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August 2017

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Seeing God’s Hand in Everything

 Psalm 145:15-20 (NLT)
15 The eyes of all look to you in hope; you give them their food as they need it.
16 When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness.
18 The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth.
19 He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them.
20 The Lord protects all those who love him,……

Ephesians 3:20 (NKJV)
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

Psalm 84:11-12 (NKJV)
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold  From those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!

On yesterday afternoon I was out running some errands. I had been working all day and here it was 3p.m. and I had not had lunch.  I knew that I still had to go to the bank and to pick up a few items from the grocery store, so I decided to run through a fast food restaurant here in town and just get a chicken sandwich. It would be something quick that I could eat in the car, as I drove to my next stop.  

I was having a rough day and I think mostly because I had experienced two nights back to back with my sleep being interrupted around 4 am on both nights.

Embrace the Journey

Psalm 127:3 (KJV)
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
Proverbs 31:28-31 (ESV)
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 29 “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.

Trust God’s Plans

 

Ruth 1:3-22 (NLT)
Then Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons. The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later, both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her two sons or her husband.
Then Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had blessed his people in Judah by giving them good crops again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab to return to her homeland. With her two daughters-in-law she set out from the place where she had been living, and they took the road that would lead them back to Judah.

ARE YOU TELLING YOUR STORY?

ARE YOU TELLING YOUR STORY?

July 30, 2017

Luke 21:12-13 (NLT)
12 “But before all this occurs, there will be a time of great persecution. You will be dragged into synagogues and prisons, and you will stand trial before kings and governors because you are my followers. 13 But this will be your opportunity to tell them about me.[a]

Mark 5:19 (NLT)
19 But Jesus said, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.”

Philippians 1:12-18 (NLT)
12 And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters,[a] that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. 13 For everyone here, including the whole palace guard,[b] knows that I am in chains because of Christ.14 And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers[c] here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message[d] without fear.
15 It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. 16 They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. 17 Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. 18 But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice.

Psalm 107:2 (NLT)
Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out!  Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.

One Sunday twenty-seven years ago while sitting in a Women’s Bible Class I felt compelled to share a portion of my personal story.  I can’t remember the exact topic of the lesson that day, but whatever it was, some kind of way I felt that sharing my story could be a worthy contribution to the discussion.

I had gone through a very stressful and violent divorce and only those very close to me, such as my family and one or two friends really knew what my journey had been.