Something Different

Ok. so I've lost track of how many incarnations this blog has had. I'm not known for sticking to just one thing. I'm kinda like a hummingbird. Or a magpie. lol My brain never shuts off. Not even for sleeping. So, whatever is going through my head I may just share here. I'm not trying to be new or different or trendy. This is just me, who I am, in whatever I am.

I'm sitting here with the dog under my blanket, snoring away. I have a "virtual fireplace" with Christmas music playing (courtesy of YouTube). Hubby should be home from work shortly. Daughter is out with friends for dinner. So, for now, it's very peaceful. I also have a small candle burning on the table next to me. I really like candles. I just wish I could afford to buy more. 

I will probably be posting lots of pictures. I love to share pictures!! Here is one of our dog, Chipper. He's a Boston Terrier who sleeps, eats, farts and snores!

My current obsession is all things British. I watch British tv shows, I have a few British acquaintances on Facebook. What's not to love about the U.K.? They have a scheduled tea time every day!! And oh...those lovely British accents (which actually vary depending on where you are from). They are a very proper culture. I would love to have tea time in England. All pretty dessert trays and fancy tea sets. And to dress up! Be a proper lady! What fun! 

And let's not forget "Downton Abbey"! Oh to live in the lovely manor with the Crawley's. I don't know if I'd like to be the aristocracy or the "staff" or maybe just the crazy relation that is kept in the attic! lol I binged on the entire show and had it done in a number of weeks. Oh how I miss my "date" with the Crawley's.


Well, folks... that's all for now. Have a peace filled evening.

Let's Try This Again

They say third time's a charm, so let's see if it holds true. I keep starting this blog but can't seem to keep with it. Maybe now that I'm not working, I can keep up with this. We'll see........

I'm trying to tie in my blog and one of the groups I have on Facebook. There needs to be resources and ideas that will be accessible for people to use. I have a number of books and workbooks that I'd like to share. I'll add the link to my Facebook group in the page description, as well as adding the link here to my Facebook group. I hope you will take advantage of some of these ideas to help you out.

Welcome, again

Ok, let's try this again. I'm really bad at keeping up with these things. And I seem to change the topics as my interests wax and wain. I still intend on keeping on the topic of faith because that is at the heart of all of my relationships. It's the only thing that gets me through all that life is throwing at me. It is my hope that you will want to follow my blog because maybe something resonates with you, or you can take away something positive to bring to your life. I pray that God direct my words and thoughts so that it lifts others up and gives support. Whatever is God's will is what I will follow. 

So, a little update on me and my life. I am currently attending Liberty University Online majoring in Psychology/Christian Counseling. Between work and school and life's every day stresses I am not left with a whole lot of free time. But I will do the best I can. 

As a psychology major, I'm hoping that what I'm learning will help me to help others. I have completed my first year of college. I'm doing the summer semester currently. As I am only working towards my associates degree, I have only one year left. I would like to pursue my bachelors degree at some point. 

As the summer begins, I wish you all a safe and happy summer. 
God Bless.

Linda

Time For Change

Hello lovelies! Those of you who read my blog will notice there was a title change. I've decided I want my blog to reflect what I am learning to become. It's not always the easiest of roads. I'm a stubborn person and I get irritated with my husband at times. But I am trying. And I am learning. It is a path that God has set me on. I know that my relationship with my husband is more peace-filled and less arguments take place.

Change is never easy. It has been studied that it takes 30 days to form a new habit. And I believe a lifetime to "unlearn" all the bad things we pick up over time. Yet, without change, our lives will become stagnant. We become stagnant. So, here I sit, reflecting on all my bad habits and deciding it is time for a change.

Something dawned on me late this afternoon. I may be finally learning about how this whole "godly wife thing" is supposed to work! It was a post I was responding to on a page about a woman who had just had an argument with her husband, yet again, about housework. Here's the post (I'm keeping the name out as I don't have her explicit permission to use it.) 

