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Talent or Spiritual Gift?
Exodus 31:1-5 shows a beautiful picture of God taking a talent and making it a spiritual gift to be used for His glory: “The Lord also spoke to Moses: “Look, I have appointed by name Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with God’s Spirit, with wisdom, understanding, and ability in every craft to design artistic works in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut gemstones for mounting, and to carve wood for work in every craft.” Today’s post by my daughter Alycia is her own personal journey in the area of God’s transforming power to take talent and make it a…
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Who Feeds You?
This year as my husband and I dropped by the office to check in to our condo for our beach vacation, we were greeted by this guy… We wondered if this heron was our welcoming committee! We inquired about him inside the office since he seemed rather tame, having never moved from his spot even as we walked right by him to enter the realty office. The receptionist said he’s there quite a bit and they’d been feeding him. Ahhhh, now I get it. Kind of like the seagulls on the beach if you throw food to them. They will be back! As always, I’m watching for God’s “beach lessons”…
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Restoration and Redemption
Today’s post is written by one of my daughters, Alycia Neighbours, who is blogging for me as we enjoy an extended vacation. You will be touched by her honesty and willingness to help others as a result of her own journey: The prodigal son had reached such a desperate place of despair, he humbled himself to return to his home hoping to be treated as a slave and therefore better than where he had found himself. The lost lamb finds itself separated from everything familiar due to its wandering and bleats out longing for rescue. I was at my rock bottom. Separated from my family, having no friends and…
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Time for a Reassessment?
Have you ever been moving along, things were going well and you knew you were in the center of God’s will…then for some reason you find yourself totally thinking…”It must be time for a change, this doesn’t feel right anymore.” I have. Right in the middle of following God’s surprising purpose in my life and ministry. My call didn’t happen overnight. It was a gradual pull by the Holy Spirit to grow deeper in Christ, serve Him by serving others and then eventually into vocational ministry for women. Definitely not my plan…not even on my radar. But having felt so blessed and fulfilled to GET to serve Christ and others…
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7 Things to Do When Facing Times of Discontentment
OK, I hadn’t planned on any more posts on this topic, but you know how it is…God seems to always test me on what I’m teaching and claim to believe. Shouldn’t come as a surprise. That’s what happened right after I spoke on this topic at a church and after I completed this series. If you missed it you can read that series here: part 1, part 2, part 3 and Part 4. The day after I spoke on this topic, I can’t even remember why, but I experienced discontentment. My thoughts were…”what’s up with this?” and I felt as though God said, “Where is YOUR contentment?” It was a moment to prove what I…
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What I’m Reading…In His Image
How often do you look in the mirror daily? Make up, check. Hair, check. Outfit for the day, check. Those are the outward images of who we are. But what about inside? What image are we seeking to mirror? Are we daily reflecting Christ’s image as we walk through our day? One of my favorite Bible teachers and authors is Jen Wilkin. I recently finished her latest book, In His Image, and have been challenged to ask that very question. The introduction got my attention with its title, “Asking the Better Question.” Jen encourages us to stop asking, “What is God’s will for my life” and ask instead, “Who should I be?”…
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Contentment..No Matter What Part 4: Transformational Steps
This is the last of this series on contentment, and can I say that even this weekend, after teaching on this at a women’s event Friday night, I’ve been challenged to stand on what I believe about contentment. You can read part 1, part 2, and part 3 if you missed those. Then come back and let’s get practical! We must remember, we do not have the whole picture..but God does! Paul understood this. He said in Philippians 4:11-13, “I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. I know both how to make do with little, and I know how to make do…
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Contentment…No Matter What Part 2: Circumstances
Last week we looked at how comparison keeps us from being contented. If you missed it you can read that post here. Today we will look at a second big issue that causes us discontentment: our circumstances. If only…what if…iif I had…if I lived…if I was….THEN I would be content with my life. Have you ever said, “it must be nice…..”? In her book, Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free, author Nancy Leigh DeMoss Wolgemuth says we believe this: “If my situation was different, I would be different.” We always seem to be searching for that elusive state of bliss in life. In the scripture we looked at last week in…
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Contentment…No Matter What Part 1: Comparison
How content are you right now? Be honest. Is it even possible to be content no matter what? Can we accept what Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:6, “Contentment with godliness is great gain?” Can we really experience contentment in the midst of a relationship crisis, job loss, life threatening health situation, brokenness, betrayal, etc…you fill in the blank with your discontent issue. I believe like me, you may struggle with this, at least occasionally. Perhaps our world would be much more pleasant if we weren’t always striving for something “else”. Let’s define contentment as happiness in one’s life situation and discontentment as craving for what we don’t have. We…
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Forgiving the Devil in Pew Number Seven…What I’m Reading
Forgiveness…what does that word conjure up for you? Forgiving a child or spouse for hurting you? Forgiving a driver who cut you off? Forgiving a predator or abuser? Forgiving a church member or minister for betrayal? When I think of the things for which I’ve forgiven others, I must say they seem small and petty compared to the reasons why Rebecca Nichols Alonzo and her brother had to forgive their mother’s murderer as well as the man who wreaked havoc in their lives for years. I just finished reading, in tears, The Devil in Pew Number Seven by best selling author Rebecca Alonzo. I have never seen a more beautiful picture of biblical…
