Stolen Lunches Bible Study

Cool Couples: Love Them as Jesus Loves Them

Ephesians 5:

1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;

4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.

5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.

8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

 

 

Prayer Call: The Lens of Jesus

Today's scriptures: John 4:7-14

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 

8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 

12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 

14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

 

Prayer bullet points:

1. Speak and commune with people as Jesus did in verse 7.

2. Give love always: Don't allow the differences or rules/laws stop you just as Jesus didn't let the rules of Jews speaking to Samaritans stop him from speaking in Verse 8

3. Put on the lens of Jesus and look at others with the heart Jesus has for them. They're his children too

Prayer Call: Don't Lose Heart

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” Isaiah 43:2 (ESV)

Through - used as a function word to indicate movement into at one side or point and out at another and especially the opposite side of.

God wants us to be reminded of this world is full of hardship, but we can be comforted in knowing that He knows our hearts more than anyone, even ourselves. He hears our cries and wants us to run to Him.

1. Lean in - It’s in our desperation the hardships, pain and trials we face that we cling to God most tightly.
*** listen to the still small voice meaning the voice of God. 
***God is a gentleman

2. Our test is our testimony  - -YOU are not alone. 
-Fight isolation
-Our pain can be our platform to relate to to others and bless them we our store

There's so many stories in the bible of Jesus walking with ordinary people like you and I.

In the midst of their struggles, which means He will for us, too! Whatever it may be. He’s there. He’s listening, and He wants to fight for us. All He asks for us to do is rest in Him.

Jesus is a:
Healer
Restorer
Way maker
Keeper
Provide
Friend
Comforter
You feel in the blank _______

Jesus is __________

Ask Jesus to give you the strength today to endure all that is in front of you. Help you believe God is with you in the highs and lows of life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Remember:

2 Corinthians 4:16 - So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.(ESV)

6am Prayer Call: A Prayer for Peace that Surpasses All Understanding

CoEd Bible Study: Distractions

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Hope Grace and faith 
Resisting distraction

Hope:
When there’s no vision, the people get out of control, but whoever obeys instruction is happy.
Proverbs 29:18 CEB
https://bible.com/bible/37/pro.29.18.CEB

When there is no prophecy, the people cast off restraint, but as for he who guards instruction, happiness is his.
Proverbs 29:18 LEB
https://bible.com/bible/90/pro.29.18.LEB

Have you had a prophetic Word come true? What do you do with prophetic Words?

Prophetic word about suitcase for a missionary being lost but was eventually found by the person I prophesied over.  I look back on that to remind me and encourage me that God speaks.

Vision and hope are similar

Let's look at what happens when we lose hope or the Vision

It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to  battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “ Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.”
II Samuel 11:1‭-‬5 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/2sa.11.1-5.NKJV

Distractions can impact the Vision God has for us.

What should believers do? Our purpose?

Our purpose is to walk by faith and not by sight.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
Romans 1:17 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/rom.1.17.NKJV

Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry. “Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.
Habakkuk 2:2‭-‬4 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/hab.2.2-4.NKJV

Faith is obviously a lifestyle.
Elements of faith
1. The Word
2. Speaking or confession
3. Rest
4. Fight

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
I Timothy 6:12 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/1ti.6.12.NKJV

When have you fought in faith and overcome?

Further your study by reading about God's grace.

 

 

 

CoEd Bible Study - Answer the call

Connect with us at www.stolenlunches.org

 

Exodus 3: 5-20

 

Who was the stuttering man that saved 600,000 men, women and children from slavery? Moses.

 

1. UNIQUENESS: He was born a Hebrew slave.  His mom didn’t want him to die so she wrapped him up and sent him down the river. Pharaoh’s daughter found him in the river and took him in.  He was raised up as royalty.  Years later he saw a Hebrew slave being beaten and something stirred up in him so he killed the guard then he fled into the dessert.

 

YOUR STORY MAKES YOU WHO YOU ARE.  IT DOESN’T MATTER THE UPS AND DOWNS ALL OF IT CAN AND WILL BE USED FOR YOUR PURPOSE.

 

1. YOU WILL EXERIENCE THE STIR: There always comes a point when you feel the stirring.  It’s forcing you to make a choice
2. Moses answered it but the he fled out of fear. For 40 years he hid in the desert.  He lived a quiet life, married, as a shepherd.

 

1.   YOU WILL EXPERIENCE THE CALL: He was minding his business and God spoke to Him from a burning bush.  Told him everything he needed he already had in his hands and was already fully qualified for saving the slaves.
2. Yours may not come to you in the form of a burning bush but there is a call over your life. 

 

2. QUALIFIED: Let’s talk about what he didn’t have?  As a peasant, shepherd, old man, with a speech impediment, lack of training, no money, no team, no connections. He was considered a killer, liar, slave.
3. HE TRUSTED GOD: God told him what to do and he did it
4. God gave Him everything he needed: Staff
5. God told Him everything to say: 10 plagues
6. God never left him
7.       Pharaoh let everyone go!
8. Even if I was Moses today and literally freed you right here and pushed you into your purpose, unlocked your destiny. Placed the calling inside of you. Ignited the stirring—only a few of your would say YES.

