This is the LAST WEEK of the Summer Book Study as we are finishing up Chapter’s 10-12.

Here are my notes and the questions to go over for this week:

Chapter 10 – Do You Know I Am Ordinary?… He Is My King and Father

“No one is going to want a woman like you.” (page 165) – Ouch! What an amazing statement by Angela to reveal a lie that I think most women have believed at some point…maybe even now.

1. Has there ever been a time when you’ve compared yourself to another woman? Why? What was the outcome?

“Satan does the same thing [telling lies...to make us feel we aren't special enough to be included]. Most of the time, no one is plotting or planning or intentionally leaving us out. We must learn to hear God instead.” (page 171)

2. When was the last time you felt left out? Why?

“Here is the most important thing I have learned about that kind of awful relationship or the people who wound you with their words–those people don’t speak for God.” (page 171)

3. Have you ever felt like someone’s hurtful words came directly from God himself? Are there any words you need to let go of right now? What truth will you replace them with?

4. Is there someone you still haven’t forgiven? Ask God for the grace and strength to surrender that hurt to Him and forgive.

Key Scripture:

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” –Romans 8:28-39

5. Have you ever felt separated from God’s love? Why?

Chapter 11 – Do You Know I Am Broken?…He Is My Redeemer

“But my children, my tender, wonderful children, never did one thing to deserve the brokenness they have suffered so early in their lives.” (page 181)

1. Have you ever felt like you didn’t deserve the brokenness you got in this lifetime? Why or why not?

“One thing I want you to keep in mind, in the hardest times, when it seems like everything is falling apart and you’re going down holding all the pieces, is that there is always a hidden work of God. When you think that God is distant or that maybe even God has turned against you, I want you to remember that in the unseen, God is plotting for your joy. He is planning the redemption of your brokenness.” (page 184)

2. Have you ever told God ‘thank you’ for using you? (page 182)

“She [Ruth] decided to live free of the securities of this world and walked with courage toward the unknown.” (page 187)

4. Do you know where you’re going?

“She [Ruth] never presumes it is her right to gather leftover grain (although legally it was); she asks humbly for permission to work in the fields, and then she responds with gratefulness when the permission is granted…The brokenness teaches us that everything is a gift; we are not really entitled to anything.” (page 188)

5. What do you currently feel entitled to?

“In the depths of those dark days, I also began to understand why men and women do stupid things when they’re hurting.” (page 192)

6. Have you ever hurt someone out of your own hurt?

Chapter 12 – Do You Know I Am Disappointed?…He Is My Hope

Key Verse:

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” –Romans 15:13

1. “Would you leave the door open for God? What about you? Would you leave room for hope? For the miraculous? For what God has beyond anything you dream for yourself?” (page 198)

“Unbelief laughs at God’s Word, but faith leaves the door open and watches for the power of God.” (page 204)

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THIS SUMMER’S BOOK STUDY.

During this week’s study we’re learning through Chapter 8 & 9. Next week is the final study on Chapter’s 10-12.

Here are my notes and the questions to go over for this week:

Chapter 8 – Do You Know I Am Undisciplined?… He Is My Strength

“I have met people who are so disciplined that they have no life, and that is not what I long for. I want enough discipline to live at my God-given potential. The best version of who I can be, given my circumstances, my physical body, and my mind.” (page 131)

1. What’s a bigger fear? Saying no to someone or something or the fear of failure or both and why??

2. What’s one of your biggest fears about becoming more disciplined?

“I think that in time you may perhaps find that most of the work of the world is done by people who aren’t feeling very well.” (page 132)

3. Can you think of a time in your life when this was true about you? What did you accomplish?

4. “Does a person have to come wired a certain way from birth, or can this struggle [undisciplined] be overcome in anyone?” (page 133)

Key Verse:

“I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.” (Romans 7:15, 18-19, NLT).

