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!
Functional god: weight obsession. It works b/c as long as I’m focused on it, I don’t have to think about other, deeper issues. So now that that’s out the real work can begin.
P owerful
E ternal
C herished (thank you Jesus)
U unconditional
L love
I ncomplete no more!! Hallelluiah!
A ddictions
R emoved (1 down (cigs); 1 to go)
Thank you to the siesta who so honestly shared her fear of not being comforted, so she turns to food for that comfort. Spoke VOLUMES to me.
I love the opportunity to share in this study!! Thank you Jesus,
Kim in PA
Fear…I hear from my comment and many others.
Psa 32:7
Thou [art] my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
Psa 32:8
I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
Psa 32:9
Be ye not as the horse, [or] as the mule, [which] have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.
Psa 32:10
Many sorrows [shall be] to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.
Psa 32:11
Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all [ye that are] upright in heart.
Well, I posted already but I neglected to mention how our GROUP went. Great is the answer. We did enjoy pizza though it was Digiorno frozen not the recipe and I couldn’t find butter extract anywhere so I made brownies instead. Not the same, but still a hit.
We had a great time of sharing – 3 1/2 hours worth! Some are still struggling to pinpoint our idols but all of us agree our eyes are being opened to things we hadn’t considered before and are looking forward to the weeks ahead.
Here’s our acrostic:
Purpose
Eternal perspective
Chosen
Unity
Loved
Image of Christ
’till next time…
Atonement
Redeemed
Rah-Rah-Ree!!!
You WILL not bel’v this…I’m one of three in our group from the Knox Praire in Texas and I NEED a dictionary for the words my partners had for PECULIAR! Excuse me, but they are taking the ‘peculiar’ thing a bit far, don’t ya think:
Princess (i kno)
Eternal (i kno)
Cathartic (WHAT???? I’m thinkin’ while camping in the artic wearing a catheter so you don’t hafta freeze when you gotta go?)
Unbridled (got it)
Loved (awweee)
Immutable (my guess was~can’t keep you quiet, but they assured me I was way off)
Radient (hmmm huh, ez)
Kick ’em in the knee for those overachieving words!!!
The three of us may not agree on the acrostic, but we do agree that this study is woopin’ our tails!
We had a great time meeting togehter. The pound cake was delicious. Our time of sharing was warm,funny, and difficult at times.
the acrostic we came up with is
p-purpose driven
e-example
c-christian values
u-unique
l-light
i-intrested in others
a-anointed
r-redeemed,radical, reborn
That was such a fun activity to do.
Looking forward to 2 weeks from now.
Thanks so much for this opportunity!
We love this study!
Our dinner consisted of a delicious salad, Becker’s Pasta, and a scrumptuously decadent chocolate bundt cake drizzled with white and milk chocolate!! Yummy!! (Could we please have the common recipes the Saturday before the meeting, as I am a working mom and need more time to shop and prepare the meal. Just a suggestion!)
The most incredible part of the study to us was the “Fear protecting our idols”. Siesta Mary told us that her mother had a plaque that read “Run to the Roar”. (I am picturing Daniel in the Lion’s den) Basically we need to face our fears head on. She stated that when we let our fears take over we miss out on opportunities. I loved that!!
We spoke of how we worry way too much about how we “perceive” other people see us. We don’t worry enough about how God sees us. He does love us so!
P – Peace, Pardoned
E – Eternity,Exhortation,Enjoyment
C – Christ, Covenant
U – Understands, Unconditional
L – Love, Life
I – Indwelling, Infinite
A – Assurance Acceptance
R – Redemption,Rest, Relationship
(Right to Rule and Reign)
We spoke of how God has blessed us with Husbands and Children who make us laugh and Sister Suzanne stated how God makes her laugh at the way he answers some of her prayers. God sure does have a great sense of humor! I think that the gift of having Siesta’s to laugh with is also noteworthy!
God is doing an awesome work here. My neighbors, who were invited to come, however, declined, were all curious after our first study as to “What kind of a Bible Study are you having over there!” They heard so much laughter and singing (we were creating our video)coming from the house that it sounded like fun!! Can you imagine that!! (He He)
Also my 20 year old son, who has decided that he doesn’t feel like attending church, has been participating by helping us make our video and downloading it for us. He and his friend love going on Godtube to look at the videos and he loves to hang with the ladies for some fellowship time after the study. God is so faithful!!!
