Our word for the week: MASTERPIECE
Be sure to print it and post it everywhere! You can download in a PDF or in MSWord.
According to Distionary.com, a masterpiece is:
- a person’s greatest piece of work, as in art
- anything done with masterly skill
- a consummate example of skill or excellence of any kind
God’s WORD for US this week:
We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.“ Ephesians 2:10, NLT
Let’s Connect: As you read Chapter 8 , what are some sentences or verses you’ve underlined or highlighted so far? Click “Share Your Thoughts” below and do just that. Can’t wait to hear what God is showing you. {If you are reading this via EMAIL CLICK HERE to return to my website to leave comment.}
[The winner of my “Living in God’s Promises” Gift pack Giveaway which includes a $10 Starbucks OR Target Gift Card{you choose}, 2 copies of A Confident Heart, and a copy of my Letting God Fill the Empty Places in Your Heart message on CD is: Melissa S. Congrats!! We’ll be emailing you for your mailing address.]
Discover more from Renee Swope
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Renee~ I am SO loving this Bible Study. I can’t get enough of it!!! Thank you SO much for ALL that you do, all the love and inspiration that you have given me and all the thousands of other people. You are definately a blessing!!! I am still on chapter 7, I always seem to be a chapter behind, no matter how I try to catch up! But I don’t want to rush — that is the last thing I would want … rush to keep up! Since I am talking about this, are there any plans for a “catch up week”? Anyway, I just wanted to let you know how much I am loving this study and appreciate all that you do. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
I am so thankful for this book and this chapter!! I have been in a season of transition in my life where many of the roles, responsibilities that have defined me for so long have been stripped away. There is grieving but also excitement in the possibilities of what lies ahead. I am so thankful for the confirmation from Renee about where our true purposes can be revealed — in our hearts and how they are revealed. Delight yourself in The lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart psalm 37:4. I know, I believe and have faith that when we seek His face our true selves our revealed. Comparison has been a huge area of bondage for me. It is no coincidence that I was just listening to Andy Stanley from north point churc speaking in his series Comparision Trap and that we were talking about fear, envy/ jealousy in my lfe group this week and then I opened chapter 8. Thank you Renee for the tools and truth you have provided in this chapter!
Really appreciated the video. It made me realize that as women we can be harsh on ourselves because of our physical appearances and neglect to affirm how beautiful we are inside and out. Thank God that we are fearfully and wonderfully made and beautiful!
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs in people who have come alive.”
Harold Thurman Whitman
God led me to his will through something very “Spiritual,”…Planning and going on a trip to Disneyland…LOL!
I know it sounds funny, but God confirmed to me through several people that it was His will that my daughter and I take this trip. He performed countless miracles to bring it about, (considering my husband will be unemployed in less than a month’s time). He beautifully orchestrated it so that I could take my daughter at the same time that a dear friend went with 4 of her daughters, and another friend went with her two daughters.
God showed me many things while I was on that trip. He affirmed that I was worth lavishing gifts upon. I still don’t comprehend this, but am learning to accept His blessings. He also showed me that, as His princess, I can boldly approach the throne of grace. I have spent so much of my life hiding from an angry God, cowering in fear because of my sins. I still tend to do this, more often than not.
Please pray for me. I am still in the learning (or RE-learning) process of what my identity is with God. I know that something powerful in the spirit took place last week, through much prayer and persistence, despite impossible odds. I KNOW that God has some great things in store for my family in the months to come, even with the challenges on the near horizon.
Thank you.
Rhea
Ephesians 2:10 was my verse for the year in 2011… I think it is becoming my life verse… just can’t let it go and it keeps ‘popping up’ everywhere… as I read through ‘A Confident Heart’ and other titles, I am finding different insights into this verse.
Thank you!!!
