Facing the Facts

Tennis Player

My nearly 100-year-old mother-in-law and I have been watching the US Open. Mom played tennis until she was 80, and enjoys watching it on television. Friday night Rafa Nadal, our favorite, lost the first set. It looked as if there was little hope for him. After the match Nadal was asked how he turned things around. He answered that he saw that his plan to keep attacking del Potro’s backhand just wasn’t working, and knew he had to do something. In other words, he had to face the facts that if he continued as he was going he would lose. Nadal changed tactics and came out the winner.

What does one do though if you’re in a situation, and you face the facts that there’s nothing you can do? You’ve looked the problem square in the face, haven’t buried your head in the sand, but there is no plan that will work. For instance, you face a chronic illness

Chronic Illness

where the doctor says, “we’ve run out of options;” you have financial problems that are too great to overcome; your adult child is in trouble but you have no control over him? In other words, it’s hopeless, nothing will work, it’s just an impossible situation.

Let’s look for a minute at Romans 4:18-21 (NIV). Abraham was given a promise from God in Genesis 12. He promised Abraham a land, a people (nation) and to bless others through him. Abraham believed God.

“Without weakening in his faith, he faced the facts…” God had promised him a son so a nation could come from him. He checked his body and faced the fact that he couldn’t father a child. He was almost 100 years old! Then he looked across the table and saw

Abraham and Sarah

Sarah. She had been infertile for decades…no hope there.” Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but (instead) was strengthened in his faith, and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” 

I thought on that portion of the verse, ’did not waver through unbelief’, and questioned God. “But Lord,” I said, “he gave in to Sarah’s quick-fix idea to get a son through Hagar? Then later through fear Abraham told King Abimelech that Sarah was his sister which almost had a tragic result. Isn’t that wavering?” God said he didn’t waiver in his faith. He was human, and made mistakes. He fell prey to fear and to pride like we tend to in the heat of trials. But God says, “he didn’t waver through unbelief”!

 In Abraham’s response to this terrible testing of his faith there is something that spoke to me most. It was that Abraham faced the facts. He didn’t gloss over them and he didn’t ignore the facts. NO! Father Abraham faced the hopelessness of his body and Sarah’s body, and instead of stopping there and giving up, he looked at his

Abraham and Issac

God, my God, your God. He remembered who had called him out of Ur to a new land and how God cared for him. He relived in his mind that awe-filled evening when God passed between the heifer, goat, ram and birds a smoking firepot and blazing torch, and spoke his promise again to him.  And through Abraham’s belief God strengthened his faith, and persuaded him that He is a promise keeping God… and He is.

Ladies, take courage today, and face the facts of your hopeless situations. Call them just what they are. Don’t side step the problem, or try to put a good face on them. Face the fact that your situation is hopeless-- impossible. Don’t waver in your faith—tears are fine, getting angry with God is fine, having a donut when you’re so tired of carrying the heavy load is fine. Face the facts that you aren’t enough, and let God have the whole mess. God will strengthen your faith.  He will get the glory when he steps in and changes things, and fulfills every single word of his good promise to you. The fact is God wants and will get the glory when we believe him, and we will forever be singing his praises.  Amen

Susan Hamlin

Originally Presented to the Leaders Council

9-13-17

Return to Me

Karen Long-Moore

Core Group Leader

Return to me. 

God calls to us just as he called the Israelites home to Him from Babylon. We, like them, have turned to idols of our own making. We have let other things get in the way of our relationship with God. We have misplaced priorities and have lapsed into sin. 

God has given us so much, and we have loved it all so much, that we have let it come first. Good gifts that have good purposes have

 James 4:8

been elevated to idols in our lives. Left to ourselves, we can easily become consumed with selfishness and forget to put Him first. We spin in circles, going nowhere.

God knows us and knows we need His guidance and help. We need Him! He pursues us. He never forgets us even when we forget Him. He is always faithful to forgive. He calls us to come to Him. When we take that first step toward Him, He runs to meet us. 

How sweet it is to be back in our familiar routine at CBS; to open the scriptures next to our workbook and dig in to the Word of God. As we draw near to Him, He draws near to us. We were made for Him. 

We are home.

Originally presented to Leadership Counsel

Rutherfordton CBS – Day Class  9/20/17

Changes

Cheryl Waddingham

Core Leader

          With life comes change.  With change comes fear, insecurity, sorrow, stress.  So what do you do? Hibernate?  Take no risks for fear of failing? Change will happen in your life.  It is not a matter of “if,” but “when.”  Let me share a little about the changes that have taken place in my life.

          In 1988, my husband, an administrator for a community college in Iowa, lost his job unexpectedly.  It was a time when jobs were hard to find, especially in the dead of winter in this small rural community. It became frustrating but, after months of applications and interviews, he got a job! Little did we know it would take us all the way to NC! 

