Looking for a Bible study to do with a group of teen girls?  Check out the Young Women Active for Christ Bible Studies published by Women Nationally Active for Christ.  All the studies are free, and they are available to be downloaded at http://www.wnac.org/file-downloads/ywac/.

YWAC Bible Study for February

The February Young Women Active for Christ Bible Study is available online now! Go to www.wnac.org and check it out!

YWAC May Bible Study Now Online

The May Bible Study for Young Women Active for Christ is now available online!

This month's study is about letting God's love shine through your life. Click on the link above to check it out!

Shine in Love

Philippians 2:15 says, “That ye may be blameless and harmless the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.” How can we “shine as lights” in such a dark and sinful world? We can share God’s love with one another.

I am sitting at my computer after almost three days without electricity. There are over 200 people in my city that are missing. Houses have been destroyed. The hospitals are so full that they have had to turn people away. People have been killed.

It is a fact that I live in a broken and hurting world. On Wednesday, April 27, several deadly tornadoes tore through the southern United States. They left miles of destruction behind them. Now that the storms are over, there are people all throughout my city and state that are left with nothing.

How can I shine in such a dark circumstance? By sharing God’s love with the hurting people around me.

What is love?

Paul described it like this in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never fails…”

This is not your typical hearts and flowers, romantic comedy kind of love. What Paul is talking about here is true, pure love. It is patient and kind. It does not envy, is not proud or boastful. It is not selfish and is not easily angered. It thinks no evil thoughts. It celebrates the truth. It withstands all trials. It is filled with hope and it doesn’t give up. This love never fails.

This kind of love is not something that comes naturally to us humans. It is a fruit of Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) – a kind of love that we can only get from God. It is the kind of love that God has for us. It is the kind of love that Jesus felt when He died on the cross for our sins.

I love that Paul used the word “charity” in his letter to the people at Corinth. When you think about giving to a charity, you usually don’t expect to get anything in return, right? We give charity to people that sometimes don’t deserve it. We sacrifice when we give to charity – with our time, money or both.

This love is charity. It is unconditional. It expects nothing in return. It is sometimes not deserved. And sometimes, we must make sacrifices to share it with others.

It is a kind of love that is hard to understand and hard to share. But Jesus commanded us to try.

In John 13:34-35, Jesus told His disciples, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another, as I have loved you… By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

In the last few days, I have seen some of God’s people do an extraordinary job of demonstrating His love. Churches all around my town have come together to provide disaster relief, food, shelter, financial and emotional support and prayer for the people affected by the recent storms. One church in town was actually hit by the tornado, and most of the church building was destroyed, but their members have been working constantly out of a trailer in their parking lot to supply others with water, food and first aid. These people have experienced a huge loss of their own, but they are still serving others. The only way to explain their selfless acts is God’s love.

The outpouring of love in the communities around me has been inspiring. It is so good to see God’s people doing what Jesus would do! But sharing God’s love is not just something we should do when bad things happen. Sharing God’s love is something we should do every single day.


This is an excerpt from the May 2011 Young Women Active for Christ Bible Study. I will post a link to the study as soon as it is published online. Please continue to be in prayer for Tuscaloosa and all the areas affected by these storms. I know that better days are coming, and that we will get through this - because of God's love for us. It is my prayer that we will not miss any opportunities to share the love of Christ as we rebuild this city.

YWAC Bible Study

Check out the NEW Young Women Active for Christ Bible Study for August!

It's available online now at www.wnac.org.

Young Women Active for Christ Bible Study for June

The new YWAC Bible Study for June 2010 is now available online at http://www.wnac.org/. This study can be used as an individual or a group study. It is written specifically for teen girls ages 11-18. Check it out and share it with your friends and the young women at your church! Click on the image above to go directly to the study.

May's YWAC Bible Study Available Online Now!

Be sure to check out this month's Young Women Active for Christ study online!

April's YWAC Study Available Online Now!

The new Bible study for Young Women Active for Christ is now available on the WNAC website. April is Missions Emphasis Month, so the study this month is about missions. Check it out!

"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Acts 1:8

Young Women Active for Christ Bible Study

Visit http://www.wnac.org/ to download your copy of the Teen Bible Study for March.

Using examples from the life of David, this month's study looks at fear and doubt and how to defeat them so we can live lives full of God's power!

