Last MM & L meeting: August 4th

Last night was so precious! I had such a wonderful time talking with my bible study buddies and concluding such a wonderful time of God's teaching and the spiritual growing season we all have endured together!!
We started out on pg 102 & 103 where Jennifer talks about our memories being "books on a shelf". We were asked which books we pull from the shelf to review most often and assess whether they are "profitable" memories.
We all shared how often we tend to pull up those past, painful memories that produce such ugly soul talk. If we avoid those tough times and don't label them with a meaningful purpose, the memory becomes an enemy that traps us in guilt & shame and enslaves us. One gal brought up how all her memories were not really based on bad decisions, but facts...things she could not change. But how it brings her power to be able to see how her past has produced opportunity after opportunity for her to minister and show compassion to others now who find themselves in similar situations. (Talk about finding the benefits of God in our painful memories from the past! -Wow!)
We all identified with having "triggers" in our lives that made us think of the Lord & his promises...whether it be the picture of the Lord's supper at a church where you grew up, or a special spot in your house where you have quiet time in God's Word, bible verses framed around our grandmothers' homes....whatever the trigger was, we all had them & they all have had significant influence on us! Visuals that help us to not forget the benefits of God! How we need to have our own triggers to express God's benefits for our own families! If we have them in our homes, they will stick with our family members. At at time, when they (or even you) need the word--they may not be able to recall anything from the bible except maybe those visual triggers from around your home!
We talked about on pg 112-113 where Jennifer connects a complaining spirit and a sense of entitlement. How often we justify certain actions we take, because we feel "entitled"---we feel we rightfully deserve some benefit we've deemed we must have! Oh, I'm so glad I don't get what I DESERVE! God is so good in his grace and mercy to us! We should work to replace that sense of entitlement with a sense of gratefulness. (Easier said than done--but he knows our hearts & our motives!)
We each shared the most significant thing we've recongized about our self-talk--Each of us recognized how silly we would sound if we said the things we say to ourselves-- to others. Often, we are capable of giving others in our same situation-- compassion, grace & understanding...however we are so judgemental of ourselves! Often we carry things on us, that simply are not true, that weigh us down & keep us from God's full potential and His Will--which is just what the enemy wants!
We had fun sharing the "Colors" of our personalities, memories, secrets, feelings, treasures & thoughts on page 130! You had to be there for this one!
On pg. 136, we were asked: What is the most frequent song you're singing to yourself right now to help you persevere and keep hope alive? Beth shared that hers was "I will rise". Others shared were, "Little Things" & "You are Worthy"---sorry can't remember the exact names of the songs. (Wish I would have jotted those down last night!Sorry if I didn't quite get that right!) Mine was the praise chorus," You dance over me, while I am unaware. You sing all around, but I never hear a sound. Lord, I'm amazed by you, how you love me." Whether or not we are praying like we need to; whether or not we are spending time in his presence like we should; whether or not we are in good times or awful times in our lives----he's with us!
Every minute of this study has been challenging yet fun; painful, but still we kept coming back for more! God is faithful to complete a good work in us and I believe as we've persevered through this study, he is so very proud of us! Those of you who did not make it, you were so, so missed! I hope you all have a smooth start to the school year! I pray the Lord will give you strength to stay connected to Him through His Word! It is our divine weapon to demolish those strongholds and we need to stay prepared!
Love to you all!
Becky