Thinking Girls Bible Study

We all need reminders. We have calendars, appointment books, reminders, notes, alerts on our phones, sticky notes, etc. We are forgetful people, but that’s only part of it. We all live such fast-paced, busy lives, and we process so much information each given day that we need reminders to bring our focus back to our priorities. There are a few essentials and priorities that we need to remind ourselves of every day. The first is the Gospel. 1 Corinthians 15:3–4, “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that he was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” Beginning the day by reminding ourselves of the gospel brings gratitude to ourselves, reminds us that God’s Word is true because it was “according to the Scriptures,” and puts it fresh in our minds for the people we will come in contact with that day who need the Gospel. Taking this a step further, when I remember the ...

It's hard for me not to be scared right now, because this is some scary stuff we are facing. The Bible uses terms like perilous, beginning of sorrows and days of lawlessness to describe the last days before Christ returns. I believe we are in those last days now. So what do we do? How do we approach this? Of course, the Bible has the answers. Paul was forever exhorting and teaching not only how to live, but to endure, to be patient, to persevere to the end and to finish well. He was constantly using the term "in vain," exhorting us to remain faithful and persevere lest we believe in vain, or labor in vain, or receive the grace of God in vain. It has to be possible to believe in vain, and all those other things he lists, or else Paul would not have warned us about this. So now, in these most difficult times, it’s imperative that we set our resolve to persevere, endure and finish well. We need a plan of action. We need to know what it really means, what it looks...

In the last study, we looked at Hagar and how her life was impacted by Abram and Sarai taking matters into their own hands instead of waiting on the Lord. There are more dynamics to this story than can be addressed in two studies, but we will look at a few. God had given a promise to Abram and Sarai that He would give them descendants. But many years had passed since that initial promise, so Abram and Sarai decided they would help the Lord out. How many times do we do this? And the result is other people get hurt. Sarai came up with the idea that she would give her slave girl to Abram to have a child by her. Perhaps when Hagar conceived, that confirmed to Sarai her fear that she was the problem. But another dynamic of this story is that Hagar, in her flesh, despised Sarai after she became pregnant. When we find ourselves hurt by others, our tendency is to act in the flesh, to nurse our wounds, to feel sorry for ourselves. Hagar found herself pregnant, in bondage, in seeming hopeless...

Have you ever suffered collateral damage as the result of someone else taking things into their own hands instead of waiting on the Lord? Or maybe just the results of the fleshly behavior of someone else, or resentment or lack of forgiveness?  Or have you suffered because of a loved one's addiction or some other sin?  Maybe your own resentments and unwillingness to forgive have caused collateral damage in someone else life.  Sometimes in studying forgiveness, when people are encouraged to forgive, we hear things like, "You only hurt yourself when you don't forgive."  Or, "You are the one in chains when you hold on to unforgiveness and resentment."  But that's not really accurate.  Being at the receiving end of resentment and bitterness due to lack of forgiveness can be excruciating.  Sometimes it can feel as if a two ton boulder is suffocating the life out of you.  In a sense, a loved one's lack of forgiveness can place chains that can only be r...

Read MARRIED TO A FOOL: Abigail and David, Part 1 . When I was studying Abigail in 1 Samuel 25, my eyes caught a glimpse of a verse in chapter 23 that had the words "Rock of Escape."  So naturally my curiosity was piqued.  I went back to that chapter and made some wonderful discoveries.  Chapter 23 details the time when David had asked the Lord if he should go down and fight the Philistines.  The Lord said yes.  During that time, Saul learned what David was doing and plotted evil against him.  What captured my attention begins with verse 25:  "When Saul and his men went to seek him , they told David.  Therefore he went down to the rock , and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon .   And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon . " (Emphasis mine.) The passage continues in verses 26-29: "Then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain.  So David made hast...

Throughout the ages, many women have found themselves, whether through arranged marriages or by choice, married to men who might be considered fools... men who are not walking with the Lord...  men who have hardened their hearts to their wives and to the Lord.  The world says, "Well, you deserve to be happy."  Or it tells us that love is the basis for whether a marriage is to continue or not... as if lack of love is a legitimate reason for divorce.  Let me say here if you are divorced for whatever reason, be encouraged that you still have a Husband, and His name is King Jesus.  There is much to be learned from the story of Abigail for all women.  This study, in particular, is for those women who find themselves in the same plight as Abigail.  Let me encourage you, Dear One, if you don't know what to do, stay where you are.  God has permitted this to happen in your life, in part, to refine you, to sift you, to chip away as a gemstone cutter ch...

Many of us find ourselves embattled in intense, serious spiritual warfare.  Some of us find ourselves in the awful position of having the enemy in that war using our loved ones, sometimes our spouses as his instruments.  One of the devil's greatest tools is to get us to agree with him about our loved ones, or to get our loved ones to agree with him about us.  He is the accuser of the brethren and one of the ways he loves to accuse is through the mouths of people who are suppose to love us.  It was in one of these fierce battles of spiritual warfare that this lesson was born. One of the great things about the Bible is that we can study and study and still not exhaust what there is to learn from it.  Such is the case of the story of Deborah and Barak and Jael.  Deborah, of course, is one of the more well known women of the Bible.  Perhaps we can learn even more from another woman in the same passage named Jael.  So let's look at Judges chapte...