Esther...2/15

Another great Esther study by Beth Moore. I sat thru this study last Sunday evening and have been meaning to blog about it all week. I can't believe it's Friday again already. Anyhow...here are some of my notes from last Sunday.
This particular week was FANTASTIC for me and my husband. A big part of it was on waiting. Waiting on the Lord. Not on any one event. His time is Perfect....He is never late.

Providence is one of the most important concepts in the book of Esther.

Dr. Karen Jobes says,
"A cross scepter is held out for us. We have to touch it. We have to accept that. We have to put our faith in Him."

****side note....it's amazing to me how when I go to a Sunday or Monday night bible study somehow it ties in with Sunday morning's sermon. Last Sunday our Pastor spoke about the cost of salvation. That evening Beth Moore spoke about it at our study.*****

We cannot straddle the fence AND fulfill our God-given destiny. We must give up or let go of whatever it is that is holding us back from being a child of God. It's costly. We must give up the pegan things in order to wear the royal robes.
God will still do what He is going to do...we'll just miss it.

Women have the gift of influence. We are not powerless. God entrusts us with power and influence. There is a power that comes with wisdom and wait.
Job 34:2-4....Words sound right, but just don't taste right.

Our culture trains us in impatience. Wait is such an inconvenience in our society.

Acts 1:4-5
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

~If we lose the ability to wait we will never see the fulfillment of our greatest purpose.

Sometimes God is saying "let's just see how far this goes". The higher our ego goes the farther it has to fall.

God says, "You can humble yourselves or I will humble you".

Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

There is nothing more exhausting than waiting. If we wait on Him, He will renew us. Ask Him to discipline us to wait on Him.
Our strength will be depleted if we're waiting on a thing, on an event. If we wait on God, we will be renewed in strength.

WAIT UPON THE LORD!!!!!!

A few coupon codes....

Our new venture of cloth diapering will begin on Monday. (Thank you Carrie !!!!) I ended up finding them the least expensive at www.diapers.com when I used the coupon code BABY10.
That code will give you $10 off your order. I am not sure if that's for just first time customers or not.

My other code I found was for The Children's Place. The code is SA29. You get 15% off your order. We were just in the store the other day. TONS of cute spring and Easter stuff. I am just waiting for the weather to hit the 60's again and then I may be really inspired to use that code. I think this one expires the 28th of the this month....next Saturday I think.

Happy Shopping!

My 8 month old...

Our Maggie....8 months ago today. I'm not sure what is harder to wrap my head around...the fact that Molly will be 3 in 2 short months or that Maggie will soon be a one year old.
Maggie is our little sweetie. It's like she was sprinkled with a little bit of angel dust before being sent to us. Hopefully in 13 years I'll still be able to say the same thing :) She loves sitting up and hanging out with her brother and sister without having to do it on her tummy or back. She LOVE big people food. Chicken pot pie is her new favorite...she is her daddy's daughter. She is still sleeping like a champ. Her second night home she slept from midnight to 6 a.m. and with the exception of a few nights here and there for a little 3a.m. snack, she has never looked back. The other night she went to bed at 6:30 and slept until 7:30 the next morning. It must be b/c she is the 3rd child...just like her momma and daddy.
Oh how the Lord has blessed us so!!!

Trust & Faith...

The past week or so I have been praying to God for some guidance. Tonight He brought me to the book of Habakkuk. (The first time I heard this book, I didn't think it was really in the Bible.) Habakkuk is a tiny book. Three chapters long. Filled to the brim with the answers I was looking for. A few times over the last 10 days I have been asking myself and my husband, "how do I witness to someone who questions God because of all of the horrible things that happen in this world?" And horrific & horrible things do happen in this world and way too often. Some days it is hard to find God within these stories. I have been praying for the Lord to give me some answers. Today He did.
I emailed Aaron today and asked him to give me some scripture ideas. He wrote back telling me that he couldn't think of any off the top of his head, but to look up despair and hope in the back of my bible. Under despair were several bible verses. The 11th one was Habakkuk 3:17-18. Of course, while I was reading it I was outside with 2 of our children and sidetracked with their antics. I closed my bible and headed inside to clean, wash up, start dinner, get Maggie up from her nap, etc. After our evening routine, getting Max's class snack together, cleaning up the kitchen, and reading a little bit I headed upstairs to continue on with my homework for Beth Moore's Esther bible study. Aaron and I began chatting again about this nagging question and where is the answer? Should I email our pastor back in Michigan and ask his thoughts on it? Then I remembered the verse I had found earlier in the day and I read it Aaron. I then read the notes at the bottom of the page. "Amen." was Aaron's response.

The following is what I found. I found that I didn't need to ask Aaron (although God worked thru him to lead me to Habakkuk) and I didn't need to email our Pastor (although I will still probably do that because God does His work through him too).
All I needed to do was to be in The Word.

This is all from the Life Application Study Bible (NIV).


"When Habakkuk was troubled, he brought his concerns directly to God. After receiving God's answers, he responded with a prayer of faith. Habakkuk's example is one that should encourage us as we struggle to move from doubt to faith. We don't have to be afraid to ask questions of God. The problem is not with God and His ways but with our limited understanding of Him."


"The purpose of Habakkuk is to show that God is still in control fo the world despite the apparent triumph of evil."


"God wants us to come to Him with our struggles and doubts. His answers may not be what we expect, however. God sustains us by revealing himself to us. Trusting him leads to quiet hope, not bitter resignation."


