Encouragement For Women

My day began waking up to my youngest son, tending to his needs then some time for reading my Bible. It should be noted that I have been slacking off on this important task and I have reaped what I have sown. I usually read at night before snoozing off, but like a pastor friend (John Aydelott ) of mine once said, "...it doesn't give you much time to apply it to your day nor to meditate on it." Well said John. Here is what I read: (Luke 18:1-8) 1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' 4 "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that...

"I never knew how to worship until I knew how to love." -Henry Ward Beecher There is a passage in the Bible that is often completely misunderstood, made fun of and the like. It is the account of Abraham taking his son Isaac up the mountain as a sacrifice to the L ORD . I read it totally different. Here I see a Father who had waited what seemed like an eternity to have a child willing to loose his greatest joy for honoring God. Many say that Abraham was a freak or hateful and how dare God ask him to do such a thing. A God like that isn't worth any of my time say others. However, the request is to reveal Abraham's heart - not to take from him his life's treasure, his son. It is also to reveal how God feels in regards to when he gives up his son for many. Abraham is a man who loves God and desires to honor him with his life - all of it. My favorite part is highlighted in purple. Here I read that Abraham was willing to take his son, but knew that God would pr...

Psalm 89 5 All heaven will praise your great wonders, L ord ; myriads of angels will praise you for your faithfulness. 6 For who in all of heaven can compare with the L ord ? What mightiest angel is anything like the L ord ? 7 The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God. He is far more awesome than all who surround his throne. (New Living Translation)

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet". Romeo and Juliet ( Quote Act II, Sc. II) . It is no doubt that you have heard this either in the theater, in school, reading Shakespeare yourself, or someone somewhere quoting it. If you are new to this line in Shakespeare...perhaps it might interest you to read it for yourself in full. The past few days I have been thinking about the name Christian. Here are some of my thoughts regarding this subject... As a believer in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour - I/you/we have the title/name Christian. If you live in Washington state you are a Washingtonian - meaning of/from/within Washington. Here is what Merriam-Webster online describes Christian as: Etymology:Latin christianus, adjective & noun, from Greek christianos, from Christos 1 a : one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ b (1) : disciple 2 (2) : a member of one of the Churches of Christ separat...

Is there something challenging God is asking you to do? It could be something small, or enormous. Maybe it is talking to someone at work, or perhaps not talking to someone. I think challenges are laid before us everyday. Certainly not all of them are as insane as what Job went through - but perhaps some days, for some of us they can be. What we do with them, how we go through them, our experiences, our testimony of God's faithfulness to others observing our failures and successes as complete them - these are equally as important as the challenges themselves. My current challenge is a tag sale (by other names, garage sale or yard sale). At first it was just a simple means to get rid of stuff. Then I felt pressed to make it more meaningful. My heart was drawn towards making it a fund raiser for Gospel for Asia , and more specifically for the purchase of animals for Dalit families . I emailed some friends asking them to donate some things for this tag sale. I am overwhelmed a...

If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end. Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete...

And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the lamb." ( Revelation 7 :10) At different times in my life I have different "favorite" verses in the Bible. A few years ago, while studying the book of Revelation the entire seventh chapter gripped me. Most especially verses nine through 17. John is in the midst of heaven through a vision that God has given him. He sees before the throne of God a great multitude that cannot be counted. People from every nation, tribe, people and language crying out in worship before God. What grips my heart is that these are they who have come out of the great tribulation. Each of us have a long list of people we know and love who have walked away from serving God or others who continually choose not to serve him. These are those whom we should remind ourselves to pray for often. Each time just one person repents, there is rejoicing in heaven! (Luke 15:7) Imagine the rejo...