The picture that accompanies this blog is of some of the Siesta’s that are in the study. You may look on Luv2Praise blog for more pictures.
Till we blog again, God Bless You all!! In HIS Love, Lori
We have a great group of 18 women coming joining in the study. This week we had 13 of our group there. Interesting study. None of our groups Bible Translations had the l Peter verses like yours, but we did the acrostic for “peculiar” people anyway. Here is what our two groups came up with:
People
Enthusiastic
Chosen
Unique
Living
In an
Amazing
Righteous Relationship
Prayerful
Enthusiastic
Caring
Understanding
Loving
Interacting
Accepted
Redeemed
Thanks for your leadership and inspiration!
Tupelo, MS please contact me.
[email protected]
What a privilege it is for my daughter, daughter-in-love and I to gather around my table and go over the study. It is just too cool,,,,and too God. 🙂 Praise Him for this time. I loved your shopping secrets at the end of your blog. It is such fun to have sisters in Christ to laugh with. You are just so real. I love it! Thanks so, so much! Vicki
Oh Siestas, I am needing some joy tonight. A 10 year old in our community was killed last night in a ATV accident. She was the baby of the family. Two boys and two girls. Pray for the Hopf ‘s in Dubois IN. My little girl is the same age and we had been having a difficult “attitude chiming in” kinda day when I found out. I just locked my arms around her neck and held on, telling her that I love her. Do the same, our children are too precious to be harping at all the time. I realized that messy hair/rooms/clothes are not that big a deal. Love your children and keep them off od ATV’s for cryin out loud!! Okay, I am doing the study solo, with the forum gals and it is great. I am discovering that my idols are alot like everyones elses. Self-control, failure, sucess, perfection, having to act happy for the family… We need to cut it out and start Raisin’ up the one true IDOL Jesus Christ.
Here are my Peculiar words:
P-pulled apart from others
E-Educated in the Word
C-Covered by the blood
U-Using Gods Word
L-Living Proof
I-Involved in the ministry
A-Actively Believing God is who he says he is
R-Ready to speak the powerful words of God
OH MY WORD we are lovin’ this study here in Charlotte!!!
Our group met today and decided instead of eating that pound cake that we would just go ahead and slather it all over our hips! WOW – not too low on calories there, Ms. Beth! hahaha
Ok. Here’s our acrostic for “peculiar”. We just thought of things that make us stick out in the “world”.
P – Precious (in His sight)
E – Energetic (doing all our work to His glory)
C – Committed (to our marriages even when others walk away)
U – Unified (even if we don’t totally agree)
L – Lifestyle (not just a religion but our lives)
I – Insightful (to those hurting around us)
A – Attitude (better be a good one)
R – Reflection (of His face to a hurting world)
Our idols have a lot to do with pride and control. We’ve got some high places down here in the south that we’re tearin’ down!! Thank you Jesus for this study and for doing the work!!!
YAHHOOOOOOOOJAH!!
Val
NC
To Kim W. with the bug bites –
Thank you for your encouragement.
Anonymous Siesta
Paulette – solo
I love the study – just finished week 2 today. I can’t figure out how to watch the video after 40 seconds it turns off. Help. From reading all the comments I can’t wait to see it.
Checking in from Colorado.
Our group had to meet via email this time – life happens! Hopefully next time we will be able to discuss face to face.
Here is some of what we came up with:
1. We found that most often our functional gods involved people – pleasing them, gaining their acceptance, getting advice from them instead of God (running to the phone not the throne). Seems that someone with “skin on” is often a functioning substitute for the one true, yet invisible God.
2. We are a peculiar people because: Christ gives us Peace (based on John 14:27 this is not peace like the world gives); our future is Entrusted to Him (as in 2Timothy 1:12); our Citizenship is not of this earth (Philippians 3:20); we shine like stars in the Universe in the midst of depravity (Philippians 2:15); we have been brought from death to Life (Romans 6:13); we are born again of Imperishable seed (1 Peter 1:23 ); we have been Adopted as God’s sons (Ephesians 1:5 – and this was by His pleasure!); and finally, we are peculiar because we are Royalty (1 Peter 2:9)
3. Something God did that made us laugh is from Gina: “I get a good laugh when I think back to my miscarriages. I was told that I maybe had a 50/50 chance of having children in the first place. It still amazes me today that I actually grew another fallopian tube!”
