How are you doing with your patience? Have you used your time waiting to pray for those around you? We will talk about how we handle our patience.

How is your patience with God?

At the end of our last discussion I asked the following question, What experiences in your life have taught you the most about your faith? This is where our next discussion will begin.

Also, think about how those experiences help you teach others about Jesus.

This week we talked about service to others. According to Matthew 25:40, this service is uncalculated, simple and for Him. See God Sightings in your service this week.

Next meeting (4/19)

At our last meeting I asked everyone to keep track of their service to others and to pray over those each night/morning. How are you doing?

We will be talking about Matthew 25:40-45 on Monday, April 19.

Also, we will be talking about our skills and talents.

See you Monday at 6:30 PM in the parlor.

Monday 3/22

For those that were unable to attend yesterday's meeting. Here is what we discussed:

1. How we react when we are called to action. Like Moses (reluctantly) or like David (confidently).
2. We discussed how we need to act like in the parables of the talents. We are nourished by God's word when we open the bible and act upon his word.
   
3. We discussed discernment and evaluation in our acceptance of our call.
4. The difference between needs and wants. How we confuse the two. We have needs but are our needs fulfilled.
5. Towards the end of the meeting we did an exercise on problem solving. The process starts wit what we know!

I will post scriptures that we used soon!

Share your God Sightings with others by posting.

Mike

I'm still learning how to do this! Couldn't add to my draft so I just posted it.
To finish my statement...keeping in touch with God isn't the issue in my life right now.
I'm just not sure what He is willing to do for me and what I am expected to endure in this life.
And, I'm not always quick to obey his advice, but He never moves.
Lately, I've been asking Him to speak through me boldly. Sometimes, I open my mouth, other times I let my insecurity and Satan's lies rule the moment.
Listening today....stay home and drink lots of fluids. Praying for you all tonight.
Keep me posted on the next assignment and what I missed tonight.
Confident that my honesty will eventually fill me with His peace today.

Sheila

Didn't ask for prayers for healing

At Sunday evening worship, I had the opportunity to go forward for prayer, but I didn't. I was struggling with my own insecurity--my family prays for me all the time, isn't that enough? Would God really heal me? I've felt his healing touch at times, but I feel like a whiner going back again and again. I had a virus last week. As usual, it has settled in my weak lungs. Sorry that I won't be there tonight. I was looking forward to it. I feed on his word every day and talk with Him day and night

Sue,

Your post rings true for most people. Half of the battle is hearing God's call and the other half is how do we respond. This seems like a very good place to start Monday's meeting. We will discuss how we respond to God's call.

Anyone want to share how their scheduled GOD time is going? Have you been working on giving your stress over to God?

Remember Monday, 3/22 at 6:30 PM in the parlor. Anyone can meet with us so invite someone to the meeting. See you there.

Trusting in God

I have been reading and meditating on Ex. 3:7-22 and am amazed at how much I am like Moses. Lack of confidence or fear of the unknown keeps me from experiencing the full measure of God's call. I suspect that most of us could make this same claim. Have you ever experienced the exercise where you must trust someone to catch you as you allow yourself to fall backwards? Sounds easy enough, but try it......it's not so easy to do!!! Putting our FULL trust in following God's call is like that. I am going to try harder to hear God's call and to trust that He will catch me when I start to fall.

Sue K

Monday, 3/8

On Monday we discussed a few items that interfere with our ability to see God at work:

• Our busyness, we scheduled God time on our planners over the next few weeks as a way to focus on God.
• We discussed how stress and the way we handle it clouds our vision of God

For next meeting read and meditate over the scripture in Exodus 3:7-22

If you have thoughts regarding the above, share them through this blog.

P.S. - you should be reading week 4

God assigns...God provides

I was encouraged and challenged by the verbs in Exodus 3:7-22. God tells Moses..."I have seen...I have heard...I am concerned...I have come down to rescue them...I am sending you...I will be with you...You will not go empty handed...

When Moses asks God to please send someone else in 4:13, God is angry that Moses refuses to trust, but he continues to assure Moses that Aaron is on the way. Even though Moses sees Aaron as someone who can do the assignment better than he can, God reminds Moses that he will help both of them speak and teach them what to do. Our natural gifts/skills are nothing without God's intervention. Despite how inadequate we feel, God calls and God provides. I find that reminder really exciting.

