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Introduction to Adorned with True Beauty

Adorned with the Beauty of Faith (Lesson 1)

I've placed links to the pages within this study here. Use this thread to discuss the Introduction and Lesson 1. Feel free to start this study and time and then look through the women's forum for the other lessons as well as you progress.

[quote]How to Use this Study Guide
This study is designed to help you consistently spend time in God's Word daily. Each week's lesson is divided into five days of homework so that you spend time with God listening to His voice each day. The Bible is God's message to you, and He wants to speak with you personally. You will gain the most from this study if you do it day by day, answering just that day's questions, rather than trying to stuff it all in at once. Working on it daily will also allow you to meditate upon what you have seen as you go about your other routines.

A Precious Word from Godâ€â€

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Jennifer Dent
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Jenneifer,
This is the place to share while doing this study? I am glad to have some technical help so as to do this properly. I am not the most savvy computer user and I would love to be able to just bookmark this one spot so I don't get lost. Thanks for your assistance.
Pam

Hi there Pam, yes this is where you come to discuss Lesson 1. There are stickies created for each lesson. This was done so that if someone comes at a later time to begin this series they won't have to start a new topic/thread they can just use Lesson 1 while others are on a different lesson.


If you need help getting and finding Lesson 2 let me know.

Jennifer

Thoughts as I read 1Pet....

1st thought was...wow...read the whole thing? That is a lot to take in and try to get... then I looked ahead and realized it was just to familiarize myself, not to overwealm me. Whew!

These people are going through trials ( funny, me too )
They HAVE the hopeful message of Christ ( me too )
Keep looking to Christ and His Word ( something I got away from for a while)
I am bought with a price, and worthy of that price (hard one somedays)
Build on the cornerstone, not the stumbling stone.
Love others through the living abiding Word of God.
Abstain from lusts ( food tends to be my worst...and yet I need it to live )
Do not be conformed to former lusts ( food needs to be fuel, not desire )

Some repeated thoughts and themes were....

Come to the Word and feed on it.
Come to Him and choose Him.
Submit to the Lord while also obeying the laws of man.
Keep entrusting to the one who judges rightly. x3
Humble myself to God and cast my anxiety on Him.

My prayer...
Lord God, forgive me from being away from your word. The barriers I have put up to protect myself from hurt have cut me off from you. It has only gotten worse in this lost place of dispair because I have not been fed on the Word. I ask that you bring my spirit alive again, feed me and nourish me as I go through this study. I know your word will not come back void. I know you have the power and the key to unlock the gate and knock down these foolish barriers I have erected in my sin. Lord God I seek fellowship with others as I do this study. I seek wisdom for my life. I seek joy beyond comprehension, I seek the peace that passes all understanding...mostly I seek You, which is what will lead me to those things... not as the world has to give it, but as you give it. Praise and thank you Lord... amen

Hey, Jennifer, thanks for all this! Wow.

Pam, I look forward to reading through the first lesson. I'm sure this will be a great study as we dig into Scripture, share insights and learn.

It will be great getting to know you and any others along the way.

Blessings, Jane

An answer to prayer for me...
Thanks Jennifer for the tech support. Thanks Jane for being willing to study along with me, looking forward to it...
would welcome any others too...

Much to ponder in 1 Peter so I am staying mainly in the first chapter.
I got kind of sidetracked with apples from our tree.....they're ripe and needed to be picked so I have been canning applesauce and dehydrating apple rings for the past few days!

Some of my initial thoughts were:

I was CHOSEN unto salvation because of a Great Love God had for me. Why me?

God has, according to His great mercy, caused me to be born again--not because of anything in me, but because of His Love! Why me?

Somewhere outside of time, God decided I would be set apart from sinners to spend Blessed Eternity with Him! Again, Why me?

I see this thread repeated all throughout Scripture and it totally amazes me.

Knowing this, the trials I go through WILL benefit me. They have a purpose in my life; to test my faith and conform me to His image. They cause me to grow in Christ; to cling to, and rely on Him for everything.

This chapter also reminds me to fix my sight on Christ in the midst of my trials (and I have had some doozies!)

Most of my trials have involved rejection (through death or divorce, etc.) and this chapter gives me Much comfort in knowing that those who rejected me no longer have the significance they had in my life.

I have been accepted by the One Who really counts - Jesus Christ!

Lord, thank you for Pam and all the other blessed women on this forum. I pray that through this study you will illuminate truth to us so that we may gain strength and wisdom to endure trials without being shattered by them.

