Esther Study - I figured out how to post!

I am terrible! I can figure the blog out one minute and the next I can't! So, I'll put it on this page if that's ok. Someone feel free to transfer to blog. Esther is amazing. We are into Chp. 5 now. In a nutshell these are the things we have been learning and some bullet points that stood out to me. The best part, it seemed like someone in the room (if not all in some way) needed to hear the message of the week. God truly is faithful and He never ceases to amaze me. "Lord I'm amazed by you,....." sorry broke off in song :)*He not only desires to teach you but to transform you.*God works out everything, nothing can happen to my by coincidence.*God has a destiny for me! I can't amputate my history from my destiny! It's are past that makes us who we are today ladies and as scarred as it may or may not be, He deserves to be glorified through our lives! YOUR STORY MATTERS*In God our past and future share the same root!*One of the most important parts in fulfilling our destiny will be transparency.*Those of us who know Jesus personally live under divine rule where all of us get to be princesses. The crimson bloodline of Christ flows through your veins. Not only are we royalty but we also have been placed in our sphere of influence, regardless of the size you perceive it to be, "for such a time as this".*Are we standing my our sisters? We should be working together not competing.*We need more than a mood, we need a mind-set.*He never takes His eyes off of us or off the clock ticking over us.*Many times it takes a crisis to cause us to pivot on our heel and change directions. God will work it out "in us", "through us" and "around us". And God's time is prime time even if I am in the middle of a crisis.*As painful as it may be, that which shatters the superficial also shatters the fetters of fragility and frees us to walk with dignity and might to our destinies. Are we warrior princesses of God.*To stand by and do nothing out of self preservation is to be dead already. None of our purposes will be fulfilled easily.*Our defining moment - sometimes our most important moments come hand-in-hand with our willingness to reveal that we aren't really who we've seemed to be.*It's not enough to have conditional faith, don't just trust God that it won't happen but just trust God!!*When we feel most along, sometimes God's hand is so close that it covers the eyes!*God isn't interested in our stellar performance but in out hearts. He loves our willingness and obedience despite our insecurities.*God's purpose in calling us to deny ourselves is that we would deny our selfishness, ambition, pasts, or any damaged emotions the right to cheat us of His far higher plans for us!*We can serve from our knees on this earth b/c we're seated with the King in heaven.WOW, aren't you sorry you asked :) Just kidding. I hope these nuggets are useful to someone. I love this study. - Mary

Moms in Touch

Kathy and I are starting a Moms in Touch group for our kids' elementary school. Our first prayer time is tomorrow at 1:30. Check out www.momsintouch.org for more information. I'm excited to see the amazing power of God at work in the children and faculty of the school and can't wait to hear answered prayers week after week!! Please pray for a great response of moms and for high participation. Our children's school has a really high middle eastern population and I so hope our gathering of Christian women will create a christian influence for our children's lives. ~ Jen

PHILEMON - LAVISH FORGIVENESS

Wow friends,
Last week while I was at bible study with Madeline, I realized that there is a book of the bible called Philemon that I don't think I'd ever read. It's a one chapter book located between Titus and Hebrews. So today I decided to check it out. Wow, this was an awesome little study! I'm going to try to break down for you what I got out of it but I hope you'll go read it for yourself and see what the Lord reveals to you!

Here is the story, restated in my own words:

Philemon was a wealthy Christian who held house church in his home. He was devoted to Christ. He had slaves (as was common in that day) and one of his slaves names was Onesimus. Onesimus ran away from Philemon's home. The punishment for runaway slaves was severe.
At that time, Paul was in prison in Rome and Onesimus somehow hooked up with him there. Onesimus became very dear to Paul and Paul was burdened to facilitate the reconciliation of the relationship between Philemon and his slave, Onesimus. He understood the need that both men had for reconciliation with each other!
Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon with a letter that Paul had written (which is the book of the bible called Philemon). In the letter, Paul appealed to Philemon to accept Onesimus back into his home. And Paul implored Philemon to accept Onesimus back, not as a slave but as a dear brother in Christ. Paul asked Philemon to offer lavish forgiveness to Onesimus. And Paul offered to repay anything that Onesimus owed to Philemon.

