Where to Find Comfort in Times of Confusion

Only a very few people knew that we are actually trying to have another baby. I am in my late thirties and hubby in his early forties, and realize that our kids are getting older and if we wanted to expand, now was our time to try. We placed our trust in the Lord and waited. Mid August 2016 we found out we were expecting. September 6th we found out the baby had stopped developing. Total confusion and disbelief set in. How? Why? This can’t be happening to us!

Someone shortly after said, oh you might not have meant to be pregnant but it’s still sad you lost the baby. That hit a raw spot in my heart. We did desire to be pregnant. We did want to expand our family. Even with already having four children living on one income and times being tight, our hearts desired to love and care for another. We knew God was bigger than our paycheck and knew that He would provide accordingly. We had faith in Him then, and still have faith in Him now. No matter what our future brings we know that He can be trusted and that He has good in store for us. We are being renewed day by day and wait expectedly for what His will is.

Today, March 15, marks the six month anniversary of my miscarriage. Looking back over the past six month after losing the baby, life seems very surreal. It sometimes seems like it never really happened, almost like a really bad nightmare and other times it hits me hard. I was pregnant. I was carrying a baby for several months. I did lose a baby. A sweet baby the Lord had blessed our family with. A baby that was very much loved and wanted by us all.

“Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. ” (2 Corinthians 4:1)

I would be about 38 weeks if I were still pregnant. Nathan, our 16 year old, was born at 38 weeks and the others between 38-39 weeks, so realistically we could have a newborn any day now. Sigh. But God had different plans for our family. Instead of him/her coming home with us, the Lord decided to bring him/her home to heaven. I know our baby is waiting on us with Jesus now, that doesn’t take the pain away totally, but it does give me hope!

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4: 8-9)  We are overcoming this only by His grace and mercy.

All things work together for our good! All circumstances, whether pleasurable or not, all heartaches, all highest of high moments, and the lowest of the low.  All things are for our benefit! Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

We are dependent creatures, who we are set apart for good works, and are being molded and shaped by the mighty work of God from the inside out. Once we plant this firmly in our hearts and minds we can have peace with whatever life brings our way and be comforted by our creator.. This life, this world, these struggles that we are faced with aren’t about us and making much of us, it’s about making much of Jesus.  We are to be focused on bringing glory and praise to the one who created us and loved us enough to die in our place on the cross at Calvary.

From the loss of my Dad two months after having my youngest daughter, heartache of all shapes and sizes, to my sweet husband working out of town alot and being a busy mom of four.  To moving hours away from all family and friends for my husbands job change, to a double cancer diagnosis in a close family member (currently in remission praise the Lord), to a miscarriage and all other life in between.

All very real joys and struggles that I personally have had to deal with over the past eight years or so. But no matter where I found myself, the Lord was near and had goodness in store of me.  He is also near all those who call on His name, anytime, day or night. Sickness or in health. There is comfort in knowing that truth. Call on the One who cares in your time of need. If I can pray for you, please contact me and it will be my pleasure to pray for you.

2 Corinthians 1:3-5, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.”

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Faith vs Fear

If your faith was pitted against your fear, which do you think would come out the victor?

Faith is defined as complete trust or confidence in someone or something.

Fear is defined as being afraid of (someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening.

Faith and fear cannot coexist.

Sure you believe in God and may even have been born again and call yourself a Christian. You believe Jesus is the one and only Son of God and that He died for your sins. But is your faith in Him, His ways, and His timing bigger and stronger than your fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of losing a loved one, fear that your children will choose the wrong path in life, fear of what others think of you, fear of paying that new bill. Could be any of those or a plethora of other things. It creeps up on the best of us. Sometimes it creeps up out of nowhere and for no logical reason. That nagging feeling of anxiety in your gut.

That’s when we need a prayer intervention.

We need a big hefty dose of the Word. Reach out to your prayer partner and ask for prayer, call upon the name of Jesus and ask for His marvelous presence to be there with you.

Psalm 34:4 says,  I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
    he delivered me from all my fears.

Psalm 27:1: The Lord is my light and my salvation—
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
    of whom shall I be afraid?

