Growing in Grace

The wicked are crushed by their sins, but the godly have a refuge when they die. -Proverbs 14:32 An eternal perspective is not a picture of "pie in the sky" or wishful thinking. Heaven is a real place. The joys that await us there will indeed outweigh the hardships and sorrow we face on this earth. As Amy Carmichael said, "We have all eternity to enjoy our rewards, and only a few short years to win them." -From The One Year Wisdom for Women Devotional by Debbi Bryson; May 9; p. 136

The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception. -Proverbs 14:8 Giving thought to our ways - now that is a good idea! The Hebrew word for "way" is derek. It means "road, course of life, or mode of action." It includes our habits and lifestyle. It's not just what we do day to day. It's how we do it, why we do it, when we do it and where it leads us. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. -Psalm 37:23 In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. -Proverbs 3:6 -From The One Year Wisdom for Women Devotional  by Debbi Bryson; April 27, p. 122

"When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who watch over my way."  -Psalm 142:3 Moses had the responsibility to lead millions of stubborn, foolish people hundreds of miles to a new country. He felt overwhelmed by his inabilities. But Moses learned the secret to staying sane in the midst of this chaos - to continually pray for wisdom to make each decision. Because of Moses' obedience, God parted seas, provided food and water and performed miracles time after time to deliver his cherished people from their difficulties. Moses' continuous trust in God stands as a shining example for those who feel overwhelmed. Photo Credit Feeling overwhelmed? Take a step back and look again to your pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. (Exodus 13:21-22). Let the presence of the Holy Spirit light your path and protect you from the unknown. -From the Homeschool Mom's Bible; devotions by Janet Tatman; February 13; p. 182

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. -2 Corinthians 5:17, NKJV Photo Credit The midnight Ball Drop at Times Square in New York City, one of the world's most famous New Year's Eve traditions, dates back to 1906. Paul serves as a good example of how old things pass away when we become a new creation. When he met Christ, he left his old life behind, including his old name. Some of us try to live our new life while hanging on to old sins, old wounds, or old failures accompanied by a load of regret and guilt. God doesn't want us dragging around baggage from our past that weighs us down and stifles the joy he longs to give us. Time is too precious to waste it dragging around old things that we need to "drop." -From The One Year On This Day by Dianne Neal Matthews; December 31

The waves of death overwhelmed me; floods of destruction swept over me. -2 Samuel 22:5 In late December 2004, the most powerful earthquake in over forty years struck deep under the Indian Ocean off the northwestern coast of the island of Sumatra. The disaster obliterated cities, villages, and holiday resorts. As of February 16, 2005, the death toll from the catastrophe totaled close to 288,000. Photo Credit When we're reeling from sudden disaster, it's hard to think about anything except to wonder why. It seems impossible to focus on God's goodness at times like that, but that's what He wants us to do. He is working in all things and will bring healing and restoration in His timing. As believers, we can recall that time when His forgiveness and grace swept over us and brought redemption and eternal life. Even if we lose everything, including our life, we will still have the most important thing. -From The One Year On This Day by Dianne Neal Matthews; Decembe

"If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt," they moaned. -Exodus 16:3 The day after Christmas is National Whiner's Day. God has been listening to a lot of complaining since He created humanity. After He miraculously delivered the Israelites from slavery and led them through the Red Sea, they whined that He was trying to starve them. When God gave them manna, they whined for meat. He sent them quail, but also a severe plague. God assigns our ministry and places us in the environment where He wants to use us. When we express discontent with who we are or whine about our circumstances, we are complaining about His provision. God wants us to demonstrate trust that He knows what is best for us and will work things our for out good. -From The One Year On This Day by Dianne Neal Matthews; December 26

Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord . -Romans 7:25 Many people think of the Bible as a puzzle that can't be solved. The key that unlocks the Bible is Photo Credit Jesus Christ. He is Eve's promised offspring who would crush the serpent's head. He's pictured in the scarlet thread Rahab tied in her window so her life would be spared (Joshua 2). He's represented in every object in the Temple. He became the perfect Passover lamb sacrificed for sin. Jesus is the fulfillment of three hundred prophecies about the promised Messiah. Seeing how the Old and New Testaments fit together is more exciting than solving a crossword puzzle because we come to see that there's a cross all through the Word. -From The One Year on this Day by Dianne Neal Matthews; December 21