"God is the Creator; He is all-powerful. He has a plan and He will carry it out. He will punish sin. He is our strength and our place of safety. We can have confidence that He will love us and guard our relationship with Him forever. "


"Hope means going beyond our unpleasant daily experiences to the joy of knowing God. We live by trusting in Him, not by the benefits, happiness, or success we may experience in this life. Our hope comes from God."

Habakkuk's complaint in Chapter 1 Verse 3:

"Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds."


The Lord answers in v. 5:

"Look at the nations and watch -
and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told."


Habbakkuk's second complaint in 1:13:

"Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrong.
Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?

(v.2:1) "I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts;
I will look to see what He will say to me,
and what answer I am to give to this complaint."


And the Lord responds: ( I love this!)
v. 2:3......

"For the revelation awaits an apppointed time:
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
It will certainly come and will not delay."


This is one of my new favorite verses. Here is what the notes added:

"Like Habakkuk, Christians often feel angry and discouraged as they see what goes on. God's answer to Habakkuk is the same answer He would give us. "Be patient! I will work out my plans in my perfect timing. To trust God fully means to trust Him even when we don't understand why events occur as they do."


Now finally to the verses that Aaron brought to me today thorough our Lord Jesus Christ:
v. 3:17-19

"Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior."


Now from the notes (oh there are so many fabulous things hidden in those notes!)

"Crop failure and the death of animals would devastate. But Habakkuk affirmed that even in the times of starvation and loss, he would still rejoice in the Lord. Habakkuk's feelings were not controlled by the events around him but by faith in God's ability to give him strength. When nothing makes sense God gives strength. When nothing makes sense, and when troubles seem more than you can bear, remember that God gives strenth. Take your eyes off your difficulties and look to God. "

"God will give his followers surefooted confidence through difficult times. They will run like deer across rough and dangerous terrain. At the proper time, God will bring about his justice and completely rid the world of evil. In the meantime, God's people need to live in the strength of his Spirit, confident in His ultimate victory over evil."

"Habakkuk had asked God why evil people prosper while the righteous suffer. God's answer: they don't, not in the long run. Habakkuk saw his own limitations in contrast to God's unlimited control of all the world's events. God is alive and in control of the world and its events. We cannot see all that God is doing, and we cannot see all that God will do. But we can be assured that He is God and will do what is right. Knowing this can give us confidence and hope in a confusing world."

Months gone by...

Our Maggie...growing so fast...

Her birthday....


One month old....

Two months old....

Three months old....

Four months old....

Five months old....

Six months old....

Seven months old....

New things everyday...

Yesterday Max and I were reading his assignment for AWANA this....yes, yesterday was Wednesday and yes, AWANA is on Wednesday...the weeks fly by!!! Anyhow, there is a little story to read first and then on the next page there is a lesson and a little review question. Well, somewhere in the lesson was the word 'disciple'. As I was finishing up the lesson Max was losing attention. Just when I read the word 'disciple' and I thought I had completely lost Max's attention span, he steps back into the kitchen and says,

"Hey Momma, Jesus had 12 of those."

"12 what, baby?"

He looks at me like I'm crazy.

"12 diciples Momma."

Praise Jesus!!!
___________________________________________________________
Molly's new phrases:

"I'd appreciate that."
"I'll remember that."
"I'm so frustrated."
"Told ya."

Oh she is her momma....we're in trouble!

Notes...

I am absolutely loving Beth Moore's bible study on Esther. http://www.lproof.org/NewBibleStudyView.aspx Whether or not you have ever done a Beth Moore study before, you need to do this study if you are a woman. Check out your local churches and see if any of them are offereing it. You won't regret it. It is terrific. Beth is such a fantastic teacher. I would love to go see her in person one day. I hear that she is just as kind and genuine as she seems on that screen.

Since feeling scared, angry, cynical, and sad these last couple of days this study hit right to my heart.

God offers up courage to each and every one of us everyday. All we have to do is take it from Him.

A few notes from this weeks study:

• We can protect ourselves right out of our callings.
• Are you heading the way you want this to end up?
• She spoke on lyrics from a song. "Today I feel like I'm one mistake away from you leaving me like this". God will NEVER leave us. Never.
• We may decide we are one mistake away from telling Him "just leave me here".

I have felt that. Wondering when God is just going to give up on me. Is it going to be the next time I yell at my kids. Will He say "That's enough. I'm done with you?" Is it going to be the next time I nag my husband? Or will it be the next time I fail to go to my knees in prayer asking Him to take it all from my shoulders?

• I may be one brave decision away from the most important step in my destiny.
• Most common command in the Bible. DO NOT BE AFRAID.
• Can you imagine living without fear?

Imagine this conversation with your Lord.

Lord: What is your worst case scenario? What if? What would you do?

Me: I give Him my worst case scenario. I tell Him I would want to go too. I would scream and cry and be angry and feel lost.

Lord: Ok. Then what?

Me: I wouldn't get out of bed. I wouldn't be able to eat or move or do anything productive.

Lord: Ok. Then what?

Me: Then I would remember that I have a family to take care of...I would still be sad and angry.

Lord: Alright. Then what?

Me: Then I would crawl out of bed, get my kids to church and school and find my way to Your Word. Because I know that my God is my comforter and my protector and faithful.

Then what? Then what? Then what? God. God. God.

• Don't allow the fear of death to have such a stronghold on your that you don't live.
• Why don't we LIVE until we die?
• We get to choose HOW we are going to the WHAT we're going to do.

Esther had all of those people fasting for three days for her.

What if we asked all those people to fast and pray for that courage and didn't take it.

TAKE THE COURAGE GOD GIVES YOU! BE BRAVE!

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." 1 John 4:18