O Happy Day, Dear Summer Siesta Bible Study Group! Hopefully you’ll grab ten or so minutes to watch the video greeting. If you have Internet access at your group gathering and can watch it together, that’s even better. I always want to put your discussion instructions in print, however, so that you don’t have to take dictation from my fast talking. REMEMBER, PLEASE DON’T RESPOND TO THIS POST UNTIL AFTER YOUR GATHERING. ALL COMMENTS ARE MEANT TO FOLLOW YOUR TUESDAY MEETINGS AS OUR (YOUR AND MY) WAY OF DISCUSSION AND INTERACTION. Thanks so much for your cooperation because this approach is a must to make the most of our Bible study blog experience. It needs organization to work effectively on such a wide scale. OK, young ladies, here goes!
1. Based on Week One, discuss what a functional god is and how an idol has functioned for you. In other words, what made it work?
The remaining three are based on Week Two:
2. Turn to p.39 of your workbook. Kelly had us read 1 Peter 2:9-12 and reminded us that we were meant to be peculiar people. Reread her words.
Now, in class today do an acrostic of the word “peculiar” based on various ways Christ has set us apart. In other words, come up with one word that begins with a “p,” then another that begins with an “e,” “c,” and so on.
3. Turn to p. 41. Recall our reading out of Genesis 21:1-6. Listen to verse 6. I especially love the New English Translation: “God has made me laugh.” Share something today with the group that God has done for you that brought you such joy or such a turnaround that it was laughable.
4. Lastly, turn to p. 49 for what I thought was one of the most powerful moments of the entire second week. Kelly said “Fear protects our idols”! How? Discuss that!
I hope that’s some good stuff for your Tuesday discussions. I am so glad we are studying together! You are one of my favorite classes EVER! Let me know (briefly so we can read them all!) how it goes! I love you so, so much. No kidding. You’ve become an important part of my life and this ministry. The whole LPM staff has gotten on board in serving you now. Study on, Siestas!
Our small study in Fort Worth had big revelations over the last two weeks! We identified our functional Gods and shared in Praise for how liberting it has been to attack them with the full force of the Holy Spirit in us!! We realized that we are giving too much attention to T.V., ourselves, and the approval of others. These idols are off their pedestal and on the ground waiting for the foot to lay the “smack down!” We just long for our Lord and to know him so deeply that we can’t even audibly express it. Keep going siestas! This is a good one…
My girlies just went home and it was a great discussion! The most amazing thing tonight was the realization that we all struggled with the same, main underlying idol. That “fear” comment on the last day of week 2 was monumental for all of us and helped us strip away the last layers of the onion to reveal the ugly idol at the core. Maybe now, FINALLY, we can all lay it down for good!
Here is our acrostic:
P – Peaceful
E – Everlasting
C – Clean
U – Unique
L – Loved
I – Included
A – Amazed
R – Redeemed
Recipes were De-lish…Man, but we LOVE doing this!
Beckham is a beauty!
Beth and fellow LPM Siesta’s,
This study is so GREAT!! and convicting, and mind blowing and life revealing and I could go on and on 🙂 !!
When you first posted about this summer study God really spoke to my heart and told me that this was something He wanted me to do. And then when I read what you said about thinking outside the box on inviting ladies to the study, well that was straight from the heart of God, because as soon as I read that He started telling me the ladies to invite. I was scared but obedient. And God is soooooo good!! Everyone of them said they’d come except for one (she had to work), but then on our first day of study, she was there as well.
Well, today all 7 ladies (including me) were here and ready with studies in hand and a smile on their face. As we started our study time you could tell God was doing a work. I knew as we were talking that one of the ladies was not really understanding and then God started showing me what was going on and I just prayed He’d give me the words He wanted me to say. He worked through all of the ladies there today, and this young mom who wasn’t even going to be able to come originally (and who is moving back to California in a week) gave her heart to Jesus!! Oh Hallelujah I can bearly contain myself as I type this!!! She walked in my house today lost and she left saved and going to Heaven!! Hallelujah!!!
What an awesome God we serve!!
Praising Him!!!
Dawn
I think I forgot to include my acrostic in my previous post.
Purchased
Eternal
Called
Undeserving
Lightbearer
Integrity
Appointed
Redeemed
Hi Beth and team!
Just wanted to share our group’s acrostic (what is that word? I’m not an English major or even minor for that matter, so I had to think hard on that one 🙂 ) for PECULIAR. We had some great discussions tonight and can’t wait to meet again soon!
