Bible Study Chat #18

Originally Posted by eva_from_greece: Thank you for the scriptures Cindy.
I want us to discuss again about taking our thoughts captive.
I am not strong at this storm, its a storm for me, a period of bad weather in my life.
I dont know of this is a complaint, but I feel tired by living in an abusive environment all my life. Abusive father, abuse at school, abuse (not physical) at work. Always threats. "You wont get paid if the shop doesnt reach the goal". And now... With me only knowing the job and 2 people resigned, its really bad.
And you know something? Except of the theats, I dont want to be unable to afford my house and get back to my parents.
Sorry for that, for my little faith.
I want to get up, change my mind and change this!

Hon, no one "wants" to be out of work, or unable to pay their bills, and we all get tired of it. My husband is yet again out of work and there is no more unemployment so we've had no pay checks. It is not an enjoyable place to be in. The comfort comes in knowing that God is there with you and that your circumstances are the way they are because He has something to show you. For me it can mean that I didn't learn my lesson well enough before so He's giving me another chance to practice what He's taught me; or it can mean that I learned my lesson very well, but now He has something new to show me and usually when He does, it's something pretty amazing and I've learned to look forward to seeing it. Of course it can also have nothing at all to do with me but be about other people - I just happened to get caught up in it too, but He never wastes any circumstance or situation, so He will use it to teach me something, help me learn something new, or show me something amazing or all three and more, if I'll just keep my spiritual eyes open and trust Him. These are all true for you too hon.

One thing we need to remember too is that we ARE in the last days and things are getting hard and are going to get harder. That will and must affect us as well as the unsaved. Until the rapture happens we are not immune to what's happening on this earth, so we will be affected by the bad economy and the sin in the world. It won't somehow magically pass us by and only affect the unsaved. God shows no favorites, and He's always said that judgment will always begin with His children, not with the unsaved. There isn't much time left, and He is teaching all of us as much as He can before the rapture so that He will be able to give us as many rewards as He possibly can when we get to heaven, because He loves giving us good gifts. He also doesn't want a bunch of babies to be ruling the world with Him. He needs us to be grown up in our faith. So this is a period of hard and constant learning for everyone.

We all have a choice about how we handle it. (I'm speaking about those of us who are saved). We can choose to cooperate with Him and grow as much as we can, or we can choose to fight against it and not grow, maybe even lose ground we had gained before. It's up to us. I know you have chosen to cooperate with Him and that you want to grow and that's awesome! He will reward you for that greatly! Now though you need to trust Him and put into practice all that you've learned before.

As far as taking our thoughts captive and replacing them with the Truth, that is something we can never, ever stop doing or slow down on doing. We are to always keep guard over our thoughts and emotions. We're to be always watching for thoughts and feelings that aren't true according to God's Word and always studying His Word every day so we can learn more about Him and what's really True and what's not, so we can guard our thoughts and feelings even better. So we're constantly having to take thoughts captive and replace them, constantly learning and seeing new areas that we have to take captive and replace, etc. God does not tell us to do this once in awhile, or just when we want to change a habit, but He tells us to do this constantly, all the time. Whenever we stop or slow down, it's a guarantee we will fall down and our faith seems weaker. The opposite is also true. The more time we spend in His Word and talking to Him, and taking our thoughts captive, the stronger our faith gets. So often we pray that the Lord will strengthen our faith and then ignore our Bibles when it's His Word that strengthens our faith. We think He hasn't heard or answered our prayer, but the answer has been in our hands the whole time.

You're very young Eva, and the world has painted a picture of life being something that is supposed to easy, and good, but that's a lie. God tells us the truth, but we usually don't want to hear it. He tells us this life in the world is going to be hard; full of trials and hardship. But He says we're not to be concerned or worry about that because He has overcome the world. How does that help us though? Because He tells us how to overcome it in His Word and one major way is through taking our thoughts and feelings and imaginations captive and replacing them with His Truth. That's one of the ways we abide in His Word. It also helps us because He gives us the ability and the strength to overcome the world, this life. He even tells us how we do that, and it's with our faith.

Eva, remember your notebook? This is a time you should be using it to help you. Not just with your memory verses and Phil 4:8 list, but all of it. And you can use it to continue learning, adding things to it. But I know that if you haven't already seen it, that if you take your notebook out and start reading all that's written on each page, you'll find the Lord's answers to your questions, or at least a place to start at. Here's some more verses that talk about how we can overcome these trials:

John 16:33 —“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” *

1 John 4:4 —You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. *

1 John 5:3–5 —This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, *for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. *Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. *

Romans 10:17 —Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. *

2 Corinthians 5:7 —We live by faith, not by sight. *

Galatians 2:20 —I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. *

Colossians 1:5 —the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel *
Hebrews 11:1 —Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. * And we become "sure of what we hope for" through studying His Word with Him daily.