"Our anniversary is in 7 days.... And I'm not feeling very loving at the moment. Just had a huge fight and I'm honestly just tired of doing everything for him- even when I need rest (had a migraine and back issues and I was still doing everything for him and our son). I'm not a happy wife at the moment, and it's as though I'm supposed to do everything to keep us happy, when its a two way street and he should be trying too."  

Here was my reply: "As hard as it may seem, as wives we are called to sacrifice and service. I know it's not easy. Believe me, I've had my share of grumbling. I work full-time and my husband is out of work. He hadn't been helping a lot around the house. I felt like it was all on me. But, I am trying to be the godly wife and do the right thing. The last thing any man wants is to be nagged. Try sitting down with him and explain how you feel. Sometimes it's just a lack of communication and understanding. Maybe try telling him that when you don't feel good you'd like for him to pitch in a little. And I agree with you 100%. A happy marriage is NOT a one-way street. It takes two to make any marriage work. I hope this helps some. God bless." 

Being a "godly wife" isn't always the easiest thing. And for someone like me, who can be just as stubborn as my husband, we've butted heads over everything. After a while, fighting over stupid things that I have no control over is just a huge waste of time. And my husband, like most husbands, will eventually just tune us out. Our complaints go in one ear and out the other. It took a drastic event for things to change.

As hard as it was to pick up the pieces afterwards, it was worth it. He still doesn't help with a lot of the housework, but when he does, it's a huge relief to me. I've learned that it's ok to let things go. I am only human and can only do so much. I know that if I ask nicely, that sometimes it's easier to get him to help.

Men are not mind readers. They may see we're annoyed but have no clue as to WHAT we're annoyed about. If I'm out in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner, chances are my husband, who is on the sofa with the tv and computer on, will not going to know that I'm upset over anything. 

I'm just as much to blame. I keep everything in until it just takes one little thing to set me off. Then look out. I will go off like Vesuvius! That's not healthy. It's so much easier to just sit down and talk to my husband about the things that are bothering me and asking him to just help me out a little. After all, we both live in this house. We both make a mess. 

It's not just the housework, though. Sometimes it starts as that but the root is something deeper. I try to say my prayers at night before I lay my head down to sleep. I sit in the quiet darkness of my room and pour out my soul to our Father. Sometimes it's just a simple "Father help me." Other times it's more of a conversation. I leave my issues with God and let Him deal with them. This is not to say that I just dump all my problems on God then wake up in the morning without a care. Nope. It doesn't work that way and it's not always just that simple. But it's a start. And we all have to start somewhere. 

So, 30 days to form a new habit. Complain less. Leave it with God. Remember that my job is to serve and sometimes that involves sacrifice. No one said it would be easy. But God did promise us that it would be worth it. 

God Bless.
Linda. 

Here's a blog entry on the topic I just mentioned..nagging. Check them out.

"There's a snag in my nag"
http://www.girlfriendsingod.com/2014/theres-a-snag-in-my-nag-2/

Today’s Truth
Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and nagging wife (Proverbs 21:19).

Easter Sunday

I'd like to wish you all a blessed Easter! This is a day late, but better late than never.
This one is the last of the series in the Holy Week series I have been sharing with you.

Have You Found What You’re Looking For? (Easter Sunday)

Like children scattering around a yard for Easter eggs, you and I are on a hunt.

We all hunt. Our thirsty souls rummage through every nook and cranny of this world, in search of shiny pleasures and saccharine delights.
Every such joy seeker, in pursuit of treasures that will not fade or rust or break or be stolen, must pay careful attention to Easter — not with a nod-off-through-the-sermon kind of attention, but with a real, earnest, eager attention riveted on Christ. If we miss the significance of the resurrection, we scamper past the greatest joy in the universe.

The Joy of Jesus

As the dark shadows stalked the soon-to-be crucified Christ, he turned his attention to joy. Throughout this Holy Week of his crucifixion, Jesus had foreshadowed his death for his disciples who struggled to make sense of it all. He addressed their concerns directly in John 16:19–24.

Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.

When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full."

We rewind Holy Week to hear Jesus forecast the changes to come in his resurrection. He wanted his disciples to anticipate Easter Sunday as the cataclysmic dawning of true joy. And here’s what it all means for joy seekers.

A Blood-Bought Joy

Jesus spoke of this joy as he faced the torture of Good Friday. He faced denial, faced betrayal, faced beatings, faced splinters and nails and spears — he could not stop talking about joy! Only joy would keep him going. Joy was on his mind, joy was on his tongue, and joy was drawing him, not away from suffering, but into it (Hebrews 12:2).

Jesus went to the cross for joy: to buy joy, create joy, and offer joy.

As the world celebrated the savage killing of God, out of this sea of foaming rebel hostility emerged a blood-bought, inextinguishable joy.

An Unbreakable Joy

If the killing of the Author of life could not extinguish this joy Jesus speaks about, nothing can — and nothing ever will. No opposition from the world, no opposition to the gospel, and no cultural despising of Christ, will overcome the resurrection joy of Jesus.

As we have seen this week, the unquenchable joy of Easter was birthed in the greatest trauma and tragedy and evil the world has ever unleashed — the murder of the Son of God. Death, the Devil, demons and the coordinated rebellion of mankind all allied together cannot stymie this joy. Persecutors cannot steal this joy away. No power, no event, no enemy, can sequester the resurrection joy of Jesus Christ that burst out of the tomb with him.

Worldly joys are brittle in comparison. Sickness and poverty crumble joy, and the long process of aging and dying slowly strips life of all its worldly pleasures (Ecclesiastes 12:1–8). Death recedes all our joys, save one. Only one joy cannot be thwarted by death, because only one joy was purchased by blood.

A Newborn Joy

The resurrection joy of Jesus escapes the clutches of death because it’s the joy of the new creation, a joy broken free from the evil of this fallen world.

And this makes Easter breathtaking. As Jonathan Edwards boldly declared: “The resurrection of Christ is the most joyful event that ever came to pass.” And rightly did Charles Spurgeon say: “No man shall ever take from me the joy that Christ rose from the dead.” The resurrection is the most joy-filled divine event in biblical history worthy of our eternal adulation and awe and wonder. But it’s more than a breathtaking historical spectacle.

Jesus employed a common birthing analogy to introduce a radical cosmic birth. His death was the birth pangs of a new creation; his resurrection was the arrival of a new creation into history. In his resurrection, Jesus set in motion an unstoppable chain reaction that will one day culminate in the resurrection of the dead and the renovation of all creation.

Here’s the point. In the long history of joy in this fallen world, after ages of unsatisfied appetites and hunger pangs in the hearts of men and women and children, the resurrection of Christ marks a crescendo. Never has joy found greater expression on earth. In John 15:11, Jesus offered his disciples “full joy,” an invitation only possible from within the final stage in cosmic history. Such a stage was born on Easter morning.

Jesus wants his disciples to thirst for a post-resurrection joy as the arrival of a newly amplified joy, a long-awaited and long-anticipated joy, a never before fully seen or experienced joy in human history. The resurrection of Christ will bring the most spectacularly joy-filled event because it ignites an eternally abiding and forever unconquerable joy.

The Old Testament foretold of this joy, the birth of Christ announced this joy, Holy Week seemed to extinguish this joy, but the resurrection of Christ is the point in history when the unassailable torch of God’s joy emerged from the sea of foaming rebel hostility, rose up and lit the summit of an Olympic torch of joy that will burn for all eternity.

A Joy for the Asking

But as magnificently as this joy entered the world in this defining moment in cosmic history, this joy presses close to us. So Jesus taught his disciples to ask and seek for more of this joy. This is the open invitation of the Messianic age.

