A Woman's Heart! Bible Study: Week 7 A Heart that Interceeds

Day 1 The Holy Calling of the Priesthood




We are to be in the world, not of the world, and protected from the world.  


We are the light of the world!  We cannot hide our lamp-stands under the bushels of spiritual monasteries.  Yet we cannot let the darkness rub off on us.  How do we accomplish such a balance?  The answer is found in Matthew 10:16 "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.  Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." 


 God never called us to naivete.  He called us to integrity.  There is a very big difference between the two.  Like Paul, we must be aware of what is out there before we walk into the middle of it.  We must recognize situations that demand an extra degree of consecration, preparation, and protection.  


It is about purity--purity maintained in the midst of an impure world.  Understand this vital precept: Maintaining purity in ministry is the result of nothing less than deliberate devotion.  We must guard our minds and put on our armor.  A war rages out there.  And we are satan's favorite prisoners.  


Day 2 A Peculiar Priest


The responsibilities Jesus Christ assumed in His earthly ministry parallel those of  the priests.  He worshiped in the temple, He instructed the people in God's laws, He blessed the people, He determined God's will, He interceded for the people, and He sacrificed at the altar.  He sacrificed Himself at the altar.  


The Messiah would be both Priest and King! 


Because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood! (Hebrews 7:24)


Christ's indestructible life did not simply allow Him to assume a title of  honor.  It allowed Him to burst open every believer's grave and shout, "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? (1 Corinthians 15:55) "Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection.  The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years" (Revelation 20:6)








Day 3 The Open Door


Because Christ has faced our every  temptation without sin, we never face a temptation that has no door of escape.  


Do you realize what it means to us that Christ was willing to become a man and be tempted as we are tempted?  

God became flesh so that He could dwell among us

Jesus faced every temptation known to humanity so He could identify with us

God the Father provided a door of escape for every temptation

Only Christ was in a position to unlock the door of escape (He became the door)

Two things  about a believer's temptation never vary: (1) We always have an open door, a way out. (2) Every door we refuse to walk through makes the next one harder to enter. 

God never convicts us of sin to make sure we know how wretched we are, for He calls us the righteousness of God in Christ.  Rather, God convicts us through His Holy Spirit because He is grieved when fellowship between us is broken.  

Day 4 The Right Hand of God

Hebrews 8:1-2  We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,² and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.

Aaron could fulfill his duty to the letter of the law.  He could work His hands to the bone and never miss a sacrifice, but he could not truly meet the people's need.  He was powerless to make unrighteous persons righteous.  How could he?  He could not even make himself righteous.  But "we do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven." Hebrew 8:1  


The old covenant was based on a shadow.  The new covenant was based on a Savior.  Christ made it possible for an external covenant to be obsolete and a new covenant to be injected straight into the point of our need: the heart.

My God will meet all your needs according to  the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus

Philippians 4:19

Day 5 Heaven, the Blessed Adoption Agency


As God's  adopted children. perhaps we  need more discipline at times than anyone to conform to our Father's house.


Romans 12:1-13 tells of why God wants us to be disciplined.  


verse 6 ~It's the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects.


1 John 3:1-2


 V. 1 What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we're called children of God! That's who we really are. But that's also why the world doesn't recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he's up to.


These verses overwhelm  me every time I read them. As God's children, we are the recipients of lavish love-a love that covers the lack of recognition this world system gives us, a love that motivates us to keep trusting even when we have no idea what God is doing.  


You are not illegitimate, my beloved sister. You have been planned and purposed. Your Father has acknowledged you as His child. "Let the  little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the  kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14

Have a Beautiful Day!

Christina

Lesson with a Hairbrush (Beth Moore)

Knoxville airport all waiting to board planes:

I had the Bible on my lap and was very intent upon what I was doing. I'd had a marvelous morning with the Lord. I say that because I want to tell you it is a scary thing to have the Spirit of God really working in you. You could end up doing some things you never would have done otherwise. Life in the Spirit can be dangerous for a thousand reasons not the least of which is your ego...

I tried to keep from staring but he was such a strange sight. Humped over in a wheelchair, he was skin and bones, dressed in clothes that obviously fit when he was at least twenty pounds heavier. His knees protruded from his trousers, and his shoulders looked like the coat hanger was still in his shirt. His hands looked like tangled masses of veins and bones. The strangest part of him was his hair and nails. Stringy grey hair hung well over his shoulders and down part of his back. His fingernails were long. Clean, but strangely out of place on an old man.

I looked down at my Bible as fast as I could, discomfort burning my face. As I tried to imagine what his story might have been, I found myself wondering if I'd just had a Howard Hughes sighting. Then, I remembered reading somewhere that he was dead. So this man in the airport...an impersonator maybe? Was a camera on us somewhere?....

