Sufficient Self's Bible Study Group

[bambi]

Enjoyed your story DD-- I struggle with receiving, it is always easier to give. I have a dear friend that helped me to learn to be a better receiver, and how this came about was she gave me a gift for no reason and I quickly started trying to give her someting in return, well she turned to me and said "you know you are a very selfish receiver" she helped me to understand the importance of receiving and it wasn't very much longer before for my wonderful father became terminally ill and I watched and learn thru him how hard it is to be the reciever when you are ill. My Father was always the nurture he gave and fixed everything he did not like to receive wanted to be the giver it was hard to watch him struggle with receiving our help and I don't think he ever relised that when he was receiving from his children he was giving us a greater gift. I try to install this thinking now when I have to receive from others I am giving them the gift to give and they get to have that good feel.

 

[MorelCabin]

Well I asked the Lord for years to give me a 'gift' or show me what my gift was. I was tired of being just a plain old housewife, or a mom, but am not by any means the type to have a career either. And then I accidentally got into quilting, and quickly learned that I had a gift of turning pictures into quilts, and LOVED doing it. The Lord uses the gift he gave me, it has become a ministry in itself, and I abslolutely love making them for people that He handpicks...even strangers! I don't know if I ever told you all about the eagle quilt He inspired for a fellow here that was a complete stranger to me...and I ended up being blessed just as much if not more than the man it was made for. When the Lord inspires it, it ends up being the best work ever! It is like it flows out of me, and during those times I am closer to the Lord than at any other time in my life.
So the 'gift' I asked for ended up being both a blessing and a ministry, and it gives me great joy to give to the Lord in this way.

Deb, your story about the horse is wonderful! It amazes me how the Lord can give us what we desire and turn it into something we can use for His kingdom.

Bee, you go ahead and ask for whatever it is that you are asking, because knowing you and your heart for the Lord, I know that it will also come to be used in the same way!

 

[walkaboutjacks]

I'll continue to pray that God's will be done.

What do you all feel about praying for prosperity? I don't necessarily mean financial....just life in general. I've never really prayed for riches, material things, fame or fortune and I don't intend to do so now....but there is something in particular that I really want and it will glorify God.

Is it a bad thing to pray a little selfishly or for maybe selfish reasons? In the course of glorifying God, I'd like a smidgen of success myself and I am feeling pretty bad about even wanting that. I know scripture states that He wants to prosper us but I can tell you that, though He has provided for me and mine very well, I don't know if how we've lived could be called "prosperity". Is wanting a small level of success a bad thing to pray for?

3 John 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest PROSPER AND BE IN HEALTH, even as thy soul prospereth.
See? He wants that for us ABOVE ALL THINGS!
In the ministry I was in we were always taught to be specific! So we did and here are a couple of stories to illistrate

1. We were looking for new rental home in Florida and we wrote our list as to what we wanted God to provide for us....
House with 3 bedrooms
Close to work
Affordable
and a pool for the kids to cool off in

so...we thought we had found the right place and it had everything we wanted except for the pool! I was rather dissapointed until my DD (6years old) started yelling "It has a pool! It has a pool!" we were rather puzzled until she dragged us into the garage .....and there ....hanging on the wall was a kiddy pool! (note to self....next time pray for an INGROUND pool)

Same place same time frame

We needed a new car badly as our old pickup truck was not doing the job with 2 kids who were supposed to be in car seats.
Again we made a list

DH wanted a caddy
Low miles
Affordable (we set a price)
color....well he wanted black...I argued for white as the florida heat was a bit much for black....
drove to the car lot and asked the sales guy if he had anything like that (left out the color)
he said YES..but it is at the DMV right now getting reg fixed...so we waited
and waited

finally it pulled in....PERFECT! miles were right..price was right!
except it was




GREY!

 

[Denim Deb]

I've always said God has a sense of humor.