There is treasure in the house of the godly, but the earnings of the wicked bring trouble.  -Proverbs 15:6 Isaiah 33:6 tells us, "Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation; the fear of the Lord is His treasure" (NKJV). Let me tell you a little story I read in Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul . A wise woman was traveling in the mountains and found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler, who was hungry. The wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone in the wise woman's bag, admired it, and asked her to give it to him. The wise woman did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing because he knew the jewel was worth enough to give him security for the rest of his life. But a few days later he came back, searching for the wise woman. When he found her, he returned the stone and said, "I've been thinking. I know how valuable th

How do you live by the Spirit? Admit that without Christ you can do nothing (John 15:5).  “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me can do nothing.”  P ray.  If you admit you can do nothing, you say: O God, help me. “Ask, and you will receive,” Jesus said ( John 16:24) . “You do not have, because you do not ask” ( James 4:2 ). “Call upon me in the day of trouble” ( Psalm 50:15 ). Trust a specific promise to believe right now.  “I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you” (see   Isaiah 41:10 ). “I will help you. I will strengthen you.” “I will make all grace abound to you” (see   2 Corinthians 9:8 ). I am your God. “I will supply every need” (see  Philippians 4:19 ). T ake a promise and trust it. Act in obedience to God’s Word, expecting God to act under and in and through your acting so that it is decisively his acting.  “Work our your own salvation” ( Philippians 2:

Devotion I gave for Friday school Chapel in February: You are called a leap year baby if you were born on February 29th. On the calendar, it looks like your birthday is missing because February shows only 28 days three years out of four. Is there a big mistake? Not at all. When the earth moves around the sun, it takes a little more than 365 days. So approximately every four years, our calendar loses almost twenty-four hours, so in the fourth year we add an extra day to catch up. That day is February 29, and that year is called a leap year. It was created when the Gregorian calendar was introduced in the 1700s. If you only counted your leap year birthdays, by the time you were sixteen you would have had only four February 29 birthday parties. Fortunately, people with leap year birthdays can celebrate on February 28 or March 1 instead, so they can have the same number of birthday parties as all their friends. ( The One Year Did You Know Devotions 2 ) When I think of the word

Sunday morning Gail ended with the challenge to fear not, but be courageous. She used Joshua chapter 2 to develop this talk. In this chapter, Joshua sent two spies to explore the land. They found refuge in the home of Rahab the prostitute. She hid them from the authorities and helped them to escape. Gail pointed out that it might have been a temptation for the spies to be in the home of Rahab, however, God knew what they could handle and they were able to resist any inappropriate actions. This serves as a reminder for us that God knows what we can handle. Whatever He calls us to do, He will also equip us to do. We will never be tempted beyond what we can bear. Rahab had heard about the Israelites and what God had done. She believed that God had given the land into their hands. Rahab asked if she and her family could be spared from the destruction that was to come. Because of her belief in God and her true friendship to the spies, God did spare her and her family. As a result, Rahab b

On Saturday night, Gail continued her teaching from Joshua. She reminded us that fear is real; but if we allow fear to take over, it can be harmful and stunt our growth. Only the Lord and the Holy Spirit should control us. In Joshua chapter one, God reminded Joshua of the promise He had made to Moses - that He Photo Credit would give Joshua every place he set his foot and that no one would be able to stand against Joshua because God would be with him. He would never leave or forsake Joshua. (verses 3, 5) Sadly, the Israelites failed to take all that God had for them. When the spies went into the land of Canaan, the ten let their fear overtake them. They caused the people to be afraid to go in and take possession of what God had already given them. God then told all those who had refused to go that they would not enter the Promised Land. They had to continue wandering in the wilderness until the last of the generation had died. We too can forfeit ourselves when we don't s

The second workshop I attended at the retreat was titled "More Faith - Less Fear". Our women's ministry leader led this workshop. What caught my eye was in the description it mentioned specifically the fear of not measuring up. That is me! Connie began by talking about how Satan desires to steal our joy. However, as believers, the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). She gave us four specific things to ponder. . . Photo Credit 1) Surrender your illusion of control by understanding God's love for you. Fear and anxiety come from trying to change the past and control the future. Paul said that he forgot what was behind him and strained toward what was ahead to press on toward the goal of heaven (Philippians 3:13-14). Our past is forgiven and over. Our future is in God's hands. Peter says in 1 Peter 5:6-7 that God will lift us up in due time so we should cast our anxiety on him because he cares for us. 2) Turn fears into prayers. Prayer consist