4. Thinking of fear as the guard for our idols certainly leads to introspection. It will keep us looking for the root of what our idols really are.
Oh, sweet siestas,
I just had to LOL at God’s amazing grace, and how He has shown me that I don’t need no stinkin’ idols when He is truly enough!!
My idol is being “worthwhile” and useful. I used to be a musician and then a vocal cord injury took care of that; so I regained most of my voice and was a teacher (bible, reading, etc.) but then a heart condition took care of that; I regained some strength and went back to leading Bible studies and such, but rheumatoid arthritis and vocal cord deterioration has taken care of that.
So, not feeling “useful” anymore and wondering why God keeps me here (my idol rising up again) and this happens JUST IN THE LAST 2 DAYS!!
I connect with a siesta in a place where she must stay anonymous — and I now have a wonderful pen pal to encourage and share the study and give materials online where she can’t get them any other way;
I connect with a siesta who is looking for a “new safe home” for her Bible study girl who is moving close to my area — and I know of a good church there and get them connected — and I have another person to encourage and pray for and love on; so as I go to my small group of women who connect weekly to share how God is working in their lives — and as I followup on the dear girl that just accepted Jesus 2 weeks ago and wants to know what this Christian life is all about — why should I ever feel useless when Christ uses me in His fashion and His way — and having Him is truly enough!
thanks for listening,
bev in OR
Thank you for the video, Beth. I am a week behind and hope to catch up. This is a great study, but life dropped some bombs this week. Please, siestas, pray for 3 friends: 1. friend fell down steps and broke his neck at C3 – please believe in God’s miracle of healing and no paralysis; 2. friend in head on car accident, and he has had one surgery and some surgeries ahead of him, but the other person died, and the friend is charged (not his fault as it was raining so hard); 3. young friend’s kidney transplant has failed after 10 years and she is on dialysis daily for now. Thank you for your prayers….they can move mountains! God bless, Beth!
Okay I am so behind I may not catch up, (I feel like I am back in high school)
But I want to be a part so I will do some major cram sessions.
Week two is amazing.
I think I really see relationships as my idol. which is funny to say cause now I feel very happy to be single. But the last guy I dated Even got engaged to, all with the HUGE red flags God was waving in my face, and guess what, It was 100% fear that made me stay with him. That whispering fear, that I’d be alone forever, or you can’t do better than him, so don’t loose him. The whisper that really I am not good enough for God to bless me with a Godly man. And seeing as how I have already been married and that did not last you can believe, that whisper, that fear took hold of me, and made me a believer. And from that valley also comes moments where I can laugh. All I had to do was choose God over that relationship, To say even if I don’t feel good enough, God is good enough. To take that stand and not let that idol win. I did it, with his help, and man has it ever changed me. It is such a blessing to have an undivided focus for God, and I will stay single unless a guy comes along to run the race WITH me, instead of trying to convince me to stop running.
P-Peace
E-everlasting Love
C-comfort
U-
L-life altering Grace
I-
A-appended (mama Beth jacksonville)
R-rich in mercy
Two of them stumped me then I saw it was U and I so that’s the answers I guess U and I
(or it’s just late and I am delirious)
Good Morning All,
Our group of five are thankful for this opportunity to study with all the siestas this summer.
We think No Other Gods is very thought provoking and causes us to look a little deeper. One siesta shared how she had gone through the first week rather superficially (pat Christian answers), and was ready to move on to week two, when she realized God was calling her to go back and “get real” in week one.
It’s rather sobering to consider the difference between the God we profess and the gods we sometimes serve. We talked about “what do we get out of it? what’s the payoff?”
“Change occurs when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.”
Various ways Christ set us apart:
P-ardoned
E-xcused
C-overed
U-nderstood
L-oved
I-ntervened
A-toned
R-edeemed
Beth, it’s fun to be with you via video.
We expect God to do a mighty work!
Dear (siestas), keep yourselves from idols. (1 John 5:21)
What a hoot! I have been reading this blog for months now and have not commented but I just have to get involved in this. I have never met or known of so many womena who are crazy about Jesus like the siestas here.
I am going to try to catch up on this study and be a part. Thanks for serving as you do.
My group met at my house. You’ve heard of “Dinner and a Movie”, well, we had “Lunch and a Bible Study”! Pizza and Pound cake was Yummy!
