On week six of Me, Myself and Lies we examined thought closet lies and relabeled them with truth. Many of these lies were rooted in childhood or past relationships, and not rooted in God. As Jennifer reminded us, we had our hope in the wrong place. Be careful not to replace hope with people, money, things and self. Only God should be seated on the throne, the center of HOPE. Pay attention to the color of your thought closet wardrobe and view your reflection through His Word as your wardrobe mirror. Now that you’ve cleaned the closet, pay attention to the junk that clutters it and remember to deal with your clutter instead of hiding it in the back of the closet. Move on, move forward, and move with God near your side.

Congratulations on your perseverance, you’ve just completed the six-week bible study Me, Myself and Lies! Celebrate your achievement by sharing your experience and new wisdom with others. Talk about your lessons with your mom, friend, daughter, sister, aunt, grandma or coworker. The bible wasn’t written so we could read it silently. It was written so we could be a witness to His Living Word. Join us in a study of Psalms starting Feb 28, 2011 as we read Stepping Up A Journey Through the Psalms of Ascent by Beth Moore. It’s a six-week study that will conclude right before Easter. We looked at several verses from Psalms this last week of study, so the Beth Moore study will be a nice transition after our Jennifer Rothschild study. More than 100 women have already registered-Join us!

I have been honored to study with each of you and treasure your participation in this online bible study. Thank you for giving me your valuable time, and for encouraging me with your words. I pray you will stay in fellowship and continue to participate in future studies here at the Womens Bible Cafe. I welcome your feedback or suggestions for improvement. One area that always troubles me is accountability- how do I manage to keep 200 women focused and on track during an individual study. Pray for me as I meet this challenge and listen for God’s direction. Thank you and God’s blessing to you all.

Prayer Requests

We’ve had many prayer needs during this past study and it has been a blessing to intercede and pray for you. Continue to post your prayer needs on the Prayer Wall. If you have a prayer request for our prayer wall, please click here.

Father, I pray that each woman who participated in this Bible study will continue to learn and grow in her faith. Shower her with your love and grace. Bring her to her knees in praise as she embraces you and honors you with her thought closet. Provide the opportunity and resources so each woman will grab your words and carry them in her heart. I thank you for guiding my words and providing the energy and time to participate as the Bible Cafe hostess. Father, your work in me has just begun and I am so deeply in love with your blessings. I am faithfully obedient to your word. Amen.

Jennifer Rothschild Quotes

• Biblical hope involves expectation and waiting.
• Placing our hope in God’s Word, His love and in Him alone makes out through closets unshakable.
• Hope will ground you, anchor you and make you unshakable.
• Smile, because your hope is in God, not your situation.
• Renewing your mind with truth is worth the battle.
• I am is not the same as I do or I feel. Your true identity will always begin with I am.
• Remind your soul to focus on the finish, not your flaws and failures.
  

Today at the Women’s Bible Cafe, we’re listening to Jennifer Rothschild sings Let the Words

This Week’s Scripture Verse-NASB

Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. Psalm 119:37

For Next Week

• Register for the next online study Stepping Up
• Contact Us and let us know how we can improve the next study
  

Group Discussion- Answer one question or as many as you like

1. What kind of actions reveal when you feel hopeless? (page 128 )
2. What colors make your thought closet and why? (page 130 )
3. Jennifer writes “we invite mental laziness, spiritual sluggishness, a relaxed attitude or complacency into our thought closets.” Which of these do you need to attend to in your current season of life?
4. Would you recommend Me, Myself and Lies to a friend? Why or why not.

Welcome back to our fifth week of Me, Myself and Lies online bible study. It seems obvious that we should place God at the center of our thought closets, yet Jennifer Rothschild spent this week of study explaining to us why it is often not the case. She reminds us our mind is like a bookshelf with some new volumes and some dusty heirlooms. As we examined our life books, we opened some pages of past memories and determined if our thoughts were friendly or destructive. She explains “our recollections become friends when we learn from them and allow them to represent God’s benefits. They turn into enemies when we avoid, glorify or ignore them.” I loved it when Jennifer said “tell your soul to look back only to what is profitable,” and then she went on to demonstrate thoughts that sit in alignment with God’s benefits.

