Welcome back to online bible study at the Womens Bible Cafe. We’ve finished our study of Loving Well by Beth Moore, and it was so good I’m ready to go back and listen again and again. Beth just amazes me with her personal story and her teaching style throughout out study. For a few minutes I paused my video and let her words sink in: “God is the Loving Well.” When she gave examples of loving others with a Christlike heart…I knew she was speaking to me. Now that I’ve completed this study, I’m on a personal mission to love Testy just like Jesus would. I am drawing Living Water from the Loving Well.

Many thanks to Raye Holmes for leading this four-week online bible study. Here is our final update from Raye.

The 4 different kinds of people Beth spoke of were: Joy – the one that is such a pleasure to love; Testy – the one that is our “test” to love, the one that works the nerves beyond anything; Far – that homeless person on the corner and Foe – that one person that is hated, the one that we may cringe we see them.  For us to love these different kinds of people, ourselves we first must have a genuine relationship with God. The only way we can love is thru God. To get to that point we must find time, make time, want time to sit in the presence of God and allow Him to love on us, we love on Him and together – us and God love others! Beth Moore said that God will not give through us what we do not let Him give to us!

Another subject that Beth touched on was that “nothing can separate us from the love of God”! Beth said that “we will not love well until we feel well loved”. We have got walk in the freedom that Jesus died on the cross for! Our shame, our guilt, our failures, our jealousy,etc.! God’s grace and mercy is renewed each and everyday! When we walk around with feelings that we are not good enough for God and having a hard time loving ourselves, then we are not walking in God’s love! We have got to always know that there is not one thing that can keeps us from the love of God!

We all must become that person that doesn’t just know how much God loves us, but experience it as well. We experience that love by loving others: joy, foe, far and testy! My prayer for us all is as Beth Moore put it ‘let us start loving because we are loved not so we can be loved’.

~Raye

Group Discussion- Please post a comment and answer one or as many questions as you want

1. What changes have you noticed in the way you are loving others since completing this study?
2. How is God using a Testy, Foe, Joy or Far person in your life to serve His purpose?
3. Share a favorite moment from this week’s lesson.
4. Would you recommend this study to a friend? Why or why not?

Beth Moore ended the study with these words:

I commission you to love and it’s not real love until you love somebody that does not love you. Beth Moore

Welcome back to the Womens Bible Cafe as we continue our study of Loving Well by Beth Moore. This study has fulfilled every expectation I had: it’s from the heart, it speaks to the heart and it brings light from the heart. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I’m enjoying the simplicity of the video format for bible study. It’s unique, and yet it works well. I can imagine how those 19,000+ women and men felt as they saw this live as Beth Moore spoke from the platform. At home with my computer screen I can still feel the power and weight of her words, enjoy the nonverbal expressions and let the teaching fall right into my heart. A few times I had to pause the video and shed some tears, or say a prayer. A few times I had to pause the video and re-play Beth’s words. I am so excited to watch the final video. Once we’ve finished, I imagine I’ll go back and replay the series over and over again- it’s just that GOOD!

Our guest post is written by Raye Holmes. Raye is leading a small group study in her home and sharing her experiences with us at the Womens Bible Cafe to create a more intimate community. We’ve encouraged her to get personal and share her story with you…a story of love.

Loving Well Bible Study has forced me to deal with some really deep roots and allow God to pull them out of me. Had it not been for the Power of God’s Love I know I would have never made it through. If my last week’s blog update offended any of you or if you felt it was not what you needed, please know I posted what was in my heart. Not as an “all about me pity party” but as a testimony to the Power of God’s Love for me.

As I think of the Power of God’s love I am reminded of the song Power of Your Love  that was written by Geoff Bullock and has been sung my many various other artists. I am sure most of you have heard and sung this song and if you have not I encourange you to listen. To those who have heard it; have we ever really listened to the words and mediated on them. This song goes so well with the Loving Well  Bible Study because it brings out what Beth Moore brought out, just differently. And that the only way we can love ourselves and others is by God’s power!

