One night, in a small-group Bible study, I shared a lesson with Hispanic sisters at a church in Houston. The class was about truth and lies and contained some of the same material that would later be included in Who Has the Last Word?.
The class was well received and at the end, I asked each of the ladies to partner with the woman next to her and share a lie of Satan she personally battles. They were also instructed to find a verse in the Bible that spoke a truth to cut through that lie, just like in the Lie/Truth Chart. It was beautiful to see them sharing and flipping through their Bibles.
As they were finishing up, two women excitedly asked me to come over and talk with them. They just had to share with me that they battle the exact same lie: that they don't have time to read their Bibles! They were able to encourage each other mutually in the truth and promises of Scripture. Phone numbers were exchanged so that they could continue to encourage each other during the week. Before I walked away, they read me the verse that gave them so much hope and joy—the truth that cut through Satan's lie and gave God the last word in their lives:
Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (Josh. 1:7-8)
God gave Joshua a beautiful reminder for the third time in that chapter, “Be strong and very courageous.” May God continue to bless each of us with encouraging reminders, as He did for those two ladies that evening. And may He continue to use Iron Rose Sister Ministries to equip, inspire, and empower women in their relationship with God and others.
My question for you today: Would those ladies have been impacted as greatly from that verse and convicted in the lie if they had been doing it alone?
Last month, we looked at lies and truth through the book Who Has the Last Word? Yet the greater value of that study comes in the context of small groups.
This month, as many prepare for their fall Bible studies, we will look at small groups: the blessings, the challenges, and the biblical support for how to do them well.
#IronRoseSister #smallgroups #community #truth