On page 113 in our workbooks, we completed an exercise on soul talk. I wish we were in a room together, because I’d love for us to intimately share our answers. I can only say… I signed my letter
sincerely, The Brat!”  Then I re-wrote my letter and reversed the words so it became positive soul talk, centered on God benefits.

My favorite quote this week summarizes our entire study:

If we are the center of a thought closet crammed with grumbling, we will clothe ourselves in the tight bright clothing of me, myself and I. -Jennifer Rothschild

Prayer Requests

We have several new prayer requests, please visit the Prayer Wall and give your voice to the needs of these women. We welcome any prayer needs from the group. If you have a prayer request for our prayer wall, please click here.

Jennifer Rothschild Quotes

• As your thought closet is filled with the truth of God’s benefit, your life will be wardrobed with His character.
• Complaining always reveals a lack of humility and plenty of self-centeredness.
• We need to tell ourselves to lift up God; otherwise we will naturally lift up ourselves.
• The purpose in attending to your temple is not so you will bring honor to the temple; it is to bring honor to the One who dwells in your temple.

This Week’s Scripture Verse

Using Psalm 103: 3-5  NIV,  insert your name into the poem and read aloud:

Praise the LORD __________’s soul,

and forget not all his benefits-

who forgives __________’s  sins
and heals __________’s diseases,

who redeems __________’  life from the pit
and crowns __________’s with love and compassion,

who satisfies __________’s desires with good things
so that __________’s youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

For Next Week

• Register for the next online bible study Stepping Up Through Psalms
• Read Week Six in the workbook
• Listen to the Session Six Audio or Session Six Video (optional)

Group Discussion- Answer one question or as many as you like

1. What do you think the difference is between thoughts becoming friend or foe? (page 103 )
2. Isaiah 61:3 NIV reminds us we wear a crown of beauty, oil of gladness and a garment of praise. Which of these wardrobe items needs your attention the most in your current season of life? Why?
3. Do you have an emblem or keepsake that expresses to your family the benefits of God? If so, describe it. (page 109)
4. Share a special memory from this week’s lesson.

Welcome back to our womens bible study, I am so proud of you for your effort and determination to complete this study together. We just finished reading week four of Me, Myself and Lies by Jennifer Rothschild and we looked eye-to-eye with the lion prowling outside our thought closets. The purpose of bible study is not to scare you with a discussion of the enemy, it’s to inform you of the enemy schemes so you are able to identify and defend yourself from a spiritual attack. Satan can prowl and throw flaming arrows at you; how you respond determines how effective he is with the attack. Keep vigilant eyes on your thought closet doors! Jennifer reminds us “when the lion roars, we hold up the shield of faith and speak truth!” On page 90 in your workbook, you  found a list of 8 faith statements of truth. Write them down and bind them you your hearts  (Deut 11:18 NIV).

Jennifer asks us to examine our “be” thoughts to see if they are in alignment with God (vertical thinking) or the flesh (horizontal thinking). When I completed this exercise, I saw my answers are worthy of sharing, because this is the second time I have completed this study. I assure you, the first time I filled in the answers, they did not look like this and I would not be comfortable sharing them Here is what I wrote on page 93:

What I say most often and my resulting fruit

1. Be still. I bear the fruit of peace.
2. Be obedient. I bear the fruit of self-control.
3. Be attentive. I bear the fruit of faith.
4. Be blessed. I bear the fruit of joy.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 NIV

Using these verses from Psalm 139, insert your name in the blanks and read aloud:

Search _________, O God, and know _________’s heart; Try _________ and know her anxious thoughts;  And see if there be any hurtful way in _________, And lead _________ in the everlasting way. Psalm 139:23-24 NASB

Prayer Requests

We welcome any prayer needs from the group and ask that you will print a copy of the prayers, place them, in your workbook and pray for these women. If you have a prayer request for our prayer wall, please click here.

Jennifer Rothschild Quotes

• Our thought closets need daily attention to keep them as Christ intended.
• To stay spiritually alert, you can’t have a dimly lit thought closet.
• Never let the Enemy be more aware of your weakness than you are.
• Destructive, lying thoughts don’t necessarily come from within, unless you’ve already given them shelf space in your thought closet.

This Week’s Scripture Verse-NASB

The LORD will give strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace. Psalm 29:11 NASB

The peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7 NASB

For Next Week

• Read Week Five in the workbook
• Listen to the Session Five Audio or Session Five Video (optional)

Group Discussion- Answer one question or as many as you like

1. How is Satan like an enemy, a lion, or a thief?
2. Share one phrase from your graffiti door on page 85.
3. How do you respond when God asks you to “be still?”
4. Share something you enjoyed from this week’s lesson.

