This is so exciting! God our Father is leading and directing us in a wonderful journey into our promised land - as individuals and as ministers of Northwoods. Welcome to the journey. Hang on and Hang in there! Its going to be awesome.
Paula
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
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Lesson One - Listening Guide
ReplyDeleteIntroduction; promised land, invites
1. Abraham, descendants, spritual seed
2. heaven theology, reality
3. John 15
a. possession, words, affirmatively answered prayer, joy, unapologetic blessing, obedient
b. abiding, love
c. great harvest, God doesnot force our callings on us
4. conquest
5. great victory, enemy
6. pala, separate, distinguish, to be wonderful, human powers, expectations, wonders, faith sanctification
Lesson One: Believing God for Your Promised Land
ReplyDeleteTo summarize:
Lessons 1 - 3 of Lesson One gave us motivating reasons to diligently seek a life a active, continual faith, of Believing God.
1. to know His power - Ephesians 1:19
2. to please God - Hebrews 11:6
3. to receive His reward - Hebrews 1:6
4. According to your faith, it will be done (to grow our faith) - Matthew 9:29
5. Believing God is credited to us as righteousness - Romans 4:22 - 24
Lessons 4 and 5 teaches how to grow our faith:
1. we receive faith when we receive Christ and receive the Holy Spirit and the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
2. faith comes from hearing God's Word
3. Asking Christ to increase our faith
4. Confessing unbelief and asking Christ to overcome it.
5. We grow in faith as we see God work.
I hope you made memory cards for Mark 9:24 and Romans 4:23-24.
In Lesson 4, how did you summarize Romans 4?
My summary sentence reads: God credits our faith to us as righteousness - a righteousness not earned by works,
Lesson 4 made the most impact on me this week. I am going to spend some time thanking God for that and praising Him for this credit.
It is good for us to remember that our works do not earn us acceptance or righteousness but our righteousness before God is the result of God's grace that credits us righteousness as a result of our faith. Our faith results in our righteousness that compels us to express our faith in good works, which God plans for us to do. Remember to read Romans 4 several times this week.
I encourage you to use the faith journals and GodStops this week to journal as directed in each lesson. Also write down areas in your life in which you struggle to believe God. Take time to pray about these struggles and write down what God tells you and shows you about growing your faith in Him.
Share with me your thoughts on the Week 1. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Paula
The Listening Guide answers are posted for those who have chosen to work out of the member's Believing God work book and who do not have the videos. Those of you who have signed up for the online course will want to listen to the videos online to hear Beth Moore's discussion of the material.
ReplyDeleteLesson 2 Listening Guide
Question 1 Who do people say God is?
a. God is nonexistent, God isd the God of the Bible
b. dangerously, opinions, a kind of "God"
c. define, minimize, smaller, deceived
Question 2: Who do you say God is?
a. inventory, defeloped,k unchallenged, unchanged
b. created a god, own omage, God
c. empowerment, who He says He is
Question 3: Who does God say He is?
a. Word, Know, LORD, God
b. works.
help me!!!!!cant find blog for experince heart of jesus
ReplyDeleteWeek 2 - God is Who He says He is
ReplyDeleteThis week's lessons really make me think and at one point in Day 2, Test of Faith, I remember even saying, maybe, Lord, this faith concept is over my head. I was confronted with some thinking about some of the issues that is not the same as the lesson teaches. I am still trying to live this Christian life depending too much on how good I can be, and how much I can comprehend - not by faith. What an eye opener.
This really came home when I got to page 46, in Day 4. There we learned that the Bible uses the word "Bara" for how the Lord creates our pure hearts. God's Word creates our pure hearts - God speaks our pure hearts into being - We can not be disciplined enough, be good enough, do enough good, think right enough to create or help God create a pure heart in us. We have a pure heart by faith in God who speaks it into being. I am so grateful.
This was a wonderful insight and opportunity for praise this week. Page 47 includes an exercise asking us to think abou the risk involved in surrendering to a life of present active participle Believing God. Are you willing to share what your wrote?
I also especially enjoyed reading the discussion of Isaiah 40:21-31 on page 41. I love it that God sits on the circle of the earth, as the KJV reflects. I wonder if Christopher Columbus and others who believed the earth was round, when others were thinking it was square, knew this verse and took conviction from it? It's just so exciting to me that the Bible speaks about a circle in Isaiah's time. This is a wonderful picture of God's power and His majesty. From the beginning of creation of the nations, God sits upon the circle foundtion of the earth - He is our Creator King. Praise His name.
