Small Group Recap 1/27

So here’s what went down last night at small group:

Kendall: shared some downright godly wisdom about life and such things without even knowing it. God obviously speaks through her in a very real way, and we’re so happy to have her influence around us. Also, please pray for Kendall and her family. They’ve got a lot of possibly serious medical issues going on, and if you’ve ever been down that road, you know that prayer and miracles are the only things that can really help.

Brittney: is learning some very valuable things about being a wife. Sometimes it’s hard to be unselfish, but when you’re married to a (wonderful) hard-working man, going the extra mile for someone else without expecting anything in return is the best thing you can do.

Lydia: also imparted some accidental wisdom on God’s behalf. By defining for us the term “miracles” she brought light to the fact that miracles can be anything from a physical healing to an emotional healing to just coming out of a bad time or being clear of a bad time… In other words, life is a miracle; a fact we forget much too often.

Landon: needs our prayers. Please pray for her soul to settle down and for her to be able to see the fruits of her relationship with Christ. We love you, Landon!

Tiffany: is just coming out of a 3-week fast, which is something we’ll hopefully soon have more to share about. That kind of dedication always reaps a result, and let’s hope that result was what Tiffany and her church, Mount Zion, were praying for. That is, direction for said church.

Elizabeth: …Let’s pray for her in general. I don’t know what’s going on in her life since I had to leave small group, but praying that she finds strength, boldness, healing, or whatever she’s wanting in Christ should pretty much cover it.

Anna: finally has a phone again! I know, that doesn’t let us know about what’s really going on in her life, but that’s pretty much what came up in small group.

And Me…: I’ve been feeling really good so far. I’m on my 5th day of being in a relationship with Jesus, and I can’t help but look forward to the 50th, 500th, and 500,000th. He’s been showing me a lot of how Christians should act by leading me to read 1 Timothy in my quiet time. For any  new Christians out there, or older ones who haven’t read these books yet, I definitely advise reading 1 Timothy-James in the new testament. Reading a chapter a day, it will only take 32 days to finish all 5 books (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James) and they all apply directly to living every day for Christ.

To Megan, Kirstie, Miranda, and Amber – we miss you guys! We love you so much and, every week, wish you were with us. If you girls are reading this, how ’bout commenting on this post and tell us how you’ve been? We’d love to hear from you.

I love all of you so much, and I’m honored to be able to spend time growing and learning with you beautiful ladies.

–Dani

Small Recap 6/24

For those of you who weren’t able to be at small group yesterday, here’s some of the highlights:

John 15:  “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.  By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”

Are you abiding in Him day to day?

There’s a part of the maturing process that occurs when we no longer sum up our weeks by all the bad stuff that happened, people who made us mad, or things that didn’t go our way.

God is good every day of every week. If we can’t think of anything good He’s done, it’s not because He didn’t do anything–it’s because we’re so focused on us that we miss the ways He’s at work.

When we are wrapped up in Him, we begin to ask Him for things that aren’t always about us. And He does them. Because when we ask and He does things that we couldn’t have done on our own, only He gets the glory for that.

So, what are you asking for? What are you believing God for? Get the big picture in mind! What is in your heart that you long to see Him do for someone else? He wants to blow your mind with the things He will do when you ask Him for things out of a desire to see His glory.

Yeah, you shoulda been there

–Tiffany

Elizabeth’s thoughts on healing and the Holy Spirit

So, last Friday night Elizabeth and Lydia came to the second Kingdom Culture service in Greenville. Kingdom Culture is a new ministry that is meeting once a month on Friday nights to worship God, pray for people, challenge the Church to work together, and seek God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our everyday lives. The  service was really awesome, and we saw God do all kinds of stuff… but I’ll let Elizabeth tell ya a little more about it:

Have you ever seen someone prayer for and healed? If not, do you believe God can do it? Why or why not?

We already have hearts to follow Him

First let me say that God knows me. He made me, and there is no one who knows me better. In Psalm 139 it says He knows when I sit and rise, when I go out and when I lie down and before I speak He knows what I’m going to say. But sometimes I wonder if I know Him well enough. I always wonder when I hear Him if it’s me or Him thinking in my mind. Anyone else? How can I be discerning?

In John 10 it says that we will know His voice when He speaks to us, how encouraging is that! He came so we could have life, and have it to the full. So how do I ensure that happens? I know three ways for sure: 1) Have a DAILY walk with Him. This means getting up in the morning and making Him my first priority. I make it a point to get up 30 extra minutes early to read, and I have sacrificed my sleep, but it has been SO worth it! If you don’t have time, this could mean a prayer or journal entry or even just open your Bible to the Psalms in the morning and read one. Ask Him to be with you constantly in your day and make Himself known. 2) Righteousness and humility. James 1:22 tells us not to just listen to the word, but to do what it says. 3) A constant prayer life. I could have a whole separate entry on this later. My main principles are to make it conversational and frequent, and remember to thank Him.

Jeremiah 24:7 says “I will give them a heart to follow me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God.” That verse encourages me so much, the fact that He has already prepared our hearts to follow Him and know Him intimately. I want to know Him! So if you hear Him today, do not harden your hearts.

- Claire

Check it out: God heals a Clemson student’s scar from rape

I read this post by Emily McCanless over on the Clemson Awakening blog and was absolutely ecstatic. She was raped in 9th grade and was left with a horrible scar on her wrist. Check out what God did when she decided to believe this verse:

“I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain,’Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:23-24

What do you think? Can you believe God with that kind of faith?

–Tiffany