Kettle Club :: December Meeting 12/31/2009
 Over these past few weeks, I've been getting to know Jesus and if there is one thing I've learned, it's that I'll never know Him with my mind like I do in spirit! What an amazingly perfect blend of all that we are to strive to become! I'm humbled, astonished, and more than a bit embarrassed when I truly look at Christ. I wish I knew more to say, but I'm still processing and also running a fever, so thinking seems to be out of the question. I find that the more I know of our Lord and of our Savior, the more I see that I need to watch each word I convey on His behalf...which really means every word I convey period. Talk about humility. Thankfully, we don't have a retrospect sort of God, but instead we are loved and delivered and ever-forgiven! God can and will work wonders with the messes we create, no matter how out of hand they become before we finally give them over! While I can rest in that faithfulness, I'd much rather be less in need of mending and more available for immediate works. I don't know if that makes the same kind of sense in words as it does to my exhausted little mind. December has been filled with efforts to find Jesus though He was never really hiding. I suppose the real discovery here has been that I need to stop hiding from Him. Hiding under my list of to-dos. Hiding behind my feelings of unlovableness. Hiding in my sloth and in my sin nature. Hiding from my sweet Jesus. And why? Because it's easy. I've been learning more about who Jesus was destined to be, reading of Who He was in all aspects of His life, and discovering more of how and why He died for me, became sin for me, rose again for me, and ascended to prepare a place for me! For me? And I reply by hiding from Him. Smooth move, Ex-lax. Head over to Exemplify to find more posts from people sharing their experiences while looking to know Christ better during December and to add your own! Finding the Messiah {Week Three Discussion} 12/30/2009
 Our study for this week feels like a perfect place to stop and reflect on our Wonderful Counselor! I can't wait to discuss the Scriptures we've been reading! As the first SonShine Study comes to a close, my prayer is to continue meeting with you weekly to ponder the awesomeness of God's Word! Fellowship is always a blessing, but digging into the precepts of our Lord and applying them...now, that's the point of it all! Our January studies and discussions will be on Fridays, beginning next week! I hope you'll join me for the big study reveal then! Now, onto our discussion! Reading of how Jesus was, from the start of the world, the very same as when He walked among us is just astounding and life affirming all at once. Isn't it? I've been so blown away by the abundant way in which God foreshadowed His Son's personality...even Christ's teaching style was carved in stone long before He was placed in Mary's womb. Provision and love. That is exactly how to sum up the feelings such prophecies stir in me. I wish I could go on at length in the way these passages deserve, but alas, this fever is lingering and I'm eager to get us all sharing! I'm hoping to have actual thoughts develop the more I read from you all! So, go share your heart and maybe my brain will show up for our discussion! I'm excited, SonShines! Our Scriptures this week have been: Psalm 78:1-4 Habakkuk 2:3-4 Matthew 13:1-58 Romans 1:17 Galatians 3:11-14 Hebrews 10:37-39 Feel free to post and add your link anytime before the 8th!   SonShine Study Announcement 12/29/2009
Last week demands a do over. Let's spend some more time in these Scriptures and meet up to discuss on Thursday! I'll post this week's study material then and we'll meet next Tuesday and be right back on track...I think. Anyway, as a refresher, read this post to join this SonShine Study! First, please vote for a new weekly home for this edifying meme! {Tuesday's will be reserved for Kettle Club starting in January! Which I'm super psyched about, btw!} Thanks so much! Finding the Messiah {Week Three Study} 12/16/2009
 Recognizing Jesus' movement in my life makes all the difference in the world. I used to believe I held the world in my hands and the pressure to keep it spinning weighed me down. Thanks to God, that's not the case today! Oh, some days I slink back into that mentality, but I'm so grateful I don't spend my days and nights there anymore. Christ reveals Himself to me through His teaching, over and again. I'm excited to spend the week reveling in Jesus, our Teacher! Our Scriptures this week are: Psalm 78:1-4 Habakkuk 2:3-4 Matthew 13:1-58 Romans 1:17 Galatians 3:11-14 Hebrews 10:37-39 I'll see you here Tuesday and we'll dish on all the goodness! Finding the Messiah {Week Two Discussion} 12/14/2009
