Oct 2 2011

GMG 1 John Study, Week 2

I’m going to be sharing my Bible Study notes on 1 John on my blog. I’m using the SOAP method which is to write out the Scripture, write one to two Observations, make Application, and then write a Prayer. Some days I may not share if it is too personal. I hope this is encouraging to you. And if you want to join in just go to http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/

This week was not a great week as far getting up in the morning and getting in the Word.  I failed miserably.  At least I was trying though and that is more than what has happened in the past.  Tonight I read a great blog post by Inspired to Action on about failing.  If you are struggling with getting down on yourself for failing than please take the time to go and read this post.

I spent tonight getting caught up with the GMG study on 1 John and I am so glad I did.  Let me share with you my notes from week 2 of the study of 1 John.

Day 1

1 John 1:5- “This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”

Observation
John is passing on what he heard from Jesus.  This is an eyewitness account. Not only is he passing it on, but proclaiming it without a shadow of a doubt.

We see a stark contrast between God who is light and humans who are full of darkness and depravity.  There isn’t a big of darkness in God.

Application
To be able to abide in Christ we can have no darkness.  On our own we can not get rid of our darkness.  It is only through the blood of Jesus that we can abide in Him.

Prayer
Dear Lord, Thank you for providing a way for me to abide in You. In Jesus name, Amen

Day 2

1 John1:6-7- “If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Observation
Since God is light, those who walk in darkness are not of God no matter what they say. You can not walk in darkness, i.e. sin, and have fellowship with Him.

Walking in the light means to reflect God’s perfection which is twofold: correct doctrine and moral purity.  We can only know correct doctrine as we are faithful students of His Word.  His Word is also where we learn about moral purity.

Application
We need to be in the Word so we can walk in the light.  When we walk in the light and reflect God’s holiness we will shine on dark places in those around us.  We may ind the world begins to hate us, but take heart Christ has overcome the world.

Prayer
Dear Lord, Give me the courage to continue to walk int he light.  Help me to live the life you have called us to as Christians.  Please give me friends who are doing the same to encourage me along the way. In Jesus name, Amen

Day 3

1 John 1:8-9- “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Observation
I have always known verse nine but never really read it together with verse eight.  What a contrast we see! If we deny we have any sin and try to act righteous we have no truth in us.  But if we own up to our sin and realize we are depraved, confessing it to God, He is faithful to cleans us.

Application
Confess your sin.  Own up to what depraved humans we are.  You will find peace in Christ. He will cleanse you.  We are dependent on Him.  We can’t do it alone.

Prayer
Dear Lord, Thank you for cleansing me from my sin when I confess it. Help me to own up to my own wretchedness and declare my full reliance on You.  In Jesus name, Amen

Day 4

1 John 1:10- “If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

Observation
You cannot be a Christian and not realize what a wretched , depraved sinner you are.

Application
Humble yourself before God and remember what drew you out of.  Compare yourself to His holiness and throw yourself at His feet.

Prayer
Dear Lord, I am a wretched depraved sinner who must continue to come to you for forgiveness.  Thank you for your grace and mercy.  Help me to never take it for granted.  In Jesus name, Amen

Oct 2 2011

Encouragement for Moms

I found Inspired to Action when I heard about the maximize your mornings challenge, which I promptly joined. So far I haven’t been doing that great but better than I was before I started the challenge. Anyway, she has some great posts and in her last post was this video and it was so super encouraging! Take the time to listen. It will make you feel renewed about being a mom. Enjoy!

Sep 26 2011

My Weight Loss Journey Week #6

I lost 3 pounds this week!! I could hardly believe it. I didn’t eat the best but I did stay within my points and journal what I ate. Just goes to show that that makes a BIG difference. Write down what you eat!! When I didn’t I gained a pound last week and when I did this week I lost three. The proof is in the pudding as they say, just make sure it’s sugar free and fat free. LOL My goals for this week are to drink my water and do my new fitness plan Slim in 6. I also want to work on eating more fruits and veggies this week. I need to go shopping for some and then my plan is to eat one serving at every meal and one at two different times for snacks. What are your weight loss or fitness goals this week?

