April 29th
"Who can come down against us? Who can enter our hiding places?" Jeremiah 21:13
Often when we're oppressed, instead of cooperating with God and going with Him to a place of freedom, we go into isolation and hide. We hide behind our jobs. We hide behind the busy things we do at church. We hide behind activity-the captivity of activity.
But God will sometimes allow things to get bad enough that we will be forced to come out of hiding and look up. He does not allow us to be oppressed so that we will be defeated, but so that we will ultimately be victorious. Victory always begins with a cry for help. When we come to the end of ourselves and do what liberty demands, amazing things start to happen.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Breaking Free Day by Day - Beth Moore
April 28th
"God said to me, "You are not to build a house for My name because you are a man of war and have shed blood." 1 Chronicles 28:3
I believe God willingly tells His children why they are being oppressed if they are willing to listen. Of course, we would rather God just fix our messes. We don't want to get into the reasons why. "Lord, just set me free! I don't want to know why I god into this shape. Let's not dip up all of those old bones from the past. Just set me free and let's get on with life."
But God says, "I want you to know what went wrong so that the next time you're in this same situation, you'll make different choices; you'll seek ME instead."
April 27th
"So Israel became poverty-stricken because of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the Lord."
The people of God have little defense against the destructive nature of the enemy without the power of God working in their favor. In this scene from the Book of Judges, the Israelites had prepared shelters for themselves for protection against their enemy. But the Midianites came in like a swarm of locusts, impossible to count. They invaded the land and ravaged it.
We can be saved and yet continually live in defeat because the enemy can outwit us if we do not depend on the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. We've got to know that we're being swarmed, wise up to the Word, learn what our rights are, and use the equipment God has given us.
"God said to me, "You are not to build a house for My name because you are a man of war and have shed blood." 1 Chronicles 28:3
I believe God willingly tells His children why they are being oppressed if they are willing to listen. Of course, we would rather God just fix our messes. We don't want to get into the reasons why. "Lord, just set me free! I don't want to know why I god into this shape. Let's not dip up all of those old bones from the past. Just set me free and let's get on with life."
But God says, "I want you to know what went wrong so that the next time you're in this same situation, you'll make different choices; you'll seek ME instead."
April 27th
"So Israel became poverty-stricken because of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the Lord."
The people of God have little defense against the destructive nature of the enemy without the power of God working in their favor. In this scene from the Book of Judges, the Israelites had prepared shelters for themselves for protection against their enemy. But the Midianites came in like a swarm of locusts, impossible to count. They invaded the land and ravaged it.
We can be saved and yet continually live in defeat because the enemy can outwit us if we do not depend on the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. We've got to know that we're being swarmed, wise up to the Word, learn what our rights are, and use the equipment God has given us.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
2009 Summer Book Club Voting
As we discussed this summer's activities for LifePointe's Women's Ministry, we felt like doing a book club again after our 6 six week study of Anticipating the Voice of God would be a fun and relaxing way to stay in His word and continue fellowship. We also thought it might be fun to allow all of you to decide what book we would do for our book club. Below are the three books we narrowed it down to for choices. Please take the time to cast your vote on this blog up in the right hand corner. And stay tuned to see just what happens. The voting will close on May 16th. Someone from the Women's Ministry team will annouce the winning book during the services on that Sunday the 17th. We hope this is something you will enjoy and something different. As a side note, the book club will be done just like we did last summer which were small groups at several different women's homes or somewhere like Starbucks. If you feel God leading you to host a small group, please email Monica. Thank you for your help with the planning of our Summer Book Club 2009. God bless you and yours!
