ATTITUDE

A couple of weeks ago Genesis shared a great message on attitude and so today we are going to continue looking at the importance of keeping a good attitude in our 'ordinary everyday life.'

The attitude we choose each day can greatly dictate not only our life, but the lives of those closest to us! As women I think we really underestimate how influential we are and so my hope today is that we would look at the attitudes we have and work on always keeping them as positive as possible!

1. A Prayerful Attitude

James 5.13-14 NLT – “Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord”.

It is so important for us to always go to God first in prayer, not just because we have needs but because He desires relationship with us! This is why having a daily quiet time is necessary for us to do life with a great attitude.

Discuss how to maintain a quiet time on a daily basis, and what a typical quiet time may look like!






Also discuss prayers you have seen God answer. How amazing is it to see God at work in our lives?
What are you trusting God for/ praying about right now?








2. An Enduring Attitude

1 Corinthians 10.13 NIV- “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

How reassuring to know that God knows all we face and has equipped us to handle everything that comes our way! It's such a great reminder that there is ALWAYS a way out of any temptation we face!

Have you ever faced an obstacle and thought God I just can't handle this?? How did God enable you to get through the situation? Discuss


1 Corinthians 15.57 NLT – “But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Thank God that Jesus gives us the power to overcome! The word is so powerful in our lives in keeping an enduring attitude! Building ourselves up by quoting the word of God is a great way to sustain an enduring attitude.

Do you have favorite scriptures that you quote that really help you stand strong and keep and enduring attitude??




3. A Joyful Attitude

James 1.2-3 NLT- “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.”

It's easy to be joyful when life is going good, but when challenges come it takes extra effort on our part! Keeping our focus on Jesus and asking Him for help when we need it, always is a good start to keeping our attitude joyful! Reaching out to good friends is also necessary when we are navigating the challenges of life!

Keeping a joyful attitude is often as simple as making a decision to be joyful and not allowing our emotions to rule our lives!

How easy is it for you to keep a joyful attitude regardless of what is going on around you? Discuss!


A great key to having a joyful attitude is dealing with our emotional health! How can we do this so we are not ruled by our emotions?






4. An Attitude of Humility

Luke 14.11ESV – “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

There is something really attractive about a person with humility! I'm not talking fake humility but genuine humility where they are sure of who they are in God, and not trying to prove themselves, or show themselves to be better than anyone else! Having this kind of attitude and really respecting people I think really shows the heart of God!

Have you ever observed the life of a person with humility? What does it look like? What did you find attractive about it??




5. A Forgiving Attitude

Mark 12.31 – “the second is this ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”

This scripture is one the most challenging scriptures in the Bible! It sounds easy when you read it but often in everyday life can be hard to carry out! What happens when you legitimately are treated rudely, betrayed, hurt, rejected?

I think this scripture really asks us to treat people the way we would want to be treated!
If we were in their shoes how would we expect to be treated? Discuss how we can best show forgiveness and love in really tough instances?

People are desperate for the answers to life! If we determine to live out our Christianity as authentically as we can I believe God can and will use us powerfully! This means keeping short accounts with people and learning how to let stuff go, not being easily offended but determining to take the high road in life! I've seen families harbor offences for years and not talk to each other.....honestly life is way too short for this kind of behavior with believers!

Do you need prayer today for areas of un-forgiveness?

If so you are in the right place today....the girls sitting around you would love to be able to pray for you! The truth is all of us at various times in our lives have had to, and will have to work at a forgiving attitude! My prayer today is that we wouldn't push these things aside in our lives but face them head on so we can do and be everything God wants!

Righteous in an Unrighteous World

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnwRMfnd2Jw

Don't "Just" Pray

by Joyce Meyer - posted March 27, 2013

Bring all the tithes (the whole tenth of your income) into the storehouse…and prove Me now by it, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. —Malachi 3:10

One of the prayers I hear people pray often, and have prayed many times myself, is what I call a “just” prayer, which sounds something like this: “Now Lord, we just thank You for this food,” “God, we just ask You to protect us,” “Father, we just come to You tonight…” “Oh, God, if You would just help us in this situation we would be so thankful…” Do you see what I mean? We sound as if we are afraid to ask God for very much.