But sometimes the specifics that we ask for are not what's best for us. When I lost Binty, I prayed for another chestnut Arabian mare, w/a flaxen mane and tail, between the ages of 5 and 12, broke to ride, and no more than $500.00. I had planned on going to a horse auction to look. Arabs aren't real popular here, and you can often find them at auction for cheap. Well, I never made the auction. Instead of the chestnut mare, I got a flea bitten gray. She wasn't handled, let alone broke to ride. But, she was $500, and she was only 5. As time went on, I realized that God had a purpose.

Truthfully, if she had been chestnut, I would have resented her at times because she WASN'T Binty. And, since I've done all the training on her myself, I get more satisfaction out of riding her than I have w/any other horse I've EVER ridden. Plus, I've learned more from doing the training myself than I would have if I had gotten what I wanted. There are times when I'll go riding w/people that don't know me that are shocked that I'm riding an Arabian in a very mild bit. Arabians have the reputation of being spooky and hard to handle. She very rarely spooks, and when she does, it's normally not that badly. And, she listens. I have less trouble w/her than most of these other people have w/their horses.

I've often found that when God wants me to have something, He'll lay it on my heart to pray for it, and pray often. Right now, I'm finding more and more I want my own farm, and find myself praying for it more and more. I'm almost afraid to, but yet at the same time, I'm wanting to spend less and less time at RU's because of all that goes on out there. Unless we've already planned a ride, or I have a pony ride to do, on weekends, I only go out to feed.

 

[BarredBuff]

Nice stories everyone!!!

 

[Beekissed]

Y'all made me cry this morning! But in a good way! You don't know how much you uplift me and edify me....I really needed to hear those stories and this support from godly people at this time in my life.

You see, I quit my job recently for ethical and spiritual reasons....and, for now, I don't intend to get another. Particularly not in the nursing field, unless, of course, God would lead me in that direction. Instead, I plan to take sanctuary at my mother's and write. Immerse myself in the Scriptures and write. Lose all the weight that has been hanging on over these years of caring for others, regain the health I've lost in the last 3 years and write.

I plan to write that book about our homesteading life when I was young, the things it and the strong women in my life taught me, how to not only survive low economic times but to actually change your attitude to one of thriving and succeeding at the skills it takes to live a frugal life and how to raise food for your family in a simple, cheap way. Last but not least, it will also tell how my journey in faith has grown along with my knowledge about life and how to survive it and how that faith, modeled first by the women before me, has made all the difference in how I handle situations that come my way. It will offer simple tips, creative solutions, a little bit of humor and a good dose of faith.

My desire and the thing of which I am praying is this: That this book be picked up by a publisher and that it be widely distributed, become a source of reference for those needing help and that it spin off into other book deals of the same and, most importantly, a ministry for me. I wish to travel around to churches and do talks on strong women of faith and courage in times of economic hardship and how those women can help themselves and each other.

I want to ask those churches to plant and grow food for their members who made be in need and for those in the community that surely are. I want them to help those women who are raising children by theirselves and ask the men to mentor those children, ask the churches to be more aware of the need in their own communities for this kind of closeness and fellowship in these hard times. I want the proceeds from the book(s) to support me financially in this ministry... I do not want to have to solicit travel money from those churches.

In my heart I know that this is a lot to ask for and I know my God is powerful and can do anything, but I feel almost guilty to ask for so much. I know that this is a big request.

I so need a career change, a fresh wind in my heart and mind, and some way to make money without compromising my values and constantly receiving emotional and spiritual wounds every day. I'm so very tired of feeling desparately hurt for my patients, from my co-worker's lack of compassion and integrity, and from this profession of nursing.

I love nursing and nurturing others but who I have to work with when trying to do this has always been a source of sadness, frustration and misery. The number of nurses who show true compassion~ past their own laziness, self-serving interests, greed and apathy~ for their patients is very few....this I've found in all these 18 years past and I've never gotten used to it. I know that I never will and I can't seem to continue to work past it.

