HG Chapter by Chapter

Chapter 5: God Strong The Military Wife's Spiritual survival Guide

2011-07-02T13:23:00.000-07:00

God Strong: Chapter 5

Spiritual Truth # 4

Superwomen Get Grace Too

God Strong: Chapter 4: The Military Wife's Spiritual Survival Guide

2011-05-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

Chapter 4

I Am Not Alone

Spiritual Truth #3:

Handling being alone versus being lonely

As Military Wives we often find ourselves in situations when we are separated from our husbands for periods of time due to drills, trainings, deployments and other military duties.
We must be alone and we must face the emotions of handling being alone versus being overwhelmed with loneliness. This is a time when we can count on holding tightly to our God Strong faith, as God has promised to never leave us alone.

Opening Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for who you are: The Alpha and the Omega, The Beginning and The End, Our Counselor, Our Mighty God. How perfectly your word lights our path in life as we trust and obey your commandments. Help us to focus on you and to turn away from focusing on ourselves. May we depend upon your wisdom, your guidance, and you’re never failing love as we face periods of dealing with life’s problems alone. Keep us from temptations and turn us away from self pity. Fill our marriages with joy, understanding and love. Teach us to celebrate the wisdom of your ways.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen

We can be alone and still feel whole when we rely on God’s strength to fill in the missing pieces of our hearts and lives.

God said, “My presence will go with you. I’ll see the journey to the end.” Exodus 33:14

God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him.’ Psalm 46:1

We know that God is ready and willing to remove our struggle and sorrow and replace them with joy and gladness; so why do we still struggle? The battle is between our holding on to our human nature and our choosing to embrace God’s nature. When we are dealing with the issue of loneliness –and deployment is a prime example- our human nature wants to focus inward.

With Human nature we say: “What did I do to deserve this?”

With God’s nature we say: “What is God doing in this?”

With Human nature we say: “I am weak because I am alone.”

With God’s nature we remember: “I am weak but God is strong. I am not alone."

Focusing on self is the opposite of focusing on God. When we take ourselves out of the way, the Holy spirit takes over, and brings calm to the chaos and contentment to our discontentment.

Romans 8:6 say “The mind controlled by the spirit is life and peace.”

The key is to know daily where our focus lies.

Avoiding Self Pity

Many times our emotions will turn inward and we focus on ourselves, our loneliness, and our sadness creating self pity and withdrawal.

Avoiding Temptation

To escape self pity, loneliness, and sadness we may fall into the trap of self indulgences, shopping sprees, over-eating, and sexual temptations

Wives Guard Your Hearts:

To protect your heart, and your marriage, avoid emotional connections and deep conversations with the opposite sex.

It is so easy for a woman who is suffering from a lack of attention and romance due to her husband’s deployment to be attracted to someone who begins to supply some of the attention and companionship that she is missing during her husband's absences. This can lead her to be tempted to have an affair and ultimately destroy her marriage.

The lyrics to Steve Green's popular song: Guard Your Heart:

(follow link to hear song )

What appears to be a harmless glance

Can turn to romance

And homes are divided

Feelings that should never have been

Awaken within

Tearing the heart in two

Listen, I beg of you!

Chorus:
Guard your heart, Guard your heart

Don't trade it for treasure

Don't give it away

Guard your heart, Guard your heart

As a payment for pleasure

It's a high price to pay

For a soul that remains sincere

With a conscience clear

Guard your heart

The human heart is easily swayed

And often betrayed

At the hands of emotion

We dare not leave the outcome to chance

We must choose in advance

Or live with the agony

Such needless tragedy

Chorus

Words and music by Jon Mohr. Copyright 1989 Birdwing Music. All rights reserved.

International copyright secured. Used by permission.

Encourage Someone Else

Let God use you during this time to encourage others.

Instead of turning your focus inward toward yourself, turn your focus outward towards others. Spend this time building new friendships. Go out of your way to encourage others. Become involved in group activities, church and community programs. As you begin to share with others you will find the amazing way that God brings joy and fulfillment into your days.

We are the ones that will choose if we will be alone or lonely.