Sep 26 2011

Great Fall Giveaway-Usborne, Tiffany DeOs

Every week this fall I will be featuring a home based business and giving away something to you my readers!!  This is going to be so awesome.  So far it looks like I will have Cakes with Jaz, Sew Cute Designs, Gourmet Cupboard, Dove Chocolate, Beachbody, The Modest Mom, Scentsy, Pampered Chef, Tupperware, and Usborne.  I’m still working on getting some of these lined up and even more!! So check back every Monday or better yet sign up for the RSS feed or via email on the sidebar so you don’t miss a thing.

The first giveaway in the series is from my business with Usborne Books and More.  I have been a consultant for about two years now and I love it!  At the beginning of the year I promoted to supervisor and it has been a great business through all of my children. I love books and have kids so it was the perfect fit.  Plus the fact that there are no monthly minimums and I am a consultant for life was a huge selling point since then I don’t have to worry about stuff while I am pregnant or after birth, ect.   My kids love Usborne books and love to help me pack the bags when I get books ready to deliver.

This is our mission statement: ”The future of our world depends on the education of our children.  UBAM delivers educational excellence one book at a time.  We provide economic opportunity while fostering strong family values.  We touch the lives of children for a lifetime.”  One of our taglines is “Books Kids Love to Read.”  And time and time again I see this to be tree. I have tons of customers who have told me their kids wouldn’t read anything until they got them some Usborne books.  They are colorful and engaging with knowledge in bite sized chunks.  I love our books!!

I specifically want to show you two of the books in a new drawing series.  They are great for Christmas gifts and I am giving away the Drawing Pirates and Drawing Princesses but we also have Drawing Dinosaurs and Drawing Horses. They have great plastic covers and are super sturdy with stickers, papers, instructions, stencils, scenes to draw on, and some info on the topic to learn in the back.  The girl ones (horses and princesses) even snap and have a handle so they look like a purse.  They retail for $14,99 a piece.  When I pulled them out of the box my kids were ooohing and ahhing and it was all I could do to keep them away from them. Needless to say they will be getting them for Christmas. :) So without further ado here is a short picture tour through the books.

Starting with Drawing Princesses because we all know that girls go first.  :)

Cover

Inside the Front Cover

One of the Sticker Pages

Removable Stencils

Some of the Fabric Like Paper

Silhouettes to Decorate

Directions in the back

And now on to the Drawing Pirates book.

Cover

Inside the front cover

Some of the stickers

Papers

Removable Stencils

Close up of how the stencils go in and out

Scenes

Info in the back

So there are the great books! In addition to giving away a copy of each of those, if you host a catalog, online, or regular party and it reaches $200 in October you will be entered in a drawing for the Very First Reading Set. So far there is only one person entered! You don’t want to miss out. Here is a picture and description of the set.

Very First Reading Set

Usborne Very First Reading is an exciting series of fifteen books for children who are just starting to learn to read. It offers:
- the appeal of imaginative rhyming stories and irresistible illustrations
- the support of a well-researched framework
- the enjoyment of shared reading with an adult

So enter the drawing just use the rafflecopter below! If you need help figuring it out just leave a comment. You have until next Monday to enter! Stay tuned for a review of Cakes with Jaz next week.


Sep 23 2011

Comparisons

If you are a woman, as I suppose most of my readers to be, I am sure you have compared yourselves to your friends.  You think, “wow, that mom does a lot.”  Or “she has such a clean, organized house.”  Or “how does she run her home so effectively.”  Or “how does she have so much time to make such beautiful things.”  The list could go on and on.  I find myself comparing myself a lot lately. I’ll come home from wherever I’ve been or talk to my husband after reading blogs or facebook and be down on myself because I don’t do such and such.  But then I remember I have FOUR kids…three of whom are under 3!  AND God has not called me to be those other woman.  He has called me to be the mom of my four blessings and the wife to my husband.  No one else can do that. Lots of people can be the best business owner, or the most organized mom, or the most crafty, or whatever but no one and I mean no one else can be my kids mommy or my husband’s wife.  Remember this when you start to compare yourself with those around you because you know we all do.  There are certain things that God has called you to that no one else can do it.  Do these will all your might and God will bring you peace and joy as you fulfill His purpose.

