I AM ~ Lesson Six

I AM ~ Lesson 6 "West Side of the Wilderness"

This week's study was great! I thank God for the 'burning bush' moments in my life. Yet, I also thank Him for the times I've had to be 'decidedly content'! Every day is a journey toward greater closeness and likeness to the Father.
If' you'd like to read the lesson from today please go here. The "I AM" link on the side bar of my blog will take you to the entire study. Please check it out!

Here are this weeks questions:


1. How current is your God? Is he up to date on all your issues or do you have old hurts you still hold behind your back? I don't think I have 'old hurts'. Now, of course I still deal with some things from my past, mainly just attitudes I have about myself, but God is continuously working on me in that area. I have to remember that my worth is in what He thinks of me! I am constantly bringing things to Him and letting Him be present/current in my everyday life.

2. Has the enemy ever told you there are situations that are 'old news' that are better left stuffed down? Or perhaps because they were so long ago they can't possibly be affecting you now? Oh yes, things like to creep up on me! All of a sudden something pops into my head that I haven't thought about in years. I have to chose to either let it bother me or just bring it to the Lord and let Him handle it.

3. In the matter of established authority, does God truly reign in your life? Where are you when He calls your name? He does truly reign in my life! I desire to say "Here I am!" when He calls! I want to be listening closely to hear my name!

4. Do you ever feel God has forgotten you in your 'west side of the wilderness'? Sometimes being a stay at home mom I kind of feel like I'm always in the wilderness alone :-) ! I think it's important to remember that if we daily follow in His footsteps and chose to do His will, we are doing something great in the eye's of God. I know I have been at places where I felt like God was a billion miles away, but I can always see Him when I look back at the situation. Those are usually times of growth and change and sometimes it takes that to draw us closer to Him.

5. Have you ever experienced a time of cleansing where God has illuminated and rejuvenated you? If not, do you find you are in need of this now? Yes! And wow aren't those times awesome! I love how God shows up and out at just the right time. He knows what we need and when we need it. It's breathtaking to be in the presence of the Lord and truly experience it!

*I Am* Online Bible Study (Questions) Lesson 5

My questions from The Preacher's Wife online Bible study (lesson 5). I started this 2 weeks ago and have been going back through the first 3 lessons I missed and they are awesome! If anyone is interested in doing them on their own time... Go here or click the 'I Am... so you don't have to be' icon on the side bar. I'm almost caught up, thank goodness, because I don't like doing things out of order. It's part of my quirky personality, I guess!

1. Have you ever found yourself 'in faith' yet bewildered or demoralized? Yes, I have! There have been times when I wondered what in the world I was doing.. or asked myself 'how did I get here?'.
2. Do you consider yourself content? Would you describe it as Decidedly Content or Dreamily Content? A mixture of both I think. There are moments when I purpose in my heart to be content 'in whatever state I'm in'. And just like Paul said in that (Phil 4:11) verse it is something 'learned'. I have wonderful moments where I am truly, dreamily content. Those come from all kinds of things... my husband, son and of course God. I love when I can just rest in His goodness!
3. If you are not content, are there circumstances that keep you from this feeling? I am content.. so I'll skip this one!
4. Have you ever found yourself in a place where you looked back on a period of your Christian walk and believed a great opportunity passed you by? Yes! I have missed lots of opportunity from fear! I've gotten scared and chickened out of doing things that I knew God wanted me to do.
5. Do you ever believe your faith was stronger in an earlier time in your Christianity and find yourself floundering now? Sometimes I do look back on the time when I was single and felt closer to God. I don't think I was 'closer' though, it was just a different kind of 'season' with God. Hmm.. let's see if I can explain... I think at that time in my life was the 'foundation' time. God was laying the foundation of my faith for me to build on. I was a new Christian and it was just a time of magnificant transformation in my life. Now, of course, I am still transforming, but it's a different 'season'. I'm not sure how else to explain it. I definitly do not think I'm floundering now though. I am continually drawing closer and closer to the Lord and to be honest it's a more intimate walk with Him than I have ever had.
6. Can you recognize that this season may be one of great preparation instead of a period of "I Was"? I think that it's important to remember that all seasons are seasons of preparation. I think that even if we're not preparing for a certain circumstance or opportunity in our walk, we are preparing for the coming of Jesus Christ.