Product Description
Winning the Battle in your Mind. There's a War Going On And Your Mind Is The Battlefield. If you're one of millions who suffer from worry, doubt, confusion, depression, anger or condemnation, you are experiencing an attack in your mind. Overcoming negative thoughts that come against your mind brings freedom and peace. Find out how to recognize damaging thought patterns and stop them from influencing your life. In this powerful book, best-selling author and conference host, Joyce Meyer, guides you through an honest self-appraisal by sharing the trials, tragedies and ultimate victories of her own marriage, family and ministry- including the truth she learned about what she was thinking and feeling every step of the way. You'll gain insight into how Joyce won the battle in her own mind- and how you can as well. You'll also discover how to: -Find peace and stop brain-storm of mental activity. -See the truth by thinking correctly. -Use spiritual weapons effectively. -Overcome the 10 wilderness mentalities that hold you in harmful circumstances. Don't surrender to misery another day. Find out today what you can do to ensure your victory in the Battlefield of the Mind!
Product Description
Product Description
Burdened. The word alone makes shoulders sink. It slows down our lives. It clouds our vision. It is the result of so many memories, grudges, fears, uncertainty, and stress. It is heavy. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matt 11:28)
Overworked? Over committed? Overtired? Under appreciated?
Let go and live free.
Sound impossible? Sheila Walsh thought so - until God proved himself again and again through his Word, his people, and her life. In Let Go, the bestselling author and speaker walks readers through the journey to freedom in Christ. Along the way, she tackles some of the toughest struggles that weigh women down, answering them with overwhelming truth, promise, and hope. You can lay down your burdens. You can rest. You can find peace. You can live free. Start here. Let Go. And see what God can do.
Product Description
Winning the Battle in your Mind. There's a War Going On And Your Mind Is The Battlefield. If you're one of millions who suffer from worry, doubt, confusion, depression, anger or condemnation, you are experiencing an attack in your mind. Overcoming negative thoughts that come against your mind brings freedom and peace. Find out how to recognize damaging thought patterns and stop them from influencing your life. In this powerful book, best-selling author and conference host, Joyce Meyer, guides you through an honest self-appraisal by sharing the trials, tragedies and ultimate victories of her own marriage, family and ministry- including the truth she learned about what she was thinking and feeling every step of the way. You'll gain insight into how Joyce won the battle in her own mind- and how you can as well. You'll also discover how to: -Find peace and stop brain-storm of mental activity. -See the truth by thinking correctly. -Use spiritual weapons effectively. -Overcome the 10 wilderness mentalities that hold you in harmful circumstances. Don't surrender to misery another day. Find out today what you can do to ensure your victory in the Battlefield of the Mind!
Product DescriptionMackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant "The Shack" wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!
Product DescriptionBurdened. The word alone makes shoulders sink. It slows down our lives. It clouds our vision. It is the result of so many memories, grudges, fears, uncertainty, and stress. It is heavy. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matt 11:28)
Overworked? Over committed? Overtired? Under appreciated?
Let go and live free.
Sound impossible? Sheila Walsh thought so - until God proved himself again and again through his Word, his people, and her life. In Let Go, the bestselling author and speaker walks readers through the journey to freedom in Christ. Along the way, she tackles some of the toughest struggles that weigh women down, answering them with overwhelming truth, promise, and hope. You can lay down your burdens. You can rest. You can find peace. You can live free. Start here. Let Go. And see what God can do.
Breaking Free Day by Day - Beth Moore
April 23rd
"In all their suffering, He suffered, and the Angel of His Presence saved them." Isaiah 63:9
I believe Christ still grieves when He sees heart in unnecessary turmoil. He desperately wants His people to experience His peace. When we allow the Prince of Peace to govern our lives, peace either immediately or ultimately results. Peace accompanies authority.
You may not ever feel like giving your circumstances, loss or hurt over to Him, but you can choose to submit to His authority out of belief and obedience rather than emotion. Obedience is always the mark of authentic surrender to God's authority.
"In all their suffering, He suffered, and the Angel of His Presence saved them." Isaiah 63:9
I believe Christ still grieves when He sees heart in unnecessary turmoil. He desperately wants His people to experience His peace. When we allow the Prince of Peace to govern our lives, peace either immediately or ultimately results. Peace accompanies authority.