Saturday afternoon of our retreat we had the opportunity to attend two workshops. Even though we had just attended the couple's conference the weekend before, I decided to go to the workshop on marriage. I was pleased to find out that a long-time friend, Laura, was leading it. I looked forward to being reminded specifically as a wife how I could do a better job in my role. Photo Credit Laura began by talking about how the kind of love we are to show is agape love - sacrificial love; which is further defined as thoughtful actions done without reward. A synonym for love could be service. Jesus demonstrated this for us in his life, death and resurrection. Wives were designed to be help mates for our husbands. We are the sous chef to their role as executive chef in the marriage relationship. So in order to set our husbands up for success we are to: S tay spirit filled: We do this by prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. U nity: This comes from being humble, g

The speaker for our women's retreat was Gail Mays. She lost her husband Steve Mays in 2014. He was the pastor at Calvary Chapel South Bay. She has since moved to Murrieta. Gail began her teaching Saturday morning. She shared that Marie, our pastor's wife, had given her the book "Glory Days" by Max Lucado. The description for this book is: Link In  Glory Days , Max Lucado looks at the life of Joshua and the challenges Israel faced, showing how God spoke in the midst of their wilderness experience. Just like Israel, you can find the strength to thrive in the desert. You can close the distance between the person you are, and the person you want to be. These can become your best days. Glory days. So Gail's teaching was centered on the book of Joshua. She began by sharing that the book of Joshua is about enjoying all that God has for us and how to live well; it is about God's promises, plans, purposes, prosperity, promotion, preparation, pledge, people and

I haven't attended a women's retreat for several years; but felt led to attend this year. The theme was "Fear Not". When I first heard the theme, I didn't really feel that it was applicable to me as I didn't feel that I was currently experiencing any fears. I have had fears and anxieties in the past. I was rather shy and quiet in my younger years. I remember being afraid of my uncle - never speaking when he was in the room. I made myself sick at the beginning of every school year because I was so nervous entering a new classroom with a new teacher and new kids. I didn't try many things because I was afraid I wouldn't be good at it. I went through a period of anxiety when Dennis went from being a public school teacher to a teacher at a Christian school. And there was definitely worry when he was diagnosed with colon cancer and went through a year of cancer treatment. And the high medical bills and debt we were faced with was very worrisome. But I felt

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, ti is a tree of life. -Proverbs 13:12 Photo Credit A hope deferred is a hope that is postponed. It's when we hope that something will happen, and it doesn't happen when we hoped it would happen. It takes longer - sometimes much, much longer. God's waiting room can be the place where you become more desperate for God than you have ever been. May the Lord help us to trust Him more and to be satisfied with His fulfillment of our longing. -From The One Year Wisdom for Women Devotional by Debbi Bryson; April 19

For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. -Psalm 50:10 We have a storehouse in heaven for all our. . . needs that far outweighs any earthly fortune. God owns everything. We are simply stewards of the abundant blessings He chooses to bestow. Our heavenly Father has unlimited resources, and like the birds of the air and flowers of the field, He provides for our every need. How reassuring to claim the truth in Matthew 6:8, "Do not be like them, for our Father knows what you need before you ask Him." Photo Credit When your checkbook balance makes you anxious, do you worry and fret, or do you run to the Creator God for help? If you are living in obedience to His Word, you can trust Him to be there for you. That doesn't mean you'll receive every "bell and whistle" on the market or every "extra" for your home that you desire, but He does promise to provide for our needs if we follow the truths in Matthew 6:33: &q

The righteous hate what is false, but the wicked bring shame and disgrace. Righteousness guards the man of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner. -Proverbs 13:9 It is righteousness that guards our integrity, whereas wrong tears us down. First and foremost, we need to hate anything and everything that lurks in the corners and closets of our own souls that is false and wrong. Photo Credit In the booklet My Heart - Christ's Home , Robert Munger paints the picture of our heart as a house. Jesus comes in, walks around each room and sheds light in every corner and closet. He lets us know what is not right. When was the last time you asked Him to do this for you? When we see things in our hearts as He sees them, it is the first step to wanting and asking Him to set us free and cleanse us from whatever is false and wrong. Next we look outward; we need to hate what is false and wrong in this world. Compromise is not a part of godly living. James 4:4 asks us an i