Sep 23 2011

Fall Into Reading 2011

I’m glad I didn’t miss out on this.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to read.  This challenge is right up my ally.  Without further ado, here is my fall reading list goal.
The added goal for me is to implement the Maxwell books.  Now that will be the real challenge but I need to get organized if I’m going to go back to school.
Go check out the challenge here and enter today!
Sep 23 2011

GMG 1 John Study, Week 1, Day 4

I’m going to be sharing my Bible Study notes on 1 John on my blog. I’m using the SOAP method which is to write out the Scripture, write one to two Observations, make Application, and then write a Prayer. Some days I may not share if it is too personal. I hope this is encouraging to you. And if you want to join in just go to http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/

1 John 1:4 “And we are writing these things so that your joy may be complete.:

Observation
Sharing about what he, John, had seen and heard made his joy complete.  He also wanted to promote joy which can only come from the Father.

Application
We need to share our joy with other’s to make it complete in our lives and theirs.

Prayer
Lord, help me to find my joy in You and to share it with others so it may be complete. In Jesus name, Amen

Sep 23 2011

A Mother’s Love Chapter

I stole this from A Wise Woman Builds Her Home.  Go check out her blog for other encouraging posts.

If I talk to my children about what is right and what is wrong, but I have not love, I am like a ringing doorbell or pots banging in the kitchen. And though I know what stages they will go through, and understanding their growing pains, and can answer all their questions about life, and believe myself to be a devoted mother, but I have not love, I have nothing.

If I give up the fulfillment of a career to make my children’s lives better, and stay up all night sewing costumes or baking cookies at short notice, but grumble about lack of sleep, I have not love and accomplish nothing.

A loving mother is patient with her children’s immaturity and kind even when they are not; a loving mother is not jealous of their youth nor does she hold it over their heads whenever she has sacrificed for them.

A loving mother believe in her children; she hopes in each one’s individual ability to stand out as a light in a dark world; she endures every backache  and hearthache to accomplish that.

A loving mother never really dies. As for home-baked bread, it will be consumed and forgotten: as for spotless floors, they will soon gather dust and heel marks. As for children, right now toys, friends and food are all-important to them. But when they grow up, it will be their mother’s love that they will remember and pass on to others. In that way, she will live on.

So care, training and a loving mother reside in a home, these three but the greatest of these is a loving mother.

-Anonymous
Sep 22 2011

GMG 1 John Study, Week 1, Day 3

I’m going to be sharing my Bible Study notes on 1 John on my blog. I’m using the SOAP method which is to write out the Scripture, write one to two Observations, make Application, and then write a Prayer. Some days I may not share if it is too personal. I hope this is encouraging to you. And if you want to join in just go to http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/

 

1 John 1:3 “that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowhsip with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his son Jesus Christ.”

Observation
John desires to procalim what he has seen and heard not just to bring people to salvation, but so they can be in fellowship with him. And not just with but with the Father.

Application
We need to proclaim the Word and draw others into fellowship. We need to draw others into fellowship. We need to draw them to personal communion with God. What am I drawing people to? What am I drawing my kids to? Is it fellowship with God?

Prayer
Lord, help me to be someone who draws others to fellowship with you. Help my spirit and attitude during the day draw my children to you. In Jesus name, Amen.

———————————

Now since this was supposed to be Wednesday’s post and that is the link up day and I totally missed it, let’s just pretend I posted this on time and go ahead and do the link up.  :) So just go back in time with me and pretend it is in Wednesday.  LOL

Sep 20 2011

GMG 1 John Study, Week 1, Day 2

I’m going to be sharing my Bible Study notes on 1 John on my blog. I’m using the SOAP method which is to write out the Scripture, write one to two Observations, make Application, and then write a Prayer. Some days I may not share if it is too personal. I hope this is encouraging to you. And if you want to join in just go to http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/

1 John 1:2 – “the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and procalim to you the eternal life which was with the father and was made manifest to us –”  ESV

Observation
In the last part of this verse we once again see the truth that Jesus is fully God and fully man.

The words life and eternal life tell us about the quality of life we have when in fellowship with God, through Christ.  We saw it first demonstrated in christ and now lived out in the believer.  Thsi fellowship grows out of the relationship between the Son and the Father.

Application
We have been given life and eternal life from God through the work of Jesus.  Thsi is totally a work of the grace of God and nothing we do or did.  We need to live in such a way that shows our dependence on that grace and thankfullness for that grace.

Prayer
Lord, Thank you for your grace that has given me life, eternal life.  Help me never to take that for granted.  In Jesus name, Amen