The word just can mean “righteous” or “fair,” but it can also mean “barely enough to get by” or “by a narrow margin.” God wants to give us exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond all that we can dare to hope, ask, or think (see Ephesians 3:20). He wants to open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings, so why should we approach Him asking for barely enough to get by on? Why should we approach God as if we are afraid to ask for too much? When we approach Him that way, it seems as if we do not believe He is generous and good. We must realize that He is not a God who gives “just” enough to barely get by, but He desires to bless us abundantly, as the verse for today promises.

God does not want to hear fearful, insecure “just” prayers. He wants to hear bold, confident, faith-filled prayers prayed by people who are secure in their friendship with Him.

God’s word for you today: When it comes to prayer, “just” just isn’t enough

Women’s Release Spring Break!

Good Morning LADIES!!! Last night’s Women’s Release was AWESOME!! We had a time of reflection and we were able to bond and just talk. It was beautiful! So as you all know I will be moving into my new place during the month of April. So Women’s Release will be going on Spring Break. During this time however I would still like for us to get together. Therefore, on April 27, 2013 we will be attending the Joyce Meyer Conference. The Conference is 3 days long however I know with schedules attending all 3 days together may not be possible. So if you are free on April 27, 2013 at 10a.m. let’s meet up and attend. Additional details are listed below! Women’s Release will start back up in May 2013. I will still will be posting on the blog.

Event Dates
Apr 25 - 27 , 2013
Doors open two hours before each session.
Admission
Free and open to the public. No registration is required.
Hampton Coliseum
1000 Coliseum Dr.
Hampton, VA 23666
(757) 838-5650
www.hamptoncoliseum.org


Times:
April 25th 7:00p.m.
April 26th 10:00a.m.
April 26th 7:00p.m.
April 27th 10:00a.m.

Love you All,

Tiffany

The Cross in Our Bodies

This is a pretty neat story and an interesting thing that few of us know. It's brief, so please read. (FROM A DOCTOR)

A couple of days ago I was running (I use that term very loosely) on my treadmill, watching a DVD sermon by Louie Giglio... And I was BLOWN AWAY! I want to share what I learned....
He (Louie) was talking about how inconceivably BIG our God is... How He spoke the universe into being.. How He breathes stars out of His mouth that are huge raging balls of fire.. Etc. Etc. Then He went on to speak of how this star-breathing, universe creating God ALSO knitted our human bodies together with amazing detail and wonder. At this point I am LOVING it (fascinating from a medical standpoint, you know.) .. And I was remembering how I was constantly amazed during medical school as I learned more and more about God's handiwork. I remember so many times thinking..'How can ANYONE deny that a Creator did all of this???'
Louie went on to talk about how we can trust that the God who created all this, also has the power to hold it all together when things seem to be falling apart...how our loving Creator is also our sustainer.

And then I lost my breath. And it wasn't because I was running my treadmill, either!!!


It was because he started talking about laminin. I knew about laminin.. Here is how Wikipedia describes them: 'Laminins are a family of proteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding of basement membranes in almost every animal tissue' You see.... Laminins are what hold us together... LITERALLY. They are cell adhesion molecules. They are what holds one cell of our bodies to the next cell. Without them, we would literally fall apart. And I knew all this already. But what I didn't know is what they LOOKED LIKE..

But now I do. And I have thought about it a thousand times since (already)....Here is what the structure of laminin looks like... AND THIS IS NOT a 'Christian portrayal' of it.... If you look up laminin in any scientific/medical piece of literature, this is what you will see....






Now tell me that our God is not the coolest!!! Amazing. The glue that holds us together.... ALL of us..... Is in the shape of the cross. Immediately Colossians 1:15-17 comes to mind. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. All things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him All things HOLD TOGETHER.' Colossians 1:15-17
Call me crazy. I just think that is very, very, very cool. Thousands of years before the world knew anything about laminin, Paul penned those words. And now we see that from a very LITERAL standpoint, we are held together... One cell to another.... By the cross.