And this joy makes sense of the logic of John’s Gospel. Jesus said he must die and go to the Father, and would leave his joy with the disciples. Once he was with the Father, Jesus sent the Spirit to dwell in them (another unmistakable sign of the new creation). United to Christ, the disciples would now pray by the Spirit, to the Father, through the Son.

Easter reshapes prayer, spirituality, and joy. With this inauguration of a new creation, the disciples became adopted sons who could pray to a Father who is eager to pour out spiritual flourishing upon them in every way, leading to a full and satisfying joy which nobody can take away.
Which is great news for the disciples.

Inexpressible Joy for You

But Jesus’s bold resurrection joy promised to the disciples in John 16:19–24 is now offered to you and me. We are promised the same “joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Peter 1:8).

In Christ, God delights to pour out this resurrection joy into your life, a joy that fills, and a joy that cannot be stolen from you. What do we do? We simply ask our gracious Father for more of it!

The Easter joy Jesus foretold has arrived, and it’s deeply personal. The resurrection is both a cosmic event, and it comes intimately close, reminding us of God’s work in our lives. “The point of Easter is that God is in the process of clearing this world of all heartbreak” (John Piper). Therefore, “Christ’s resurrection not only gives you hope for the future; it gives you hope to handle your scars right now” (Tim Keller).

Such a restoring and reviving joy was purchased for you and me in the resurrection of Christ.

Feast and Celebrate

Easter is for stark contradictions.

If Christ is still dead, death reigns, and all our joys are vain. So hoard every plastic Easter egg you find, because whatever you find inside is all the joy you have to grab. Or, as Paul says, “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’” (1 Corinthians 15:32).

But if death is dead, and if the dead are raised — if Christ is risen from the dead! — brothers and sisters let us feast and celebrate, for the dawning light of our inextinguishable and inexhaustible eternal pleasures have broken into the darkness, offering us a life of joy in Christ that cannot fade or rust or be stolen away!

Today, delight in the resurrection joy of Christ, pray it bigger in your life, and treasure it for all eternity.

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This is the final post in Desiring God’s 2014 Holy Week series “The Final Days of Jesus,” inspired by the new book of the same title by Justin Taylor and Andreas Köstenberger. Holy Week illustrations provided in partnership with Crossway Books and Adam Greene. Previously in the series:

• The Problem of Palm Sunday
• No Turning Back (Monday of Holy Week)
• The Escalating Conflict (Tuesday)
• Spy Wednesday
• The Greatest Prayer in the World (Maundy Thursday)
• It Is Finished (Good Friday)
• Let His Blood Be on Us (Saturday of Holy Week)

Tony Reinke (@tonyreinke) is a content strategist at Desiring God, blogger, the author of Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books (2011) and John Newton on the Christian Life: To Live Is Christ (2015), and hosts the Ask Pastor John and Authors on the Line podcasts. He lives in the Twin Cities with his wife, Karalee, and their three children.

 

The Greatest Prayer in the World (Maundy Thursday)

April 17, 2014     by John Piper      Topics:  The Life of Christ

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-greatest-prayer-in-the-world-maundy-thursday

Today is Maundy Thursday. The name comes from the Latin mandatum, the first word in the Latin rendering of John 13:34, “A new commandment (mandatum novum) I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” 

This commandment was given by Jesus on the Thursday before his crucifixion. So Maundy Thursday is the “Thursday of the Commandment."

 

It is Thursday, the night before Jesus’s crucifixion. This evening has been laden with teaching (John 13–17), shocking with foot-washing by the greatest for the least (John 13:3–20), epoch-making with the institution of the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:20–30; Mark 14:17–26; Luke 22:14–20), and pivotal with the departure of Judas (John 13:30).

Now Jesus and the eleven have gone to the Garden of Gethsemane (John 18:1; Mark 14:32). Here Jesus prays the greatest prayer in the world. What hung in the balance was the glory of God’s grace and the salvation of the world. The success of Jesus’s mission to earth depended on Jesus’s prayer and the answer given. He prayed with reverence and his request was given.