I took a more practical approach to my acrostic. To be different from the world because I can in Christ.
P-pleasant
E-encourager
C-charitable
U-unselfish
L-loving
I-intentional
A-available
R-reliable
South Georgia Siesta Sue Sue
http://www.suesuessweetthoughts.blogspot.com
Hi All~
We had a great time here in Forest, VA. Five of us met and enjoyed a wonderful dinner. The questions posed were thought provoking and challenging. My favorite was meditating on the word “peculiar”. I finally finished my acrostic this morning.
P-owerful in Spirit II Tim.1:7
E-xact truth before me II Pet.1:19
C-itizenship is in heaven Phil.3:20
U-nchanging love Rom.8:38-39
L-iving stone I Pet.2:4
I-ntimacy Heb.10:19
A-live with Christ Eph.2:4-5
R-obe of righteousness is my clothing Isaiah 61:10
Let’s go out and live worthy of our title! We are P-E-C-U-L-I-A-R!
Rose~
Here’s “our” acrostic. (The royal “our”. Xandra blew me out of the water on this one! LOL)
Persecuted
Elect
Church (as in universal)
Unified
Loved
Inheritance
Atoned
Righteous
And we thought summer was supposed to be laid back and not as busy?! We are both scrambling to get this done! LOL
Linda & Xandra
The question about fear really struck me. I post this after watching Session 5 in the Stepping Up series about being “ONE” in the body of Christ. I wonder if others feel this way? My fear is loss of innocence. My childhood, teen-ager years, and young adulthood were so secure. It has been in my mid-adult years that I have dealt with loss. Also with technology now, as a culture we have been exposed to so much in the world around us. Sometimes I ask myself were my eyes meant to see this? Where my ears meant to hear this? Sometimes it’s just too much. I do turn to God’s Word and The Lord’s Prayer. (especially Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.) I have learned so much by reading other Siestas comments and feel so blessed that we are “ONE” in the body of Christ. Thank you for this thought provoking discussion.
This is an eye opener! I’ve needing something to shake up my perspective and I do believe this is it. Thanks for the laughs
Cindy
We are a session ahead in the Bible study due to our schedules but we enjoyed our review of lessons 1 & 2 and particularly question # 3 : 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.†There was a sign at one of the local businesses this week that read, “Laughter is a mini vacation.†I am so thankful that our God has a sense of humor and that he is providing so many mini vacations this week during our Summer Siesta fellowship. One of our members shared this with us: “ Her young grandson was looking up toward the sky, laughing, and repeatedly saying, ‘Hah-waw-hooya, Hah-waw-hooya, pwaise the Ward.†After listening to this for a while, his mother went outside and asked what he was doing. The grandson replied,â€It’s raining! I’m pwaising the Ward for sending the rain.†Our laughter about this reminded us that we need to remember to lift our laughter and thanks to our God Almighty, giver of all good gifts.
We had a wonderful night of fellowship and study. The pizza and Aunt Bea’s Cake were both mouth watering! My girls and I can’t about leave dad out. So he looks forward to every other Tuesday also. Yum! In fact I have another cake in the oven as I’m typing this. Five Flavor-Five Pounds up cake. Yikes! Beth we love your cute video’s! Lavonda your acrostic was so neat how you added a Bible verse for each! Loved it! Happy 4th of July and God Bless!
The Drake’s <><
Yeah it was late the A is supposed to say Apprehended
I loved the video. I am so the girl who buys something and gets home and says what is this? We have yet to be able to meet on Tuesday night but we are meeting and thats what matters. We had brunch this time on Wednesday morning and had breakfast pizza instead and it was great. The discussion went great and we watched the video and just paused at each question. Someone in our group also made a cd of all the songs from the study. I love music and I think it adds so much. I got two emails thanking me this am for leading the study in our neighborhood and what it has already meant to them, so thank you LPM for all your hard work. There are two ladies who have never done bible study. FYI I also bought Kelly Minters bible study for pre-teens on Hannah and my 12 years is eating it up and I said nothing just gave it to her.
I’m so thankful the WORD became flesh and then left His word for us.
delta
Greetings from the Sunset Siestas in FL. The backdrop for our study this week was rain on the lake and we watched it from the porch as we had our discussion.
Double turn around joy for us is spending time with our children, especially grandchildren for us that have them. They really know hoe to make us laugh. Ana commented that this study was definitely a double tuenaround joy for her…an opportunity to reestablish friendships and draw nearer to God, we ditto that!
