standing,
I asked God to have some appreciation brought into my life. It is my top EN.

Thank you Father, for giving me standing's kind, sincere remarks today. You truly will give us the desires of our hearts, when we ask You humbly.

God's Grace,
ttsmm

Yvette,

Yes, if you will honor the "as one" covenant with your husband, I can guarentee things will get better! Try www.loveandrespect.com. There is nothig wrong with talking about general things with your mother, but she is not part of your "castle"! Your husband may not interact with you because he knows it will go right to "MOTHER", and he resents it. You already realize this by the way you posted, so I just want to be encouraging to you.

God Bless
sg

You're so right, singleguy. I had a very bad habit of "being an open book" with my friends & family. Maybe it's because I am NOSY myself! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="images/icons/frown.gif" />
I always like to know what's going on in my family & my circle of friends. Very bad habit I need to break!!! So, in turn, I would share my life with my best friend (we tell each other EVERYTHING) & immediate family. This made my H very angry that his "dirty laundry" was being aired for everyone to see. During this time, I have seen that as part of the destruction of our household, and I need to rectify that. I made an agreement with H that I would share certain things, but not all as before. And those things that will be shared will be okay with my H first that I share them. If there's something he doesn't want anyone to know, it will stay just between us. Boy, this was a real eye-opener THE HARD WAY!!! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="images/icons/frown.gif" />

Thanks, as always, for the encouragement. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" />

Where are all the posts for this Bible Study?? Come on, people, we need some responses! Okay, my take on the reading so far....Reading these creation stories over again has really made me think of God as a Father above all else. How many times have we, as children, disobeyed our Father? The story of how Eve did not obey God really stood out for me. We are so much like humankind at the beginning. How many times do we know what God truly wants from us, we have studied His word, know what His will is and yet still refuse to obey Him? We still listen to the other voices. The ones telling us to do something different. Trying to make us feel justified in our actions. This story can relate so well to me, personally, because just like Eve had the temptations from the serpent, I too had my share of temptations from my friends & family through this whole ordeal. How many times did I hear, "Just give up. Move on. He's not worth waiting for? How can you trust him after all the lies and the deceit?" Then I also heard God's voice telling me to wait, be patient, I'm not through with you two yet. There is still more to come. He is my child and I love him, just as you love him. He IS worth the effort! You know My word, now follow it! So I did, and I'm so glad I did! It's up to each of us to be able to discern between the two voices, the serpent's and God's. Every time I wanted to give in, to despair, I remembered 1 Corinthians 13 about love. Love is patient, love is kind, love endures, love is forever. I chose the path of love, not hatred, endurance, not despair, strength, not weakness, although many times I wanted to.

Then there's Cain vs Abel. Cain, trying to hide his sin, just like his parents, telling God that he didn't know where his brother was even though God saw everything. How many times have we done this? Do we continue to do this? Try to hide the sin inside of us, hoping noone sees it. But there is one person who sees all, who knows all, and that's God, our Father. And yes, when He does "catch" us, He will discipline us just as He did to Cain. But the story did not say that he punished Cain forever. As a matter of fact, one of his descendants had a very musical family! And what better way to praise the Lord himself but through song and dance!

It really made me think of my children and how I discipline them, while I love them so much. Why do I discipline them? To teach them something. To realize that actions bring about consequences. Yes, God can be harsh at times, he can allow all these things to happen because of what we have done; however, He won't punish us forever. He still loves us and tells us everything will be alright as long as we stick close by Him. Isn't it the same for our children? We punish our children, yet when they have a nightmare that evening or get hurt, we're still there as parents to wipe away the tear, to sleep in bed with us, to kiss the boo-boo. And we give them hugs, lots of hugs, even in the midst of our anger. I'm so thankful that God loves me so much that He gives me these lessons & continually teaches me how to give of myself just as Jesus gave himself for me. Thank you, Almighty God, for your love and patience with me!