Renee,
I just have to share my story with you about this page (week 8). I am a 53 year old Grandma that God has called to preach. Wow!…That alone is a miracle story, but this particular story is awesome. I entered Liberty University Online to pursue my calling in obedience to my Father. I hate, and when I say hate, I mean hate school. After I graduated, I was done with school. All I wanted was to be a wife and mom. God allowed me to do just that, even though it lead me down many dark, lonely and hard paths we won’t talk about this time. After 2 years of school at Liberty and doing well by God’s amazing grace, I was really stuggling this last week finishing a paper for Eng. 101. Finally after praying and trusting and standing and all that I knew to do, I gave up. Not being able to complete the paper I went to bed crying and asking the Lord sincerely to forgive me for failing Him. The next morining after my time with the Lord, I opened by fb page and a friend of mind had this page posted right under a saying “Don’t confuse your path with your destination. Just because it’s stormy now, doesn’t mean you’re not headed for sunshine.” I prayed for God to crush me down to dust and start molding me over again and make me a stronger vessel. Then right underneath that passage she had posted, ” Week 8″, You are Gods Masterpiece. And that is not the greatest thing about it. God is a God of numbers and order. When I saw week 8, I burst into tears for this was my final week, my final paper, and it was yes, WEEK 8. Today I am turning in my final paper and I am going to pass this course. Today March 8!!!!! Thank you for Your part in this miracle of God!!!!!
Yeah! Laura, persistance PTL!!
Thanks Lou, Sorry…PTL??? 🙂
Laura,
PTL means Praise The Lord!
I know exactly what you mean.
I am 54 and also going back to school. I am taking classes with young girls who have sharper minds than I do at this stage of my life. I have felt very intimidated and out of place. I have struggled with comparing myself to these young people. But God has placed within me gifts they do not have. And he has plans for me that are different than the plans he has prepared for my classmates. It is not easy but God is helping me through it to accomplish his plans.
Renee,
Thank you so much for this study that has helped me to have new confidence in what God is calling me to.
Connie
Please keep thrnoiwg these posts up they help tons.
I just love thinking I am God’s unique masterpiece……..especially when it is easy to lose ourselves in this world, with all our roles: wife, mother, caretaker, friend…. Being a stay at home mom, I sometimes feel as if I lost myself, that my life has changed so much (and so worth it), so lately I have been focusing on who I am IN Christ……and that apart from Him, I am nothing……In Him, I am this beautiful masterpiece that only I can be!!! How awesome is that??? Why try to be anything else??!!
I am also guilty of trying to please others…..So I have to remind myself that Christ is the only approval I need… Daily, hourly!!! Thank God He is all we need……it really simplifies life!!!!
I agree so much that life becomes soooooooo simple once you realize what actually matters and that God all we need. Even though I have to go back to this thought very often when I start fretting/worrying, etc at least now I know the truth…and I can always bring my thoughts back to that. The truth shall set you free!!!!
“Self-sacrifice? It sounds godly, but in doing so we risk shutting down a place in our soul where God’s dreams and gifts are waiting to be revealed. It’s not self-seeking but God-seeking to intentionally get to know and become the woman God created you to be.” – Wow! I do believe this is the best point thus far in this study! (for me anyway… 🙂
Seeking HIm more and more…
Be blessed!
I enjoyed this chapter so much. Sometimes, I wonder about my dream – I always say it’s to write a book – but is that it? Is that all – what if I write a book…then what? I dont know.
I compare myself to my peers even though our lives couldnt be any more different. It’s not fair and I have to stop doing that. God created the me I am for a reason – just like he created the them they are for a reason. I need to fill my me shaped space in the world and fill it to the best of my ability.
I have suffered for over 20 years with the disease to please and approval addiction – these too are things that I am learning that need to be eliminated from my life. I am to be living for Christ – not the approval of others. And as I type this, the AM thoughts are hitting me hard and heavy that Ill never recover, from these things – but thats NOT true. Nothing is impossible for God. I still struggle, but I know that God is still working on me.
The word this week – I love it. I remember the first time I read Ephesians 2:10 – I stared at the word masterpiece for a long time. ME? A masterpiece…but Imma mess! I thought, but I heard a still small voice say, that may be, but youre still my masterpiece. How can you not love a God whose love for you knows no bounds.
I also discovered my gift (or at least one of them) in this chapter! I couldnt believe it, I think Im still a little surpised. When answering thw questions I’d just unsurely written words wondering what was this thing I seemed to have was, and then in the next breath I read in the Bible what it is – I knew it was Gods gift, and I was floored, but I also felt – special. Like I saw even more proof of God’s love for me.
How deep the Father’s love for us.
Ill be honest, I dont know what to do with this gift. I ask for your prayers that God will show me.
The sentence that struck me as significant in this chapter was a simple one, yet one that is really difficult to make part of my life on a consistent basis; “It is important to focus on what we have instead of what we don’t have.”