Building Our Tool Box:

Lies Young Woman Believe: "Putting Aside Shells": inauthenticity, fear, and selfishness.

Alone in Marriage: Additional reading

Circumstances leave us alone, but not lonely.

We choose whether we are lonely when we decide to reach out to others or to stay to ourselves. Will we stop being willing to connect with God and with other people or will we find groups and activities we can be part of? Will we refuse to admit we need anyone, including God, or are we honest with ourselves and confess that we need help.

Comments/questions:

What can we share?

Thoughts and comments from Strength Trainers question
Words of Encouragement

Life Experiences

Testimonies of Praises

What we have learned

To read thoughts and disscusions from other eReaders: Be sure to open "comments" below:

So speak encouraging words to one another 1 Thes 5:11

Chapter 3: God Strong: The Military Wife's Spiritual Survival Guide

2011-05-18T15:56:00.000-07:00

Spiritual Truth #2:

Fear Blocks My Focus

If Fear is There, Faith is Not.

Why is it that we so easily become snared in a vicious cycle of fear, insecurity, and doubt? As we give room to our fears we quickly fall back into the trap of relaying totally upon our own strength to calm our troubled minds. As our fear builds we quickly can become overwhelmed and anxious, forgetting that we have the promise of God's strength waiting to take control. When we replace our fear with faith that God is in control, we underscore our trust and our belief in God’s power and strength. Ask the Lord to help you to trust Him and believe: Lord, help my disbelief. Help me to trade my fear for faith.

Opening Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, We thank you for the truth and power of your word. Help us to believe and trust in you for our strength daily. Help us to believe and replace our doubt with renewed faith. Thank you that you are our refuge in times of trouble. May we grow ever stronger in our faith, as we keep our focus on you, the author and the finisher of our faith.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen

Choosing Faith Over Fear

Fine-Tuning Our Focus

Because God doesn’t leave. (Isaiah 41:10)

Because God uses the ordinary to create the extraordinary (John 12:24-25)

Because we can see God’s love and care and handiwork everywhere we turn. (Psalm 103:19)

God can turn the troubled heart into gladness. (John 14:11-14)

Because we can see and hear the testimonies of those who traded their fears for faith:

Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Daniel, Peter, and Paul. (Hebrews 11)

God says:

Don’t panic.

I am with you.

I’ll give you strength.

I will help you.

I’ll hold you steady.

I’ll keep a firm grip on you.

Ask God to help you trade your fear for faith. He will meet your needs.

Building Faith Exercise:

Fear says:

“My problems are unique, bigger, and tougher than other people's.”

(List problems in your life that you have thought about in this way)

Focus on God's truth:

You need not be afraid if God is your helper:
"The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? (Ps. 118:6-7)

(List any problems in your life that God can not solve.)

Fear says:

“God has forgotten me”

(List the places where you have tended to feel forgotten,)

Focus on God's truth:

“I am Faithful”:

God has said, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. Heb. 13:5-6

(List evidence of the faithfulness of God in your life.)

Fear says:

“My Problems are more than I can bear.”

(List the times in your life when you have felt overwhelmed or overburdened.)

Focus on God’s truth:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all ways acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight. Proverbs 3: 5-6

(List some of the resources for dealing with your problems that are already present in your life?)

Building Our Tool Box:

Additional Reading: Lessons I Learned in the Dark: Steps to Walking by Faith, Not by Sight by Jennifer Rothschild

Digging Deeper: So Long, Insecurity Group Experience by Beth Moore
Bible Commentary: Be Confident (Hebrews): Live by Faith, Not by Sight by Warren Wiersbe
I need to order this book.

Just for fun!

Comments/questions:

What can we share?