 

Moses led 600,000 men, women and children out of slavery without sneaking out in the middle of the night.  They were released after hundreds of years in captivity.  After a while of walking and hiking they started to get mad a Moses.  They started to want to go back.

 

MANY OF US HAVE FELT THE STIRRING.  WE’VE HEARD THE CALL BUT WE WILL NOT MOVE BECAUSE WE RATHER STAY IN OUR OWN COMFORT.

 

Your burning bush moment will find you.  Stay committed to a season of YES. Trust God and walk in faith.

 

Women's Bible Study: 8 Layers of Division Among Women Series

Connect with us at StolenLunches.org

 

How to overcome Jealousy & Envy as women

Scriptures: Job 5:2 and Exodus 34:14

 

Steps to overcoming these layers: 

• Being Honest about what you are jealous and envious of,  deal with that feeling immediately.
• Ask yourself where this feeling is coming from
• How long have you felt this way
• Dispel the lies you tell yourself
• Write down how you can overcome the feeling 

Co-Ed Bible Study: Joy vs Happiness

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Nehemiah 8:10 said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

 

What Is the Joy of the Lord?

When Ezra was reading the law to the people it produced sorrow because their lives and behavior were not in alignment with the law. 

Alignment is so important: proper positioning - purpose - 

God - Family - Friends - Business/Work, other

 

What does it mean to be in alignment with God? It is when our hearts are right with God, where our spirits, souls, and bodies work together in peace and harmony. We are three-part beings; spirit, soul, and body. When we are aligned with God, the spirit rules the soul and body.

 

Jesus loves us and welcomes us as we are!

But instead of being rebuked and condemned, they were instructed to celebrate because of “the joy of the Lord.” Why would the Lord have joy when they were “a bunch of sinners?”

 

The children of Israel were never known for their perfect behavior. They were known for being the people of God. They were His. He loved them.

 

His people had been separated from Him in exile for years and were finally reunited to Him. God had His beloved people back — why would He not have joy? 

The joy of the Lord gives us strength to reach for God’s provision of love and salvation.

What season are you in – Ecclesiates 3 – there is a time and season

If you’ve been caught in a season of disappointment or struggles, maybe you’ve lost your joy, and as a result, laughter is a rare occurrence. 

You’ve likely heard the old adage that laughter is the best medicine. That happens to come from the Bible! Proverbs 17:22 is true—a merry heart really does a spirit, soul and body good like medicine. 

There are spiritual, emotional and physical benefits of joy and laughter. Science has proven why the Bible tells us to laugh—it’s good for our health! Laughter reduces stress, fights against depression and sorrow, fosters a positive outlook on life, and puts you in an all-around good mood. Laughter also lowers blood pressure, and impacts the cells in your body, preventing disease and setting you up to live long and strong

If you don’t laugh enough (that means every day!), or if you need to restore the joy in your life, begin today by renewing your mind: Find the word - scripture to back you up! –

Joy - Jar - Go to scriptures list:

1. Genesis 21:6: “And Sarah declared, ‘God has brought me laughter. All who hear about this will laugh with me.’”
2. Job 8:21: “He will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.”
3. Psalm 2:4: “But the one who rules in heaven laughs.”
4. Psalm 30:11: “You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy.”
5. Psalm 37:13: “But the Lord just laughs, for he sees their day of judgment coming.”
6. Psalm 42:5: “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again.”
7. Psalm 65:12-13: “The grasslands of the wilderness become a lush pasture, and the hillsides blossom with joy. The meadows are clothed with flocks of sheep, and the valleys are carpeted with grain. They all shout and sing for joy!”
8. Psalm 96:12: “Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy! Let the trees of the forest sing for joy.”
9. Psalm 98:4: “Shout to the Lord, all the earth; break out in praise and sing for joy!”
10. Psalm 126:2: “We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy. And the other nations said, ‘What amazing things the Lord has done for them.’” 
11. Proverbs 15:13: “A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit.”
12. Proverbs 15:15: “For the despondent, every day brings trouble; for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.”
13. Proverbs 17:22: “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.”
14. Proverbs 31:25: “She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.”
15. Ecclesiastes 3:4: “A time to cry and a time to laugh.”
16. Ecclesiastes 8:15: “So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.”
17. Isaiah 55:12: “You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands!”
18. Jeremiah 31:13: “The young women will dance for joy, and the men—old and young—will join in the celebration. I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing.”

Everybody Laugh and walk with the joy of the Lord.

Remember to laugh

***Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease. Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body's natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.

 

Kings & Queens Bible Study: Be Community Minded

Scripture References:   Ecc 4:7-12, Deut 31:6, Heb 10:24-25, Romans 12: 4-6, Ps 133:1

 

 

What keeps us away from the community? Dejection, Rejection, and Subjection

 

What draws us and keeps us in the community? Give and Take, Points us to God, and Bear one another's burdens 

 

Ecclesiastes teaches us that a lot of things that we seek after or use to help us find meaning in this lifelike wealth, status, knowledge, pleasure is nothing but a vapor, vanity, and meaningless. There is only 1 thing that provides meaning to life: Having the fear of the lord and he also charges us to enjoy life.

Cool Couples: How to Pray Over Your Spouse

3 Tips to Inject Prayer into Your Marriage:

• Set Prayer Triggers
• Set Prayer Alarms
• Write Out Your Prayer