I’ve recently come to the conclusion that my life is not going to look like other women’s lives. In my early 40s I do not fit into the expected role of a woman as wife and mother. This week I decided to not look into single parent adoption for various reasons. Knowing that I will never be a parent leaves a huge hole in my heart, but I need to trust that God will show me other ways that my life can be just as meaningful and fulfilling as those who were chosen to be parents and spouses. God does not use a rating scale and give children to those who are better or deserve them. It is just how things happen in this world.
The one thing I want to remember from Chapter 8 is “You do things the way you do because it is part of your unique, God shaped purpose. We are all unique and God has called us each for a purpose, one that He has given us from the time we were conceived as His creation in our mother’s womb. That to me sounds so special, so special that we each are His unique creation. A Masterpiece painted by The Father’s Hand…..wow!!
Oh, Wow. I read through out notes here as see so many common threads. This is one of the shortest blog/chat sessions and we all seem to have come here for the same purpose. I too and 52. At 32 I was starting my 20 years of child rearing. My youngest is 16 and there is still some “rearing” left, but in my wisdom I see that natural consequences are much more fitting than anything I could contrive.
Yes, I am reinventing myself, again. The song from Fireflight “Unbreakable” has been my theme song. The line that says, “God I want to dream again, take me where I’ve never been, I wanna go there, this time I’m not scare”. The only reason I’m not scared is, because I am constantly reminding myself, Who is with me.
I got the Proverbs 31 magazine yesterday in the mail and there is an article that tells us why “Worry” is something we should not do as believers. Worry is not obedience. Fear and doubt are not obedience.
This time of year as the Spring begins to bloom we must let it remind us of our Gracious and loving Father and Savior. Put out a bird feeder, and remember “He watches the sparrow fall and He knows the number of hairs on your head”. (Even the gray ones)
Thank you for that song Deena…Praying for you…I am there…Love, Peggy
I am so thankful God has brought me to this study. It is bringing me to a place of freedom. Each week God is showing me something new and bringing healing and wholeness. Comparison is how I have lived my entire life. I always saw myself as less than other people. God told me that I have to take off the clothes that the enemy has given me such as I am a failure and living in doubt and unbelief. I have to choose to wear the clothes that God has given me. I am More than a conqueror. I AM God’s masterpiece. I have the mind of Christ. I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me. I am tired of settling for what the enemy tells me and denying the power of Christ in my life. I don’t want to compare myself with anyone but to just become the woman God created me to be for Him.
Sounds good Brenda…I am right there with you and need to remember throughout the day to say and live those Scriptures, I tend to read them and forget…Not good..It is like looking in the mirror and walking away and forgetting what we look like (paraphrasing what Scripture???)
God bless my sweet sister…You are not alone…Peggy
The two sentences that really resonated with me this week:
“I was 32 at the time, and didn’t know what I liked to do or what my dreams were”.
“I was also a constant candidate for burnout and never felt like I measured up to other women.”
I am now 33, my birthday was back in January, so at the beginning of this study, I was 32 and didn’t know what I like or what my dreams were; at 33, I still don’t. I stuggle each day trying to figure out my purpose. What is it that God is calling me to do. I want to do it, whatever it is, but I don’t hear His voice telling me what it is. Perhaps because the second sentence is so true in my life today. When I was younger, I compared myself to other women and men. I was constantly comparing my abilities, my wardrobe, and my relationships to those of others. I don’t believe I was ever myself. I was so busy trying to fit in, that I would do what others were doing even if it wasn’t what I wanted. The one exception was Roller Skating. I really enjoyed that, and even though there was a slight stigma to those that went, I just really enjoyed the experience. I also really enjoyed (and still do) education and learning. All of which I chose over partying even through college. Outside of those two however, I was never my own person. So even now, as I write this I am trying t fit into a mold of wife even though I have no idea how. I was so enthralled with others’ lives, that I didn’t live my own enough to know what living my life, the way God meant me to, was. I am planning on getting the same two books that are mentioned in this chapter. I need to know, as Renee did, what it is that I desire and what my purpose is in the Kingdom of God.