Jane

Jane...
My sister and her husband own an orchard here in Maine. How neat that you do also. Full apple season has not yet started for her yet though.
As far as the lesson goes, I am on day two. That same question you asked over and over, I ask it also... "why me?". I cannot fathom why He chose me, loves me enough to give His sons life for me. It is actually something I have greatly struggled with when I am having an attack of low self esteem. Even though in my heart the Lord is stirring up His Word in me telling me that I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and made in His own image....the voice in my head tries to drown it out by looking at circumstances, knowing the faults that lie within. Lots of prayer and getting back into the Word is what I need.
A little back ground so you can know where I am coming from... I am 38, married 20 years this Sept. , have three kids. My oldest is a boy and just graduated high school and leaves for college in 2 weeks. My mom died in Oct 2004 and I have yet to recover ( maybe have not fully grieved for fear of letting go). I have two daughters on going into high school, the other in 7th grade. I also have put on about 35 extra pounds due to lack of self control in these emotional times. So, lots of transitional life situations seem to be coming at me all at once, which requires change in me. My roles as a daughter, mother, wife, and woman are being redifined. I lost track of a child of God. It is the first and foremost thing I NEED to remember, for in that, all else will work itself out to the glory of God.

So day two asks the question how a person of faith is like an alien??? As a saved, set apart believer, Jesus has given me a new hope, not based on the world, but based on the Lord. An unsaved person cannot see, hear, or understand the things of the Lord without the Holy Spirit. Just as I would not be able to understand Chinese culture by seeing it or hearing it without an interpretor. A foreigner. I live in the world, but am not to be of the world.

So much to type, and so many more things to share, but I have to go for now... I will continue later. I am off to be the snack lady at our VBS....

Lord God be with Jane as she moves into the busy apple season. Give her body strength and her mind rest. Nourish her with Your Word. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to share, continue to be the light in our lives.

I'm 54, married to a wonderful believer for 7 years, we have no bio kids but we do have 3 cats whom we consider our kids (hence my 'handle' Rcatmom. My husband has 2 adult step daughters whom he raised in a previous marriage and surprise! We don't get along all that well. They have kids 9 years old and younger and live in the area.

I lost my dad through suicide when I was 17 and then lost mom in an auto accident about 15 years later. I sure understand your struggles and fear about your mom. I fell into deep, deep depression and anxiety/panic attacks. How I was able to endure 2 bad marriages and hold down a full time job while going through all that is still a mystery to me! It drained me dry and I saw no hope.

Just a few years later, I got saved. I remember thinking "How out of character for me!" I no more was interested in religious things that the man in the moon but somewhere I heard the gospel and I remember about 3 weeks after that a gal told me about election. When I heard that, I cried. I couldn't believe that a God so holy and important and 'up there' could want anything to do with a loser like me.

Because I had felt so much rejection, and couldn't find love anywhere, which I was desperate to find (looking for love in all the wrong places?), I read everything I could find in Scripture about election, choosing, predestination, God's love, etc. I couldn't get enough! I had to make sure it was true!!!! Had I been responsible for my salvation, I would have surely made a mess of that!

My husband has been a great blessing and encouragement to me in my Christian walk and has really helped me to grow in Christ.

It's exactly like you said, "as a believer, Jesus has given me a new hope, not based on the world, but based on the Lord." AMEN!!

BTW, what did you think of the verses in Romans 3 that described us before we became Christians???? I came across some others and it's amazing "who" we used to be, as much as it is amazing "who" we are now (IN CHRIST!)

We are learning some important truths and I am so glad to have found this study!!

Jane

Pam, I came across this really neat paper on our identity in Christ I thought you'd like.

The title is "The Riches of His Grace".

Basically it's broken down into 61 verses that were true of us before we were saved, as well as 215 verses that are true of now that we are saved.

I hope it blesses you as it did me.

I will attempt to post it on the forum. Enjoy!!

Jane

You sound like a beautiful woman of God to me, and I thank the Lord to have found this study also.

How am I described in Romans...Not righteous... turned away from God...deceiving tongue...bitter cursing llips...swift for blood...NO PEACE...no fear of God...no understanding.

I find that even as a Christian I slip back into some of these descriptions quite easily when I am away from the Word. Sin is a creeping thing that finds me and traps me when I do not have the Lords name on my lips to push it away. Praise the Lord HE IS.

Somehow, despite my ugliness, God chose me! This does not in any way shape or form make me better or more deserving than anyone else...Gods mercy fell on me, an unaware sinner...it is now my job to show this very thing to others who do not know Him. He makes me worthy, not me.

I thank you Lord for your loving mercy. Thank you for continuing with me even when I am so underserving and wrestling with feelings of unworthyness... your steadfast love is amazing. Keep me at your feet and in Your Word. I lift up my sister in Christ Jane to you, lead her and guide her, give her a blessing today. Be with us as we continue in Your Word.

Jane, I will get to day three later on today...VBS and all I have to run...God bless...

Well, Day Three Already! Hope you are trusting Jesus to live through you and resting in His Love, and enjoying the day!

I too tend to slip back into seeing myself as the 'old me'. Then my self perception goes down the tube. Is this truth? How does God see me? Totally different than I label myself most of the time!

If you get a chance, find the "Riches of His Grace" post and peruse the verses that say who you are in Christ. These are absolutely dynamite! They are true!

These verses should send your heart soaring dear one.

The assigned reading tells us who Jesus is, The Living God, the Word, became flesh, The Lamb Who takes away sin, Savior, the Great I AM, Eternal. I never get tired of hearing these things.

