Woman of God

What does it mean to be a woman? What does it mean to be a woman who loves God and wants to serve him? Amidst all the questions, frustrations and controversies that women battle with today, these are the really key questions. And in Woman of God, Terry Blowes takes us on an exhilarating journey through the Bible to find answers. She writes:

"In preparing these studies I wanted to help the Christian woman clarify her identity, based on her relationship with God, and as a result of this, to be able to develop her values and priorities with a greater sense of confidence and security. It is impossible to respond to all of the questions and difficulties that being a woman today poses. But if a woman has a clear idea of her identity, her priorities and what is of greatest importance, she can make her life decisions more easily and with greater success. We will never be able to solve all that causes us pain—individually, in marriage, in the family and the church—because all are affected by the fallen world in which we live. There are no easy answers. For this reason it is necessary that our confidence rests completely in our mighty, loving God, and that our hope is fixed on his glorious return."

This set of eight Bible studies by former CMS missionary Terry Blowes is of enormous help to Christian women in working through what the Bible says, and changing their attitudes and behaviour to become like Christ. An ideal guide for individual Bible study or for use in small groups.

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Table of contents:

0. Introduction
1. The Lord, my Creator
2. The Lord, my Saviour
3. The Lord, my Father
4. The Lord, my Comforter
5. The Lord, my Husband (part 1)
6. The Lord, my Husband (part 2)
7. Part of the Lord's body
8. The Lord, my King

How to make the most of these studies

1. What is a Topical Bible Study?

Topical Bible Studies are a bit like a guided tour of a famous city. They take you on a tour through the Bible, looking at material related to the topic (in this case, prayer), helping you to know where to start, pointing out things along the way, suggesting avenues for further exploration, and making sure that you know how to get home. Like any good tour, the real purpose is to allow you to go exploring for yourself—to dive in, have a good look around, and discover for yourself the riches that God’s word has in store.

In other words, these studies aim to provide stimulation and input and point you in the right direction, while leaving you to do plenty of the exploration and discovery yourself.

These studies are like a tour of a famous city in another sense—they don’t hope to look at everything; just the impor- tant things. We can’t cover in detail everything the Bible says on a given topic, but we do aim to finish our tour without having missed any significant landmarks.
We hope that these studies will stimulate lots of interaction—interaction with the Bible, with the things we’ve written, with your own current thoughts and attitudes, with other people as you discuss them, and with God as you talk to him about it all.

2. The format

The studies contain five main components:

• sections of text that introduce, inform, summarize and challenge
• numbered questions that help you examine the Bible and think through its meaning
• sidebars that provide extra bits of background or optional extra study ideas, especially regarding other relevant parts of the Bible
• ‘Implications’ sections that help you think about what this passage means for you and your life today
• suggestions for thanksgiving and prayer as you close.

3. How to use these studies on your own

• Before you begin, pray that God would open your eyes to what he is saying in the Bible, and give you the spiritual strength to do something about it.
• Work through the study, reading the text, answering the questions about the Bible passage, and exploring the sidebars as you have time.
• Resist the temptation to skip over the ‘Implications’ and ‘Give thanks and pray’ sections at the end. It is important that we not only hear and understand God’s word, but respond to it. These closing sections help us do that.
• Take what opportunities you can to talk to others about what you’ve learnt.

4. How to use these studies in a small group

• Much of the above applies to group study as well. The studies are suitable for structured Bible study or cell groups, as well as for more informal pairs and triplets. Get together with a friend or friends and work through them at your own pace; use them as the basis for regular Bible study with your spouse. You don’t need the formal structure of a ‘group’ to gain maximum benefit.
• For small groups, it is very useful if group members can work through the study themselves before the group meets. The group discussion can take place comfortably in an hour (depending on how sidetracked you get!) if all the members have done some work in advance.
• The role of the group leader is to direct the course of the discussion and to try to draw the threads together at the end. If you are a group leader, the material in the appendix ‘Tips for group leaders’ (at the back of this book) is designed to help you think through how to use these studies in a group setting.
• We haven’t included an ‘answer guide’ to the questions in the studies. This is a deliberate move. We want to give you a guided tour of the Bible, not a lecture. There is more than enough in the text we have written and the questions we have asked to point you in what we think is the right direction. The rest is up to you.