Self-Control (Living Beyond Yourself by Beth Moore)

Self-Control stops--say "That's Enough For Now." This last characteristic of the fruit of the Spirit is about mastery, authority and boundaries. It's not a question of what? but of how much?

In I Corinthians 6:19-20, our bodies are referred to as the temple of the Holy Ghost in us. Therefore, we need to take good care of our bodies to glorify God. We must not be mastered by anything according to I Corinthians 6:12 which says: Everything is permissible for me--but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be mastered [controlled] by anything.

This could be a variety of things that control us. Some people struggle with all kinds of addictions such as smoking, drugs, alcohol, food, TV, the Internet, gambling. My struggle is the last two I mentioned. According to I Corinthians 6:12, a little bit is okay (although not necessarily beneficial--the implication being we should choose things that are beneficial). I must keep my guard up and exercise self-control in the amount of time I spend on the computer that takes me away from more beneficial things and keep a set limit for playing that football pool! Moderation is the key here. Instead of eating a whole pizza at once, which I easily could do, especially while watching TV, I limit myself to just two slices and save the rest for another day.

Beth used the example of Samson and Daniel to contrast a person who did not have self-control and one who did. Although Samson finally brought glory to God in his death, Daniel did it in his life as we are told to do in I Corinthians 10:31: Whether therefore ye eat, or drink or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

Each morning we choose who we will serve--God or ourselves. "All sin boils down to an issue of authority. His will, or my will?" One point Beth made I felt was really good is that "any day not surrendered to the Spirit is virtually surrendered to the flesh by simple default!" That is why it is so important for us to seek God at the beginning of each day, confessing our sin, pouring out our concerns and asking God to fill us with His Holy Spirit so we can live beyond ourselves, letting Christ live through us! (see Galatians 2:20). Then through the day we should pray and praise God. At night, reflect on our day and see how God has worked.

What a marvelous and practical study this was! I highly recommend it!! God has so much for us when we completely surrender ourselves to Him!

Gentleness (Living Beyond Yourself by Beth Moore)

I always viewed gentleness like a gentle giant or a powerful horse under control. After this week of in-depth study, I discovered it is much, much more!

According to Beth Moore's "Living Beyond Yourself" study, Gentleness (NIV)/Meekness (KJV) can be summed up to mean "cease fighting God." The Greek word translated as gentleness is praotes meaning: an acceptance of God's dealings with us, calmness toward God in particular, complete surrender to God's will and way in your life, responsibility with power.

To summarize what I learned through this study, there are four key aspects to Gentleness which is the 8th characteristic in the fruit of the Spirit. These areas are as follow:

1) Submission-Gentleness is completely submitting to God. Jeremiah 26:14 puts it this way: As for me, I am in your hands; do with me whatever you think is good and right. (NIV)

2) Humility-This results from being rightly related to God and aggressive confession of sin. The Hebrew word translated as "humble" is Kana meaning "to bend the knee." The physical posture of bowing down before God can have a great impact on our spiritual stature.

3) Teachability-The gentle person is willing to receive instruction. She gave Paul, Aquilla and Priscilla and Apollos as examples of this using Acts 18. David accepted tragedy and failure as a challenge to search God's Word (see Psalm 119). Also, we teach others with a servant attitude. I liked the line about using the Sword of the Spirit to fight Satan, not the believers! God's teachers are bound to God's opinion, the only one which truly matters because God's word is absolute truth and only God's word can sanctify believers (see John 17:17).

We are to teach others with humility, an attitude of submission, an awareness of our own sins and a forgetfulness toward the sins of our "flock" leaving condemnation to God and conviction to the Holy Spirit. (see Proverbs 16:21)

Faith (Living Beyond Yourself by Beth Moore)

This was a tremendous study on faith this week that really spoke to my heart and helped me to see that God is faithful and believable which encouraged me in my faith.

Faithfulness is believing the reality of a sovereign God. Hebrews 11:6 says And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

1) Our faith hinges on our belief in God's faithfulness. Realizing that God is believable is the key to faith. Since it is by grace we are saved through FAITH, and not of ourselves, it is the gift of God according to Ephesians 2:8, it's no wonder we can't prove there is a God. God planned it this way. If we could reason everything out and science could prove there was a God and creation, where would faith come in?

Hebrews 11:3 says, By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

This whole concept was an eye opener for me, to realize that God purposely doesn't answer all our questions or provide concrete evidence for everything so that it's only by faith that we can believe. Faith is really quite simple, it's just believing what God says is true. We come to God only by having a child-like faith in Him. In Matthew 18:3, Jesus is quoted as saying, I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

The Old Testament prophecies that are fulfilled in the New Testament makes God believable.