          The move was a difficult one for my family.  Not only did we have to sell our dream house, we had to get rid of things we wanted. I was losing a job that I dearly loved. We had an exchange student living with us who had to return to Spain following his graduation and a former exchange student wanting to return to the area for one more visit before we left the community she called “home”.  We also had to find a place for our daughter to live while she waited to leave for college that fall. Our son was about to become a freshman in high school. Making the move even more difficult was knowing that my father-in-law only had months to live. Through many tears, much prayer and lots of adjustments, we made the move, and life was good again, thanks to our faith and assurance that God would see us through.

          In 2015, my faith was tested more than it ever had been.  A son’s divorce, the loss of my husband of 50 years, the loss of two very close friends (one on the day of my husband’s funeral), the loss of a niece to suicide, and one of the hardest to understand was the betrayal of a very close friend that I had trusted for many years.  My heart was broken and, on many days, I found myself sitting and starring into space, allowing time to pass by on its own.  I began reading self-help books and journaling daily, pouring out all my thoughts and hurts, and anger onto its blank pages.  Most of all, I prayed A LOT, waiting for the “new norm” in my life to take place. I began asking God to show me the direction I needed to go, to help me make wise choices and to use me to glorify His name.  As I searched through scripture, I was reminded in Romans 5:3 that we are to rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.

Romans 5:3

          It was at this time that I received a call about being a facilitator for CBS. Even though I felt God telling me to say “yes,” I wondered if it was still too soon to take on such a heavy responsibility. I questioned God’s motives. Why, then, was God telling me to say yes? Why was He moving me in a direction that not only made me accountable to CBS but also to the fifteen women He entrusted in my care?

          I did accept the call.  I must confess, as a new Core Leader this year, I found myself overwhelmed with all there is to know.  God began to open my eyes and I quickly learned that CBS was actually uplifting me in a spiritual renewal of myself!  It is through facilitating others that God has truly worked through me allowing time to heal in ways that I didn’t even know I needed healing.  Studying I and II Corinthians has been a wakeup call.  God has shown me through scripture and our sharing together the things that I needed to hear and learn and to do.  And in doing so, I have been able to shepherd my sheep through my life’s experiences because I have been where many women in CBS are right now.  I truly can relate to their pain and suffering as they share their stories with me. Their love and trust in me has been such a blessing.

Women Studying the Bible Together

          When we stay focused on Christ, nothing else really matters because he will meet our every need as 2 Samuel 22:7 reminds us - “I called to the Lord in my distress.  I called to my God. From His temple, He heard my voice.”

          I am sharing these life experiences with you today as a testimony that no matter how difficult life becomes, God will be there to see you through, if you just put your trust and faith in Him. I look forward to seeing what He has in store for me in the days ahead – a journey of changes to be embraced.  I thank God for the lessons learned through these “opportunities of faith,” knowing that he is in total control.  I don’t always understand why God calls me to do the things he does but I am reminded in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

          Prayer: “Gracious heavenly Father, You are so awesome.  When changes come into our lives, you are always there to comfort us and to pick us up; you listen when there are no words to say; you whisper sweet I love yous in our ears when we need them.  Help us to handle the changes that life gives us by leading us in what is good, true and right so that we can be of help to others, giving you all the honor and glory.  Amen.”  

J O Y

As I look at the Almond Joy mini candy bar I handed out, I think of an acronym using the letters J…. O…. Y.  “Jesus, Our Yahweh.” Since Yahweh, a noun, is a form of the Hebrew name of God, the acronym means: “Jesus, our God.” As Christian believers, we claim this to be true.

In our family, we are eagerly anticipating the safe, healthy birth of two grandchildren in the next year. The anticipation reminds me of Jesus’ mother, Mary, and a bit of what she may have been feeling before the birth of her son.  No doubt she was excited, but also apprehensive and unsure about how God was using her in his holy plan.

I was reminded these last two weeks of how much work it is to care for a helpless little one.  In my case, it’s been our little dog who needed unexpected spinal surgery.  He’s needed many resources: our time, attention, medicines, personal care, love, and reassurance since the surgery.  For the first week, it included care in the middle of the night, similar to a baby. Fortunately, he’s gotten on his feet though he still has weeks ahead for further healing.

A baby is a wonderful, wonderful miracle, but also needs lots of support.  They can bring us much joy, but it’s not purely joy. It’s mixed with work and worry.

