a faithful woman Monthly Planner 2009

a faithful woman Monthly Planner 2009
This year's planner has a new look!
And it still has all your favourite sections including:



CALENDER
• Monthly Menu Planner
• Monthly Calander
• Week to page opening
• Dates for next year
• Schedule Planner



QUIET TIME
• Quiet times calendar
• Month to page opening

THINGS TO REMEMBER
• Parents prayer program
• inspiring articles

BOOK CLUB
• Reading record
• Book club notes

We’ve also added scripture to inspire you on every page!


If you would like to find out more, or how to order please email Amy at afaithfulwoman@splitpantsproductions.com.au for an info sheet.

Orders close November 14th. Delivery will be in the first two weeks of December.

The Discipline of Choices - Chapter 11

Well, this chapter seems to have dragged on… this term there has been a lot of illness and numbers have been down, so we haven’t discussed much.

Last week we did however discuss the kind of ‘one-another’ relationships that Jerry talks about in this chapter.

On page 202 Jerry spoke about having friends who can help us in out struggle against sin. “Because mortification is a difficult work, aimed at subduing strong desires and deeply ingrained habits, we need the help of one or two friends to engage in the struggle with us. These friends should be believers who share our commitment to the pursuit of holiness and who are also willing to be mutually open with us about their own struggles”

How did you feel reading this? It would certainly be a humbling experience. My emotions feel torn on this point. On one hand my heart longs for help in the battle against refined sins of thought and deed, but dreads, even fears the thought of revealing my sins. My heart wants to hold them close and deal with them on my own. In discussion we agreed that Jerry probably does not remain revealing all the horrible and specific details as this would in some cases go against other scriptures where the bible warns us not to speak about some things, especially immorality. But it would still involve tearing down of the nice crisp image of ourselves we like to portray to others, and it would mean we’d have to forsake our pride and let that person see who we really are.

Jerry went on to say… “In the battle of putting sin to death, we need the mutual encouragement, challenge, and prayer support of one another. That is why spiritual synergism is so often taught in the New Testament. For example, we are to admonish one another (Colossians 3:16), encourage one another (Hebrews 3:13), confess our sins to one another (James 5:16), bear one another’s burdens (Galations 6:2), and pray for one another (James 5:16).’ Page 202.

Even given the fear we feel in revealing our sins to someone, the ability to share, encourage and pray for one another in our pursuit of holiness is a powerful encouragement and reminder, that we always need Gods help in the battle. We are all sinful, and none of us have it ‘right’. With such friendships we can no only confess our sins, but encourage and spur each other on to godliness. Do you have a friend like this? Will you pray as the Puritans did for a friend like this, a ‘bosom friend’? For a friendship where you are both committed to helping and receiving help?

The next book we will be reading in Book Club is Finding God's Path Through your Trials by Elizabeth George

'From bestselling author Elizabeth George (nearly 4 million books sold) comes a book born of her desire to help others through difficult times. "Finding God's Path Through Your Trials" acknowledges the hard times we all face and reveals how people can ?count it all joy, ? including: understanding trials are not punishment realizing God's grace is sufficient to get them through trials knowing the benefits brought by trials?patience, endurance, empathy experiencing deeper faith as they depend on God through trials trusting God to use everything for His glory Emphasizing God is always with them and will help them every step of the way, Elizabeth reminds readers they will not be given trials they cannot bear without including a way of escape. She encourages people to turn to Jesus, where they will find hope, joy, and meaning in the journey, no matter how bumpy it seems. ' Publishers Description

Chapter 10: The Discipline of Convictions

Some of the things that stood out to us this week where:


Absolute Truth: How familiar does this sound? “every man did which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25, KJV) As Jerry points out, this is they way our society is today. But not the church? Surely?... “What should disturb us, however, is that evangelicals are moving in the same direction. 'Four out of 10 people who call themselves evangelicals don’t believe there is such a thing as absolute truth, according to a Barna Research Group poll.' If this means that these 40 percent decide for themselves what is right and wrong instead of going to the Bible, then it is no wonder there is often little difference between the ethical views and behavior of professing Christians and those who have nothing to do with Christianity. Morality becomes merely a matter of ones’s personal opinion. In fact, I am aware of situations where Christians were confronted about sin in their lives and responded, “that’s just your opinion.” Page 165-166

But Jerry goes even further …, of those evangelicals who do believe in absolute truth (including ourselves), do we let our belief in the truth of the bible effect our behavior or change our character? Are we being transformed by the bible? Do we let the bible teach us change us and humble us? Are we living according to the biblical standard or do we just conform to the moral consensus in our own church or circle of friends. Let us live like we truly believe, that the bible is absolute truth. Let the Word’s standards be ours. 'One thing we can be sure of: If we do not actively seek to come under the influence of God’s Word, we will come under the influence of sinful society around us’. Page 171


Hidden Treasure: 'The question we must ask ourselves is this: What value do we place upon the Word of God? Do we search it as if we were seeking for hidden treasures, or do we read it and study it only because we know it is something we should do?' Page 176

