Thursday, June 25, 2009

Me, Myself, and Lies - Week One: Day 1


I've started a new Bible study. I'm not sure how many, if any, of you read Beth Moore's blog, but if you don't, you should. It took me a few weeks to get into it because they aren't consistent in their blogging methods, but I am ADDICTED to her now. She and her daughters light up my day when they blog.
Anyway, I've started a new Bible study. It's through their blog and you can do it alone or with a group. Since I don't really know anyone around here and we're not settled into a church yet, I'm going solo. Let me know if you're doing the study!
Books were back-ordered so even though the study officially kicked off Tuesday, I'm just starting tonight. Let me just say that Day One KNOCKED MY SOCKS OFF. It's fantastic. I'm going to be sharing my "insight" with you over the course of the study. Feel free not to listen! Note: Some of the "highlights" are things I underlined, others are what I wrote...
Week One: Day 1 - Not So Well With My Soul
* Day 1 is all about what we say to ourselves. I often think about what I say or think about others. What I say or think about myself NEVER crosses my mind.
* Even silently spoken words have great influence. It matters how you use them.
* God's words are powerful enough to create the world and everything in it.
* Our words have influence, but only God's words have power.
* Our words can't create or destroy, but they can build up or tear down emotions and spiritual growth.
* Who you are and what's in your heart are revealed in the words you speak.
* One part of the study asked us to complete the "I am..." statements for Biblical characters using various scripture. Exodus 4:10 says "I am slow of speech and tongue." It is Moses speaking. The question was posed, "Why do you think Moses chose that 'I am'? Moses identified himself by his stutter, his struggle. Ponder that for a moment." I wrote that I often worry about things that I think people will notice. I feel that if I point them out first, I'm less likely to be judged. I am BAD about doing this. I will immediately point out my flaws, ESPECIALLY to people I don't know well. I feel like if I tell them upfront that I'm aware of my downfalls, I don't look so stupid. By the way, when you think of Moses, do you think about his STUTTER? Ummm...I honestly didn't know he had one. Maybe I'm not up on my Bible stories, but I'm thinking he did some other things that were WAY more important.
* We were asked to fill in the blanks for our own "I am..." statements. We were to list several "I am..." nouns and several "I am..." adjectives. For nouns I wrote: teacher, lover, listener, friend. For adjectives I wrote: caring, judgmental, friendly. I literally sat and thought and thought about "I am..." adjectives I could use. Then I drew an arrow out to the side and wrote: "It was hard for me to think of positive adjectives! :(" I read along and realized that it was OK to write negative words...the point was for me to realize how I viewed myself. I obviously need to work on that.
* Favorite scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:10 "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them - yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me."
* Who I am and what I struggle with are not the same thing.
Ok, those are my thoughts from today. Since I'm behind, I'll do Days 2-4 tomorrow. We'll be out of town this weekend so I won't be able to post anymore until Sunday night.
If you're interested in doing the study with me, let me know! I ordered my workbook from Amazon for right around $17. Lifeway is also selling them. I am VERY excited about it already. Let me know if you decide to do it!!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Just signed on for the study. My friend and I are doing it long distance from each other. Also there is a group at http://lifeversewomen.com/

Skimmed the first week homework and your comments on it. Am printing it out and getting book ordered tomorrow. Looks to be a very good study.

Enjoy setting up your nursery. You've still got plenty of time and you will have fun getting it just right!