Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Wow... what a night!  To kick things off, we had some awesome worship led by Patty ("We Cry Out" and "Hosanna").  Thank you, Patty, for blessing us with music and beautiful vocals!! :)

Secondly, it is always amazing being with people you care about deeply and with whom you can both be real and have fun.  We missed seeing those who were not able to be there last night, though...

Since we didn't have a sermon to follow from Sunday for our study last night, we all decided to view a video by Beth Moore that is a part of her "Living Beyond Yourself" study which centers around the Fruit of the Spirit.  Last night's video was on "LOVE."
http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/files/lwcF_LBY07_Introduction_SampleSession.pdf

Ladies, I wish that I could give each of you a copy of last night's video... I even looked on iTunes to see if it could be purchased, but to no avail.  Yet, here are some paraphrased quotes from the study that blessed us all:

• To love is to risk rejection.
• The prerequistie for rejection is 'relationship.'
• Love loves the UNLovely... Love loves our enemies... It seeks to love those who have rejected us.
• We tend to settle and reach out to a wound of rejection than to grasp that we've been CHOSEN.
• There is NO SUCH THING as an unwanted adopted child.
• God has chosen you... adopted you
• His love never fails.  (1 Corinthians 13:8)
• The meaning for "fail" is to "drop or fall off."
• When you love and it isn't received by someone... It doesn't fall to the ground, but is received by God.  God recieves it.  Your love will never fall to the ground.
• Our tendency is to want to recover what has rejected us OR to recover it long enough to reject it back (to have revenge).  This type of coping never fixes us or promotes healing.  Let God take care of it....
• God is SOVEREIGN and SUPREME.  Satan asks God if he can enter into our days... God only allows this if His glory is able to shine in and through the situation. He will never allow something to happen that won't usher in His glory.  (Romans 11:15, Romans 8)
• God allows rejection as a way to save us from devastation or because the situation we are in is not His best for us.  A closed door to what would cause greater pain.  

Ladies, I can't do the video justice.  There were so many quotes that validated the painful sting of rejection as well as our need to come to God for deep and lasting healing.  Please feel free to share/comment on quotes that blessed your heart last night.

Next week we'll be digging back into Luke.

His love through me,

Meridith