The Gathering Place Where Family Matters

Sometimes as I read through Karen’s Bible study journal, I can see where she would be speaking, how many times she would be speaking at the retreat, and what her assigned topics would be. Today’s notes are the exception. I clearly see that she was exploring and studying the topic of God’s holiness and how it affects us. But I don’t know where she used her study, if anywhere, other than in her own heart and life. I am blessed by holding her handwritten notes. Here are some of the notes she jotted to herself.

I’ve discovered something in her Bible that caused a tear and a big blessing at the same time. Let me share with you the verses that she underlined and the very brief words that she wrote.

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:17-19).

I shared with you last time about an entry in Karen’s Bible study journal about how we view ourselves. While taking a vacation is very good, viewing ourselves as on a permanent vacation (cruise ship mentality) is not the Biblical view. The Lord wants us to view ourselves as believers who belong to the Lord and seek to follow Him (battle ship mentality) because we are in spiritual warfare.

Before Karen became ill, we were doing a family camp together. I’ve discovered in looking through her Bible study journal, that she wrote about a point I made in one of the morning family camp chapels. Do we view ourselves as from a cruise ship mentality or a battle ship mentality?