When my husband and I first came across ‘reformed’ theology it was life changing. We realised that almost everything we had believed and been taught was full of errors. It was not biblical Christianity. We literally had to discard everything we had learned before and start again from the bible. At that time we really did search through the bible like it contained hidden treasure. We were excited about it and spent as much of our time as we could reading it, and searching through even familiar passages and learning things that we’d never seen there before. Reading the above quote drew my memory back to that stage of my Christian walk and I realised that whilst I still love the word of God, the intensity of my search through it has diminished. It was quite a challenge to me. Maybe, I have, as Jerry has talked about so often in this book, reached a point where I feel comfortable, and set cruise control, even with my time in the word of God. Is the word of God like treasure to you? Do you search it to find the truth? … 'We need to approach the Bible with the deep, settled conviction that it accurately expresses the mind of God and the will of God as to how we are to live.' Page 174. If we really believe this surely we should be desperate to seek out its treasure. 'Ask God to remove any doubts you might have and give you a settled convition that the Bible is indeed God’s Word, that it is complete and authoritative, and that it is absolute truth.' Page 174… as we study it let us follow Jerry’s advice… '... as you approach the reading or study of the Bible, don’t do so just to buttress your own previously held opinions or to affirm you favourite doctrines. Rather ask the Holy Spirit to teach you.' Page 175


Memorising Scripture: We all acknowledged that this is something we need to do more of. I certainly feel that I have not done enough, and am challenged by this chapter to increase my efforts in this area.

We also discussed different ways of memorising scripture. Some of us grew up memorising scripture as a family and learning whole books and passages together. This can be very helpful so that we not only remember the scriptures, but also their context and setting. Maybe this is something we could help our children with.

Music can also be very helpful. Some of us have found listening to scripture in music to be very helpful for memorizing. Some of the artists that have been recommended are:
- Sons of Korah.
- Jason Coghill
- Scripture in Song (Not sure if this link is to the same 'scripture in song' we all sung in Sunday school growing up. Looks like it may be an updated edition. Hopefully they are. Searching through blogs on the internet, people seem to be having trouble finding the audio but are able to get the books on Amazon and websites like that.)

In looking for a link for each of the above I found this website which might be helpful in finding good Christian music and scripture in song.

Chapter 9: The Discipline of Commitment

A few things we discussed from Chapter 9: The Discipline of Commitment

Avoiding Cruise Control:

‘As believers we need to be careful that we do not make a similar mistake. We can be committed to a set of Christian values or to a lifestyle of discipleship without being committed to God Himself. But Paul said, offer yourselves to God, and in doing that commit yourselves to the pursuit of holiness in order to please Him.’ Page 149

We thought this was quite a challenge. It is easy to slip into ‘Cruise control’, as mentioned in chapter 7. Its easy to hold to a set of Christian values, or uphold a certain level of ‘Christian lifestyle’, or conform to the Christian culture around us or in our church, without truly being committed to God himself and pleasing Him. What level of holiness does God require? What is our motive for seeking holiness? Are we offering ourselves as living sacrifices as Romans 12:1 calls for ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.’ We should not let the peer pressure of our particular Christian culture hold us back from pursuing holiness and committing ourselves to God, Even if it means challenging the status quo.

Put on Christian Virtues:
‘If we want to be like Christ in his character we must commit ourselves to putting on His virtues’. Page 154 We often work and pray for Gods help in putting off our sins, but do we pray for him to help us put on the fruits of the spirit? Maybe we are unbalanced in concentrating on the ‘do not’s’ whilst neglecting the ‘dos’. ‘And just as we need to make a commitment to deal with all sin in our lives without exception, so we need to make a commitment to be just as diligent in putting on the fruit of the spirit.’ Page 154

This attitude should effect our whole lives. ‘The truth is, though, God knows I am a Christian and He knows I work for a Christian organization. If I would be ashamed to have a tourist identify my impatient driving with a Christian, how much more should I be ashamed before God. After all, He is the one I have committed myself to, to seek to please in all my thoughts and words and actions. So our commitment to pursue holiness must embrace every area of life and must include both the significant and the seemingly insignificant things we do.’ Page 155 As Jerry said ‘This principle applies to the way a student approaches his or her studies, to the way we do our shopping and buying, to the way we compete in games and athletics to the way we decorate our houses and keep our lawns, and even to the way we drive.’ Page 155 We should intend to live every area of our lives in such a way that it glorifies God.

What Model do we present?:
This also leads us to think about our lives at home, and how we live before our children. What model do we present to our children in the way we live our lives? Are we living before our children with integrity in a way that pleases God? Do we walk humbly before our children, so that whilst they see that we sin, they see that it is not our intention to sin. We should try to help our children see that the standard we are reaching for and teaching them is not ‘our’ standard but it is Gods perfect standard.


