Apples of Gold Bible Study

The past 6 weeks I have attending a Bible study on Monday nights.  The book we are working with is APPLES OF GOLD by Betty Huizenga

I have enjoyed it so much.  It isn't the "normal" Bible study.  The mission statement of this programs is based on Titus 2:3-5

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine.  They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

There are 6 mentors who are older ladies in the church who have given up their Monday nights to build relationships and mentor some of the younger ladies in the church.  It is a 3 hour long night, but it is great fun!

The lessons we have had are:

Kindness

Loving Your Husband

Loving Your Children

Submission

Purity

Hospitality

The first hour of the night, there is a cooking mentor who makes a dinner for everyone and teaches cooking skills as she goes.  It is a 4 course meal that we get AND all the recipes are given out, so at the end of the session we will have a mini cookbook of meals.

The second hour is for the Bible study.  Each mentor has taken a lesson teaches on it.  Throughout the week, the APPLES OF GOLD book has weekly lessons for everyone to do to help prepare your heart for the lesson.  I thoroughly have enjoyed these lessons in the book, gleaning something new from each lesson.

The third hour is for getting to know the mentors and other ladies during dinner.  We seat 4 to a table throughout the house and with different people each time.  The tables are decorated with a theme each time and the ladies (mentors) have gone to great extent to make this a "pampering" night for us.  We are served and someone ELSE does the dishes.

It is a great program, I highly recommend it!

One of the weeks lessons was on PURITY.  It really was a eye opening lesson and I am so thankful for it.  The lesson talks not only about sexual impurity, which I figured the whole lesson would be about, but about purity of the heart. Having a pure heart, as in, not talking gossip, going to certain places, thinking jealous thoughts....

Purity of the heart involves our: 

MIND What we THINK about  (thoughts)

MOUTH What we say, HOW we say it.  (words, attitudes)

MEMBERS  What we SEE, HEAR, TOUCH, or where we GO

( our actions using members of our body)

This song, GUARD YOUR HEART sung by Steve Green, was featured in the lesson.  It has a great message.  

A great message that we all need to remember. 

Things to think about.....

WHO are you going to with family problems? 

WHO do you socialize with when your spouse isn't around...even on FACEBOOK or TEXTing?

Do you daydream about a certain celebrity?   Have PICTURES of him or her you like to look/lust at?

Do you FLIRT with someone other than your spouse? 

WHAT are you VIEWING on the computer? 

What KINDS of BOOKS are you reading?

What TV shows or movies are you WATCHING?

Do you ENVY someone who seems to have the perfect spouse - at least is better than your spouse?

Just some things to think about.  Are you guarding your heart to be pure?  Are you guarding your heart to have a pure relationship with Christ?  Are you guarding your heart to have a pure relationship with your spouse?

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell (or think) on these things.
Philippians 4:8

It's SCARF Season!!

Sharing this article because there is TRUTH in it.

The Villain With a Thousand Faces

By - Kevin DeYoung

Sin is in every human heart. It is the villain with a thousand faces.  It’s the man who gets a woman pregnant and leaves town.  It’s also the reputable family man who cuts down his wife and ignores his kids.  It’s the mean-spirited woman who talks bad about everyone, but it’s also the sweet lady who never says an unkind word but harbors all kind of resentment and grudges.  It’s the kid who swears at his parents and blows off everyone who tries to help.  It’s also the kid who gets straight A’s, keeps curfew, and smiles at church, but is one enormous bundle of pride and self-righteousness.

Sin is lust and greed and murder.  But sin is also impatience, petty self-absorption, and the need to control everyone and everything.  Sin is hating yourself because in your pride you want to be the most beautiful, the most intelligent, and the most athletic.  Sin is being disgusted with all the judgmental people in the world that you enjoy judging.  Sin is the self-importance we feel in our intellectual snobbery at those who are not as enlightened as we are, and in our aesthetic snobbery at those who don’t appreciate the fine things we appreciate.

Sin is preaching and serving and being a good Christian because others will notice and think well of us for it.  Sin is talking about other people’s faults more than praying for them.  Sin is refusing to give one inch of mercy to those who hurt us, even when we have been given miles of mercy in Jesus.  Sin is loving people to be liked by them and helping people so we can be applauded by them.  Sin is the laziness that we call a short attention span, the fear of man that we call anxiety, and the ignoring of God that we call busyness.

We desperately need the word “sin” in our vocabulary.  When a famous politician or athlete sins the mea culpa is almost always in the language of “I’m sorry to have disappointed so many people.”  Or, “I regret my error in judgment.”  Or, “I admit this has been a struggle for me and I am seeking help.”  Rarely, does anyone say “I sinned.  I’m sorry.  Please forgive me.”  Even as Christians we find ways to avoid the word sin.  We will speak of our imperfections, our flaws, our inadequacies, our dysfunctions, our weaknesses, our insecurities, and our growth edges.  But how often do we call sin “sin”?

The Bible says sin is the problem in the world.  We are rebellious traitors disloyal to our King.  We are ungrateful creatures thumbing our noses at the Creator.  We are foolish lovers going after other people and things that don’t satisfy.  We have polluted hearts that like what is bad and don’t like what is good, corrupted hearts that seek the glory of self instead of God. Sin is the besetting sin of us all.

Except for Jesus of course. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. For sin may have a thousand faces, but salvation has only one.

Original Post:  HERE

Super Mom VS Abiding Mom

In starting up this blog, I stated I wanted to be a "super mom".  I want my kids to be proud of me, to enjoy being with me, and, of course, to see Christ in me.  I came across this little chart -

Super Mom vs. Abiding Mom

Super Mom	Abiding Mom
Does	Is (Psalm 46:10)
Tries to impress others	Pleases the Lord (Eph. 5:10,Proverbs 29:25)
Is controlled by an agenda(curriculum, schedule, etc)	Is controlled by the Holy Spirit: (Gal. 5:22-26) (Uses curriculum & schedules as tools for orderliness so she's more free to follow the spirit)
Her self worth is found in her accomplishments (clean house, perfect kids, the perfect bulletin boards, etc.)	Her self worth is found in an accurate view of who she is in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:10)
Her peace is found in the “perfect” environment	Her peace is found in Jesus in the midst of any storm (Is 26:3)
She is discouraged by failure	Failure reminds her that God's strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9-10)
She expects perfection from herself and others	She practices grace with herself and others (Eph 4:32)
She teaches her kids to be good	She teaches her kids to be Godly (Proverbs 22:6)
She is frustrated with her lack of spiritual fruit	She abides in Christ and bears much fruit (John 15:5)
She does things with her children	She builds a relationship with her children (Deut 6:6-7)
Her perspective is based on what is seen	Her perspective is based on what is unseen (Col 3:2)
She chooses quantity of activities	She chooses the most excellent Way (I Cor 13)

Found at An Abiding Mom blog

No longer do I want to be a Super Mom....I want and will strive to be an Abiding Mom.  I want the things my kids learn from me to be lasting and full of substance. 

What kind of mom will you be this week?