5. Read Galatians 5:22 and answer, “Why do you think self-control is a fruit of the spirit?”

Did you know that discipline is part of the spiritual battle? … “No matter how you define your struggle, the longing for greater self-discipline is a very real spiritual battle that each one of us must acknowledge as present and powerful inside us.” (page 134)

Chapter 9 – Do You Know I Am Hesitant?…He Is Generous

“When I don’t know what to do, many times I have done nothing. Or said nothing. Or given nothing. Other times, I have just lacked follow-through. I meant to, then too much time passed, and I let it go. I realize I can hoard instead of give. I can rationalize instead of being led by the Spirit. I can hesitate instead of obeying.” (page 149)

1. Have you ever felt this way? Why?

“We are called to advance the kingdom of God, not the kingdom of me.” (page 154)

2. Why do you think it can sometimes be difficult to be faithful in the small things?

“When one of my kids is down in the dumps or acting selfish and pouty, I will tell him or her to do something for somebody else. It’s one of the few things that can lift the fog. To put your burdens on hold and give some time or energy or another gift to someone else makes you feel better too” (page 155)

3. When was the last time you were generous with someone else? What was the result for you and for them/him/her?

Key Verse:

“And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:35, NLT).

4. Why do you think it’s more blessed to give?

During this week’s study we’re learning through Chapter Six and Seven. Here are my notes and the questions to go over.

Chapter 6 – Do You Know I Am A Sinner?… He Is My Savior

I love how Angela does NOT pull any punches. She says, “There is just no way to follow Christ and choose to remain in your sin.” (page 96)

She also mentions something I’ve thought of for a while (good stuff)…

“I had a profession in seminary, Dr. Norman Geisler, who is perhaps one of the most brilliant men on the planet. He said, ‘If I ever feel myself coming down with something, the very first thing I do is check my heart to see if there is any unconfessed sin.’ Dr. Geisler went on to say that he might just be getting sick; sometimes we just get sick. But he did not want to bring any sickness into his life because of the presence of sin.” (page 101)

THIS. IS. KEY.

Angela continues, “I do believe that hidden sin and all its consequences can make people sick.”

1. Is there anything in your life that makes or is making you physically sick?

One of the best books I read during one of the worst periods of my life was “Secrets of the Vine” by Bruce Wilkinson. It’s a short book that points out three things (1) discipline (2) pruning and (3) abiding. It’s a Biblical principle taken from John 15. Sometimes God allows our bodies to suffer the consequences of sin to stop us dead in our tracks. For me it’s anxiety, for you it’s … ?

KEY VERSES (from the book):

“That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God” (Romans 6:12-14, MSG).

“Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field” (James 4:8, MSG).

2. Are you currently running errands that are connected with your old way of life? Are you playing the field? (Be honest).

“Figure out how to live your life differently. Don’t keep driving down the same road where the same temptations hang out. Take another way home…The best way I know how to stay away from your sin is to get an amazing life. Go help some people or do something that matters. Gather up some toiletries and snacks and put them in a bag, get in your car, and drive back to the homeless woman you passed on the corner this morning. Do something with your life that keeps you chained to God’s purpose instead of your sin.” (page 107)

3.    Are you living an amazing life? i.e. Do you feel your life has purpose? Why or why not?

Chapter 7 – Do You Know I Am Lonely?…I Am Lonely

Angela says, “Someone has said that the word loneliness was created to express the pain of being alone. The word solitude was created to express the glory of being alone.”

1. Do you know the difference between being lonely and sweet solitude? What makes it different to distinguish one from the other?

“Even our Jesus led a life woven with threads of loneliness. As the perfect Son of God, He was certainly unlike all the other children who grew up around Him in Nazareth. Feeling different from everyone else creates feelings of loneliness, and Jesus, who was fully human, must have felt that during His childhood and into adulthood.” (page 114)

2. Have you ever felt lonely because of your differences? If so what makes you feel different than other people?

“Let me just say this: loneliness does not mean we are desperate. We are not desperate people who have to make irrational choices based on our emptiness. Maybe you need to say to yourself, ‘I am not desperate.’ We belong to God for goodness’ sake. And the woman of God is called to walk through her loneliness with integrity.” (page 118-119)

3. Have you ever thought your loneliness could be an opportunity to show integrity and bring glory to God? If so, when?

KEY VERSE (from the book):

“Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is” (Ephesians 5:15-17).

4. “How do we live with the pang of lonely until we see God?” (Taken from Angela on page 122)