Mark 5:36:  Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

Hebrews 11:1:  Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Satan is a big fat liar and he will lie and lead you to believe that God has forgotten you, that He doesn’t really love little ol’ you, that He will never keep His word, and that the Christian walk just isn’t worth all this pain. He will make you think that you have messed up too much this time, done the unforgivable, or are just past the point of return.  There is nothing further from the truth though! Remember that the Word is full of promise after promise and God never ever goes back on His promises! Repeat with me: I am blessed, blameless, predestined, adopted, redeemed, forgiven, chosen, and marked an heir in Christ(Ephesians 1:3-14)

Psalm 118:7 says, The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies.

Satan is the enemy of our souls and won’t quit trying to deceive us until the day Jesus comes back to take us home. But take heart, Jesus is right there helping you every step of the way. Have complete faith in Him! Turn to Him and He is there every.single.time.

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Noteworthy November {Part 4} Digging into Ephesians chapter 6

Good morning friend! Happy almost Thanksgiving! I don’t know about you, but this year has flown by! Seems like it was just Christmas a few weeks ago. I really do feel that Jesus is coming back, and soon. Times are changing so fast and I see the signs all over. I am so ready though! Heaven is going to be amazing! Jesus is going to be there, we will have the most spectacular city to live in, beautiful homes with no mortgage, jobs that we love to do each day, and endless adventures that will make the trials and tests of Earth all worth it.

Before we get there, we have to stand here. Stand strong. There is a spiritual battle going on around each and every one of us! You may or may not sense it but believe me there is! Each of us have to be prepared for this battle. It needs some strong weapons, not weapons made of metal, or any man made material. We need the “big guns.” We need Godly weapons because we are in a spiritual battle on earth. We need prayer, we need praise, and we need the Word of God! We need it daily, multiple times a day! We have to be intentional about these weapons. In Ephesians six, we learn of the other pieces that we need to put on daily to be prepared for battle! Really concentrate on these and their purposes. Our minds need protection, our hearts do, our hands and feet need to be ready with the Word of God and ready to share with others during the battle.

I pray this study has been a blessing to you as your have read and written the Word!

 

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Chapter six starts with a commandment with a promise! Paul says children obey your parents in the Lord so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth. God always keeps his promises, He isn’t wishy washy like us. He doesn’t change his mind depending how He feels that day or whether He’s in a good mood or not. God is love, He is gracious, He is merciful, He is kind, He never changes. God is sovereign over and in all! v 1-3

Parents do not treat your children too harsh but lead and guide them in the ways of the Lord. v4

Verses five through nine speak of slaves and masters and that isn’t something that we deal with in today’s society but I think it does speak to us as servants of the Lord. Whether it be in a work environment, a home environment, or a volunteering environment, we need to do all things unto the Lord as if He is our boss and watching us work.  v5-9

Noteworthy November {Part 4}

The Armor of God

All that we have learned in the past several chapters has been teaching us how to live, how to love, how our walk should be before the Lord. We have to remember who’s we are and who we are to become. Holy and righteous children of God. That is not an easy task. There is an enemy of our souls that wants us living in defeat, in fear, and in doubt of God’s huge love for us. Chapter six, verses six through twenty is preparing us for the battle that all believers will be in once we come to know Christ.

We are to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. We must daily wake up and acknowledge who we are, who God is, and confess that we need the Lord’s help and intentionally put on His armor to protect ourselves. I once heard a sermon on the armor and it’s not just good enough to say that we have it. We have to put it on and let it do its job. It would be like having a motorcycle and helmet but leaving the helmet at home each time you go somewhere. The helmet doesn’t do you any good sitting at home when you are out driving around without it. Put it on, so we can take a stand against the devils schemes and tricks. We also have to be mindful and know that we are not fighting again flesh and blood, but against the devils many cohorts and the powers of this dark world we live in. v 10-12

We must be so very intentional and protect our whole bodies, from our head to our feet! The days are evil and we have to have every piece of the armor to help us resist the devil.  We must put on the belt of truth around our waist so that we know the True word of God so we will not be fooled by the lies that will come our way.  We have to strap on the breastplate of righteousness that protects our hearts and have our feet fitted with good news of the Gospel of Jesus. He is our peace as we walk with Him. We also have to take up the shield of faith that can guard us from the fiery darts from the devil that are aimed at our hearts.