Mary and Baby Jesus

Joy is usually mixed with other emotions. It is rarely just joy.  Even the joy of Christmas is often mingled with other less welcome emotions. I’ve certainly had years marred by illness, stress related to school, jobs, family issues, finances, and various kinds of losses. All take a toll on our joy at Christmas and at other times throughout the year, and yet, I am encouraged by what the Bible says about joy:

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Psalm 98:4 NIV

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:8-9 NIV

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. James 1: 2-3  ESV

In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 2 Corinthians 8:2 NIV

And my favorite, especially during the Christmas season:

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Luke 2:10 KJV

These verses say to me, and I hope to you, that joy is not only possible when times are good and things are going our way, but even when we have seasons of sadness, of turmoil, of feeling like we are in the wilderness.  As believers, we have these verses to hold onto, to claim, to stand on as reminders. Reminders that we have a God who loves us and sends us joy in the form of his son, Jesus, who was born to bring us the way to salvation and forever-and-ever, eternal joy.

The Almond Joy candy bar on your seat is a reminder of God’s desire for us to experience the eternal joy he offers us.  My prayer for you is that you are reminded, during this season, of God’s constant love and that you feel much joy as a precious child of God.

Camille Wheeler, Core Leader

Originally presented to the CBS Leadership 12-14-16

Word Gifts

    My daughter*, if you receive my words
    and treasure up my commandments with you,
² making your ear attentive to wisdom
    and inclining your heart to understanding;
³ yes, if you call out for insight
    and raise your voice for understanding,
⁴ if you seek it like silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasures,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God. Proverbs 2:1-5 ESV

I learned early in my walk with Jesus that God’s Word is a love

letter to His children.  It is sixty-six books of wonder and delight. The Bible shows us the power and awesomeness of God and brings us comfort and guidance.  It shows us how God works in the lives of ordinary people, just like us, to accomplish His will. My heart’s desire is to listen, to understand, to take the time to study and to treasure His commandments, and obey them.

Joining CBS has given me a pathway out of the desert that had become my way of life since moving to Rutherford, County.  Wednesdays have become an oasis from the storms of life, and reminded me, once again, how important words are, especially God’s word.  Being in a structured Bible study and back with sisters in Christ has been a true joy.  Being one of the new kids on the block, I was a little nervous and unsure of myself but the ladies quickly made me feel welcome. As I study, various words have stood out for me, like “persistence” and “intentional.” 

The woman who introduced me to Jesus took my hand and taught me the importance of God’s word.  Sherry took me to my first Bible Study.  She taught me to read His word every day and memorize it. Whenever I told her I didn’t understand what His Word said, she would ask me, “Did you pray before you read? Did you ask for wisdom to understand?” She inspired me to “persevere,” and the Holy Spirit would do the rest.   “Perseverance” was one of the word gifts she gave me.  She used it many times.

Since that time, I have been blessed to have many Godly women come into my life and reinforce the importance of God’s word and the “persistent” study of it.  The ladies of CBS have been part of my journey.  Through your “transparency” and love of Jesus and His Word, I have been inspired to keep going.  Through the weeks of study and the time together as a group I have been given many more word gifts and I thank you for them.  They have been a light to my path, a challenge, thought provoking and a wonderful gift.  Today I gift each of you with the word “perseverance.”  As you continue to walk with Jesus every day may you never forget that it is His mighty hand that holds you and His “perseverance” that keeps you.  His love never ends!

My prayer for us is:

Ps 119:133   Establish our footsteps in Your word, and do not let any iniquity have dominion over us.

Sharon Herzog
Treasurer, CBS Rutherfordton Day Class

Are You Proud of Me?

My grandsons live in Nebraska so I often write to them or call. Last week I wrote Ashton, age 12, telling him how proud his Papaw and I are of him for being baptized. In their church, even youngsters have to stand and testify about what they believe about Jesus. Our daughter, Miriam, reported that Ashton, though fearful, had read in a clear, loud voice before his large church congregation. I was proud of him and told him so.

I’ve been asking the Lord over many days how he wants me to pray for Buck, my dear son-in-law, who has a new tumor in each lung and has just found out he has cancer.  I want God to be proud of me, pleased with me, not ashamed of me in this trial. In seeking God’s mind, I thought of Hebrews 11, the faith chapter. I was familiar with the long list of men and women who had faith: Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Gideon, Barak, Samson and more.  On first reading it seemed there were two categories of people; those who were delivered after their prayers, and those who weren’t.

Daniel in the lion's den

Exhibit #1: You recall Daniel, who, because he feared God, had jealous enemies. In vain they looked for fault in Daniel’s business, so these men attacked his worship of God, and baited the king into signing a law against worshipping God.  Knowing this, Daniel continued praying “as he had done previously,” (Daniel 6:10) and was thrown into the lions’ den.  A wonderful miracle happened that night, as God sent an angel to shut the lions’ mouths. There was deliverance for Daniel, and commendation from God for his faith.  