There I sat trying to concentrate on the Word to keep from being concerned about a thin slice of humanity served on a wheelchair only a few seats from me. All the while my heart was growing more and more overwhelmed with a feeling for him. Let's admit it. Curiosity is a heap more comfortable than true concern, and suddenly I was awash with aching emotion for this bizarre-looking old man.

I had walked with God long enough to see the handwriting on the wall. I've learned that when I begin to feel what God feels, something so contrary to my natural feelings, something dramatic is bound to happen. And it may be embarrassing. I immediately began to resist because I could feel God working on my spirit and I started arguing with God in my mind. "Oh no, God please no." I looked up at the ceiling as if I could stare straight through it into heaven and said, "Don't make me witness to this man. Not right here and now. Please. I'll do anything.  Put me on the same plane, but don't make me get up here and witness to this man in front of this gawking audience. Please, Lord!"

There I sat in the blue vinyl chair begging His Highness, "Please don't make me witness to this man. Not now. I'll do it on the plane." Then I heard it..."I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to brush his hair."

The words were so clear, my heart leapt into my throat, and my thoughts spun like a top. Do I witness to the man or brush his hair? No brainer. I looked straight back up at the ceiling and said, "God, as I live and breathe, I want you to know I am ready to witness to this man. I'm on this Lord. I'm your girl! You've never seen a woman witness to a man faster in your life. What difference does it make if his hair is a mess if he is not redeemed? I am on him. I am going to witness to this man."

Again as clearly as I've ever heard an audible word, God seemed to write this statement across the wall of my mind. "That is not what I said, Beth. I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to go brush his hair."

I looked up at God and quipped, "I don't have a hairbrush. It's in my suitcase on the plane. How am I suppose to brush his hair without a hairbrush?"

God was so insistent that I almost involuntarily began to walk toward him as these thoughts came to me from God's word: "I will thoroughly finish you unto all good works." (2 Tim 3:7) I stumbled over to the wheelchair thinking I could use one myself. Even as I retell this story my pulse quickens and I feel those same butterflies.

I knelt down in front of the man, and asked as demurely as possible, "Sir, may I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?"

He looked back at me and said, "What did you say?"

"May I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?"

To which he responded in volume ten, "Little lady, if you expect me to hear you, you're going to have to talk louder than that.

At this point, I took a deep breath and blurted out, "SIR, MAY I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF BRUSHING YOUR HAIR?" At which point every eye in the place darted right at me. I was the only thing in the room looking more peculiar than old Mr. Longlocks. Face crimson and forehead breaking out in a sweat.

I watched him look up at me with absolute shock on his face, and say, "If you really want to."  Are you kidding? Of course I didn't want to. But God didn't seem interested in my personal preference right about then. He pressed on my heart until I could utter the words, "Yes, sir, I would be pleased. But I have one little problem. I don't have a hairbrush."

"I have one in my bag," he responded.

I went around to the back of that wheelchair, and I got on my hands and knees and unzipped the stranger's old carry-on hardly believing what I was doing. I stood up and started brushing the old man's hair.

It was perfectly clean, but it was tangled and matted. I don't do many things well, but I must admit I've had notable experience untangling knotted hair mothering two little girls. Like I'd done with either Amanda or Melissa in such a condition, I began brushing at the very bottom of the strands, remembering to take my time not to pull. 

A miraculous thing happened to me as I started brushing that old man's hair.... Everybody else in the room disappeared. There was no one alive for those moments except that old man and me. I brushed and brushed and I brushed until every tangle was out of that hair. I know this sounds so strange but I've never felt that kind of love for another soul in my entire life. I believe with all my heart, I—for that few minutes—felt a portion of the very love of God. That He had overtaken my heart for a little while like someone renting a room and making Himself at home for a short while. The emotions were so strong and so pure that I knew they had to be God's.

His hair was finally as soft and smooth as an infant's. I slipped the brush back in the bag, went around the chair to face him. I got back down on my knees, put my hands on his knees, and said, "Sir, do you know my Jesus?"

He said, "Yes, I do." Well, that figures.

He explained, "I've known Him since I married my bride. She wouldn't marry me until I got to know the Savior." He said "You see, the problem is, I haven't seen my bride in months. I've had open-heart surgery, and she's been too ill to come see me. I was sitting here thinking to myself what a mess I must be for my
bride."

Only God knows how often He allows us to be part of a divine moment when we're completely unaware of the significance. This, on the other hand, was one of those rare encounters when I knew God had intervened in details only He could have known. It was a God moment, and I'll never forget it.

