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.