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A women's free Bible study on God's love
with commentary, homework, and
audio devotions
posted 6/5/2009
Dearest Ladies,
When I first decided to do this study on God's love some years back, I was going to look up every Bible verse on love and go from there. However the Holy Spirit made it very clear to me to write about God and what He has done for us. This is because God’s actions scream of His love for us!
In reality true love, which is God’s love, doesn’t depend on what a person does or who she is but on the one loving. In this study I felt getting to know the One who loves us so very much and His actions of love towards us was a must. So the purpose of this study on God’s love is to enable you to get to know Him and His acts of love. One of the ways we will do this is to study God’s characteristics.
Why is it so important as a Christian, to truly know God and His love? It is because God asks you to have faith in Him and love Him. And how can you possibly trust in and love someone whom you don’t know? God also asks you to believe that He loves you so very much! And how can you believe that He loves you if you don’t know that He does? As Christians, the more we get to know God and comprehend His love through His Word and what He has done for us, the more passionately we will want to trust and love Him. In reality the more we trust and love God, the stronger and more mature Christians we will be.
As you will see in this study the foundation of God’s love is Jesus Christ! So you will study Jesus Christ and what He has done for you. You will hear about His love starting before eternity past, how He created you to love you, how His love stood unyielding even after the first sin, and how and why He was born, lived and died for you. You will understand why He pursued and loved you to be His. You will see that He died for you when you were His enemy. You will learn how His love gave you eternal life and made you His Bride. You will hear how and why He redeemed you from slavery to sin to make you His Father’s beloved daughter. Rejoice ladies, you are truly His loved princesses!
because of God's love - Gini
Course outline
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Bible devotions for women
New Years resolutions that God endorses
re-posted 1/5/2010
Every year, probably since I was a teenager, I have determined to do better in the New Year. You know - to do something or not do something, or to do something more or to do something less. It’s the same good New Year’s routine we can all fall into, because we desire to change for the better!
I remember one year when my kids were 3, 6, and 8, I decided I should be running every weekday morning (a 3 mile loop). As parents of young children find out - it’s the kids who should decide your New Years resolutions. This is because it is their lives that seem to rule the family schedule. So needless to say that New Years improvement idea flopped.
Another New Years resolution I used to make quite often but don’t any more, is to get super organized and stay that way. Now, I don’t mind getting things organized. I actually enjoy it. However the problem was, I would get things nicely organized but I didn’t keep them that way. Now, this should have been OK if I had any sense at all, because things were getting neater and cleaner. Yet, I have this personality where I hate to leave a thing undone, which is good most the time except when it causes me to mentally stew about something undone. This obsessing ended up killing the peace God offers. Can you relate?
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)
Yet, I have grown older and wiser in the Lord and I don’t bother with those compulsive New Years resolutions anymore, if I can help it. I now try to do what God tells me to do in Ecclesiastes 5:18, which is to relax and enjoy the life He has given! Remembering this life is but a vapor and things staying cleaned are less than that.
What sort of New Years resolutions would God want you to make? What kind would He endorse? To answer those questions quickly - any New Years resolution that sees eye to eye with His Word (His will) is the type God wants you to make. In the rest of this devotion I will answer those questions with some down to earth humor and of course Biblical insights.
to continue go to:
New Years
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God and our inconveniences...
Isaiah 40:31
1/5/2010
Several weeks before Christmas, my daughter called me, and asked, “Mom, could you go get some toys, hot chocolate, and Bibles for our military in Iraq, because I don’t have the time?” I said, “That is a neat request!” She said, “That is what the men and women are asking for.” Her place of business was going to send boxes of wanted things over to Iraq for Christmas.
I headed to a certain store, because I had seen a lot of Bibles there for one dollar. However, I could only find a few when I got there. I asked several clerks and they said, “I don’t know where they are.” After asking God to show me where the Bibles were and combing the store, I thought, “They must not have anymore.”
I then got in a long line and paid for what I had. As I was walking out, I looked over at a man carrying about 10 Bibles. I asked, “Hey, where did you get them?” Sure enough almost 7 feet away from me were stacks of Bibles. I said, “God, I asked You to let me see where the Bibles were but You didn’t. Now I will have to stand in another long line.” I was frustrated at God. Can you relate?
My shopping basket had already purchased stuff in it, so I filled my kid seat part with Bibles. The Bibles were stacked very high so everyone saw them. I got in another long line and had two women in front of me ask me, “Why so many?” I told them about my daughter’s work, and our military wanting Bibles in their Christmas boxes. One of the gals started crying and said, “God used you to show me my prayers for our military have been answered. I have been praying that they would turn to Him.” The other started talking to us about the family in need she was buying for. We told her we would pray for them. The two gals in back of me had gotten into the conservation. One handed me $9 and said, “I would love to have given you more to help pay for the Bibles. I think sending Bibles to our troops is such a wonderful thing to do. You have made my day.” The other woman said, “This is a neat Christmas moment!” I certainly agreed!
As I was pushing my basket full of Bibles to my car, I was feeling in high spirits. I prayed, “Lord, I am so sorry I was frustrated at You over the Bible inconvenience! It made my Christmas – buying Bibles for our troops, talking to those lovely women, and seeing how You use inconveniences to bless and strengthen us all! Let me trust in Your reasoning always, Lord; knowing You are in control and love us all!
O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles?... Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless... But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:27-31 (NLT)
Because of God’s sovereignty, Gini
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