Wonderstruck- Week 6

Ladies-

Welcome back to online Bible study for women, today we complete our Wonderstruck study by Margaret Feinberg. What an amazing six weeks of Bible study! I hope that you all enjoyed each week of study as Margaret framed the topics of divine expectation, God’s presence, rest, prayer, friendship and forgiveness.

This week we focused on forgiveness and how God forgives you personally. The Bible is rich with stories of forgiveness and grace extended to the undeserving. Allow freedom to sink into your heart when you forgive others. Bless those that you forgive.  I absolutely loved that topic---blessing them.  What an easy step to skip. 

The consequence of unforgiveness is bitterness, resentment and anger. If you struggle in this area, pray constantly and ask the Lord to teach you to forgive. It’s time to realize that we are Daughters of the King, forgiven and free.  Take what God has given you and forgive others.  To do so takes the burden and puts it at the foot of the cross. When struggling with forgiving others it is important to remind ourselves “Jesus loves her too” and then we will see someone from His perspective.

Ladies, Embrace freedom. Live wonderstruck in the Presence of the Lord. After these last six weeks of Bible study, you should have a new vision and an expectation of wonder.

Be blessed and be free in Him!!


Group Discussion- Answer below or with your small group

1. How does reflecting on God’s forgiveness, and the experience of creating the list of 30 things God has forgiven you, strengthen your resolve to forgive others? (page 141)
2. When have you felt like a prisoner of unforgiveness? (page 151)
3. How does forgiving others make you feel freer? (page 153)
4. Do you pray blessing on those you have forgiven?

Wonderstruck- Week 5

Welcome back to online Bible study for women as we continue Wonderstruck by Margaret Feinberg. This week we’re discussing week five from the workbook, with only two more weeks to enjoy!

Our focus this week has been on the wonder of friendships. I hope you have been able to look at the questions on page 108 and discover joy in your friendships. If you have not already done so, you can make a coffee date this week with one of your friends or someone you’d like to know better and go over the questions.  

 

As you read the five daily lessons from Wonderstruck  this week, you learned about healthy and unhealthy friendships. We all have both of these in our lives and Margaret challenged you to set some friendships in order with “The Difficult Conversation” TDC.  Hmmmmm- did anyone have to set any friendships on order?

I hope that if you took nothing else away from this week's lessons it is the reminder that Jesus is the only Friend we really ever need. Many of us have had the experience of losing a friendship and not knowing why, or of feeling lonely with no one to share our triumphs or sorrows.  This is never easy, but during these seasons you can always go to the one friend that will never abandon you.  Remember that He understands as He also experienced this when His own friends abandoned Him, King of Kings.    Talk to your Friend, give Him your worries, and seek His opinion instead of your friends.  He will be there for you, and He will also show you the friends in your life. 

 For Next Week

• Read Week Six in your book.
• Listen to Video Session Six (optional due to cost)

Group Discussion- Answer below or with your small group

1. When have you felt the pain of unrequited friendships? (page 110)
2. What three things should we look for in identifying the good company we need to keep? (page 113)
3. Who in your life has been a Paul to you (a spiritual mother or father) encouraging you to grow in your relationship with Jesus? Page 117)
4. Who in your life are you being a Paul to…encouraging them to grow in the fullness of being a follower of Jesus? (page 117)

Wonderstruck- Week 4

Welcome to week four of Wonderstruck by Margaret Feinberg. This was a fantastic week of studying prayer and the many ways that Jesus prayed.  If you take nothing else away from this week's study, please let it be as Margaret wrote “Prayer is simply communicating with God. Through prayer we both listen and talk to God.”

I love how she pointed out that prayer is short.  Granted, prayer will take on many timeframes and will fit the situation both lengthy and short, but I appreciated knowing that a quick short prayer is ok too.  We saw how Jesus prayed alone, prayed for someone, or prayed in public. He did this not only where He was without preparing, but He also showed us that He prepared at other times by being alone on purpose or getting up early.  I say this because we need to know that prayer should be simple, we do not need to stress to get it all right by over planning our conversation with God.

The pivotal point of the week for me was reading Jesus' prayers while on the cross.  I literally cried when I really saw the wording of who He was directing His prayers too.  On pages 100 and 101 Jesus prays to His father, to God, and finally to His father again.  In the middle prayer He was separated from the relationship with His father as He took on our sin.  I felt so humbled and saddened all at once by the depth of His love.

I challenge you to begin a prayer journal if you have not already done so.  Take note of the conversations you have with God, and the answers you receive.  Note the timeframes it takes for the answers, and maybe even note your feelings about the answers you get.

This Week

• Read Week Five in your book.
• Listen to Video Session Five (optional due to cost)

Group Discussion- Answer below or with your small group

1. What helps you keep a steady rhythm in your prayer life? (page 87)
2. When have you felt abandoned by God? How did you respond? (page 101)
3. Do you ever just talk with your Abba? 
4. Of the 9 prayers by Jesus that was discussed, what challenges you the most about prayer life?

Wonderstruck- Week 3

Welcome back to another week of online Bible study for women as we study Wonderstruck by Margaret Feinberg. This week we studied the wonder of rest.  Did you make any changes in your schedule this week? Tomorrow is the Sabbath-will you rest?  As we studied, rest is about renewing your mind and your body.  Are you taking time to find peace of mind, settle down, withdraw and improve your health?

Margaret Feinberg suggests adding reflection and relaxation time into your schedule. She writes “The pause awakens us to God…when I’m physically tired, weary or stressed, I’m less likely to live with an awareness of the Holy Spirit.” Then she gave us two helpful tools for resting- the art of saying “no” and the activities list we created on page 73 in the workbook.  I have often struggled with being able to say "no" and would suffer because of it.  Not only me, but my family as well.  I was too busy and too tired to be there to attend to their needs, let alone spend time with God. 

On my dining room wall hangs a beautiful scenic picture that has the verse, " Be still and know that I am God".  I had to hang it in the most used room of the house in order to be aware that God wants me to rest so that I can be there for Him and for my family.  It is extremely important that we create that quiet place in our lives where we sit and reflect. There is simplicity in resting…my prayer is that sometime this week you’ll find that quiet place to be!

For Next Week

• Read Week Four in your book.
• Listen to Video Session Four (optional due to cost)

Group Discussion- Answer in our FaceBook  group

1. What challenge do you have in slowing down and resting more?
2. In what areas of your life are you prone to overcommit and overextend yourself?
3. What happens when you spend more time with Jesus, how do you feel while “resting in Him?”
4. Did you select an activity from your list on page 73 and make time for it last week?