Before we can ever love, rather, it is ourselves or others we must first grasp that power of God’s love! That no matter our past or weakness or any other issues God’s greatest power  is there- and will always be there. When we struggle with the testy’s in our lives, that power of love is there. We must look at testy not with our own natural eyes, but with the power of God’s love. When we see a ‘foe’ – that enemy in the grocery store or even in church; we don’t go down another aisle, but we reach out to our enemys in the power of God’s love. When we feel as if we messed up once again, or may think God has abandoned us, we don’t allow the enemy to condemn us, but we look up to the mighty God and we call out to Him to pour down the Power of His Love in our hearts!

Once our hearts are full of God’s Love – it is then that love begins to leak out and goes to others. To the homeless person on the street, holding the sign up for food, we won’t look the other way, but we will roll our window down and give them money or go to the nearest fast food and bring them back some food. When our hearts are full of God’s Love – it is then we take testy out to lunch or day of pedicures and medicures and love on her. When our hearts are full of God’s love it is then we see that person whom we have hated, we embrace with God’s mercy and grace that He has embraced us with.

I pray as you go through your week that you ask God for the Power of His Love to be upon you and fill you up with such overflowing love that is spills out to everyone you come across this week!

~Raye

Homework For This Week

• Watch the last video session for Loving Well by Beth Moore
• If you are using the Loving Well Journal, complete week four
• Register for the new James, Mercy Triumphs online bible study

Group Discussion- Please post a comment and answer one or as many questions as you want

1. What can you do to minister to your testy or foe?
2. How do you feel when you give, with no earthly possibility of being repaid?
3. What might you gain by forgiving?
4. Share a favorite moment from this week’s lesson.

Welcome back to the Womens Bible Cafe as we continue our study of Loving Well by Beth Moore. We’ve now watched the first two video sessions of this study, and we have two more to complete. We’ve enjoyed reading your comments and growing together as a group.

This post is written by Raye Holmes

This past week has been one of the most trying weeks I have had in a long time! However it has been one that I needed to set my pride aside and allow God to speak to my heart on some issues that have been rooted down in me and to see there are some relationships that I have no business being in.  I love how God works! He used a Bible study called Loving Well to give me the wake up call I needed!

For years I have based God’s love for me on how ‘other’ people love me. From my parents, to my spouse, friends, church family, etc. I saw so clearly this week how wrong that is, how wrong I was!

God loves us all for who we are – the person that He created! No matter what we do, say, don’t do, etc. God Loves US!  Many times I would question God’s love for me over my 47 years. When I was 17, raped and left pregnant, and my family and church family abandoned me. When my ‘christian’ husband of 22 years, who I was in the ministry with, came home from church the Sunday before Thanksgiving in 2005 and informed me he could not stand the ground I walked on, among other choice words. When church family abandoned me in this time and I felt all alone.  The time in 2007 just when mine and my Mom’s relationship was restored – she got diagnosed with cancer and died in Feb. 08. I took it as God abandoning me once again. Then two years later almost to the date my Mom passed away and after my relationship with my Dad got restored - Dad passed in Feb. 10. I took it as God abandoning me once again!  I never saw that the most wonderful man that God put in my life a month before my Mom died as a gift from God – because He loves me until this past week! How sad is that?!

Another area I felt God abandoning me in is in friendships. One in particular. No matter what I do for this person, it never is enough. No matter how difficult it is to love her, I would just keep on keeping on. The whole time struggling on a daily basis; causing her and I both pain.

After this week’s Bible Study I must say, I had this all wrong!  God never leaves or forsakes me. God loves me for me – after all He created me! God is for me, He is not against me! Nothing I could ever do or say, nothing! NOTHING can separate me from God’s Love! And God showed me this week that the above incidents in my life; left some ROOTS that was not from Him and it was time to put my pride aside and allow Him to get those roots out of my heart!

It was painful, I am not going to say it was easy. I bawled like I had a death in my life! However, now I am so free from that bondage!