The question I would like to try to answer is: How does Hebrews 5:7 relate to the prayers in Gethsemane? Hebrews 5:7 says, “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.” He was heard. He got his request. What does this refer to in Jesus’s life?

 

Loud Cries in the Garden

Nothing in Jesus’s experience comes closer to this description than the prayers of Gethsemane. “Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears,” corresponds emotionally to Luke 22:44, “Being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” “Loud cries and tears” is a description of the “agony” of Jesus.

What was the content of Jesus’s “prayers and supplications” in Hebrews 5:7? If we assume the content was: “Remove this cup from me” (Mark 14:36), then what would it mean that “he was heard because of his reverence” (Hebrews 5:7)? Hebrews teaches that, precisely because of his “godly fear,” Jesus “was heard,” that is, he received his request.

But the cup was not removed. He suffered the fullness of physical pain and divine wrath. So in what sense was Jesus “heard because of his reverence”?

His First Prayer and the Angel’s Help

Both Matthew and Mark portray Jesus as praying three separate times, and each time returning to the sleeping Peter, James, and John. Luke, on the other hand, gives a single summary description of Jesus’s prayers, and includes a detail that points to an answer to our question, namely, the visitation of the angel. Luke writes,

He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22:41–44)

Before the angel came “to strengthen” him, Jesus prayed that the cup be removed (Luke 22:42). Then the angel came, “strengthening him.” Strengthening him for what? Presumably to do what he had to do. In other words, the angel was God’s response to Jesus’s first prayer. The angel bears God’s message that there is no other way, but I will help you. Do not turn from your mission now, in spite of the terrifying prospect. I will help you. Here is my angel to strengthen you.

Then the question is: What was the content of the prayers that followed? Luke 22:44 says, “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly.” Does this mean he kept on saying: “Remove this cup from me,” even more earnestly? That assumption would be unworthy of Jesus. What then was he praying? And is this different prayer what Hebrews says “was heard because of his reverence”?

 

He Prays a Second Time

According to Matthew, when Jesus went away a second time to pray, he did not say the identical words as the first time. The first time he said, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” The second time he said, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done” (Matthew 26:42).

May we not assume that the angel had come to Jesus the first time he prayed, and had made plain to Jesus that it was, in fact, not possible for the cup to pass from him, but that God would help him drink it? Which is why, in his second prayer, Jesus does not ask for the cup to be removed, but instead asks for God’s will to be done in view of the revealed fact that “the cup cannot pass”: “If this cannot pass unless I drink it [which has now been made plain to me by the coming of the angel], your will be done.”

When Mark says, of the second prayer of Jesus, “And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words” (Mark 14:39), it need not contradict this, as though only the same words were spoken all three times. “The same words” may simply refer to, “Your will be done,” which indeed Jesus prays each time.

If we are on the right track, then the content of Jesus’s supplications after the angel came was not the same as before. He did not go on praying: “Let this cup pass from me.” It says, “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly” (Luke 22:44). If he was not praying more earnestly for the cup to be removed, then what was he praying?

 

His Greatest Act of Obedience

Hebrews 5:7 says, “Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.” If “save his soul from death” does not mean, “Remove this cup from me,” what does it mean? For he was certainly heard and received this request.

Jonathan Edwards answers,

This was the greatest act of obedience that Christ was to perform. He prays for strength and help, that his poor feeble human nature might be supported, that he might not fail in this great trial, that he might not sink and be swallowed up, and his strength so overcome that he should not hold out, and finish the appointed obedience.

He was afraid lest his poor feeble strength should be overcome, and that he should fail in so great a trial, that he should be swallowed up by that death that he was to die, and so should not be saved from death; and therefore he offered up strong crying and tears unto him that was able to strengthen him, and support, and save him from death, that the death he was to suffer might not overcome his love and obedience, but that he might overcome death, and so be saved from it. (“Christ’s Agony”)

Jesus did not go on praying for the cup to pass. He went on praying for success in drinking it.

