Enhancing Your Marriage ~ an Online Bible Study

A few weeks ago I asked for your input for which type of online Bible study you would be interested in. Almost everyone voted for the Marriage Enrichment study. So that is the one we will do.

The Info You Need:

Because we are all about to be swamped by holiday festivities, we’ll be starting the Enhancing Your Marriage study in January. This is good, because if you want to actually buy the book for yourself, you will have plenty of time for snail mail to get it to you.

You will not need the book to be a part of our Marriage study, but if you’d like to buy it you can click through the image to the right and it will take you to the book.

This study will not be “done” on a specific day, but I will probably have one day a week where we can discuss part of a chapter. We’ll take 2 weeks per chapter because life happens and I don’t want anyone to get frustrated.

If you’ve never done a Judy Rossi study before, then you are in for a treat!! She is an amazing Bible teacher. I worked through her parenting study a year or so ago and I learned so much! I’m excited to have you join me for this one.

What You’ll Want to do Before We Start:

I’m going to try doing some different online “fun stuff” with this study, so be sure that you are following FFS on Facebook. That link is over on the right too.

You might want to get some friends involved as well. Having coffee with 2-3 girl friends and discussing the word of God can be life changing! And even if you can’t actually GO to the coffee house together, you still might be able to email, message, and interact here on the blog. So be sure to help get the word out to those you know who love to dig deep into the Bible for meat.

Pray:

I ask that, during the next 6 or so weeks before we begin, you would ask the Lord to prepare your heart for this study. Marriages today are bombed by fleshly sin and Satan. If marriages and families can be destroyed, then governments will fall. It’s that simple. All you have to do is look around you. So I ask that you pray for your heart, pray for your friends who might join you, and for me as I attempt to facilitate this amazing study of the word of God.

***If you would be so kind as to leave a comment below telling me that you will be following the study, I would appreciate it. That will help me to plan AND pray. Thank you!!

Which One? I Want Your Input!

Hello FFS Readers!! I put a message out on Facebook one day this past week asking for some input. I’d like to do another online Bible Study like we did with Pursuing Godliness and Made to Crave.

So I wanted to know what YOU all would like to study. And I greatly appreciate the ideas you all gave me.

Here are three choices.

Leave a comment below voting for the choice you are most interested in.

1. 30 Life Principles by Charles Stanley: Dr. Charles Stanley has faithfully highlighted the 30 Life Principles that have guided his life, empowered his ministry, and helped him to grow in his knowledge, service, and love of God. Now, these 30 Life Principles are available for your study and meditation.

2. James: Mercy Triumphs by Beth Moore: James, Jesus’ own brother, started out as a skeptic. See how one glimpse of the resurrected Savior turned an unbeliever into a disciple. Bible scholars compare James to the prophet Amos. In other ways, James more closely resembles the Book of Proverbs than any other New Testament book. Topics in this study include: joy, hardship, faith, reversal of fortunes for rich and poor, wisdom, gifts from above, single-mindedness, the dangers of the tongue, humility, and prayer. {I DO NOT have the DVDs for this study. SO it would only be the book…unless I find the DVDs. :)}

3. Enhancing Your Marriage by Judy Rossi: Being in a love-relationship with Jesus Christ can’t help but influence our love-relationship with our spouses. Jesus will see to that. He calls us to Himself and lovingly begins to retool our souls. Much of this work takes place in the workshop of our marriages. This book encourages married women to examine where they really stand regarding the commitment made to their two covenant partners–Jesus Christ and their husbands. Women who read this book will also discover the Creator’s intent for the holy institution of marriage; what His definition of love is and how that compares to what they have been taught about love. Frank talk about sex and sexuality is addressed, and advice is given for rekindling flames of romance in seasoned marriages. Through this challenging Bible study, wives of all ages are called to examine their attitudes about love and marriage as the relate to truth found in God’s Word.

Read through the info, click on the links, if you like, to see the covers and reviews, then comment below and let me know which study you are interested in. I’ll let you know next week which study we’ll be doing. Yea!

~ FFS

Who is God? My Banner

God has so many wonderful names! Some are very near and dear to our hearts. Others might sound strange and different. But each and every name of God mentioned throughout the scriptures tells us just a little bit more about our Creator. Please take five minutes out of your busy day and discover something new about the Lord who loves you.

I don’t know about you, but I sin…a lot of the time. Scripture calls it “being in the flesh” when we are supposed to be “walking in the Spirit.” Our flesh fights against us. (Galatians 5:17) If we keep our eyes on Jesus, then we will have victory. But as soon as we take our eyes off of the Prince of Peace, and we look at the chaos, think selfish thoughts, or allow fear of the waves of life to wash over us, then we begin to sink and fail.

May I Encourage You? Run to the Tower

Where do you turn during times of trouble? Food? Alcohol? Friends? Television? Shopping? Do you run away when the pain gets too awful? What do you do when the events of life throw one. more. thing. your way?

Take a look at this verse:

The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him. ~ Psalm 37:39-40

When the arrows begin to fly towards you, what should you do? Hide? Run towards the trouble? No. We are to take refuge. Think of those days during the time of Robin Hood. When the enemy would come towards a kingdom, the people would drop what they were doing and run as quickly as possible to the walled towers of the city. They would take refuge.