Our time came to board, and we were not on the same plane. I was deeply ashamed of how I'd acted earlier and would have been so proud to have accompanied him on that aircraft.

I still had a few minutes, and as I gathered my things to board, the airline hostess returned from the corridor, tears streaming down her cheeks. She said, "That old man's sitting on the plane, sobbing. Why did you do that? What made you do that?"

I said, "Do you know Jesus? He can be the bossiest thing!" And we got to share. 

I learned something about God that day. He knows if you're exhausted because you're hungry, you're serving in the wrong place or it is time to move on but you feel too responsible to budge. He knows if you're hurting or feeling rejected. He knows if you're sick or drowning under a wave of temptation. Or He knows if you just need your hair brushed. He sees you as an individual. Tell Him your need!

I got on my own flight, sobs choking my throat, wondering how many opportunities just like that one had I missed along the way...all because I didn't want people to think I was strange. God didn't send me to that old man. He sent that old man to me.

John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We

have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the

Father, full of grace and truth."

How many Hairbrush moments have you let go by?  I am sure I am not alone in my regret for not  obediently following through with things God has asked me to do.  But those few times when I have been obedient, will be in my heart forever like I am sure this is for Beth Moore.  

Have a Beautiful Day! 

Christina

A Womans Heart Bible Study! Week 6: The Heart of a Servant

Day 1: The Altar of Incense

A sacrifice burned on the bronze altar.  Incense burned on the golden altar. 

Only the high priest could go beyond the veil, and even he could dare take that step only once a year.  

The  altar of incense speaks to us of intersession.  Our great Intercessor is Christ Jesus. 

Prayerlessness is a sin because (1) It causes us to forfeit some of God's precious gifts to us. (2) it makes us weaker when tempted (3) it causes us anxiety (4) it closes our ears to God! 

Philippians 4:6-7

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus

Prayerlessness is a sin beacuse Jesus Christ our Savior lives to intercede for us!

Luke 7:36-50 talks about the lovely portrayal of fragrant worship. 

• It is costly, and comes only when whatis deep inside its lavished on Christ.
• It cannot be released until the vessel is broken
• It is not hindered by others.
• Places us in a right relationship with Christ.
• We cannot out-sin  God's ability to forgive

I am convinced the greatest cause of a believer's inability to offer fragrant worship is a feeling of worthlessness, wether self or environmentally impossed. 

ALLOW GOD to lavish His Love on you!

 

Day 2: A Hard Lesson in Holiness

God shares with us in Hebrews 7:25 that Christ literally lives to make intercession for us!  He intercedes not only with our petitions but also our praise. 

Those who share the privilege of being nearest to  God must also bear the awesome responsibility of exemplifying His holiness through obedience: "Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required." Luke 12:48 (KJV)

John 4:24 God is Spirit. Our Spirit gives us the capacity to know and experience God.  Our Soul, on the other hand is the source of our emotions and personality--that which represents our conscious selves.  The third componet of the triune human is the physical body. 

 When God says we must worship Him in spirit, He means that the only acceptable worship is that which is motivated and controlled by our spirits. 

Our bodies and souls may express praise as long as they only accompany a deep spiritual longing to know and reverence God. 

Spiritual worship comes from our very core and is fueld by an awesome reverence and desire for God.  Spiritual worship is focusing all we are on all He is, personally and universally. 

Acceptable worship proceeds from the Holy Spirit inside us only on the basis of the Savior who died for us. 

God the Father invites us to worship, God the Son Ignites us to worship, and God the Spirit incites us to worship. 

Day 3: The Inheritance of a Servant

Aaron and Moses were brothers and Levites.  The Levites were called out from  among all the other tribes and awarded a place of service before God in conjunction with the Aaronic priesthood.  The priest and the Levites shared a relationship not only on the  basis of kinship but also on the basis of calling.


God instructed the Israelites to set extra places at their tables during celebrations and feasts for His servants in ministry.  How wonderful to see the precious provisions God made for those who were called to give their entire lives in concentrated service to Him,  A few  weary saints in your church  might need to know that their service is not going  unnoticed by God or by you.  



Day 4: The Gift of Support

The Ministry God gave Aaron and his sons was a gift.  Likewise, God gave the Levites' support ministry to Aaron and his sons as a gift.  They did not earn it. Certainly , Aaron's actions while Moses was on Mount Sinai with God indicate that he had done little to deserve such an honor.  God literally called out the Levites as a support ministry to the priesthood and offered them to Aaron and his sons as a present.  


