Our Hearts Shepherded

by Susan Sampson

Paul writes in Ephesians 5:15-17, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” So, how DO we understand what the will of the Lord is? By reading His Word.

My prayer and heart’s cry is that the Lord would give us all much grace to keep us in His Word everyday. Why do we all think we can do things on our own?! I remember I used to look forward to summer when I could “take a break” from Bible study. May I say; it never went well. Can anyone relate? Do you remember the times when you were not in Bible study? We are sheep. We are prone to wander. We do wander when left to ourselves. We need our Shepherd to care for us every single day. Sheep aren’t meant to live on their own. The wolves are merciless. The enemy prowls around like a roaring lion seeking to destroy. Sheep are meant to live life as part of a flock, under the care and supervision of a shepherd.

I know it’s hard to carve out that time. I know I consider “my” time precious. I know “family time” is a good thing and highly valued by Christian families as it should be. I know we are all “busy.” But God wants what is best for us. His ways are not our ways, they are so far higher than our ways. We don’t think as He does and we definitely don’t see as He does.

The woman is the heart of the home. If we are not carefully making the best use of our time by letting the Lord shepherd our own hearts, what makes us think we can shepherd our children’s hearts or be the godly wife the Lord has created us to be? Please know I’m speaking to myself here. Think about the times this semester if you filled out your homework accountability cards and what reason you wrote for not finishing 5 days of homework. Busyness? Being overwhelmed? Other priorities took precedence? Tired? These are the very reasons we desperately need Jesus and to be in His Word every single day. We are weak! Even Jesus Himself had to be with His Father everyday. When the tempter attacked, He fought back with God’s Word: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mat. 4:4).

My prayer request is that the Lord continue to plant these truths deep in our hearts and that He would bring forth a harvest of righteousness for His glory.

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What Gospel Are We Living?

by Susan Sampson

The goal of our study is to not only learn more about God’s Word or to learn what the gospel is, but to learn how to actually live the gospel day in and day out.  To learn how to take the gospel to our hearts and bring it to life.  Our goal is to live because Jesus suffered and died for us.  Our goal is to die to self so others might live.  We are asking the Lord to teach us how to live the crucified life, walking in grace and truth amid the thorns and thistles in the world and in our own hearts.

Until the day we go home to be with our Lord we will be in a very real battle surrounded by 3 very real enemies; Satan, the world, and our own flesh.  The Lord has equipped us for the battle.  He has given us all we need in the Holy Spirit who dwells in each believer.  He has also given us the body of Christ.  We need one another.  We are weak, we are all prone to wander, going our own way.  We must help one another.  We must preach the gospel to ourselves everyday.  The gospel is the power of God.

So then the question continues to be — What gospel are we living?  Jesus has told us in His Word, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). But my flesh doesn’t want to die.  The only way I will want to die is if I understand the gospel and see myself for who I really am apart from Christ — completely infected by sin from head to toe!  I am seeing that the more I understand the wickedness of my sin, the more beautiful God’s grace becomes and then the more I love Jesus and the more I want to obey.

He loves His precious children, so much so that He died for us though we were His enemies.  Can we together, by God’s grace, make a commitment to one another to put a stake in the ground and love Him and follow Him holding fast to His Word, listening to His voice alone and not to the world?

Lord, enable us by your grace to lay aside all the things that are clamoring for our attention and to fix our eyes on Christ alone and not worry about what everyone else says or thinks, but rather following your Word, coming up under your Word, submitting to your Word, and humbly obeying your Word!  We need you.  We are weak!  Thank you, Lord, for the gospel!  Thank you, Lord, that for our sake you “made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).

May He give us much grace to know His great love and submit to His Word in humble obedience.

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Our Words

by Angie Thomas

We had some great discussion after the video lecture about “Women and their Words.”  It is a very interesting thing to contemplate.  We make commitments every day that we do not keep. The reasons can be many, but sometimes it is out of an idealistic mindset or naivety.  We think it would be “good” or “right” for us to commit to something, but do not prayerfully consider whether the Lord would actually want us to do it. We rely on our faulty human-thinking and ideas to decide what it is we should be doing instead of seeking Him. There are many “good” things that are perhaps not God’s “best” for us and we must cling to Him tightly and pray to Him earnestly, asking for wisdom and discernment to know the difference.  I struggle with this a lot. I enjoy serving and helping, and if I see a need I often automatically think God must want to use me to meet that need! Sometimes He does, but other times I have to humbly surrender the desire or urge to jump in, trusting that He can provide another way. I have found that there are times I have to say “no” so that I can truly say “yes” and faithfully complete the things I have committed to.  Jesus clearly instructs us in Matthew 5:37, “But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil” (NASB).

Another reason we fail to keep our commitments is out of impure motives.  We don’t want to disappoint someone or hurt their feelings, all out of a desire to please man.  I know I have been guilty many times of telling someone I would do something, just because I didn’t want to say “no” and hurt their feelings, when in the back of my mind I was pretty sure I could not complete what I was committing to.  Paul tells us in Galatians 1:10, “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Ouch! If we are saying “yes” to things, even good things, out of a desire to please or impress man, we are not serving Christ, but ourselves.  That’s a problem if our desire is to bring glory and honor to the Lord through our actions. We were reminded in the lecture that when we are making a commitment, we are making it to the Lord, not to man. Even the littlest offering of, “Sure, I will do that.”

I have found that in order to keep the commitments I have made to the Lord, I have to re-prioritize.  As believer’s we want to live out Romans 12:1, offering our bodies as living sacrifices.  Let’s be honest girls; a sacrifice costs us something.  That might mean less sleep, less time on the computer or social media, even less time socializing or spending time with friends (this one is hard for me). Why would we want to do that? Again Paul helps us at the beginning of Romans 12:1, “In view of God’s mercy” (NIV).  We love, sacrifice, and press on because He first loved us!  He loves you and deeply desires for you to come to Him and obey Him. Not out of obligation or even to ‘please’ Him, but out of love for Him. May we not be women of the world in regard to our words, but may we be women of honor, integrity, and virtue who keep our words by God’s grace alone!

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