Dearest Kim…I love reading what you wrote…I am 55 and feel like you do…I am so happy that you are able to write those feelings down and express them…The fact that you are seeing this now, feeling this way at this point of your life is so wonderful for you…You are searching for yourself at the beginning stages of married life before (I think) you have children and bring that factor into it…I did not allow myself that opportunity and I am searching for it now and it is so much harder. I had 3 sons and was married 5 years at your age and I never had the opprtunity to go to college. I chose a different route by default. I left my crazy home at 17 (my parents were both alcoholic and getting divorced at that crucial age of my life) so needless to say…no money nor the motivation or inspiration was taught to me about college or life was taught to me by them. So you have so much more than I did, and from that point of you…Hopefully you communicate well with your husband and he knows what you are feeling and you can pursue your dreams!!!!
Just as a sister in Christ I can say you are doing great, you will figure out who you are and what you want if you stay on the path with Jesus as Deena above spoke about…Just Let Jesus take the wheel, and persevere, be patient, and obedient to Him…He will show you the Way, I see only your heart through one paragraph…He knows all about you and how you have tried to please others and fit into a mold of others…He loves you as you are…I pray in Jesus Name that you will see that and let Him love you…He is a beautiful Jesus who wants to know YOU better…I am praying for you my sweet sister…Love, Peggy
I have often in my life struggled with being a people pleaser. Of late God has shown me that I need to be a God pleaser. As I serve the Lord here in Guinea there are many things that I could do and dily I need to seek God’s direction what He wants me to be doing. I am enjoying Chap 8…actually this morning I am doing a mini retreat to think more about this chapter. Thank you for sharing so much of your life with us Renee. I am enjoying the book.
I just can’t get over how it seems like this book has been written JUST FOR ME and where I’m at in life. This is one time where I kind of think that the world DOES revolve around me ;^) Ha ha. I really didn’t know what to expect when I started this study, and am continually amazed at how the words in each chapter speak RIGHT AT ME. Which is funny because I’ve been behind in reading, yet the timing of my reading each chapter has been perfect! As for chapter 8, I’m encouraged because I may soon becoming involved in a ministry that I think God is laying on my heart, so this chapter couldn’t have come at a better time! I don’t know about the rest of you but I already have grown so much spiritually since starting this study!
I love contemplating how we are created in God’s image. That means we are splendid, truly a masterpiece meant to shine, inspire, to come alive and awaken others to come alive and see their greatness….because that will show you your own greatness. For some reason the thought ‘we are on the brink of greatness’ always inspires me and makes me feel like I’m full of potential…with no obstacles. I heard that phrase in a song. But the truth is we are at greatness…this is it….we’re already on stage. There is no getting ready to come on…this is it, we’re on! We are in the middle of the show. As I type on this blog, we are in the middle of the show. Which is why finding the time to get to know ourselves is essential, and do what is natural and feels good to us. Our culture has trained us to check off from the to do list as much as possible….so when do we take time to analyze, process? I have a feeling this ch. is going to be something for me. I hope it is for all of us. Let’s encourage each other to make the time to get to know ourselves so that we do what God Creator created us to do.
Taking time for ourselves, and taking time to be alone with God will bring us to a place where we can see ourselves as God sees us. I took some of that time today and am finding that He is working in me as a result of this study, and taking time to talk with Him, and praise and worship Him. My passion is to love Him, to be all I can be for Him, and to help others spark their relationship with God. Now I just need to take the baby steps one at a time, and let Him do the work. Question #3 I do belive in uniques desires and dreams…..I want to help people who struggle with their past….and people wo fell like they don’t belong, or those who feel alone and unloved. Our church went to the Winter Jam concert, and one of the young men who seems to be withdrawn, and unsure of himself got mixed in with my sons and me. During intermission I had the chance to talk with him, and he started to smile and interact with myself and my boys, and really enjoyed the concert. I have a heart for young people like that….i was bullied as a child, and know that sometimes other kids can really make it hard for those who are shy and with drawn. But that is one of my passions……God bless all of my sisters here in the bible study!! And sorry for rambling on.