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear: but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

2 Timothy 1:7

My second teen Bible study for WNAC is now available online. Go to http://www.wnac.org/ and click on the Young Women Active for Christ Bible Study link to download this month's study about dealing with disappointments.

Thanks for your prayers and support as I continue to write these studies each month.

"Lead Me To The Cross" by Hillsong United

Savior I come

Quiet my soul, remember

Redemption's hill

Where Your blood was spilled

For my ransom

Everything I once held dear

I count it all as loss

Lead me to the cross

Where your love poured out

Bring me to my knees

Lord, I lay me down

Rid me of myself

I belong to You

Lead me, Lead me to the cross

You were as I

Tempted and tried, Human

The Word became flesh

Bore my pain and death

Now You're risen

Everything I once held dear

I count it all as loss

Lead me to the cross

Where Your love poured out

Bring me to my knees

Lord, I lay me down

Rid me of myself

I belong to You

Lead me, Lead me to the cross...

"And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name." Acts 5:41 (KJV, emphasis added)

The disciples understood what it meant to be persecuted for their beliefs. They truly understood the sacrifice that Jesus had made for them. They knew what it meant to take up their crosses and follow Christ - and they were thankful to be able to do so.

My Sunday school lesson this week is about persecution. Last night's devotion was "We must trust God more than we fear men." (Acts 5:17-42)

The above verse (Acts 5:41), really spoke to me. The disciples had been arrested, thrown in jail, had to stand before the council and were badly beaten. And what did they do?

They REJOICED!

They didn't cry out to God with complaints. They didn't whine and pout. They didn't give up and give in to the demands of the council. They were THANKFUL that they had even been considered worthy to suffer for Christ!

Do we understand what it means to suffer today? Do we really know what it means to take up our crosses and stand out and be different in the name of the Lord?

I'm afraid that we have become controlled by fear. We don't want to look like one of those "Jesus Freaks." We're afraid that if anything seems out of place, people will judge us. We're afraid that if things aren't perfect, people will wonder what we did to deserve punishment. We're afraid that if we freely worship God and raise our hands to Him in praise that people will think we're weird. We definitely don't consider it an honor to suffer for Christ.

But that's exactly how the disciples felt. See, they had witnessed the Savior be beaten and die on the cross. They had seen Him die, they had seen Him after He rose from the dead, and they believed in Him.

They didn't care what men thought about them. They didn't care what traditions and rituals they broke ("...We ought to obey God rather than men." - Acts 5:29) They had life-changing news to share and if they had to share it while they were being beaten and stoned, so be it.

They suffered joyfully. (See 1 Peter 4:12-19)

But what does that mean for us today? We don't have to fear being stoned to death for our beliefs, but our fears are just as real. We fear being ostracized by friends, having to miss out on certain activities, or not getting that promotion if we stand up for what's right. But take heart!

We were promised that we would suffer in this world. "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." 2 Timothy 3:12

But Jesus also promised us that we would be rewarded for our faithfulness and perseverance. "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you." Matthew 5:11-12

So if you're struggling, rejoice in the Lord.

Remember how Jesus suffered for you, and remember that He is still with you always. Consider it an honor to suffer for Christ. He considered it an honor to die for you.

The Sheep and the Goats

"When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." Matthew 25:31-46

A couple of days ago, I was reading a note that one of my friends wrote on his facebook page about investing. He quoted the story of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. He made some good points. However, he said that investing in people was not wise (this was not the main point of his note, but it was the one part that spoke to me the most).

But if we read the rest of Matthew 25, we see that investing in people is not only a wise investment that is worth the risk, but it is also a commandment.

God has invested a lot in us. He lovingly created each of us, investing His time and creativity into each of our lives. He sent us His only Son to die for us so that we could be saved. He has definitely made a hefty investment in us.

My friend's main point was that we should work to give God a good return on His investment. I agree. After we accept Jesus into our hearts, every day of our lives should be lived for Him. We should chase after His Spirit and use the talents and abilities that He has blessed us with to work for Him and further His kingdom. (Just like the parable in Matthew 25:14-30.) We will never be able to repay Jesus for what He has done for us, but when we live a Spirit-filled life that honors and glorifies Him, that pleases Him.

And part of living a Spirit-filled life for Christ is investing in people.

Matthew 25:31-46 talks mainly about supplying the physical needs of people out of love and compassion. We are commanded in 1 John 4:7-8 and John 13:34-35 to "love one another." You can't love someone without investing your time and heart into them.

