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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
A women’s devotional series on – getting to know the One True God, by studying
His Characteristics.
posted 4/16/2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010 a 7.0 earthquake devastated Haiti. They fear over 200,000 people were killed. Their infrastructure, their homes, schools, and businesses were leveled. It was hard to get food and clean water, so people were starving. After several months the situation is still bad in Haiti. God is sovereign over everything, so He could have stopped the earthquake. So why didn’t He?
The Bible tells us God is good, and what He does is good!
You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees. Psalms 119:68 (NIV)
Yet, we all know an earthquake that is 7.0 is never good from a human standpoint! It kills and destroys!
Since God allows things that are difficult and even devastating, this makes us think and feel God’s decisions are frightening and insensitive. During these times, we can doubt whether He really is good. In fact trusting that God is good can be quite impossible from time to time, from a human perspective. A friend of mine was raped. She struggled and still does concerning whether God is really good. She had asked God to protect her from the guy as he held her down. I know God understands her struggle because He knows all things. I know, He isn’t thinking, “how dare she does not think of Me as good.” God is understanding and kind. We are more demanding towards people who are suffering than God is. Remember, He died for us when we were against Him (Isaiah 53 and Ephesians 2:1-9).
- When hard things happen in your life, do you doubt God’s goodness? I know I have at times.
Before I discuss God and His characteristic of good, I feel I need to deal with the hard question - how can God be good since He allows suffering? I believe we won’t know the answer to this fully until we get to heaven. Yet, let me share six Biblical principles that will help you, as they have helped me, to understand God and why being good, He allows suffering.
I.) God’s decisions aren’t made by finite human reasoning but are made through His characteristics of being all-knowing, wise, eternal, merciful, just, always present, loving, and so on. All suffering needs to be looked at from an eternal perspective, realizing something awful might look like God is not good in this world, but in eternity it will. Frankly I have wondered if some of the worst situations will turn out to be the most beautiful when we see them from eternity’s perspective - what they accomplished for us and others.
For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NASB®
to continue go to God is Good
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Sacrifice the cost of freedom
posted 727/2008
reposted 5/17/2010
As America is about to celebrate its Independence Day my thoughts turn to the many sacrifices people have made to make our country free. There were our founding fathers who sacrificed their well-being, their wealth, even their lives for our freedom. Our men and women are over in Afghanistan and Iraq as I write this, yes, to keep our country free but also to give their lives so others can have the freedom we cherish. Some of you who visit this site are from another country, and I would imagine even if your country doesn’t have much freedom, you could still tell me some stories about the sacrifices people have made to bring freedom.
Below is an email I wrote to my son in April 2004, who at the time was a Marine officer in Iraq. This note exemplifies the cost of freedom.
I had no idea how many of your fellow Marines had been lost until I saw the “USA Today” newspaper article, on Friday. You must be very saddened but proud of what all of you have given and accomplished in Iraq this month. All of you were willing to give the ultimate, your lives, to protect each other. All of you were willing to give the ultimate, your lives, for people who are your enemy and don’t even understand or want in some cases the freedom all of you are giving your lives for. All of you exemplified what Christ did for us. He died for us, when we were His enemies and not wanting or even understanding the freedom He had to offer. (Romans 5: 7-11) I am proud of you! I am sure you exemplified “Semper Fi “ in every situation and did your best. You and your battalion have been an example to me, to live my life more fully for other Christians and for the lost. We Christians need to make “Semper Fi” our motto. I love you son, Mom.
Throughout the ages people have given their lives for another, and in many cases the underlining reason the sacrifice took place was for freedom. They died so another could literally have the freedom to live free. They sacrificed themselves so others could have the freedom to believe in what they felt was right and so on.
An uncle of my husband’s was killed in WW2, on July 10, 1945. I have a framed memorial that President Truman sent his parents after the war. What it says beautifully articulates what a sacrifice it is for a person to give up their life for the freedom of others.
He stands in the unbroken line of patriots who have dared to die that freedom might live, and grow, and increase its blessings. Freedom lives, and through it, He lives - in a way that humbles the undertakings of most men!
Now we do know a lot of people who wouldn’t even sacrifice the time of day for anyone else. Yet there are the few, who dare to die to give freedom, and without them we would all be slaves to some type of tyranny!
I believe we would all agree that giving up your life for someone, shows you are in a special league few people are in. It shows that the person is unselfish and sacrificial since he gave the ultimate gift he could give, his life. It shows that person is truly a man or woman of valor - protecting and caring for people that in some cases he doesn’t even know or who could even be his enemies.
I am greatly saddened by a sentiment in our country this time in our history. It is that many people don’t seem to understand or care about what others had to give to keep our nation free. Yet we know from God’s Word what He thinks. In John 15:13, Jesus Christ gives them the highest of compliments - He says there is no greater love. In other words, there is no greater way of showing your love for someone than by dying for them. And I think you all know Jesus understands this type of sacrifice!
Greater love has no one than this that one lay down his life for his friends. NASB®
What makes a person willing to give the ultimate sacrifice, their lives? Well, the foremost thing that comes to my mind is, we are all created in God’s image. (As humans, God made us His image bearers (I am still awed with this!), so we could be in a relationship with Him.) (to continue)
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