Womens Bible Cafe™

Conversation Peace Online Bible Study | Week One

Posted: 14 Jun 2015 09:07 PM PDT

Welcome back to Week One of the Conversation Peace online Bible study. It’s not too late to the a copy of the Mary Kassian workbook and join us at the #BibleCafe The Conversation Peace workbook is currently in stock at Amazon or you can also find it at Lifeway Stores. Be sure to also visit the Conversation Peace website to download resources and graphic images. You’ll find the 20 Questions, Scripture Cards, and journal pages and more when you visit the site.

This week we set sail and learned that our tongue can set a great forest on fire by one tiny spark (James 3:5-6) and that our tongue can bring death or life (Proverbs 18:21). Words can “breathe life” or “cripple and kill,” writes Mary Kassian. Isn’t it amazing how this tiny little part of our body has so much power? No wonder that God placed such a powerful tool within the cave of our mouth, only be opened and used when we are prepared to use it for good. How often do you pray before you speak…

For a moment, use your spiritual imagination with me to visualize the words that come out of your mouth. Mary Kassian uses the metaphor of setting a forest on fire. The Bible says

It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. James 3:5-6 (Message Translation)

Think about how quickly it would spread to cause hurt, and destruction. Or on the flip side, picture your words cultivating a harvest and with your words flowers and crops are blooming. This can be our reality when we align our words with what God has said in His Word.

This week my spirit was pricked when I listed the names of my family and the Lord revealed to me how my words with them in the past were positive or negative. Our tongues navigate the direction in which our conversation will flow. Isn’t that so powerful? I can remember many conversations over the years that have gone terribly wrong. Not the way I wanted to at all, perhaps because my tongue was on autopilot.

I’ve decided to have an accountability partner for this study and we’ve really been ministering to each other. God has been working through us this week. In conversation over this Bible study, she shared her realization that her words hinder and heal. Convicted by the Holy Spirit she prayed to be more healing than hindering. Part of the way she wants to accomplish this is to look at her tongue as a mirror, “Would she say those things about herself or to herself?” You and I can do the same thing.

By answering the questions about my own conversations, I quickly discovered there were a few areas in need of transformation. What an eye opener when I really examined my conversations and how I used my words. Taking responsibility for this is the first and painful step to transforming our speech.

Today we can begin to use the charts and tools we have to set ourselves on the correct path so that our words bring life to others. Our chart is the Bible, the tools that we can use are our own conscience, responses from others, and the Holy Spirit that leads and directs us the correct way to use our words with others. The Holy Spirit will quickly get us back on course when we veer off course.

When we regulate our tongue, and partner with God, our conversation will become what God intended it to be. Words that will bring and give life to others, cultivate harvests in others, give hope and spread love. Don’t you want your words to glorify God and lift others up? I know I do. As you continue to study this week, remember to watch the message you are sending with your speech, make sure your words are understood, take responsibility for what you say, and always go to God for help.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT FOR THE WEEK:

Join a small for study and fellowship
Pray through and memorize our Breath Freshener for this week: Psalm 19:14
Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide your tongue
Read Week 2 in your workbook
Visit the Conversation Peace website for more resources

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR THE WEEK: (You can answer in your small group or post a comment here on the website if you do not have a Facebook account)

This week’s lesson identifies our tongue as our principal steering mechanism. What does the phrase “What we talk is where we walk” mean to you?
How often do you blame difficult people or circumstances for your negative speech? Why is this an unhelpful thing to do? (page 34)
What are some ways your personality, feelings, past experiences negatively affect the way you communicate. (page 34)
List two words that you need to remove from your vocabulary on order to have more positive conversations?

Praying with you,

Sonya

Experiencing God Online Bible Study | Week 12

Posted: 14 Jun 2015 07:37 PM PDT

It’s our final week of the Experiencing God online Bible study at Women's Bible Café. And congratulations – you made it! This is it ladies – the last chapter of a very important study. This week we are discussing Unit 12 of Experiencing God by Henry and Richard Blackaby – "Experiencing God in Your Daily Life.” In this lesson we look at moving beyond the information in the book to living a life where you experience God on a daily basis through a vibrant personal relationship with Him. In other words, how do we take what we have learned over the past 12 weeks and make it stick for a lifetime?

Our daily lessons this week included the following topics:

Returning to God
Experiencing God as Couples
Joining God's Activity in Your Children's Lives
Experiencing God in the Marketplace
Continuing to Experience God

On Day 1 – Returning to God – Blackaby talks about the ways in which Christians may lose their intimacy with God. This is something which can happen to even the most zealous Christian if they are not careful. On pg. 250, Blackaby uses three parables in Luke 15 to illustrate three ways this can happen. Take a moment to review this information. Then say an earnest prayer asking God to protect your heart and your mind from this obstacles to your intimacy with God. Be reminded that if you should stumble, and it is highly likely that you will, there is always the opportunity for revival. Isn't God wonderful?

Day 2 spoke about Experiencing God as a Couple. If God has given you a life partner, this lesson speaks to you about God's purpose for marriage and the importance of looking closely at what God is saying to your spouse as well as what He is saying to you because it is likely He is talking to both of you together.

Day 3 talks about your children and how God is working through them. If you have kids, or hope to some day, it is important to recognize God's purpose for them. He is conforming them to the image of Christ. Your role as a parent reflects this reality.

Day 4 – Experiencing God in the Marketplace – talks about how God works through our work. Our biggest mission field is not necessarily somewhere far away. More likely, it is among the people you work with every day.

Finally, we came to the final lesson of this 12 week study. In Day five Blackaby talks to us about "Continuing to Experience God" He leaves us with 5 final recommendations that will help us to "continue going deeper with our Lord" (pg. 265-6). I will leave you with these five recommendations as your "homework" as we complete the Experiencing God study and prepare to incorporate these lessons into our everyday lives:

Stay immersed in God's Word.
Remain intimately involves with a church family that will love and nurture you.
Pray regularly.
Strive to keep your vows to God.
Take time to process what God has said to you or done in your life through this course.

Further, I urge you to complete Questions 5 and 6 on p. 266 in detail. Come back to these pages when you feel yourself drifting and forgetting what you have learned in this course. Let these pages remind you!

In parting let me remind you of our memory verse for Unit 12. This very really does sum up what "Experiencing God" is all about – and how to continue to do it was this course comes to a close.

"Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:24-25

Can you accept this on-going assignment? How will it look in your day to day life going forward? We will talk about that in our final small group discussion this week.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR THIS WEEK (answer in your small group or post your answers here):

Have you ever experienced a loss of intimacy with God? If so, how did it occur? Did it fit one of the three ways described by Blackaby in Day 1 Returning to God on p. 250-251?
If you are married, what are some ways you and your spouse are presently joining God's activity together? What are some ways you would like to? (p. 256)
Describe a time when your family ministered together. What are some ways they could minister together in the future? (p. 261)
In what ways is your workplace a mission field? If you are not employed, how does this apply to your other "non-church" activities? (p. 264)
What do you sense God is wanting you to do next to stay connected in the body of Christ? (p. 265)
Review the most meaningful statements or Scriptures you listed at the end of each day in this study. Of all those statements or Scriptures, which one has had the most profound impact on your thinking, your actions and your life? Share it with us now or after your small group ends. (p. 266).

What an amazing twelve weeks this has been! I hope that the Experiencing God study has been life changing for you. As Blackaby tells us on pg. 264 "This course should be only the starting point for a whole new adventure in following Christ daily". This wonderful ride was just the beginning! I will miss you all.

Blessings,

Carla

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Monday, June 15, 2015