P = PURE
E = ETERNAL HOPE
C = COMPASSIONATE
U = UNITED
L = LIBERATED (and LOVED)
I = INSEPARABLE FROM GOD
A = ABLE
R = RIGHTEOUS (and RESCUED)
Signing off from Hebron, KY………..
Oh Bethie, AJ, Melissa and ALL!
I’m going to try to keep this short so I will give you the highlights…
Most of us are dealing with idols and fears related to acceptance and isolation — we had great discussion about how it is working against our desire to be sold out to Him.
Amazing – 7 anonymous cybersisters from all over the US fell into almost exclusively two categories.
I loved this acrostic shared tonight:
People
Exhorting
Christ
Until
Lives
Involve
Another
Reality
It was shared by our “siesta” – AKA “K” and I loved the way she used one word and made a statement about who we are in Christ! Love it!
I’m so excited – Over at the Lifeway Forums we have – and count them — we have 13 women who log in throughout the two weeks to discuss the NOG study! OH GLORY! I never imagined. We had 7 – yes, 7 show up tonight online for our every other week “Live Forum.”
Blesses my socks off! Yes it does! We are all solos from all over the country!!! Cannot even fathom what God is doing and Beth, thanks for the shout out to Diginee… She is one of our girls.
I decided to write down the verses of Scripture on fear that helped me most from p. 50 on post-it notes with affirmations.
“In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?” ~ Psalms 56:4 (NIV)
My affirmation: I do not have to give in to the desires and fears of my flesh – God’s Word is alive and active in me!
This is so great Beth… Thanks so much.
Blessings.
Hey ladies, I am needing a study partner. My daughter can’t do it at this time. If there is anyone going solo also, especially in the Knoxville, Tennessee area, please contact me at [email protected]– I would love to partner up with you in this study. By the way I loves the study blog video! I giggled so much to myself at the advice Beth gave us for summer sale shopping. I’m with her– who says a christian lady can’t look good while loving Jesus? Pray for me as I am working at letting go of some idols I didn’t realize I had. See a next week, Carla
Everyone loved Aunt Bea’s cake (for Colorado altitude: add 1/2 c. flour & reduce the sugar by 1/2 c.).
Our group of three spent a good bit of time discussing functional gods and what we fear–thus what idols that fear protected (we talked about financial security, safety and worries for the future).
Melodee, the mom of Ezra on my blog sidebar, could not make it tonight. She is down in her back with sciatica. I am taking the book to her tomorrow. Please pray for the Voth family, especially Ezra–he begins radiation next week and he’s three.
Praying
Eccentric
Christ-centered
Unusual
Lordship/ Language
Invincible!
Adoration
Resurrection Power
I have to be honest, for most of the last 2 weeks of study the only thing I was getting out of it was frustration trying to identify my idols. I’ve been praying that God would give my eyes to see, ears to hear, a mind to understand and a heart to receive whatever it is God would desire to show me through this study – there had to be something.
It happened this morning as I finished up day 5 of week 2. My idol is the approval of others. It’s motivates much in my life. If others don’t approve of me, they may lose affection for me and leave me lonely and alone. It sounds a little dramatic or over the top as I read it but I guess that’s why I’ve kept it hidden for so long. My food addiction feeds into it. My fears feed it and try to keep me frozen and ineffective but once I started to fight that fear then anxiety hit bit time. My fear that others would see me as inferior as I believe I am and continue the cycle.
Anyway, I started praying in late spring that this would be my summer of victory and now I have hope that that may actually happen.
Thanks, Kelly for writing this study and thanks, Beth for facilitating it.
Melanie
We had a great meeting!! Yummy pizza and oh my goodness the pound cake was wonderful!!
Our group meets in Gulfport, MS and right now it is just myself and one other dear friend. We are so enjoying this time to open God’s Word and learn more about ourselves and each other as we learn more about Him!
This study is really blowing my mind. To be honest, I didn’t expect to get as much out of it as I am! God is truly opening my eyes to the things/people/situations that I have placed in the position of a god in my life. WOW! I had no idea! Thank you so much, Beth, for suggesting this study! This is definitely a blessing through and through.
Question — Does anyone know Kelly Minter personally? Is she aware that this many women are doing her study at the same time? I’d love to hear her thoughts on this!
Hi! Haven’t logged in yet… 6 of us here in Miles City, MT. We are off a little but will perservere! L-O-V-I-N-G this study. Tonight we had pizza and the pound cake to die for. The idea that things (IDOLS) need to be moved off of the mantle of our hearts to ‘make room’ for the One and Only true God resonated with us tonight.
