Welcome to the second week of We Are the Body. We are thrilled you are joining us. This Bible study will be slightly different than our last one in that we won’t have video or a study guide. However, we will a time of Deeper Refinement that will allow you to spend the week digging a little further into each week’s lesson. Please make sure to leave your link, or let us know through the comment section, if you are participating so that we can pray for everyone involved!
God and Souls
A friend of ours lost his wife to cancer two weeks ago. She was 39 years old. She had a brain tumor. Three children.
What a tragedy.
This is not what God intended life to look like. He did not originally intend for us to die. Then sin entered the world and now everything is hard. Everything. But He has not left us alone. If we are His children we have Him. And we have each other. Yes. We have each other. We need each other–the body of Christ.
We need the body of Christ.
At the funeral of this dear young woman, testimony after testimony was given of how she lived her life and how she affected others because she invested in the lives of people. Those who shared spoke of a woman who loved her God, worshiped her God, hungered after her God, loved her husband, loved her children and poured herself into them. They spoke of how she ran her home, raised her children and served her husband. As I listened, one of the main things that came to my mind was that she lived her life WITH people. She invested her life into the lives of PEOPLE!
How else would they know how she loved her God, her husband and her children? How else would they have been able to learn from her, how to better fulfill their own roles, if she had not opened her life to them and invited them in? How else would they have known of her deep hunger for God and her love of worship if she had not been real and shared her heart?
How else?
We need to live life with each other.
It’s is easy to get caught up in our lives and schedules and think we are too busy to open our lives and homes to others. It’s easy to be committed to our own agenda, even our own families, and never open the door of our homes and lives to others. We can get so caught up in our duties–cleaning our house, making perfect meals, having everything in order….following our own schedules…and never allow people to really know us and what God is doing in our lives.
Now THAT is a tragedy!
After the funeral service I was reflecting on my own life. I’m sure I’m not the only one who does that after a funeral. It’s a good time to evaluate one’s life…when death is on your mind! The reality is that we are all going to die one day!
We are all going to die one day!
So…what is it that I want to be remembered for? A clean house? Making the perfect meals all “from scratch?” Always being put together? No. That’s not what I want. I don’t think that is what God wants either.
No. I don’t think that is what He wants at all!
I want to be transparent and real. I want others to know I struggle with discouragement and battle with sin and yet I cling to God. I want to leave dirty dishes in the sink after dinner and sit down and focus on PEOPLE. I want to say, “I’m sorry” a million times because I am ever aware of my failure and of my need of God. I want to laugh with my children and to be Jesus to them. I want to hold hands with my husband and hug his neck every time I get the chance…and love, serve and respect him. I want to make simple meals for lots of people, and not mind if there is mud on the floor or a dog on my couch! I want to text and call people randomly to say I love them, or share a verse, or challenge them. I want to hang out my window and wave and yell, and when people come to my door I want to be happy to see them no matter what I am doing. I want people to be more important than things and for God to be the center of everything. EVERYTHING. I want to love God and people.
That’s it. God and souls.
Those are the only things that last….that are eternal.
I want God and His people to be the most important things in my life.The most important.
God and souls.
If the Father were to call you Home today, what kind of testimony would you leave behind?
What would people remember about you?
This week we are going to take a bit of an “out of body” experience. Grab that notebook you started last week. Spend some timing thinking about what you would want your friends and family to remember about you after leaving this life and write it down. Next, list out each quality, trait, or idea separately and under each one, make a list of goals and Scriptures that will help you work towards becoming more like the person of Christ that you want to be remembered as.
Grab a few notecards and post these Scriptures and goals in various places so that you will see them and be reminded of them daily. Remember to spend time in prayer asking the Lord to help set and direct these goals and Scriptures.
Share these goals with someone in your life to help you remain accountable.
You can come back anytime this week and add your link below, or share in the comments, if you choose to share what the Lord has shown you through this.
If you are doing this study with us, please take a moment and add your link so we can pray for you during our 8 weeks together.
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Gina, you hit the nail on the head! I think we should ALL be focused on the life we’re living for HIM and the legacy we’ll leave for those who love us. I’ve been doing a series about legacy on my blog (http://www.firefliesandhummingbirds.net/search/label/legacy), and I can tell you, it’s something I think about a lot. We have such a grand opportunity in this life to touch people and to help lead them to the Lord through how we live our lives every single day. Thank you for the reminder of this.
My deepest condolences for the loss of your friend.
Thanks for sharing, Chrissy! I love your sensitive heart and how you soak up truth! Love it!
When I was 30, I understood what God wanted me to do. When I was 35, God told me what to do. What I was 40, God showed me – me – and encouraged me to stop being other people – and just be the best me possible – and, if that meant leaving a sink full of dishes to reach out to someone else (how many of us are Martha’s when we really want to be Mary’s)- and, while my teenagers wouldn’t necessarily say great things about me right now, I think that I had a heart to encourage, a heart wide-open would be what my friends would say – because that’s what they’ve told me.
I, too, am sorry about the loss of your friend.
Yes! God showed me – me – in my 40′s as well! I love how you put that! One of the benifits of aging…and knowing God!! Thanks for sharing!
Yes! God showed me – ME- in my 40′s as well! I love how you said that! One of the cool things about aging and knowing God! Thanks so much for sharing!!! I loved it!
This is my first time at your site. From what I see I know this is where God wants me. I must tell you i AM VERY CONFUSED? Where is the bible study that you say is starting today for 9 weeks. I need help, i have been estranged from God for awhile and I feel His pressencehere. I don’t know why i left Him, laziness I think but my lifw has been misreable withiut him. and this is the site for me. thank you
I pray this series is a help to you. feel free to email me if I can encourage you in any way! gina8688@gmail.com
This is right on time! I have been trying to let go of unrealistic expectations and just live. Thank you!
Thanks for reading and sharing!!!
Grace to you!
Great post, Gina! I love our “homework” this week…
Thank you,Tracy! So thankful you are encouraged by this! I had some help writing the “homework” part! (: God is good!
This is really great stuff. We often get so busy with our lives that we don’t stop and ponder this subject. Thank you for bringing to mind. I will make my list of what I want to be remembered for and I will pray for the Lord’s help in doing and being all those things. Because I am sure I will drop the ball and need to be redirected.
Sorry I am late this week…busyness
Hi, Monica! Thanks for taking the time to stop by! So glad you are taking part! We all need a reminder, huh? Grace to you!
Gina,
This is my take-away quote to ponder, often:
~?~ quote of the note ~?~
I want people to be more important than things and for God to be the center of everything. EVERYTHING. I want to love God and people. That’s it. God and souls. Those are the only things that last….that are eternal. I want God and His people to be the most important things in my life. The most important. God and souls.
~ Gina Smith
~?~
Thank you!