Today: It is not about me…ever, it is about trusting God and His Word. (Think for a moment, do you trust God? His word?)
LADIES TRUST GOD. Girls worry.
LADIES ARE DRIVEN BY PRINCIPLES (based on God’s Word). Girls are led by emotions.
Where do our emotions fit in? To be enjoyed, but not to guide, to warn, but not to determine the day.
We need to be thermostats NOT thermometers, Why would I say that? In others words we have the power to set the climate or reflect the climate around us. (concept from Habitudes by Tim Elmore) We want you to set the climate and not just adapt to whatever is going on around you.
One way we do this is by giving thanks in all circumstances, not because all circumstances are fun but because we trust God and He is over all our circumstances. He is with us through every trial.
I view thankfulness as the welcome mat to God’s presence. Imagine God’s presence being a big beautiful mansion, all we have to do is open the door and go in. yet, as we come to the door there is a welcome mat and instead of wiping our feet we praise our Savior and the door to His presence flies open!
Thankful,(read pg 290 of Jesus Lives by Sarah Young) can always trust God in all circumstance come to Him with thanksgiving
Fill up with God, nothing else or no one else can satisfy.
All look up and discuss: Prov 3: 5 lean not on own understanding
II Cor 13: 8 cannot do anything against truth
Lastly, before we get to our own personal times I have one more illustration. (I had the top half of a milk jug, cut so handle is like a spout. Filled over half way with blue colored water and on top of that about half an inch of cooking oil) This colored liquid is God’s Truth and the oil is the world and its philosophies. Often we can’t see God’s Truth because we are looking at it through cloudy worldly thoughts. Sometimes we try to reach for God’s Truth through the world’s views and it all gets mixed up and hard to discern Truth from a lie. How do we get Truth then? Yes, prayer and reading of God’s Word are our way of avoiding the lies this world tries to sell us. The trick is we must be willing to take God’s Word alone as truth no matter what the world wants to pour at us, we say NO. (Pour water out from spout as talk about bowing in prayer and reading Bible and stop quickly when oil starts to go into spout while saying NO)
Read and journal: Romans 12: 3 “I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what He does for us, not by what we are and what we do for Him.”
Discuss: What stood out in this verse (how can we have an attitude of gratitude)
Challenge: see and state what thankful for in every situation today