About sharing our testimony---I think I did somewhat on yesterday's post. I had been in terrible depression and so lonely. Having been raised in a non religious home, I decided to give church a shot at filling this void. Went to the local Pres. church. The pastor asked me that if I were to die right now, where would I go? My response was "to be reincarnated into a cat and live with a loving family here on earth" So he explained the gospel, the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Christ, and although I didn't understand it all, I somehow knew I was a guilty sinner and said the sinner's prayer, repenting of my sin of unbelief!

Then about 3 weeks later was when I heard about election and WOW! From that point on in 1991, I couldn't get enough! Still can't.

Pam I'd love to hear your testimony of how you came to trust Christ for your salvation if you want to give it. It is so wonderful to hear how God works so differently in so many lives!

Jane

Jane...
I have copied the Riches of His Grace and plan on sharing it with others... as well as re-reading it myself several times! Thank you for sharing it with me.

God works in the most amazing ways... I too was raised in an unchurched home. I also became a Christian in 1991 when I was pregnant with my second child. As a child I had gone to church a few times with friends of mine who lived down the street. They would go by my house every Sunday on the way to church and I would sit on the lawn and wave. After a few times of that they asked if I wanted to go with them...I got permission to go and off I went. From then on, whenever I was on the lawn... I went to church. I remember the feelings of love, and knowing that there was something bigger than me, but do not remember accepting Christ at that time.

Flash forward to being married a few years ( my husband became a Christian as a child and was developing a newly found Christian lifestyle as an adult now that we had kids and the LOrd reminded him of who He was ), having one child, getting ready to have another, and tring to figure out where our lives were going. It was, amazingly enough, at a Sunday service of an Amway convention. The Lord spoke to my heart, I heard it loud and clear, and accepted immediately. WOW.

I have, since that time, had many ups and downs of life... some of them weighing me down more than others. The peace that passes all understanding has NEVER left me... even when I have been away from the Word, even when I have not been in prayer, even when I cannot seem to get out of my own way. Through the valley He has been there.

I torture myself WAY more than I need to. I spend too much time in frustration with things that really have no eternal value. Trying to work out the "being in the world, but not of the world" has been a challenge of late.

Praise the Lord for this study. He is bringing me to yet another place of discovery about HIM>>>>and through that He brings me to a discovery about me in Him. This self centered way about the way I am in the world is gaining insight into the God centered way I should be.

As day 4 says... my inheritance is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away... protected by the power of God through faith. The gifts He has given me are irrevocable.

I am off to use some of those gifts at VBS... and share Jesus and His glorious gift.

Jane, I cannot thank the Lord enough for you and this opportunity. Have a blessed day...
Pam

Pam, it is so exciting to see your zeal for Christ. I thank God for letting me be a part of that on this board. What a treasure you are!!

Jane

Day 5.....

Proverbs 31:30... Give her the product of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.

Praise the Lord that my entrance into heaven is not based on my works!! But this is a daunting statement to me in the bible, because I quite often do not feel as though I "measure up". (that nasty old self esteem thing nagging at me)

Ques 21... does my life reflect my faith? I think if you asked people around me they would answer yes... and I even would answer yes sometimes, but I never feel as though it is enough. I sometimes feel burdened by my inabilities and get lost in myself, not allowing God to do what He set out to do. My sin weighs me down and I carry this heavy load with Jesus following right along beside me asking me to let Him help me carry it and my pride says...no I got it....when all the time I really don't. Round and round I go with this one....

My faith has changed me into a more beautiful person by allowing me to see others as God does, and forgive them things they do either because they know not, or because they are just like me...sinners saved by Grace.

Ques 22.... pride in my life would be that I think I should be able to do it on my own, not fully allowing God the reigns. i am open and honest with my thoughts and views and faith, but I do not let go of those things to God. I become fearful sometimes that I am beyond help. One major theme in my life is my relationship to food and my weight. I don't care about looks and the way the world thinks about weight ( not anymore anyway, God has delivered me from that), but "my body is the temple of the Lord", and I do not treat it that way. I understand that when I am angry, hungry, lonely, bored or tired, that I should turn to the Lord and not food, but I do not. I am back in the cycle of relying on a worldly source...something designed by God to nourish and sustain life...to subdue my anxiety. I am not relying on Him. He is the answer, and I KNOW it, and yet I still continue. WHY? I do not know. It depresses me sometimes, which only aggravates the situation, but He keeps along side me despite my sinful ways. Same old story, same old gripe and whine... why does the Lord put up with it?.... because "I am fearfully and wonderfully made". Praise the Lord for the Word of God that can swoop into the soul and lift it up. So I press on to fight the good fight.... sometimes feeling victorious and sometimes not! Always having the peace that passes all understanding that Christ died for me while I was yet a sinner.

Thank you Lord for this forum...thank you for my new sister in Christ Jane. God you are amazing and awesome and loving and kind.... be with all of the visitors to this site as they read about what we are studying....speak to their hearts if you want them to join in. Thank you for this lesson, bless the lives of all who read it with the sense of beauty that only You can give.
Amen