We have embarked upon a 5-week study to know God. We started by learning about the Trinity – three Persons united as one God. Last week we learned about God the Father: His authority, sovereignty, adoption, discipline; His role as the One to whom we pray, and His love. This week we are going to study Scripture to learn what we can about God the Son. Friends, there is no way to contain all there is to be known of Jesus in one blog post, so this is going to be both long, and shockingly inadequate. I’ve done my best to hit the most important aspects while keeping it simple.
Last week we decided to take a little break from all the betrayal trauma stuff and spend some time studying and getting to know our God. We started this five-week study by learning about the triune nature of God: how He can be both three distinct Persons, and the One God. For the next three weeks we’ll be learning about each member of the Godhead starting today with God the Father.
There are many attributes shared by all three members of the Trinity like omniscience and omnipotence, but there are also qualities that set Father, Son, and Holy Spirit apart. So, let’s take a look at some of the characteristics that make God the Father who He is.
Let’s take a little break from all the sexual addiction and betrayal trauma content and spend a few weeks just getting to know our God a little better. Sometimes I need to step away and focus on my Savior, don’t you? Let’s spend the next 5 weeks doing a little study on God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This week we’ll learn about the Trinity. After that we’ll take three weeks dedicating one to each Person of the Godhead. Finally, in the fifth week we’ll examine our role – what should our response be to God? The goal of all this is simple: We want to know God! We want a deep and abiding relationship with Him. Every great relationship includes a sincere desire for intimacy. A quick read through of Psalms 139 demonstrates God’s personal knowledge of us, so let’s be inspired to get to know Him too.
You guys, God is doing a work in my heart! Jesus is calling to me. I have been processing with Him ever since we got back from our trip to Senegal at the beginning of June. I’ve been almost paralyzed; unable to write because there were just so many thoughts swirling around in my head. I still don’t know exactly what He’s up to, but there are some things I do know, and I’d really love to share them with you.
For the past two weeks we’ve been digging into Galatians 5 to help us understand the quantifiable differences between a person who is living to please the Spirit – one who is repentant and in recovery, and one who is living to please the flesh – someone who is putting on a good show, but is still living in bondage to sin. More or less, we’re trying to understand the differences between the fruit of the Spirit and the fruit of the flesh.
last week we closely examined what the Bible calls the fruit of the flesh. These markers are the proof we can confidently believe when we question whether or not a person has truly repented, or whether they are still living a lie. So this week, we’ll look at the flip side of that. The fruit of the Spirit. These are the qualities that will be evident when recovery is real. When a person has genuinely surrendered to God the Holy Spirit takes up residence in his life and produces very visible fruit.
Last week we started dissecting Galatians 5 in order to understand the difference between a person who is truly in recovery, and one who is still living a lie. (The difference between the fruit of the Spirit, and the fruit of the flesh) It’s important we know how to tell the difference in order for us to be able to make wise decisions about how to move forward. The good news is, God will always equip those who are His to live in wisdom! He’s given us His Word, and He’s given us the Holy Spirit. We need only submit to their leading and He’ll show us the truth! Always.
When people we love are addicts, we want to believe they’re in recovery. When they tell us they’re clean, we want more than anything for it to be true. We look for reasons to believe things are different, because it’s what we hope so desperately is reality. Too often, we allow that desire to blind us to obvious signs that contradict the promises we’ve been given by the ones we love. Often, we’ve been burned so many times we begin to wonder if we can ever really know the difference. We might even wonder if true, lasting change is possible.
I’m here to tell you, it is! Not because I’ve experienced it (though I am experiencing it) but because the Bible says it is, and I believe the Bible. So, I’d like to walk us all through this difficult topic from a Biblical perspective. I’ll show you what it says, and demonstrate its truth with what I’ve seen in the past, what I’m seeing now; and why I think they’re very different.
One of the great experiences of this terrible journey through recovery from intimate betrayal has been the opportunity to meet some truly awesome women of God. I’ve had the pleasure of joining/starting several Facebook groups for Christian women in various tough spots. It’s amazing to watch these sisters band together and support one another. I met Kerry in one of these groups.
It is imperative to a life of victory that we learn how to properly understand and then trust the promises of God. I’ve told you before about the time I found myself so buried in despair it felt like God was a liar. My circumstances seemed to contradict passages like Psalms 91. I didn’t feel like God was protecting me. It felt like the evils He promised wouldn’t touch me were actually consuming me!
What I’ve learned in the years since that time is this: I have to allow God to give me a proper understanding of His promises. I need eyes to see and ears to hear what He’s teaching me. When Scripture seems to contradict reality, I have to first allow the Word of God to interpret the Word of God. Then, I have to choose to believe it. Whether it seems true or not.
What does your personal Bible study look like? If you’re familiar with this blog at all, it’s no secret to you that I am completely in love with the Word of God! I have spent my life reading and studying it, falling deeper and deeper in love with its life-giving words, and with the One who gave them. My primary mission in writing is, and has always been, to point others to its truth in hopes that it will provide the hope and healing to others that it has brought to me and to my love.
I spend a lot of time showing you what the Bible says about a lot of things, but I think it’s high time I challenge you to learn how to go find those truths for yourselves!
If you’ve been with us for the past 5 weeks, we’ve been working our way through a series on Biblical boundaries. We’ve learned a lot! Today, we’re finally going to wrap this series up with a quick reminder of who’s in control. What it’s so easy to forget in the midst of all the chaos of life is that being obedient to God in this area (really in any area) allows us to step out of the way and Him to do His work. It puts God in control!
We’ve spent the past four weeks learning what the Bible has to say about boundaries. Now it’s time to take what we’ve learned and figure out how to practically apply it. Today, we’re answering the question, “How do I actually set Biblical boundaries?” It’s time to come up with a strategy for laying out our borders, building our fences, and installing our gates. In case you’ve missed the earlier parts of this series, here’s what we’ve been learning (it builds the foundation for what we’ll do today, so you might want to catch up!)
We’ve been spending some time learning about Biblical boundaries over the past 3 weeks. We’ve already spent two weeks defining and laying out some Biblical principles surrounding the establishment of good, healthy boundaries, and there are still 2 more weeks to go. Today we ask, what’s a boundary rule, and what does the Bible say about setting them?
Building on the five principles we learned last week, we’ll continue to look to the boundaries God enacts throughout the pages of Scripture in order to better understand what healthy boundaries look like.
As followers of Christ, our goal is to become like Him. For that reason, there is much we can learn about what healthy boundaries look like based simply on how He makes boundaries with us. Here are 5 principles we can learn by observing His example.