AS OUR EXAMPLE

summer's notebook, chapter 5.

by looking at Jesus' attitudes, especially as He went to endure the cross for us, we can see His perfect example of living out love, joy, and peace. and how encouraging is it that we have a Savior who so perfectly understands our trials? He has been through it all! (hebrews 4.15)

LOVE = 'this is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us.' 1 John 3.16. Jesus gave us the ultimate and perfect picture of love.. the sacrifice of self.

JOY = 'let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning is shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.' hebrews 12.2. Jesus showed us the meaning of joy when He willingly, with praise for His Father, bore the burden of our sins and endured physical agony on the cross.

PEACE = trusting His Father's plan Jesus submitted to His will. He knowingly and calmly let Himself be seized and crucified for us. 'Yet not as I will, but as You will.' matthew 26.39b

may my Savior's attitude and behavior be my model.. that whatever i may encounter today, that my response will be to reach out to my Father to sustain and strengthen me. that i will go to my own 'garden of gethsemane' of prayer, instead of trying to do things by my own power. how many times a day do i trust my own judgment and strength, do i complain and worry, do i do my duty grudgingly, all because i would not just stop and give my burden over to my Savior who would not feel the weight of it?! i need to spend this time in prayer, i need to go to Him as often and as long as it takes 'until i have all of Him and He has all of me'. until the flesh is overcome and i am committed to walking by His Spirit.

reading assignment: chapter 6, resisting in patience

memory verse: proverbs 19.11

the PEACE that passes all understanding...

how easy is it to be peaceful-- especially in the shadow of such a troubling world?

how simple is it to be at peace when we're stretched to transparency. lonely. afraid. angry?

i know from personal experience that, at times, to stop and breathe in God's peace- seems like a task all-to-impossible.

but this week-- make it your goal to stop and do it anyway. because He knows. He knows beyond what we can understand. and His peace reaches all the places where our sanity cannot. where our joy cannot. His peace rests in the cracks. in the caverns.

so even when it may seem like your last breath. use it to breathe easy in His perfect peace.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

PEACE

summer's notebook, chapter 4.

our peace = inward repose and serenity of soul that indicates a heart at rest, as we place complete confidence in God- minute by minute

our peace comes from knowing..

01. we have a right relationship with God

02. our times are in God's hands

03. God is all-sufficient and omnipresent

04. He is fully aware of every detail of our day

the key to our peace is..

not the absence of conflict, but the presence of God

acknowledging that God will supply our every need, matthew 6.8

remembering that we'll never have a real need that God isn't able to meet, phil. 4.19

the sacrifice of TRUST..

• rest in God's presence
• trust in God's wisdom
• remember that God is in control
• accept God's dealings
• place our confidence in His sovereignty and all-sufficiency

PANIC is wasted energy. don't let yourself do it.

psalm 37.8 '..do not fret, it leads only to evil.'

matthew 6.27 'who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?'

but instead..

'Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.' psalm 62.8

JOY

summer's notebook, chapter 3.

joy is NOT happiness.

happy= a state of good fortune and prosperity dependent on circumstances

joy= a sense of well-being that abides in the heart of the person who knows all is well between himself and the Lord

our joy is..

01. based on the reality of God's goodness, unconditional love, and ultimate victory over sin and death

02. based on the truth about our relationship with the Father through the Son

03. choosing to look beyond what appears to be true in our lives to what is true about our life in Christ

04. permanent and always available to us, because it comes from our unchanging Lord

causes for our joy..

01. God Himself

02. God's salvation

03. God's promises

04. Christ's kingdom

05. our future in Christ (psalm 16.11)

when life turns black (loss, pain, trials, stress), i need to..

• fix my focus on God, not myself or my gloom.
• think in terms of the eternal, not the temporal.
• offer the sacrifice of praise (psalm 27.6)
• give thanks for His goodness in everything, at all times (philippians 4.4)
• ask to be filled with His unshakable, unspeakable joy

a real-life example from this week..

after a smelly, disastrous morning, i thought my brand new oven was ruined. i cried and let myself fume about it, before realizing the opportunity that had just landed in my lap. eventually i calmed down, and i prayed. i remembered to give thanks to my Lord for allowing this trouble to happen and praised Him for working all things together for my good.

hours later, after a short phone call, the problem was solved. frigidaire would be sending us a new part, for free. God is good! why do i ever doubt Him? 'tis so sweet to trust in Jesus.

psalm 34.1

i will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

reading assignment: chapter 4, experiencing God's peace

memory verse: philppians 4.6-7

:: a love- letter

dear friends:

have you ever had a passion? an urge? a longing to scrape your way to the top of a mountain, and scream down a bit of life-changing information?

i have.

i've been feeling a stirring. a challenge from God to be different. to think and see as He does. to love as He does. which is exactly why i was so moved by our recent readings. love. God's love. do we really even know anything about it?