Israel could be victorious only if Moses held up his staff.  Moses could hold up his staff only if Aaron and Hur helped him.  Joshua and his army could experience victory only as long as Aaron and Hur held up Moses' arms.  Joshua could lead Israel's armies only as long as they followed him.  And the armies of Israel could slay the Amalekites only as long as God empowered them.  


God delights in allowing us the privilege of experiencing spiritual victories.  When we refuse to  allow anyone to share in our personal battles, we risk two negative consequences: (1) We often lengthen the battle, (2) We cheat others of the joy of victory.  

Hebrews 10:24-25     

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching

Day 5:  The Garments of the Priests


God is actively involved in the intricate design of your life.

Aaron the high priest of Israel, had to wear these custom-designed garments every time he entered the sanctuary.  As a representative of the Hebrew people, he bore their guilt as he presented their gifts to the Lord.  The gold plate on his forehead constantly reminded Aaron and all who saw him that Israel had been called out to purity.  What a Holy God He is! And how flippantly we often confront the words: "Be holy, Because I am the Lord your God." (Leviticus 20:7)  My heart stands convicted when considering that I could dress in all of the holy robes designed by a divinely-inspired  seamstress yet underneath would remain a sin-prone woman in desperate need of grace.


As you can see, God is detailed.  He is not a God of generality.  He is a God of individuality: Do not let Satan convince you that God is not actively  involved in the intricate design of your life.  God has not missed a single stitch or left a stone unturned o your behalf; furthermore, His activity in the details of your life most often displays His glory and beauty.

Have a Beautiful Week! 

Praying for you girls! 

Christina

A Women's Heart Bible Study! Week 5: Hearts in Fellowship

Week 5 and we are almost half way through this study!  Did I tell you I am loving it!  I have had to really dig and study my bible.  I hope you are enjoying this study and it's making you grow and search the bible as much as it is me.  Praying for you this week!

Day 1: The Holy Place

He will Cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His Faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.  Psalm 91:4

Most Scholars agree that  animal hides (Sea cows) were used to make the ceiling curtains.  Doesn't sound like a lovely sight does it?  But only those who dared to enter could behold the beauty hidden within.  How like our Savior's incarnate presence:  "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him. (Isaiah 53:2)  Yet within Him "all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9)

How perfectly Christ portrays the nurturing wings of El Shaddai , the Caregiver.  God's wings covered His children with safety, security, joy, and affection.    

Learn to experience the warmth and protection of life beneath the  wings of the Almighty.

Day 2: The Golden Lampstand

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him--The Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

 the Spirit of counsel and of power, 

the Spirit of  Knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.  

Isaiah 11:2

The lampstand was the only means for seeing  evidence of God in His holy place.  

And God used Bazalel a common man to make the lampstand.  God in His infinite wisdom, did not desire for  those measurements to be recorded.  You see, His illumination cannot be measured.

Day 3: Filling the Lamp
You are the Light of the world Matthew 5:14

One major difference exists between the way a candle burns and the way a lamp burns: a candle burns by consuming itself, while a lamp burns by consuming a continuous supply of oil from another source.

When we receive Christ as our personal Savior, the fuel of the Holy Spirit sparks the life of Christ in our hearts.  Although that  light can never be extinguished, the brightness of our flame entirely  depends on how much oil (the Holy Spirit) we allow Christ to pour on us.

If we do not burn with a passionate flame, it is because we have limited God, who prepared us for victory.

God's entire being unites to produce in you the brightest possible flame.

Day 4: A Table Set Before Him

The table was undoubtedly a place of communication and fellowship.  Being asked to sit  at another's table was both a privilege  and a sign of acceptance.  The table was a center of fellowship, just as it is today

Our hearts are prone to wander and tempted to squander our Father's inheritance on the world's cheap amusements.  But when our eyes awaken to reality , when we lift our heads above the compromise, and  when our stomachs ache for the food of home, a certain Father will always  be standing at the gate, ready to prepare a feast for us, waiting anxiously for His prodigal to come home.  (Praise God for this!)


Day 5: The Bread of the Presence

Bread of the presence was  prepared by crushing whole kernels of wheat into fine powder.  The ancient ovens were heated by fire, so this holy bread clearly  qualified as an offering made by fire.

The bread of God was devoid of leaven or yeast, just like the Bread of life was devoid of spot or blemish.  He was the Manna from heaven offered to all who partake of the Lord's table.

Our communion table reminds us of  our deliverance from sin and the costly  redemption of our release, which allowed us to enter a new covenant.  The Hebrews'  communion table reminded them of God's atonement and deliverance through His covenant with Abram.

Have a Beautiful Week!  

Praying for you this week! 

