Ladies Bible Study

Tonight was our first Ladies Bible Study. We had 18 in attendance. Praise the Lord! I rushed it a little but I was trying to get the ladies home sooner rather than later due to the busy week we all had are having.

Our Bible study series is A Woman and Her Walk with God. I was graciously given permission to use these lessons by Julie Fink at Living by Grace. She has them available for download on her ladies ministry website Ladies of Grace. Tonights lesson was Walking in the Light of Life from John 8:12.

Have you ever felt like you were going through life blind-folded? Are you always worrying about every decision you make being the right one, overloading yourself with stress? What about when troubles and trials come? Do you have sleepless nights and that sick feeling in your stomach, that feeling of dread? Let me tell you I'm the first to raise my hand! Me, me, me, I have! The reason for these symptoms is very simple. I wasn't walking in the Light of life. That Light that only comes when I'm walking with my Savior. I was walking in darkness.

God is our light and was the light for many in the Bible.
*Scroll over references for full verse.

• Psalm 27:1
• Psalm 36:9
• Psalm 84:11
• Isaiah 60:1-2; 19-20
• I John 1:5

God also gave that light to Jesus, His Son.

• John 1:1-5
• John 8:12

To get His light we need to seek to follow Him in the every day details in our lives. As we seek to follow Jesus, He will illuminate 3 things for us:

1. The truth that we need to know in order to make the right kinds of decisions in our lives.
• Psalm 43:3
• Proverbs 3:5, 6


2. The direction that we will need to go as we journey along life’s paths.
• Psalm 23:3
• Proverbs 3:6
• Psalm 119:105


3. The security that we will want to feel as we experience heartache and pain as we deal with people and experiences in our everyday lives.
   • Psalm 27
   • Psalm 3:5
   • Psalm 4:8
   • Proverbs 3:24
   • Psalm 23:4

(Psalm 27 is such a good read especially when something has you down or worried. And I love the 3 verses right after it in the list.)

To obtain these three things we need to walk with God His way. It can't be, "Jesus, I love you but I want to do things my way." It must be His way. One simple way to start walking with Him is to spend time with Him daily in prayer and Bible reading. If you aren't doing this little step, start today!

Fun with Friends and Hospitality

One of the many reasons we got the house we have is to have people over. As a Pastor's wife and as a Christian I want to become better in the ministry of hospitality. Hospitality is mentioned in the Bible. We are supposed to be hospitable to our fellow Christians.

In Romans, Paul writes to the church in Rome and gives them some things they need to be doing in chapter 12 and in there is hospitality:

Romans 12:13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

In 1 Timothy and in Titus, Paul writes to these 2 Pastors and gives them a list of requirements for a pastor and what do we find but hospitality:

I Timothy 3:2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

Titus 1:8 But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;

Peter wrote to Christians that they needed to be hospitable without grudging:

1 Peter 4:9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging.

Personally, I like having people over. I grew up with it. My mom loved to have a lot of people over. Thanksgivings our house was overflowing with friends and family. Every birthday party we had many people were invited as well as our friends. I believe people feel special when you ask them to come into your home and share a meal with you. It doesn't even have to be a meal, it could be as one teacher taught me, popcorn and pepsi. People just want to feel loved and cared for and one way we can show them Christ's love through us is to be hospitable.

Jesus is a great example of being hospitable. Remember the feeding of the 5,000? He used what little He had to give to others.

Matthew 14:15-21 And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. He said, Bring them hither to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

I can just hear the disciples, "It's late, we're tired, there's nothing around here, send these people home." Can you hear yourself using some of those excuses? But Jesus took the opportunity to minister to these people a little more and He went the extra mile.

If you would like to start getting more involved in the ministry of hospitality talk to your Pastor. Ask him if there is anyone he would like for you to minister to. And remember it doesn't have to be a big elaborate meal. Sandwiches and chips are wonderful. The people don't care what they're eating, they care that they are being loved.

What started this whole post was that last night we had the deacons of our church over and their wives for dinner. We had a great time. And today I invited over two more couples for this coming Thursday. By the end of this year I would like to have every one of our members over to our house at some time.

Walking in the Light of Life

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of
life.” ~ John 8:12

On the 24th I'll be starting a Ladies Bible Study with the women in my church and any others who wish to attend. We are going to be studying about our walk with God. The first lesson is Walking in the Light of Life. This morning as I was going over the lesson God showed me some things that I need to start doing in my own life. When I came upon the following part of the lesson is where I discovered my shortcomings.

It is, and as we seek to follow Him in the everyday details of our
lives, we are going to discover that He will ILLUMINATE for us the following
three things:

The truth that we need to know in order to make the right kinds
of decisions in our lives.
Psalm 43:3
Proverbs 3:5-6

The direction that we will need to go as we journey
along life’s paths.

Psalm 23:3
Proverbs 3:6
Psalm 119:105

The security that
we will want to feel as we experience heartache and pain as we deal with people
and experiences in our everyday lives.
Psalm 27
Psalm 3:5
Psalm 4:8
Proverbs 3:24
Psalm 23:4

The last point, that security is what I want. There has been something in my life recently where I have been avoiding someone because I was scared and unsure in our relationship. After reading this and the scriptures along with it I realize that I need to trust in the Lord and He will take care of me. I love the feeling of my husbands arms wrapped around me in a hug especially when my emotions are not the best. I want that feeling with God my Father. I want to feel His arms wrapped around me as I deal with situations and circumstances in my life.

While reading Psalm 27 I also came upon a verse that I love. In Psalm 27:8 it says, "When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek." This is the prayer for my life with my relationship with God. How about you?

*The Bible Study Walking in the Light of Life was graciously provided to me by Julie Fink a pastor's wife at Grace Baptist Church of Lockport, Illinois. She also has a website, Ladies of Grace, that gives encouragement and help to other women.