So, its been a grip( while) sense I have updated you on the girls of SLAM!. We read in Hebrews 4 that word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit,. One of the things that I can say that I have been EXTREMELY encouraged with in dealing with these girls is their faithfulness in coming to hear GODS word! I am amazed at, in spite of all the family and friends drama they go through that they have been willing to stick it out and come to Wednesday nights in search of some outlet or Shalom. I believe God's word has been active in the lives of these girls, especially during those times that I have not seen any fruit! God has promised that His word would not return void. In the past, we have discussed such a wide range of life topics, from how to handle anger, how to control your tongue, to sex before marriage, and how to deal with being molested at a young age. The LORD has met each and every last girl in her sin and past hurt. I thank HIM for that. Last week I decided to take the girls through a lesson on what it means to walk with the LORD daily. So many of them were always caught saying, " I am trying to walk with him", I want to get to know him more". We talked about the privilege of developing a relationship with the living GOD, what it means to have fellowship with the LORD and how to establish a pattern of time alone with GOD.
What I wanted these girls to understand was it takes more than coming to bible study on Wednesday nights. Being able to really KNOW who the LORD is and grow in relationship with him would mean you would have to spend MORE time reading your bible and studying who is HE is. Delta and I believe, as I am sure a lot of you do, it is almost certain that you will not be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit if you are not filled with the Word of God...if these girls are daily reading the scriptures, and of course hearing it preached the HOLY SPIRIT will do some amazing things in their lives, one of the main things being PROVOKING THEM TO FAITH that leads to salvation!!!
I brought bible study to an end by challenging the girls to spend no more than 30 minutes reading a bible verse a day. I gave them an outline of verses that would start them off and carry them over the next month. Sense then I have received an enormous amount of phone calls and emails from many of them sharng what they are learning, as well as their favorite verse for the day. GOD is AMAZING! Why do we not take him at his word!?? I mean HE is sooo POWERFUL!
One of the girls, who usually is out late on Saturday nights hanging with friends or her "bay" as she calls him, came over to iron her clothes for church. "I was like church??" You going to church???"..she started laughing and smiling saying "yes," " I don't want to miss church today... "A" and I decided we really needed to get up and go this morning".. I was soo encouraged.. I didn ask her to go, from my understanding Delta didn either, it was something that she had decided to do for her self...
I love that.. I checked her facebook page the other day and it said.." I am about to starting acting BRAND NEW"
PRAISE THE LORD!! This newness comes from HIM and the work of the HOLY SPIRIT when one is immersing themselves in HIS WORD!! PLEASE CONTINUE to pray for these girls...Pray that the LORD gives them 20/20 vision to see things clearly. Pray that the Holy Spirit will protect them from UNBELIEF. John Piper once said, "Day in and day out we need to fight unbelief in the promises of God. It's unbelief that will keep us out of God's rest. That's what's at stake in the call for diligence... and that's why the Word of God is so critical for us. The Word of God penetrates to the bottom of all our defenses and deceptions and exposes belief or unbelief. It assess our thoughts and intentions as to whether they are believing thoughts and intentions or unbelieving." Ask the LORD to assure them that all that HE says in HIS word, all HIS promises to those who believe and surrender to HIS LORDSHIP are TRUE.
I am fully confident, that the LORD through this bible study is raising up a future generation of young women of the Word, who will seek to grow in their knowledge of Scripture and to live in accord with sound doctrine in every area of their lives. Young Women who will glorify God by cultivating virtues of purity, modesty, submission, meekness, and love. That has been my prayer for them.. Would you pray the same.....
p.s.-One of the girls this past week decided her boyfriend needed to hear what I had to say in bible study...HE CAME and sat and participated through the whole thing!!...uh, do you think Nancy Leigh will pull my biblical womanhood card for this?? surely the elders at my church wont place me under church discipline for teaching this fellow??? Just thought I would ask! LOL
I know one thing, with all the talk about not dating and what it means to be sexually pure that was going on that night, I am sure I won't see him there again this week! Heheheh