June's Girlfriends Breakfast - Learning and Unlearning

What a wonderful time with some amazing ladies on Saturday! Thank you all so much for coming. And thank you to Lori Quissenberry and Sharon Neufeld for making yummy breakfast casseroles!

This month we dug a bit deeper into God's Truth and how to know the difference between a truth and a lie.

"Half of all spiritual growth is learning things you didn't know, the other half is unlearning what you do" from In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson

From the time we are born we are in a constant state of learning. Unfortunately not everything we learn is Truth. It can be so similar to truth, however, that we have a hard time even knowing that it isn't Truth. I (Jill) asked the Lord why it's so hard to see the difference between truths and lies and here's a word picture he gave me.

{I took pictures to help make it easier to understand}

This pin represents truth-God's Truth. Plain and simple. Easy to see when it's by itself.
This pin represents lies. Very similar to truth but obviously different.

When they're next to each other it's obvious which is which. Truth vs lie. Easy to see.

I believe what the enemy (the father of lies) does is come into our life and sprinkle some more lies near our truth making it harder and harder to see the truth clearly.

Frankly I think he comes in with a whole dump truck full of lies. It buries the truth. Can you see the truth in that pile? I promise I didn't move it. Just added lies to it.

I think that people in general - and then God said me specifically and other Christians - stop there. We just look at the pile and try our best to find the truth but we don't ever sort through the lies or remove them. We just keep looking for that one pin in the midst of all the rest. It's so hard to see!

The Bible says "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Luke 11:9 No where does it say, sit back, relax and the truth will come and smack you on the face! Ask, seek and knock are action verbs. We must actually do something. Like dig through that pile of lies in a desperate search for the truth! Don't just stare at it, sort it. Throw away the lies. Search for the truth. God promises that you will find it! It may take time but it's there. That's the truth!

Some of the lies that we have believed are about God and the Trinity. We've absorbed what we've been told or experienced and we've believed it to be true and we've never really known any different. Our ideas about Who God is and Who the Trinity is is so powerful in affecting our relationship with Him and with others. The enemy has clouded our understanding of God and therefore kept us from Him.

When you think of God the Father, how would you describe Him? Distant? Judgement? Holy?

Some words I have found are: Holy, Just, jealous, patient, loving, Almighty, Provider, Creator, Life-giver, Healer, Righteous, Peace, Master, Shepherd, Our Banner, Fortress, King, Shield, Refuge, Deliverer, Strong Tower, Rock, Seer, Savior, God of the covenant, I Am.

God the Father is Holy and we are to have a holy fear (awe and reverence) for Him. If He came into the room right now what would your posture be? I would be on my face in the presence of His holiness. God hates sin because He loves us so much. Sin is what keeps us from Him. How would we live differently if we understood the hatred for sin? If we hated sin like God does? It would change us!

Who is God the Son and what words would you use to describe Jesus?

A few names: God with us, Anointed One, Shepherd, King of Kings, Deliverer, Advocate, Ancient of Days, Cornerstone, Immanuel, Head of the Body, Great High Priest, Lamb of God, Savior, Healer, Coming King, Sinless, Grace, Mercy, Redeemer and Friend.

He's our friend! He conquered death for us! He's merciful. All true but we tend to end there - sticking with the "feel-goodness" of Jesus. There's so much more!

Who is the Holy Spirit and how would you describe Him?

A few names: Counselor, Comfortor, Baptizer, Advocate, Strengthener, Spirit of Truth, Spirit of Grace, Spirit of Mercy, Spirit of God, Spirit of Holiness, Spirit of Life, Breath, Wind, Fire, Water, Oil, Light, Dove, Wisdom, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Gentleness, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness and Self-control.

The Holy Spirit is God IN us! When we ask for patience/love/wisdom etc...God sends us His Holy Spirit. But sometimes that's all we seek. We get stuck there.

The Trinity has 3 parts. There are seasons when we need and rely on each different part but we can't ever leave the others out. They have a purpose.

What is your favorite food? Chocolate? Imagine if you were on an island and your favorite food was all you had to eat...forever. How long would that sustain you?

We do that with God. We find our favorite part of Him and stay there. And then we wonder why we aren't growing, why we are literally starving our spirit. He is a balanced God and we are to know all of Him - not just our favorite parts.

To know all of God we must be knowers of the Word. And again, not just our favorite parts of the Word but all of it. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are throughout the entire Bible. To know the Word better is to know the Trinity better. Don't leave any one part of the God-head out. They all work together to grow us, mold us, save us, love us, change us.

In order to continue to learn and unlearn we must saturate ourselves in truth. Dig out and get rid of the yellow pins. Identify truth and cling to it! We MUST NOT quench the spirit. He is the giver of Truth and Wisdom. He is the reveal-er of lies. He will lead us to a deeper relationship with the Trinity.

Think about what you have learned about God and the Trinity. What was taught to you when you were growing up? What do you need to unlearn? What do you need to learn? How will this affect all of your relationships?