Next we have to pick up our helmet of salvation to protect our minds but it’s almost like a sign or symbol to the world that we are Christ’s! Just like wearing your favorite teams logo on your hat or shirt, we wear the logo of God’s love to let the world know we are different and we are His! We also have to have the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God with us! We need to know the Word to give us knowledge, instruction, and faith to stand in this battle.  v 13-17

Verse eighteen through twenty speak of our prayer life.  We are to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. We have to stay alert and be persistent in our prayers to keep us strong as well as interceding for other believers and those who have yet to hear to Good News of Jesus.

Paul asks for prayer for his boldness as he sits in chains for preaching the good news. We also should ask for prayer when we need it. If Paul can humble himself and admit his weakness, we should be able to do it too. If you do not have a prayer partner, I highly suggest reaching out to one or two close friends that you can go to for prayer and Godly counsel. It truly is a blessing to know that you can share needs and concerns and someone else is seeking the Lord on your behalf and vise versa. v 19-20

Paul’s final greeting to the Ephesians is very similar to his opening of the letter! Peace, love, and grace. He began with grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 1:2. He ends with peace to the brothers(and sisters), and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. 6:23-24 Remember, it is peace from God. His lasting peace, not earthly/world peace. Peace that we know that God is in charge of all things. He uses all things together for the good of those who love Him.

 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28

Grace has saved us, not any work that we have done. Grace also sustains us day by day. This is grace for living as we keep our eyes on God and are totally occupied with Him.

 

Live a life of loving, serving, and worshiping God. There is no better way to Know Him better.

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Noteworthy November {Part 3} Digging into Ephesians chapters 4-5

 Good morning friends! I hope you have had a great week of reading and studying. I know it seems like a lot of writing but I truly believe as we are writing this truth on paper, we are also writing it on our hearts for ever to remember. This has not been time wasted, but time spent with the Lover of our souls.

Today is my birthday and it is also the two month anniversary of my miscarriage. While my flesh wanted to stay in bed, pull the covers over my head and have a big fat pity party and cry why me and wallow in my misery; I let His light and truth shine on me. I got up to a very excited and loving nine year old boy whom I adore. He greeted me with lots of love and kisses. Then my biggest boy greeted me with a hug and a well wish! Then the girls came down and hugged and loved on me. I’ve gotten many texts and messages of love from my sweet husband and dear friends already! I truly am blessed in so many ways. So many heart treasures in this house. Yes, our baby is gone on to heaven and I miss the thought of bringing him/her home I know that the Lord is good. I know He is in control and knew best. Just as my Tiffany says, heaven is just that much sweeter.

I pray that each of you reading this is blessed this week by the peace and presence of the Lord. I pray that you would feel His love as you seek Him and get to know Him better.

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Chapter four

  • Before Christ we all were empty, seeking for something to fill us up. We wanted more, more, more. Thinking if we seek out and obtain the things of this world, we would be satisfied. That college degree, a “cool” job, the perfect boyfriend, which turns into a perfect husband. A new job with a fancy title and office. A beautiful new house.  Oh, a baby will fill this void I have growing inside me. Maybe it’s food or a certain drink you seek to “fill” your void. Maybe it is relationships or sex. Maybe it is drugs or alcohol. Shopping. More, I just need more and I will be satisfied. In our human thinking we think we can solve our heart issues with human things. The problem really can only be fixed and filled with Christ alone. v19

I’m going to take a slight break here and say that the above is how I lived most of my life. I didn’t grow up in a Christian home but did know there was a “god” and he was a higher power over us. It wasn’t until the winter of 2007 that I came to the end of me and submitted to the Lordship of Christ and asked Him to save me. I had tried so many things, so much had went wrong and I knew I needed something supernatural to help me. I had messed up over and over and felt like I had wasted enough of my life trying to do things my way.

I still do mess up and make mistakes but now I know who can and will help me. All I have to do is call on His name and confess my sin and my great need for Him. I do that on a regular basis. Daily in fact. The same goes for you sweet sister. Are you in need today? Are you carrying a burden that was never meant for you to carry? Are you struggling to get through the morning because of the lies the enemy is feeding you, trying to keep you down? Whatever it may be, Jesus is big enough! He understands! He loves you! He is calling your name now! Answer His call and ask for help now.

