When God Speaks, Shut Up and Listen!

April 15, 2010 By Christine 2 Comments

Battlefield of the Mind With certainty, author Priscilla Shirer said this more eloquently than I just did..yet I know from my own experience, When God Speaks…Shut Up and Listen!

You will know when He is speaking to me, because I am quiet…I don’t spend time in the social world of Twitter or Facebook. I’m not blogging. In fact, amazing as this sounds, I’m not even talking about…coffee drinks! LOL, God is speaking…I just need to “Shut-up.”

Before you picture me as the petite housewife with two kids, a minivan and a coffee cup overflowing with indulgences…know that I’m just like you. And God speaks!

He first speaks when I am alone, usually just before I wake in the morning. He knows that I may listen if disturbed by a dream, with lingering thoughts permeating my day “what does THAT mean!” The nagging voice lingers.

He knows I’ll listen after dropping the kids off to school, not before then. As the kids are arguing about something important…like who sits in the front seat.

So as I drive my empty MomVan…back home away from the school. God knows that He has my alone time, away from family and kids. So He speaks. I hear His voice on the Christian Radio, playing songs that I am certain are meant for me! Right song, right words, right time…I can hear them.

Back home, I ready myself for solitude in Bible study. Me, my heavy Bible (large print, Life Application version…) and a Bible study workbook. And those pesky highlighter pens that continue to run out of ink or roll onto the floor.

The phone does not ring, my husband is not making annoying grunting sounds, dogs are sitting beside me, instead of barking at squirrels and cats. Quiet. Peace. Silence.

Do you hear Him?

What’s missing in your life.

The Holy Spirit tells you to listen and know God.

You make excuses about work, family, clutter, noise.

The Holy Spirit tells you over and and over.

He, the Father, is waiting on You!

Listen.

Filed Under: Misc, One in Million, Voice of God Tagged With: Bible study cafe, Priscilla Shirer, Voice of God, Womens Bible Study

Voice of God (Week 2)

April 13, 2010 By Christine Leave a Comment

spirit2 I’m still reading the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer as I prepare for our new Bible study next week. Reading and listening to the audio segments, I am being groomed, manicured and pedicured…as I anticipate preparing myself to honor the King. We begin One in a Million on April 19th, and I pray each of you will come to the study with an open heart and mind.

I was able to download the audio sessions to my iPhone, and listen to them while waiting for the kids in carpool. Book in hand, iPhone on speaker, it was comfortable and quiet as I listened to Priscilla Shirer’s teaching. When you’re a busy Mom like me, quiet time can be in the least expected place: the MomVan!

Links for Voice of God Week Two

Session Two, Viewer Guide
Day 1- Holy Spirit, a Miracle
Day 2- Holy Spirit, or Your Conscience
Day 3- This is the Control Tower
Day 4- Transformation Time
Day 5- Are You Drawn

This Week’s Summary

Some of the valuable lessons I learned this week are:

Use my 5 senses to hear God
The conscience is not God.
Submit to the ministry of Eli.
Listen to the voice in my ear, the control tower of God.
Yield to the Holy Spirit. Get a t-shirt!
Pay attention to the veil.

Complete the Sentence

I know it’s definitely the Lord is speaking to me, and not another voice or my conscience, when……

Listening with all five senses,

Filed Under: Voice of God Tagged With: Bible study cafe, Priscilla Shirer, Voice of God, Womens Bible Study

Voice of God (Week 1)

April 10, 2010 By Christine 4 Comments

Waiting for the Voice of God

For the next few days, I’ll be posting about the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer. We’ve just completed the entire study under the leadership of Charmaine, and she has done an excellent job posting daily updates and verses for the daily lessons. While Charmaine was leading this study, I was leading 5 Conversations with Your Daughter bible study, and I missed this one. Since I missed the opportunity to participate, I decided to complete the study before we begin One in a Million on April 19th. I’d like to be on the same page as the rest of you, speaking the same language as we move into another Priscilla Shirer Bible study. So for the next week, I’ll be waking up earlier than usual for quiet time with God, my journal, my Bible and the voice of God workbook.

These blog posts will be a summary of my study and a link to the daily studies by Charmaine. I’m not leading this study, I’m journaling it into the blog and preparing myself for the new study. I’m also showing you another benefit of the Bible Cafe: you can start a study at any time, post comments at any time, and learn at your own pace.

Follow me, Follow Him. He’s ready for you to start your study, anytime.