What makes people want to be peculiar like us?
These attributes are reflected in the conduct of our lives:
P-praising protected & pardoned
E-excited & eternal
C-chosen & comforted
U-united
L-loved lavishly
I-indispensable individuals
A-adopted & anointed
R-ransomed & redeemed
We are blessed!
Greetings from the Garlic Capital Group (Gilroy, CA)!
We had a great group on Tuesday night. Everyone has been open and vulnerable which I am so pleased about since not everyone knew each other coming into it. One of the main things we talked about was that many of our idols that are things (e.g. money, media) seem to be secondary idols masking our true idol which is ourself (which manifests in selishness, independence from God, etc). We are all excited (and a little nervous (o;) to see what God has in store for us over the next two weeks.
Have a wonderful 4th of July! We will be celebrating my son’s 1st birthday. :oD
-Trista Leigh
Kathy in Bradford, PA
Hi everyone!
I have to share a “GOD STOP” with you all. I appologize for the delay, length, and me, me, “me”ness of this “group responce” but my hope is that you will see God’s presence at work.
FRUSTRATION and DISAPPOINTMENT:
2 weeks of frustration over many failed attempts to write, record and submitt a video singing our memory verses.
Disappointment over myself:
for an unsucessful video, awareness of my idols, and getting dressed(trying to look good when nothing fits)
TURNING POINT:feeling overwhelmed and overheated, layed down on my bed to pray and whine, mostly whine.
REALIZATION:I stared asking myself, “Why am I frustrated, disappointed and agitated?”
ANSWER:because I am looking for satisfaction in any and everything but God. WOW! Now that’s an idol!
At that moment, a cool breeze washed over me. God’s gentle presence. God you are Awesome.
LOOKING BACK:
The song was missing part of the verse “through Jesus Christ our Lord” (God’s protection over my fear of looking foolish)and it fits PREFECTLY into the spot in should go.What an Awesome God we have!
Tuesday when our group got together I shared this story, played and sang the song for them and they sang along. They were excited to have something to help them learn the memory verse.
Misson accomplished!! Glory to God!
We discussed the issuse of fear protecting our idols. There was some confussion about fear being an idol, but the more we talked the clearer it became that fear can be an idol, but sometimes there is something behind the fear that is the true idol. Some of those fears were: making mistakes, looking foolish, not doing something good enough, and not getting everything done.
There were great answers for the acrostic most of which have already been stated, except Royalty. Loved Lavonda’s group in Georgia with the scriptures to back it up!
Thanks for letting me share.
You are all terrific!
Never wanting to leave Jesus Christ out again!
Kathy in Bradford, PA
To the anonymous siesta who responded to my original post–
You’re quite welcome! I will be lifting you up in prayer.
The Nogs from Snellville, GA came up with this acrostic:
P – perfect. we are perfect in God’s eyes, so we don’t need the approval of the world
E – evermindful. we are to be ever mindful of what God expects of us as his children
C – compassion. We are to show compassion to those around us. even when we disagree
U – uplifting. in a world full of discouragement and negativity, we are to spend our lives lifting others up
L – language. our language should set us apart.
I- inspire. we are to breathe the spirit of God into everything and everyone one around us.
A – abstinence. again this is about being different. whether you want to talk about sex, drink or watching “popular movies” the point is to abstain. Those who are watching you will eventually ask “why?”
R – respectful. Be respectful of other people’s feelings, but at the same time, respect your GOD. Do not brush off HIS requirements
almost everyone in our group has the same to major gods: approval and control. We all want to be loved and will do almost anything to get it and we all have some degree of addiction to control.
Notes: I agree with needing the recipes in time for Saturday marketing
and how on EARTH do eat all this stuff and stay so thin Beth?
Sorry it has taken me so long to post my response for our group…shame on me! ha!
Any who…we are living large and loving this Bible Study down here in Ft. Lauderdale.
We met for 3 hours (yep, we can talk) and were able to peel back the layers (like an onion) of masks that we hide behind and really call out and claim the truths in this study. So many of us struggle with idols and the whole thing about FEAR really took it all to another level.
We had 11 chicks (young, old, in between, and quite a few nationalities) Tuesday night and one by one we read through all the verses Kelly listed on Day 5 of Session 2, we did the acrostic for “peculiar”, we handed out Scripture Memory Cards (for Jude 1:24-25), and have a prayer chain going through the group on email.