I need this change and I so want to succeed at this for so many reasons! Anyhoo...didn't mean to bore youin's to death this morning but I just felt led to tell you about this big thing sitting in the middle of my chest. You all have shown me so much support in my life these past few years and I feel strongly that you people understand more than most about struggles in life and in faith....you have no idea how important you have been to me!

 

[Denim Deb]

Bee, I hear you on wanting to write. That's what I want to do as well. But, in order for me to do that, I need to get my life organized. My main problem, there are days when I just can't seem to get going. I'm seriously wondering if I might be low on vitamin D, and am thinking of getting some blood work done to check for it. Plus at times, I just feel so overburdened. And quite truthfully, I thought about leaving when the others did.

But, I need this forum. I need the contact w/other Christians who are more like me than any of the ones I know in RL. Y'all don't know how much your support means to me. I find strength here that I get from no place else. I see the people in church on Sunday, and maybe Wednesday. I can't imagine calling any of them on the phone and just talking and sharing the way I do here. Most of them wouldn't understand. Plus, I hate to feel like I'm bothering someone. But on here, I can "talk" to my heart's content. People can read or not read, as they choose. They can give me the encouragement that I need, and I can do the same for them. Many of us have the same hopes, dreams and desires, so that gives us a bond that I lack in RL. Maybe if I live someplace else, I have it in RL, but for now, I cannot leave the area that I'm in. Plus, w/my MD, I'm not sure it would be wise. Other places might have triggers that are worse than what I deal w/here.

 

[walkaboutjacks]

In my heart I know that this is a lot to ask for and I know my God is powerful and can do anything, but I feel almost guilty to ask for so much. I know that this is a big request.

Nothing is too big for our God! Have you really seen what He has done already? Why feel even the teenest bit guilty? That guilt isn't coming from God but from the world around you who would rather you be quiet and not write a book. who would rather you be beaten down in a job that strips you of believing, who would rather you NOT spread God's word to other women and help make them strong too! Any blocks placed on your road are not from God, but from the adversary who

cometh not, but to steal and to kill and to destroy

and you can add "to shut you up" to that quote.
You have God's hand of protection over you and you can call on it whenever you want. And you deserve everything He has to offer you!

 

[rebecca100]

Bee when u write that book and it is published, I want to be the first to buy it. Walkabout is exactly right. Satan is putting doubts in your mind not God. I have struggled so hard about praying for the restoration of my family especially after the divorce papers came in. Satan told me I was being selfish, stupid, pitiful, and such. I still am told to just give up by people who don't know God. But whenever I feel weak and like giving up he strengthens me and brings me to praise his name. Financially even without a job I am doing better than I have in a long time simply through His provision. He blesses my family daily in ways that I would be all day trying to name. I have seen him changing my heart, my kids hearts, AND the heart of my husband! Things aren't easy, and I still have trials, but now I have Him holding my hand through them all! When I think of all He has done-it's amazing! I know through Him NOTHING is impossible!!!!

 

[Beekissed]

I thank God for you people...I honestly do! And here I am crying again.....

You guys know the exact right thing to say. I needed to hear that, walkaboutjacks, and I believe you are incredibly right! Satan would love for me to never write that book and for it never to be published. I AM going to write it and I'm going to give it up to God for the publishing!

Rebecca, I am so glad you are giving your marriage to God and you are right...there is nothing He cannot do, no marriage He cannot fix. I, too, have been the recipient of God's own grace when it comes to finances and it's like a miracle every time it happens. It IS a miracle! No WAY I could have made it through without God supplying for my needs!

Deb, I know exactly what you mean about these forums. The support and friendship I find here is unlike any I have anywhere else....complete strangers who have a meeting of the mind, heart and souls to encourage each other on a difficult road. Where else can you get that??? And you are right too, about Christians in RL....I know none except my own son and my mother with whom I can talk about the Lord, my life in faith and the struggles therein.

I don't know what I'd do without you all!