Knit and Crochet Bible Study

Tag: God

  • Through My Headset – Precious Memories

    Today I am listening to music.  I was busy pulling out piles I created in an effort to declutter and I came across a cassette album I cherish – Precious Moments by Steve and Annie Chapman.

    I received this one day many years ago when in a very difficult time in my life.  I played this over and over. I cried every time.

    In all my declutter piles today would you believe I have NO CASSETTE PLAYER!!  I can’t believe it either.

    So…….. remembering how much I was blessed by the songs of Steve and Annie Chapman, I went to amazon and ordered the MP3 album.  It is now playing on a loop.  It touches my heart as much today as it did all those years ago.

    If you would like to be blessed by it, here is a link to album. Keep the kleenex near by. You may have to wipe away a few tears to see your stitches 🙂

  • God Loves You…and so do I

    It’s Valentine’s Day 2014.  I have never been a big fan of Valentine’s Day. I don’t like the idea that on this day you have to have someone in your life who loves you and you have to give/receive elaborate gifts of love.

    If you are single and not dating, it is a day on the calendar where your status stands out

    If you have a ‘significant other’ you are watched and hounded “what did he/she get you” and “what did you get for him/her” ?

    There are so many ways to show someone you love them.  I believe quality time and kind words are a wonderful expression of love. 

    Many times I prefer that over a material gift. Try telling someone in answer to the ‘what did he give you’ question that ‘he sat with me holding my hand watching a movie’. It just doesn’t fit what the holiday has become and movies have taught us.

    One way I express love is with homemade items: baked, sewn, knit, crocheted. Recently there was a photo going around facebook with a picture of crocheted items and the words

    “All I got from her was a crocheted hat and scarf. Jeez.”

    Fact: That gift of love cost your friend a minimum of $12 to make (each skein of yarn being approximately $5-$6, nowadays), and about the same number of hours to create. And, while she worked on that gift for you, she thought about you. <3

    If I make something for you, it is because I care about you and I want to give to you a part of me.

    God gave us a special gift: His Son, Jesus Christ.  Many have declared that John 3:16 is God’s valentine to us.

    GodsValentine

    God tells us every day He loves us. He doesn’t need a special day on the calendar. He doesn’t need a celebration. He is reaching out to you with His love. Have you accepted it?

    Even though I have not crocheted something for each of you, I wish each you a Happy Valentine’s Day.

    signature

  • I am being “Felted”

    One of my favorite lessons in the first Knit and Crochet Bible Study books is “Felted in Jesus“.  Last night I had the honor of leading the devotional in our small group and I handed everyone a crocheted wool square to felt while I presented the lesson.

    Everyone enjoyed discussing how they are being felted in their lives. I am in the felting process too.

    Last week, while on the way to a prayer session at a local nursing home I had an accident. This is the first time I have ever caused an accident. No one was hurt seriously. I have lots of bruising on my body and especially my pride. I feel guilty and depressed; feelings definitely NOT from the Lord.

    On top of this, I have been overwhelmed by a situation of conflict with another person.

    During the presentation I heard God telling me to listen to my own words.

    God doesn’t give you the people you want, He gives you the people to NEED. To help you, to hurt you, to leave you, to love you and to make you into the person you were meant to be.

    Wool felts from the friction created by rubbing the fibers together. Once they are bonded the material will hold tight. You can cut a shape out of the fabric created and it will not unravel or tear.

    In the same manner, God can mold and cut out the person he is creating with the friction rubbing against me and felting me into Him.

    Are you being felted? Gather some wool, knit or crochet a square. Get it wet with water and a drop of dish soap. Now squeeze it, rub it together, squish it until it becomes a tightly woven material. Cut out a shape that you can place on a key ring or chain. Hang it somewhere you will see it daily. And be reminded that you felted into God’s love.

    SUGGESTION – if you are using this project with a group, after everyone has cut out their desired shape, go around the room asking the meaning of the shape they chose.

    Who can steal you away from Him? Read Romans 8:35-39 to find out.

    (spoiler alert: not death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing)

    You can purchase 1 or both studies on Amazon.

  • Errata

    Dictionary dot com defines ‘errata’ as “a list of errors and their corrections inserted, usually on a separate page or slip of paper, in a book or other publication”

    We live in a wonderful time technologically.  It used to be we would buy a magazine with knitting or crochet patterns. Then while working the pattern we would reach a section that just would not work right. We would have to buy the next month’s issue and look for the page titled “Errata” and look for pattern corrections so we could complete the project.

