BROKEN?

What do you get when a dozen ladies gather in a coffee shop? LOTS of laughter and in-depth conversation...and of course coffee. And today covering chapter two of our Bible Study STUCK.

We are all BROKEN {that is the chapter 2 title) and spend much of our lives trying to fix ourselves. When we finally "get it"...when we get what Jesus came to do (mend us) we still will revert to trying to fix ourselves and in doing so, we get STUCK again. That is where grace comes in again. When we see we need, when we are at the end of our rope.....then,

There is grace, which we identified as God's Righteousness At Christ's Expense and also unmerited favor.

In our read-through of Romans 8 we learn of the two ways to live and the inner war that we wage every day to allow the Lord to lead instead of relying on ourselves. That is the black and white of it: His way...OR...Our way

The colored parts, the parts that we differ in, are the methods we use to get our way. Those are our stuck places mostly. (ie: prideful, overspending, grumbly, manipulative, fearful.....)

We have two ladies who are dealing with grief from loss.-That is a stuck place not related to sin or selfishness, but a stuck place just the same. It isn't something you can rush through or put on a shelf to deal with later. It is something you must walk through in order to process your loss in a healthy, freeing and God-honoring way. I am glad that we have that picture of a stuck place not always being a pit of our own making, but a place of inevitable pain that each of us will face during the course of our life.

We are also challenged in this chapter to really look hard at our faith. Is it genuine? Do we say we trust God and live like we have never encountered Him? Are we thankful for what Jesus did? Do we see how desperately we need Him and His mercy? Or are we coasting along taking it for granted and continuing to live however we want to? Are we obeying Him because we love and trust Him?

There is comfort in finding that our weak areas are not something we need to hide or cover up, but can be the very place where God shows Himself to the world. And that is always His aim. To be known. To reconcile His people to Himself. So, our weak areas become places of grace for others. It's kind of a loaves and fishes type of miracle. He brings nourishment from what little broken pieces of ourselves we have to offer Him. Isn't that what Jesus did with the loaves and fishes? He gave thanks and broke them and they multiplied and fed thousands.

"In the Lord I put my trust" (Psalm 11:1) "O my God, I trust in You." (Psalm 25:2)

"The Hebrew root word for "trust" suggests "to fling oneself off a precipice." It is to be like a child who hears her father say, "Jump!" and she trustingly obeys, throwing herself from a height into his waiting arms." ~David Wilkerson

As we encounter the grace and love of God we can fling ourselves into His crazy-big arms and live free!

BROKEN INTO-------->>>>REDEEMED!!! Live Free in Jesus! 

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free! Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery! Galatians 5:1

For those doing the study through the Facebook group, I will post again on Sunday afternoon about the DVD for this weeks' chapter: MAD. (I have a super-busy weekend!!!) But please leave your thoughts and questions, I will check in as often as I can.