Welcome to Confident in This!
Scroll to today's date for a daily worship song, guided study of God's
Word, and prayer. This week's topic is very important. Please talk to your small group leader if you have questions. We would all 4 be happy to have an open and honest conversation about this difficult topic!
Scripture:
Ephesians 5:15-17
Be careful then, how you live—not as unwise as
wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but
understand what the Lord’s will is.
1 Thessalonians 4:7
For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a
holy life.
Proverbs 4:23
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything
you do flows from it.
Thursday, September 26
Worship-
Study-
Read all three scriptures above. This week is based on Andy Stanley’s sermon series called “Guardrails.” Guardrails are the things on the side of the
road that keep you from going off the side of a bridge or into on coming
traffic. When driving, we rarely
think, “I wish those guardrails weren’t there because I think I could get away
with driving a little closer to the edge without getting falling off.” But in life, we do tend to do this. “I
wonder what all is okay to do with a boy without actually having sex.” “The Bible doesn’t say anything about
doing this, does it?”
Think-
When in your life have you wondered how far you
could go without something actually being “wrong?” (Write down your answers in a journal this week.)
Pray-
Praise God for who he is. Thank him for your
blessings. Pray that God would show you areas of your life where you
haven’t set up guardrails to keep you from steering too close to risky
behavior.
Review-
This week in FpStudents, Zac talked about Philippians 1:21-26. Reread this scripture and review your notes. Throughout the day, focus on what's motivating you.
Review-
This week in FpStudents, Zac talked about Philippians 1:21-26. Reread this scripture and review your notes. Throughout the day, focus on what's motivating you.
Friday, September 27
Worship-
Study-
Read the Thessalonians verse. Two week’s ago, this blog talked about
the plan and purpose God has for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11.)
Last week, we looked in detail at how God created us especially for that
purpose (Psalm 139.) Matthew 7:11
says that He is like a loving dad who wants to give us good things. God is
constantly working all things together for our good (see Romans 8:28) and what
some people view as legalistic rules are actually for the purpose of keeping us
right in the middle of God’s best for us.
When it comes to sex, God’s best is for us to be married for many
reasons—he wants you to have something special with your husband that you’ve
never shared with anyone else; he doesn’t want you to have to associate sex
with guilt; he doesn’t want you to compromise your dreams to deal with
consequences; he doesn’t want you to have to experience the excruciating pain
of ending a relationship that has been that intimate.
Think-
What are some things that you hope for in your
future? How could sex affect those
things? (Write down your answers
in a journal this week.)
Pray-
Praise God for who he is. Thank him for your
blessings. Pray that God would make his best for you your greatest
desire.
Review-
This week in FpStudents, Zac talked about Philippians 1:21-26. Reread this scripture and review your notes. Throughout the day, focus on what's motivating you.
Saturday, September 28
This week in FpStudents, Zac talked about Philippians 1:21-26. Reread this scripture and review your notes. Throughout the day, focus on what's motivating you.
Saturday, September 28
Worship-
Study-
Read the Proverbs verse. At this point in your life, there are probably some things
that you have decided you will not do because you know that they could lead to
disastrous consequences. But have
you set up guardrails to “guard your heart” from getting too close to those
things? Guardrails are “a personal
standard of behavior that becomes a matter of conscience” (Andy Stanley). This means you make additional
decisions for yourself not to do certain things, because those things could
eventually lead you dangerously close to that “big deal thing” you’ve committed
not to do. If you have decided
that sex before marriage is one of the “big deal things” that you plan not to
do because you want to wait for God’s best, you also have to set some other
personal guardrails for your dating relationships to make sure that you don’t
get too dangerously close to driving off the edge.
Think-
Do you plan to have sex before marriage? What is your reasoning one way or the
other? (Write your answers in a
journal this week.)
Pray-
Praise God for who he is. Thank him for your
blessings. Pray that God would help you establish guardrails to keep you
from compromising your plans for dating relationships.
Review-
This week in FpStudents, Zac talked about Philippians 1:21-26. Reread this scripture and review your notes. Throughout the day, focus on what's motivating you.
Sunday, September 29
This week in FpStudents, Zac talked about Philippians 1:21-26. Reread this scripture and review your notes. Throughout the day, focus on what's motivating you.
Sunday, September 29
Worship-
Study-
Guardrails are personal. They aren’t a list of rules that should be the same for
everybody. They should, however,
be made with lots of careful consideration. Pray about them.
Talk to a Christian adult about it. If you don’t feel like you can talk to your mom, come find
one of your small group leaders.
All four of us are willing to openly and honestly give advice from our
experience. No one plans to mess
up her life of purpose. But lots
of people never plan not to. And
when you don’t put guardrails in place to keep you from danger, you slowly,
over time, drift over into the danger zone.