  • Once we come to know Christ as Savior, we have to daily, constantly, put off our old self, to be made new in the attitudes of our minds, and to put on the new self. Created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. It is about becoming more and more like Him, and less and less like me. We have to minute by minute focus our minds, eyes, hearts on His will, His love, and his Word. v22-24
  • We have to trust the Lord to mold us into a new self. Romans 12:1-2 says, ” Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
  • When we are living this way, we are walking in a manner worthy of our calling. We have to break free from our old ways and slowly become a new person. That may mean that you start going to new places, or stop going to the places you use to frequent if it means it brings you closer to the Lord. It may mean that you start making new friends that help and encourage you in your walk with the Lord. Ask the Lord to reveal to you things that are not pleasing to Him so that you can change your walk of life.  It is a time of healing and a time of renewal! It is also a very difficult time of transition but it is so worth it, not only in this world but in the one to come.
  • Once we have put off the old self and put on the new self, we must speak the truth, We must not allow our anger to make us sin. v 25-26
  • Don’t let unwholesome, foul, abusive talk come out of your mouth, only what is good and helpful for encouraging to those who hear you. v29
  • Do not grieve the Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember we have been sealed with his mark that can never be removed. v30
  • Daily we must rid ourselves of bitterness, rage, anger, slander and all types of evil behavior. By our faith in God alone, we can be kind and tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as Christ God forgave us. v31-32 We must walk in truth!eph-5_11

Chapter five

  • Just as a child looks up to their Mama or Daddy and wants to be just like them, we too must look to our Heavenly Father and imitate Him. Conduct ourselves as his dearly loved children. Live a life of love, a life of sacrifice of love to God. v 1-2
  • We are God’s holy people, so there must be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greediness in us. We have to do away with those sins. We must ever be thankful for all God has done for us! We must be obedient to his Word and his direction. v3-4
  • Remember, we are now children of the Light, the one and only Jesus Christ, we must live and bear fruit. Full of goodness, righteousness, and truth. Seek out the Light and find out what pleases Him. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but expose them. v 8-11

What the Light shines on, is now visible.

Wake up, O sleeper,

rise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you. v14

  • Watch out, how you are living, not like the unwise but the wise- making the most of every opportunity during these evil days. v 13-16 Therefore, do not act foolishly, being partakes of the world, but understand the will of the Lord for your walk! Speak in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Make music in your heart to the Lord. These are the testimonies of your walk with Christ. v 17-19
  • Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything through Jesus our Lord! Be submissive to one another out of fear/reverence for God. v 20-21

Up until this point Paul is speaking to us as individuals but in verse twenty-two he shifts and is now speaking to us as husband and wife or as households and speaks of how we are to walk in our households. Eugene Peterson I think says it best in The Message.

21 Out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent to one another.

22-24 Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands.

25-28 Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They’re really doing themselves a favor—since they’re already “one” in marriage.

29-33 No one abuses his own body, does he? No, he feeds and pampers it. That’s how Christ treats us, the church, since we are part of his body. And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become “one flesh.” This is a huge mystery, and I don’t pretend to understand it all. What is clearest to me is the way Christ treats the church. And this provides a good picture of how each husband is to treat his wife, loving himself in loving her, and how each wife is to honor her husband.

 

Friends I know this was a long stretch of Scripture but I pray you are able to get through it and gain much knowledge of the Lord and how He wants us to live out this things called life. Life is tough and life is hard! Being a woman of faith makes it even harder because the enemy of our souls doesn’t want us living victoriously for Jesus! Seek Him and press on sweet one! If there is a something I can pray for you, please leave me a comment. Let’s storm the gates of heaven together!

 

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Noteworthy November {Part 2} Digging into Ephesians chapters 2-4

Good day friends! We made it to week two of our study. Congratulations!  I pray that you have been blessed by your time spent reading and writing through the beginning of Ephesians! I sure have. It has been a very tough, emotionally draining week yet at the same time so many treasured moments.  So many pockets of God’s grace and mercy shown to me and the ones around me.

One of my dearest friends back home is dealing with some very heavy physical, mental, and spiritual issues and I slipped out of town to love on her and her family for a few days. While there, I was able to celebrate my oldest friends birthday(from 3rd grade), my Mom’s birthday, my mother-in-laws birthday, my youngest son’s birthday, and mine as well!  Just one of the many blessings of homeschooling, being free to travel when needed. Even with all that went on, I was obedient and I stayed in the word every day in some shape or form. Prayer time was a constant, minute by minute, tear filled, plea unto the Lord. He has been so faithful through it all! How has he He blessed you and spoken to you this week? Please share.