The relationship with the person I described before, I will say without going into much detail, but video 3 talks very plainly about that! Once again I had to set aside my pride and allow God to teach me how to handle this relationship. Sometimes we just need God to show us their hearts or sometimes we just need to obey God and back off from the relationship until our hearts our ‘healthy’. Only you and God would know the answer to that…

God is so wonderful! His grace and mercy is such an outstanding blessing. I was reminded today of something God spoke to me years ago, that He has set me as lady that represents a “Trophy of His Grace”! And that I need to start walking and living my life as such! God also reminded me that through those hurtful times in my life it was HIM that was always by myside, rather it was just His presence I felt, Him speaking to me through His Word or a Worship Song. God has always been with me. It was the Holy Spirit coming down and comforting me like no other can do!  I once had a blog called just that, ” Trophy of His Grace” and I am so looking forward to going back to it and writing and showing off my trophy case of God’s Love for Me!

When you find yourself not being able to ‘Love Well’ – check yourself, check your heart, set aside your pride and think back to those times when God loved you when no one else did and be thankful for that love! I pray you never find yourself taking that love for granted, like I found myself!

This may be an unusual write up and not one that many may  want to read. Since I am such a real person and usually do not hold too many things back that is in my heart, I had to write it. My prayer is that each of you doing this Bible Study will allow God to reach down deep in your heart and allow Him to pull the roots out that have been hindering you from ‘Loving Well’.

Have a great weeks ladies and may we all know God’s love like never before!

~Raye

Homework For This Week

• Watch the third video session for Loving Well by Beth Moore
• If you are using the Loving Well Journal, complete week three
• Register for the new James, Mercy Triumphs online bible study

Group Discussion- Please post a comment and answer one or as many questions as you want

1. How do you feel about God’s unfailing love for you?
2. In what ways has God shown His perfect love towards you?
3. Share a favorite moment from this week’s lesson.

Welcome back to the Womens Bible Cafe and our online bible study of Loving Well by Beth Moore. This update is written by our leader Raye Holmes.

Beth Moore states, “we will never resemble Christ more; than when we love.”

How do we get to that point where we resemble Christ? By letting God love on us!  The way for that to happen is by spending time with Him – alone time, secret time, quiet time. As ladies it is so hard for us to just sit and be still. However to those of us who are married, there are times when we do find time to be alone, secret and quiet. That is when we are with our husbands intimately. When you think of intimacy, what comes to mind? A romantic date? Warm Conversation? Candlelight dinner? Spending time together?  It is in those time with our husbands that we feel love, special, like the world is off of our shoulders, etc. I also feel such love when I am spending time with someone who is just embellished with love, that friend who knows me better than I know myself!  But what happens when we don’t spend time with our husbands? Or that special friend? When life is busy, the children are needing you, dinner needs to be cooked, laundry to be done? You begin to feel drained and worn out, right?

When I am having a hard time of “Loving Well” – I am frustrated, upset, and tired of trying to love that one person that just works my nerves. Or that one ‘testy’, myself, my husband, children, co workers, etc. I have to check myself? Hey, am I spending time with Father God? No!  Have I read God’s word today? No!  I have spent a moment of just being still and allowing God’s spirit to speak to me about a stressful situation so that I do not snapped at someone or take my day out with the cashier at the grocery store?

When I do not have time spent with my husband, I don’t feel loved. When I don’t spend time with God, I don’t feel loved, worthy, and more than likely- my fruit is rotten on my fruit tree!

Sometimes life in general has kept us from being able to love well. Beth Moore said, “We will not love well until we feel well loved.” I know some of you have had a hard time in life, I know I have. Church hurts, injured hearts, broken spirits. Life has been hard on me. There are times I question God about my sufferings more than I do my blessings! Nuts right?

But I have found and I know that the only way I can be set free is spending that time with the Father God. Not just a routine thing, but an intimate thing. A personal relationship with God. God knows my secrets, God knows my heart, God knows me. But he awaits for me to speak those things out to Him, then He loves on me and comforts me and brings me peace that passeth all understanding.

