Discussion on Assignment #12

I missed your posts last week!  I hope everyone is doing well.  I look forward to reading your posts for our discussion this week.

Let's review this weeks chapter.  The author says that the following are lies women believe concerning circumstances:

   - "If my circumstances were different, I would be different."  (p. 218)

- "I shouldn't have to suffer." (p. 221)

- "My circumstances will never change.  This will go on forever."  (p. 224)

- "I just can't take any more."  (p. 226)

- "It's all about me."  (p. 228)

Let's now put those lies with Truth:

Lie:  "If my circumstances were different, I would be different." (p. 218)
TRUTH:  "The Truth is, our circumstances do not make us what we are.  They merely reveal what we are."  (p. 219)
TRUTH:  "We may not be able to control our circumstances, but our circumstances don't have to control us."  (p. 221)
TRUTH:  "Joy, peace, and stability come from believing that every circumstance that touches our lives has first been filtered through His fingers of love and is part of a great, eternal plan that He is working out in this world and in our lives."  (p. 221)

Lie:  "I shouldn't have to suffer." (p. 221)
TRUTH:  "The Truth is, it is impossible to be holy apart from suffering."  (p. 223)
TRUTH:  "The Truth is, God is far more interested in our holiness than in our immediate, temporal happiness - He knows that apart from being holy, we can never be truly happy."  (p. 223)
TRUTH:  "True joy is not the absence of pain but the sanctifying, sustaining presence of the Lord Jesus in the midst of the pain."  (p. 223)  
TRUTH:  James 1:2-4 tells us, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (NASB)
TRUTH:  Romans 5:3-5 tells us, "And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."  (NASB)

Lie:  "My circumstances will never change.  This will go on forever."  (p. 224)
TRUTH:  II Corinthians 4:16-18 tells us, "Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."  (NIV)
TRUTH:  "The Truth is, your pain - be it physical affliction, memories of abuse, a troubled marriage, or a heart broken by a wayward child - may go on for a long time.  But it will not last forever.  It may go on for all of your life down here on this earth.  But even a lifetime is not forever."  (p. 224)
TRUTH:  "The Truth is, a moment or two from now (in the light of eternity), when we are in the presence of the Lord, everything that has taken place in this life will be just a breath - a comma."  (p. 224)

Lie:  "I just can't take any more."  (p. 226)
TRUTH:  "...your heavenly Father will never lead you anywhere that His grace will not sustain you.  He will never place more upon you than He will give you grace to bear."  (p. 228)
TRUTH:  "However, whether I choose to believe it or not, if I am His child, the Truth is that 'His grace is sufficient for me.'  (This is assuming, of course, that I haven't taken on myself responsibilities He never intended me to carry.  If the burden is God-given, I can go on by His grace.)"  (p. 227)

Lie:  "It's all about me."  (p. 228)
TRUTH:  "The Truth is, it's not about you.  It's not about me.  It's all about Him."  (p. 235)
TRUTH:  "God is the beginning and ending and center of all things.  All things were created by Him and for Him.  It's all about Him!  Acts 20:24; Colossians 1:16-18"  (p. 237)

Someone gave the author a framed piece that had the following words on it:

"CORAM DEO
Living all of life
in the presence of God
under the authority of God
and to the glory of God."
(p. 231)

May we all endeavor to live our lives as reflected in those words above!

Our Memory Work

"'Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'"
                           - John 8:32 (NIV)

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free..."
                           - Galatians 5:1 (NIV)

Assignment

Reading
Read chapter ten - pages 243-252.