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Inspiration for Your Week #10
Hey there, everyone! As I take my Bible classes, it’s been such a blessing to study the foundational truths of God’s word. Sometimes, especially growing up in a Christian home, you take those truths for granted. But how precious they are! In one of last week’s classes, the teacher was discussing the difference between the law and grace. The topic is huge—way too big to go into here in detail—but I finished the class with renewed gratitude for what Christ has done for us! He lived the life we couldn’t live, keeping the law we couldn’t keep (Matthew 5:17). He died the death we should have died, in our place,…
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Inspiration for Your Week #9
Happy Monday, everyone! Lately, I’ve been learning a bit about an unusual topic–climbing Mount Everest. My mom just finished reading aloud a true story about a man who descended Mt. Everest snow-blind, and we watched several documentaries that helped to give an idea of the challenges that climbers face. Two things stood out at me after hearing each story–first, the solid conviction that I will never climb Mt. Everest! 😊 Second–the need to endure. Those athletes had to endure bitter cold, hunger, painful muscles, low oxygen, exhaustion, and separation from their families. I can’t even imagine living through a blizzard with sub-zero temperatures and 80-m.p.h. winds on the side of…
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Are We Ready?
Based on Luke 22:31-34 and John 21:15-22 “Lord, I am ready,” said Jesus’ disciple, “Both to go with Thee to prison and death, Gladly I’ll lay down my life in Thy service, Yield up for Thy name my very last breath.” Sadly, the Lord looked upon His disciple, “Later today thou shalt Me thrice deny, Thou art not ready yet, though thou art willing, First to thyself and thy sin thou must die.” Often, we say as the eager disciple, “Lord, I am ready whatever the cost, Bid me go anywhere, do something for Thee, Oh, let me spend and be spent in Thy cause.” Looks still the Master upon…
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Whatsoever Things Part 2
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things (Philippians 4:8). Whatsoever Things are Honest “Marked by or displaying integrity; upright.” Worthy of honor. As we go through this list, I hope that we will be thinking about a higher standard for our thoughts. We want our lives, our words, our actions to match what God’s standard is. But all of that starts in our thoughts. The battle is real, intense, and sometimes very difficult. Sometimes…
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Things God Has Taught Me Through Health Struggles
I don’t often start a post off by saying why I’m writing it, but because this is a bit different than anything else I’ve ever written, I think I will this time. First off, I’m not writing this post for sympathy. Everyone has different struggles and trials they deal with and I know that there are many who have much more difficult things in their life than I do. I am writing this post in hopes of encouraging other young women who deal with frustrating health issues on a regular basis. (So, if you know anyone who might be encouraged by this, then please feel free to pass the link…
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Inspiration for Your Week #6
Good morning friends, and happy Monday! 😊 I think it’s safe to say that we all want to be successful in our lives. I wonder, though, how we define success? God’s definitions can be so different from ours. While we might naturally consider success to be a comfortable home, a good job, and a wonderful family, it is quite possible to have none of those things and still be successful in God’s eyes. True success will last for eternity! When I read this quote, I thought about missionaries who have labored for years and have only a very small result to show for it. Although the world and even some…
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Blessed to Be a Blessing
This year I decided to read through the Old Testament while I finish studying Philippians. I haven’t spent much time in the Old Testament recently, so it’s been great to read the familiar Bible stories and get new looks into the truths they contain. Right now, I’m in the story of Abraham. What a unique life he had! And what a lot of faith there is in his story. Truly, he got to see God do great things with and through him. However, what God did for Abraham wasn’t only for Abraham, or even the nation of Israel. God blessed Abraham so that Abraham could be a blessing. “And I…
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Give God the Pen
A new year. A new planner. A new journal, its blank pages just waiting to be filled with the future. An unknown future that spreads out before us. Some of us face it with anticipation, others with apprehension. Whether happy or difficult, more chapters in the book of our life will be written in 2022. I wonder, though, how we are approaching these blank pages? Are we tightly gripping the pen of control, straining to write our story with our limited knowledge of the future? Or do we willingly relinquish control of our lives into the hands of the only One Who knows what is ahead? Remember the former things…
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When God Says No
You’ve prayed for something, over and over again. You’ve sought to follow the Lord and be submitted to His will. Maybe it looks as if the desired gift is almost within your grasp. Hard as it may be, you’ve tried not to desire this blessing more than you desire the Lord, and to keep your focus on Him and your longings on the altar. And then, finally, you receive the answer to your prayers, and you step back in grief and disappointment. God says “No.” My guess is that you’ve been here at some point (or maybe several!) in your life. A time when, instead of the “yes” answer you…
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Bloom in the Snow
Temperatures here in New York have been dipping into the 30’s at night and struggling into the upper 40’s during the day–sometimes! Everything is either brown or brown with a scattered coating of white. So I could hardly believe my eyes the other day when my mom called my attention to the concrete planter on our front step. For Mother’s day, my older sister had given my mom gerbera daisies, which bloomed all summer long and then died (or so we thought) when the frost hit. But there, hiding beneath the broad leaves that were still in the planter, its petals drooping and its head hung low, was a yellow…