Enough about me, let’s get into why you are here! This week we are in the last verses of chapter two, all of three, and into four! So many wonderful truths to think and pray over. Remember from last week’s post, do not get bogged down if you get behind, just keep plugging away and stay strong. Link to last weeks post.

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Chapter two

  • Jesus himself is the cornerstone: a stone that forms the base of a corner of a building; joining two walls. He is the core that takes us and joins us with God the Father. He is what takes the old sinful us and joins it with His salvation and makes a whole new creation that becomes a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. v20-22

Chapter three

  • Verse three speaks of the administration of God’s grace to him(Paul) for us. God was gracious and so very merciful to Paul during his Damascus Road encounter and totally changed his life for the glory of God. Literally from a murderer to a member of God’s family in a blink of an eye. It is a mystery, that at times is very hard for me to wrap my brain around and fully understand in my tiny human ways. But God’s ways and motives are so much greater and grander than ours. All He requires from us is to simply believe and have faith and praise Him for what he can do with us. v 2-7

  • We are free to approach to God at any time with any problem that we may have and have confidence that He hears and He cares! It is a gift of his great love and GRACE that was given with and by His power.

  • It truly is a mystery of creation, that an infinitely rich God, would love us enough to send his Son as an ransom and die a perfect death so that we(sinners) could go to glory with Him one day. By just faith in Him alone! Bam! What a sweet promise to cling to in hard times. v12
  • We have to remember that Paul is writing this from jail and he’s in jail for preaching the good news yet he is still faithful to the saints and encouraging through his suffering. Paul’s prayer is so powerful in verses 16-21. He prays that through faith, that we would have the Holy Spirit’s power in our hearts. He prays that we would be rooted and established in love to grasp the width, length, height, and depth of His awesome love. This love surpasses all knowledge!
  • He is able to do so much more than we could ever think, dream, or imagine by his glorious power that is at work within us. v20

Chapter four

  • Unity and maturity in the body of Christ, the church, the believers in Christ. Being one with Him. Being one with other believers in the works of service to Him. I think verse one says it all! Live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

  • God gave us the apostles, prophets, evangelist, and pastor-teachers to prepare us for the good works he planned. The building up of our bodies(our inner beings) our spirits and our minds. Think back to 1 Timothy 4:8, “but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” All for the unity of our faith and knowledge of Jesus. To become mature in our ways. To live separate from the world. v 1-13
  • We have to grow up in Christ and know the whole truth and tell the truth in love. v15
  • Once, we lived in our darkened ways, but now that we are Children of Light we must no longer live as Gentiles and in the futility(uselessness) of the dark thinking. No more going along with the crowd. We were called to much more than that. We are made to go against the grain and live with His purpose and His plans in mind. Set your minds on things above! v17-19
  • We now have life and understanding. We have freedom to walk in truth and with hope! There is no truth outside of Christ. Stay rooted in Him. Stay close to Him. Stay in His word.

 

 

Dear sweet friends, that is my prayer for you now! That you would know the truth of Christ’s love, to know Him better, share what you know, and walk in that love!eph-4_1-2

Please feel free to share with family and friends if you have been blessed by this journey. Subscribe to the blog so that you will get an e-mail update when new blogs are posted! God bless you sweet friends!

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Noteworthy November {Part 1} Digging into Ephesians chapter 1-2

Good afternoon friends! I hope you are ready to start this adventure and hopefully change your life by getting to know the Lord better! Let’s jump right in and get started.

I recommend that you start each day with prayer. Pray as the spirit leads or pray this with me. Lord Jesus you are good and you are all that I need today! Please forgive me of my sins and wash me clean so that I can be more like you. Lord please speak to me, teach me, and give me great wisdom and insight so that I may know you better! Lord help me love and serve others like you do. Use me today for your honor and glory! I pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.

This week we will be reading and writing all of chapter one and the first twenty verses of chapter two. So 43 verses in all but they are some of the best verses of the book. Please do your best to do each daily assignment and get into a good habit. If you are up to your eyeballs with work, kids, life; give yourself some grace and add a few extra verses on another day. Please do not give up and quit if you get behind. Just start-up where you stopped and keep plugging along. Like I’ve said before, time spent in the Word with God is never time wasted. We are using our spiritual muscles and storing up blessings for the days and years to come!