Thank you sweet Lord, sweet Beth, and precious Kelly Minter!
with His great love, Adrian
Oh just had to share a yahoo-yah! I had one more log in late… We just chatted a bit – she had been doing it solo and found out about us today!
YIPPEE!
I am not in a group so here goes:
1. A functional god or idol was said to be anything we want more than we want God. The functional god is self-serving.
True worship is selfless. Standing in awe of the Lord God Almighty. He alone is worthy of our praise.
2. It seems Kelly is saying that if we are “normal” then something is wrong. Christ in us makes all the difference. As He becomes greater and we become less. Then we look “peculiar” to the lost world around us.
Peacemaker
Encourager
Courageous
Understanding
Loves at all times
Influence for good
Available to God and others
Receives the Word implanted so that my heart will be forever changed.
3. Five years ago my husband, Mike, and I went to Brazil together for the first time. We were part of a team from our church. At first I was fearful. This was the first time we had been so far away from our boys and from our extended families. Mike had been to Brazil once before in September 2001. He was in Manaus helping build a church on 9/11.
God’s call was greater than our fear so we went.
Just 30 minutes outside Brasilia, we prayer walked in the town of Recanto das Emas. Part of the team built a church. After prayer walking there was door-to-door evangelism. Yet another part of the team had the joy of doing VBS at the elementary school.
God did a mighty work through us. As we shared the gospel with one or two, God would bring someone else along for us share the good news. HE WAS AMAZING! By the end of the week 550 people prayed to to recieve Christ. We giggled and laughed like children because we had never seen anything like this in our lives.
A side note: I remember quite clearly the message God gave me on the way home from Brazil. Now child you have seen what I have done. I will do the same thing back home if you will just be faithful to go out and share.
4. Fear is the fuel that feeds our functional god.
Oh Beth,
I’m so thankful for this study and for the ladies that are joining me. We have added two more to the group–Yea! We had great discussion tonight. I can tell that this study is really ministering to the ladies in the group. I’m so excited about what God is doing in all of our lives.
Unfortunately I did not have time to make the pound cake today. Instead I made a “Stars and Stripes Dessert Pizza.” It was fun, festive, and fruity! I still plan to try your pound cake recipe later this week, though.
The questions you provided brought out quite a bit of good discussion. Here is our acrostic.
Priesthood
Everlasting life
Chosen
United
unfailing Love
forgIven
holy nAtion, Accepting
Redeemed
Our group had a difficult time coming up with something God did that was laughable, so that is our prayer for each other over the next two weeks. God please reveal or do something for us that will bring us such joy it is laughable!
didnt catch on to the bible study in time, but enjoying reading about it. Ive just recently been turned on to Beth Moore and she turned me on to JESUS and his Word! What a life changing event! I am a nurse who works nite shift..so my off nites can be pretty long and lonley..BEFORE Beth that is..now i just watch her online teachings all nite long! I have thru her encountered Jesus..truely… in the midnight hour! Im so excited. Can I be a Siesta?
Our group, the two of us, met for the first time. We had a great discussion about idols and what they meant to us.
We shared a meal, thought not the pizza and cake!
Here is what we came up with for peculiar.
Purpose
Eternity
Calling
Unity
Love
Image
Attitude
Redeemed
Looking forward to seeing what God is going to do in both of our lives this summer!
Hip hip hooray! It feels so good to be in the Word again! And after coming out of the darkest season and “firey-est” trial of my short 30-year-old life I am DRINKING in what the Word of God has to say, even if it means being convicted about a few overgrown idols in my life. There’s no conviction like the Holy Spirit’s conviction. Others make me fee guilty. The Spirit makes me feel LOVED, despite the guilt of my sin. I have spent these past 2 weeks in tears much of the time – at how far I’d run, at how deeply I’m loved, at how much I’ve missed my Jesus, and at how awesome our beautiful God is. My friend and I had a wonderful discussion time tonight. Isn’t our Jesus good? The One who “keeps us from falling?”
Hi Beth and Siestas!
I just returned from and awesome class. We have a larger group (23)so we did not make the pizza — we ordered out. I made the 5 Flavor Pound Cake and served it with fresh strawberries and blueberries — Oh, Man! My man loved it too.
I wanted to share the acrostic we came up with:
P – Precious
E – Endearing
C – Children
U – Under
L – Love
I – Immortality
A – And
R – Redemption
Also, I asked each lady to bring an item that could represent or actually be used as a false god/idol. It was awesome what they came up with. God really used that segment to minister to us. At the close of the session we paired off and prayed for each other. God’s sweet presence filled the room. Many hearts are being touched and changed already.