God has knit together quite an amazing group of STRONG women who are finally able to lay it down and be real…I LOVE IT!!!
Go God for bringing us all together, and thanks to Kelly Minter for a great book and study, and thanks to you Beth and the LPM team for uniting us all in prayer, food, and fellowship!
Much Love and Prayers,
Melissa in Mel’s World
PECULIAR
Praise God from whom
Eternal Life with
Christ is offered through the
Unselfish, unwavering, unfailing
Love of our
Incomprehensive, incredible
Adored and Almighty
Redeemer
Amen & Hallelujah!!
Isaiah 44:6-23
This is what the LORD says–
Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty:
I am the first and I am the last: apart from me ther is no God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come– yes,let him fortell what will come. Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and fortell it long ago? Your are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.
All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Those who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant to their own shame. Who shapes a god and casts an idol, which can profit him nothing? He and his kind will be put to shame, craftsmen are nothing but men. Let them all come together and take their stand; they will be brought down to terror and infamy.
The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals; he shapes and idol with hammers, he forges it with the might of his arms. He get hungry and loses his strength, he drinks no water and grows faint. The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in the form of man, of man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine.
He cut down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest , or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow. It is man’s fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says,”Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.” From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, “Save me; you are my god.” They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, “Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over it’s coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”
He feeds on ashes, a deludes heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”
“Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I have made you, you are my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.”
Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, O earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forest and all your trees, for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel.
I’m doing this study with my BFF Stacy. One thing I absolutely love about this study is that it is giving us an opportunity to connect in our rushed lives. We met for lunch today in a local restaurant. We watched Beth’s video as we ate. Then, of course, before we could get into the discussion, we HAD to check our teeth and refresh our lipstick. 🙂
We both said that we are looking at idols in a completely new way. We discussed all kinds of fears, and wondered where God was leading us and what He’s trying to show us in our situations. One of Stacy’s Isaac’s was when she prayed to see snow on the beach at our Bible Study retreat in January. It was cold that weekend, however on the last day, still no snow. But while walking on the beach, she met some people who were walking their white dog. As she asked about the dog, she asked his name. And, you guessed it, it was Snow! God is so good! Stacy did see Snow on the beach, but not exactly like she thought she would. What a lesson to learn! (And what a hoot!) I feel connected to Isaac in a different way. We experienced infertility for 10 years before we had a precious boy who is now almost 15. Tears come to my eyes as I recall all the laughter we’ve had together.
This Bible study was such a wonderful idea. Can’t wait to see what the next two weeks have in store for us!
Hey Siestas and Mama Siesta,
Can I just say that I have a new love/hate relationship with this study? Kind of like I did with Breaking Free, I got to tell ya. (You couldn’t pick an easy study like, “90 days of studying praise songs” or something!!!) I hate what this study is bringing up in my life, but I love that our Lord and Savior loves to bring beauty from ashes and wants me to serve the Big G and not focus on these small g’s that I have created for myself.
Love to all.
I am a middle aged NOG, and I have led young women in this study twice. Now I am doing it alone. I am STILL learning things about myself. I agreed with the post that Nikki entered about the idol of financial security (or the lack thereof!) I wrote” I canNOT rely on our retirement funds or any acquired possession such as a house for my security. I truly must trust the Lord for all that because the truth is, it can all change in in instant.
I will add another idol to the list, and that is health. There is fear in the heart of an 50 something as she sees her parents aging, and all that it entails. Illness, pain, death. As we go past the midpoint, we fear getting older, being sick, not having enough money etc. to be comfortable.
The idols change, but there are always new ones that crop up that we MUST conquer in the power of the Lord. Satan never stops.
Lastly, my most favorite quote in the first two weeks was on page 34 “….somewhere in the middle of all the tugging, it is ESSENTIAL that we buiild a fortress wherein only God, His words, and our heart exist together for a time. It rarely happens accidentally.”
That is one powerfully true sentence. Oh God, may we take it to heart.
Beth-
Wanted to log in that our group of 16 ladies had a wonderful first session! We are loving the study, and the fellowship!
Interest thing happened the other night- we were getting into the discussion on question #3 (re: II Peter reference to Christians as a peculiar race) and I asked the ladies name 1 identifier that they are known as in their lives. I heard female, woman, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, teacher, wife, grandmother, etc. All the normal ones, however, NO ONE, and I repeat NO ONE out of 16 people mentioned “Christian”, “Child of GOD”!