I hope this week inspired you to move on challenging yourself to learn more about where you need to use faith and pray for more faith.
I look forward to reading your insights and about the things that inspired you this week.
Love, Paula
Week 3 Listening Guide
ReplyDeleteBelieving God Can do What He says He can do
performs miracles
Part I
A. cessationism, sensationalism
unbeliving and perverse
wicked and adulterous
B. self centered, God centered, can do, who He is
C. cessationism, cheats hope.
Everything possible, believes
D. cycle unbelief,
little, seen little, seen little, believe little
Part 2
A. Israel, His children in general
B. right heart, any, obligated, fulfill ever promise
C. convenants, new covenant
D. sovereign decision, objective,
E. suffering, far surpasses
Conclusion:
miracle
opportunity, faith
argue pharisee
I just finished Week 1. I started with you on April 25th. It has taken me all this time to get back into it. I hope to catch up with the rest of you. Paula, you said above that Wk 1, Lesson 4 made the most impact on you.
ReplyDeleteThe most impact for me came in Wk1, Lesson 5.
It was the paragraph after sentence #3 that said we can ask Christ to increase our faith. Beth Moore suggested that by making reference to the grain of mustard seed that Christ may have been suggesting the following:
"You have all you need for this challenge. Step out in what you have." We don't always need more!!! We just need the courage to exercise what we already have. Other times if we need more to do God's will, God will not refuse it if we ask in Jesus' name.
I loved the reference in #5 also. We can grow in faith. The more we feed on God's faithfulness, the fatter of faith we will become. She called it diet reversal. I love thinking about binging on God without guilt!!! Don't you?
Week 2 - Believing God Is Who He Says He Is
ReplyDeleteFirst off in our Listening Guide in the introduction and the answers to Q.#1, item C. just jumped off the page to me. (All attempts to define God cannot help but minimize Him.) Wow... How true I believe that is.
Also being aware that if we are not challenging our faith it may mean that it is remaining unchanged. It is soooo important that God is continually revealing Himself to us in HIS WORD and through HIS WORKS. We have a responsibility there to be reading HIS WORD and recognizing HIS WORKS.
Did you notice as you reviewed the test results in Day 2 that Beth made a statement that really hit home to me. She said, "Keep in mind that virtually anyone is capable of going from predominately a answers to d answers almost overnight due to a sudden change in circumstances and the ability to sense God's activity."
I have recently witnessed several true miracles that have made my faith soar. I believe the miracles are there every day. I am just not necessarily tuned in to what is going on around me sometimes.
"Why doesn't God just prove Himself and His claims?" I think Hebrews 11:6 was saying WE MUST dilegently SEEK HIM and BELIEVE in HIM in faith.
Paula, I was very interested also in how the word "created" had two different Hebrew words in the Genesis account adding a dimension I was never aware of before. Love it.
Finally, you asked if we were willing to share what we wrote on Page 47 about asking us to think about the risk involved in surrendering to a life of present active participle Believing God?
I do have a fear that causes a reluctance in me and how can you not feel guilty about that. I do. I have talked to God about how painful it is for me. I believe HE Will hep me get past this.
Week 3 God can do what He says He can do!
ReplyDeleteOh Great! Karen has blogged and what wonderful insights. Thank you Thank you.
Well, I've just completed the last part of Day 5 in lesson 3. I am just in awe. Specifically, the teaching on Part 2 struck me as I listened to the video and the Lord has just revealed more and more about the glory of that teaching through the 5 lessons. Part 2 B says "with the right heart we CAN request - WE CAN ABSOLUTELY ASK- fulfillment of any promise in the entire Word of God. We are grately helped, however by understanding that God is not obligated Himself to fulfil every promise from Genesis to Revelation to every believer throughout history. Then later in the video we heard, if God says NO, He prioritized an internal work over an external work. The best, rather then the good. What a glorious way of thinking about life. There is such freedom here, this is clearly a new way of thinking about things. While I've known for a long time that God is about growing character more than giving me all that I want, this just becomes clearer and sweeter. It's a real paradigm shift in our thinking. What does that say about the quality of life as a Christian? As we trust and believe God, our lives grow deeper, sweeter and our faith foundation is stronger. Mighty foundations for an excellent quality of life. God is for us!