Welcome back to the Womens Bible Cafe. Can you believe we’re half-way through our study? If you feel a bit overwhelmed with the length of the study, know that you’ve captured the attention of the enemy. With certainty, the enemy does NOT want you to unpack your thought closet and refill it with the wisdom of God. Allow God to prevail in your battle and be blessed when you study Me, Myself and Lies by Jennifer Rothschild.

By now you’re releasing those unfit thoughts from your closet and replacing them with God’s Spirit. We’re learning that  in order to hear the Truth and wisdom of God, we have to quiet our thought closet and listen. Spending time alone in Bible study and reading the Word will quiet the noise and allow God to speak to you. Make your Bible Study the first priority of each day. Get up an hour earlier if necessary and shower yourself with the love and the presence and the wisdom of His Spirit. Pray Philippians 4:8 NASB throughout your day or use the I Spy game Jennifer refers to in your workbook.

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

This week we learned about wise guides.  When we need spiritual direction, a wise guide will grab both our feet (if they point in a wrong direction) and pull them back towards the wisdom of God! They are not giving us a gentle tug, they’ll give you a really hard dose of Biblical reality and wisdom.  The wise guides encourage us with words from scripture, offer prayers and send us right back to God with our problems. If you don’t already have a wise guide in your like, start looking for one. Begin with a prayer.

Prayer Requests

We welcome any prayer needs from the group and ask that you will print a copy of the prayers, place them, in your workbook and pray for these women. If you have a prayer request for our prayer wall, please click here.

Jennifer Rothschild Quotes

• A surplus of emotion usually precedes acting without wisdom.
• Wisdom is the watchman at your thought-closet door.
• God is not a stand-in for “wow.” (Stop using OMG)
• Soul talk is faith’s companion, not its replacement.
• Stay in the word and the Holy Spirit will teach you and remind you of truth.
• No matter how crowded your thought closet, there’s always room for God’s Spirit!

This Week’s Scripture Verse

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9 NIV

“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me. John 15:26 NASB

For Next Week

• Read Week Four in the workbook
• Listen to the Session Four Audio or Session Four Video (optional)

Group Discussion- Answer one question or as many as you like

1. Do your feelings serve you well, or are you their slave? (page 57 )
2. What do you think it means to fear the Lord? (page 61 )
3. which quality of the Holy Spirit- Advocate, defender, Helper, Comforter or Counselor- means the most to you right now and why? (page 69 )
4. Share something you enjoyed from this week’s lesson.

Welcome back to the Womens Bible Cafe as we discuss week two of Me, Myself and Lies by Jennifer Rothschild. We’re talking about the labels inside our hearts, labels given to us by parents or labels we created for ourselves. Our labels can be “destructive, discouraging or untrue tags from a definitive source” explains Jennifer. She warns “we often transfer anger from the painful label to the person who stuck it on us.” Give this some thought, and meditate on your own labels and their source. Knowing where our hurtful or untrue labels come from, we can then follow the 3-steps recommended by Jennifer: 1) Crush the lie 2) Capture the thought and 3) Concur with truth. Page 36 in the workbook has a list of 22 truthful labels. Wouldn’t it be refreshing to wake up each day and meditate on these truths!

We examined our fact, fate and faith labels and looked at the story of Naomi wearing a gloom-and-doom label instead of “favored by God.” Imagine for a moment that she is wearing a sackcloth instead of a royal robe. Her label was based on her struggle and circumstances, not on faith. What we clothe ourselves in does not always reflect truth. “We are to wear faith labels and to speak statements of faith to our soul no matter our circumstances- no matter the fact,” advises Jennifer. Do we have the MIND of Christ,or the mind of a Pharisee polluted by pride? Our faulty assumptions pollute the mind, creating a stench in our thought closets. A careful examination of the roots of our thoughts offers the opportunity to clean the mess and produce spiritual fruit.

Prayer Requests

We welcome any prayer needs from the group and ask that you will print a copy of the prayers, place them, in your workbook and pray for these women. If you have a prayer request for our prayer wall, please click here.