How very telling of our society and the world we live in! Even Christians do not relate this as a primary identifier in their lives! The single most important thing that makes us “peculiar” is the last thing we think of!
Something to ponder….
Thanks for a wonderful study, and your willingness to serve Christ thru women of faith! I cannot wait to hear our discussion in 2 wks.
Lynn
Alabama
Wow, what a bible study. We are so into the Word. Decided our “Pharaoh” is trying to please others (even in our walk with the Lord) and not pleasing God. We need to remain obedient. “I” am not the answer, God is. All of this is in God’s perfect timing with this Bible study and to lay it all down before God. What a blast God has been this last two weeks. We loved doing the acrostic. Promise, Even me, Catch me God, Understanding, I am God, Always there, Relying on God. Phyllis
I’ve enjoyed getting to know the other solos that I’ve formed a group with. I’m thankful for this study for bringing us together. It was amazing how we got to share how God has used this study.
Here is my acrostic plus a little more :).
Proclamer (of God’s word and is)
encoraged (by her Faithful God)
changing (her by His Holy hands)
undone (is what she is when she stands before His thrown)
loved (is what she feels when she is)
illuminated (by her God’s saving Grace)
alive (she what she has become for she is now)
redeemed (through her Saviors blood)
Please also be praying for me as I do this study because I’m being hit from every direction in ways I didn’t see coming and in ways I did see coming (temptations to Self-harm again). I’m trusting God through this but if I could get some others joining me in praying that would be such a blessing.
P- Precious in His sight
E- Exceptional; Eternity-minded
C- Courageous; Called
U- Uncommon
L- Loved lavishly
I- Intimate relationship
A- Adopted; Adored
R- Redeemed; Royalty
Boy, is this study revealing to me several idols…especially when she explained how fear plays into it. :/ Here is one I’ve struggled with for years and years: I thrive on relationships and I am perfectly content to be alone a lot of the time, but especially on weekends, I go stir crazy if I’m my only friend the whole weekend! I even get depressed and anxious feeling if it goes on too long. Soooo…my idol is the security of having a friend or boyfriend who can hang out with me. So my fear and insecurity is lonliness. I’m 40and single, I live in a small town and most of my girlfriends are married. Don’t get me wrong. I have lots of friends and stay busy a lot of the time, but ask any older single person about lonliness! They’ll tell you. More importantly here, I don’t tend to have unhealthy relationships with my girl friends, but I have hung on to a relationship with a guy several times in the past because the companionship was so nice…even when I knew I wouldn’t marry this person. So there it is. :/
My acrostic:
People’s
Earthly
Crazy
Unashamed
Love of the Lord
Instilled
As
Reality
God is so great. I am having the best exchange of emails for this study with my best sister and friend in the Lord. Our earthly connection is so odd but all things are possible in the Lord.
Blessings from the SC beach. The past two weeks have brought serious fear challenges to every single one of our six members, taking a different form with each woman, and we have been so grateful to bear each other’s burdens to the throne of Him who loves us perfectly.
We have bathed our workbooks in tears during the sweetest prayer times, lifting each other before our mighty, precious, gentle Savior. We did serious damage to sicilian pizza and heavenly pound cake, and like many of you, our discussion time stretched for hours!
Perhaps the sweetest thing is watching the two youngest members (19 and 21), whom we have all known and loved since they were born, become part of our “grown-up” fellowship – we as women, not just mothers and daughters, share our deepest hearts. I could live on it for days…
Our acrostic:
Purpose/Priesthood
Excellence/Elevated
Cleansed/Consecrated
Uplifted/Unique
Loved/Liberated
IGNITED/Image of God
Apple of His Eye
Ready/Risen/Restored
I always have felt that I have no talent so in order to make up for that I told myself I would always look put together and look like I knew what I was doing,well I was going over the study with a friend that found me throug your blog we live in the same city so she look me up and we meet when we got to P.23. she as me what did you write down for your skills I said “nothing”she said”yes you do have talent ” I said I do?” “yes you do you can speak 2 different languages your a good talker, and you have encourage me to start a blog” I never reall saw myself that way I guess I have had so much negetivism in my life tiem that was just one more thing I was believing but not know more the only talent I thought I had was giving birth to my 2 kids that are 18 years apart
:),marina
Ginny, Martha, Lacey, and Heather met Tuesday night and had a great time! Becky missed out on the fun since she was suffering for Jesus on the beach.