The stoning of Stephen

Exhibit #2: Stephen, a follower of Jesus, is identified in Hebrews 11 as ‘stoned to death’. Like Daniel, he was a man filled with the Spirit. When he had the opportunity, he told the large crowd of Jews that they had betrayed and murdered the Righteous One, the promised Messiah. With hands over their ears, and screaming furiously, the leading religious leaders stoned him to death. It was death for Stephen, and commendation from God for his faith.

The people listed in Hebrews 11 were commended for believing in God’s promises, but Hebrews says that none of these men and women of faith received what they were really looking for (Hebrews 11:39). And what was that? That God was proud of them, not ashamed of them? If not deliverance, or the miracle promised in Isaac, or Moses’ momentous leading of Israel through the Red Sea, what then?

I told the Lord I needed to know. We women need to know because we want our Father to be proud of us. We want what he wants, don’t we?  The answer is in Hebrews 11:16 and it is easy to see why God is so proud of them: 

“They desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” (ESV)

He prepared for them

a city.

“They were after a far better country, a heavenly country.”  (MSG)

Miriam and Buck have three boys, soon to be 12, 10, and 6. Wouldn’t the Lord want them to have a father?  Perhaps… and he gives me faith to believe Him for that. What are your deepest needs, hardest trials today? Are you looking for deliverance, healing, help out of deep financial trouble? God is willing and able to give those answers.  

But what if he doesn’t?  We can still be sure that if we consider ourselves strangers here, like the men and women of faith did, we’ll be women who look more toward eternal things. We’ll look ahead to the better country God has prepared for us, for our beloved children, and grandchildren. It’s a far better place than anything we have on this fallen earth. That eternal perspective will change the way we think and act. And He will be proud of us, “not ashamed to be called our God”.

Susan Hamlin, Prayer Chairman
CBS Rutherfordton Day Class

A Proper Fit

A new year has begun for Community Bible Study-Rutherfordton Day Class and what an adventure it is.  Some are new to CBS this year, some have been around for years and some have shifted positions, taking a leadership role this year.  Is anyone wondering, “What have I gotten myself into?” “Why did I agree to do this; this is really hard?” 

Are you perhaps feeling like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole?  Even those of us who seem to have it all together feel that way.  Trying to get every I dotted and every T crossed in our lessons, getting acclimated to a new Core Group leader, and meeting new ladies that you’ll spend thirty weeks with being real and sharing thoughts can feel daunting and challenging. We may second guess ourselves, and that's okay, as long as we are fitting into God's plan with our focus on Him.

Think about a puzzle: some puzzle pieces fit in perfectly, while others just don't seem to fit anywhere.  If we persevere and get the whole puzzle together then we can stand back and see how every piece had its place and how each piece needed the ones around it to make a complete picture. 

That is the way I see each of us in CBS. God has given us talents and gifts to use to complete His beautiful picture.  Each of us is here because God made it clear that we are to be here.  When He calls, He equips.  Each of us has different talents and abilities and personalities, which He expects us to use uniquely as individuals.  We aren't to try to do things like the person next to us, because we aren't that person, but we are to work together in unity and harmony to achieve the goal of providing an in-depth and caring Bible study available to all. 

Maybe some ladies feel that their talents and abilities are nothing special.   In Exodus 31:1-11, God, through Moses, appointed skilled craftsmen to construct the Tabernacle and all its furnishings, but it also states that God GAVE these craftsmen their abilities.  It says in verses 3 & 6 that God filled them with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and all kinds of craftsmanship and PUT skill into them. 

However, it took more than these few men that are named to complete the whole Tabernacle.  There were many workers who gathered fuel for the metal workers to use in the refining process for the gold, silver and bronze.  Others hand stitched the various fabric items needed.  There were those who carried water to quench the thirst of the sweaty workers.  Some gathered wood to build the furnishings.  It took EVERYONE working together, doing what they could, the best they could to complete the task that God had commanded.  They were working as a body.

Just as our body parts have varied functions, but are all necessary for complete physical health, so all the workers functioned together as a unit, for a common purpose.  Individually each person was just a puzzle piece, but when they all came together and put their piece(s) to work where they fit, a great structure became a reality.

“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men." 

                                                                               Colossians 3:23

Each of us has been called to be a part of God's perfect picture, not because we are perfect, but because God is putting the pieces of our lives together to honor and glorify Him.  Each of us is unique and special and nobody else’s puzzle piece will fit where yours is meant to fit.  One of my favorite Bible verses is II Timothy 1:7: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind.” 

So as we have embarked on this study of Corinthians, I encourage each of us to look to God for guidance and not compare ourselves with each other.  We are all workmen together.

Prayer: “Lord help each of us see where the puzzle piece of our life fits into your plan and then give each of us the skill to use the talents and abilities you have given us to further your Kingdom.  Amen.”

by Lorna Hawley

Core Group Leader