That’s what we are supposed to do. Run. Take refuge. In fact…

The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. ~ Proverbs 18:10

Have you thought about the names of God recently? Let me list just a few for you:

When God Calls Your Pastor to Leave Your Church

I received the message on Monday. My sweet friend wanted to be sure I knew because I had missed church on Sunday night.

“Pastor is leaving to go to another church.”

WHAT?!? was my first reaction. Then I was short of breath as my stomach fell to the ground. I ran from the room for the telephone.

After hearing the story from the source, I started praying. Praying, praying, and praying. My Pastor isn’t leaving because of a bad situation, or complaints. On the contrary, my Pastor is greatly loved and our church is growing. I think that’s a reason why this decision took so many members by surprise.

However it shouldn’t. Pastors are called by the Lord to serve Him which means they must be willing to go where He sends them, when He sends them.

Do You Worship the iGod?

I’m not really a tech savvy person. I know enough to get by and I can quickly learn what I need in order to do something new; but for the most part, the ins and outs of computers I leave to my husband.

Recently my wonderful husband acquired a used iphone at a yard sale. The case is cracked, but the kids have learned how to play Angry Birds, so it must be fine.

I walked in on my husband the other day and found him grumbling about the phone. Some app wouldn’t work. And in addition, the GPS we tried to use while in the UK would only work if we were near a free wi-fi. I’m finding my husband grumbling more and more about this phone because it won’t do what he thinks it ought to do.

Don’t we treat God like that at times? A situation happens that we don’t like, or maybe we find ourselves going through a struggle that seems like there is no end. Perhaps we are convicted of something that we don’t want to let go of. Then the questions, grumblings, and accusations begin because God isn’t doing what WE think He ought to be doing.

We Christians have to be careful, or we begin to worship an iGod. An iGod is our own version of who we think God ought to be. We take our life experiences, our Biblical interpretations, and our wants and dreams and form a version of God in our minds. We “download the apps,” so to speak, which we think are relevant to our lives.

The problem is…our version of God is not God.

God’s Wisdom for Mothers: Launching Our Kids Toward Their God-given Dreams

Be sure to check out Week 6: You’ve Got a Friend

Introduction:
What do your kids want to be when they grow up? Probably they will change their minds 3 to 4…6 or 7, times before they settle on something. What are you doing to help prepare them for God’s future? How are you helping your children to identify their dreams? Are you encouraging them to live for an audience of One?

Mom Time: Growing Up

What is a lesson you have learned about yourself since you became a mom? For me, I have learned how selfish I really am. I have also become more aware of my rebelliousness toward God and how amazing it is that God is patient and loving towards me. It is our job as parents to represent the character of God to our children. Through our guidance and training we want our children to grow in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man. (Luke 2:40) What dreams did you have as a child? What dreams are your children dreaming? “The most important thing I want for my children is for them to be holy. Happiness will follow if their hearts are right.” (114)

God’s Wisdom for Mothers: You’ve Got a Friend

Be sure to check out Week 5: Discipline – Growing Christlike Character

Introduction:
This week was a hard lesson for me. This hits an area of my life where I have many insecurities. Friendship. It’s something we all treasure, yet when dealing with people, friendships can be the most complicated, messy things in our lives. But it is nice to know that whatever issues we might have with others, there will ALWAYS be One person on your side: God.

Mom Time: Who are your friends?

Abraham is known as “The friend of God.” That is so neat to me. I can just picture Abraham and God sitting under the tree outside the tent eating lunch and talking about all kinds of life issues. The Bible tells us this happened at least once, so the picture in my head isn’t without some truth. And if we have Jesus, if He lives inside of us, then we are considered His friends. He no longer calls us His servants, but His friends. God is your friend. He is on your side. He provides joy (Nehemiah 8:10) and we know that He is in charge of everything (Psalm 139:16). We are commanded to pray without ceasing because God wants constant fellowship with us.

God’s Wisdom for Mothers: Growing Christlike Character

Be sure to check out Week 4: Discipline – Do the Right Thing.

Introduction:
When was the last time your kids did something and you thought, Oh no! I do that!! Our kids watch everything we do, especially when we don’t realize it. Growing Christlike character in our own lives is one of the greatest gifts we can give to our kids.

Mom Time:

Choose to love selflessly – Read 1 John 3:16-18. These verses give great guidelines for loving others. What activities do you do, or involve your family in, to show love to others? “Talk is easy. Love-in-action takes effort…Jesus didn’t just talk about His love for us; He died on the cross to make sure we understood.” (82)

Teaching Biblical Truth to Children – A Young Child’s Catechism

“What is truth?” sneered Pilate to Jesus.

Earlier in His ministry Jesus had said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Jesus didn’t answer the Roman governor. He didn’t need to. And even though Pilate washed His hands of innocent blood, I think he knew the answer to his question.

But do you know the Truth? Do our kids know the Truth? Do my kids have a solid rock foundation of Biblical Truth so that their Awana and Sunday School classes can build onto that knowledge and help them grow spiritually?

It is our job as parents to make sure that our kids have the Bible training that they need in order for God to grow them as disciples. We can’t get our kids saved. We can’t make their choices for them. But we can teach them the Truth to the best of our abilities and trust the Holy Spirit to do the rest.