(Week 4 of our 8 week study on True Woman 101: Divine Design)
Week 1: We explored that Gender matters and that manhood and womanhood exist to glorify God and to put the gospel of Jesus Christ on display. Absolutely amazing!
Week 2: Our focus in "Snips and Snails" and the fact that God created men to image the relationship of Christ to the church and this has significant implications for male-female relationships. Fascinating!
Week 3: The "Sugar and Spice" chapter focused on how God created women to image the relationship of the church to Christ which also has significant implications for male-femaie relationships. Profound!
That brings us to this week's focus on "Snake in My Garden" where Satan tempted and tricked the first woman to go against God's design. Eve and Adam's sin marred the created beauty of male-female relationships....
"Adam and Eve had a problem with a snake in their garden. They could have prevented it from causing ruin, but they didn’t. After completing week four in True Woman 101, watch this twenty-minute conversation between authors Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Mary Kassian, and their friends as they discuss how a snake in our garden is the root cause of every conflict in male-female relationships—and how we can get rid of it and reclaim the beauty of God’s divine design." True Woman 101
Key Verses this week: Genesis: 2:22-25, 2 Corinthians 4:4, Genesis 3:6, 2 Corinthians 11:3, 1 Timothy 2:14, Genesis 3:7-10,Genesis 3:9-13, 1 Corinthians 11:11-12, 1 Corinthians 12:26-27, Romans 12:4-5
Nobody really wants to talk about it. Quite frankly, most people (including many Church goers) just don't want to admit or acknowledge that an evil force exists in our world.Thankful for this chapter as Nancy and Mary are straight up with us that Satan is real, He is a liar and He is God's arch enemy who is hellbent on deceiving the human race. Not just through sin and temptation, but truly to rob, kill, steal and destroy men and women individually, but likewise to destroy the sanctity of marriage and all that it stands for. It isn't easy being married. I have witnessed loved ones and friends suffer the painful relationship struggles throughout the years and many ending in divorce. I know you too have felt the sting of it all in your life too in some way shape or form. Sure we need to take personal responsibility when we have sinned or contributed to the breakdown, but we also must realize there is an enemy, a "Snake in our garden" that wants to destroy the beauty and potential in our lives and relationships. I have often felt the Spirit of the Living God say to me this past decade: 'An attack on marriage is an attack on the image of God'... That phrase is seared in my soul as I know He has revealed the answer to push back the darkness and to positionally stand in Christ Jesus for what I am called to do as a wife, friend, and prayer warrior on my knees contending for the needs of others. The teaching in this lesson is KEY to walking in the truth and being Restored to be the women He has created us to be! I know the battle is fierce. I know that Satan is real and so are his demonic forces. Spiritual warfare is a reality we must wake up to as the Devil's greatest deception tactic is to lull people into a spiritual slumber where evil strikes or when sin knocks on ones door of their heart, one tends to do one of three things if left to their own logic: Self loathe, blame and hate other people or even blame or have anger/ hate towards God himself....Anything to take the attention off of his dirty work! As one Heaven bent on seeking Wisdom for the Journey, I declare John 10:10:
"The thief (Satan) comes to rob, kill, steal and destroy, but I (Jesus Christ) came that they may have life and have it to the full!"
The enemy isn't your parents, your spouse, your siblings, neighbour, ex, boss, or woman behind the counter.... the enemy is Satan and we need to wise up and fight the good fight in Jesus name! Seeking to be strong in faith, mighty in love and filled with His wisdom is where I want to be. To live a purposeful life that counteracts evil with good, announces truth and renounces lies which ultimately prays for God's kingdom come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Anyone with me?
Key points from this week's study:
Week 1: We explored that Gender matters and that manhood and womanhood exist to glorify God and to put the gospel of Jesus Christ on display. Absolutely amazing!
Week 2: Our focus in "Snips and Snails" and the fact that God created men to image the relationship of Christ to the church and this has significant implications for male-female relationships. Fascinating!
Week 3: The "Sugar and Spice" chapter focused on how God created women to image the relationship of the church to Christ which also has significant implications for male-femaie relationships. Profound!
That brings us to this week's focus on "Snake in My Garden" where Satan tempted and tricked the first woman to go against God's design. Eve and Adam's sin marred the created beauty of male-female relationships....