Here is a little background on Ephesians. The writer of Ephesians is Paul, once Saul the persecutor of Christians.He was a bad bad man, sought out and killed Christians. You can read this commentary of his conversion to Christianity if you feel led: https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Acts/Pauls-Conversion or read Acts 9:1-19. He wrote this actual letter/epistle to the people of Ephesus about 60 years after Christ’s death and resurrection. The audience is the saints, those set apart, holy, or believers, who were in Christ. He also wrote the letter while he was in jail to encourage and unify the new young believers.

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As you read and write, underline or highlight words or verses that speak to you. What is it that speaks to you? Stop and reflect on them. Jot down notes or questions that you may have as you read. Do a little research and find out more on those words or key verses. Finally! What you came for, here are a few words and key verses that really stand out to me from chapter one.

  • Grace. Free and unmerited favor from God.
  • Peace. Tranquility, calmness, quietness. Lasting peace from God. Not worldly peace.
  • Chapter one, verse three says  “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”  This is a huge promise, at salvation we have all of Christ’s riches and blessings. Praise Him!
  • Verse four through five  “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—”  Before the creation of the world, God already had his mind made that we would be holy and blameless, that we would be his children according to his kind intention or will. 
  • When all promises and prophesies have been fulfilled, all things in the present heaven and present earth will be brought together in the New Heaven( Revelation 21:1) under Christ. v10
  • Once we heard the gospel, the Good News of what Christ did for us on the cross, having believed the truth, we were sealed with a mark. A mark that can never be removed! The mark is the Holy Spirit, who is living and at work in the new you. This makes us an heir with Christ. v13-14
  • Therefore just as Paul prayed prayers of thanksgiving for the believers in Ephesus, he also asked the Lord to give them spirits of wisdom and understanding from Him. To know him better! The Spirit can and will move and work in and through us if we just believe. v15-18
  • His power, incomparably great, big-time-slam-pow power is as work in those who believe. It is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. This power doesn’t come with a switch that we can just flip when needed. We must wait patiently on it just like all good things from the Lord. While we are waiting for it, spend time in praise and worship. Acknowledging who He is and how awesome He is. This will help us keep our eyes on Him and not on our circumstances. v19-20
  • As a result, God has placed all things under Christ’s rule for us! We are his church and he wants nothing more than to fill us with every thing and in every way. v23

Chapter two

  • Before salvation, we all were dead in our sin and essentially a follower of the devil even if we “weren’t that bad.” We all lived without real life, freedom, or hope and were under the curse of the flesh. v1-3
  • Because of His great love for us, he made us alive with Christ by the work of his matchless grace. We were turned from objects of wrath into objects of grace! v4-5
  •  “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” v8-9 Grace is what has saved us. No human achievements, the grace and mercy of God alone!
  • By the mighty works of God, we are saved and were created to do good works for Him. Remember, we are not saved by any works that we do! His great purpose and preparations long ago made a way for us to be saved by his GRACE and he gives us good works. We should live totally different lives than before salvation. v8-10
  • At birth, we are born sinners and outside of the family of God(Gentiles), without hope and without God in our lives. In Christ, we are brought near by his life giving blood.  v13
  • When Christ died, he did away with all of the laws and regulations from the old covenant(Old Testament laws) and reconciled us to God. We are together once again, the way God intended us to be. Family. In relationship, together as one. v14-20

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Here is the pdf of the actual reading/writing plan:

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copy-of-noteworthy-november_writing-the-book-of-ephesians1

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Noteworthy November: Ephesians is almost here! Want to hear a secret?

I’m going to be very open and honest with you guys, okay?? I’m going to share a secret that’s been weighing on my heart in preparation for Noteworthy November: Ephesians.

After publishing the Intro blog, I was pretty overwhelmed with thoughts of fear, anxiety, and sheer confusion. “Amy, what are you doing??” ” You have bitten off way more that you can chew!” “You surely are going to fall flat on your face and look like a complete fool, quit now while you are ahead.”