Jennifer Rothschild Quotes

• A label only becomes yours if you allow it.
• Labels mark us by someone elses’ perception.
• We are to wear faith labels and speak statements of faith.
• Wear the faith label and fix your eyes on the unseen; it gives you eternal perspective.
• Unless we tell ourselves scriptural truths, we will conform to the world through faulty thinking.

This Week’s Scripture Verse

Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression. Psalm 19:13 NIV

For Next Week

• Read Week Three in the workbook
• Listen to the Session Three Audio or Session Three Video (optional)

Group Discussion- Answer one question or as many as you like

1. Are you wearing the faith label “Favored by God” and if not, why?
2. Describe a time when you experienced a disconnect because of labels. (page 37)
3. Which character do you best relate: Martha, Jezebel, Rachel or Job’s Wife? Why? (page 47)
4. Share something you enjoyed from this week’s lesson.

We’ve just finished our first week of study in Me, Myself and Lies a Thought Closet Makeover by Jennifer Rothschild. It’s not too late to join us in study, for workbook information click here. This week we examined our own life words and death words, and discovered our personal thought thesauros. We had a chance to examine our “I am” statements and became aware of the differences between human thoughts and godly thoughts. Jennifer asks us to consider what our thought closets would look like if we meditated on God’s thoughts and not our own. On page 24 she helped us focus on the eight categories of Philippians 4:8 NASB and suggested we meditate on these thoughts. It may help if you get a 3 x 5 index card and write this down- then look at it during the day. By the end of this week’s lesson, we had a good idea of the difference between “what if” thoughts and “what is” thoughts.

If you are having difficulty connecting thoughts to a closet filled with clothes, you might want to consider the image presented by Dr. Caroline Leaf. She suggests your brain resembles a forest of trees, one connected to another. In your forest, bad thoughts attach themselves to the treetops and they multiply like weeds. Eventually the bad thoughts become so congested, they clog out the good thoughts. You can read more about this in her book Who Switched Off My Brain. She writes “Toxic thoughts destabilize the brain and create broken feedback loops….There is a certain point when you can control the thought and decide whether to accept it or reject it.” In our bible study, we’re learning how to shift gears and stop negative thoughts before they choke the spiritual life out of us. Once we discover what’s inside out thought closet, we can clean it up and fill it with truth.

Jennifer suggest scripture memorization to reprogram the thoughts in your closet. Please join us here in the Womens Bible Cafe as we memorize 24 scripture verses in 2011 with the SSMT. Join us anytime!

Prayer Requests

We welcome any prayer needs from the group and ask that you will print a copy of the prayers, place them, in your workbook and pray for these women. If you have a prayer request for our prayer wall, please click here.

Jennifer Rothschild Quotes

• Our words have influence, but only God’s words have power.
• God can help your dilapidated thought closet experience a divine makeover.
• What you tuck into your thought closet will become the wardrobe of your life.
• To dwell on untruths is to hold His truth in disregard.
• Turn your worry into a prayer.

This Week’s Scripture Verse

I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. Psalm 139:14 NASB

By the grace of God I am what I am. 1 Cor 15:10 NASB

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Psalm 139:17 NASB

For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 NASB

Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. Col 3:2 NASB

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Phil 4:6 NASB

Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. Phil 4:8 NASB

The peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:7 NASB

For Next Week

• Read Week Two in the workbook
• Listen to the Session Two Audio or Session Two Video (optional)

Group Discussion- Answer one question or as many as you like

1. What two words bring you life and what two words bring death to your thought closet? (page 9 )
2. What “I am” thought has been in your thought closet the longest? Is it true?
3. Jennifer writes “Who I am and what I struggle with are not the same thing.” What struggle do you most tend to define yourself by?
4. Share something you enjoyed in this week’s lesson.

Today we’re kicking off our first women’s online bible study for the year 2011. Before you begin reading from your workbook Me, Myself and Lies by Jennifer Rothschild, I want to invite you to pray. Pray specifically for the other women participating in this study, for God’s Presence in our study, and for His Word to speak to you personally. Pray for an open heart and mind, and for a commitment to spend at least 30 minutes each day with the Lord. Give Him your time and He’ll give you His. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently before Him. Psalm 37:7 NIV

The Women’s Bible Cafe is a place where we can gather online and study the bible together. This study is an opportunity for you to spend daily time with God, learn scripture, and connect with other Christian women. An online bible study is less structured than a church small group, because we are unable to see your workbook and keep you accountable to your commitment. You’ll need self-discipline to stay on track, or find an accountability partner and work as a team. When you draw closer to God Satan will do everything to distract you, redirect you, and discourage you from completing the study. When you stumble and get off track, know who the enemy is, and hold your ground.