Remember your notebook, and your page of verses to memorize? Here are a few of them for you to reflect on:
2 Corinthians 10:5 —We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. *
Philippians 4:8 —Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. *

2 Corinthians 9:8 —And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. *

Romans 13:14 —Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. *

1 Timothy 4:15–16 —Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. *Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. *

I would add this one to the above for you too:

1 Timothy 4:12 —Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. *

This was one I meant to post for you and Barbara yesterday to add to your list of memorized verses and forgot to, so I'll give it to you now:

Psalm 19:14 —May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. *

That notebook I had each of you start should always be handy so you can look it over whenever you feel the need and can help you anytime you're going through a rough time. It will remind you of all the basics we studied in God's Word over the last year. It's something you should always keep near by and always be adding to until eventually you'll have to start a new one. But even when you start a new one, never get rid of your first one, because in hard times it's always good to return and review the basics. 
 
Originally Posted by catt :  Eva I am praying for you, about your job and mean boss.
I am praying about the new people he will hire. That they will not be abusive.
God is at work changing us daily from the inside out. He is not bothered
by storms. Even if they have lightning. Paul said "His [God's] strength is made perfect
in his [Paul's] weakness." God will be strong in us.
Jesus said to his disciples "In this world you will have trouble, but cheer up! I have overcome the world." Watch and see what God is going to do. Ask Him to show you,
so you won't miss out. The wonderful thing I have seen is the economy of God.
He is so good at setting things up. He does one thing and a whole bunch of things
fall into place. Does that mean I am always cheery? No. Some times I feel sad and grieved.
Sometimes a little lost about what I can do. But then, when I am alone, I feel the feelings, even cry if I must, and bring it to God. He is very patient and loving with me. He always
has been. He is not abusive at all.
He has more patience with me than I have with myself.

Eva posted: Thank you catt! :)

Amen Catt! Well said! Yes, I love the way the Lord takes one little thing and does so very much with it! And it's so true that the Lord is never abusive but always treats us with love and patience. Like you, I find He's much more patient with me then I am with myself.

Jackswife posted:
One thing I'd also like to say. Is that though obviously I would have preferred to not have gone through the trials of the last two years, I can say that I noticed one dramatic thing that was definitely for good. As I faced this, many Bible verses that I'd know for a long time "came to life."
They were a part of me- not just words in a book

I know what you mean Jackswife and that's really wonderful because they'll always be a part of you from now on.

Originally Posted by eva_from_greece:
Thank you Cindy :) It might be a good idea to have it always with me.
But I need more. More verses, more things to reflect on

No "might" about it Your Bible and your notebook are your lifelines. Honestly Eva, even back when I was working, I never went anywhere without my bible. I always had it in my pocketbook. (that was why I always bought big pocketbooks LOL) As far as needing "more verses" to reflect on Eva, I just gave you a bunch more and if you look those up in your bible, and look up the others I gave you too, and ask the Lord to show you what you need to reflect on, He will lead you to others as well.

Hon, I'm honestly not being mean, and it's not that I don't want to help you, but I don't want you to get in the habit of relying on me or any other human being either. You need to be relying on God for these things. I've given you lots to get you started, but that's all they should be for: to give you a place to start - not an answer in themselves and certainly not the end or the only ones. I do realize how short your time is, but that's another reason to always have your bible and notebook with you. That way, even if you only have a couple of minutes, you can pull out your bible and quickly talk to the Lord and read a few scriptures. That's how we grow. And, you never know, but you may see more scriptures as we continue to study Job too.
 
Originally Posted by eva_from_greece:  You are right :) Thank u
Originally Posted by eva_from_greece: Two notebooks? Why do I have only one?

Do you take written notes when you study the bible or do the studies here Eva? When we originally started our "notebooks", Barbara who does take notes on them, asked me about it so I suggested she use a different notebook for that. You never replied about that post so I assumed that you didn't take notes... Remember, that was back during the time when I was always asking you to post more

As far as taking notes when you study goes, I think it's a very good idea. I have a feeling that Barbara is like me and tends to write down just about everything, which isn't necessarily good. I've had to discipline myself to make my notes shorter and more meaningful. I used to keep them in a notebook as well as in my bible itself. Of course when you write in your bible, whatever you write must be short and to the point since there's not much room. So that helped me some. But now with my bible program, I can write as much as I want and began again to write "too much" by each verse. So once again I've had to discipline myself to make my notes shorter and more meaningful.