We kept up our theme of dessert and enjoyed a cheesecake sampler while watching the video and giggling!
We had a wonderful discussion that lasted so long we had the husbands calling to find out what was taking so long! So many insights into such an important topic could have kept us going even longer. Here’s what we came up with for Question #2:
P-Patient
E-Electric
C-Compassionate
U-Understanding
L-Loving/Listening
I-Insightful
A-Assurance
R-Remembrance
Can’t wait for next time! Thanks, Beth!
The Rocklin CA Siestas meet Wednesday afternoon and of course never have enough time to say all we have to say, but we got a good start. Four of the Five of us met, ate and shared. I don’t think there is much I can add to everybody else’s comments except that I think I might be feeling another video project coming on!
From Sunny California!!!
Hi there,
Since starting this study it is incredible to see how much more busy life has become with details to be attended too……. when all I want is to get away with God.
One of the functional gods I have recognized is having to keep everything together and everyone happy and the GUILIT I feel when I cannot do that… like it is all my fault….and seeing how fear cements that, as I am afraid to face the fact that I am not in control and what might happen if i let go.
Precious
Exceedingly
Confidence
Ultimate
Lovely
Irresitible
All compassionate
Radical
I had to laugh, as I do not kid you….. I was at a friend’s this weekend and she had found a book at a thrift store that caught my eye……..”Idols of the Heart: Learning to Long for God Alone,” by Elyse Fitzpatrick! When I told her I was doing this study she gave it to me!! How is that for confirmation!
Love, karen 🙂 🙂
Didn’t want my post to be too long – am greatly appreciating this study. I think God has been showing me that my greatest functional idol is “my reputation” – wanting the esteem, respect and good opinions of others.
I’m leading a Bible study of mostly illiterate believers, studying the book of John. Just a few months back, we discussed John 3-4. Nicodemus came to Jesus in the night, probably because as a Pharisee, he was concerned about what others would think – his reputation. The Samaritan women came to the well at midday, the hottest time of the day when very few others would be out, because of her reputation. She didn’t want to hear the whispers and see the glances that reminded her of what others thought of her. But the Bible also speaks to us about Jesus’ reputation:
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who… made himself of no reputation… (Phil 2:5-7, KJV)
If you analyze the word “reputation,” it comes from the Latin prefix “re” which means to do over and over and over again, one time after the other and the Latin verb “putare” which means to call to account or to consider carefully.
So, what is a reputation? It is what the public, in general, thinks of someone. It is notoriety for a particular trait or aspect (here, part of my “reputation” is that I’m the white lady with 7 blonde haired, blue-eyed kids). It is a good name or honor brought to the family because of specific behaviors and attitudes. It is a value or honor placed on or given to one by another – due to position, wealth, intelligence, etc. In our legal system, a person’s reputation can be admitted as evidence in a court of law.
Yet if I want to have the same mind as Christ, I’m to make myself of no reputation. My actions and my behavior are not to be based on or determined by what I think others expect, on making others happy, or pleasing and feeding my ego as a result of others’ responses. What I do, what I think, words I say, who I am – all should be determined by the character of the One I seek to imitate and follow.
There is a huge difference between my reputation (what others think) and my character (the person God is making me to be). The word character comes originally from a word meaning an instrument used for marking by making sharp cuts, engraving. God is in the process of engraving on my often hard and stubborn heart the image of His Son and His character. Thus, I’m to make myself of no reputation as I allow God to develop my character into one that pleases Him and brings honor and glory to His name, as He engraves His laws and the character of His Son on my heart.
2.
Precious &
Exquisite,
Curiously
Uncommon,
Laughably
Intriguing,
Approved by God &
Rare
One final comment:
Kelly gave the example of Hannah as a success story. I thought of another: Abraham, who in Gen 15, when God essentially says, “Abram, I’m giving you myself,†Abram responds, “There’s nothing you could give me God, except a son, to satisfy this empty place in my heart.†Yet in Gen 22, this same man was willing to offer his one and only son as a burnt offering to God, recognizing that obedience to God, following Him and being in relationship with Him is worth any perceived sacrifice.
Thanks for a great idea, Beth, and for leading this study.