Video 2 was not an easy video for me – it was difficult for me to watch. It stirred alot of things up inside me. And I am so thankful for that! Why would I be thankful for something that is going to make me face pain, hurts and unforgiveness? Because I want to Love Well! And to love well I must have a daily time with God. Time with God to the point that I no longer just know of God’s love; but I experience it on a daily basis. That I have God’s love deep down inside me, in my emotions (how I react to hard to love people), deep down in my spirit (that when I fail – I know God’s love is still there).

Have a great weeks ladies and may we all know God’s love like never before!

~Raye

Homework For This Week

• Watch the second video session for Loving Well by Beth Moore
• If you are using the Loving Well Journal, complete week two

Group Discussion- Please post a comment and answer one or as many questions as you want

1. Do you really believe God loves you? Why or why not?
2. Have you ever tried to bind your heart with duct tape? What was the result?
3. Is allowing God to love you a difficult thing? Why?
4. Share a favorite moment from this week’s lesson.

We’re beginning a four-week online bible study called Loving Well by Beth Moore. If God has been dealing with you about loving others, then this is the right bible study for you. We’re going to learn about loving people who are a joy to love, people who are difficult to love, and people we have no desire to love. We’re going to learn to love all the people God has placed into our lives. Let’s take this journey together….

Today’s article is written by Raye Holmes

As I was thinking about the Bible Study ‘Loving Well’ I was reminded of my struggles to be loved, to love others and of accept the concept that God loves me!  I know we all struggle with that issue one way or the other, if you say you do not, then great! That means you are filled with love and it is being shared with all people!

When I get in those moments of where I do not feel love, where I do not want to be loved, and where I do not want to love others – then I know in my heart I am not focusing on what God has called us all to do; which is Worship!

I love what Beth Moore said about this, “We will never love one another as well as we can until we deepen our understanding of God’s love for us. Only God can daily reveal that to us. That is where worship comes in to play.”

Each day we should start our day and end our day with worship to the Father! To the one who created us to worship and love on Him! Our worship welcomes God’s presence to come into our hearts and allows us to surrender to Him so that we can love well!

My prayer for each of us in this Bible study is that we will see as Beth Moore puts it “God is just not the perfect model of love; He is perfect love.”

~Raye

Homework For This Week

• Watch the first video session for Loving Well by Beth Moore
• If you are using the Loving Well Journal, complete week one

Group Discussion- Please post a comment and answer these two questions

1. Characterize your life in this present season using ONE WORD.
2. What do you hope to gain from this bible study? Why does it interest you?

The Womens Bible Cafe announces a new online bible study- Loving Well by Beth Moore. In this four-week online bible study we’ll retreat into our hearts and embrace the biblical mandate to love, as we develop skills for loving others. Unlike other group bible studies we’ve been leading, this four-week bible study does not require daily reading sessions. To participate, you’ll need to download the four Loving Well video sessions available at www.Lifeway.com (current cost is $4.99 per video) and you can also buy a Loving Well Journal to organize your thoughts. Once a week on Monday we’ll post questions for a group discussion based on the videos you watched. To participate in the group discussion you will visit this site anytime on Monday’s and post a comment. Raye Holmes will be leading this study.

About Loving Well by Beth Moore

Loving Well Retreat in a Box by Beth Moore features four heart-to-heart messages designed to help women embrace the biblical mandate to love and to develop skills for loving others. Great for a weekend retreat or anytime you need a four-session women’s Bible study. Taped at a Living Proof Live event, Beth discusses how some people are a joy to love, some are difficult to love, and how we all deal with some people who are humanly impossible to love. In all of those relationships one truth endures: We will never be able to love others well until we have been loved well. And only God can ultimately give us the complete love we so desperately need. (source: Lifeway.com)

How to Join the Loving Well Online Bible Study

• Download the Loving Well Videos from Lifeway.com (required)
• Get a Loving Well Journal (optional, highly recommended)
• Read the Getting Started page if you are new to this site
• Introduce yourself below with your name, where you are from, and finish this sentence: A heart for Jesus….