You may not ever feel like giving your circumstances, loss or hurt over to Him, but you can choose to submit to His authority out of belief and obedience rather than emotion. Obedience is always the mark of authentic surrender to God's authority.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Breaking Free Day by Day - Beth Moore
April 22nd
"If you forgive people their wrongdoing, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well." Matthew 6:14
When I finally bent the knee to the Prince of Peace over hurts in my childhood, I realized He was directing me to forgive the person who hurt me. God did not insist on my forgiving for the sake of that person but for peace in my life. When at last I allowed Him to govern everything concerning my past, not only did the Prince give me His peace, He actually brought good from something horrible and unfair.
He will do the same for you, as well. Once you begin to surrender to Him, even in your most painful area, He will give you a supernatural ability to forgive.
"If you forgive people their wrongdoing, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well." Matthew 6:14
When I finally bent the knee to the Prince of Peace over hurts in my childhood, I realized He was directing me to forgive the person who hurt me. God did not insist on my forgiving for the sake of that person but for peace in my life. When at last I allowed Him to govern everything concerning my past, not only did the Prince give me His peace, He actually brought good from something horrible and unfair.
He will do the same for you, as well. Once you begin to surrender to Him, even in your most painful area, He will give you a supernatural ability to forgive.
Week Three: The Voice of the Holy Spirit
"When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak whatever He hears. He will also declare to you what is to come." John 16:13
When we go through life, we need a guide we can trust.
The Holy Spirit asks us to listen to Him, to follow Him, and to trust Him.
John 16:13 - When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth.
"To guide" means to lead while one is on the way.
The Holy Spirit offers you freely given truth.
The Holy Spirit guides you with personal truth.
The Holy Spirit guides you into an inner depth truth.
Strongholds prevent you from hearing the voice of God.
Combat strongholds by destroying them with divine weapons.
When we go through life, we need a guide we can trust.
The Holy Spirit asks us to listen to Him, to follow Him, and to trust Him.
John 16:13 - When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth.
"To guide" means to lead while one is on the way.
The Holy Spirit offers you freely given truth.
The Holy Spirit guides you with personal truth.
The Holy Spirit guides you into an inner depth truth.
Strongholds prevent you from hearing the voice of God.
Combat strongholds by destroying them with divine weapons.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Breaking Free Day by Day - Beth Moore
April 17th
"The weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds." 2 Corinthians 10:4
The word demolish implies a kind of destruction requiring tremendous power-divine power, to be exact. I believe much of the reason why believers have remained in a yoke of slavery is because we swat at our strongholds like they are mosquitoes.
Strongholds, however, are like concrete fortresses we've constructed around our lives block by block, ordinarily over the course of years. We created them (whether or not we are aware) for protection and comfort. But these fortresses inevitably become prisons. At some point we realize we no longer control them. Rather, they control us.
"The weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds." 2 Corinthians 10:4
The word demolish implies a kind of destruction requiring tremendous power-divine power, to be exact. I believe much of the reason why believers have remained in a yoke of slavery is because we swat at our strongholds like they are mosquitoes.
Strongholds, however, are like concrete fortresses we've constructed around our lives block by block, ordinarily over the course of years. We created them (whether or not we are aware) for protection and comfort. But these fortresses inevitably become prisons. At some point we realize we no longer control them. Rather, they control us.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Breaking Free Day by Day - Beth Moore
"I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be corrupted from a complete and pure devotion to Christ." 2 Corinthians 11:3
Few biblical subjects are more controversial and debated than spiritual warfare and the battlefield of the mind. But many events and passages of Scripture demonstrate that Satan deals directly with the human mind.
In the parable of the soils, Jesus said Satan comes and takes away the Word sown in some people (Mark 4:15). In the story of Ananias and Sapphira, Peter said Satan had filled their hearts to lie to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3). In today's verse, Paul warned that Satan indeed seeks to lead believers' minds astray. Clearly, Satan engages us in our thought lives.
Few biblical subjects are more controversial and debated than spiritual warfare and the battlefield of the mind. But many events and passages of Scripture demonstrate that Satan deals directly with the human mind.
