Sharing God's Love

 By: Grace Metzger

How, then, can they call on the one
they have not believed in? And how can they
believe in the one of whom they have not
heard? And how can they hear without
someone preaching to them?

Romans 10:14 NIV

Recently, I had dinner with some old friends who I have been close to for years. I’ve known a lot of details about these friends-from their dating lives, their families situation, etc. I’ve always felt comfortable enough to talk to them about most things, but through this dinner, I realize there’s one thing that we’ve never really discussed. We’ve never talked too much about religion. During the dinner, one of them brought up how she’s been getting into the Word more. She’s going to church, reading the Bible, doing her devotional, and overall is getting closer to God. I felt so excited for her.  But I also felt a tiny bit of shame. I’ve known her for years and I’ve never brought up God to her. I couldn’t help but thinking what if I just talked about God years ago, would she have started living for God much earlier? How different would her life have been if I did what God called us to do and shared the Good News.

Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story,

those He redeemed from the hand of the foe.

Psalms 107:2 NIV

God calls us to share our testimony with everyone in our life. Does that mean that every single person we speak to will be saved? Maybe not, but it does mean that in our daily we are planting seeds of God. How are we showing God to the people we come across? How are we telling the stories of how God redeemed us from the hand of our foe? 

Because we loved you so much, we
were delighted to share with you not only the
Gospel of God but our lives as well.
1 Thessalonians 2:8 NIV

We need to share God's love because we love others. I wish I shared my testimony with my friends, I wish I told them more about the joy and peace God has given me. I missed my chance in the past but I refuse to miss any future chances. I challenge you this morning to think about the people you come across in your daily life. How have you shared the gospel with them?  Spend time this week in prayer, asking God to show you how to share your testimony with them.

Discussion Question! 

What do you think keeps people from sharing God's love?

Teaching Our Daughters to Be Strong Women

By: Jenifer Metzger

This world tells us to raise strong daughters, and we know that it is our job to raise strong daughters. We have our girls -whether our own daughters, nieces, granddaughters, little sisters, or any girl we have influence over- for a short time. In fact, we only have 6,570 days from birth to their 18th birthday. We only have 936 weeks from birth to their 18th birthday. We only have 18 summers. The days of our influence are short so we need to take this task of teaching our girls to be strong women serious and get busy.

To teach our girls to be strong women, we first need to understand what it means to be a strong woman.

The world will tell us that to teach our girls to be strong women, we need to teach them to be independent, never show weakness, take care of themselves, walk away from those who hurt them, work hard, play harder, and make self care a priority.

While some of the world's views are valid, some are a bit off.

To be truly strong, we need to teach our girls to love themselves. Our girls need to understand that they were created in the very image of God Himself and they are beautiful and they have worth.

So God created man in His own image;

He created him in the image of God;

He created them male and female.

Genesis 1:27 CSB

To be truly strong, we need to teach our girls to be dependent on God. We need to teach them to trust in Him and His ways.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not rely on your own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5 CSB

To be truly strong, we need to teach our girls that there is strength in our weakness. We don't have to handle everything on our own.

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient
for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.”
Therefore I will most gladly boast all the more
about my weakness, so that Christ's power may

reside in me.

2 Corinthians 12:9 CSB

To be truly strong, we need to teach our girls to forgive others. They need to know that Christ forgives us so we should never withhold forgiveness to others.

Bearing with one another and forgiving one another

if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the

Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive.

Colossians 3:13 CSB

To be truly strong, we need to teach our girls that we were not called to do this life alone. They need to find their tribe of sisters and cultivate those relationships.

Iron sharpens iron, and

one person sharpens another.

Proverbs 27:17 CSB

To be truly strong, we need to teach our girls to work hard. Not only work hard, but work as though every single thing we are doing for God Himself.

Whatever you do, do it from

the heart, as something done

for the Lord and not for people.

Colossians 3:23 CSB

To be truly strong, we need to teach our girls to take care of themselves. We need to do this by teaching them that they are the temple of God.

Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s

temple and that the Spirit of God lives in you?

1 Corinthians 3:16 CSB

To be truly strong, we need to teach our girls to make Bible reading a priority. We must teach them so they know how to read the Bible and pray.

This book of instruction must not depart

from your mouth; you are to meditate on

it day and night so that you may carefully

observe everything written in it. For then

you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.

Joshua 1:8 CSB

When we teach our girls these principles, we are training them to be strong women. However, we need to do more than tell them, we need to be an example. Let your girl see you forgive others, talk positive about yourself, read your Bible regularly, pray, and more. Let her see an example of a strong, Godly woman when she sees you. And if you feel you haven't been that example in her life, start now.

P.S. These principals will teach your boys how to be strong men too...

Discussion:
1. Who was/is your example of a strong, Godly woman?
2. What other ways can you think of to be an example and teach your girl to be a strong, Godly woman?

Fruits of the Spirit Series: Joy

 By: Rebekah Hargraves

Photo Courtesy of: Sasha Freemind

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness," ~Galatians 5:22

As we enter now into our third week in our fruits of the Spirit series, we come to the fruit of the Spirit known as joy. 

Because we live in a sin-cursed world, it can sometimes feel (especially in certain darker seasons of our lives!) impossible to have joy. How are we to be expected to have this fruit of the Spirit in our lives when life is hard and our world feels dark? 

Well, that is where there are a couple of key things to remember here.

The first is that as we saw on week 1 of our study, not one of these fruits is cultivated or produced by us - they are fruits of *the Spirit*, and Paul shows us in Galatians 5:16 that the key to having the Spirit produce these fruits in our lives is us walking by the Spirit, daily being in relationship with Him through the Word, prayer, etc. No matter our circumstances, it truly can be well with our souls, and the Spirit can cultivate and produce in us a supernatural joy in spite of our circumstances, a joy that surpasses all human understanding. 