This online group is made up of more than 160 women- new Believers, long-time Christ followers, first time bible study participants, seasoned bible study participants, pastor’s wives, church leaders and women seeking a church family. These women are from around the world- the United States, Mexico, Canada, Britain, Australia, Nigeria and Afghanistan. It’s almost impossible to find a church small group with a mix like this. What makes the online group unique is the absence of time zone restrictions. We can meet as a group anytime by simply visiting the Bible Cafe and posting comments or posting a reply to another comment. Day or night, the Bible Cafe is open.

The Details of Our Study

• We’ll be reading from Me, Myself and Lies by Jennifer Rothschild. We’ll read a chapter a week, followed by a group discussion online.
• Video or audio sessions from Jennifer Rothschild are available to enhance your study. Due to the expense they are optional and only the workbook is required.
• The study is 6-weeks long.
• We’ll “meet” once a week on Monday, where you’ll see a blog post such as this. At the end of the post you’ll see the discussion questions.

Assignment for this Week

• Read Week One in your workbook
• Download the Answers to the Viewer Guide
• Listen to the Audio Introduction Session or Video Introduction Session (optional)
• Listen to Session One Audio or Session One Video (optional)

Group Discussion

1. Characterize your life in this present season using ONE WORD.
2. If you could think of your heart and mind as a closet, how would you describe what’s in your current thought closet?

Below is our reading schedueld for Me, Myself and Lies a Thought Closet Makeover by Jennifer Rothschild. Each week you’ll be reading from the workbook and answering the workbook questions, about 30 minutes of daily study. Some women prefer to start their day in the Word and with God, so you may want to set your alarm clock 30 minutes early and get up for bible study. Often in the early morning the house is quiet, there is a newness to the day, you are rested, and emotions have not settled into your heart from a busy day.

In scripture we know that Jesus got up early and prayed alone. He was not tempted by our modern technology for the morning news.  I know from experience, once the television is turned on, it stays on! If I turn on the news to catch the weather, I’ll see a top story announced and then wait 55 minutes until that top story is finally broadcast. I just lost an hour in my day and my 30 minutes of alone time with God. So instead of turning on the news, I turn on my electric tea pot, make a cup of warm tea to start my day, and sit down with my workbook, bible and God. I do this before my husband and children arise- so I am not distracted by their needs.

Since I read two bible studies a day, I’ll read my second study when my school-age children are present. I’ll read at night, climbing into bed, and my children will follow me. My youngest daughter gets her Purple Princess Bible and sits beside me reading a page or two before she switches to a children’s book. I am modeling my values for my children- the Word of God- and also reading instead of watching television. It’s normal and natural for them to see either my husband  or myself reading our bibles or Christian books. We’re not extraordinary, we’re ordinary people just like everyone else. We just choose to priorotize God in our lives, placing Him at the top of our schedule. We still watch television, we just do so after we’ve spent time with God, or we record the shows on the DVR and enjoy them later without all the advertising. You’ll have a challenge to study when you are tired, yet if you push through the tiredness, the rewards are eternal. Try making a cup of decaf tea or coffee, sit down with your workbook and get comfortable in His Word and Presence.

January 10- Introduction and Launch Day

January 17- Discuss Week 1

January 24- Discuss Week 2

January 31- Discuss Week 3

February 7-  Discuss Week 4

February 14- Discuss Week 5

February 21- Discuss Week 6

Each lesson is accompanied with an optional video or audio session. Due to the expense we do not require them for our online study, yet they are highly recommended. In the author’s own words and voice, you hear more about the weekly lesson and her own experiences. These video and audio sessions are available to download from Lifeway.com We are not affiliated with Lifeway or the book authors and recommend them only to enhance your study.

Once a week we’ll post a summary of the lesson and group discussion questions. Each Monday we will have a group discussion, post your comment anytime during the day or later in the week.  Be sure to subscribe to the blog by email you you get the updates. Look at the top right of the page to sign up for the emails.

If you have any questions about the format or the study, please post them below as a comment.