Thoughts and comments from Strength Trainers question
Words of Encouragement

Life Experiences

Testimonies of Praises

What we have learned
My favorite Bible verse

To read thoughts and disscusions from other eReaders: Be sure to open "comments" below:

Chapter 2: God Strong: The Military Wife’s Spiritual Survival Guide

2011-05-13T11:52:00.000-07:00

Chapter 2:

Spiritual Truth #1:

“My Strength Comes from God”

Military Mindset is to "Be Strong”

As Military Wives we don’t like the thought of feeling weak. It is very easy to get caught up in the military mindset : “Let us be strong, too” The strength we see in ourselves is usually a reflection of either how much we’re allowing God to lead in our lives or how much we’re allowing ourselves to get in the way of letting God lead in our lives.

Opening Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, It is with grateful hearts that we lift up our requests to you this day. We pray that you will use the power of your word and the truth of your grace to draw us closer to you. May we grow ever stronger in our faith, as You remind us that our strength comes from You.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen

Getting in God’s Way!

Letting God In!

When we put ourselves in the way, we miss experiencing God's Full Strength.

Praise and worship song: Lord, Prepare Me to be a Sanctuary

There is an internal assurance that you are "Never Alone" as you:

Focus on God
Pray
Read and study the Bible

Feeling are fickle, but our faith is steady, smooth, and never weavers.

Big Lie:

God is there, if I need him, but I think I am handling things pretty well, MYSELF

When we accept “The Big Lie”: that we can do life in our own strength, by our plan, and in our own power; we give up “The Big Truth.”

Big Truth:
"Strength comes straight from God” Psalm 62:11

Our only responsibility is to follow God’s leading:

Word of God is our compass
Prayer will do all the heavy lifting
Faith and Trust will build our constant best Friend

Surrender

Go in the strength that you have. Am I not sending you? Judges 6:13

God has placed you where you are.

God has sent you and God will enable you.

God gives strength to complete a task.

God equips you for what he’s asked you to do

Our Training Must Come From God

Personal Trainer: God

Rely solely on Him

Credit goes to God

Strip away pride

Abandon Self-will

Give up our plan, intentions, and ideas

Learn to PACE: do not run ahead of God

P= Pursue Seek, strive, and search to follow God

A= Act Put God first and act on his will

C= Concentrate: Stay focused on God

E= Encourage: yourself and others

Remember: You have your own PACE to run, and your own God Purpose to accomplish.

Building Our Tool Box:

Comment/questions:

What can we share?

Thought and comments from Strength Trainers question

Words of Encouragement

Life Experiences

Testimonies of Praises

What we have learned

My favorite Bible verse

I need to order this book

Additional Reading: Daily Bible Devotional

Prayer Journal

To read thoughts and disscusions from other eReaders: Be sure to open "comments" below:

God Strong: The Military Wife's Survival Guide: Chapter 1

2011-04-27T14:44:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our Chapter by Chapter Discussion of Sara Horn's :

God Strong: The Military Wife's Spiritual Guide.

If you missed our introduction
Please take a minute to review the ground rules and some background thoughts on our online eReading club by clicking the link below.

take a minute to read it now!

If you are just finding out about this book and would like to begin reading, you may purchase a copy online by following the book link below, or you may prefer to pick up a copy at your local retail bookstore or local library. We have a number of copies available for check out from our church library. So get busy, get a copy and Begin Reading!

Chapter Hightlights

Each Thursday we will post a new chapter review with highlights and discussion questions.

Of course you can follow and read at your own pace. However, to get the most out of the experience of an on-line community of readers, I would encourage you to follow the chapter reviews weekly.

Chapter 1

The Difference One Word Makes

Introduction: Welcome to our first online eReading session. We will be reading, exploring, and discussing highlights from the book: God Strong: The Military Wife’s Spiritual Survival Guide by Sara Horn. It is my prayer that you will benefit from both the book and the online reading club experience. I am anxious to enjoy our weekly postings. It will be fun to interact with you as we explore becoming “God Strong” together.

Opening Prayer:

“Lord, we thank you for your great love for us, as while we were still helpless sinners, Christ died for us. We pray that you will comfort in a very special way all who are seeking to trust you and grow in your grace. May you use this book and this forum to reach many with the truth of your word. Guide and protect our country and all who sever in our armed forces in order to keep our country free. Help each one of us to be “God Strong” as we learn to depend upon you for our daily strength.”