The importance of the Gospel of grace:
‘So we see once again the relationship of grace and discipline. A loving response to God’s grace and mercy is the only motive acceptable to God for the commitment Paul called for. And it is the continual reminding ourselves of His grace and mercy that provides the only enduring motivation to sustain such a commitment and keep it from becoming oppressive. That is why we must preach the gospel to ourselves every day.’ Page 162 A right understanding of the gospel is so important in our Christian lives. Believing that you chose Christ; that it was your work in choosing to accept the offer of salvation that saved you, does not produce the gratitude in our heart that we feel when we understand that salvation was all the work of God’s grace and mercy alone. If we believe we chose Him we feel that we had some part in our own salvation, and we are partly grateful to ourselves for accepting it, not just to God for offering it. Understanding Grace changes our motives, we are grateful because we understand that without Gods grace and mercy we could not be saved, we could not save ourselves. We try to please God because we love Him and are grateful that he showed us such amazing mercy and grace. We pursue holiness, not because we think it will make us closer to Him or keep us from ‘back sliding’ or even because it is the ‘right’ way for a ‘Christian’ to behave, but because we want to.

“So an all-out, unreserved, nothing-held-back commitment to the pursuit of holiness may be exhausting, but it will not be oppressive it is grounded in grace. But to be grounded in grace it must be continually referred back to the gospel.” Page 162

“God not only asks us to commit ourselves to the pursuit of holiness, but provides the grace to enable us to do it.” Page 162

‘Run, John, run. The law commands
But gives neither feet nor hands
Better news the gospel brings;
It bids me fly and gives me wings.’ Page 94

In our disussions this week, this book was recommended.

Publishers notes:

RARE JEWEL OF CHRISTIAN CONTENTMENT
by Jeremiah Burroughs

Jeremiah Burroughs was a preacher to the great congregations of England in the 17th century. This classic book of his is concerned with promoting the often elusive jewel of peace and contentment in the heart of the believer. 228 pages, from Banner of Truth.

'We live our lives in a discontented world and it is all too easy for the Christian to share its spirit. This book remedies this spiritual disease in practical biblical ways. '

Chapter 8: Dependant Discipline

They say better late than never...
So here are a couple of points we discussed on Chapter 8: Dependant Discipline.

To Pray and Do
As I read through this chapter, again I felt some familiarity with my time in ‘Charismatic Christianity’. On reflection, maybe I was the ‘spiritual’ person Jerry spoke about on page 132. “Today, we would tend to divide into two camps. The more ‘spiritual’ people would call an all-night prayer meeting. To them, posting a guard would be depending on human effort instead of God.” I often prayed the prayer on page 134 “We often use the expression “Let the Lord live His life through me.” I am personally uncomfortable with this expression because it suggests a passivity on our part. He does not live His life through me. Rather as I depend on Him, He enables Me to live a life pleasing to Him.”

I had even heard people suggest in certain circumstances (especially healing) that it would be a lack of faith, or not trusting God if you did anything other than pray and wait. We sang songs and prayed prayers that pleaded with God to ‘Use me’, ‘Fill me’, ‘Send me’, ‘Make me’. We had ‘faith’ that God would do it. But though we never said it, I think we often thought (or hoped), that he would do it miraculously. That something amazing would happen and we could say ‘It was all God’. “It is the idea that we can do nothing but trust that is particularly troubling to me. I believe that the psalmist – and Nehemiah and Paul – would say, “Man’s part is to trust and work. God’s part is to enable the man or woman to do the work.” … God’s work does not make our effort unnecessary, but rather makes it effective. Paul did not say, “Christ show contentment through me.” Rather he said, “I have learned to be content through Him who give me strength.” Page 135

In the beauty of hindsight I see that God did answer our prayers but the answers usually came through people who were living out their faith, not just praying about it and waiting for God to act.

The results are the Lords
This chapter was a lovely reminder that we must trust and work. It also reminded us through the analogy of the Farmer List of 'must do’s' and 'can’t do’s' that even with all our hard work and obedience, all the results are the Lords. Like the farmers crop, only God can make us grow.
“There are six things farmers must do and only two things they cannot do. They can even to a degree circumvent the weather by irrigating in case of drought. But the one thing they absolutely cannot do is the most critical of all. Without the life that makes things grow, all their disciplines of farming are useless... They will put all their confidence in the performance of their duties, not in God, who makes things grow. As far as they are concerned, their success depends on themselves.
As in the cases of farming, God has ordained certain disciplines or practices that are necessary in order to grow in holiness. We must observe these or we will not grow, just as farmers will not produce a crop if they do not perform their duties. There is only one thing, however we cannot do. We cannot make ourselves grow.” Page 138

Do you take for granted the spiritual life that makes you grow? Is your confidence in God or your own observance of the necessary disciplines and practices or the christian life? We need to be disiplined and dependant.

"Being sensible that I am unable to do any thing without God's help, I do humbly entreat him, by his grace, to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christs sake" Jonathan Edwards