Lessons from Suffering

Ecclesiastes may seem like a difficult book to understand at first read. I think it is! I am thankful that as I study, God opens up to me biblical principles to guide my life. Our prayer is that you would take these truths and let them encourage and challenge your heart. Scripture has much to say about suffering in many other places. It's no surprise that here in the book of Ecclesiastes the wisest person deals with this topic. Our question for chapter 7:1-6: "What lessons from suffering can believers learn from these verses?" (If you wish to take notes, there are free notes available for you with the Scripture references we mention. You can download them right off the blog under the "Notes" section.) Listen in and let us know what you think!

Until We Meet Again....

Dear Listeners, Our hearts are thrilled to have had the pleasure of studying with Karen Hime on Women in the Word. Today will be Karen's last day on the program with us. Through a variety of events that God has worked in her life, she has decided that it would be best to devote her time to other areas of ministry that she is involved with. As you think of her, continue to pray for Karen as she uses God's Word in her own personal spiritual growth, and as she counsels with others. Perhaps we may have the privilege of having her on the program as a guest in the future! As we continue or study in Ecclesiastes, we'll be joined by Meredith Henderson and Gloria Ormiston. These women have been guests on the program in the past and we look forward to their time with us in the future. Thank you for praying for us as we strive to study God's Word and apply it to women. Walk with the Lord and be a blessing, Rebecca, Pam, Crystal & Sarah

God's View of Success

There are a lot of ideas in our world today about what achievements make you successful. Achieving your dream job, making a difference in the world, helping those in need, purchasing a home or vehicle are just some examples of success. In the Old Testament, many children and long life were considered blessings (Ecclesiastes 6:3-6). What does the Bible have to say about being successful in God's eyes? We have to be careful that we are not determining our success by the world's standards, rather by God's. This is very difficult to do, but as always, every thought must be based on the truth of God's Word. Here are some things from God's Word that we suggest are successful:

1. Glorifying God by becoming more like Christ (Romans 8:29)
2. Representing God well to others (Ephesians 4:1-2)
3. Encouraging fellow believers to grow and change (Colossians 1:28-29)
4. Rejoicing in trials (James 1:2-4)
5. Developing the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-24)
6. Success is described in Paul's prayer to the believers in Ephesus (Ephesians 3:14-19)
7. Developing godly character qualities (Colossians 3:12-17)

Continuing in Ecclesiastes

Deb Brammer will join us for another five sessions as we continue on with our study of Ecclesiastes. So, as we go on in chapter 6, we ask, "What role does God have in the satisfaction which wealth, possessions and honor can bring?" God gives us the ability to enjoy His creation and contentment and satisfaction comes from Him alone (Job 1:21-22). Do you take time each day to be thankful and praise God for the things He gives you to enjoy? Are you recognizing that all you have comes from Him alone? What a challenge it is to remember that it is God who gives the ability to enjoy all things!

A Visit With a Missionary

Over the next few broadcasts we will be visiting with missionary Deb Brammer. She currently is ministering with her husband, Art, in the country of New Zealand. We hope you will be able to tune in and listen as she shares her heart for serving the Lord and for the ministry she is in. Here is more about Deb: I was raised in a pastor’s home and I was a compliant child. Compared to other kids my age I was a pretty good kid. But if you compared me to Christ or God’s perfect standard of holiness, of course I fell far short. As a child of five I understood that I was a sinner, was sorry for my sin, and believed in Jesus Christ as my Savior. My life didn’t suddenly make great changes, but that simple decision changed the course of my entire life. I never wandered far away from God or fell into deep sin that could hurt my testimony. I always wanted my life to count for God. Becoming a Christian at an early age saved me from sin and a lifetime of regrets. During my teenage years I gave my life to the Lord and asked Him to lead me. I always had a heart for ministry and a desire to serve Him in a career ministry. While at Bible college I felt God calling me to write for Christian publication. God also led me to my future husband and missionary service. Art and I have served with Baptist Mid Missions for more than thirty years. We served in Taiwan for sixteen years and have been working in New Zealand for more than 13 years so far. We count it a privilege to serve the Lord in whatever place He puts us. You can find more about Deb and her ministry: www.debbrammer.com and www.debbrammerbooks.com .

Honoring God With Our Possessions

How can we enjoy our possessions in a way that honors God? Ecclesiastes 5:19 says, "Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them...this is the gift of God." God gives us the privilege of enjoying what we have. We must enjoy our possessions in a way that pleases and gives honor to the ONE who gave them to us! Here's our thoughts about how we can enjoy our possessions to honor God.

1. Have the right heart attitude (Proverbs 30:7-9)
2. Praise Him for creation
3. Recognize that all we have comes from God
4. Use our skills and strengths to help others
5. Be good stewards of what we have
6. Trust in God and not our riches (1 Timothy 6:17-19)
7. Give God the glory with what you have.