I understand that people are a risky investment. They mess up. They hurt our feelings. They don't always return our love. But the risk is worth the reward.

In Matthew 25:31-46, we see 4 things:

1. The Judge Will Come: (Matt 25:31) Jesus is coming back. He never said "if the Son of man returns," but always said "when the Son of man shall come." He is coming back. Are you ready for His return?
2. All Will Be Judged: (Matt 25:32-33) No one escapes judgment. Hebrews 9:27 says "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Matthew 12:36 says " But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." We will all be judged. And how we treat people will be part of that judgment.
3. The Righteous Will Be Blessed: (Matt 25:34-40) Those that invest in people and sharing the love of Christ will be blessed. Matthew 5:12a "Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven!"
4. The Wicked Will Be Cursed: (Matt 25:41-46) It is so sad to me that people miss out on all the blessings of this lifetime because of fear. We fear the unknown, we fear rejection, and we are so often too afraid to do what God is leading us to do. We cannot let fear - or the risks of investing in an imperfect people - keep us from doing God's work. We will be judged for what we do - and those that don't show love and compassion will be cursed.

The Savior will come again. He will separate us into two groups: the sheep on His right hand and the goats on His left.

Do you know why a shepherd separated sheep and goats? It was because sheep could stand the cold weather better, and the goats had to be kept near the fire.

If we are sheep, and weather the cold, hard times of this life (like sacrificing to serve others, investing in people and risking getting hurt or rejected, for the glory of the Lord), the Shepherd will bless us.

If we are like the goats, we will get burned.

What about you? Are you one of the sheep or one of the goats?

*This outline was taken from Fusion Devotional Magazine, March - May 2009, Randall House Publishing.

Let Us Love One Another

Have you ever noticed that God will send you the same message over and over again until you finally get it? For example, you might do your devotion for the day and read a scripture that really speaks to you. Then, later in the week, you run across the same scripture in your Sunday school class, then again in your Bible Study group, then again in your favorite online devotional blog, then you hear it on your favorite radio program...it just goes on and on.

Some people call it a coincidence, but I don't believe that it happens by chance. I know that it's God's perfect plan and that He puts these scriptures and messages in our lives and makes them unavoidable. He is so patient that He continues to feed us the same message over and over again until we finally say, "Okay, God, I get it. What do You want me to learn from this?" and let Him show us His perfect truth.

That's been happening to me lately. Last Wednesday night, the lesson that I taught was a familiar one - we studied about Pharaoh forcing the Israelites into slavery and learned that even when bad things happen we can still trust God because He sees what we go through and He has a plan. The lesson also pointed out that we should love one another and always treat people with kindness and love instead of being mean like Pharaoh. (I know this is kind of elementary, but I teach toddlers through fifth grade, so hang with me for a few minutes.)

Our memory verse (which I hope all the kids learned, because it's a really important one) was 1 John 4:7-8 - "Beloved, let us love one another: For love is of God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love."

I typed that verse up to give out to my classes on Wednesday night, put it on our Mission Kids blog (check it out at http://www.ssfwbmissionkids.blogspot.com/) and even taught the kids a little song to help them remember the verse. Every week, when I give the kids a memory verse, I try my best to learn it and memorize it as well, but I had learned this verse when I was younger, so I just put it on the fridge for my brother to learn and didn't really look at it anymore.

Well, apparently, I hadn't learned my lesson to God's satisfaction, because He kept putting that verse in front of me all week. It popped up on my friends' facebook profiles, in the online devotions that I read, in my personal devotion, in a book that I was reading and on the radio show that I listen to every day.

But what lesson did I need to learn? Loving people is hard, but I already knew that I was supposed to treat people with love (and I try - I really do! My sarcastic streak makes it really hard sometimes, but I try nonetheless), so what was God trying to teach me?

When I finally said, "Okay, God. I get it. What do You want me to learn from this?", He started showing me.

I've been studying the Samaritan woman at the well (check out her story in John 4) and have been reading Paperdoll by Natalie Lloyd. One of the lessons in the book is about love. The Samaritan woman knew about love. She had been married five times and was living with a man that was not her husband. She had plenty of experience in love. She knew exactly what it was. Right?

