Lessons
-
Faith Under Pressure
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. One of my daughters recently wrote a long FaceBook post making this point very clear. Here is what Alycia Neighbours posted (and I share with her permission): So I’m going to preach y’all a sermon… Faith Under Pressure James 1:2-4 The Message (MSG) “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not…
-
Grow Through What You Go Through
I saw this sign in Target recently and stopped to look at it for a while: Seems like this is the story of my life. As I stood there thinking about the message painted on the glass, I remembered how many times, when I’ve faced something really hard, I do not want to learn anything. I just want it over! But at the same time, when I think back to all the tough experiences I’ve lived through, I wouldn’t change any of them because each one has matured me and taught me more about God. I can’t imagine how I would’ve made it these “growing” seasons without Christ. He was…
-
Are You Blooming in Real Life?
One of my daughters has a dry, sarcastic sense of humor and a very quick wit. She always has an immediate thought and quick response to any situation…and yes, sometimes it gets her into trouble. But I’ve laughed with her over her comments a million times and I love it! Maybe that is why I loved reading Kayla Aimee’s new book, In Bloom. Her stories are told with the same type of quick wit and sarcastic humor as my daughter. But another reason I loved this book is how honest Kayla is about life (also like my daughter) and how, in the midst of real life, God wants us to…
-
Blessed in the Mess
If I asked you to describe your life right now, how would you respond? Would you include any of these words: difficult, overwhelming, disappointing, mysterious, painful, answerless, frustrating? If so, I so get it. But do you realize that amidst our mess God has blessings for us? The Lord showed me this one morning as I drove to work after completing a 3 day fabulous, but exhausting, conference (the biggest leadership event we host). Several things had occurred during those 3 days that weren’t part of the plan, so the stress of coordinating and hosting this conference grew beyond my expectation. During the conference, my mother (who had dementia) had…
-
Prepared and Pursuing
Each morning we get up and prepare for the day. Each night we prepare for sleep. Seems we are always preparing for something. If we are following Christ and if we are leading others to do the same, we must be prepared for an enemy who does not want us to be effective as disciples. I wrote about this in a LifeWay Women’s Ministry post several years ago. You can read that post The Devil is in My Face if you’d like. Preparation involves knowing who our enemy is and finding ways to be equipped. Recently one of my daughters had very vivid experience of how the enemy works. Here is what she…
-
Are You Asking the Right Questions?
For many years I had the joy of training women’s leaders to lead others to know and grow in Christ. One thing I always emphasized was that we cannot lead others where we ourselves are not heading. For the first 10 years of my spiritual life after coming to Jesus for salvation, I stayed a baby Christian. No one taught me what the next steps in my spiritual journey were. I thought I had to just figure out life this side of heaven and then join Jesus once I died. I had no idea I was to seek His purpose for my life and become more and more like Jesus…
-
Stuck?
What do you think of when your hear the word “stuck”? Perhaps your car has been stuck in snow this winter. Or maybe like me, you’ve been stuck in sand with your car! I think about the Israelites who were stuck in the wilderness even though it was of their own doing due to disobedience and lack of faith in God’s provision. Maybe this is just where you are in life. Not where you used to be but not where you want to be? Ever feel like that? Perhaps you feel like you are in a foggy valley and surrounded by mountains on all sides with no way out. I know…
-
Personal Treasure or Free Handout?
I am one Bible study student who loves to use workbooks and videos. I also teach a women’s life group and lead a D-group (discipleship group) at my church. Usually I have specific curriculum to use for those as well. This has helped me to be disciplined in my study of the Word. It has led me to a regular time daily with the Lord as I’ve sought to know and love Him more. The one thing that has pushed me even deeper and led me to reading extra commentary is teaching the Word. Even though I have lots of information and questions in the studies written by others, when…
-
What’s Your Story?
Anyone ever ask you “what’s your story”? Someone who really wants to know you? How did you answer?…Honestly? Or did you hide behind a mask of who you thought they wanted to hear? Often, we just say lighthearted surface-y type of things about ourself. Maybe we even hide big parts of our lives that are embarrassing, shameful or sinful. We don’t want others to know those parts…because if they do, they won’t think well of us. There are parts of my life that aren’t fun or flowery. They were harder than I ever thought possible to live through. They were hard enough to cause doubt that God could ever bring…
-
Perfect, Broken or Perfectly Shaped?
How often do you hear someone say (or perhaps you have said it), “I’m broken and unusable.” Or “I can’t be forgiven for what I’ve done.” Or perhaps, “I know God has forgiven me, but I know He can’t use me after what I’ve done.” Maybe even you have thought these things. As I’ve mentioned, I LOVE beach time. And I love what God teaches me when I’m at the shore. One of the sweetest messages He’s given me relates to how I look for big, perfect, whole shells. Perhaps like this shell I found. It was big and perfect. I wanted to find more! Then I came across this one…