Mabel’s word of tapestry brought me to a song weuse to maybe they still do in with the Women of the ELCA, called “Weave”. It speaks of different types of masterpieces tapestry, symophonies I know of for sure. I will have to utube it now to listen to it again. but it brings me to the verse about all being one body in Christ. I feel if we can celebrate our own niches (still working on that) but also sharing what we see in others as their strengths(FM) versus weakness(AM). Being an RN in obstetrics, I have learned first how to take care of emergencies, and after many years, have patience for the process and as much as I want to help these families, I have learned the skill of waiting and not being offended when offers of what I see as being helpful not always taken initially. I do not always know best. Being the past 6 months in a charge nurse position I have been able to help and encourage other nurses. Taking compliements isn’t always easy but learning to be confident and gracious is what I’m hoping to be modeling and passing on in a profession known for “eating it’s young” with high burnout.
More later Thank you all!!
I am glad I am not the only one who doesn’t have a dream. Short and sweet {not} I am single, not by choice, I have no children,{four miscarriages, I look forward to meeting my sons in Heaven, doesn’t bring much peace here though}; I am the youngest of 5 yet we are not a close knit family. At 53 I don’t know what to look forward to very often. I do serve {in church and as my profession as a massage therapist}. I have a few friends but most of them are close to their families. I struggle to find balance so exercise gets put on the back burner. I keep going but sometimes I don’t know why.
It is only when I truly look at this is my life that I get discouraged. I so need to find the God fidence to keep going so that I can be His salt and light. I want people to see the change. I know deep down God is enough but it is a challenge.
I understand your pain of lonlieness, Katrina. Sometimes I give all I can to just make it through the day. I like your use of the word “challenge” as we try to live a Godly life in this struggling and broken world. Maybe God is using us to minister to other brokenhearted women. I try to see how my life can be used to help others- some days are more optimistic than others, though. Keep your head up..remember, that way the shadows will fall behind you.
Blessings,
Tina
Katrina, I can relate to what you’re going through in a lot of ways. I’m 52, two years ago came home from work and found my husband had moved out and left the state. Took my beloved dog with him too, have never seen them again. Had all kinds of struggles since then, not only financially but in trying to find my confidence and identity again. My family lives close by but they are all doing their own thing most of the time, they do not “get” church at all and obviously feel uncomfortable when I bring it up…I started going to church again over a year ago (had been a believer for a long time but was not involved in church for some time) in an effort to become involved in the community aspect of church. I love it, but I still have a long way to go to be part of a circle of friends…I work with almost all men and really need women friends. Dating is a joke, everyone I know is married and besides, I don’t want to date anyone who is not a Christian…no one my age in the Singles group at church…thank goodness my dogs love me! Having said all that, I do enjoy being single, there really are a lot of good things about it, and I’ve learned through this study and a recent series at church that we are to rely on God to fill our needs (feel loved, cherished, valued, etc.), and so I’ve changed my way of thinking quite a bit, why do I think I even need to date someone? for instance. Anyway, there are some days too where I just can’t help but feel lonely but the way I handle that is to call people I haven’t talked to in a while, have something to look forward to like a movie or whatever. I also serve at church and have a lot of other things to do that I’m interested in (read, learn to play an instrument, etc.). Exercise is good too, but you have to force yourself to make it a habit, but then you’ll miss it when you don’t! I’m glad you found this study, please let the words sink in and I just know they’ll make a difference, even if you have to read the book more than once! :^)
Katrina, years ago when i was having a hard spot, someone suggested going to the hospital and spend time rocking a newborn. There was a mom who was sick and couldn’t take care of her baby. But that baby needed to be held, comforted, sang to, rocked, it needed a human’s warmth (our warmth). There’s a wonderful feeling of love in being a part of a baby’s little beginning world.
I heard Dr. Charles Stanley preach a sermon a few years ago that I have never forgotten. My daughter was a member of his church at the time and the sermon was on being God’s masterpiece. He described it as a tapestry. On the one side, it is so ugly with threads going in and out with no direction. It looks a mess and doesn’t appear that anything beautiful could come out of it. But if you turn the tapestry over, there is a beautiful picture that emerges. God knows all our “ugly threads” weaving in and out of our lives…our failures, mistakes and sin. But He also, sees the beautiful picture that emerges as we continue to study His Word, give Him our whole heart and walk in HIs will.
I love that visual and Dr. Stanley…Thank you for sharing…Peggy
Mabel, I too heard that sermon by Dr. Stanley and though it was a great visual of how God takes us, baggage and all, and creates in us a beautiful picture of our lives. The picture He had for us all along, He was just waiting for us to see ourselves the way He does…as a masterpiece. Wow…a masterpiece…we are truly loved.