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It’s in the Bag
Kimberly Gordon
Energion Publications
Gonzalez, Florida
2012
Copyright © 2012, Kimberly Gordon
All Rights Reserved
Unless otherwise marked, scripture quotations are from the New International Version Bible. Copyright © Zondervan Corporation. 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011. Used by Permission.
Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version.
Cover Design: Henry Neufeld
EPub Edition
Print ISBNs:
ISBN10: 1-893729-67-2
ISBN13: 978-1-893729-67-4
Energion Publications
P.O. Box 841
Gonzalez, FL 32560
www.energionpubs.com
Thank you to my friends
Julie Tidwell and Rhonda Ford
for all their help with the study questions
Introduction
Years ago, there was a cartoon cat named Felix. He got himself into all sorts of jams and tight spots, but he carried a bag that was full of tools or whatever he needed to get out of trouble. I remember the little song that went with his show. “Felix the cat, the wonderful, wonderful cat, whenever he is in a fix, he’ll reach into his bag of tricks!” It was a fun cartoon, but his little bag was key to saving the day. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could have a bag like that? Whatever we needed would be in there to fix whatever comes our way each day. Where do I get one?
Actually though, we do have our “tool bag” of things that we need. We carry our purses everywhere. I don’t leave home without mine and I panic if it’s missing. My purse is a part of me, even though I change it out every season. Now, imagine if we, as women of God, were given a purse by Christ himself. A gift, a handbag, full of everything we needed to get through each day with every season of life. Awesome! If heaven’s angels handed them out in all the best department stores, can you imagine the line? Oh my goodness! It would make the news for sure. “Handbags from Jesus, given out today at department stores across the country to every woman who believes in Him. Free gifts inside ...”
What would they look like? What would be in it? Would the outside be smooth, black leather, macrame, pink fur, feathers, or plastic? It would be as unique as we are for certain. It might be gold and covered with rubies and other precious gemstones. Maybe the rubies would be inside to remind me how much I am worth to Him.
For who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. — Proverbs 31:10
Far above rubies? I like the sound of that. Sounds out of my price range though. Only one entity in all of creation can afford something truly priceless and that would be our heavenly Father. We are priceless to Him. Hallelujah!
So let’s determine what might be inside our purse from heaven. Let’s take a peek inside. Oooohhhh. I see lipstick, mascara, foundation ... we get make up. Yahoo! There are band-aids, a mirror, a comb, a cell phone .... I know what you are thinking. Gee, that’s nothing special. All that stuff is in my purse right now. What makes this purse so special? Let’s use God’s word, and find out.
GROUP ACTIVITY: PURSE SCAVENGER HUNT
Ask the ladies to pull out their purses. When you call out an item, they dig into their purse and find it, and earn a point for each item. Winner at the end has the most points.
Band-aid
Comb/brush
Lipstick
Mirror
Mascara
Pen
Tissues (clean or not)
Candy (including gum, tic-tacs, anything)
Sunglasses
Nail Polish
Straw
Paper clip
Cell Phone
Receipt
Tie breaker: what’s the weirdest thing in your purse? The group votes on the winner.
Makeup
I just love Looney Toons. I grew up on those cartoons in the 70’s. I’ll even admit I still watch them today, from time to time. There was one particular story line where one of the characters shouts “Makeup!” Of course, the poor shmuck sitting in the chair gets a face full of powder. I don’t think our makeup from Jesus is quite so surprising. The word “makeup” in itself has scriptural ties. The makeup of someone is who they are, what they are. Is your makeup good or bad today? Are you sugar and spice and everything nice, or sour lemons? Your makeup is your countenance. How you hold and present yourself, how you interact with other people, and so on. Ladies, if we are saved through Christ, then our “makeup” should be holy, for He is holy and He is in us. Do people see Him in you? Are you “madeup” of Christ?
Romans 8:10 tells us, “But if Christ is in you ... the Spirit gives life because of righteousness ....” And Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”
So if Christ is in us, shouldn’t we let Him be in control? He is going to give us a better attitude than we could have on our own. For example, what if you stub your toe on the coffee table and your children are watching. How do you react? What do you say?
What if you hit every single red light all the way to work? (Been there, done that – and I was ready to kill someone by the time I finally got to my desk.) What if your children are fighting at the breakfast table and it’s not even 7 AM yet? (Been there, done that too.) When you get in these stressful situations, how do you react? Like Christ? Or in the flesh?
What a difference when we do things in the flesh. In the Bible, your attitude is described as your countenance. As women of God, our countenance should shine light. Let Him be your “makeup” that makes you shine each and every day. Psalm 4:6 reads, “Let the light of your face shine on us.” Proverbs 15:13 tells us that “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance.” And Psalm 42:11 says “Hope in God ... who is the health of my countenance.”
These are wonderful passages of scripture to get us through the day with reminders of how we should behave.
GROUP DISCUSSION:
1. What are some situations that you’ve been in where you acted in the flesh and not in the spirit?
2. Can you think of a time when you did act righteously, when your “makeup” was pleasing to Christ?
3. Are you conscious that someone is almost always watching you? Do you have good behavior testimony? Are you setting a good example for others?
A Good Foundation
Every woman that sells makeup knows that besides great skin, which very few of us actually have, you need to start with the right kind