For example, if I was going to make a note out of everything I wrote above, I'd simply write: "Take short, meaningful notes" instead of quoting a lot of what I'd written above, which is what I used to do.

Anyway, if you want to keep a second notebook to write notes in from these studies and any bible study you do on your own, that's fine and good. Taking notes as we study helps us remember what we learned. Talking about what we studied that day with someone else also helps us remember what we learned better, which is something we do here in our replies too. Even if we don't have another person we can talk to about what we learned that day, we can always talk to the Lord about it during the day and it will not only help us remember it better but be a nice time of fellowship with Him as well. He loves it when we talk to Him about His Word.

If something you write in your study notebook , seems to be extra important to you and something you think you should keep in mind every day, then you can always add it to the notebook we started as well.

Originally Posted by Fearnot:
Thanks Cindy for re-constructing all that we were supposed to have in the second notebook. I must have a 3rd notebook somewhere, because I do remember now some of the things that are NOT in my 2nd notebook. I have a lot of the verses and counting my blessings, and things to think about like planning my garden etc.
You hit the nail on the head....I do right waaaay to much in my study notebook. I pretty much copied everything. Not only is that tiring, but it gets discouraging, because I often get behind and I don't end up with time ldft over to actual reflect on the notes.



No problem Barbara. Yeah, I believe we've talked about that before and how it would be a good idea for you to work on not writing quite so many notes. If nothing else, perhaps you could give yourself some kind of maximum amount that you can't go over...such as no more then 2 sentences for each of my paragraphs. That would probably do you a lot of good as it would also often force you to put the notes in your own words instead of copying mine and when it's in your own words, you're more likely to actually remember what's been taught. For example, if I was going to make a note out of the above paragraph, I'd just write, "I remember notes in my own words best", or something like that.

Originally Posted by eva_from_greece
Or it might be better and easier to have some notes on the pc at some doc files. Easier to make and easier to find what you are looking for in it.
I had some really bad back pain yesterday late at night.
I looked for a pharmacy to have a pain killer injection . I face also a falling asleep problem due to all the extra work I do these days.

Easier isn't necessarily better all the time Eva. I'm not saying that this isn't a good idea though, it might work well for some people. We each have to search our hearts WITH God's help, asking Him to show us what's best for us. There's a couple of reasons for taking notes: 1st to help us remember what we've learned. If we just copy something from a post and paste it into a document file, we aren't as likely to remember it as we are if we write it down ourselves. If we write down exactly what the other person said instead of putting it in our own words, again, we're not as likely to remember and understand what we've learned enough to apply it to other scriptures when we come across them. There's even a big difference between typing and handwriting things. Typing's faster, but we tend to remember things we've handwritten better.

So for the purposes of learning, the very best way to take notes is:

1. To write down in your own words what you've learned or what you think is important.
2. And then try and shorten what you've written down to as few words as possible.
3. keep what you've written in a place that you can always have access to it when studying, no matter what computer, phone, tablet, etc. you are using or what Bible you are using.
Originally Posted by Fearnot
Well with my computer broken right now, that is not going to work. I am using hubby's computer but he has all his stuff on it and I don't think he wants me adding my files. Besides when we do get it fixed, I would have to start over again making files etc.
But thanks for the thought. For now I will stick with the old fashion handwritten notes in a notebook.
Yes, please see what I wrote above. Also, for you, I would suggest that whenever you go over your notes, that you start trying to cut down the number of words in each note, until you can get one long paragraph of notes down to no more then 2 sentences or less, in your own words. That may very well mean starting yet a new notebook, and transcribing your old notes that you've pared down to 2 sentences or less in your own words, into the new one.

Then since this is new for you, I'd suggest writing your new notes for this study into your old notebook first. Then again, pare each note down to as few of your own words as possible and put those in your new notebook.

Remember the purpose of taking notes, isn't to tell a whole story. It's only to help you remember something you learned. Our memories work by things like "key words and phrases" that will remind us of a whole conversation, or even smells, or sounds that will do that.

Remember when we were talking about taking our thoughts captive a long time ago, when Zohar was with us? And I used the illustration of a dog in obedience training? I'd be willing to bet that if someone walked up to her and just said, "Sit! Stay!" Zohar would instantly be taken back in her memory to the conversation we had about taking our thoughts captive. For the rest of her life, those two words alone will always be enough to remind her of all she learned about that, because they made an impression on her memory. That's what we want our notes to do.

Originally Posted by catt:
OK. Let's see what is happening with Job.
Sounds good to me too!


