Well, girls, we're already halfway through with the book. Thanks to those of you who have been posting comments. I am loving this! I hope you are all gaining something from the study. So, my name is Hannah and I am 22 years old. After graduating in May from Samford University with a degree in International Relations and Spanish, I moved to Louisville to begin a Spanish MA program at the University of Louisville this fall and to work as a graduate teaching assistant. It seems as if people are incessantly asking me what I plan to do with my degree after graduation, and that is a question to which I do not yet have the answer. I know only that I want to grow in faithfulness to use the gifts the Lord has given me to advance the Gospel here on earth.
God saved me on Christmas night when I was seven years old. Night after night on my bed in our farmhouse in Bonnertown, Tennessee, I told the Lord "No, I am too young to make a decision like this. I have plenty of time to take care of it, and I'll do it when I'm 14." (Not sure why I thought 14 was the appropriate age, but such was my understanding.) Eventually, I guess you could say I reluctantly gave in to the Spirit's work in my life and confessed faith in Christ for the redemption of my sins and new life He was offering. I cried when I stood before the church on the following Sunday--nervous, terrified, or both. At seven, I knew only the basics: that I was a sinner and in need of Christ to have a relationship with God. I believed Christ lived a perfect, sinless life on Earth, died on the cross, and rose from the dead. That I knew, on top of the general familiarity I had with Bible stories from growing up as the daughter of a Baptist Sunday School teacher in a Christian home. Since then, however, the Lord has constantly been opening my eyes to what happened on that night in 1995. I am continually amazed at my own wretchedness and the love of my great Savior to take it all upon Himself. Charles Spurgeon, my favorite theologian, once said, "The touch of His grace has awakened my soul. Oh, the long-suffering of my Beloved! He waited for me when He found Himself shut out and me asleep because of my own laziness. Oh, the greatness of His patience, to knock and knock again and to call out, asking me to open to Him! How could I have refused Him!" I am thankful the Spirit of God did not bend to my rejections but continued to plead for my life and give me the courage to accept what God has done for me. I have so very much to be thankful for.
I am an avid reader and pretty much always have been. Aside from the inspired Word of God, Passion and Purity is hands-down, take-the-cake, cross-my-heart the best book I have ever read. Before beginning this study, I had read it twice since Christmas. Each time I open it, something new speaks to me, and with every reading I find different parts applying to my life situation. I read it first as a single freshman in college, second after being dumped by my first boyfriend of a year and a half, and twice since then. I can't tell you how stinkin' giddy I've been to have so many of you reading along too and hearing your perspectives! Praise God for Elisabeth, an incredible role model in my life. With that said, let's get going on Week 4.
Discussion Questions:
1. I love this paragraph: "Let's be candid with ourselves before God. Call a spade a spade or even a muddy shovel. If your passions are aroused, say so--to yourself and to God, not to the object of your passion. Then turn the reins over to God. Bring your will to Him. Will to obey Him, ask for His help. He will not do the obeying for you, but He will help you" (97). Have you ever enjoyed the experience of confessing openly before God what is in your heart? I'm talking super-candidly, as open as if they were only your own thoughts. How powerful to communicate before the Lord your most intimate thoughts! Does He not already know it all anyway?
2. Elisabeth also says, "Don't expect anything until the declaration is clear and forth-right." Does anyone else have a hard time with this?! What about all those "signals" guys send? How can we see each "he smiled at me" or "we share a favorite restaurant" as something to offer to the Lord? Although it's a struggle, I've learned there is freedom in combining this with #1 and being open before God about everything and asking for His Spirit to help aid in understanding and responding appropriately.
3. In Chapter 25, Elisabeth is talking about the misery of loneliness and the temptation to self pity. Haven't we all been there? Aren't many of us there now? I love how she brings in 2 Corin. 12:9 (But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.) On page 118: "For my loneliness, Lord--Your strength. For my temptation to self-pity, Lord--Your strength. For my uncontrollable longings for this man, Lord--Your strength." What other weaknesses should we candidly give to the Lord in exchange for His power? Do you girls think the way we as believers handle the season of singleness can be an evangelistic tool for lost girls who share our natural desires?
1) Hannah, that paragraph has also stuck with me since I have been reading this book! So many times I find myself shrinking away from the Lord and quietly trying to disregard any of the desires in my heart for fear that the Lord might "hear" them. Funny part is - He already knows them before they are even formed into words! So, why must I feel as though I should hide them? There has been so much liberty in being honest with the Lord about the state of my heart. Jeremiah 17:9 says "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds." Two very important truths here: One, our hearts are DECEITFUL! We can follow our "feelings" or where we think our heart is "leading us," but this can be a very foolish this to do. (Trust me, I know from all too many experiences - something I am still working on). We CANNOT trust our emotions - only the living word of God. Secondly, the Lord searches our hearts and tests our minds. There is no getting away from this. If you have desires, let them be addressed to the creator of all desires. Bring them before his throne and ask for his guidance. Only can He make sense of our foolishness, and bring redemption to our thoughts. And that, my friends, is a powerful truth.
ReplyDelete3) Wow. Awesome thoughts. The pity-party had been a huge struggle in my life throughout the past couple of years leading up to this summer. So many times I had allowed myself to wallow in my singleness, thinking that I was somehow not as precious to the Lord because He had not given me a husband. That I was still not good enough or worthy enough to experience this beautiful thing called love. But, let me share with you all what changed my life this summer. I was told by a dear friend that her biggest prayer for the summer was that the Lord would become her Beloved. I had heard people pray for this before, but previously it has never carried the weight on my heart as it did when she spoke of it. I realized in that moment, that I didn't know Christ in that way. Since then, the Lord has revealed His love to me in so many ways. I began reading through the Psalms every day and circling every time it spoke of the Lord's "Steadfast love" for me. If you have not done this before - I highly encourage it. The scripture is soaked with the Lord's unfailing love for us, and it is awesome to go back and see page by page, the Lord declaring it. Isn't that what the cross is all about ladies? A love that surpasses all understanding? We are holy and dearly loved, and our Father of glory is awaiting us to become satisfied in him alone. He is our bridegroom. He is our beloved. He is the only one that can give us intimacy! We get to experience, moment by moment, the steadfast love of our faithful savior. When we realize that - when that truly penetrates our hearts - there is no more fear in "singleness."
I am convinced, more than ever, that the answer to all our longing hearts, to all our unanswered questions in this broken world - is Jesus Christ himself. So, let us not seek answers or clarity to the questions of our foolish hearts...but let us seek Jesus first. Allow him to become our Beloved first. And, the lover of our souls will give us the guidance we so desperately need to make the decision we so eagerly avoid - and that is to have Christ be our first focus, and men our last.
2. I believe reading into things is one of my struggles and that is because my eyes are on the things of this world and what I believe that I need and not on Jesus Christ Himself. Instead of expecting that "he" likes me or that if I just do X,Y,Z then he will notice me...I should listen to the declaration that Christ has made on the CROSS of His LOVE for me that is Pure, Righteous, Holy, and Perfect, a love that no one, not even the man that God has for me to marry will ever come close to. A love that will break through earthly time and will carry me through ETERNITY with my bride-groom.
ReplyDelete3. To lay down my weaknesses of lust, covetousness, and deceit is a daily need to receive His strength in exchange for them. What an opportunity we have as single women to set our eyes on Jesus and allow Him to work through us to reach other young women who are grasping at a worldly "love" that will never satisfy. I hope and pray that I will use this season of life to Glorify Him in how I treat my brothers and how I can share the HOPE of the Gospel with women who need to accept the betrothel to Jesus Christ, our Prince!