    Today’s technology offers so many patterns to be purchased in PDF format. Then when an error is found, buyers are sent notice of corrections and new files to download with corrections and updates. It is easy to contact designers with the internet and email.

    With all this technology, however, there is one thing that has not changed;

    Errors are made.

    There is one book that has no errors – The Bible. God’s Word, like Christ himself is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

    The God who created the heavens and the earth is the same who dried up the sea, making a path of escape through the depths so that your people could cross over. (Isaiah 51:10)

    Things change every day in our lives.Things need to be fixed in our lives every day. (I just uploaded a web page wrong and messed up my website, hopefully fixed so you can see this post).

    I am thankful for one thing. GOD NEVER CHANGES. HE IS IN CONTROL. I don’t want to follow a god that can be manipulated. I want a God that is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, that is omnipresent, omniscient, faithful and just.

    Rev 22:13  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

  • God–the first creative artist

    My favorite Bible stories are the ones where God shows off His creative side.  I swell up a little with pride because I think I got my creativity from my Father.

    Scripture shows God’s creativity in so many ways. First, the most well-known, is in Genesis where we read about God creating the earth and its inhabitants in 7 days.  For the sun, moon, seas, and mountains He spoke; but when it came to creating man and woman, God stepped on the earth and with His own hands, created them. He blew His breath into their nostrils. We were hands on created.

    Check out Exodis28. God is giving  Moses a pattern for making holy garments for Aaron. Read the detail God gives for this outfit and its construction. He even includes underwear. Underwear!! God is definitely into the details.

    In Exodus 25 God gives instructions on making the ark a sanctuary in which He would dwell among them.

    These are just a few examples of God’s creativity. How many more can you find? Leave a comment with your favorite passage.

  • But, God…..

    Two words keep coming  to my mind lately during my prayer time that I pray back “But, God”.  

    Things are distracting me from studying, But, God intervenes and opens a time.

    Health issues have taken its toll on me.  But, God sees to it His Word is proclaimed. 

    Little details draw my attention from the big picture. But, God steps up and says ‘lift up your eyes, look away from the difficulty and look at me.” 

    No matter what is happening ‘but, God” will have His way.  Many times in scripture a story is told of difficulties.  These are often followed by 2 little words; But, God.

    I pray that no matter what steps in your way as you struggle with whatever is facing you today, look away from it, lift your eyes and say “but, God” has it under control. 

  • Sharing God Through Knitting and Crochet

     Show the way for others, and you will find honor in the kingdom. Matthew 5:19 MSG

     

    As another year of Bible Study begins at my local church I look at myself and feel so unworthy of  speaking of God’s Word.  I fear I will fail Him.

    This led me to look over the second Knit and Crochet Bible Study Book.  It is a look at the Proverbs 31 woman.

    The class at my church, and I believe many others that host a Knit and Crochet Bible Study, is multi-generational. 

    Becoming the Proverbs 31 woman is a journey, a road traveled with twists and turns and even a few detours. It is not a journey you need to take alone.  Working alongside women of all ages helps us to grow emotionally and spiritually. Titus 2:1 tell us Your job is to speak out on the things that make for sound doctrine.   It is my prayer these studies lead you to that sound doctrine.

    Then verses 3-5 says Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up as neither gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness.  By looking at them the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives.

    But the older woman can also learn from the younger. Sitting side by side, many find their lives are woven together through their crafting,  through God’s love, through life experiences. With one simple shared gift, knit and crochet, they open a dialog with each other; one that may not have opened in other circumstances.

    The Proverbs 31 woman is not born the perfect woman you read about. She grows into that woman through work, friendships, prayer, experience, and learning from others.

    Perhaps in your local group you see a woman you look upon as The Proverbs 31 Woman. You admire her emotional strength, her family love, her ability to knit or crochet without even looking at her work.  Talk to her. Learn about her life and how she came to this place in her life; the struggles she endured; the losses she has experienced; how she learned to look to God in all things.  She is not now the woman she used to be.  But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me and not without results.. yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace. 1Corinthians 15:10 NLT

    Why are we doing all this? Read Titus chapter 2 verses 12 and 13 in the Message. We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears.