When Paul says, of Jesus’s resurrection, “Therefore, God has highly exalted him” (Philippians 2:9), the “therefore” refers to Jesus’s unwavering obedience unto death: “Being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore . . .” (Philippians 2:8). God saved Jesus from death because he was obedient. His prayers were answered.

 

The Father’s Answer

If Jesus had not been obedient unto death, he would have been swallowed up by death forever and there would be no resurrection, no salvation, and no future world filled with the glory of God’s grace and God’s children. This is what Jesus prayed for “to him who was able to save him from death” — that is, save him from a death that would not succeed its saving mission.

“He was heard for his godly fear.” God did save him from the threat that such a death posed to his obedience. Jesus did succeed. There is salvation for all who believe. There will be a new world full of the glory of God’s grace and God’s children.

And all of this is owing to the greatest prayer in the world. Every hope of the gospel succeeds because of Jesus’s reverent earnestness in prayer, and the answer of the Father. “Being in an agony he prayed more earnestly . . . and he was heard because of his reverence” (Luke 22:44; Hebrews 5:7).

Evidently, by the time Jesus was done praying in Gethsemane, the Father had not only made clear that there is no other way than the cross, but also that this way would succeed. The Lamb would have the reward of his suffering. He will “see his offspring; he will prolong his days; the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he will see and be satisfied” (Isaiah 53:10–11).

Surely this is why Hebrews 12:2 could say, “For the joy that was set before him he endured the cross.” Beneath the terrors of present agony was the taste of future joy. The angel had come, “strengthening him” — clarifying, confirming, connecting the coming joy.

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This is the fifth post in Desiring God’s 2014 Holy Week series “The Final Days of Jesus,” inspired by the new book of the same title by Justin Taylor and Andreas Kostenberger. Holy Week illustrations provided in partnership with Crossway Books and Adam Greene. Previously in the series:

• The Problem of Palm Sunday
• No Turning Back (Monday of Holy Week)
• The Escalating Conflict (Tuesday)
• Spy Wednesday

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books.

Good Morning Girls Devotional Week 2: Scripture Verse, Challenge and Video

Welcome to week 2 of our study. This week we're going to look at why the crucifixion matters. Our scripture for Sunday (4/6/14) is Luke 23:26-49.It is the heart breaking story of the crucifixion. I have seen several movies about the crucifixion and I always find those scenes the hardest to watch. But Jesus did it for us! He knew what would become of Him and why. He made the ultimate sacrifice. Keep that in mind while you are reading this.

This is from the GMG Blog, but I thought it needed to be shared here. Some important things to keep in mind.

1. We are ALL sinners

“We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way…”- Isaiah 53:6 (NIV)

We are all in need of forgiveness, mercy and grace. No matter how hard we try, we can NOT earn our way to heaven. Our “good works” are like filthy rags compared to God’s holiness. (Isaiah 64:6)

2. We can have peace with God because of Christ’s shed blood on the cross

Jesus died in my place….in your place. I NEVER want that truth to ever be taken for granted. My sins put Him on the cross and I want that realization to daily rock my world. I want to love, forgive and extend grace extravagantly because of the price my sweet Jesus paid on my behalf.  Jesus suffered what was meant for me.

By shedding His blood on the cross, Jesus took the punishment we deserve and offered us His righteousness. When we trust Christ for our salvation, essentially we are making a trade. By faith, we trade our sin and its accompanying death penalty for His righteousness and life.- Chuck Swindoll

3. We are loved
I know we’ve all heard the saying,

“It wasn’t the nails that kept Jesus on the cross, but His love.”

As women, I know we love watching movies where the hero of the story rescues the girl and saves the day from the evil villain and if we’re honest,  as we watch these movies our hearts secretly wish we had someone in our lives who would love us like that. What we don’t realize is that we already do, Jesus. He has already fought the mighty battle for our souls by going to the cross and dying in our place.