Think-
Do you have personal standards for your dating
relationships besides just a decision about sex? If so, what are they?
If not, what are some that you think you might need to pray about or
talk to someone about? (Write your answers in a journal this week.)
Pray-
Praise God for who he is. Thank him for your blessings.
Pray that God would reveal to you exactly what guard rails you personally
need to commit to.
Review-
This week in FpStudents, Zac talked about Philippians 1:21-26. Reread this scripture and review your notes. Throughout the day, focus on what's motivating you.
Monday, September 30
This week in FpStudents, Zac talked about Philippians 1:21-26. Reread this scripture and review your notes. Throughout the day, focus on what's motivating you.
Monday, September 30
Worship-
Study-
Let’s dig into the Ephesians verse this
morning. Read verses 15 and
16. In verse 16, we are encouraged
to “make the most of every opportunity.”
Contrary to what some people might want this to mean, this is not
the Bible’s way of saying “YOLO!”
This means that you must BE INTENTIONAL in the decisions that you
make. Don’t wait until you’re in a
situation to decide what you will and won’t do. When you’re in the situation, hormones have this crazy way
of filling your head with excuses—We’re in love; I’m mature enough; we won’t
let it go too far; if I don’t, he’ll think I’m a tease; we’re going to get
married eventually anyway. That’s
exactly what verse 16 means by “the days are evil.” If we’re already in the middle of it, temptation is too
strong. You have to make
intentional decisions now that will keep you from those situations.
Think-
Continue to focus on the list of guardrails you
started yesterday. Think about
each one. Is it enough to protect
me? If you haven’t yet, plan a
conversation with your small group leader or another Christian lady to honestly
and openly discuss your guardrails. (Write your answers in a journal this
week.)
Pray-
Praise God for who he is. Thank him for your
blessings. Pray over each other the guardrails you wrote down. Make each one a heartfelt commitment to
God.
Review-
This week in FpStudents, Zac talked about Philippians 1:21-26. Reread this scripture and review your notes. Throughout the day, focus on what's motivating you.
Tuesday, October 1
This week in FpStudents, Zac talked about Philippians 1:21-26. Reread this scripture and review your notes. Throughout the day, focus on what's motivating you.
Tuesday, October 1
Worship-
Study-
Read Ephesians 5:17. Understand what the Lord’s will is? What kind of crazy command is
that? It’s like if you were in math
class and you told the teacher you needed help with #17 and he just says,
“Understand!” So helpful! :-) But a
better translation of this verb is “to face up to,” “to embrace,” “to
accept.” Basically, Paul is
saying, “Stop deceiving yourselves.”
You know what God wants from you… Just do it. God wants us to set guardrails for our relationships. He wants us to guard our hearts
(Proverbs 4:23). It may seem
unnecessary right now. Maybe sex
isn’t a temptation for you yet. Maybe
you don’t have a boyfriend. But
“the days are evil” (Eph. 5:17).
By the time you realize need your guardrails, you may already have one
tire off the edge of the bridge.
So decide now.
Think-
Have you deceived yourself by saying that this
doesn’t apply to you? What will
you do about it? (Write your answers in a journal this week.)
Pray-
Praise God for who he is. Thank him for your
blessings. Pray that God would reveal any area of your life where you
aren’t embracing God’s will for you.
Review-
This week in FpStudents, Zac talked about Philippians 1:21-26. Reread this scripture and review your notes. Throughout the day, focus on what's motivating you.
This week in FpStudents, Zac talked about Philippians 1:21-26. Reread this scripture and review your notes. Throughout the day, focus on what's motivating you.
Wednesday, October 2
Worship-
Study-
Undoubtedly, there is someone reading this who
thinks, it’s already too late.
I’ve already got one tire off the edge of the bridge or maybe the whole
dang car is already sinking.
That’s where grace comes in.
2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power
is made perfect in weakness.” God’s grace is big enough to cover anything. And his power is strong enough to keep
you from doing it again. It’s so
tempting to say, “Well, I’ve already screwed this up. There’s no point in quitting now.” But 2 Corinthians 5:12 says that we are a new creation. If you’ve asked forgiveness, that
person who did that is gone now.
You’re free. Let yourself
off the hook. Start setting up
some guardrails just like everyone else.
Think-
Is there something you regret that you haven’t
forgiven yourself for? Do you
believe that God is strong enough to cover that?
Pray-
Praise God for who he is. Thank him for your
blessings. Turn over any regrets you have to God. Pray that his grace would be sufficient
and that you would continue to beat yourself up over it or continue in the same
decision.
Review-
This week in FpStudents, Zac talked about Philippians 1:21-26. Reread this scripture and review your notes. Throughout the day, focus on what's motivating you.
