January 26th Study Material
Day 37
A Warrior's Heart for Living Outside the Lines
Letting God Clean Up Your Paint Mess
By Shelly Thompson
A Warrior's Heart for Living Outside the Lines
Letting God Clean Up Your Paint Mess
By Shelly Thompson
Welcome to our FOURTH Bible Study in our four-week 'Heart of a Warrior' January study together. We've discussed what God says 'No' to, what He says 'Yes' to, receiving grace, the pain of sinful choices, and tonight...we're going to meet another neighbor on 5th Street, Mary Miller. She's going to teach us what happens when life gets messy, when we begin to live outside the lines. It can happen so easy. We have an enemy who causes us to take a tiny step in the wrong direction and before we know it we stumble and fall. He loves that! Our fall often causes the fall of others around us...family...friends...spouses. Look at Eve, her 'fall' in the garden that day long ago, has caused all of society to literally fall ever since.
Sweet 5th street neighbor Mary was an artist. She had many, many Iowa State Fair ribbons under her belt. As she began to 'paint outside the lines' her story beautifully demonstrates that we are a divine creation...we are created by the Master. We are a Masterpiece. No matter how much we've painted outside the lines, how many times we fallen, how much paint we're covered with...God never stops loving us, seeking us, and finding us...even in the heat of the day, like our Biblical sister we'll also encounter tonight at the well. God is involved in all the intimate details of our daily lives. Watching and waiting for us to return to Him for refreshment, direction, guidance, forgiveness, and to shower us with His unconditional love.
Do you know anyone who needs that right now? The gentle touch of Jesus.
The reading material is below (sorry, again this week 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 26th on Facebook LIVE...God willing!!! Shelly
Sweet 5th street neighbor Mary was an artist. She had many, many Iowa State Fair ribbons under her belt. As she began to 'paint outside the lines' her story beautifully demonstrates that we are a divine creation...we are created by the Master. We are a Masterpiece. No matter how much we've painted outside the lines, how many times we fallen, how much paint we're covered with...God never stops loving us, seeking us, and finding us...even in the heat of the day, like our Biblical sister we'll also encounter tonight at the well. God is involved in all the intimate details of our daily lives. Watching and waiting for us to return to Him for refreshment, direction, guidance, forgiveness, and to shower us with His unconditional love.
Do you know anyone who needs that right now? The gentle touch of Jesus.
The reading material is below (sorry, again this week 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 26th 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. Are you, or someone you know, living outside of what God's best is for your life?
2. As Mary's story demonstrates...paint doesn’t have to be fresh…old paint often leaves a stain…that impacts how you view Jesus, your decisions, and yourself. Do you feel you need cleansing that can only come from Jesus?
3. If you met Jesus at the well like our Biblical sister in John 4…would you too want the conversation to beat the hottest part of the day...when nobody else was around? Has the enemy covered you with the color of shame, past or present?
4. Has someone or some circumstance left you feeling like a hot mess? Wouldn’t it be awesome to apply the living water offered by Jesus and have the layers of old paint removed?
1. Are you, or someone you know, living outside of what God's best is for your life?
2. As Mary's story demonstrates...paint doesn’t have to be fresh…old paint often leaves a stain…that impacts how you view Jesus, your decisions, and yourself. Do you feel you need cleansing that can only come from Jesus?
3. If you met Jesus at the well like our Biblical sister in John 4…would you too want the conversation to beat the hottest part of the day...when nobody else was around? Has the enemy covered you with the color of shame, past or present?
4. Has someone or some circumstance left you feeling like a hot mess? Wouldn’t it be awesome to apply the living water offered by Jesus and have the layers of old paint removed?
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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