I am admitting right now that I am not perfect, I am no genius or scholar, I’ve not been to school or been formally trained in bible teaching. But, I am a born again Christian, a sinner just like the rest of the world, trying to be obedient to the Lord and sharing what He has taught me. I am trying to share what He has placed on my heart with you! I will make mistakes and say things that are wrong, but it’s your job as a reader to check what I say against the Scripture. Use your bible, ask your spouse, ask a friend, or your pastor if something doesn’t sound right. Then come back and share with me!

Then the Holy Spirit spoke up and reminded me of the glorious truth of Who I am and Whom I belong to!  I may not know what I am doing or have all of the answers, but the Lord sure does and I am trusting Him for all things. If he brought me to this, He will bring me through it.

While I was reading through some of my notes, I found this from a ladies retreat last year…Remember fear is usually just false evidence appearing real. Not all fears, but most of the time there really is nothing to fear.

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I will not continue to be afraid. The Lord is good and is always with me and is going to provide me all that I need to share with you!

Another not so secret secret,  I am really so incredible excited to be on this journey with you. My prayer is that someone who is reading and writing with me becomes closer to the Lord during this journey. Also, I pray that someone learns more of Him and his love, and something shifts in your soul and you make meaningful bible study a daily discipline.

Lastly, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog by adding your email to the subscribe box to the right so you know when new blog posts are up! Also please do me a favor and share the blog with a friend or two, the more the merrier.

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Noteworthy November: Intro to Writing Through the book of Ephesians

Noteworthy November is almost here!

I am so very excited to start this journey with you to write, learn, meditate, and know God better by studying the book of Ephesians. Ephesians is one of my favorite books of the New Testament because it has so many awesome promises to remind us who we are in Christ and how to live out those promises.

The book of Ephesians is a relatively short book, six chapters and 155 verses in total but they pack a very powerful punch of goodness!

I have broken down the verses into daily assignments and they vary from 5-7 verses or so a day. I have added in some Grace day, meaning you have a free study day or a day to catch up if you got a little behind in your writing. I suggest not skipping days in your writing, just go to the next group of verses so that in your journal you have it all in order for when you go back and reread your notes. A simple spiral notebook, binder with loose leaf paper, or a fancier journal will do. I have a new beautiful journal my best friend gave me that I will be using!

Studies show that you are seven times more likely to remember what you wrote down compared to things you just read.

Did you know that when you write, you are using parts of your brain that involve thinking, language, and working memory? There are many types of reading, two main ones being: passive and active. We will be doing more of the active, “hands on” reading by not only reading the scripture but also writing it down and reflecting on what we read and wrote. Let’s do this to write these scriptures and promises on our hearts, not just on the paper.

Proverbs 2:1-5 says, ” My son(daughter), if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding—
3 indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.

Friends, let us band together and turn our ears to the Lord, apply our hearts, call out to Him, and search like we have never searched before!

I know we will be blessed by this. I feel it in my veins.

Time spent reading, copying, and thinking on or meditating, the Word of God is one of the best things you can do.  There is no such thing as wasted time if spent in the Word with God. Even if you read and you do not fully understand the passage, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and give you clearer understanding in your day-to-day life.

1 Timothy 4:8 says “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

Basically this says that physical training of the body has value, but the training of your heart and mind for godliness and holiness far outweighs the training of your body.

Be all about God’s word!

Seek Him in all that you do and put Him and his Word as a priority and He will reward you greatly, not only in this life but also come eternity. There are countless benefits for learning God’s word, but for now let’s concentrate on knowing Him better! The more we know, the better we can live out what He has called us to.

Next Monday, October 31st I will post the schedule of our writing plan that you can print out or save on your computer/phone. Then every Tuesday I will post a new blog pertaining to the reading we will do for the following week. Please, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to post!

Subscribe to the blog via e-mail so you will know when the new post is available and please INVITE YOUR FRIENDS to join us.

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Crunch Top Spiced Pumpkin Bread Recipe

 

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Fall is in full swing here in the mountains! The leaves are beginning to shine with reds, golds, and bright oranges around every curve. Fall in our house always involves lots of baked goodies that include lots of pumpkin and apples. Today we made pumpkin bread but added a crunchy, crumbly topping that we love! This is a quick bread meaning no yeast or rise time, plus it and requires no fancy appliances or long list of expensive ingredients.

