2020 Women in the Word

Walking in Wisdom - Bible Study (January 6th)

4:18 PM


Hi ladies! I pray that you all had a very blessed holiday! With Christmas behind us our attention now turns to not merely a new year, but the new decade ahead! And if you’re like me, a new year means time to take stock of the past and set goals for the future. 

First on my list is to grow closer to the Lord and dive deeper into His Word. If you too share this same desire, I hope you’ll join our study through the New Testament entitled, “Walking in Wisdom”,  starting January 6. 

Each morning Monday through Friday one of our writers will post her message on the reading of the day and encourage you to share your thoughts, questions, experiences, and anything else you feel led to share. Saturday we’ll have Scripture to memorize, and Sunday a reading plan for the upcoming week will be posted. 

I love the quote, “January 1 is the first blank page in a 365 page book, so write a good one!” Here at Women in the Word, we are so excited to worship, learn, grow, laugh, and cry together as women across the world who love the Lord. So join us as we fill in the pages of our book of 2020! ❤️


Join our Bible study at:


Here is the link to the Bible study reading plan we will be following:

2020

A Prayer for Our Study in 2020

6:48 AM

 Please join us in praying over the next week before we begin:
Abba, Father,
Almighty God! Holy, holy, holy are You, God Almighty! And we long to know you more, and be found wholly pleasing to You, Abba.

Please take Your precious daughter, each of us, right up next to Your heart this year. Keep us and make Your face shine upon us and be gracious to us, we pray. (Num 6:24-25). Shower us and the women on WitW with an outpouring of Your blessing, Your presence, the assurance of Your favor, and Your enabling grace.

You have written our days in Your book. You knew us by name before we were born and how we would bring You glory! (Ps 139:15-18). Your thoughts of us are too numerous to count. We are constantly on Your mind and heart. Hallelujah!

This is a big challenge for us this year and we pray You’ll continue to assure us that Your presence goes with us and you will bless our efforts with Your wisdom and all the ablities we’ll need to do our job WELL!

Please Father, don’t let us go where You do not bless (Exo 33:12-16). Teach us Your ways and make us sensitive to Your hand on our lives. Let us know Your faithful direction at all times. Go before us to open the way where there seems to be no way. Please place before us an open door that no one can shut, according to Your sovereign will (Rev 3:7-8), and shut all doors outside Your will for us.

Please make a way for all those YOU desire to do this study to join us and bless each woman's efforts. Yes, bless us indeed and enlarge our territory in all areas in our lives! Let Your hand be with us constantly to strengthen us and keep us from harm (1 Chron. 4:10).

Establish Your appointed work through our hands with Your favor (Ps 90:17). Great are Your purposes, and mighty are Your deeds. Your eyes are open to all our ways (Jer 32:19). Smile upon us today and throughout this study this year with Your compassion and Your full blessing, as we seek You continually. (Isa 30:18). And may we finish STRONG! Amen.

Balsamic Vinegar

Balsamic Roasted Chicken Thighs with Root Vegetables

8:00 AM


Balsamic Roasted Chicken Thighs with Root Vegetables

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 tablespoons stone-ground mustard
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
6 bone-in chicken thighs (about 2-1/4 pounds)
4 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 shallots, chopped
1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds
4 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, divided
3 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled, divided

In a bowl, whisk 3 tablespoons oil, mustard, vinaigrette and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper until blended. Add chicken, turning to coat. Refrigerate, covered, 6 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 425°. Place chicken, skin side up, on half of a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Place parsnips and sweet potato in a large bowl; add shallots, caraway seeds and the remaining oil, salt and pepper and toss to combine. Arrange in a single layer on remaining half of pan. Roast chicken and vegetables 20 minutes. Stir vegetables; roast chicken and vegetables 15-20 minutes longer or until a thermometer inserted in chicken reads 170°-175° and vegetables are tender. Transfer vegetables to a bowl; toss with 2 tablespoons parsley and half of the bacon. Serve chicken with vegetables; sprinkle chicken with the remaining parsley and bacon.

birth

A Christmas Story

12:00 AM


A Christmas Story
Suzanne Desmarais

              
  “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)
“Who being made in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself to be of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in the appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.” (Phil 2:6-9)

                But, “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, everyone to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
            He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before his shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away, and as for His generation, who considered? He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked- but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.
            But it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoils with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:3-12)

                “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
               “Whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.” (Acts 2:24)
           “He was delivered over to our death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Romans 4:25)
                “Which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principalities and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come, and He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things ...” (Ephesians 1:20-22)
               “Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, Who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 8:1; 7:25)

                “O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.”( Psalm 95:6)

                “Saying with a loud voice:
                         ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!’
And every creature which is in heaven and on earth and such as are in the sea and all that are in them, I heard them saying;
                        ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him Who sits on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever!’” (Revelations 5:12-13)

Merry Christmas!
                 