With the shield of faith and the Sword of the Spirit, God's Holy Word, we can be free, BE BIG BE HUGE!
Well, I'm stopping now, I can't say more. I'm so in awe and so looking forward to next week. Let me hear from you.
Love you, Paula
Well, I'm not sure why my comments on 5/23 were posted with Amanda's name and date of 5/22, but that has happened. Anyway, Paula wrote the comments immediately above.
ReplyDeleteLesson 4 I am who God says I am.
ReplyDeleteListening Guide
On the star
Loved in the middle
Blessed
Chosen
Adopted
Accepted
Redeemed
Forgiven
1. Security, poor decisions, insecurity
2. Righteousness, credited, account
3. liberation, burden
rebellous, willful, path, permediated, line, rebellious, authority
sin, general
4. Obedience, Obedience, faith
your answer
your answer
Week 3
ReplyDeleteBelieving God Can Do What He Says He Can Do
The Word of God is our plumb line. Maturing in the Word takes time, effort, and spiritual understanding. The process is as valuable as the end result.
It is true that church attendance is dropping. Believers are in bondage. Believers are in desperate need of a fresh infusion of faith.
It has never been more clear to me how God often uses difficulty and suffering to complete His good work in us. Every human being suffers to some extent. The difference is that our suffering need never be in vain.
Study. Pray. Contemplate the biblical facts. I love the idea that even if we don't find the answer, we find the Author.
From Day 3
Wonders Never Cease
it is so exciting to think about Christ revealing Himself to Muslims. We hear so much about Muslims in the news today and it is so exciting to see what we already know that God is in control of this situation too. God is revealing Himself to people that need him desperately through their dreams. PRAISE GOD!!! Acts 2:17 tells us God will do this.
From Day 4
I loved the thought of God cradling us carefully in his hands as he stitches our broken pieces back together again. It is a process and God is not through with us yet.
I never thought about how even Christ didn't get everthing that he asked for when he prayed.
I can think of a time I didn't get an answer to my prayer and I became angry with God. I am thankful he has forgiven me. I can see now how important it is for us to have faith to continue trusting Him when we don't get what we ask for over the faith required to receive what we ask for.
Finally, thinking about when God says NO, He has prioritized an internal work over an external work in us is wonderful. He always has something better planned then we could ever think of asking.
Session 4
ReplyDeleteWe've had a break. I hope you have continued your study even though I've not been in touch for about 2 weeks. But let's get started again and move on through our study. God is showing and telling me so much. I just rejoice in His discipleshipa and pray the same for you.
Session 4 - I Am Who God Says I AmTwo points really stood out for me from this session. In Day 2 - No eye has seen, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him - 1 Corinthians 2:9. The discussion is wonderful and move on to Philippians 3:12 - 14 paraphrased as I press, push on toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I focus on the High Calling of God - my prize. These verses really spoke to me last year at the Living Proof conference in Jacksonville. I don't know how many of the other 14,000 women gathered there received a special word that weekend, but the Word was spoken directly for and to me. Immediately after, the Lord called me to the leadership of Northwoods Women's Ministry. Just powerful verses that so clearly point us to the goal of our lives - give us our focus, tell us where were are to look and watch, Who we are to look at. Powerful.
The other point that spoke to me so much was in Day 4, It's Your Turn, page 101. I was really blessed and encouraged as I proceeded through this exercise. To be reminded to presevere and walk with God, even though the full purpose is not known. Then from Galatians 4:1-2, the discussion really spoke to me. I pray to be very effective in this ministry and this discussion was encouraging. I received such encouragement and confirmation about our ministry in the last paragraph. "we are wise when we focus on the depth alone and from that time forward leave the length, breadth, and height to HIm". I believe God is leading us to develop the depth of our love for Him through our studies and in our special events. That's exactly what we'll do this coming weekend with Tena. We're pursuing a deeper love for Him and His Word. God is so good to instruct and encourage us, so faithfully.
Session 5 Listening Guide
1. mighty warriors
2. human leadership, demonination, ethnicity, giftedness
3. earthly, purified, unified, fortified, anointed, prophesy
4. fear, discouragement, shattered, destruction, demoralization
5. fail, slack, idle, weak, relaxing the hand
6. strong, bound, attached, firm, harden, holding tight, has us in His grip.
