Well, how did your reading and study go this week? I'd like to share a couple of things that stood out to me from Chapter Two. Nancy says on pg. 46, "...what we believe is revealed, not by what we know or what we say we believe, but by how we actually live." She is so right! I am brought to think - what do my actions say about my faith? How are about you? What do your actions say about your faith? Do our actions show our belief and trust in God? Something I shared in one of my posts for "In Other Words Tuesday" goes along with this very topic. I said that what we think is based on what we believe. Our actions are based on what we think. Therefore, we are what we believe, both consciously and subconsciously. We need to really look critically at what we believe and determine if our beliefs conform to God’s truth. If they don’t, then we will most likely move farther away from the Truth.
I absolutely love the quote the author uses from Hannah Whitall Smith on pg. 49. She says that Hannah says, "A great many things in God's divine providences do not look to the eye like goodness. But faith sits down before mysteries such as these, and says, 'The Lord is good, therefore all that He does must be good no matter how it looks. I can wait for His explanations.'" If we can say those words, then that, my friends, is standing on and speaking the truth about God!
Discussion on Assignment #3
Question #1
How is what we believe shown in our lives?
By our actions/how we live
Question #3
Have you ever found yourself thinking God isn't good? Explain.
I think that it's possible that I might have thought this when we lost our son, Matthew (stillborn). I really had a hard time dealing with that one. Although I tried to react and respond the way I thought a Christian should, I found that I felt God had let me down by allowing Matthew to die. God and I had to really deal with that as well as deal with my unbelief and distrust of God. Of course, on the surface I thought I trusted God. However that wasn't the total truth. God allowed some things to happen to show me that I didn't trust Him. And He and I began the work of rooting out things that needed to be rooted out and then allow God to replace those things with Him. Indeed, we are still working on this process. Doing this book study is an opportunity to see if there are any more things in me that need to be rooted out and filled with God.
Something else I wanted to share is that when we are tempted to think that God isn't good, we can speak and meditate on Psalm 119:68 which says, "You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees." (NIV) This is a passage the author mentions in this chapter.
Our Memory Work
"'Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'"
- John 8:32 (NIV)
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free..."
- Galatians 5:1 (NIV)
Assignment 4
Reading
Read only part of Chapter Three. Read pages 63-73.
This week, in addition to our discussion questions, I'd like to do something a little different. I am going to share a few quotes from our reading in Chapter Three. I'd like you to write down your thoughts for at least one of the quotes. You may of course do all of them. But please do share your thoughts on one of the quotes in your post.
Questions
This week's questions are taken from The Companion Guide for Lies Women Believe. I am only choosing a few questions. I encourage you to purchase this companion guide if you'd like more questions to help you in your study of this book.
1. "Read Psalm 139:1-18. What do you learn from this psalm about God's heart and thoughts toward you?" (pg. 34)
2. "Some people live as victims all their lives. What effect does it have on them? Who controls their lives?" (pg. 36)
3. "Read Colossians 3:1-17. On the basis of who Christ is and what He has done for us (Colossians 1-2), the apostle Paul tells us that we are responsible to make godly choices in every area of life, including our attitudes, our behavior, and our relationships. What are we to 'put off'? What are we to 'put on'?" (pg. 36)
4. "In Galatians 5:22-23, what does Paul promise that the Holy Spirit will help to do in our lives?" (pg. 36)
All the above questions have been taken from The Companion Guide for Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss published by Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL ©2002.
Quotes for Assignment
"What we believe about God is crucial because it affects what we believe about everything else. A distorted or damaged view of God will distort the way we see everything and everyone around us. Frequently we fail to realize that what is causing the irritation and turmoil within our souls is not the people or the circumstances we think are annoying us; rather, the problem is that we are seeing things through a damaged lens." (pg. 64)
"What we believe about ourselves determines how we live. If we believe and act on lies, we will end up in bondage..." (pg. 67)
"We see things about ourselves we wish were different or that we know are not pleasing to the Lord. But rather than accept personal responsibility for our own choices, attitudes, and behavior, we have 101 reasons for why we are the way we are...The Truth is that we do have a choice. We are responsible for our own choices. We can be changed by the power of God's Spirit. Once we know and embrace the Truth, we can break free from the chains of our past, our circumstances, and even deeply ingrained habit patterns." (pgs. 71-73)
The above quotes have been taken from:
*Lies Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free by Nancy Leigh DeMoss published by Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL ©2001.
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If you'd like to participate in this book study, please read the book study information by clicking here. After reading the information, you can join in with us each Monday.
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