Gravy

Slow Cooker Pork Loin

7:55 AM



Slow Cooker Pork Loin

One 3 1/2- to 4-pound pork loin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme 
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon cooking oil 
2 cups chicken broth 
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 
1 tablespoon soy sauce 
3 tablespoons cornstarch 

Trim the visible fat from the loin. If necessary, cut the roast to fit into a 3 1/2-, 4- or 5-quart slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine the garlic powder, ginger, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Rub the spice mixture over the entire surface of the loin. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium to medium-high heat and brown the loin slowly on all sides. Drain off the fat. Transfer the loin to the slow cooker. Combine the chicken broth, lemon juice and soy sauce in a small bowl; pour over the loin. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours. When the roast is done, transfer the meat to a serving platter and cover to keep it warm. To make the gravy, pour the juices from the slow cooker into a glass measuring cup. Skim off the fat. Measure 2 cups of liquid, adding water to the juices if necessary to make 2 cups. Transfer the juices to a saucepan, reserving 1/2 cup. Stir the cornstarch into the reserved 1/2 cup of juices until dissolved, then stir into the juices in the saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the gravy is thickened and bubbly, 2 to 3 minutes. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Season the gravy to taste with salt and pepper. Slice the roast and serve it with the gravy.



Christ

Ideas to Help Children Keep Christ in Christmas

12:00 AM


Have you struggled in the past to keep Jesus the center of your children's Christmas? You're definitely not alone. I remember the years when my children's wish list kept growing longer and I wondered what would be the best ways to refocus their attentions away from receiving to giving at Christmas. Over the years all sorts of ideas came to me, and I thought I'd take a minute to list a few that seemed to do the trick. 

Delivered Gifts: Each year we tried to get the children involved in giving to our neighbors, or those less fortunate, by first making gifts we were sure they would enjoy and then delivering them door to door just before Christmas Eve. Here's one of our favorites:

Chocolate Pretzel Treats were always a welcomed treat!
We liked using the Peanut M&M's

The Recipe calls for







Preheat over to 200 degrees.
On a cookie sheet have your children lay out the pretzels in a single layer (no over lapping). Place a Hershey's Kiss in the center of each pretzels. Place cookie sheet in the oven until candy is soften about 2 minutes. Remove from the over and lightly push a M&M down in the center of each Hershey Kiss and allow to cool. Once cooled wrap in air-tight, decorative packages or tins. 

Here's a few more winning recipes your neighbors would be sure to love: 





__ A Free Movie Night: One year I went online and purchased Red Box FREE MOVIE coupon codes for $2 a piece. I wrote each code into individual Christmas cards and tied the cards to wrapped bags of microwave popcorn for a free family movie night. I can tell you this was also very much appreciated!

__ Visiting Shut-in: Each year we'd try to visit a nursing home. Many of our seniors are on special diets, so we tried to stay away from food items. Christmas time is a great time to buy pairs of silly socks or mittens if they are still living on their own. Even a simple carnation and a warm hug will brighten their day. 

__ Christmas Caroling: Grab some neighbors and friends and head out caroling through the neighborhood! This was usually the night we delivered the homemade treats as well. Our favorite memory was a night we began singing at a house were no one came to the door, but we could see some movement inside, so we sang our hearts out until the curtains parted and we all discovered we'd been singing to their barking dogs!! We laughed, but the dogs didn't think it was so funny and wanted us to leave their property!

__ Attend a Cantata or Christmas Eve service at a local church! Sometimes it's nice to go to a local church you don't usually attend, for Christ unites us all on Christmas. Today I see more and more live nativity events which can also be fun for little ones. 

__ Make a Birthday Cake for Jesus! There's all kinds of great ideas out there to include in your birthday cake. Ours always includes,
_Chocolate Cake to symbolize our sin. 
_Pudding, raspberry filling, or other tasty treats in the center of the two layers to represent how sin always seems to be enticing at first. 
_White Frosting which reflects that Christ Jesus' sacrifice made our sins as white as snow. 
_ Red strips for his blood that was shed for us.
_Green candle for our new life and that we're to be lights in this world.
_Finally a golden star that appeared in the sky that pointed the Wise men to Jesus. 


These are just a few of my favorite ideas! If your family does something unique and special that reflects Jesus during the Christmas season, I'd love for you to share them with us!

From all of us here at Women in the Word,  Merry Christmas! 

Chocolate

Chocolate Seed and Nut Mix

8:00 AM



Chocolate Seed and Nut Mix

1 cup salted pumpkin seeds or pepitas
1 cup unblanched almonds
1 cup unsalted sunflower kernels
1 cup walnut halves
1 cup dried apricots
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Place all ingredients in a large bowl; toss to combine. Store in an airtight container.

2020

Challenges for 2020!

10:52 AM

It's Time for The Big Reveal for 2020!

Hi Everyone!!

I am so excited about what we'll be doing in 2020!! Have you realized that we're getting set to embark not only on a new year, but a new decade!!?

Once I realized that, the pressure was on to make next year's study something really special, and I think we've done just that! We're offering not one, but two challenges for 2020 and both are things we've never done before!!