Originally Posted by Fearnot: About a week ago I pulled out my notebooks and have been going thru them. I had buried them in a pile of other note books, like my gardening journal. But it sure feels good to have them!!
However, it seems strange the 'real' notebook seems to only have a few pages, where as the bible study has a page ( at least) for each day's lesson.
Yes, looking forward to more Job

I'm not sure what you mean by the "real" notebook, unless you're referring to the pages we made together...which is what I'm assuming you mean. If you recall though, each of those pages were to be added on to as time went by. For example, we added on to the page that listed your memory verses each time a new one was assigned right? That's something you can and should continue to do too. I'd suggest at least once a month or so you could add another verse to your list.

You'll know what verse to add because it will be one that really speaks to you personally. You'll be spending time with the Lord in His Word and a verse will just kind of light up on the page for you and seem very important to you personally right then, or maybe due to a situation you're going through at the time, or something the Lord's been working with you on. When that happens, add that verse to your memory verses page(s). Of course, it's always a good idea to regularly go over all the memory verses so you don't forget any of them. For some that will mean reading it through once a week, or once a month or whatever works for you.

Another page was your Philippians 4:8 list. For those who don't know what this isA Phil 4:8 list is a list we can make of things that we can think about that will agree with this verse. This list will be a list of things to think about whenever your mind starts wandering into areas it shouldn't. After writing down the verse, you list 20 different things to think about. These are NOT to be little, light things or things that you can only think about for a few seconds, but things that will keep your mind occupied for awhile. Write down things like, "What do I have to do to get ready to go on vacation"; "ideas of ways to talk about God to my children/grandchildren" or "how I want to redecorate or rearrange my living room"; or maybe, "people I might be able to help and include how" Or "what I'm going to do in my garden". They should all be things that agree with the verse and that will keep your mind occupied for some time. Ask the Lord to help you think of things to put on it. Philippians 4:8 —Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. * So the first step is to take your thoughts captive which we've discussed in Taking Thoughts Captive study. If after taking your thoughts captive and replacing them with God's Truth, your mind keeps wanting to bring up the forbidden subject, that's when you use your phil 4:8 list to distract it.)

You each had some great things on your lists, but it should be always changing and being added on to. You'll get tired of thinking of the same old things all the time, for one reason, and for another reason, life itself will suggest new things to think about as things change. So that too should be updated at least once a month. Go over your list, cross off the ones that either don't work for you or just no longer interest you and add new ones to replace them. I would suggest that you never totally cross anything out though as you may one day want to go back to one. Instead, I'd just make a new list each month or so. That way you can always go back to the old ones whenever you're trying to think up new ones

As I recall the first page was simply meaningful quotes to help you remember what to do/say and how to react in various situations, so you'd be able, by reading it regularly, to react the way God wants us to instead of the way our flesh wants us to.

And finally there were the pages that I gave you that showed what your identity in Christ is.

After those pages you were just to add important notes about things that you felt you'd need regularly. Oh, I think one of the pages also might have included that list of sins we wrote up too. I thought we'd decided that you'd use a different notebook for all the "study notes" you like to take though didn't we? That this notebook would just include the short notes/quotes/ sayings that you felt were most important for you that you would need to always keep in mind.... You know, things like, "forgiveness is a choice, not a feeling" and things like that....

Or am I remembering that incorrectly? Either way, I'm very glad you found them!

Originally Posted by Fearnot: That was such a help. I never really understood the reason for taking notes. On one level yes, I knew it was to remember something, but that 'something' to me was the whole story.

You know strangely enough, if I learned to pare things down, it would help with my relationship with my hubby. See if something happened ( anything I felt he needed to know about), I would indeed remember the 'whole' story.

I felt it was necessary for his understanding, to give the whole background, the foundation, 'in precise detail!!!) leading up to the finale ( so to speak).

However, that would irritate him no end!! He would always say something like; "get to the point!!!". And I would not only feel hurt at his tone of voice, and disregard of my trying to give him an accurate report......
but I would flounder around at a complete loss on how to pare it down!!

So this exercise will be a great aid for more than one thing!!
Thank you.

Now how would I have pared down what I just told you, in 2 sentences????

 I love how you ended it with that question, lol, it made me laugh and laughter is always good! I'm glad it's helped not only with this but with other things as well though.

To put what you said into a few words for a note, you could say something like, "there's no need for a lot of detail, instead just hit the important points". It's a lot like the difference between writing an essay and writing an outline for the essay, which of course you're supposed to do first. Only when you're taking notes from something, in a sense, you're putting it back into an outline.

As far as how you worded it for your post here though, it was just fine!