am pleasing my Father and slowly but surely become a woman that has a Yes Heart for HIM.

Have a great day or evening depending upon when you read this LOL. All I can say is Thank Your Father for rekindling Your Fire and giving me the desire and hunger to know You more and to share what YOU want with those you’ve put on my path. I Love You Lord more than anything!!! May I continue to become a woman whose heart is completely YOURS!!!

Hearing God's Voice

I don’t know about you, but I love to hear God speak to me. The quite whispers to my heart bring me such joy. For the longest time I thought those little whispers were just my own thoughts, but I’ve come to realize that this is the way God speaks to me. The sweetest thing to me is when God speaks the practical things to me in the morning as I rush out the door. Little things that I am forgetting. I get a strong impressing to go back and check something or to put something in my car that I wouldn’t have thought of on my own. I’ve ignored these little whispers and been sorely disappointed later in the day because I didn’t have something I needed. Only to realize that God had been prompting me to go back and get that item before I left the house! It’s these things that show me that God cares about me. Really cares about every aspect of my life…. even the little things.

I enjoyed chapter two, Hearing God’s Voice. Sometimes I know God is speaking to me, but many times I have to wonder if the thought or idea came from me. Most of the time I’m confused when these thoughts/idea are big or will take involving others to accomplish them. The five questions will be helpful to determine if God is giving me a command or direction or if it’s me coming up with an idea.

For some of the questions there was a quote that I just found so impactful.

1. Does what I’m hearing line up with scripture?

“God’s Word is the language the Holy Spirit uses to help us understand what God is speaking to our hearts. We must get into God’s Word and let God’s Word get into us.” (page 27)

Have you notice the same theme through our last few books? We must get into God’s word!

2. Is what I’m hearing consistent with God’s character?

“The fruit of the Spirit is the spontaneous work of the Holy Spirit in us. The Spirit produces these character traits that are found in the nature of Christ. They are by-products of Christ’s control-we can’t obtain them by trying to get them without his help.” (page 28-29)

 I’ve never thought of the fruits of the Spirit as a by-product before, but it makes sense! The more time I spend with Jesus the more I will act like Him.

3. Is what I’m hearing being confirmed through other messages?

This is the one that I find so cool and amazing. Whenever I am studying several Bible studies at the same time they seem to fall in step with each other. Messages on Sundays echo the things I’m learning in my quite time. Verses that I have mulled over pop up in Sunday school lessons or in the Pastor’s sermons. Even the Daily Bread messages go along with what I’m learning. Many times they all have the same theme. It’s incredible. I am totally blown away by it. In the past, I’ve not thought to consider that this is happening to confirm something that God is speaking to my heart, but I’ll be on the lookout for it now!

4. Is what I’m hearing beyond me?

5. Would what I’m hearing please God?

Now I’ll be honest, this last question irked me. At first, I didn’t feel like it helped to discern if an idea is from God or not. Basically she’s saying that whether the thought or idea is from God or not, we should go ahead if it would please God. I thought that’s works fine for the small stuff. Should I take this cake to the family who is struggling? No brainer. But what about the bigger things. I tried to think of something that He would tell me to do that  would not please Him, but and I couldn’t think of anything. So I guess it does work as the last question in the group.

At the end of the chapter Lysa states that she uses this five-question filter as a starting place in her conversations with God. She says,

“To this day I have to seek it (hearing God’s voice) by asking for the desire, discipline, discernment, direction and delight.” (page 38)

 On a note card I wrote out the rest of the paragraph as a prayer that I say each morning.

Lord,

Please give me the desire to want You more than anything else. Give me the discipline to make my relationship with You my top priority. Lord, give me the discernment to know the difference between my own thoughts and Yours. Please give me clear direction at each crossroad in my life. Help my relationship with You be sheer delight!

These five simple requests have affected my time with God in a big way. “Ask and ye shall receive!”

Expecting God's Presence

I posted this originally on my site but wanted to share it with our awesome Book Club. I can't wait to discuss this book :)

God is AWESOME....always...now how can I remember that ALL THE TIME. Let me explain, I had to go buy the book for this month's book club Lysa TerKerust What Happens When Women say Yes to God cause I missed ordering it online. So I went to the closest Christian Bookstore last week and didn't see it so I went Thursday. Before I got there I said a quick prayer that there was at least one left.

