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Women at the Well-H. E. A. R Journals and Scripture Memory

Written by Sharon Holmes on . Posted in Women at the Well. No Comments on Women at the Well-H. E. A. R Journals and Scripture Memory

Good Sunday afternoon Ladies,

Do you have your beverage of choice and a comfy place to sit for a little while?  I’m so happy to have you here.  Let’s jump right in.

Did you have some time in the last week to think about the definition of disciple? Where do you see yourself at on this journey?

This week we are going to talk about Bible Reading and H. E. A. R. Journals.  A HEAR journal is a simple way to help you read the Bible with the intention of applying it.  By asking four simple questions, you can understand and apply any passage.  In addition, journaling is a great discipline because it helps you retain three times more of what you read.  Our goal is to pick a Bible Reading Plan.  There are probably hundreds of them out there, so you are welcome to choose one for yourself, continue using the plan you are already using or join me in the one I am using.  This year I will be reading through the Foundations New Testament – A 260 day bible reading plan for busy believers.  If you would like to use this one along with me, just let me know I and I will get a copy for you.  It is designed to be read 5 days a week, This week we will start with the book of Luke and the readings will be Luke 1, Luke 2, Luke 3, Luke 4 and Luke 5.  There honestly are no set amount of HEAR Journals you MUST do each week but the goal with this discipline as with all the others is to improve as time goes on.  Consider how often you currently journal and do +1 of that.  So, if you have never journaled, just try to do a couple a week.  If you occasionally journal, try to do three times a week.  The hope is that as you get more comfortable with this discipline and the experience its benefit, you will want to increase this number throughout the year.

As you read through your reading plan this week, create a HEAR Journal by using these four questions.

H (Highlights): What is a verse(s) that stood out to you in what you are reading?

E (Explain): What is the author’s intended meaning in the context of the passage?

A (Apply): What is the principle to live by today?

R (Respond): How will i respond to the application in my relationships and or situations this week?

 

I have to say that in the few days I have been practicing this method I am noticing things that I have read in a different way.

Let me show you a sample HEAR Journal

 

Read: Philippians 4:13

Feb. 6, 2022

Title:  Secret of Contentment

(H) I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me.

(E) Paul was telling the church at Philippi that he has discovered the secret of contentment.  No matter the situation in Paul’s life, he realized that Christ was all he needed, and Christ was the one who strengthened him to persevere through difficult times.

(A) In my life, I will experience many ups and downs.  My contentment is not found in circumstances.  Rather, it is based on my relationship with Jesus Christ.  Only Jesus gives me the strength I need to be content in every circumstance in life.

(R) Lord Jesus, please help me as I strive to be content in You. Through Your strength, I can make it through any situation I face.

This may be something you have several things in the passage you read for the day jump out at you.  You might take only one for the day or you might spend some more time journaling several of the things that catch your attention.  For instance, as I was reading Luke chapter one and found some pretty interesting things about the Holy Spirit so that is what I journaled about for that day.

(H) Speaking of John by the angel Gabriel: 15 He will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb.  Then in verse 41 when Mary went to visit Elizabeth:  41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped inside her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  And in verse 67 we find that when John’s father was asked what they were to name the baby and he told them John and his voice came back: 67 Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied.

(E) During this time in history, the Holy Spirit was bestowed on specific people at specific times for specific reasons.  For John, the Holy Spirit was bestowed at conception it seems.  When he was in his mother’s womb, we have all heard the story, I’m sure, about how the baby lept in his mother’s womb when Mary greeted her, but I had never noticed the part saying that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit at that time.   Then when Zechariah was asked for the baby’s name, and he did what he had been told to do his voice was restored.  He was then, also filled with the Holy Spirit and began to prophesy.

(A) What I see is that, during this time, there was a connection between the Gift of the Holy Spirit and faith and belief in the message from God.  I know that now we are given the gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit when we accept Christ but my faith response and belief in God’s ability to take care of me in all circumstances is also part of my response to make it easier for the Holy Spirit to work in my life.

(R) Lord Jesus, please help me as I strive to trust and believe that you can care for all of my needs.  Help me allow the Holy Spirit to work in my life.  Through you I can handle any situation that I face.

Women At the Well: Disciples Needed

Written by Elizabeth Marshall on . Posted in Women at the Well. 1 Comment on Women At the Well: Disciples Needed

     Ladies, grab a cup of tea, or coffee or just water for that matter and come closer for a few minutes while I tell you where my heart is

woman at the well

.  Over the last few months, I have felt a growing burden for women of God.  Hopefully, we all feel a burden to reach the lost in our area but my specific concern at the moment is those of us who call themselves disciples.