"Adam and Eve had a problem with a snake in their garden. They could have prevented it from causing ruin, but they didn’t. After completing week four in True Woman 101, watch this twenty-minute conversation between authors Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Mary Kassian, and their friends as they discuss how a snake in our garden is the root cause of every conflict in male-female relationships—and how we can get rid of it and reclaim the beauty of God’s divine design." True Woman 101
Key Verses this week: Genesis: 2:22-25, 2 Corinthians 4:4, Genesis 3:6, 2 Corinthians 11:3, 1 Timothy 2:14, Genesis 3:7-10,Genesis 3:9-13, 1 Corinthians 11:11-12, 1 Corinthians 12:26-27, Romans 12:4-5
Nobody really wants to talk about it. Quite frankly, most people (including many Church goers) just don't want to admit or acknowledge that an evil force exists in our world.Thankful for this chapter as Nancy and Mary are straight up with us that Satan is real, He is a liar and He is God's arch enemy who is hellbent on deceiving the human race. Not just through sin and temptation, but truly to rob, kill, steal and destroy men and women individually, but likewise to destroy the sanctity of marriage and all that it stands for. It isn't easy being married. I have witnessed loved ones and friends suffer the painful relationship struggles throughout the years and many ending in divorce. I know you too have felt the sting of it all in your life too in some way shape or form. Sure we need to take personal responsibility when we have sinned or contributed to the breakdown, but we also must realize there is an enemy, a "Snake in our garden" that wants to destroy the beauty and potential in our lives and relationships. I have often felt the Spirit of the Living God say to me this past decade: 'An attack on marriage is an attack on the image of God'... That phrase is seared in my soul as I know He has revealed the answer to push back the darkness and to positionally stand in Christ Jesus for what I am called to do as a wife, friend, and prayer warrior on my knees contending for the needs of others. The teaching in this lesson is KEY to walking in the truth and being Restored to be the women He has created us to be! I know the battle is fierce. I know that Satan is real and so are his demonic forces. Spiritual warfare is a reality we must wake up to as the Devil's greatest deception tactic is to lull people into a spiritual slumber where evil strikes or when sin knocks on ones door of their heart, one tends to do one of three things if left to their own logic: Self loathe, blame and hate other people or even blame or have anger/ hate towards God himself....Anything to take the attention off of his dirty work! As one Heaven bent on seeking Wisdom for the Journey, I declare John 10:10:
"The thief (Satan) comes to rob, kill, steal and destroy, but I (Jesus Christ) came that they may have life and have it to the full!"
The enemy isn't your parents, your spouse, your siblings, neighbour, ex, boss, or woman behind the counter.... the enemy is Satan and we need to wise up and fight the good fight in Jesus name! Seeking to be strong in faith, mighty in love and filled with His wisdom is where I want to be. To live a purposeful life that counteracts evil with good, announces truth and renounces lies which ultimately prays for God's kingdom come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Anyone with me?
Key points from this week's study:
- Satan wants to obscure God's glory. He doesn't want men and women to embrace their divine design.
- Satan portrays sin as attractive, harmless and extremely promising
- Satan entices us to think that we have the capacity to make good decisions without God's input.
- Sin makes us shirk responsibility and blame others for our failures.
- Sin fractures the unity between the sexes and causes them to be "independent", rather than "Interdependent"
*Love to hear from you. The same temptations Eve faced, we too face today. The same "snake" who deceived BOTH Adam and Eve is the same snake today who is ferociously adamant to take us down and in many ways more cunning as he knows his time is running out... The good news is that if we stay covered under the shelter of the Most High God, Satan will flee. (read Psalm 91) Feel free to visit the TW101 website and watch other videos related to this topic like: "Sowing and Reaping", "Beauty" and "Accepting Difficulties" Q's from this week's study to consider:
3 comments:
This chapter reminds me of how corporate we are (everything we do has a profound affect on everyone). We live in a society that makes us believe that we are not responsible for our actions. We can blame others and make excuses. The truth is that everything we do directly or indirectly affects those around us and more importantly, those we may not be aware of. So often we make a decision based on the simple lie that "I'm not hurting anyone". This is simply not true. the Enemy is very creative in the ways that he attacks. Most of us our unaware that we have been "used" to injure another - usually the ones we claim to love the most. Responding out of emotion to a disagreement with a spouse instead of responding from our knowledge of how Christ wants us to interact is only one small example. I encourage everyone reading this to really look at where the Enemy is using you to hurt yourself and others and make a conscious choice, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to respond as Christ would respond.
It did hit me when doing this week, how much the snake/ enemy works so hard at destroying marriages/families/individuals and how he has used the gender issue to confuse many. He is hard at work everywhere and he will not give up! We are all made so beautifully and in God's image and the enemy hates that. So neither should we! Keep seeking truth in the Scriptures...not always in the worlds resources cause they throw a whole lot of confusion. I appreciate how this study points to the Scriptures and clearly outlines what God desires in us/for us and how He amazingly created us male and female....no confusion there :)
Also a great reminder than people are NOT the enemy....the snaky Devil is so use your weapons against him and not people.
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