    You are a beautiful woman, beauty that radiates from inside.  What matters is not your outer appearance-the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes-but your inner disposition. Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in.  I Peter 3:3-4 MSG   

    With the passage of time you have grown from youthful vanity to honorable womanhood.   Use this time together in the presence of other women to learn how to be obedient to the Lord.

    Though I fear failing Him, I continue on, demonstrating God’s love as He allows. He is still working on me to become the woman He desires me to be. I am an older woman to some, who watch me from afar as a witness to demonstrate God’s command. I am also a younger woman to others as I watch them and learn how to walk pleasing to God.

    You knit me together in my mother’s womb Psalm 139.13 says. God has not put down his knitting needles yet. There are panels to complete, seaming to be done, a decorative crocheted edging to be added. He is still stitching you and me into a tapestry of life of which we are not even aware.

    So, I will continue to knit, to crochet and demonstrate God’s glorious love with those around me.  I thank the Lord every day for accepting me as His child and allowing me to speak of His greatness.

     Show the way for others, and you will find honor in the kingdom. Matthew 5:19 MSG

  • Read Ahead

    The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,  who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

    Many patterns will begin with a special instruction “to read through the entire pattern before beginning. This way you can note special stitches, find areas that give instruction you don’t understand, and prepare for possible hurdles with words you can highlight so you don’t miss them. Words like ‘at the same time’ or ‘for a larger size continue by repeating last row’. If you are working on a pattern that is written for several sizes you can go through and mark each set of instruction that would be relevant to the size you are working on. This will help guide you through the pattern and prevent you from potential mistakes.  There are times I would like to have the pattern of life in front of me so I can know what to expect after each life occurrence, allowing me to be prepared for upcoming hazards and stitches to correctly shape the results.

    Are you a fan of the ABC show, LOST?  I haven’t missed an episode and am anxiously awaiting  the final airing next month.  As a part of the promotion of the show, several of the actors have been making the talk show circuits. In these interviews they have talked about the scripts for this final season. Even the actors don’t know how it will end.  Each actor, it is said, receives only the pages related to their scenes.  In some instances, they don’t even receive the script until they are on the set.

    I’ve tried to convince God to give me a pattern of events in my life like the knit and crochet patterns. (I don’t want a map, I am directionally challenged and get lost even with a map)  He, instead is using the LOST technique. He gives me the pages when I am ready for the scene and not a minute before. I don’t get to know what happens in the scene across the hall or afterward. Only with the moment.

    I am reminded, my life is led by faith. Faith in God.Faith in His love, righteousness and mercy.  Even if God did accept my ideas for one of my life scenes, He would offer back something more.

    For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8,9

    So, I will continue to read through my patterns and I will continue to follow God, by faith, through each day.

    The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,  who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

  • Colors of Salvation Afghan

    Did you complete your Colors of Salvation afghan/lapghan?  Perhaps you used the strips to make scarves or totes.

    Linda is a member of my local Knit and Crochet Bible Study. She showed me her completed project which she is giving to a close friend of hers in need of comfort.

    She says she is planning to start another one.

    If you missed any part of the pattern, I have posted the complete project in one PDF file for you to download.  Click on the file cabinet below.

    Once you have completed your Colors of Salvation project, please tell us about it with a comment below here, or with a message on the facebook fanpage . We’d love to see pictures of your completed work.

  • God is in Control

    Thursday night my bible study lesson included the verse “be still and know that I am God”.

    I got home and read Joan C Webb from Intentional Woman, in which she focused on “be still”. 

    Friday I received another message with that verse.  My heart starting shouting to my mind, maybe I need to get on knees as God is clearly trying to get my attention.

    Later that night my husband (who has been working out of town and returning home on weekends) called to say he had started the 3 hour drive home, but he transmission may have gone out of his car. I drove over to pick him up and get him home, leaving the car at a repair shop.

    This morning I received this verse via email from K-Love.  “we can rejoice when we run into trials and troubles”.

    At this moment we are working out a car rental situation while we wait for cost of car repair. I am putting a stamp on the tax return which says Pay this amount  Work contract for hubby is up soon and then…

    I feel like Daniel in the Lions Den and each of these struggles is like a lion waiting to devour me.

    But you know what? I am calm. My typical response is panic. But I am not.  God sent me His reassurances just when I needed Him most.

    We do serve an awesome God. I don’t know what this week will bring but I know this, God is taking care of me.  I just wanted to share.