January 19th Study Material
Welcome to our THIRD Bible Study in our four-week 'Heart of a Warrior' January study together. Recap...Week 1, we discussed how Sarah before her time with the first woman who LOL'd (of course, the Lord was promising that at 90...she would have a baby, we might all LOL if we heard that at 90...even from God). Last week, we discussed God's grace, and found out that I needed some grace of my own...since I accidentally did the LIVE on The Notebook Cafe entire Facebook page, instead of my cozy and safe closed group. Thank you for the grace and encouragement. So...this week...we're going to discuss...gulp...sin. The one thing we don't like to discuss. Yes, we love God's mercy, grace, forgiveness, and the fact that He can do the impossible, but we don't like it that sometimes...we fall short, we make a mistake, we take a wrong turn, we fall down...we sin, and we need to repent and ask God to forgive us. It doesn't mean there won't be a consequence, but God will forgive us for our sins and our hearts will again be right with the Lord.
The biggest thing I've seen in my life with sin...is that it separates us from God. Sin is so dangerous because it gives the enemy the opportunity to influence your decisions because you've turned away from God. Sin is a deadly trap that often looks innocent. I know someone who had an affair and years later...they committed suicide. Their decision one day to commit adultery...would years later cause them to take their own life. They couldn't see that coming, or I guarantee you they never would have decided that day to step outside of their marriage for a sexual relationship, but the enemy never shows us the consequences of sin...until much later, when he loves to remind us of our guilt and shame. Things haven't changed much since the Garden of Eden...satans tricks are still the same...decades and generations later. One big difference...God LOVES us...satan LOVES our sin.
BUT GOD, is gracious and just to forgive us, because He is such a loving Father. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a loving and Godly earthly father, so it's hard for many of our sister's to understand how God can love us and forgive us. God does not cover us with shame, but He covers us with love...even when we mess up really big. God's grace and unconditional love are always ours as His daughters.
The reading material is below (sorry, it was a little longer chapter) and of course you don't have to read it!
Blessings to each of you. See you at 7:30, Tuesday, January 19th on Facebook LIVE...God willing!!! Shelly
The biggest thing I've seen in my life with sin...is that it separates us from God. Sin is so dangerous because it gives the enemy the opportunity to influence your decisions because you've turned away from God. Sin is a deadly trap that often looks innocent. I know someone who had an affair and years later...they committed suicide. Their decision one day to commit adultery...would years later cause them to take their own life. They couldn't see that coming, or I guarantee you they never would have decided that day to step outside of their marriage for a sexual relationship, but the enemy never shows us the consequences of sin...until much later, when he loves to remind us of our guilt and shame. Things haven't changed much since the Garden of Eden...satans tricks are still the same...decades and generations later. One big difference...God LOVES us...satan LOVES our sin.
BUT GOD, is gracious and just to forgive us, because He is such a loving Father. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a loving and Godly earthly father, so it's hard for many of our sister's to understand how God can love us and forgive us. God does not cover us with shame, but He covers us with love...even when we mess up really big. God's grace and unconditional love are always ours as His daughters.
The reading material is below (sorry, it was a little longer chapter) and of course you don't have to read it!
Blessings to each of you. See you at 7:30, Tuesday, January 19th on Facebook LIVE...God willing!!! Shelly
Below is a button to open a PDF to accompany this weeks study. Here are some things to ponder and perhaps answer as God directs -
1. Is there a risk that you’re thinking of taking now, or that you’ve perhaps already taken and it’s not turning out the way you thought?
2. Has a child, parent, spouse, someone significant in your life deeply hurt you with a risk they’ve taken that has affected you?
3. Can you think of risks that should always be avoided to stay in God’s will for your life?
4. Do you believe that God will cover every sin that you commit?
1. Is there a risk that you’re thinking of taking now, or that you’ve perhaps already taken and it’s not turning out the way you thought?
2. Has a child, parent, spouse, someone significant in your life deeply hurt you with a risk they’ve taken that has affected you?
3. Can you think of risks that should always be avoided to stay in God’s will for your life?
4. Do you believe that God will cover every sin that you commit?
About Shelly Thompson, Author, and Publisher of The Notebook Cafe
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The Notebook Cafe -- Inspired Words for the Journey is an online cafe brewing up words of inspiration and encouragement to equip us for this journey. The Cafe (and The Vault Mercantile) is located in the quaint historic town of Walnut, Iowa. 'The Cafe' offers a place where women gather to share a time of fellowship, devotion, and a tour of the circa 1875 historical bank building restored by Shelly and her husband. Shelly is the Publisher of The Notebook Cafe and coauthor, Entwined, now in it's fourth printing; and Heart of a Warrior; in it's fourth printing. Shelly has a passion for writing what God places in her heart. Taking a giant leap of faith she left the corporate world to pursue a dream God gave her of developing a monthly inspirational faith based online reading café in February 2015. Today, The Notebook Café reaches over 500,000 people each month. She has found the road in unknown territory is not always easy, BUT GOD always finds a way to bring about what He has promised. Shelly has also developed The Notebook Cafe Annual Woman's Conference. The Notebook Cafe has hosted five women's conferences since October 2015. She's also passionate about all things vintage and interior design, owning The Vault Mercantile, a vintage and home decor shop. Shelly and her husband, Dave, spend time with their family and many weekends working on home renovation projects…that thankfully never seem to end.
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