For Those of you who are unable to make it to Monday Night studies, you can still follow along right here!
Tonight's Lesson:
I WANNA BE CARMEN MIRANDA
Say the name Carmen Miranda and instantly we all envision a Latin lady in bright clothes wearing a hat laden with more fruit than the produce department at Wal*Mart. Her hat had it all and to this day, it is the thing she is known for, even though it has been over 50 years since her death.
My question to you is…What about us? What are we known for?
If you're like me, I want to be known as a woman of God. I want to be the Biblical scholar who has the right bible verse on the tip of her tongue for every situation. I want to ooze forth all of those virtues of the Proverbs 31 woman. I want to find those magic housecleaning fairies so that my house will always be immaculate and company-ready!
But, alas…we live in the real world where fairies don't really exist and we can't learn the Word of God through osmosis or just by sitting through a church service on Sundays.
So that is the purpose of this Bible Study. To spend some time each day meditating on the word of God.
RUNNING FOR THE GOLD OR HONORABLE MENTION?
To many it seems unimportant in the grand scheme of things to memorize scripture. As long as you're reading your bible and spending time in prayer, that's all that God asks, right? Well…yes and no.
Really, the only thing that God asks of us to enter into heaven is just the belief that his son Jesus died on the cross, was raised on the third day and needs to live in each of our hearts.
That's it and if you are happy with the honorable mention ribbon at the end of your race, then maybe this study isn't for you because in my Bible it tells me that I don't have to just finish the race, but I can run the race with perseverance (Hebrews 12:1) to "receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us." (Philippians 3:14)
Perseverance means that we are running this race in a course of action with a purpose INSPITE OF difficulties, obstacle or discouragement. And we all know that this race of life is not easy, but Romans 15:4 (CEV) says that "the Scriptures were written to teach and encourage us by giving us hope."
Why memorize scripture? If for no other reason than to have hope. Hope that you have the chance and the opportunity to achieve the gold medal at the end of your race.
And this hope is not just for you! This hope is for those around you who might be lost and confused. Maybe the scriptures you memorize aren't all meant for you…maybe they are for someone in your life or someone who might come into your life in the future who needs the hope that there is more to their life than the honorable mention ribbon.
LET'S DO IT!
So, here we go…off on this journey of hope together. Let's all put on our Carmen Miranda hats and proclaim proudly to the world that we ARE different because we are the living embodiment of the most high God and not only do we speak it in our words, but we show it in our actions.
Galatians 5:22-23 is our starting place and the center point of our study. It says:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Over the next weeks, we will take each of these nine fruits and spend time each day meditating on one scripture pertaining to each. And by meditating, I don't mean spend hours thinking about it or pulling out grandma's big Biblical Concordance and pouring over correlating scriptures, but rather try to answer some of these questions each day:
How does this scripture apply to my life?
Do I feel like I embody this scripture or do I have a hard time with this particular fruit of the Spirit?
Did I know this scripture already or is it new to me?
Why is God asking me or telling me this?
I encourage each of you to keep a journal over our time together. You don't have to write in it every day, but as we go, you will find that maybe one or two scriptures a week lodge in a special place in your heart. God might be teaching you something new about your race to your gold medal and it would be a shame to forget it!
PRAYER
In the very beginning of our journey, I want us all to take a moment to pray for openness and softness to the guiding of the Holy Spirit.
Here is a prayer you can use on your own or you could even rewrite it in your journal in your own words.
Dear God…thank you that I am not on a race to honorable mention. Thank you that you have created me for more. You have created me for gold. In these weeks to come, help me to be diligent to meditate on your word and to live daily in the hope that it brings to my life and to the lives of those around me. Allow me, one by one, to add each of these fruits to my spiritual basket if I don't already possess them and strengthen those that already reside within my heart. In Jesus Name…Amen.
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