Yvette,
Your post was enjoyable. Are you a Sunday School teacher? If not, you should be! We have to be so careful about what and who influences us.
And I'm glad you and your hubby have come to an agreement about what is, and what is not said outside of the marriage. That is healthy.
Now I need to get busy and read the verses posted, and put in my two sense worth! God, give me more time in the day!

God Bless
sg

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial"> Are you a Sunday School teacher? If not, you should be! </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Yes I am as a matter of fact. I teach 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. And thank you for the compliment! Now, if I could just get some of those kids to pay attention while they're supposed to be learning, we'd be good! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" />

Yvette, if you can make a 3rd, 4th, or 5th grader pay attention, tell me how you do it! Isn't it great to have kids full of energy! They are an inspiration, and a gift!

God Bless Yvette!!! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="images/icons/wink.gif" />
sg

Week 2 - Flood & Babel/Nations

This week we're going to be taken through the time of Noah & the flood on through God separating the nations and languages. Enjoy the reading!

Gen 6:1-11:1-9

Oh, rats! Did I miss Gen 1-5??? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="images/icons/shocked.gif" />

As I was reading the first chapters of what is both the Old Testament and the Torah, one thing struck me really hard...that within no time the human race sinned against God and thousands of years ago, He had a plan to redeem us. Isn't it amazing that even tens of thousands of years ago, our God had a plan to redeem us?

Yet I couldn't help but notice that even though God had a plan for redemption, He didn't do it immediately. The men back then lived almost to a thousand years old, and God waited and waited to execute His plan. This is just me, but I could see how Adam would trust God and have faith in Him--after all, for a while there Adam lived in the Garden with God...Adam literally knew God. But after a few generations went by, you'd think the people would be wondering why God was taking so long. Like, Enoch...he was a couple generations away from Adam, and he is recorded in Genesis as being a godly man who did not die but who was taken by God. Don't you think he wondered why God was waiting?? I mean, if God intended to redeem Adam and Eve--if God had a plan and wanted us to be with Him--what was He waiting for??? I'm sure that Adam taught his children l'dor v'dor (from generation to generation) that God was going to send a way to get back into a relationship with Him.

So why wait?? Why not send the messiah NOW??

For two important reasons: 1) God's time is not our time. He knows the ENTIRE big picture and He knows when the time is right--we don't. To Him, a thousand years is as a day, and sometimes when I see that 20+ years ago He began my journey to Judaism so I could be a witness for Him now with the movie, I get a GLIMPSE of the greatness of His plan. But usually, I don't see it. 2) God wants us to wait. So many times I hear people say, "How looooooong??" and think of these chapters. From Adam to Noah to King David to Jesus was THOUSANDS of years, and we are whining about one year?? Come on! I'm not talking about being patient here--I'm talking about living a full and productive life while waiting for God to decide it's time. Boy, for all I know, I might be one of the "in between" generations that just gets from Adam to Noah. Not much may be written or remembered about MY life...but my son or my grandson....

* * * * * * * * * *

Also, there are a few fun things in Hebrew in Genesis 1-5...want to hear?? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="images/icons/wink.gif" />

Okay, first, the name ADAM is actually the Hebrew word for "man" so that Adam is not really his name--it's also his title/designation.

When EVE was first created, notice that ADAM did not call her EVE--he called her WOMAN which is ISHA in Hebrew. So ISHA was the female title/designation until the part after the Garden where it says that Adam called her name EVE. EVE means "life" or "living" in Hebrew, because after they were kicked out of the Garden, Adam knew that God would send life through Eve.

CAIN means "wild man". He was pretty wild, wasn't he??

ABEL means "breath" like he had the breath of God within him. However since he was killed, the breath was gone.

SETH mean "appointed" because now that Abel was gone, Seth was the appointed one who was going to bring salvation.