Thank you for sharing this opportunity with us.
God bless you, Mama Siesta. We love you!
Sherry
Oklahoma
Having thunderstorms here, keep losing connection….must type fast!!!
We had a bit of a hard time with actually naming our functional gods. We also think they keep changing… depending on our situation in life. We named a few, more than one head would nod in agreement. We even suggested that Beth Moore might be one of our functional gods. We love her so much for…. well, everything. From sales advice on summer tops to protecting our aging skin…but most of all for all she’s taught us about delighting in Jesus. We’re gonna be watching ourselves!!
Laughed over our moments that God has made us laugh because of what he has done!
Pardoned
Eternal
Chosen
Useful
Loved
Indwelt
Annointed
Redeemed
Could have named many more. What a great exercise! We love being PECULIAR!
Fear was a big topic tonight. Fear of acceptance, fear “they” will find out my secrets, fear that I won’t measure up….It IS protecting our idols. If we really face what we feared, we would trust God and give it over to Him. But we don’t, cuz why, we’re afraid!
Oh this is way too long! We could have talked for hours. This is a small thimble full of the overflowing cup that was measured up for the NOGS in Sheridan Wyoming tonight (while enjoying strawberry shortcake!).
Forgot to say… also played Travis’s song “Over” from his Found album.
“Oh I’m over living life in fear and doubt. I won’t resist the One I can’t live without…
Amen Travis.
We had a GREAT time tonight! Incredible discussion about idols in our lives……amazing how much in common we all have with each other.
We did the black bean and rice recipe with the butterfinger cake….yum, yum!
I am excited about the group God put together. 3 of us are leaving tomorrow to go out of town and yet we still made it a priority to come tonight. It’s funny…as we talked, one of the girls who was packed for her trip 3 days ago, admitted that one of her functional idols is being a slave to time. Another one whose idol is the computer and too much time spent on it, hasn’t even packed for her trip tomorrow (that would be me!). Great reminder of how our idols can spill into every area of our lives.
I’m looking forward to our next time together!
Beth, you and your cheap top are so funny. Beckham has beautiful eyes just like his little Mister Jackson. Haven’t seen Jackson lately, how’s he doing? Missing him.
2nd study is in the books! All 10 ladies made it. We met tonight–Becker’s Pasta was awesome and we had an awesome study time, too. Discussion was really good–shared a few tears and a lot of laughs. This is truly a God thing! We didn’t get to talking about the Fear chapter–Pg. 49-51, so I blogged about it instead. We are keeping in touch during studies through emails and blog. The internet is being used mightily by God instead of by our adversary–Thank you Jesus!
I love the Bible Study. It has opened my eyes to so much in ly life that I need to dear with. I’m not very internet literate so I can down get the video. I hear about 45 seconds then it turns off.
Help – I really want to hear all that Beth says.
1. What made my functional god work was the instant gratification it provided. In some way, I think I started wrongly associating that fleeting feeling with love. My functional god convinced me a “release†would jump start my broken heart. In reality, my heart was suffocating.
2. Purposed, Eternal, Called, Unshackled, Loved (and worth loving and able to love), Impassioned, Accounted for, Redeemed
3. When I was in college, I volunteered to work with an after school student ministry called Yoke. I signed up for this chaos in a moment of blind passion. I didn’t realize how hard student ministry was and I was a VERY shy eighteen year old (barely a month removed from student ministry myself). I dreaded it every week. I felt so awkward and out of place. I decided I was just too shy, plain, and boring to be involved in any kind of ministry. One day when I’d had enough, I locked my dorm door (my friend and I did Yoke together and she always came at 4 on the dot to drag me to the car). She knocked and said it was time to go and I told her I had decided to quit. An argument ensued but she finally left. I took out my daily devo Bible to have my alone time with God hoping to read something about how He knows the plans for me, and they are good plans, and they would never again involve ANYTHING that made me uncomfy. The bolded verse for the day – not even kidding 🙂 – was “take my yoke upon you because my yoke is easy and my burden is light.†I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. I put my Bible down on my bed, sighed, grumbled “okay, fine†(because I was so mature like that) and stomped out the door. Since graduating from college five years ago, I have worked in some capacity of student ministry. And I have loved, loved, loved it 🙂
4. I think the fear of pain and failure is usually what binds me to my idols and to a half-hearted existence. I forget existing is not the same as living.