You would never in a quadrillion years convince me that is anything other than the mark of a Creator who knew EXACTLY what laminin 'glue' would look like long before Adam breathed his first breath!!
What I found when I googled laminin !!!!!!!!!!!





-- May you know His love today and always!!!

Put Down the Chocolate and Pick Up Your Bible

by Rick Warren

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4 NIV)

Are you down in the dumps? Need a mood elevator?

Put down the piece of chocolate cake. Don’t have a pity party. Pick up your Bible instead.
You need a Word break.

God gave us the Bible to encourage us. One way you can think of the Bible is as a mood elevator.
The Bible says in Romans 15:4, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope” (NIV). Everything in Scripture is written for our encouragement. That’s a big statement — but it’s true! Even the tough parts of God’s Word are there to ultimately encourage our lives in the right direction.

That’s why we need to spend time alone with God every single day. Whether it’s your daily devotional, your quiet time, or your personal inspiration time, you need to be getting alone with God, reading his Word, and talking to him.

The Bible says in Psalm 119:114: “You're my place of quiet retreat; I wait for your Word to renew me” (MSG).
If you’re discouraged and have lost hope, I can tell you one thing about your life without ever meeting you: You’re not spending time in God’s Word. If you were, you wouldn’t be discouraged. The more you read God’s Word when you’re down, the more he lifts you up.

So the next time you feel discouraged, don’t come home and turn on the television. Instead, open up your Bible and read it. Listen to Dr. Luke instead of Dr. Phil.

God’s Word has the power to change your life. It has God’s power in it. Nothing else does. The Bible will give you the “real stuff” — true encouragement.


Talk About It
- What are some of the things that you turn to when you feel discouraged? Do those things really offer you encouragement or give you hope?

- We can fit anything into our schedules if it’s really important to us. Have you carved out a time in your day for “quiet retreat” so that God can renew you?

Joyce Meyer Conference 2013

Each session is unique and will include a powerful message from Joyce Meyer as well as worship with Matt Redman and Christy Nockels. Be sure to arrive early so you can grab a seat and have time to check out the resource tables. Seating is available on a first come, first served basis. Schedule is subject to change

Event Dates
Apr 25 - 27 , 2013
Doors open two hours before each session.
Admission
Free and open to the public. No registration is required.
Hampton Coliseum
1000 Coliseum Dr.
Hampton, VA 23666
(757) 838-5650
www.hamptoncoliseum.org

Seek God All the Time

by Joyce Meyer - posted March 18, 2013

Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you. —Matthew 7:7

In 2 Chronicles 20, King Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast to show his sincerity to God. Missing a few meals and taking that time to seek God is not a bad idea. Turning the television off and spending the time you would normally spend watching it with God is not a bad idea either. Stay home a few evenings and spend extra time with the Lord instead of going out with your friends and repeating your problem over and over to them. These things and others show that we know hearing from God is vital.

I have learned the word seek means to pursue, crave, and go after with all your might. In other words, we act like a starving man in search of food to keep us alive. I would also like to add that we need to seek God all the time not just when we are in trouble. Once God spoke to me that the reason so many people had problems all the time was because that was the only time they would seek Him. He showed me that if He removed the problems, He would not get any time with the people. He said, "Seek Me as if you were desperate all the time and then you won't find yourself desperate as often in reality." I think this is good advice, and I highly recommend that we all follow it.

Reflect

God's grace is needed on good and bad days, but it's often sought only on those days when you feel worthy and approved. But whose approval are you looking for? Yours, or the One who knows you best?

When you have your next cranky pants day, ask this question: Will I live today ACCUSED or will I be RESCUED by my Heavenly Father who promises to quiet me with His love?

Power Verses:
Zephaniah 3:17, "The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." (ESV)

Philippians 4:6-7, "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." (NLT)

Stop and Praise

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXnO2mPNI5w

Tailor Made

There is a proverb that says “ A man’s curses will fall and wrap themselves around him like a cloak.” What if every word we said fell and wrapped itself around us like a garment? What kind of wardrobe would we have?