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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…
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Prayer…a Different Perspective
If you are like me, you have read many books on prayer. Authors like T.W. Hunt, Jennifer Kennedy Dean, Henry Blackaby, Jim Cymbala and so many others have had powerful books published for our spiritual growth. You have probably done Bible studies on the topic of prayer. And if you have been a Christian for a while, you’ve prayed quite a bit. Although Jesus gives His disciples a pattern for prayer in the Gospels (Matthew 6:9-13 & Luke 11:2-4), there is no one way to pray. At different seasons in life and with different needs, we pray as our heart leads us. But one thing is true, we pray differently…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Loving the Word
Have you ever hunted for something a long time before finding it? Did you rejoice and appreciate what you found? God impressed this upon me during my month at the beach last fall. Here’s how He spoke. Shells were few on the Gulf Coast shore last year. Since this is my favorite thing to do at the beach, I continued to hunt and hope. Thinking a beautiful shell would be in the very next wave. Even though I came away almost empty each time, I continued to look. Isn’t that how it is sometimes when we read God’s Word? During some seasons we just seem to come up empty, but…
