"Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
Psalm 119:105

About This Blog

Contributors and commenters on this blog are members of West Portal Church's BOOK clubs . . . consisting of women who are striving to read a portion of God's Word each day. This blog is a place for members to share their encouragement through posting insights, comments and questions as they pertain to their daily Bible reading.

Friday, April 30, 2010

welcome to the blog

Hi guys - I guess I should say gals.

It's good to see how many have signed up to the blog. Now.....the next thing to do is post!! Come one, it's not that difficult!!! :) I keep checking to see if there are any new insights. I see all these new members but no insights :(

Here's my insight.

No matter what...God is always faithful, loving, kind and trustworthy. I don't really have a verse - this is just something I have experienced this week.

And...God uses us to minister to others - He needs us just like we need Him. Shawna - you know what I'm talkin' about. Thanks for your love.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

1 Peter 3

Hi ladies:

Well, I know how to comment on a blog but this is my very first offical post. It took me a second to know where to click - top right hand corner.

You will have heard me read these verses at our BOOK club meetings but I wanted to write them down again. They have been so powerful to me this month.

vs 8 - to sum up, let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted and humble in spirit. Wow those are tough qualities but can you imagine if we were all like that ~!!??

vs 9 - not returning evil for evil, or insult for insult but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. See, this is why journaling is so important. I was going to write one thing but as I typed the verse, God spoke to me in a different way. We are to give a blessing. We are also going to inherit a blessing. If we really understood what that inheritance looked like, it would not be difficult to bless others - remember that blessing of others comes when they are insulting or doing evil to us. It seems so hard but if my perspective was my eternal inheritance it wouldn't be so hard.

vs 11 - let him seek peace and pursue it. My guess is, that if we had the qualities in vs 8 peace would be the more natural outcome.

Looking forward to reading your comments and your new postings!!

Always praying for you.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Welcome to the Transformation!

Welcome to the BOOK Club blog!  We hope you will find this a helpful site . . . providing a place for you to share your thoughts and ideas concerning your daily Bible reading.  It's exciting to think of where this blog might take us as we aim to live a life pleasing to God.  For anyone who loves to write their thoughts and get feedback, this is the place for you to be!  May you be an encouragement.  May you be encouraged.

For our opening post, I want to share something with all of you that has happened to me since joining the BOOK Club.  Initially, I wasn't too sure what to expect when I signed up to join the Club.  However, after my first meeting last fall, I knew that the group was going to be a great benefit to me--spiritually, intellectually and socially.  I also soon realized that the BOOK Club is a place of accountability.  All of these factors combined have influenced my spiritual walk.  However, the most impactful experience for me has been opening The Word of God and reading it; and then, not just reading it, but applying what I've read as it relates to my own life.

I work in a school as an Educational Associate, and I have the opportunity to spend 30 minutes a day with a group of grade 3 and 4 students in a program called Guided Reading.  This term we are studying a reading strategy called Synthesizing, which can be summed up as "transformation"; Transforming what is read and thinking about how it can be taken one step further and applied to our own lives.  It is putting all the pieces together to see them in a new way.  As I have been preparing my lessons for the students, I've been reminded of how transforming God's Word really is.  How has what you've read in your daily Bible reading changed you?  I believe that transformation will happen to every person who reads God's word and applies it to their own life.  Of course, this application must be a conscious choice.  It takes effort, and it doesn't come without opposition.  It is when we begin to transform our own lives that we can truly be impactful in the world around us.  Transformed Lives, Transforming Communities.

This month as I have been reading through the books of I and II Peter, I have been reminded of the fact that in everything we do, we should attempt to glorify Christ.  In fact, one of Florianne's challenges to us was to recognize times during the month of April when we were glorifying God.  For each of us, that experience looks different.  No two people are alike, so why would our journey be any different?  Our common goal should be that of allowing God's word to transform us.  But how that transformation looks will be different for each person.  One thing's for sure:  If we allow God . . . if we ask God to transform us, He will.

"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."
~Romans 12:1-2, The Message~