In Jesus name we pray. Amen

Overview:

What can we hope to learning together as we read, God Strong?

The book will develop 9 Spiritual Truths. We will examine these truths as we begin to assemble our own personal military wife’s tool box. This tool box will be filled with all the new tools we have discovered as we read and explore how to become “God Strong”.

As we build these new tool boxes, we will be discarding some weak and ineffective tools and replacing them with God Strong made tools until we have all new equipment to use to compose our own “Military Wife’s Spiritual Survival Kit”.

Preview:

We will learn to discard: Fear, loneliness, worry, and more

We will seek to add: Belief, Faith, Joy, Trust, Hope, and Love, for evermore.

Highlights from Chapter One:

As we begin reading chapter one, we begin to focus on a few job qualifications for the average military spouse.

They read as follows:

You must be Strong for your husband

You must be Strong for you kids.

You must be Strong when you are hurt

You must be Strong when you are sick

You must be Strong when your husband is deployed to a far off place.

You must be Strong when you are lonely.

You must be Strong when you are required to pack-up and move your home.

You must be Strong when you leave friends and family far behind.

And on and on it goes… until it is no wonder, you become overwhelmed, exhausted and defeated. Even with the best of intentions … this is an emotional rollercoaster…Where do you turn for help, stability, and strength, when you come to the end of your rope and realize these qualifications would take more than a SUPERWOMAN?

Tools to discard:

I must be Strong .

I must learn to handle all life has to throw at me, by myself.”

Misperceptions

What misperceptions can lead me to think I must be “Superwoman”?

As we explore deeper, the book begins to focus on some common misperceptions that lead us down a slippery slope and weigh down our present tool box. These tools are causing our tool boxes to be too heavy to carry. We must learn to throw these useless tools out. WAY OUT of our every day lives! And replace them with God’s way for life every day.

‘GOD WILL NOT give me more than I can bear, so it’s up to me to handle it all.

Truth: This verse is often misquoted. The actual Biblical Truth is found in 1 Corinthians 10:13.

The verse is referring to temptation. God will always supply you a way to have victory over your temptations. However, this verse does not say you must find the strength to handle all that life can throw at you with your own strength … the Bible actually says just the opposite:

Psam121:1, Psalm 62:11, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Psalm 91:1-2, and many, many more. Do you see? It is not your strength that matters. We are talking about spiritual muscle. God does the most when we can do the very least.

Biblical Truth: Psalm 121:1 tells us our strength comes from God

Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust in the Lord, with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight,”

Misperception 2

“God helps those who help themselves”: Not even in the Bible; it is a quote from Ben Franklin

The Bible teaches:

God wants to help the helpless. Isaiah 40:29, John 3:16

1 Peter 5:6-7 reminds us to cast all our anxiety on the Lord.

Tools to add:

BELIEVE: “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him.” 1 John 1:29

FAITH: God has promised to be my strength and to never leave me. Deuteronomy 31:6

TRUST: Placed ultimately in God alone. Psalm 20:7, John 14:1

Wow, my tool box is already getting stronger and a whole lot lighter!

How are you doing on yours?

What can we share?

Thought and comments from "Strength Trainers" question on Page 29 (Questions 1-4)

Words of encouragement

Life experiences

Testimonies of Praise

What we have learned

My favorite Bible verse

Please, Take this time to post your replys in our comment box.

How can I continue to grow God strong?

Pray daily
Read and study the Bible

Trust in the Lord:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding; in all ways acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

Strength Training Exercises:

Read and Memorize: 1 John 1:29, John 3:16, Psalm 20:7, John 14:1

Keep a Daily Journal of your commitment to Believe and Trust the Lord.

Continue reading: Read Chapter 2: My Strength Comes from God.

Revisit us next Thursdays (May12) for more Chapter Highlights and Discussions.

Praise and worship song: Casting Crowns: "Who Am I"
Additional Reading
Just for fun!

To read thoughts and disscusions from other eReaders: Be sure to open "comments" below:

Open your hearts and minds to the counsel of Godly advisors:
Proverbs 15:22 "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed".
God Bless!