Christina

A Woman's Heart Bible Study! Week 4: Hearts Approaching the Altar

Day 1: Breaking Ground for Construction

God gave Moses instructions for the tabernacle virtually from the inside out.  Because this sacred dwelling place reflected  God's approach to humans.

Today we attempt to draw the tabernacle! Find the instructions God gave Moses here.



 (Mine is not as nice of this but you get the idea!)

God may have had countless reasons for choosing the  east as the entrance to His presence; but surely, not the least is the fact that His perfect light interrupts the darkness every morning  from the east.  At the break of every new day, light shone on the gate for the tabernacle, beckoning the people to find refuge in God.

Psalm 30:5  says "His anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime;  weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
We will discover quickly that the children of Israel were on the roughest battlefield of their nation's history, facing the most vicious enemy of all:themselves.


Day 2: The Altar of Sacrifice
Today we take our first steps through the tabernacle gate.  We come face to face with the altar of sacrifice, which occupied front-and-center priority in the tabernacle courtyard.  Elevated off the ground, the five-cubit-square alter constructed of acacia wood.  Acacia wood was well known for  its incorruptibility because it resisted decay.


One of the most remarkable similarities  between acacia wood and our Savior was that it bore heavy, sharp thorns--a likeness that deserves our attention.
Leviticus 6:12-13 God had lit the fire from His own holy hand.  Only fire originating from Himself could truly purify and consume, or approve, and offering. Therefore, the fire must never be allowed to go out.  Wood had to be added continually so that the original, divine flame would never be exhausted.  God lit the fire, but humans had to fuel it


2 Timothy 1:6-8 reminds us what our responsibility is after God lights the fire within us.
Power is up to God.  Participation is up to us!

Day 3: Acceptable Offer
All Salvation rests on this precept: Acceptance is always based on atonement.  Do not allow this fact to escape your mind for a moment throughout this study.

Guilt was  the emotional  tie between the Israelite and the animal.  Unspeakable love was the emotional tie between God and His Son.

The ashes invariably fell at dawn. Ancient Hebrew history records that the moment the last ash fell, the priests blew the trumpets in celebration, shouting, "It is finished!"  When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished!"  With that, he bowed his head and gave up His Spirit. (John 19:30)

Day 4: Clean Hands and a Pure Heart
The first act of cleansing was initiated for them.  The second was initiated by them.  God was consecrating the priests for service in a one-time experience in which they were sanctified and deemed acceptable.

How fitting that the basin of cleansing was from mirrors!  The women contributed these costly mirrors to offer something that represented vanity,  It was a beautiful Old Testament expression of dying to self.

before we can truly come before God for cleansing, we must examine ourselves to discover how we have erred.

The crucial message is that the full cleansing they had  received on accepting Him (God) concerned regeneration.  The partial cleansing of their feet concerned relationship.   See John 13 to read where Jesus washed the feet of the disciples.  When we witness the disciples being forced to confront their egos, we may be strangely moved to confront our own.

LET CHRIST LOVE YOU TODAY!

Until you learn to let Him serve you at the point of your need,  you will never be truly to free to serve others.

Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is with you, 

   the Mighty Warrior who saves. 

He will take great delight in you; 

   in his love he will no longer rebuke you, 

   but will rejoice over you with singing

Day 5: Contentment in the Calling

Psalm 84

¹ How lovely is your dwelling place, 

   LORD Almighty! 

² My soul yearns, even faints, 

   for the courts of the LORD; 

my heart and my flesh cry out 

   for the living God. 

³ Even the sparrow has found a home, 

   and the swallow a nest for herself, 

   where she may have her young— 

a place near your altar, 

   LORD Almighty, my King and my God. 

⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in your house; 

   they are ever praising you.

 ⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you, 

   whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. 

⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baka, 

   they make it a place of springs; 

   the autumn rains also cover it with pools. 

⁷ They go from strength to strength, 

   till each appears before God in Zion.

 ⁸ Hear my prayer, LORD God Almighty; 

   listen to me, God of Jacob. 

⁹ Look on our shield, O God; 

   look with favor on your anointed one.

 ¹⁰ Better is one day in your courts 

   than a thousand elsewhere; 

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God 

   than dwell in the tents of the wicked. 

¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and shield; 

   the LORD bestows favor and honor; 

no good thing does he withhold 

   from those whose walk is blameless.

 ¹² LORD Almighty, 

   blessed is the one who trusts in you.

If you struggle with your importance in God's Kingdom,realize that one day at the task God has personally assigned only you is better than a thousand days at someone else's.

Only God's chosen task for you will ultimately satisfy.

Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your Holy temple. (Psalm 65:4)

Have a Beautiful Week! 

Christina