* * * * * * * * * *

Did you notice that in the Garden when Isha was tempted, she added to what God said? God had told her that she could not eat of the tree lest she die, and she said she could not eat of the tree OR TOUCH IT or she would die. Hmmmm...

* * * * * * * * * *

Did you notice that when Cain killed Abel, and God found him out and talked to him about it, that God still protected Cain? Cain was a murderer, and God said that anyone who killed Cain would have vengeance x7. I thought that was kind of cool--that a guy could be a murderer which is a fairly major sin, and God would still protect him and care about his well-being. I suppose God thought that everyone on earth would hunt Cain down and torture him. Hmmmm...

* * * * * * * * * *

Why do they include all those "begat" chapters?? Isn't that kind of a waste of good Bible verses?? I often wondered about that, and then once for fun I did a bible geneology. Lo and behold, through those begats you can trace the lineage of Jesus all the way back to Adam. Plus, I think the bookkeepers love the bean-counting chapters, don't you? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="images/icons/tongue.gif" />

* * * * * * * * * *

I personally love the story of Enoch. We know so little about him, and yet he was such a godly man and knew God so intimately that he never died. Enoch was and then he was not. God took him. But I wonder why more wasn't written about Enoch...he must have had an interesting life and seen miracles and been pretty godly. Why just one verse or two on him?? For me, I look at Enoch as what my life might be. Enoch was one of the generations that lead from Adam to Noah--he was a direct connection and his purpose in the thousand-year-old plan was to lead from his father to his son. Yet while he was alive and while he served his purpose in the thousand-year-old plan, he knew God. KNEW. Don't really need to say much more than that, and yet it probably took him a lifetime of learning and growing and maturing and intimacy.

So those are my thoughts on Genesis 1-5, and I'm looking forward to Noah!!!


CJ

It's funny how that our story was about Adam & Eve last time because my name is Yvette (my nickname is Evee) and my H name is Adam. I always felt that we were brought together by God because of this reason, among others. And believe me, I was very fertile before little ole' hubby went to the dr's! SNIP SNIP! Ouch! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" />

Folks,

Gen 6:1-11:9
When I was reading the story of Noah, the flood and then the confusing of the language, I really got this deep feeling of connection. Connection to our ancestors. I know the Bible only traces the roots of Jesus but when I read the other brothers' & sisters' names and the genealogy, I really felt--connected. It just showed me how connected we all really are. The people started spreading westward from the east & pretty soon the world was being spread all over the earth. Then to top it off, the languages were confused! No one could understand each other.

These verses just really pointed out to me how we are all God's children and how He didn't want them building that tower in Babel. HOw he says that if they (the humans) continued to build, they would think nothing was impossible for them to attain. Swelled heads, more or less? I mean, what is the adventure, the challenge in having everything come easy? God confused the language. He made it a little harder to communicate with one another. He made a challenge. Did he do it with His love for us in mind? I believe, absolutely. He wants us to be challenged because if we could attain everything so easily as the ancestors seemed to be doing, how could they/we appreciate all God has to offer?

Lesson 3 - The Patriarchs (Job 1:1-42:17, Genesis 12:1-50:26)

Let's concentrate on Job this week. Would love to hear some comments. Last lesson was very disappointing. This lesson is almost a month behind & I'm really sorry. There's been so much going on here that all I've really been doing is lurking about the board. Time to get back into these lessons, though.

I know everyone is going through so many struggles and I know Job really helped me through my time. I hope it can really help someone else. Job was such a righteous man & he struggled so much, only to receive such a glorious victory at the end. I pray that although each of us is facing our own struggles, that we can find the "pot at the end of the rainbow" just like Job.

Any other takers on this subject? Would love to hear from you! This thread has been quiet long enough!

Hey, I thought it was time we resurrected this thread. It died very slowly & I think it's time we brought it back. Let's try to stay studied in His word & refocus ourselves again. This board is way too quiet most of the time!

Love in Christ,
Y