Well, I live in a small trailer house and it’s been hot and muggy here, so I was not about to turn on my oven today, so we ordered pizza instead. Hey, at least I stayed with the pizza theme. I do have to tell you, though, when we read the part about us being “peculiar” people, I mentioned, that in the video, when you said, “Who wants to be normal?” I just wanted to raise my hand and say, “Uh, me.” And my friend agreed. She has the same problem. I’m not sure exactly what about her she thinks is so weird, but in my case I’ve sort of been a freak my whole life. Didn’t have any friends, had a hard time finding anyone who would date me as a teenager, so yeah, I would like to be normal. I’m blind in one eye and my eye looks very cloudy, no pupil or anything like that. Got teased about that all the time. Plus I have a huge scar in the middle of my forehead. People flat told me that I’m ugly. Plus being blind in one eye causes some things that other people take for granted to be a little harder for me. Like driving. I can’t tell you how many times in my prayers to God, “Why can’t I just be normal? Is that too much to ask?” So, yes, Beth. I would be happy to just be normal. I do understand what you’re talking about. But I’m the freak that sends people running. So if I just had to be just normal, that would be good enough for me. Nothing else significant came up that wasn’t too personal to share on the blog.
Here in Cool, California, we had 15 Siestas for dinner tonight at “The Leanin’ B Ranch.” Rogues that we are, we enjoyed a baked potato bar. Yum! We had a great time of sharing in the Lord…wow, Kelly and Beth…dynamic team…you took us deeper still…I led a study this past spring that I thought could not be topped for intimacy and enjoyment of one another and Jesus…but I do believe this one beats even that! Our teen girls even dug in!
PECULIAR ~ we are that! 😀
Peace
Excellence
Conformed to his image
Unique
Looking for heaven
Individual
Adopted as his children
Righteous.
Oh, makes me want to shout “I’m Believing GOD!”
LOVE YOU!
Mama Beth, and each and every Siesta on board: I am *so* thrilled to sign on and give you a brief summary of my ‘gathering’ with Nicole via email!!! here goes! ….thank you for this opportunity, and thank you Nicole for reaching out to me! I love you!
Siesta Bible Study – Gathering n. 2 via email :o)
Participants: Nicole (from South Carolina) and Maria Cristina (from England)
1. Based on Week One, discuss what a functional god is and how an idol has functioned for you. In other words, what made it work?
Nicole: a functional god is whatever has consumed my thoughts, emotions, actions, and mostly my heart. Twenty-four hours a day thinking of ways to appease these gods so that they will stay with me. Total consumption…
Maria: A functional god is that entity, thing or person, that ends up being the fulcrum around which I choose to “create” my day-to-day life. the initial thrill of having this functional god make what seemed to make me “content” ended up being something I would have to fully depend upon to make it through each day.
2. Turn to p.39 of your workbook. Kelly had us read 1 Peter 2:9-12 and reminded us that we were meant to be peculiar people. Reread her words.
[…] do an acrostic of the word “peculiar” based on various ways Christ has set us apart.
Nicole:
Promised
Everlasting
Covenant
Under
Love’s
Indescribable
Amazing
Redemption
Maria:
Purchased for
Eternity,
Chosen
Under
Love,
Inequivocably
Apt for
Resurrection!
3. Turn to p. 41. Recall our reading out of Genesis 21:1-6. Listen to verse 6. I especially love the New English Translation: “God has made me laugh.” Share something today with the group that God has done for you that brought you such joy or such a turnaround that it was laughable.
Nicole: God has turned so many things around for me. The one thing that stands out the most is when my husband and I had gotten ourselves in financial distress for the umpteenth time and we almost lost our house and both our cars and much more. We just couldn’t seem to get it right. But God in His unbelievable love and mercy had a couple we owe so much to, come to us and help us get out of debt and get us on a bi-weekly budget and now we are in better shape in our lives than we ever have been. It was tougher on me because I had to step up and quit being the sheltered baby and grow up, take over the checkbook and all the bills, make phone calls I never had to make(my husband always did everything) and I honestly thought I would die, but I didn’t and to look back now over the past 6 months I can say God meant it for my good, for my standing stronger, and even though it was a dark season, I wouldn’t trade the lesson and the growth for a million bucks. To think of His faithfulness to me when I so didn’t deserve it just makes me laugh out loud. He ordered every step of misery and every step of freedom. How cool is He?