Lesson 5 Believing You Can Do All Things through Christ.
ReplyDeleteWOW - This was a great lesson. We're reminded over and over with some VERY powerful examples that the great people of the Bible are great because of their faith. Wonderful discussions.
Just a couple of points that really encouraged me. In the Listening Guide, Item 4: God warned the children of Israel not to fall for two of the biggest obstacles any of us will have about the fulfillment of God's personal promises: fear and discouragement. WOW - That was so good for me to read. Times may change but we humans don't change in some ways. I'm like the Israelites sometimes - I'm afraid and get discouraged - and need to be reminded that there is no place for fear or discouragement in my relationship with my loving Father. Beth Moore shared a gem in the discussion: Satan sets about to find what I fear most and sets about confirming it. That's just like him. But if we believe what God says - WE CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST - we do not have to fear anything.
While I enjoyed every day's lesson, I enjoyed Day 5 about Rahab the most. How wonderful to see God use the women from Jericho as He did. Nothing mattered but her faith. And she became Jesus ancestor! Matthew 1 records Jesus lineage and reminds us Rahab is the mother of Boaz - the Kinsman redeemer in the Book of Ruth. How wonderful that Rahab somehow knew Joshua's God was God and was so compelled to follow this God of the Isrealites. Reality better than fiction.
Let me know what your favorite parts are!
Lesson 6 Listening Guide
ReplyDeletefull of power, operative, energizing the Word in our mouths.
Armed, Dangerous
1. believe, speak, mouth
2. onmipotent, potent, inappropriately, stay out, promised lands
3. spoken, think, speak out against
4. Scripture, written, spirit, breath, CPR, inhale God's word, exhale God's word, energizing
5. our mouths, crowd, unalbe to express oneself
6. Holy Spirit, workd fire
Lesson 6 Believing God's Word is Alive and Active in You.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting lesson. The difference in speaking God's Word rather than just thinking God's Word. And a lesson on using our tongues for righteousness. I want to be an effective speaker, my words mean something to the people to whom I'm talking. This lesson has caused me to really examine what I say and how I say it. We know from experience that how things are said can speak louder than what is said. We've got to be diligent about keeping watch on our tongues.
I especially like the discussion on Day 3 about blessing others. I love the reassurance and the challenge discussed on page 150, about the 6th paragraph "Part of God's spoken blessing over our lives involves the following: "to act in man's life and accomplish His purposes instead of allowing men to have their own way." God has a calling on each of our lives. He is determined to perform a good work in each of us. It is to the Father's glory that we bear much fruit."
Let's pray to be holy people who cooperate with the Lord and listen to what He is teaching and DO it.
I enjoyed the Day 4 - Personalizing Blessings. I've listed my family and found some great scriptures to be praying over my family members. I'm listening for more. This is an exciting concept and so real. What a change this could mean to our families if we consistently pray for them as God wants us to be praying. How better to learn how to pray for them than to pray God's Holy Word over them. What a priviledge!
Hang in there, we're more than half way in the study now. Let me know about the blessing you are receiving from the study.
I love you.
Lesson 7 Listening Guide
ReplyDelete1. responsibility, children, descendants
intentional, heritage, faith
2. convenant
path, obstacle
make , path, take, path
3. halfway, doubt, indecision
4. hurry over
Go Back!
Stand Still
Move On!
5. living stones, living reminders, Jesus, here
WoW, sorry it's been so long since I wrote - been really busy getting ready for the Living Proof Live Simulcast with Beth Moore. But Believing God continues to be awesome!
ReplyDeleteThe lessons on reframing memories is powerful. Page 182 summarizes the concepts of reframing and refocusing hard, bad memories against God's attributes of faithfulness and goodness. We can call on Him to change the course of our future, regardless of our past.
We are encouraged to take captive our difficult memories to the knowledge of our powerful God. We are encouraged to choose joy. "Both freedom and faith emerge from deliberate acts of the will to shift our focus from all that differs from the great and glorious truth of our Living God." Be Deliberate. Choose Joy. Act on God's faithfulness. Let's have an upcast soul.
We can choose to be positive or negative. We choose what we want to believe and the choice empowers the belief. Choose to be upcast, joyful.