2) Our faith needs to be based on Who God Is and not on What God Does. A faith based on what God does will fluctuate based on whether or not God does or acts like we think He should. If he answers our prayer the way we want, then our faith increases, but if not, our faith is shaken. If something bad happens that we think God should have prevented and didn't, our faith is shaken.

That's why, if we base our faith on who God is, his character and trust Him that He is love and good all the time and sovereign and in control, then our faith will be strong and help us through those tough situations that come along. Isaiah 55:8-9 says:

8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. 9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

To me, I am glad our God is greater than us and wiser than us!

3) True faith takes action. To see this, all we need to do to see this is read through Hebrews 11 which is called the "Hall of Faith."

4) Fight the good fight of faith. Satan uses two weapons to destroy our faith: fear and familiarity. Satan uses our fear to believe God, fear of disappointment, fear that God might not "prove" His love to us, and our fear of humiliation to destroy our faith. Sometimes those who have known God the longest put limits on Him by only asking for "safe" things that don't take much faith.

When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, he gives us the characteristic of faith to believe God completely and use the "shield of faith" to quench all the fiery darts that Satan throws at us.

Kindness & Goodness (Living Beyond Yourself by Beth Moore)

These two characteristics are closely related so were taken together in the Beth Moore study. Kindness is described as being nurturing and tenderhearted. Goodness is actively doing good works. Ephesians 2:10 says For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (NIV)

God is kind, compassionate, tenderhearted. Sometimes we don't think of Him this way but in this study, some examples used that show his kindness were his dealings with Hagar and Ishmael as a loving Father, his compassion for Mary as she mourned and for Israel. (The book I just recently read, "The Shack" shows this side of God in a very unusual way.)

Kindness works together with goodness. The good works that God has prepared for us to do should result out of kindness towards others. Sometimes what is good may be painful, but it is always beneficial. The illustration used was when parents correct their child, it's for the child's benefit but not necessarily pleasurable. The tenderheartedness towards their child balances the correction.

Basically, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the kindness will motivate us to do good works. Goodness is actively doing good!

My good work the day before writing this was preparing for my Sunday School lesson, praying for some of my blogging friends who are going through difficult times and bringing a cookie home for my husband from my Bible Study.

What good work will you and I do today?

Peace! (Living Beyond Yourself by Beth Moore)

The third characteristic of the fruit of the Spirit is Peace.

One of the titles of Jesus way back in Isaiah is the "Prince of Peace." Jesus often said, "Peace be unto you." He also said, Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.--John 14:27

Peace comes to our hearts as we trust Jesus and submit to His authority. When Beth talked about this on the DVD, I thought of my new cat when I first brought him home. My friend said that he was upset because he was in a new place and felt he had to be "in charge of everything." Once he learned that I was the alpha in charge, he calmed down and let me pet him. He became less stressed. That's how it is with us. When problems come, we need to realize that Jesus will take care of them when we submit to His authority and give them over to Him.

Peace is not a lack of pain or grief though, but a lack of confusion and turmoil. Jesus went through a lot of pain on the cross and grieved when he saw people suffering but still had peace in knowing He was doing the will of His father. We too, can have peace in difficult situations as we keep our mind on Him. Peace comes with the authority of Christ in our life. The more we surrender to Christ's authority in our lives, the greater peace we have. When we obey God's word and seek to do His will, He gives us great peace.

Jesus' perfect peace in God's plan gave Him peace in His death. Before we can experience the peace OF God, we must first have peace WITH God by accepting Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for our sin that reconciled us to God. (Col. 1:19-20)

I love that we always have access to God through prayer and it is through prayer and submitting to God that we maintain peace in our lives. Philippians 4:6-7 says:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

This is just so amazing and wonderful!

I hope you will submit to God and experience his peace today regardless of your circumstances. I am enjoyed this Bible study by Beth Moore on Wednesday nights at my church very much so will continue sharing here what I learned with you. It's so encouraging.

Joy! (Living Beyond Yourself by Beth Moore)

Jesus and Others and You,
what a wonderful way to spell JOY!
Jesus and Others and You
in the life of each girl and each boy.
J is for Jesus for He has first place.
O is for others we meet face to face.
Y is for you and whatever you do.
Put yourself third and spell JOY!

This was a song we used to sing in Sunday School when I played the piano for grades 1-3. I was reminded of it when my Bible Study was on the second fruit of the Spirit--Joy.