 

[recipe title=”Crunch Top Spiced Pumpkin Bread” servings=”24″ time=”15 minutes prep time plus baking time” difficulty=”Easy/Medium”]

3 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 T cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 cup canola or similar oil

4 eggs

1 15 oz canned pumpkin

1 T vanilla extract

Crunch topping(optional)

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup sugar

6 T cold butter, cubed

1/4 tsp cinnamon

 

Pre-heat your oven to 350*. Grease 4 mini loaf pans or 2 regular size loaf pans and place them on a cookie sheet to make putting them all in and getting out of the oven easier. With a whisk, mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl until all the spices are distributed throughout.  In a separate medium-sized bowl whisk the eggs, oil, pumpkin, and vanilla until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients and using a rubber spatula, combine the two until all of the flour is incorporated and you don’t see large areas of dry ingredients. Do not over mix the batter.

Divide the batter into the four mini loaf pans until they are a bit over half full. Leave room for the crunch topping if using. If not, fill the pans to 3/4 full. You probably will have some batter left if using the topping, so you can make a few muffins, put in another mini pan, or toss the remaining batter. Remember, the muffins or pan with less batter will bake faster than the full pans.

Mix the flour, oats, sugar, and cinnamon in a medium-sized bowl.  Add in your cold butter that has been cut into very small cubes to make it easier to cut into the dry ingredients. I use a fork to mash the butter into the dry ingredients making a nice crumbly looking mess in my bowl, think green pea size butter bits.   You can use a pastry blender to make it go faster if you have one.

Divide the crunch topping evenly over the mini loaf pans. I had some leftover so I didn’t overfill the load pans. Place your cookie sheet in the center of the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of your loaf.  Cool in the pans for about 15 minutes then remove to a cooking rack to fully cool. Store in an airtight container.

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 Give it a try and let me know what you think!

 

29 days that changed my life for the better

August 18th we found out we were expecting our fifth child. What a joy and shock to learn that God has blessed our family once again. That’s truly how we felt, overjoyed because we know many families that have endured for months, if not years, through fertility issues. At times I felt very unworthy and not qualified to have another child but a dear friend reminded me that those thoughts are lies from the enemy of our souls that comes to confuse and steal our joy. We were hopeful though, to see how God was going to work in our lives as we went from a family of six, to a family of seven.

Many times over the next few weeks I was reminded just how good God is and just how He has everything taken care of. He wants nothing more that his children to seek Him in all circumstances and rely solely on Him. I was reminded that we must keep our eyes on Him and on things above and not on the things around us or the situations that we are placed in. Colossians 3:2 says “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” I was reminded to pray even more for all of my children and plead to the God of heaven for His hand of favor to be upon them. The ones here and the one growing inside of me.  I was trying to remember to be thankful every single day that I had with them. Even if it wasn’t the best of days and I was at my wits end over a decision one of them had made or the latest bad attitude I was faced with by my beautiful twelve year old.

September 6th our world as we knew it came crashing down when we found out that our sweet baby didn’t have a heartbeat. He/she was already gone on to be with the Lord. We would not be bringing home a baby come spring. We would not experience all of the ups and downs of pregnancy. The thrill of learning the gender and choosing a perfect name was taken away. The excitement of shopping for tiny little clothes and diapers were fading away before they really began.

That was one of the lowest of the low points in my life, next to losing my Daddy seven years ago. I hated the feelings I was feeling. I hated the thoughts that I had. I was so scared and didn’t know where to turn to for help. Many times I prayed but didn’t really know what to say, I just called out His name. Jesus. Jesus. It brought comfort and peace. I told a friend that I was holding on to hope as best as I could but at times I left it slipping away. She reminded me that there is ALWAYS hope in Jesus.

21 Yet this I call to mind
    and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
    therefore I will wait for him.”

25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
    to the one who seeks him;

Lamentations 3:21-25 spoke right to my hurting heart. I was reminded that my hope was in Him and Him alone. Nothing of this world could soothe or help me and the hurt I experienced. Only the maker of my soul could ease the hurt and calm the fears inside.

Psalm 94:19 reads, When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul. Jesus was my comfort, my sympathy, my relief, my help, my support, and my encouragement. He can be yours too, just reach out to Him. Call on his perfect and precious name.  Jehovah Shammah, He is our ever present Lord God. He never left my side and never will.

Twenty-nine short days we had you with us sweet baby Liberty. We love you and will never forget you or the impact your life made on our lives.

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