Honestly, I don’t think our minds can comprehend what Christ truly went through on the cross, not just physically but spiritually as well. We don’t know what it feels like to be separated from God and bearing the weight of the world’s sins for all time. Past. Present. Future.

For those of us who have accepted God’s free gift of salvation and have asked Jesus to take control of our lives and come into our hearts….our eternities were forever changed by what Christ did on that old rugged cross. Instead of a future of hell, Jesus laid down His life and now we have a future of heaven to look forward to. No matter how hard life gets, because of what Jesus did on the cross, we have a glorious future to look forward to.

Week 2: Challenge:
Because of what Christ did for us on the cross, we are no longer slaves to the sins in our lives that so easily entangle us. We now can have God’s forgiveness of our sins, embrace the grace He extends and look forward to our hope of heaven. Despite what is going on around us in this world, we have a bright future to look forward to when we get to heaven. This week focus on what Christ’s crucifixion means to you and how you are going to honor Jesus with the new life, the second chance,  you have been given. Write it out and share it with your group or a friend.

Week 2: Memory Verse

http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/ 

Good Morning Girls Devotional: Why Easter Matters: Week 1 Memory Verse, Challenge and Video

{Week 1} Challenge: Make a list of things in your life that you’re tempted to rely on other than Jesus. Every day this week take time to pray over your list, asking God to help you place your full dependence and trust in Christ alone.

                                                    Memory Verse:

Here is the link to the official Good Morning Girls blog and page for resources for this study:

http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/2014/03/easter-matters-materials-checklist/ 

Wishing you all a blessed week! 
Yours In Christ,
Linda

How to "Water" your marriage

A marriage is a constant work in progress. Things change, circumstances change, children are born. In today's society it has become all too easy to just "throw away" a marriage that isn't working. You don't see couples who are together 50, 60 years like our parents and grandparents were. 

 These are some ideas that were posted on the Good Morning Girls Blog page and I thought I'd share them here with you. Try one or all of them. Let me know how things are coming along.

Here’s How to Water Your Marriage: 

  1.) Accept the fact that all marriages are flawed. 
As Dr. Gary Chapman says, “Conflicts are not a sign that you have married the wrong person.They simply affirm that you are human."

2.) Make your husband second priority only to God. Flip-flop your priorities so your marriage is not coming in dead last, and you will find grass that looks burned start to grow green again. 

3.) Set aside a regular date night (even if you can’t leave your home, declare a special evening after the kids are in bed). Spend some time just enjoying your husband.  Hold hands, steal kisses, talk, and listen. Slow down and enjoy each other as you did during the dating days! 

4.) Smile at your husband. A genuine smile is simple but irresistible. 

5.)  If your grass is looking brown in some spots, tend specifically to those spots with prayer. Do not let it go dormant and die! If necessary, seek professional counseling to find ways to water the burned areas and help them grow again. 

6.) Do not neglect your marriage and assume that it will grow all on its own. Just as my brown grass is not going to turn green on its own, my marriage isn’t going to flourish on its own.  To stay healthy, your marriage needs your attention.  Discipline yourself to tend to it.

http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/

~excerpt from the book, Women Living Well:Finding Your Joy in God, Your Man, Your Kids & Your Home

Good Morning Girls 1/22/14 Hebrews 12:1-3

Week 1: Wednesday 1/22/14

Read: Hebrews 12:1-3

SOAP: Hebrews 12:1

Hebrews 12:1-3

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

S: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

O: When we are surrounded by others, we can let ourselves be lifted of our troubles because there are others to share the weight. And when we don't have that huge burden on us, we can focus on what lies ahead of us.