:o( I am not able to be at this Monday's God Sightings meeting! I was so looking forward to it, too! I hope everyone continues to be blessed and encouraged! Thanks, Mike for all of your hard work leading and blogging us updates! :o)

For Monday

Just a few reminders for Monday's meeting:

• You should be reading week 3 scriptures
• You should be thinking of a symbol of God's promise to you
• Bring your planners (calenders, palm pilots, phones, etc.) to Monday's meeting
• Be ready to share your God sightings over the past few weeks.

Looking forward to getting together Monday!

Hurray, I FINALLY caught up with my readings! As confusing as this Bible format may seem for some of us, I like the way it "mixes" OT/NT with Psalms and Proverbs and jumpstarts my mind when I am reading! I tend go "autopilot" visually when I start reading a familiar passage...let's use Genesis 1, for example. Then WHAM...time for NT...clearing that palate for a fresh look at nother possibly familiar verse/passage or not feeling so overwhelmed when I eventually read....GULP...Leviticus! :o)

I am working very hard to keep my eyes, heart and mind open to God...some days it still is easier than others! :o)

Monday's meeting

For those that missed Monday, we discussed how God communicates with us. I had everyone write a list on an index card the things that interfere with that communication. People shared that TV, noise, internet, time, being busy are some of the things that get in the way. Once the list was made, each one of us are to pray for God's help in removing those interferences from our path.

We also talked about promises, those made between ourselves and others as well as with God. God gave the stars (Abraham) and the rainbow (Noah) as symbols of His promise. I asked everyone to think of a symbol in their lives of God's promise to them, we will share those at our next meeting.

Don't forget to bring your calenders to our next meeting!

I am born again lazy! My hands are full and I am afraid of letting go who I am. I have filled my life with girls, sex and alcohol and I’m afraid of what I’ll become if I don’t let it all go. I’m up for hours every night hating what I have become yet I hold on. Get tried around 10:30 go to be around 3 going to bed unfilled looking, searching for something great. Looking for HIM. Why do I hold on to something I hate?? Am I that afraid of the unknown and putting everything I have and everything I am in his hands?? Matthew 4.19 says “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Such a simple statement yet something so hard to do. I want to let go yet I hold on to stuff so hard my knuckles have started turning white. I want to hold on to what I know, what I think is secure. But god says let it go, let it all go and life is waiting for those who can. Maybe I’m this way cause I am corrupted by this society. We get this imagine of what we should be by TV, by radio, by magazines. We are in a battle for our very souls and we are losing. It’s all around us. Its in our home, in our workplace, in our schools. It just never stops unless we turn it all off and give it all up. Romans 8:6 says “The mind of sinful man is Death, but the mind controlled by the sprit is life and peace. We are a broken people our church walls have become so thick and our legs have grow so tried. We have become so comfortable in our padded seats. But God doesn’t want us to be comfortable. He wants to go spread the word to those who have never heard it or just walk out the door and show his love! He wants us to be his hand, his feet, his legs, his hope, his joy , his gentleness, his Love! Because he is the prize we just have to let him use us! Well I’m tried of holding on to all this dirt in my life and I’m ready to follow! I’m done worrying about what I’ll lose. Done worrying about what it will cost. Done worrying about how much of me it will take. I am ready, ready to let it all go and give it to him. The question is can you let go of all your dirt and give everything over to god?

This is the video i mention but i will be following it with a longer post and explain why this video means so much to me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNrNQGigZAo

Heather, we will be talking about those very days and the things that get in our way of seeing God active in our lives.

Some days are much easier for me to see God in my life and through the lives of others around me. Anyone else struggling? I had one day that I said straight out "God, I really need you to show yourself to me today!" I am very thankful for this Bible study...Thanks Mike for leading us! :o)

Looking forward to getting together on Monday

Monday 2/22

Remember as homework, we are supposed to be looking for God's new beginnings in our lives and those around us. We will begin Monday's group with our observations. See you Monday 2/22 at 6:30 PM.

Christians in some countries are excited to get one page of the Bible. We are so spoiled. We start a new Bible Study and get a new Bible! It's great to have the connection between the old and new testaments so conveniently combined.