Links for Voice of God Week One

Session One- Viewer Guide
Day 1- Preparing to Hear Him
Day 2-Waiting for God
Day3-Getting Ready to Obey Him
Day 4-Get Ready to Listen
Day 5-Put Your Faith Into It

This Week’s Summary

One of the most important lessons I got from this week’s study is:

Be still
Listen only to Him

It’s an important lesson for me, because for the last week, I’ve been sharing my “God talks” with others and this lesson clearly says not to. While my intent in sharing with others is for more clarification, God’s intent is for me to listen to Him and only Him. Is this pride, sharing with others that “God is speaking to me” or is it unbelief, asking others to explain His words to verify to me that He is really speaking. What is very clear from this weeks lesson is this: Shut up!

It is also clear to me that if I started this lesson when Charmaine did, I would not get the message. Bible study is between you and God. He wants you to read and learn when He’s ready for you to listen. He knows I need to hear this today, not a month ago. He knows I’m in a season of quiet and I’m willing to listen.

My immediate steps are this: find more alone time with God, get a journal and start recording our PRIVATE conversations, stop sharing these conversations. God is not saying “share this with others.” What He’s saying is “listen and obey.”

So if you get an email or see me post “I just had another dream” please just slap me! Christians are often too kind and unwilling to offend. It’s okay to offend me and turn me feet and my eyes back where they belong: on God, not on you.

Have I offended you?

Complete the Sentence

I know the Lord is speaking to me when……(please post a comment).

On my knees in submission to God,

Filed Under: Voice of God Tagged With: Bible study cafe, Priscilla Shirer, Voice of God, Womens Bible Study

New to Online Bible Study?

February 17, 2010 By Christine 3 Comments

front.rocks

If this is your first time at the Bible Study Cafe, here are some details you’ll want to know! We’re a women’s Bible study, online small group.

Similar to a church study, we select a workbook to guide us.The study will last anywhere from four weeks to ten weeks, depending on the book we’ve selected.

You’ll get an email announcing the new blog post-simply follow the one that relates to your study. In the blog post, you’ll see a summary of the lesson, prayer requests, scripture verses and a group discussion question. We do NOT publish written works by the workbook authors and we respect copyright laws. Similar to a church small group, we facilitate a discussion of the current study.

How You Participate at the Bible Cafe

You’ll need to get a copy of the workbook required for your Bible study.
You read the daily lessons and answer the questions in your workbook.
The audio or video sessions for each study are optional, due to the cost.
When you’ve finished the lesson, post a comment at the Bible Cafe.
We invite you to reply to any comments from other women in the study.

At the Bible cafe, we’ve enjoyed the ability to read and post comments as we learn together. We encourage one another in spiritual growth. Many have built lasting friendships and now communicate with each other on Twitter as well. Our hope is that you will create a passion for learning the Bible, share that passion with others and learn with other women of faith.

Welcome to the Bible Cafe!

Filed Under: 5 Conversations, Misc, Voice of God Tagged With: Bible study cafe, Womens Bible Study

Introductions for the Voice of God Bible Study

January 29, 2010 By Christine 39 Comments

Bible Cafe Introductions

Welcome to the Women’s Bible Cafe, where we gather to read and study the Word of God. Our next study begins on February 22, 2010 and is Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer.This is a six-week study and you will be participating from mid February until the first week of April…right up to Easter.

We usually have 40-50 women participate in each online Bible study, and it’s always fun to get to know each other before we begin. Introductions are optional, but lots of fun if you decide to participate. Just before we begin our study on February 22 we will post a summary of “who we are” to let you know more about this online small group.

How to Participate

This is a small group study and there is no cost to join the online Bible Cafe. You need to purchase your own workbook for the study, available from Lifeway stores. We support our ministry with sponsor ads and do not profit from this website.
Order the workbook version of Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer and not the book version.
If your order online, allow 7-10 days for shipping from the time you place the order.
Audio and video sessions are optional, about $4 to $3 per session you download.

Introduce Yourself

Your first name or a pseudo-name
Your state or country
Your favorite childhood game

It is fun to know more about each other in the small group study, so we’d like to know the answer to this question:

What is your favorite childhood game?

Filed Under: Misc, Voice of God Tagged With: Bible study cafe, Priscilla Shirer, Voice of God, Womens Bible Study

Discerning the Voice of God-Begins Feb. 22

January 29, 2010 By Christine Leave a Comment

Discerning the Voice of God, a Bible study by Priscilla Shirer, Begins Feb. 22 at the Womens Bible Cafe. Join us in this six-week online Bible study as we learn to discern what God is saying over what others are saying. Learn the language, character and tone of God as you listen for His voice. Each daily lesson is is about 30 minutes long-you can view a sample lesson here. You’ll need the workbook in order to participate in this online study.

You may be familiar with Priscilla Shirer if you studied the Anointed, Transformed and Redeemed Bible Study or if you attended the Deeper Still Conference.

If you have been participating in previous Bible Cafe studies, then you may know Charmaine. She will be the leader of this new study, writing daily posts about the lessons in Discerning the Voice of God.