True and Real

Last Saturday (Oct 20th) I went to a one day conference with my mom and sisters. The speaker was Elizabeth George--the author of A Woman After God's Own Heart. The conference consisted of three sessions, and I would like to share highlights that I took away from each session.

Session 1: Thinking on the Truth
-Thinking on God's truth is loving God with all your mind.
-To make sure you are thinking on His truth, confine yourself within the hedge/path of "Is it true? Is it real?"

Session 2: Winning over Worry
1) Think the truth about the past.
-Don't dwell on the past (don't have "if only's")

a) It [the past] is no longer real
-Thinking on it breeds regret and remorse
-We need to log it and leave it (learn from it and leave it)
-Thinking on it fails to acknowledge God.
* Romans 8:28

2) Think the truth about the present
-What are you doing about the way it really is?
-When you get things settled with God, nothing else really matters.

3) Think the truth about the future
-"Life is a mountain climb to the very end."-Edith Schaeffer. It doesn't get easier.
-"I have not seen the righteous forsaken."-sorry, I didn't catch the author's name.
-"Let not our longing [for the future and what "might be"] slay the appetite of our living [in the present]."-Jim Eliot
-"Focus on the givens, not the not-givens."-Elisabeth Eliot

Session 3
-He is the "big picture" behind everything.

1) We can trust God for our number one problem.

2) We can trust God for all things--including the good things.
-God uses good things to stretch us and force us to grow (spiritually).

3) We can trust God for the bad things.

4) We can trust God for the large things in life.

5) We can trust God for the small things.
-It is the small irritation that causes the pearl to grow.--I loved this one!

6) We can trust God for the people problems in life.
-God uses people as sandpaper to make us more like Him.

It was a day very well spent! There was much to hear and absorb, and all of it was good for my soul. I also left with three books: The Bare Bones Bible Handbook: 10 Minutes to Understanding Each Book of the Bible, A Woman's Walk With God: Growing in the Fruit of the Spirit, and A Woman's High Calling: 10 Essentials for Godly living.

The first book was written by Elizabeth's husband, Jim. I want to incorporate it into my quite times, as I think it could be helpful. The last two books are written by Elizabeth. I anticipate both being slow reads, as I earnestly desire to digest and ponder their contents.

As I read through each of Elizabeth's books in turn, I would like to share some of the contents here--chapter by chapter--along with my thoughts. I don't anticipate the postings being very consistent--something like once a month (if I'm lucky). As it is difficult for me to make time to read a book, it is even more difficult to find time to sit and type. So you are fairly warned that postings will be sporadic--as if they aren't already. ((Smile))