Maria: 35+ years of my life were spent living in complete and utter darkness, bowing down to one addiction after another in my quest for “happiness” by way of fulfilling my own selfish desires. Each of these desires ended up backfiring on me violently, so much so that the same idols I bowed down to became my source of despair and fear. My solution was to actually drown out these hateful memories by way of more addictions. Incredible. What’s more incredible, though, is that after all this time, God still showed up, knocked at my heart and poured on me such an abundance of unmerited love, and grace, and a sense of belonging, and FINALLY an understanding of the magnitude of His plan for me, well, I couldn’t help but weep so very, very hard that it eventually turned into a giggle of joyful, hopeful, simply uncontainable sense of happiness! finally!!!!
4. Lastly, turn to p. 49 for what I thought was one of the most powerful moments of the entire second week. Kelly said “Fear protects our idols”! How? Discuss that!
Nicole: I will give and give and give until I can give no more to make the idol love me or want to be with me. I have always done this due to lack of acceptance as a child. I always felt I had to earn love, earn acceptance, earn everything, so I figured the only way to keep anyone in my life was to give to you so you would stay. I was creating my own security for fear of losing the only thing I thought could keep me feeling good about myself and even at times from losing my mind. How wrong I was. How selfish I was. What a God send this lesson is. To be able to stand on my own two feet for the first time without having an idol attached at the hip. My 11 year daughter said the most prophetic and profound thing recently. We were talking about highschool years and the years after and I said aloud that I had never had a real best friend like she has(she and the Pastor’s daughter are glued at the hip) and I felt God never really wanted me to have a friend or a close friend and she immediately said “maybe God wanted that friend to be Him momma”. You could have blown me over. She was more right than she knew…
Maria: I can absolutely attest to what Kelly said! Fear of change, fear of having to step away from what I would convince myself to be “safe”, “dependable”, “secure”, “soothing”, would ultimately cause me to redouble my effort to “cherish” these idols, terrified by the prospects that , one day, they wouldn’t be there anymore to bring me their measure of comfort.
LOVE Y’ALL!!!!!
We had a great time in God’s Word last night! Let me comment on this first, the pound cake was amazing!! My house smelled good. Thank you for the recipe.
Our acrostic:
Protected
Equipped
Called
Unique
Loved
Indestructible
Adopted
Redeemed
God has made me laugh, this came over the weekend. I had a siesta email me and tell me she couldn’t go to the Fiesta and she was heartbroken. I wrote her back and told her that her and I would pray over the weekend and ask God to provide a miracle and if He didn’t we would accept it. By Saturday I had an email from another siesta who told me they wanted to pay for her plane ticket, another siesta emailed me and told me she would order her a conference ticket and give her money toward a hotel room. I could have cried, how quickly God worked this out. We were also praying for God to meet her financial needs in her family and a man gave them a financial gift at church that Sunday which more than met their needs!!! For 3 days God has poured out His abundance for this sweet siesta. I have laughed because ONLY GOD!!!
Our group is enjoying the study and food and fellowship. Things are being discovered that we didn’t realize was in our hearts and I praise God for that. On the way to a healthier heart, praise God.
Have a great week Siestas!!
Love,
Patty
Man have I been very hesitant to want to read this study. Though when I do get into it I feel that much stronger and encouraged by God’s word. But once I close it I leave it behind until I can make myself get into it again. My fear is that if I lose this fear I have then I will go back to my old ways (addictions) Wow have I been off. I believe that if I do not fear my past then I will fall back into it.
Lately I have been thinking about how much up and down I get with that idea of fear. Right now I am weak and tired of trying to uphold that “truth”. It is a hard one to let go.
Great time of fellowship and sharing. One of our siestas, Becki, came up with a WONDERFUL acronym for PECULIAR. People Emulating Christ Until Like Identities Are Realized!!!!!!!Is that not AWESOME?????
OK-
we are loving this study, though it got deep real fast when we admitted to each other what our functional idols were. The bond that formed because of the vulnerability was amazing~ God continues to bless us with His Word, His perfect peace and His love! Thanks for this opportunity and a big shout out for the videos on Bible Study day! I am writing each “tip” down as I never know when I might need it. You had my whole house laughing at your “cheap shirt tips”!
Blessings to you!
Good Morning dear Siestas! Our group in north Texas grew by 3 ladies last night and it was a wonderful time of fellowship over Papa Murphies’vegetable pizza, pound cake and berries!
