Sometimes a kind word or deed from a friend helps us to keep going when we want to quit. It is such a blessing to have someone come to me and say they are praying for me or to find a note slipped under my door telling me they care.
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Does your garden need some weeding? We have this promise in I John 1:9, “But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Through the power of our Comforter, the Holy Spirit, we can have the victory that God wants us to have. And then we will honor our Saviour with fruit that reflects His character!
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I remember the days as a teenager when my friends and I would be dreaming of our someday prince charmings and pinterest weddings. I remember feeling as if my prince would never come. I thought I would never get to do all the fun wedding things. People would always tell me “Katelyn just wait on the Lord”. I remember thinking to myself “Okay once I get married I’ll never have to wait on the Lord again”. I laugh at myself now because boy was I wrong. If we really think about it. We are all in some kind of season of waiting right now. You may be waiting for the Lord to bring you a spouse, waiting to find that perfect home for you and your family, waiting for a ministry opportunity you feel called to, waiting for God to give you children, or waiting for your loved one to be healed from a disease. These are just a few things you could be waiting on. These are all things I have personally had to wait on.
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Early on a Thursday morning, I began to feel bad with a terrible headache, nausea and my vision became blurred. I endured the symptoms for two days before deciding to go to urgent care for some relief. The doctor there seemed perplexed and prescribed an antibiotic deciding that it may be an inner ear infection. He advised me to see my primary care doctor on Monday. On Monday, my doctor sent me to an ophthalmologist to determine the cause of my blurred vision. The eye doctor told me the dreaded words that I never thought I would hear. He said I had a stroke.
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“In circumstances as dark as these... It becomes us as men and Christians to reflect that while every prudent measure should be taken to wart off impending judgements.”
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I began to realize that in life it can become easy to turn on “cruise control” and go through life doing our routines without thought of purpose. Dishes need washed, papers stack up, laundry piles need sorted, groceries need bought, family needs cared for, Sunday School lessons need studied, etc…
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We give and take when it is convenient for us as well as beneficial. We forget about expecting nothing in return. We forget about simply doing. Giving and receiving must be for me and only me.
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In order for us to grow in Christ; we need to
G- Get
R- Rid
O- Of Old
W-Ways and put into practice new ways!
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There is usually more than one reason for why we do things. These reasons can be like building blocks upon each other, but we must not misplace our motive in the wrong building block as the foundation of our decisions. Ultimately, the Bible says our purpose is to bring glory to God, and making decisions in accordance with His Word is how this is accomplished.
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My dad is a whistler. There isn’t a day that goes by that you will hear a tune or two while he works. He always seems to have a song in his heart. When my husband and I first started in the ministry, the pastor that we worked under was always humming a song. We often joked, because, even while eating at the table, if he was enjoying his meal, he hummed while he ate! 🥰😂 Again, he always had a song in his heart. I have a best friend that constantly wakes up with a song in her heart. Even before she asks the Lord for it, He has already given it to her! 🤪 She has a song in her heart!!!
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Did you ever give or receive one of those gifts that were several things all in one? Perhaps you did today. Maybe it was a pocket knife of some sort that also was a screwdriver, nail file, and scissors. If you are a golfer, maybe it was one of those multi-tools with a cleat tightener, stroke counter, brush, and club groove cleaner. Remember the commercials for a kitchen gadget that “dices and slices and makes julienne fries!” with the “But wait! There’s more!”?
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But today I challenge us to reflect on Mary. We understand she is not to be worshipped or even “put on a pedestal” as an object of attainment, as if to say, “ I wander if I am highly favored and blessed among women”. We would err to exalt her even to that degree in our minds. However, every person ever created in His image, which is all mankind, can be used as ensamples to each of us weather good or bad.
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However, there are some responsibilities that come with this job. Not to burst your bubble, but a real princess here on earth does not get to lounge around and be pampered all day (though that would be really nice!). Nope, an earthly princess has appointments, school, planned-out schedules, friends that must go through background checks; and above all, they have a reputation to keep. This is a reputation that needs to be protected and clean just like we all have.
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Women in the Bible can offer us deep meaning and teach us! These women can teach us so much about-facing brokenness and hopelessness with courage even TODAY! They probably do not show up in VBS songs, or many Sunday School lessons. These women even today can teach us to live courageously, through difficult or even dangerous situations!
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With a name like Joy, living up to my name has been a life-long challenge. People often ask
how I manage to maintain a positive attitude, and keep a smile on my face. I can assure you, it
can sometimes be quite difficult. It is rather easy to find joy when all is right with the world, and
everything in life is going according to our plan. However, the true challenge is, how can we
hold on to that Joy while navigating through life’s heartaches and stormy waters?
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Patience…. My least favorite word of all time. So many “well meaning” people have tried to be an “encouragement” to me over the years by saying things like, “God will bring you just the right man, you just have to be patient” or “God will show you what He wants for your future, you just have to be patient”.
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This year the town that I live in started a gleaning program. People could sign up to go and pick the leftover fruit and produce that was still left on the plants in the farmers’ fields. The free program allowed you to pick as much as you wanted and share with family and friends, but you were not allowed to sell what you picked. I had never heard of this kind of program before and I was a little skeptical at first, but when I went with some of my kids and a lady from our church, I was blown away by the bounty we could pick! While speaking to the farmer, he explained that the harvest was so large this year that he did not have the laborers to keep up with it. He decided to donate the rest so the harvest would not go to waste. As he walked away to answer someone else’s questions, I could only stare out at the field. There were 20 gleaners and three strawberry fields; we did not even put a dent into the harvest.
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His name is Joseph. I first saw him walking through our quaint downtown square with a bundle of blankets tucked under his arm . He was obviously malnourished. His hair and beard were unkempt and his skin bore the marks of weathering both the physical and spiritual storms of life. In my mind’s eye I immediately saw him as someone’s son, someone’s brother, perhaps, someone’s husband or father. My heart hurt for him. It was a short and simple prayer that I prayed that day, “Lord, show me how I could help someone like that.” The light turned green and I drove on.
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Have you ever noticed that sometimes we get so consumed with our own wants and needs? This leads to praying endlessly all day because we want an answer immediately, and then we start to get upset, mad, and bitter when we don’t get a response. It feels like our prayers are hitting the ceiling and bouncing back to us. What happens next is that you’ve become so frustrated about what you are praying for that you begin arguing with the Lord. You want to wrestle with Him so that you can win. Is it wrong to be passionate about your prayer life? No, but there are often times when you try to force your way and even manipulate your answer, and then you live in misery and regret because you had to have what you wanted.
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I know that this is a familiar verse. But if you really look at this verse you will see that God's being near to us requires and action on our part. We have to first draw nigh to God. This can be done in several ways: Prayer, reading God's Word, being faithful to church, just to name a few. It is easy to let the "stuff of life" get in the way of our walk with the Lord and the devil actually prefers it that way. In this story I am about to share with you is my personal experience of the Lord working and convicting me of my walk with Him.
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