What do you think? What are some ways that you are currently using your gifts, material possessions or money to honor God?

Money Does Not Bring Happiness

Ecclesiastes 5:10-20 talk about the theme of the vanity of wealth and possessions. Verse 10 says that "He who loves money will not be satisfied with money..." What a sobering thought to mediate on. So often we are happy (only for a little while) when we have plenty of money in our checkbook. So our question today is: "Why is money unable to bring happiness or contentment?" When money is what we strive after, we are not living in obedience. This holds true for any other material possession or relationship in life. Matthew 22:27 tells us that we need to love God with our whole heart, not money, things or people. Material possessions will eventually break, be lost, stolen or waste away (Matthew 6:19-21). Money does not last, but God's love does. Obedience, resting in God's love and His promises for us bring true happiness and contentment. Are you striving for your happiness in God or are you striving for money or material possessions to bring you contentment?

Fearing God

Ecclesiastes 5:7 says that "God is the one you must fear." What does it mean to fear God? Well, in this context, the word "fear" means "to fear, tremble." It is the idea that we ought to fear God's wrath so much that if we make a promise we will fulfill it and not give excuses as to why we cannot. For when we break a promise given to Him we are at risk of losing what God has allowed us to achieve (vs. 6). We ought not to fear man, our reputation or be prideful, but we must fear God and be obedient to Him.

Approaching God

As we approach God to worship Him, it is important that we come to Him with the right attitude. Have you ever attempted to worship Him when your mind is distracted? Have you ever tried to pray after a fight with someone in your family? It is difficult to come to God if our minds are not prepared to come to Him with reverence. Today we will share our thoughts regarding coming to God with the right attitude. How do you prepare your mind to worship Him?

Ecclesiastes 5 - Worship

As we begin Ecclesiastes 5 we find that Solomon is now visiting the temple. As we read through these first three verses, we see that there are many truths which we can apply to our lives today! Solomon tells us to Guard your steps and to Draw near to listen. Wow! These are big truths to apply as we seek to worship God. For many, worship can become a meaningless exercise, something we do because we have always done it. For others, it takes mental work to get to church with a heart prepared for worship. Solomon is telling us to "proceed with reverence" and acknowledge the authority of God. Are you coming to worship God each week with a heart of reverence and prepared to listen to God's Word?

Godly Friendships

Solomon talks about friendship in verses 9-12 of Ecclesiastes 4. Here we are reminded of the importance of friendships. Today, we talk about godly friendships and why they are important. We talk about the friendship of David and Jonathan from 1 Samuel 18-20. Here is an example of a friendship where they truly showed love for one another as Matthew 22:39 would instruct believers to show love. Proverbs 17:17 tells us that a godly friend loves at all times and in 27:6 we see that a godly friend will be faithful to tell you the truth - even if it hurts. So what about you....are you this godly friend? Do you seek to develop godly friendships?

Envy vs. Contentment

In Ecclesiastes 4:4, we read about man's envy. Solomon notes that envy is a part of what motivates man to work. Today, we talk about what believers can do to be content rather than envious. Learning contentment is a heart attitude. It is not something that we will naturally be good at. Paul says in Philippians 4:11 that he learned to be content. As believers, we need to understand that:

1. Envy is sin.
2. The outcome of envy is not God-honoring.
3. Believers cannot show true love if they are envious.
4. We need to put on thankfulness and contentment in place of envy.

We share many practical things from Scripture today about how we can choose contentment rather than envy. We challenge you today to reflect on your life. Are you choosing to be thankful for all things, or are you envious about what others have? How does the truth of this passage encourage you?

Ecclesiastes - Chapter 4

Warren Wiersbe in his book, Be Satisfied, helps us to understand an outline of this chapter. We will reference Wiersbe as we discuss this chapter over the coming week. Solomon will record his observations from visiting four different places:

1. The Courtroom (vs. 1-3)
2. The Marketplace (vs. 4-8)
3. The Highway (vs. 9-12)
4. The Palace (vs. 13-16)

As we begin this chapter today, we find Solomon visiting the courtroom, observing the oppressed. There are many people who find themselves under the rule of an unjust authority even in our day and age. Solomon acknowledges that oppression is real, and yet in these first three verses does not seem to have to a desire to do anything about it. Rather, he woefully says that it would be better for the oppressed to be dead. As we seek to apply this section of Scripture to our lives, may we challenge you to be hopeful and give hope to others who are going through difficult circumstances? Maybe you are working for an unjust boss who treats you unfairly, maybe your child is facing a bully at school. In each of these situations we have the hope of Scripture to remember and offer. We can be encouraged that God knows all things and that for those who believe, God is using our trials for good (Romans 8:28).