We started our session by playing Mandisa’s song “Voice of a Savior” because it so adequately summed up what we use as false Gods and what we need to look to as our God. In using Beth’s questions as a prompt and catalyst for our discussion, we spent a bit of time talking about the fact that so many of our idols come out of our search and/or need for “identity”, but through the exercise with the word ‘peculiar’, we realized that our identity in Christ affords us so much more than our search for identity in our false Gods. It was an eye opening exercise to look at the root of our fear as women, which while we are different also have so much in common, and to realize that the root is directly linked to the stronghold that our idols have over us.
We are praying for those strongholds to be broken and Jesus to be our “one and only.” We ended our time together with Travis’ rendition of “In Christ Alone/The Solid Rock” to remind us where to keep our feet firmly planted.
Looking forward to further revelation over the next two weeks,
Michelle B
Southlake, Texas
Thank you, Beth, I’m enjoying this study. I just got my book, but I am still behind. My goal is to catch up completely before next session.
To the starbucks group: I am so envious!! I am starting to think Starbucks is my idol. 🙁 Hmmmm.. maybe that’s why the news is that they are closing 600 stores — divine intervention to help me lose my idol??
Beth, I would simply cut out the zipper and use two sided tape each time you wear the blouse. On silk, it holds for 4 hours if you’re not out in temperatures above 80. On cotton, it holds much longer.
Back to the study . . . .
Our group is keeping up with the homework, which is a concern in the summer for some members.
So far in 2 weeks we have all laughed and cried as we study. It is painful to admit out loud and write down on paper there is an idol or idols in your life.
We are looking forward to the healing that comes when we cast them out of our lives!
We give Jesus all the praise and glory!
Initially us “seasoned” (translated old) Lovettsville VA siestas thought this study was for all those “twenty somethings” out there. After all, we’ve done a zillion different Bible studies by now…But the deeper we got into our studies the more we were struck with the depth,profundity and the timeliness of this study. (Oprah, our Beth is a woman of influence too!) We are the frog in the pot here in America. We would have recognized those stone and gold idols for what they are. Often the enemy doesn’t work in black and white he uses gray. Idolatry is rampant. By identifying and naming our Pharaohs,understanding why we run to them, and remembering that we are daughters of the King, we are on the road to emancipation. Hallelujah!
Yesterday as I was waiting at the radiologist for a CT scan I was buried in my bible study and across the isle I heard “We have the same books!” She had her “No Other Gods” book too! Kelly Minter’s sister is leading her study. The siestas are everywhere!
Beth, I have met up with a lady from your blog (many states away from me), to do the bible study with. Just the other day, a friend of mine got her book in, and now the 3 of us are posting back and forth on a blog we created just for this study. We are excited and loving it! God can bring together sister’s in Christ who don’t even know each other, but have an instant bond because of Him! (SummerSiestastudy)
Our group from Baton Rouge, LA met last evening and had a great discussion! I think #4 was very enlightening to some of us. Several of us shared the same view that before we did that day of the study we would have said we were not “fearful” people, but as we read deeper into scripture and the study, we all saw the significant correlation between fear/worry and our idols… good stuff! We can’t wait to get further into it!
Having always considered idols, or other gods, as people or things it was eye-opening when I realized my god has become my anger. It was simply through answering the questions about what controls me the most…what affects my emotions, my decisions that I made this discovery. I’ve been spending the last two weeks praying through Scripture as I beg the Lord to break down the anger that has built up over the last five years.
I’m nervous about what else God will be revealing to me, but thankful that He remains true to His word that He is not finished with me and He will perfect what He began.
A soloist here, but here are my insights into the lesson:
P rincess of a heavenly kingdom
E ternal fellowship with the King
C lothed with His righteousness
U nified with the Godhead and the Body
L ove others as I love myself
I nterests turned Heavenward
A pple of His eye
R esting in the Shephard’s care
I was so excited and blessed by the lesson on FEAR yesterday. The Lord used several of those scriptures to remind me that during the times of my worst fears coming true(the death of a baby)He was there for me! One of the scriptures was the very scripture I quoted over and over while hearing the news that my baby had died, “When I am afraid I will trust in You!” During a time of incredible grief, pain, and numbness, I cried out to Him, “Lord, if you really are my Good Shepherd, please show me. I can’t see how my Good Shepherd would lead me here!”
Within about 1 minute of uttering that cry, there was a knock on my door. It was a gentle older woman from my church who said, “I was driving down the road and the Holy Spirit told me to come to you. Did I hear Him right?”
“Yes, I believe you did.”
She proceeded to tell me that she had been up since 4 AM praying the shepherd’s psalm over me! Then she proceeded to teach me the ways the Lord is MY Good Shepherd! All this, without ever knowing what I had cried out to God moments before.