 ***Scriptural focus for this week's discussion*** Deuteronomy 18:18-19 Isaiah 42:1-9 Isaiah 49:1-10 Isaiah 50:4-6 Isaiah 53:1-12 John 1:45 I'm so glad you're here! The Scriptures we've been focusing on this week have just been screaming for me to share their riches and I can't wait to see what they've specifically been speaking to each of your hearts. There's something so beautiful about studying with you in this open-ended way, SonShine! It is always so amazing to find the promise of Jesus in the Old Testament; it screams that we've had hope from the start of our hopelessness and it speaks to the unending faithfulness of our heavenly Father. I need both like I need air. Breathing in the promise foretold in Deuteronomy 18:18-19, we can learn a lot about what our Messiah was like and what He'll look like time and again in our own lives. "I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable." (NRSV) Through letting us in on the fact that He will be the one to raise this unique prophet from among His people, God reveals the humble beginning and nature of His Son. Knowing that Jesus wouldn't {didn't} enter the world with a bang, but instead would be {was} set apart by the Lord, binds us to our Messiah in a way that is more readily real to us. God made it easier for us to see our potential in Christ by bringing Him up as if He were merely one of us. Had he been a wealthy, commanding force of the Supernatural from the start, something would have been lost in His testimony. Had Christ been without temptation, respected by all, and without a single earthly need, how could we really look at His life to better our own? Instead, the Lord gave us His Son in a package we could receive and learn from in all areas of life. I'm just so richly blessed by the fact that even so long before His birth, Christ's meek nature and teachings and even His being the only path to the Lord was all planned out! The specificness of Isaiah 50:4-6 has me all aflutter and eager to be more like Christ! "The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens--wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting." (NRSV) Teacher, sustainer, student, listener, obedient servant, giver, forgiver, peacekeeper, bold follower of God. Jesus. That's what we look for when we look for the Messiah here and now, He's just as we found Him then. Like Father, like Son...unchanging and steadfast! I'll not go into Isaiah 53:1-12, or we might be here all day. In fact, I am still reeling from the wonders in that amazing bit of God-breathed goodness and prophecy! I sure hope some of you write on that because I just can't get enough of its beauty. I'm filled to tears each time I read and reflect on it. Please tell me you were just as floored by the fact that even Moses was talking about Christ, as we read in John 1:45! Sister, our Savior was coming to our rescue from the start! Rejoice with me as you share your heart on your blog or by commenting to this post. If you post at your place, be sure to add your link to that MckLinky thingy below. Be sure to come back tomorrow for the Scriptures we'll be studying in week three!  Finding the Messiah {Week Two Study} 12/08/2009
 Scripture has been pointing us toward God’s Perfect Son {huh…our spiritual GPS} since God breathed that first word. As we take in the wonders of this week’s study passages, let’s ask our Father to show us Who we should be looking for in our search for the Messiah. I can’t wait to enjoy a bit of prophecy and history with you as we dive into the riches of HIStory! Deuteronomy 18:18-19 Isaiah 42:1-9 Isaiah 49:1-10 Isaiah 50:4-6 Isaiah 53:1-12 John 1:45 After reading and reflecting over the coming days, come back Tuesday and we’ll discuss whatever these Scriptures put on our hearts. Finding the Messiah {Week One Discussion} 12/08/2009
 scriptural focus for today's discussion->Genesis 3:15; Galatians 4:4 ->Genesis 12:3, 7; 17:7; Romans 9:5; Galatians 3:16 ->Genesis 49:10; Hebrews 7:14; Revelation 5:5 ->2 Samuel 7:11-13; Luke 1:26-38; Romans 1:3 ->Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25 ->Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:5-6; Luke 2:1-21 ***you don't have to share from each of these, just share whatever is on your heart*** When the inspiration to begin a study series hit, I knew I had to jump in before I chickened out. So the announcement was made with little more than an idea that Christmas was coming and I wanted to be purposeful in seeing Christ shine in the moments, not just in the holiday. I knew that I wouldn't be alone in needing to be intentional in my efforts and that we could all use the help of our sisters to stay accountable to our shared hope of finding Jesus amid the rush of December. I'm in this with you and can't wait to see what we uncover about the nature of God's Son and how we might apply it all to our role as daughters to the King! When we know Him better, we'll see Him more! That is a promise I am confident God will fulfill, even as this study comes together in real time, because we have a faithful Father who is waiting around to be gracious to us! Our focus over this first week has been getting to know Jesus through the circumstances in which He stepped into His role as the Son of Man. With several recommended Scriptures to read from, we will undoubtedly have many aspects and passages that speak to us about who Jesus was and is calling us to be, as we answer the call to be the light of the world while He is away. Share