Page 193 includes a discussion about God remembering the future. It's an interesting concept to ponder. I especially like the truth statement "Beloved, when we allow God to change the way we see our pasts, the power of our pasts change dramatically." Such redemptive power.
Let's just praise the Lord and give Him the glory for the redemptive power He can give us over our past mistakes! What a God!
Lesson 8 Listening Guide
ReplyDeletesolumn promises, faith-induced obedience, without, belief, acting, unbelief
1. new beginning, characterization
2. circle
3. full circle, old cycle
4. circumcision, different, wearing, reproach, shame, disgrace, stigma, finger pointing
5. unbelief, new beginning, woundig, enjoy life, anew, recover, rebuild, wounding, healed
6. roll away, reproach, onself, in blood, dyed red
Lession 8 Believing God to get to Your Gilgal
This is probably my favorite lession - reading the stories of missionaries who believed God is Who He says He is, can do what He says He can do and that they were who God said they were.
Wonderful encouragement - from page 220 - the greatest miracle of all occurs each time one human heart is wholly offered to Jesus.
In our lesson we characterize our Gilgal as the place where we realize God has rolled away our reproach, proved us victorious ina do-over - the opportunity to go back and do something right and has taken us full circle in
a significant way. I hope you've taken the time to reflect and journal your own Gilgal, as on page 228. God is so good, He'll work with us, redeem our lives and give us power to overcome. Praise the Lord
Lesson 9: Listening Guide
ReplyDelete1. title trumps, lord of righteousness, title, honor, title present age
2. setup, defeat, setup, victory, spiritual
how unfair, Whose fault, How stupid, Our own business
all night, uphill
youself into this mess, yourself out
3. ambituious praying
4. 100 percent, hundred fold
5. exhilaration, partnering, divine triump
Lesson 9 Believing God When Victory Demands Your All
ReplyDeleteWell, we're coming to the end of this study. It has been truly glorious.
In Day 1's lesson I made several memory verse cards. So many rich verses of life encouraging counsel. I found myself going back and tracing the meanings of BELIEVE, FAITH and TRUST, concepts that lead us to the BELIEVING GOD Bible Study, as I did the word searches. What a wonderful God who put all this together and shares it with us.
I found myself going back to page 237 every day re-reading the two paragraphs at the top of the page - "The god to whom you commit yourself and everything that concerns you is huge." All the way through to the last sentence "Come, Holy God, and be Thyself".
Day 4 was a high point for me too. Wonderful discussion of faith and love. Page 252 required us to think about Galatians 5:6 and write the meaning of the verse, as we understand. I wrote ' God will love thru us when we have faith in Him and His power; God will love, show and display His power through us when we by faith make our lives available to Him to use; Say Yes to God because we know God is supplying the power to love as He desires, We depend on God's power to love". A great discussion of love and how we are empowered to love as the Lord desires, with His power.
Well, one more lesson and we'll finish this study. I hope your heart has been challenged and enlarged to accept the teachings about believing God. It's all by faith, but so life changing. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Let's commit to really pleasing God with BIG faith!
love you
Lesson 10 Believing God for the Rest of Your Days
ReplyDeleteWell we've finished. This has been an exciting time.
I hope you listened to the video for Lesson 10. Don't skip it. Some real stuff presented there.
Did you hear Beth Moore say that God is not looking for perfection, but faith. Does that not take a load off your shoulders?
And as she described the transformation in her life since she has started actively, focusing on living by faith. Think about it, if we purposedly seek to live by faith, how we do, what we do, why we do all that we do in our lives will be different that that which we would do by sight. That is transformation, that is change. And we learned if we live by faith, we will receive God's pleasure, His power and His glory. What a payoff! We can not expect to receive those rewards living by sight.
Oh Lord Thank you.
Lord, as we conclude this powerful, life changing study, help us, empower us, walk close beside us to live by faith in Who You are, what You can do in us as we believe you. Empower us to love out, to pour out Your love in our world, to care for people as You do, to see people as You see them. Help us to grow in our belief that we are who You say we are, we can do all things through Christ and Your Word is alive and active in us. Now to You who is able to do exceeding abundantly more than we can ask or even imagine, according to Your power that is at work within us, to You be the glory in Christ Jesus and in the church, throughout all generations, forever and ever, Amen.
Thank you again for going all the way. I know you've been blessed. I'm looking forward to starting our next journey together into the many facets of love. See you on the way.
Love, Paula