Yesterday, He reminded me that I was terrified then, and He was faithful. He gave me a treasure…more of Himself…that was well worth the journey. He will be faithful no matter what. I can let go of the “things/people” that I am afraid of losing and trust Him to meet my every need!
side note comment: there is a brilliantly funny Christian Blogger in Atlanta–go to stuffchristianslike . . it’s blogspot–he compares Beth to Wonder Woman today and says that his mom in law would “leg drop” him if he said anyting bad about Beth–His posts are Hysterical!!!
Wow this week was incredible
When I decided to do this study I had a group of 8 that were going to do it with me
Then things happened and it ended up being just me so I considered not doing the study
Then I felt God prompt me to call a friend of mine who I had tried to get in touch with for several weeks but we kept missing each others calls
Well I got her on the phone and discovered that she had been having an affair with a married man She is the type of person you would NEVER think would fall into this type of sin
We talked and I invited her to the study – it has been incredible!!
This week especially b/c she related so much to Sarah – trying to make her own blessing out of the pain in her life!
Oh it is good – LOVING the study
Thank you for facilitating it!
Blessings
Kim
Well, I just finished week two. I am going solo because I can’t bear to share with others the hidden places in my heart…caused by so many years of sin in my life, even after salvation. The people I have known for years would never believe this part of me, and all the things I have done.
In doing the last day of study on fear, I have admitted to myself that I fear death because I can’t imagine that God could forgive me for everything I have done. This fear has driven me to all kinds of idols to keep me from facing it.
I know what the Bible says and want to believe it.
I am telling these things to God and asking Him to help me.
Can anyone relate?
Anyway I guess I am not going solo after all because God will be with me…I am claiming this!
Beth, you are so funny! LOVE your Summer Sales shopping tips-but not as much as your heart for the Lord:)!
Our discussion last night was good…
The one thing that stuck out to all of us over the past two weeks was her definition of a “functional god”/idol. Most of us were surprised to realize what all that includes…motivations, what has power over us, etc. I think through that definition God revealed some things in our lives that are serving as “functional gods”/idols that would have otherwise been overlooked. Very powerful!
Thank you again for facilitating!
I am going solo and was laughing so hard at how awesome you are. Who says being a Christian isn’t fun! If God didn’t have a sense of humor, He would not have given us the ability to laugh, and I know He is laughing right now!
I missed chatting on the forum last night, but will catch up with them next time.
Here is my acrostic.
P-Presented holy before God
E-Eternal Life
C-Changed
U-Unified
L-Life
I-Inseperable
A-Adopted
R-Redeemed
I know some of them were more than 1 word, but that was difficult.:)
God is really teaching me a lot through this study. I agree with you Beth, I have never thought about it before that fear is what holds me to my idols. The more I think about it, the more that is so true. Thanks for spending part of your summer with us! That will make SA that more special! Love you all! Happy dog sitting!
Love,
Amanda in SC
We had a great fellowship and great food again last night. We spent most of our time on Q1 identifying our idols – most of which were GOOD things that we have let take over our lives. A very good quote from one of our ladies – Our hearts will always be filled. However, if we leave any open room in our hearts, something will move right in – and it may not be something good. So be sure and fill it with Christ! We also spent a good deal of time on Q3 in which several of us offered up wonderful ways in which things happened on God’s time, even as hard as we tried to PUSH it through on our time. When will we learn??? Thanks again for the guidance on this study, Beth. We are having a BLAST!
The study is wonderful….learning so much. You are right, Beth. The fear shielding idols is profound and I think by examaining my fears it will help me put a spotlight on my idol(s).
Here is how I think Christ has set me apart and made me “peculiar”.
P urposeful
E njoying life
C entered on Him
U seful
L oved and able to love
I ndewelled with Holy Spirit
A budantly blessed
R edeemed
Happy weeks 3 and 4, Siestas. 😉 Jill
All nine of us present last night..Awesome review of the past two weeks and how God spoke to each of us. Pound cake awesome, since we all almost work outside the home, could use the suggested common recipes earlier in order to get to market, get ingredients and get it prepared before Tuesday. We are having a great time! So cool to see younger women sharing their hearts and struggles.
North Dallas Group – we had a great time and lots of good food too. Most insightful comment of the night came when we were talking about idols and that we often care more about what other people think about us and we adjust our conduct and thoughts based on that. Our precious Sister – who is moving to Oregon and we are frantically trying to find her a group in the Portland area- said, “What other people think about me is none of my business.” We loved that.