What is your personal Bible study like right now? Do you feel fulfilled and drawn closer to the Lord through time in scripture? Barely squeaking out 10 minutes of Bible reading in a week? Stuck in a passage that you can’t for the life of you understand? This week’s interview is with a woman who would relate to all of these sentiments: Millicent Gillogly.
Living in community means we get to see how other believers live out a Christ centered life. When we see other women prioritizing and valuing the study of God’s Word, it helps us to see how it can fit into our lives. Interviewing women in our church about their Bible study has given me some great encouragement in that: 1) There are creative ways to keep God’s Word in front of us during busy seasons, and 2) Many women in our church take the study of God’s Word seriously.
This summer I got to interview several amazing women from our church that are in different life stages. I had asked the blog team if we could do some digging into the way women are studying the Bible at CRBC. There was a selfish motive in asking to do this as I have a two month old and need ideas as to how I can effectively study God’s Word in my new season. It is hard when we have life shifts, to either stick with our current study or to find an effective new process.
Two weeks ago, I was held at gunpoint by two men.
Six days later, Pastor Rick asked at the start of his sermon on Revelation 13, “Do you believe there is such a thing as evil in the world today?” Through tears, I thought, Yes. I stared it in the face. The sermon ultimately culminated with our great hope that God is in control. Eternal Victory is the Lord’s.
Everyday, we are becoming something. We are either becoming more like the world or more like Jesus. As Christians, we can often ask ourselves, “How do I become like Christ?” Personally, if this question is asked, I immediately come up with a to-do list: read my Bible, pray, go to church, serve, bear good fruit, etc. I could come up with a million ways to become more like Christ and if I could figure out a way to perform some miracles here and there, then I would really be set!
Sometimes self care can get a bad reputation, especially in the Christian world. “Aren’t we supposed to serve others?” “Shouldn’t I think of others before myself?” These are common questions I get asked when helping women move towards prioritizing themselves so they no longer feel overwhelmed wanting to escape and numb their lives.
Right now we are being inundated with advertising trying to sell us the secret to everything from weight loss, relationships, meditation, time management, and happiness itself. Marketers know that people often feel stuck in old habits and are looking for help in the new year. But what if we have it backwards. What if we need to look backwards and inwards before we look forward and reach outwards for help?