Wrong. She thought she knew what love was. To her, it was just an emotion. Something that she used to fill the void in her life. She was so desperate for real love that she filled her longing with an artificial, pop-culture, made up version of love. She looked for love in all the wrong places, and all the wrong faces (sounds like a country song, right?). But that day at the well, she learned what LOVE really was.

She learned that she was worthy of love -

How many of you know a Samaritan woman? I'm not talking about a person that was born in Samaria, I'm talking about an outcast. An outsider. Someone that is living on the edge and desperately longing to be on the inside. Someone that has no self-esteem. Someone that had been beat up and defeated by the cruelties of this world. She avoids your gaze, she walks down the hallway alone, she carries around her broken heart and searches every face for any semblance of acceptance and love.

Guess what? She is worthy of love. So are you. So am I. God lovingly created each of us. He placed a longing in our hearts to love and be loved. The Samaritan woman had been passing out her heart to every person that would take it, hoping that someone would finally take care of her and her heart and love her the way she so desperately wanted and needed to be loved.

That modern day Samaritan woman that you know? She's the same way. She needs to be loved. And since Jesus isn't walking around on the earth in human form anymore to meet her at her modern day well and show her what love is, it's up to us to do it. He told us in John 15:15-17, "Henceforth, I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, that ye love one another."

Jesus came to earth and suffered and died to save us. Now, He wants us to go tell the world what He did. It's up to us to show them what His love looks like. The Samaritan woman was worthy of love. Jesus showed her love. We should do the same for those modern-day Samaritans.

She learned that she should love herself -

Do you have a healthy self-esteem? As women, we all struggle with body image. We all struggle with loving ourselves. The Samaritan woman was no different. She definitely struggled with her own self-worth. This is evident from her past. She had been married five times and when she met Jesus at the well, she was living with a man that was not her husband. She used men and their empty promises of love and affection to feel like she was special and worthy of being loved.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 says, "Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and you are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

The Samaritan woman was trapped in sin because she didn't understand how special she was. She didn't love herself, and she allowed people to use her and mistreat her. When she met Jesus and He told her all the things she had ever done and showed her what love really was, she finally got it. She was not only worthy of love, she was allowed to love herself. She was Created by God and was loved by Him, and she was His temple.

Do you love yourself? Do you treat yourself like a temple of the Lord, or do you allow your body to be used and abused by yourself and others?

She learned that she should love others -

After the Samaritan woman spoke with Jesus at the well, the first thing she did was run throughout the streets and tell others about Him and all the wonderful things He had done for her. She was so excited about sharing His love and His message with others that she left her water pot at the well and ran through the streets. The men in the village thought she was crazy!

How excited do we get about sharing God's love today? I'm afraid we've lost that excitement that the Samaritan woman had. After she learned that she was worthy of love and that she could love herself, she couldn't wait to share that love with others.

She wasn't instantly a Bible scholar. She didn't instantly gain all knowledge and understanding of what had just happened to her at the well, but she did know this: she had finally filled that void in her life and there was a fountain of living water springing up in her soul and it was overflowing and she HAD to share it!

"As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country." Proverbs 25:25 She had good news - she had been thirsty and now she was filled. And she knew the Man that could fill others that were thirsting.

So, "Beloved, let us love one another." We are all worthy of love, we are all loved by the Father, and we all have love to share.

Something to Say

I just started reading a new book called Paperdoll: When an Ordinary Girl Meets an Extraordinary God by Natalie Lloyd. It's about image and how the media and the world tell women what we need to be successful and happy, but that all we really need is God. So far, it's been great.

One of the things that really caught my eye last night was this quote: "When God speaks, He always has a purpose to accomplish."

Matthew 12:36-37 says, "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shall be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."

That's a pretty scary scripture to a girl like me. My mouth is moving every minute that I'm awake. I'm one of those people that talks just to hear my own voice. And I'll have to account for every idle word that I say? Ouch...

What if we never spoke without having a purpose to accomplish? Think about all the great work we could do if we used our mouths to build each other up instead of tearing others down. Imagine all the great and wonderful things we could talk about and tell people if we truly surrendered and gave our words to God...

What if we REALLY had something worthwhile to say? Guess what...we do! All of us have a story, and your story can save a life. When we open up and say what God leads us to say, and share our stories of triumph over tragedy, or loss and redemption, or defeat and victory, then we are shining for Christ. He gives us the words we need, IF we're willing to speak them.

What about you? Do you have something to say?