Whatever! Week 2

First of all, I want to commend you for a job well done this past week. Many of you have commented on what you’re learning in our study and several of you have shared with me personally that you are doing your work, journaling, and tagging your thoughts. I’m proud of you!! By the way there are 24 of you registered for this online study. Thank you for that! I’d love for you to invite a friend to join us. It’s not too late.

Before we get into our topic for next week, I want to share some of the comments that were left on the online Bible Study post pages this past week. One comment Pam shared was regarding her thought process regarding work. She often encounters disgruntled caregivers who need nurturing responses, and patients who need encouraging, gentle, and compassionate responses. She said, “Everyone has a story, and I make many attempts to not allow my patience to grow thin as the stories stack up.” She continued by saying that she has to keep her spirit in check as she encounters caregivers who whine and invade her think tank. The way she trains her mind for battle is to pray. She specifically asks God to give her “encouraging words.” She asks the Lord to allow people to see the calm in her in an effort to impact them with her compassionate and sweet spirit. Great job, Pam! You are on the right path to learning to four-eight the WHATEVERS!

Another comment I received was from Donna. In talking about truth she said, “The world is so LOUD that without stepping into His presence we can hardly tell the lies apart from the truth.” This is a wonderfully insightful statement. She is right, if we are not abiding in Jesus’ presence we will NOT be able to discern God’s Truth from the lies of the enemy. And we MUST be able to discern what is true. This is why I am so grateful we are studying God’s Word together. As we get into the Word we step into His presence. As we pray we step into His presence. As we commune with God we step into His presence. And as we serve we step into His presence. Jesus’ presence is vital to truth! Thank you for that reminder, Donna!

Now, with that being said let’s look at week two of our study. Over the next seven days we will look at a very specific category of thoughts that keep our minds twirling … thoughts of self.

Most of us are our own worst critics! We generally don’t think of ourselves through the lens of Philippians 4:8. Our vision is skewed. We don’t see that which is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, or worthy of praise. We see the opposite. We view our bodies through a faulty lens, our thoughts about ourselves are generally neither honorable, just, pure, lovely or commendable. We don’t see ourselves as excellent or worthy of praise. Truthfully, many of us have the opposite points-of-view. We see lies, we see faults and failures, some see themselves as unclean, ugly, and unworthy. We view ourselves as common, and we disrespect and devalue that which God has created for His glory.

Do you know what we do when we think these things about ourselves? In reality we devalue God. We make Him out to be deceitful, imperfect, and unworthy of praise and glory. We have got to stop!!

So, here is your homework for today. This week I will post it daily. So Thursday morning you will find the day’s homework in your inbox when you wake up. For today, you can either continue scrolling down and doing your homework, or you can download this PDF and print out your work for today.

Read Psalm 139 and answer these questions.

#1 Go verse by verse and write down what this passage tells you about the relationship between God and man.

Example:

• Psalm 139:1 – God searches me and knows me
• Psalm 139:2 – He knows what I do and what I think
• Psalm 139:3 – God knows my path and is familiar with my ways (i.e. my tendencies – good and bad)

#2 What does Psalm 139:14 say about the way you are made? Circle or highlight it below.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.Wonderful are your works;
 my soul knows it very well.

 Do you feel like you are a wonderful work?

#3 In Genesis God is introduced as Elohim the Creator. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth.”  Now if you continue reading in Genesis you see that God created man and woman. That means He created you and me. Again, what does Psalm 139:14 say about the way we are made?

Keeping that in mind, is there anything about yourself that you don’t like? Perhaps it’s the way you look, your abilities, the way you talk, your personality, your talent. Identify it.

Can you choose to rest in the fact that Elohim – Creator God – made you for His exact purpose. Would that help you think on that which is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and commendable about yourself?

Let’s talk about our true identity for a moment. Read Isaiah 43:1 – 7.

Verse 7 is key here. It says: Whom I created for my ____________, whom I formed and ______________.

We were created for God’s glory and that is our main purpose in life.

Glory means to give the correct opinion or estimate of

If our purpose is to give God glory then we need to live our lives in such a way that we do just that. We need to make sure we are giving others a correct opinion or estimate of God so that we can bring Him much glory.

What thought patterns about yourself do you need to “four-eight” in order to bring God glory?

Can you view yourself from God’s eyes for just a moment? Write down what you think  He sees. (Remember that God doesn’t make mistakes. He has created you and only you for His purpose and glory.)

Now read Psalm 139:23-24 as a prayer asking God to show you if there is any grievous way in you. Ask Him to try you and know your thoughts, then ask Him to realign your thoughts about yourself to match His thoughts about you. Ask God to give you a correct view of yourself so you can have a right view of Him.

How wonderful it has been to be in the Word with you today! I look forward to tomorrow. I’ll give you a hint. I’m not going to pump us up and try to give us self-esteem lessons this week. We are going to look at Jesus, and in light of who He is, we are going to see a beautiful image of ourselves. I can’t wait!

Hang in there with me!!

Blessings fearfully and wonderfully made one!