your heart and link to your post using the MckLinky-majig you'll find at the bottom of this post. I've also included a button for you to add to your contribution to our Bible study discussion. Be sure to follow each link listed to really round out the image of Christ we're seeing in these passages of the Living Word as you encourage other SonShines studying with us...I'll see you there! First, it's time for me to do the sharing part... In Genesis 3:15, we read of the moment in which God foretells the birth of Christ following the fall of man. The Lord said to the serpent, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel." If we weren't looking for Jesus, we'd easily miss Him in this statement. Instead, we're getting a sneak peek into Who was to come! Not simply a cute passage explaining why women are afraid of snakes, like one of Kipling's Just So Stories, this enmity among offspring "Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring; it does not say, "And to offsprings," as of many; but it says, "And to your offspring," that is, to one person, who is Christ" (Galatians 3:6, NRSV). I love the foreshadowing developing here! Even in the midst of our sinful decline God planned to make things right for us. A plan for reconciliation to our Father through His Son was being hinted at in the very moment of the enemy's "victory". I bet that made Satan's serpentine skin crawl. Don't you just love it? The one offspring of woman {notice man isn't in the equation} being the One Son of God, surely has His heels snipped at time and time again. As Christians, we suffer the same snips and snares as the enemy tries to get at the Lord by bringing us to our knees. But Jesus. I don't even think I need to say more, but Jesus. Counterfeiting our awesome God at every turn, the enemy has a "son" in the works as well. This "offspring" won't be a miracle. He won't be God in flesh. He won't be eternal. He also won't be around long! Christ will strike and that will be that. I just can't stop rejoicing in these passages and the Truth and light that lie therein. Praise our Sovereign Father and our Faithful Savior! Always! Now it's your turn! Take a button, blog your heart out, and come back here to add your link! ***Tomorrow I'll be posting our focus for the week ahead*** Finding the Messiah {Week One Study} 12/01/2009
Can I just tell you I have no idea what I'm doing....and I love it!? Hopefully that won't scare you away from seeking to know Christ a bit better with me. Our first week's reflection will focus on the wonderful insights into Jesus' character that are woven throughout the circumstance and glory of His miraculous conception and birth. By taking some time to look into how God stepped into history and forever changed our future, we'll undoubtedly walk away with a more complete picture of the man that the Son of Man was destined to be. In the study guide below, you will find a list of Scriptures that point to the birth of Christ as well as several depictions thereof. It is my prayer that you will fellowship with our Father and our Savior before, during, after, and ever after each reading. My joy is in knowing the very nature of Christ will be revealed through our efforts! Enjoy your week in the Word and come back next Tuesday for a link up discussion of the gifts within the gift of Christ's birth! Study Guide Note ***I prefer the book view*** I've had to remove the study guide as it posed issues for IE...urg, abandon IE, SonShines...Firefox is lovely! New Weekly Bible Study! Here! 11/21/2009
Seed Time and Harvest 10/07/2009
Autumn. Just the mere mention has me all aflutter with anticipation of rewards to come. The changing leaves, in all their God-given beauty, line the streets and fill the yards with the promise of rest. All summer, we’ve tended to our lawns and gardens; the crispness of the autumn air invites us to savor the harvest of our efforts. Sharing what the Lord had revealed to him, Moses instructs God’s people on how they can best care for their promised land. “If you will only heed His every commandment that I am commanding you today—loving the Lord your God, and serving Him with all your heart and with all your soul—then He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil; and He will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you will eat your fill. Take care, or you will be seduced into turning away, serving other gods and worshiping them, for then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and He will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain and the land will yield no fruit; then you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you” (Deuteronomy 11:13-17, NRSV). Dear One, through these same words, God is urging us to prepare our hearts and souls for His spiritual gardening. Let’s harvest the goodness of His Word together, finding each Living Bread crumb our Father has left in order that He might lead us home... Head over to Exemplify to read the rest of this Bible Study and all of October's fabulously edifying issue of the magazine! |  
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