Ecclesiastes - Chapter 3:16-22

As we finish out chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes we spend some time discussion how the fact that God's judgment on both the righteous and wicked should affect our daily lives. We know from the Bible that God will call both the righteous and wicked into judgement. The righteous have been washed by the Blood of Christ and are pardoned from sin. The wicked are doomed to eternal separation from God. Because of these facts, we ought to be striving to share Christ ever more with those who are unsaved! Knowing that your unsaved neighbor will one day spend eternity in hell ought to cause you to break through your uncomfortableness and share the Truth! Is there someone in your life whom you need to share Christ with today? If so, don't delay!

Ecclesiastes - Chapter 3:9-15

God sets eternity in each man's heart - meaning we all have a natural curiosity towards finding out our purpose of life, what time is all about, when life began and what is to come when we die. Thankfully, we have God's word to instruct us and give us a portion of God's plan! Many people strive to find peace with what they are doing in their life by volunteering in their community, being in the Red Cross, taking missions trips and doing things to make them feel like they are "making a difference." When we have God's perspective in mind for all of life, we come to realize that the job that God gives to us (whether it is a wife, stay at home mom, or a woman working outside her home) is "making a difference" when performed according to the truth of God's word. We pray you'll be encouraged by the discussions of this section of the Bible. As always, we'd love to hear from you if you have anything to ask or share! Oh, we also mentioned a book today on the program: Don't Waste Your Life, by John Piper. We've posted a link for this book under "favorite books" on the right of our blog.

Ecclesiastes - Chapter 3 "There is a time"

As we move on today in our study of Ecclesiastes, Warren Wiersbe in Be Satisfied gives this outline for chapter 3.

• Look up: God orders time (vs. 1-8)
• Look within: Eternity in your heart (9-15)
• Look ahead: Death is coming to all (16-22)

We begin in verses 1-8 which is a more familiar section of this book. Solomon now turns his attention to sharing some facts about God's sovereignty as it relates to time, events and emotions. Over the next few days we'll be talking about the things Solomon is contrasting and what spiritual truths these contrasts can have on us. Please share with us any thoughts you have as you study with us.

Ecclesiastes 2:12-26

In this next section of Scripture we find that Solomon now turns his attention to the vanity of toil. In Solomon's eyes, he hated all he had toiled for as it would now be left to someone who did not work for it. He was concerned for his possessions and gave his "heart up to despair" over this (vs. 20). His conclusion in verse 24 is that a person should find enjoyment in his toil rather than despair because of it. Here we begin to see a shift in Solomon's thinking. He now begins to give credit to God for the ability to enjoy toil and gifts. Please join us as we spend the next few days talking through our questions and seeking to practically apply truths from this book to our lives.

Ecclesiastes - Chapter 2:1-11

Solomon now moves on to a test. He writes in chapter 2:1 that he will now test himself with pleasure. In verses 4-8 we see exactly what he did and what he had that brought him pleasure. he indulged himself in any way he desired and nothing was withheld from him (vs. 10). At the end of this "test" he reaches this conclusion in vs. 11 - "Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold all was vanity and a striving after the wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun." Please join us as we take the next several days to talk through this section of Scripture. We will also strive to practically apply these truths to our lives as women. As always, please feel free to share any thoughts you have as we study!

Ecclesiastes - Chapter 1

Today we begin discussing our questions for chapter 1. Again, we have provided study notes for you to follow along with us. You can study along with us or even ahead as you have the ability. It is also our desire that you use these study notes to have a personal study with other women as you can. As we begin our study today we see that Solomon makes a broad sweeping statement about life in chapter 1:2, "Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity." Solomon is going to now lay the foundation for why he believes all is vanity over the next several chapters. Over the next several days we will take some time to answer the questions we've posed concerning chapter 1. Please let us know what you are learning as you study!

Ecclesiastes - the beginning

As we begin the study of Ecclesiastes today, our desire is talk a bit about who the author was and the significance of this book. I appreciate what the Holman Concise Bible Commentary by D.A. Garrett has to say: "Many Christian readers are troubled by Ecclesiastes. From the very beginning, where it declares that everything is meaningless (1:2), it seems unashamedly pessimistic and negative on life. Some wonder why this book is in the Bible. But if we carefully examine its background and message, we discover that Ecclesiastes confronts us and drives us to God in a way that few books do. Ecclesiastes tells us it was written by a son of David who was king in Jerusalem over Israel (1:1, 12). This points to Solomon since he alone, after David, ruled both Judah and Israel." The commentary goes on to say: "Christian readers, after they have shaken off the initial shock of reading Ecclesiastes, have often described it as a defense of the faith or even an evangelistic work. Ecclesiastes shows that many of the pursuits of life, including wealth, education, and power, do not really fulfill. In that way Ecclesiastes shows that life without God is meaningless and drives the reader to faith." It is our desire to study this book with the intent of applying many spiritual truths to our lives. We are going to see that as Ecclesiastes 12:13 says, "The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." We pray that you will join us as we study through this book. Please ask questions and comment about how God is using His word to help you in your daily walk with God.