I recently read a quote that has turned my spiritual life around. it reads:

"I like your Christ. but I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ." - Gandhi

planted deep inside this quote, is the urgent plea of Jesus. "BE LIKE ME! MIRROR ME! LOVE LIKE ME!"

in our study, we are challenged to "love the unlovely". anyone who has spent any amount of time in church knows that this is something very much talked about on sunday mornings (i.e: love your enemies, do unto others, etc. etc.) but it's not something that is actively participated in. it's so easy to say we love the people who hurt us, or who do wrong to others-- but when we truly examine our lives, we find them full of judgment. we strive to love the unlovely, but then cast our stares at the scantily clad woman on the street corner. we turn the channel in disgust when the evening news broadcasts another murderer. we whisper in our offices about the couple having an affair. we hear of a teen who shot a fellow student and we immediately point the finger of blame at the government, their parents, the video game industry. we hold a grudge against the person who talked about us. lied to us. hurt us. at times, we may even raise our eyes to heaven and thank God that we are so un-like the troubled people in this world.

but are we?

we teach that "sin is sin!". we claim that "all have fallen short of the glory of God". and yet, as a result of the sinful worldview in which we see all things, we come to believe that our lies, gossip, anger, or coveting are less harmful than the greater sins of someone else. but God doesn't see it that way. He loves every being on this earth-- and gives each of us the opportunity to be washed clean. in every man, He sees potential. and He loves. Oh-how-He-loves--- every last one of us.

it's just us, His followers, that can't help but pass judgement. who can't help but believe that we, in some small way, are better than the murderer. the rapist. the robber. the prostitute. the terrorist. but we're all the same. lost sinners. the murderer is one prayer away from heaven. and i am one sin away from needing to get on my knees again.

make it your new passion in life to love. to see a person and really, truly see them as God sees them. as His child. His blessed creation. watch your heart melt and break. watch as your humility brings you to Jesus feet.

let HIS LOVE be your mission.

love,
ashley

LOVE, continued.

summer's notebook, chapter 2. continued.

two examples in living out love..

ruth's loving dedication and commitment to her mother in law, naomi. ruth went to work each day, gathering the grain from the fields to care for herself and her bitter relative. ruth is an example of having the heart of a servant. loving through her actions. never self-seeking. she willingly put on the workclothes of love each day.

the needy impatiens. i love this concept of being filled. i carry it around in my head all the time. a perfect picture of our helplessness without our Heavenly Father: we come to him empty and weak, but He can fill us with His love, so that we might pour it out for others. we need to ask to be filled with His limitless love everyday, all throughout the day, as many times as we find ourselves struggling to love the people we encounter. i need to keep turning to God, even when i get frustrated and feel like saying 'forget this.' He will never deny me more of His love.

things to do about it today.

1. begin loving the people God puts in your path by first loving those people at home. 'what you are at home is what you are!' be a woman who walks in God's love.. at home.

2. go to God for a fresh supply. at the first hint of waning love, look to the Lord of love.

3. serve. look for ways to do it. make it a habit.

4. follow Jesus's example of being a servant. (matthew 20.28)

reading assignment for next week: chapter 3, offering the sacrifice of joy.

memory verses: 1 thessalonians 5.16-18

LOVE

summer's notebook, chapter 2.

love is..

• what we are called/commanded to do (john 13.34)
• supreme (1 corinthians 13.13, galatians 5.14)
• defined by the sacrifice of self (1 john 3.16)

5 basic principles..

1. love is an act of the will. deliberate decisions and conscious effort. not necessarily a feeling.

2. love is action, not just words. 1 john 3.18. love means being a servant. it means giving of yourself. love has work to do, even when you don't feel like it. i was reminded this week that it can be as simple as getting up to grab a napkin for grant or bringing him a glass of water.

'every family member provides you with the opportunity

to put on the work clothes of love and to serve.'

3. love the unlovely. it is natural and easy to love my friends, or those nice people in the neighborhood, or anyone who appreciates me. but we are called to love as God loves: everyone (even our enemies and the ungrateful), all the time, unconditionally. remember, God's love is never deserved. our love should follow suit.

4. we need God to help us love. it is only by His grace that i can serve others when i don't feel like it, or choose to get up and do the 'chores' of love when i'm tired, or show love to people who irritate me. my own strength and natural ways will fail me every time. i must rely on Him.

5. love expects nothing in return. this is always such a big wake-up call for me. love means no taking no thought of personal reward, love is not self-seeking (1 corinthians 13.5). we are to love and serve as if the person in front of us were Jesus himself.