So I go into the row I know it should be and start looking. I see Lysa's other book, but I don't see this one, but then the Holy Spirit said, ummm, Hello, that book is in the L's not the T's by her first name...not the last. So I look down at the T's and Praise Jesus (which I did excitedly) there was ONE copy of the book. Thankfully it was a Christian store even though I'm sure people thought I was a loon cause I started laughing and smiling and thanking God for His AWESOMENESS!!!!

So needless to say I was excited about starting the book so I went home and read the first chapter right away. Now mind you I could've read the whole book that night but I wanted to digest it and take it notes etc. So for chapter one alone (which I LOVED), I took 5 pages of notes.  Of course some of it is quote favorites from the book which I don't have but will try to add later, but I was so excited about it.

I want to have a Yes-Heart even with the knowledge that it means I'll be outside my comfort zone more. Well needless to say there is a part where Lysa says we have to be prepared to have a Yes Heart and Expect God's Presence to be there/with us even during the hard times...which occurred yesterday for me.

I was faced with a reality in my finances I wasn't prepared for and at first it did start to affect me, but GOD is so GOOD that I had to shake it off and remind myself that I knew because I had say 'YES' to God Thursday night and Friday morning that stuff would happen to try to remove my focus from HIM or from seeing His Presence or Divine appointments around me.

Thankfully He has other Christian women at work that help me to be encouraged too so I know that I may not have started out at my best but before too long I was back to Praising Him for everything.

I do desire to be a Yes Women to God because I know in just remembering about the simple task of Lysa's book being found when I asked, that is a great reminder at just how much HE wants to bless us...if we are willing to be Faithful and Obedient.

I don't want to be a Christian for my whole life and not know HE is with Me. I want to be onfire for HIM every day because I don't know how HE can use my words or actions to affect another or others. It basically means that I have to be on my guard as a Steward/Warrior for Christ always which means praying, being in the Word, surrounding myself with other Christians with like minds and opening my eyes and 'comfort' zone to be ready when HE puts a Divine Appointment in my path.

I look forward to reading the rest of the book and am excited because I know it is going to be Great. I will try to post my favorites later, but as one of the comfort zones I had to give up was internet at home, I am using the free access at the Local Library (Free is always great :) lol) so that is why it's been awhile. But I feel the passion to blog coming back as if it's been asleep for awhile so watch out, God may have me on a roll again.

Isn't that part of being a Yes to God Women :)

Posted by Christy

Check out 5 Questions For Deeper Bible Study

Check out 5 Questions For Deeper Bible Study

The Clamoring of the Day

Clamoring- the act of becoming loudly instinct. How many things clamored for your attention today? A few? Ten? Or more? As women we have people and situations that clamor for our  attention every day. The endless list of chores and needs of our families are loudly instinting that we deal with them. The kids, a spouse, friends, work, laundry, dinner, floors to mop, things to put away, Bible study, prayer time, errands, help with homework, down-time, doctor appointment… the list could go on and on.

Ever feel overwhelmed? I know I certainly do. The list of things seems endless. And when things begin to pile up something has to go on the back burner. Sadly, I push back the activities that “people can’t see.” Bible study and prayer time. When I don’t find time to do them, you won’t see a big pile of it on the floor in the corner. But what you will see is very frustrated women. Others may not know why I am flying off the handle at the drop of a hat or melting into an emotional puddle on the floor, but I know. I’ve pulled away from the One who gives me peace and strength.

On our journey to learning to say yes to God, “You simple have to surrender all that’s clamoring for attention in your heart with the answer God is longing to hear spill from your lips, ‘Yes, God.’” (page 14) This journey won’t be accomplished if we don’t stay plugged into the One who will give us the power to say Yes to Him.

I once saw a speaker open his lesson by vacuuming the whole platform. It was quite a mess, but when he had finished..... it was still a mess. The tiny paper dots that were scattered all over the stage were still there, just pushed around to different places. You see, he vacuumed the whole stage without plugging the machine into the wall. It had no power and therefore had little effect on the paper dots on the floor.

His point was that without the power of God, cleaning up the mess that we have made of our lives is impossible. Likewise, without the power of the Holy Spirit working in us, we will not be able to say yes to God when He calls on us to do something.

So this is my challenge to all of us as we read this book. If you don’t already, set aside-plan- some time with God each day. Make your relationship with Him top priority. I will work on pushing other things to the back burner before I sacrifice my time with God. Like sleep! "O God, thou are my God: early will I seek thee; my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is." Psalm 63:1 I hope you’ll find ways to carve time out of your day for God also.