Scripture: Jeremiah 17:7, 8
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit” (NIV).
Psalm 34:8
“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.”
Galatians 2:20
“I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Decorations
Gather recipe books, self–help books, and magazine covers that promise to change your life in no time.
Activity
Show the trailer for the show “Nailed It” on Netflix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb7CBZ952zs
Play your own game of nailed it. Have a sample (real-life or photograph) of what you want the women to create. Provide the supplies, set a time limit, and go. For larger groups, you can have teams of 2-3 people.
Example: Decorate a Spring or St. Patrick’s day cupcake or a beehive cupcake.
- https://www.aboutamom.com/st-patricks-day-rainbow-cupcakes
- https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/beehive-cupcakes/cb66d9ec-16a3-4032-8c0a-cacb6985b550
Christ’s Goodness in My Life
I’ve learned over the years that my family and I do best when there is a menu to follow. It helps with grocery shopping and answers the never-ending question of “Mom, what’s for dinner?” Day to day, this question can be exhausting for me. When there is no plan, it is much easier to hit the drive-thru.
My girls are getting into their teenage years, and there is new pressure to make sure they are ready for adulthood. So, we started a new way to menu plan. Every person in the house chooses a meal and is responsible for cooking or helping cook that meal. Not only does this take some pressure off of menu planning for me, but it teaches them some essential cooking skills. It’s incredible how much more willing kids are to try the things they cooked themselves. My middle daughter has discovered the joy of trying new things, especially when she has a recipe that tells her exactly how to do it.
Sometimes we wish there was a recipe for the perfect life. Add one college degree, a spouse and three kids. A specific job that pays top dollar. Have this person and also this person as your friends. Run 5 miles each morning. Acquire a dog and cat. Drive the perfect car. You get the picture. What does it take to have a perfect life? The answer doesn’t come in material things or relationships. The ideal life comes from knowing God and living a life that is pleasing to Him. Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.”
I grew up going to church and attending a Christian school. In these spaces, I learned how to be godly and cultivate Christ’s goodness in my life. I memorized Scripture, read the Bible, learned how to pray, learned how to defend my faith, learned how to tell others about the gospel, learned how to act and what to say. As humans, we aren’t automatically godly; our sinful nature prevents that. We have to learn and train and work at it, just like we prepare for many things in life. Why? Because we want to be successful. As kids, we might train for various sports, musical instruments, or speech classes. As we enter adulthood, we prepare for a career, and most of us continue to train and improve as the years go on. If we choose to get married or have kids, we prepare for that by reading books and blogs and asking friends and family how it’s done.
We might train for a marathon or even prepare to get healthy or lose weight if we are ambitious. There are thousands of books out there that teach you how to lose weight, how to unclutter, how to be a great parent and how to get rich. How many times are we looking for a quick fix? Add the words “in 30 days” to your book title, and you’ll probably double your book sales. I recently read a book titled “How to declutter your life in 7 days.” Sure, there was a 7-day plan, but the expectations were ridiculous. The author wanted me to clean out my entire wardrobe one morning before work. Even she admitted she did this plan in the span of 6 months.
The same goes for our spiritual life. We want a quick fix from God for all our problems. We don’t want to change our lives but want all the benefits of a healthy spiritual life. We don’t want to spend quality time in God’s word and prayer, but we want God to make our life perfect. We must be willing to follow God’s how-to book- the Bible. Only His recipes of salvation and holiness will create changes in our life. If we don’t exercise our faith, we will only get fat on all the knowledge we are accumulating. The excuses are easy, but training is necessary for our growth, godliness, and witness to others. Thank goodness we have the example of Jesus Christ and the Spirit to guide us down the path of righteousness. No luck is involved, just dedication and hard work to cultivate Christ’s goodness in us.
Song
“Build My Life” https://youtu.be/Z32HiCoFzlU.