A: I need to learn that I am not alone in this world. People who genuinely care for me are willing to share my burdens with me. They will pray for me if I ask. They will support me, lift me up, or just be there to listen. And sometimes that's all we need, to know that someone cares. Yes, we should always lay our problems before the Lord, but the love of family and friends is also a wonderful benefit! Don't try to go it alone. Open your heart to God and to your friends. You might just be surprised!

P: Heavenly Father, I come to You with all my burdens and troubles. I know You are greater than the sum of all my problems. I know You can carry the load. Help me to open my heart to You and to others. Remind me that I am not alone in this world. All I need to do is ask for help and it will be there for me if I allow it. Amen.

 

Good Morning Girls Intentionally Focused Week 1 (1-20-14 & 1-21-14)

I asked a friend of mine to do a bible study with me, but then I had so many things come up that I kind of just lost sight of it. Which wasn't really fair since it was my idea to do it in the first place. So, now I have a loaner computer, I printed out some of what I needed at work and I am sitting down to get some of it caught up. They will be starting Week 3 while I am still flogging through Week 1.

Let’s Get Started!!

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children….” Ephesians 5:1 NIV

Week 1 Challenge:

 
Let’s be intentional in developing a habit of spending time in God’s Word over the next 8 weeks. This week commit to when you are going to read the daily Bible passage and where you will do it. For example I am committing to having my quiet time from 6:00-6:30 at my kitchen table. Once you decide on the when and where, write it down and tape the commitment card on your bathroom mirror so you see it every morning and every night. 

Week 1 Memory Verse: 

 

Week 1: This week I'm going to be intentionally focused on:
Cutting out excess distractions so that I may hear what God is trying to tell me.

Week 1: Monday 1/20/14
Read:     Ephesians 5:1-14
SOAP:   Ephesians 5:1 

S: Write out the scripture passage for the day.

"Follow God's example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

O: Write down 1 or 2 observations from the passage.

• We are being told that we should act according to how God has told us to.
• We should love each other as Jesus loved us.
• Jesus sacrificed for us as a way of showing His love for us.

A: Write down 1 or 2 applications from the passage.

•  We should carefully consider our actions and words to be sure that they would be pleasing to   God. 
• To be kind to others as a way of honoring Jesus.

 P: Pray over what you learned from today's passage.

Lord, I pray that my actions and words towards others are pleasing to You. If anything I may do or say not be of You, I pray for forgiveness upon You. Amen

________________________________________________________________________________

Week 1: Tuesday 1/21/14
Read:    Psalms 90:12 
SOAP:  Psalms 90:12


S: Write out the scripture passage for the day.

"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

O: Write down 1 or 2 observations from the passage.

• "Teach us to number our days"-- take each day one at a time. Live each day as if it were our only day.
• "Gain a heart of wisdom"-- let us learn from our days on earth. To learn from both the good and the bad.

  A: Write down 1 or 2 applications from the passage.

•  To learn to take each day as it comes.

• To learn from each day whether it was good or bad. 

P: Pray over what you learned from today's passage.

Lord, teach me to handle each day as it comes and to not get caught up in worries over tomorrow. Help me to learn from each day and to grow from it. Amen.


 
 

 


  

 

Good Morning Girls, Intentionally Focused Week 3 2/3/14

I'm working backwards. But at least now I'm all caught up with Week 3.

The reading for Week 3, Mon. 2/3/14: Romans 8:1-8

Life in the Spirit

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

 

S: For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.    ~Romans 8:6

 

O: If we focus our minds on things of the flesh it will only lead us to sin. We can't allow ourselves to be led by our feelings. If we focus on things of God, it will lead us to a life of peace. 

 

A: If I focus on earthly desires, chances are it will lead me to sin. I will be out of favor with God. I need to be constantly asking God what is it He wants me to do. I need to be still and listen so I can hear His voice. 

 

P: Dear Lord, help me to hear Your voice above all the noise. Help me to know what it is You want me to do. Remind me that everything I do is for Your glory and honor. Help me to not stray from the path you have set before me. Amen.