The other thing to keep in mind is that there is a difference between happiness and joy. Happiness oftentimes is a circumstances-based feeling, a feeling that can be flaky and can come and go all too quickly based on what is happening in our lives. Joy, meanwhile, is a deep-seated peace, lightness, and positivity in our souls, in the core of who we are, because we know Who holds the future and our lives securely in His hands. 

When we know that, we truly can have joy and, as Nehemiah said, that joy of the Lord can be our strength (see Nehemiah 8:10).

The Greek word translated in Galatians 5 as "joy" here is "chara" and refers to a calmness, a delight, a cheerfulness of soul. May that joy be yours today and every day, dear sister! 

Reflection Questions: 

1) How does this definition of joy perhaps differ from the definition you had previously?

2) How can you take joy even in the midst of hard seasons of life?

3) How has the Lord brought you joy in dark seasons? How can you encourage someone else with your story?

Faith Like Gold

 By: Joanne Viola

 

Let’s return to the book of Job for more insights and encouragement from our suffering friend. While we may not experience the depth of suffering which he did, a lingering challenge may discourage us.

We have looked at Job’s character HERE, and we also looked at the hedge of protection God had provided HERE.

As I have continued reading Job’s story, this verse was before me:

“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, 
And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. 
Even after my skin is destroyed, 
Yet from my flesh I shall see God.” 
(Job 19:25-26, NASB)

We tend to praise God or give thanksgiving after our problems or suffering has passed. But Job spoke these words while in the midst of his suffering. He had no answer as to why he had to endure so much.

Yet he stood firm in his faith and trust that God was with him.

During challenging days, when we are asking questions of God, perhaps we need to remember these words of Job:

• “I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.”(Job 42:2, NASB) Not a thing we go through in life – no problem, no rejection, no shame, no failure, no divorce, no bankruptcy, no addiction, no disability, no pain– is big enough to thwart His plan.
• “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.”(Job 42:3 NIV). There are times we would be wise to keep our mouths closed. Sometimes we give our opinions and we have not a clue what we are saying. God’s ways are often hidden from us. We cannot always explain Him.
• “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You.” (Job 42:5 NASB).We may have heard so much about God. The thing is – He wants us to know Him for ourselves. By experience. Deeply. Intimately. We learn something about Him during hard times that cannot be learned any other way.

In the midst of his deep suffering, Job had this to say:

“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. 
My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. 
I have not departed from the commands of his lips; 
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.” 
(Job 23:10-12, NIV)

“Faith like Job’s cannot be shaken because it is the result of having been shaken.”  
(Rabbi Abraham Heschel)

May God help us to hold onto Him
when life tries to shake us
so that we will develop a faith that is unshakeable.

 

Reflection:
Are you facing a challenge in your life at this time? What lesson from Job encourages you to stand firm and trust God?

 

Photo by Daniel Olah on Unsplash

 

 

 

Jesus as Shepherd

 By: Lauren Thomas

The best-known Psalm is undoubtedly the 23^rd. The first phrase tells us that the Lord is our shepherd. We know that this shepherd is Jesus, the Good Shepherd.tells us so himself in John 10. But have you considered all the ways we see Jesus fulfilling the phrases within this Psalm in both the New Testament and in the life of the believer? 

Let’s break it down:

 

The Lord is my shepherd; 

 

John 10:11-18 – Jesus is the Great Shepherd.

Matthew 9:36 – When Jesus saw the crowds, He had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. It was in these contexts that He taught them, taking on the role of a compassionate and guiding shepherd. 

 

I shall not want.

 

2 Peter 1:3 – Jesus has given us all we need for life and godliness.

²     He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
³     He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for his name's sake.

 

In John 4 and 7 Jesus referred to living water that only He can give. 

Matthew 11:28-30 – Jesus gives rest to our bodies and souls.

Matthew 5-7, Sermon on the Mount – Jesus shows us the way to live and this righteousness glorifies God.

 

⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
    I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

 

John 16:33 – Jesus told us that we will face trouble, but He encourages us to take heart, for He has overcome!

Matthew 28:20 – Jesus said that He is with us always, to the very end

 

⁵ You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.

 

Revelation refers to eating with Jesus and also describes a wedding feast. But this phrase of the Psalm is more abstract. In the context of a shepherd and sheep, the imagery of Psalm 23 is of the shepherd providing a safe place for the sheep to eat. Knowing well that they might be surrounded by predators, the shepherd watches, ready to protect the feeding sheep. I think the new covenant parallel deals with the way that Jesus defeated death and offers eternal life to the believer. The enemy of our soul looks on as we enjoy, or “feast” on, this reality. Satan is powerless to do anything about it because our Shepherd is watching over us. John 10:28-30 confirms this: after identifying himself as the Great Shepherd, Jesus says that no one can snatch us from his hand!

 

Anointing. We are anointed with the Holy Spirit and that Spirit-anointing is a seal of our salvation. (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

 

God is goodness and mercy according to His self-disclosure in Exodus 34:6-7. Jesus echoes this with His own self-disclosure in Matthew 11:28-30. He is the shepherd who left the 99 to chase down the 1 lost sheep (Luke 15). 

 

John 14:3 – Jesus promised that in his leaving, He would go and prepare a place for us so that we might live with Him forever. 

 

Today, engage in some Biblical meditation, the kind that David, the author of this Psalm, did. Read the words of the Psalm. Imagine the scenes described. Contemplate the way that Jesus fulfills each and every phrase.

 

Reflection:

As you meditate on Psalm 23, do other verses come to mind about how Jesus fulfills them? What does the reality of Jesus being your Shepherd mean for your life?