     In Matthew 28 Jesus gives us our marching orders.  Verse 18-20 tell us Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on the earth.  GO, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.  And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age.  Then Jesus’ final words to us in Acts 1 in verse 8 he tells us; ‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.  

     This means that when someone goes forward in our church to make a profession of faith, to say that they are turning their heart to Christ, that is not the final step.  That is taking the FIRST step toward a life of discipleship.  OUR God given JOB from that point forward is to make a disciple out of that person, yes partly by witnessing their baptism but also teaching them everything WE have been commanded and should be living by.  This is OUR job because Jesus, himself, told us that we will be HIS witnesses in Alamogordo, Otero and Lincoln County, and Dona Ana County and New Mexico and the United States and to the ends of the earth.

     But here’s the problem for me, and maybe for you.  I have never BEEN discipled truly so I have no idea how to pass that along to make another disciple.  This is not a somewhat random thing that happens by someone in church saying “hey, welcome to the family of God, now go read your bible when you feel like it, show up for Pastor Dusty’s sermons and sing some great songs every Sunday and you will be a great Disciple.

     I’m going to give you a definition of what discipleship is.

Discipleship is Intentionally equipping believers with the Word of God, through accountable relationships, empowered by the Holy Spirit, in order to replicate faithful followers of Christ.  In other words, in other words, Disciples intentionally know the Word of God, share their lives deeply with a few other disciples through prayer and study in order to make more disciples who make more disciples.

     So let me begin.  Hi, my name is Sharon, but I also go by Sherry.  I was fortunate to live just a block from Calvary Baptist Chruch here in Alamogordo.  I came from a Christian home, but we were just not the people who were in church every Sunday.  Calvary was in walking distance for me as a kid.  When I was 8 years old, I was in the Sunday school class taught by Mrs. Harrell.  I remember the Sunday morning when things began to click for me.  Every time I didn’t do what my parents asked of me, I was committing a Sin.  Every time I did things without permission it wasn’t just my parents who were concerned and hurt by my actions.  Jesus was as well.  Mrs. Harrell had taught us a love for Jesus so I was suddenly struck with how could I continue to disappoint HIM?  I remember feeling completely heartbroken that I could be that person.

     After some deep conversations I understood that i needed to commit my life to Christ and did so.  I was baptized and continued to attend church and go to Sunday school all the way through High School.  I can’t say I ever had any “in the gutter type moments”  I was just not that person.  I went to college, got my degree, got married to someone I believed to be a Christian because of the words he spoke.  He just had problems with “organized religion” because of some deep wounding done by a particular church.  It took me a while to understand what was really going on but by then I spent 10 years in a marriage where I was not allowed to go to church, take our children to church or for the most part associate with anyone “churchy”.  I believed in my vows and believed that regardless of anything else, no one could prevent me from believing and praying so that’s what I did.

     One day, he decided he didn’t want to be married anymore so he moved out and moved on.  I sat down that day and just prayed, ” God, I can see where I really messed this one up, so for my own sake and the sake of my two daughters, I’m not doing this again.  If you ever want me to be in another relationship YOU are going to have to just throw him in my lap”  ( if you are interested, sometime ask me and Jonathan how our relationship began). From there life has been a pretty amazing rollercoaster.

     One day I was asked by someone at the church we were attending at that time if I would be willing to share my testimony.  All I could think was nothing horrible has ever happened to me, I really HAVE no testimony!!!!!!

     So, as I talked to this person about my “problem”.  She told me that she could give me a lot of cliches about how maybe I didn’t know what God had saved me from at such an early age… or that someday I will see the other side of the tapestry that God is sewing for me that I now only see the messy side of…. but she believed that sometimes God doesn’t save people FROM things.. He saves them FOR things so maybe I needed to start looking to see what I was there for.

     That made a lot of sense to me, and I have spent the rest of the time I have been on this planet looking for what God wants me to be doing to serve His Kingdom.  I, now, believe that with true proper discipleship that quest would have been much easier and that is what I want to help others find.  As Pastor Dusty tells us, our salvation is not for US, it is for the salvation of the world.  So, our job is to become disciples, who make disciples, who make disciples, who…….

     Next week we will begin talking about keeping a HEAR Journal.  So grab a notebook to go with your warm beverage.

     If you would like to share your personal testimony, please contact me.

     If you would like to schedule a time to get together with me in a group of 3-5 of us to begin to share our lives more deeply, study the bible together and begin to learn about what true discipleship is, give me a call, send me a message or just come see me.

     My question for today is this:  What is one thing that you are excited or intrigued by right now?  I would love to hear your answers.