Here are the parallels that I see:
Paul ~ Jesus
Onesimus ~ Me
Philemon ~ God

When I replaced the actual characters with the parallel characters, the story reads (to me) something like this:

In my life, I was a "slave" to God and He treated me well. But I ran away from Him. The punishment due for my running away was severe. But while I was far away from God, I came to know Jesus. I developed a sweet relationship with Jesus and He began to consider me His dear sister. He realized that without reconciliation, I would remain distant from God. And that God, because of His holiness and His desire to be my provider, sustainer, protection, would remain separated from me and even angry with me. So Jesus (wisely) sent me back to seek forgiveness from God. He knew that I had to make my relationship with God right, for my well being. And that God longed to be reconciled with me again too!!
Jesus sent me back to God with a letter, imploring God to offer lavish forgiveness to me and to accept me back, not as a slave (as I was formerly) but as a dear friend, into His kingdom. And Jesus then offered to repay any wrong I had done to God and anything I had stolen from Him.

Here is Jesus' letter to God:
I AM SENDING (JEN) - WHO IS MY VERY HEART - BACK TO YOU. I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO KEEP (HER) WITH ME SO THAT (SHE) COULD TAKE (HER) PLACE IN HELPING ME. BUT I DID NOT WANT TO DO ANYTHING WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT, SO THAT ANY FAVOR YOU DO WILL BE SPONTANEOUS AND NOT FORCED. PERHAPS THE REASON (SHE) WAS SEPARATED FROM YOU FOR A LITTLE WHILE WAS THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE (HER) BACK FOR GOOD - NO LONGER AS A SLAVE BUT BETTER THAN A SLAVE, AS A DEAR (SISTER). (SHE) IS DEAR TO ME BUT EVEN DEARER TO YOU, BOTH AS A (WOMAN) AND AS A (SISTER). SO IF YOU CONSIDER ME A PARTNER, WELCOME (HER) HOME AS YOU WOULD ME. IF (SHE) HAS DONE YOU ANY WRONG OR OWES YOU ANYTHING, CHARGE IT TO ME.
~ JESUS

I hope this touches you as it has me.
My prayer is that God would make me an instrument used to reconcile the "runaways" to Him. Father, give me a heart that cares and grieves for those who have run away from you and help me to point them back to you. I can relate, as a fellow run away, and I can share my story of reconciliation with others. I appeal to you to lavishly forgive them, just as you forgave me. Thank you for accepting this runaway slave back and offering me a new position of honor and a caring fulfilling relationship with you!!

Love, Jen

Ok, I have been meaning to get on here and write for a while now. So many thoughts swirling through my head. I hope I can get it all down!

First of all, I want to thank each of you personally. I want all of you to know that you have played an integral part in the healing of my heart and returning joy back to my life!! I feel like I am alive again. For the first time in 2 1/2 years, I feel like I have joy back in my life. I use to wake up in the morning and tell myself, "you will be happy today...you will feel joy." Now, I wake up in the morning and the joy is there....without me forcing it! Oh my goodness, it is so refreshing. You all have used your God-given gifts to minister to me and to help me heal. We all know that God is big enough to do things on His own. But, we also know that God likes to use His people, the Body of Christ, to reach those who are hurting and broken. Michelle, I know why God prompted me to go to you that morning in church. He knew that I needed you and the rest of our group! Michelle, your gift of prophesy amazes me. You have told me things, through God speaking through you, that have completely swept me off of my feet! You are speaking to my soul. Please continue using your gift. The results of you using your gift are like ripples in water....so many lives will be changed! I am one of them!

It doesn't stop there! I witnessed the gift of encouragement through Jen G. The gift of faith through Andrea. The gift of mercy through Mary. The gift of encouragement through Allison. The gift of encouragement through Tammy. There are so many others. I could write a book about this! But, I just want you all to know, that it works! When the Body of Christ is united, and people are using their God-given gifts, amazing things happen. Healing happens. Hope and joy are restored. Hallelujah!!

MALACHI!!!!!!

