Marie Nicole Zimmerle

Developing a heart for God:How can I become unoffendable

People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—
2 Timothy 3:2‭-‬4

1. Lower your expectations of others

Everyone has a story
We don’t know everyone’s story

2. Choose to get rid of anger quickly

“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.
Ephesians 4:26‭-‬27

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.
Ephesians 4:31‭-‬32

Being offended is inevitable; living offended is a choice

Memory Verse

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
James 1:19‭-‬20

3. Raise your gratitude for God’s grace.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:8‭-‬9 NIV

When I understand how much I’ve been forgiven, I’ll have the capacity to forgive others.

A prayer for the offended

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalms 139:23‭-‬24

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Lessons from lives: God’s will, my way

Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.” When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels. But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.
Genesis 12:10‭-‬20

We take our own way when:

God’s way seems unclear
God’s way is to difficult
God takes to long

God’s way

Sometimes looks like no way
Takes trust and patience
Rarely comes without pain and sacrifice

Memory Verse

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
John 14:6‭-‬7 NIV

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What keeps you up at night: guilt and shame

See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
Hebrews 12:15

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
2 Corinthians 7:10

Godly sorrow vs Worldly sorrow

Godly sorrow says

I did something bad

Worldly sorrow says

I am bad

Two ways of dealing with Guilt

When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.” So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
Matthew 27:3‭-‬5 NIV

Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Matthew 26:75

God uses guilt in our lives, and so does Satan

God uses guilt to bring conviction

Satan uses guilt to bring condemnation

Satan wants to use your guilt to drive you away from God

God wants to use your guilt to draw you to his grace.

Forgiveness is not about feelings, Forgiveness is about facts

Memory Verse

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
Romans 8:1

Our past can be Satan’s greatest weapon, Or God’s most powerful tool. Let it be God’s most powerful tool

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What’s in a Name? Jehovah Rohi

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalms 23:1‭-‬6

Jehovah Rohi Reveals

1. He provides

Everything we need
Restoration
For His Glory

2. God as shepherd means he protects.

3. God as our Shepherd means we can trust him.

The Lord has our Shepard is perfectly displayed in Jesus.

Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”
1 Samuel 17:33‭-‬37

Memory Verse

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
Psalms 20:7

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Empty Worshíp

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
Matthew 15:1‭-‬2

You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ ”
Matthew 15:7‭-‬9

Worship isn’t outward style. It’s an inward condition of my heart
Unkown

How do we express our worship?

1. Sometimes, we now in reverence

Come, let us worship and now down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker.
Psalm 95:6

2. Sometimes we lift our hands in adoration

I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
Psalm 63:4

3. Sometimes rejoicing in celebration

Praise his name with dancing , accompanied by tambourine and harp.
Psalm 149:3

4. Sometimes, our worship is a sacrifice

Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.
Hebrews 13:15

Worship isn’t based on our circumstances but on God’s Character.
Unknown

5. every time we surrender our lives to the Lord, it’s an act of worship.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Romans 12:1

Memory Verse

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
John 4:24

The Bottom Line

Worship isn’t something we do; a worshiper is who we are.
Unknown

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What Would Jesus Undo: indifference

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
Revelation 3:15‭-‬16

The causes of spiritual indifference

Self sufficiency

You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
Revelation 3:17

Distractions of this world

but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Mark 4:19

The indicators of Spiritual indifference

1. Being more concerned with impressing people than living for God

2. Being more obsessed with life on earth than eternity

3. Rationalizing sin and living without fearing God

4. Believing in Jesus but rarely sharing my faith.

5. Only turning to God when I need something

6. Only giving when it doesn’t hinder my standard of living

How do I reignite my spiritual fire?

1. Say sorry and turn from your lukewarm indifference

2. Respond to the invitation of Jesus

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
Revelation 3:20 N

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How can I Forgive others

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Matthew 18:21‭-‬33‭, ‬35

Forgiveness is not forgetting everything or pretending that nothing happened.
Forgiveness is a generous release of a genuine debt
Forgiveness is a process and a journey, not an event

Steps to forgiveness

Look in the mirror
Stop telling the story
Pray for the one who hurt you
Ask for. Accountability

I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20

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Forgiveness

How can I fix a broken relationship

1. Handle Anger Appropriately

“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
Ephesians 4:26

2. Ask forgiveness repeatedly

Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
1 John 4:20‭-‬21

3. Offer forgiveness freely

4. Recognize that God holds us responsible for us

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Romans 12:18

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Celebrating the first anniversary of Encouragement Notes

Ten things I’ve learned this year

Know that God creates you, and you only have one purpose, to glorify God. The things we do are the tool we use to serve.
It’s ok to take baby steps, just start moving toward something
Do not label yourself or anyone else in a negative way.
Speak your mind but do it tactfully
Dress up in small ways every day
Education and schooling are two different things. Education is always needed. Schooling is not.
Change will only stick if YOU want it to.
Sometimes you have to go backward in order to go forward in life.
Choose the opinions you take seriously carefully
Don’t be afraid be a late bloomer, at least you’re growing.

First anniversary

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What keep you up at night? Fear

Two kinds of Fear

1. Immediate Danger

2. Imagined Danger

Two things to remember when fear keeps you up at night

1. God is more powerful than any enemy we will ever face

Elisha’s servant

“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
2 Kings 6:16

You and me

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
1 John 4:4

2. God is with us

God’s promise to Moses

And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
Exodus 3:12

God’s promise to Gideon

When the Israelites cried out to the Lord because of Midian, he sent them a prophet, who said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors; I drove them out before you and gave you their land.
Judges 6:7‭-‬9

God’s promise to You and Me

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10

Two things to do. When fear keeps you up at night

1. Filter what goes into our minds

I will refuse to look at anything vile or vulgar
Psalm 101:3

2. Replace your fearful thoughts with three things

1. Prayer

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6

2. Scripture

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Philippians 4:8

3. Action

Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:9

Memory Verse

In peace, I will lay down and sleep, for you alone; Oh Lord will keep me safe
Psalm 4:8

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