There many scriptures about joy in the Bible. The supernatural joy Christians (followers of Jesus Christ) have as a sign of being filled with the Spirit of God has several dimensions summarized as follows:

Joy of our salvation in knowing our name is written in the "Lamb's Book of Life."
Joy of discovery of spiritual truths that God reveals to us through His spirit.
Joy of restoration after being depressed or forgiven for sin. Sometimes God's will includes hardships and trials to bring us to spiritual maturity.
Joy of abiding in Christ daily by being in close fellowship with him.
Joy in fellowship with other believers.

One point I found especially interesting in this study is that when people see the joy Christians have, they want that. Christians should be the most joyful, loving people on the Earth! Are we? I think many would say "No." If we aren't joyful, we need to get back in fellowship with God and be filled with His Spirit!

One final note. We have a great hope of God's future kingdom that brings joy. Those who trust Jesus as their personal Savior are children of The King! I remember my mom sharing with me that when she asked Jesus into her heart as a child, she went home singing "I'm A Child of the King." (John 3:12) Here are the words to the song:

I'm a child of the King,
A child of the King.
With Jesus, my Savior,
I'm a child of the King!

We look forward to the day when we all get to heaven and see The King in all His glory on the throne. What a day of rejoicing that will be!

We certainly have a lot to be joyful about! Rejoice in the Lord Always!

Love (Living Beyond Yourself by Beth Moore)

Love is a very popular topic these days but the Greek have three different words for love that the English word for love can encompass. The Greek words are: Eros meaning the sexual, physical attraction kind of love; Philo meaning brotherly love and Agape meaning sacrificial, unconditional love that is the kind God has for us.

Song of Solomon beautifully describes the Eros type of love. This is the kind every marriage should have. I love my husband's touch.

God is the one who initiated love. I John 4:19 says We love Him because He first loved us. I first discovered this verse as I was reading the Bible one day as a child and thought wow! That's exactly right! That is why I love Jesus because I thought then, as I still do by the way, how amazing and wonderfully that Jesus would die for me! That just makes me want to please Him and live for Him all the days of my life.

When we are filled with the Spirit, the first fruit (or proof) is that we are able to love others with agape love! Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can not only forgive others who hurt us or those we love, but can actually love them! This is a divine agape love that is described in I Corinthians 13:4-8 as follows:

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

If we say you love God, then we must love others (with agape love). See I John 4:19-21:

19We love because he first loved us. 20If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Who have you shown love to today? Jesus said others will know we are his disciples if we have love one for another. Let's be sure to not focus on ourselves, but show a genuine interest in others and let God's love shine through our lives to others.

Living Beyond Yourself by Beth Moore--The Holy Spirit

The key to living above our circumstances and doing things through God's power is to constantly be filled with the Holy Spirit of God and be lead by the spirit. Ephesians 5:18 says And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. It is a command! It is an ongoing process.

First, pour out. We must empty ourselves. Get us out of the way so God can work and fill us with His Spirit. There are two parts of this: Confession and concerns. We do this by confessing our sin and gaining freedom from guilt. Then talk to God about all our anxieties, concerns, worries, problems and just basically pour out our hearts to him. She compared this to a drink sacrifice that God actually enjoys. He wants us to talk to Him about everything because he is concerned about us.

Secondly, pour in the Holy Spirit. Ask God to fill us with his Holy Spirit early, at the beginning of our day. Then through the day, constantly practice his presence and look for Him to work in our life. Remember God is in control and He is in control of us! Let him change our day!

Finally, pour forth. Go and be his servant and minister to others in His power.

This is what I learned in the Bible study by Beth Moore that women at Parma Heights Baptist Church participated in.

Living Beyond Yourself by Beth Moore--Introduction

I am excited to share about this Beth Moore Bible study, "Living Beyond Yourself" on the fruit of the spirit that I recently finished. It's a basic, fundamental, practical uplifting study that was better than I expected.

After just one week, I realized that with God's Spirit in me, I can do things I never expected I would. Two points Beth Moore made in the DVD that goes with this study are:

1) God is still happening and 2) God wants us to be exclamation mark people, meaning we should have a full, meaningful life.

One of the points she made that struck me was that our life is not all about us. Sacrifice on the part of Christians is crucial to world evangelism. Paul was persecuted and faced many hardships, yet kept his joy (Read Acts 13). Boy, that got me to thinking how I handle hardships or even just little problems that come up and ruin my plans! My "joy" usually flies away and is replaced by anger. God has shown me that this ought not to be. As I submit to God's will and ask Him to fill me with his Holy Spirit each day, hopefully I too will be able to keep my joy regardless of my circumstances.

This is truly a life-changing study and if you are looking for a good Bible study for a group or even just for yourself, I definitely recommend this one! I learned so much and it changed me.