This morning the Lord took me to Malachi...from a cross reference verse in 2 Cor 5:20 our ambassadors verse...( hee hee hee) so I began to read Malachi and found pieces of many of the things He has been teaching us. Last night I posted about a rememberance timeline. Well I became giddy with excitement when I read these verses because it sounds like us!
"Then those who feared the Lord talked often one to another; and the Lord listened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him of thsoe who reverenced and worshipfully feared the Lord and who thought on His name. And they shall be Mine, says the Lord of hosts, in that day when I publicly recognize and openly declare them to be My jewels (My special possession, My peculiar treasure). And I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him. Then shall you return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who does not serve Him. " Mal 3:16-18

And I can't resist showing you this one too although it has nothing to do with rememberance....

" But unto you who revere and worshipfully fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings and His beams, and you shall go forth and gambol like calves (released) from the stall and leap for joy. And you shall tread down the lawless and wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this says the Lord of hosts." Mal 4:2-3


I could go on and on but girls, GO READ THAT BOOK!!!!
Hugs and Kisses in the Lord, PRAISE HIS MIGHTY HOLY POWERFUL NAME!!!

One evidence of God's orchestration of events

I have shared this with some of you but wanted to post it on our blog to highlight God's awesome-ness!

Background information:
On Saturday mornings I've been gathering with a group of girls to seek the Lord. We spend time praising Him together, talking about how amazing He is, thanking Him for things, admiring His character and singing. Then we separate and have quiet time to confess things to Him and listen to Him. And then we come back together and share what verses we were reading, what understanding we gained, what we heard Him say. Countless times, some of us will have read and pondered the SAME VERSES or the SAME THEMES during our quiet time alone with Him. It's so encouraging to hear that He is working out the same issues in lots of us at once!

OK here's the story:
When I was in college (about 14 years ago!), I remember having a really really down time. I was despairing over something (don't remember now what it was) and I was crying in my dorm room. I remember thinking "Nehemiah". I was like...what in the world is nehemiah? a book in the bible? a character in the bible?? I'm telling the truth, I wasn't even sure if Nehemiah was a biblical thing. But I grabbed my bible and journal, drove to a deserted road in the dark, found Nehemiah and read and cried. God spoke to me in a way that I REALLY needed.

In the past 1-2 weeks, I've been reminded of Nehemiah. I had been thinking that I really ought to read it again and see if there is anything important in there for me to learn now. I didn't take the time to sit and read it until our girl time on Saturday. I opened my bible and wrote the entire first prayer in my bible. I prayed as I went along and asked God to reveal important aspects to me. I was struck by the importance of confession - confessing for ourselves, confessing for our children, confessing for our nation and our world.

On Sunday, I sat down in church and worshiped God. Then our pastor stood on the stage and announced, "open your bible to the book of Nehemiah". I just about fell out of my seat!! He preached from Nehemiah chapter 1 and read the entire first prayer that I had written in my journal. He again highlighted the importance of prayer and confession.

I do not believe this was a coincidence. I believe that the message in Nehemiah is a very important one right now - I would not be at all surprised if others had been drawn to the book recently too! I also believe that this experience was a gift from God to me :) I've sought Him but often wondered if I'm really perceiving his prompting correctly or if I'm just "making things up". This experience made me giddy because I think it says that, at least in that moment, I was in tune with the Lord's heart and what He's doing in His people right now.

Never give up seeking Him. He is amazing and so worth knowing! He wants to be known by us and to have a relationship with Him. If your eyes are open and you're talking with Him frequently, He will make Himself known to you. I think He reveals Himself in lots of ways every day and we just miss it because we're not looking.

Let's open our eyes, "wake up from our slumber" and experience relationship with HIM!
Jen

Echo

Forgive me because this is the second time I have typed this, not sure what happened to the first one. I tried to comment on your post Andrea and poof, gone! I could echo your entire post. I think Vince described it honestly and boldly when he said I was acting as if I had suffered a severe trama and has PTSD symptoms. That is kind of how it felt deep in my heart and soul. I don't think God wants us to forget what HE did in and through us. Let him be glorified in everything. I just want to lay it all down for Him. There is so much I want to share but I need time to process it before I spill it out onto paper as a "blog". I thank God for each and everyone of you and your openness. The words unity and reconciliation keep coming into my head.