In the parable of the soils, Jesus said Satan comes and takes away the Word sown in some people (Mark 4:15). In the story of Ananias and Sapphira, Peter said Satan had filled their hearts to lie to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3). In today's verse, Paul warned that Satan indeed seeks to lead believers' minds astray. Clearly, Satan engages us in our thought lives.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Week Two Viewer Guide: The Holy Spirit
"When you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation-in Him when you believed-were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:13-14
The Holy Spirit is the primary way God guides His believers today.
The Holy Spirit, all of the Holy Spirit, indwells every believer.
Every person, whether believer or nonbeliever, is made up of body, soul and spirit.
When you become a believer, the holy spirit takes up residence in you.
Every person, whether believer or nonbeliever, has a conscience that is part of the soul.
The conscience is not the voice of God.
When you think the Holy Spirit is leading you, look for
1. the witness of the Holy Spirit
2. the illumination of the Scripture
3. the confirmation of God's hand in circumstances
The Five Ms of Correctly Hearing God
1. Look for the message of the Spirit
2. Live in the mode of prayer
3. Search out the model of scripture
4. Submit to the ministry of Eli
5. Expect the mercy of confirmation
The Holy Spirit is the primary way God guides His believers today.
The Holy Spirit, all of the Holy Spirit, indwells every believer.
Every person, whether believer or nonbeliever, is made up of body, soul and spirit.
When you become a believer, the holy spirit takes up residence in you.
Every person, whether believer or nonbeliever, has a conscience that is part of the soul.
The conscience is not the voice of God.
When you think the Holy Spirit is leading you, look for
1. the witness of the Holy Spirit
2. the illumination of the Scripture
3. the confirmation of God's hand in circumstances
The Five Ms of Correctly Hearing God
1. Look for the message of the Spirit
2. Live in the mode of prayer
3. Search out the model of scripture
4. Submit to the ministry of Eli
5. Expect the mercy of confirmation
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Anticipating the Voice of God
Last night we kicked off our Spring 2009 study and it was great. We had a great turn out and wonderful discussion after the DVD segment by Priscilla Shirer. If you didn't make it last night, PLEASE join us next Tuesday at 7p.m. up at the building. You won't regret it!!! If you were signed up for the study and weren't able to make it last night, we still have your book which can be picked up Sunday or next Tuesday. I'm going to post the answers to the DVD segment below so anyone can get them. I will be doing this every Wednesday. Please feel free to post comments about the study or anything God is showing you through this study.
Week One - Viewer Guide
Anticpating the Voice of God
"My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. John 10:27
1. Jesus was clear to point out a relationship, naming us His sheep. "My sheep..."
Romans 8:16 - The spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God's Children.
2. Jesus points out not only a relationship but a result of being His sheep: "...hear my voice."
John 8:47 - The one who is from God hears God's words.
3. Jesus points out a relationship, a result and also a reason for being His sheep: "I know My sheep."
Intimacy is the foundation for getting to know God.
4. Jesus points out a relationship, a result, a reason and also a response from His sheep: "They follow me."
John 10:11 - I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
Hebrews 13:20-21 - Now may the God of peace...the great Shepherd of the sheep-with the blood of the everlasting covenant, equip you with all that is good to do His will.
Week One - Viewer Guide
Anticpating the Voice of God
"My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. John 10:27
1. Jesus was clear to point out a relationship, naming us His sheep. "My sheep..."
Romans 8:16 - The spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God's Children.
2. Jesus points out not only a relationship but a result of being His sheep: "...hear my voice."
John 8:47 - The one who is from God hears God's words.
3. Jesus points out a relationship, a result and also a reason for being His sheep: "I know My sheep."
Intimacy is the foundation for getting to know God.
4. Jesus points out a relationship, a result, a reason and also a response from His sheep: "They follow me."
John 10:11 - I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
Hebrews 13:20-21 - Now may the God of peace...the great Shepherd of the sheep-with the blood of the everlasting covenant, equip you with all that is good to do His will.
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