The first challenge will be to read through the New Testament; Monday through Friday chronologically! We'll begin with Dr. Luke and his first book named after him and then move into his second book - The Book of Acts. Only then, as we're going through Acts, we'll jump off into other books. For example, as we read about Paul imprisoned in Rome, we'll then jump to the letters he wrote there while in prison! 

It will be as though we're traveling through the First Century! 

Does that sound exiting to you? It does to me too! Our new journey will begin here on the blog and on Women in the Word Facebook group on Monday, January 6, 2020. 

And if that wasn't enough, we've also added a second challenge for 2020! 

Our second challenge for 2020 is to memorize Jesus' entire Sermon on the Mount that's found in Matthew, chapters 5, 6 and 7! We'll be meditating and memorizing on two verses each week and will have gone through the entire sermon by the end of 2020. 

Even if you're not into hiding His Word in your heart, I hope you'll be excited to meditate on this special part of Scripture throughout the year!

Sandra will be posting our verses to work on each week on Saturdays and Sundays will be dedicated to worship and prayer. 

That's our year in a "nutshell" only we still have one problem.... A Name! We still haven't come up with the perfect name for our study!! We've had some great suggestion and I think it's time we put it to a vote! 

If you'd like to cast your vote you can join us over at Women in the Word to make your vote count!

Here are some of the great suggestions so far:

1.) Fully Pleasing Him
2.) Seeking the Knowledge of God
3.) Walking in Wisdom 
4.) Walking in the Light of His Word
5.) Seeking His Favor in 2020

We'd love to hear your thoughts! But whatever the title will be, I'm fairly confident that it's going to be an exciting year and study! And I hope you'll join us!!

Blessings,
sue

Candy

Saltine Cracker Candy

8:00 AM



Saltine Cracker Candy

4 ounces saltine crackers
1 cup butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped nuts 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a buttered or non stick foil covered jelly roll pan with saltine crackers in single layer. In a saucepan combine the sugar and the butter. Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes. Immediately pour over saltines and spread to cover crackers completely. Bake for 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Let sit for 5 minutes. Spread melted chocolate and top with chopped nuts. Cool completely and break into pieces.

Breads

Orange Cranberry Bread

8:00 AM



Orange Cranberry Bread

2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
3-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 large egg
1 cup 2% milk
1/2 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 to 3 teaspoons grated orange zest
2 cups coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries
1 large apple, peeled and chopped

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugars, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Whisk the egg, milk, orange juice, oil and orange zest; stir into dry ingredients just until blended. Fold in the cranberries and apple. Pour into two greased 8x4-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. 

2020

Women in the Word's 2019 Study is Officially in The Books - "Gloria in excelsis Deo"

12:00 AM

2019 Study is Officially in The Books

Each week the writers gather together to pray for this ministry and all those involved in it, for we truly believe this is His ministry, and we can do nothing apart from Him. That hour of prayer continues to be one of the most treasured hours of our week! 

Below is one of the prayers we often include during our time throughout the year:

Abba, Take Your precious children right up next to Your heart today. Keep us and make Your face shine upon us and be gracious to us, we pray. (Num 6:24-25). Shower us and the women on WitW with an outpouring of Your blessing, Your presence, the assurance of Your favor, and Your enabling grace.
You have written our days in Your book. You knew us by name before we were born and how we would glorify You! (Ps 139:15-18). Your thoughts of us are too numerous to count. We are constantly on Your mind. Hallelujah!Please continue to assure us that Your presence goes with us, and don’t let us go where You do not bless (Exo 33:12-16). Teach us Your ways and make us sensitive to Your hand on our lives. Let us know Your faithful direction at all times. Go before us to open the way where there seems to be no way. Please place before us an open door that no one can shut, according to Your sovereign will (Rev 3:7-8), and shut all doors outside Your will for us.Please make a way for all those YOU desire to do this study to join us and bless each woman's efforts. Yes, bless us indeed and enlarge our territory in all areas in our lives! Let Your hand be with us constantly to strengthen us and keep us from harm (1 Chron. 4:10). Establish Your appointed work through our hands with Your favor (Ps 90:17). Great are Your purposes, and mighty are Your deeds. Your eyes are open to all our ways (Jer 32:19). Smile upon us today and throughout this study with Your compassion and Your full blessing, as we seek You continually. (Isa 30:18). Amen.

We believe God has continued to honor our requests found here in this prayer incredibly! For example, take this one request I've highlighted found in 1Chronicles 4:10, "Yes, bless us indeed and enlarge our territory in all areas in our lives!" In the fall of 2012 we began our first study with 35 women! I remember rejoicing and thinking at the time it was more than I could fit comfortably in my living room! Today, seven years later, we have women joining us from all over the world! Over 17,000 on our T2 women Facebook page, and more than 800 have joined us in our closed Facebook group we call, Women in the Word!

 And this year we decided to translate our study into Spanish and post on Mujer Proverbios 31, our  Spanish speaking Facebook page which now has over 20,000 members reaching Central, South America and Spain! And to that we can say, "Gloria in excelsis Deo"! He so amazes us!

Next year we'll start a new decade, with a brand new study starting on January 1, 2020! We'll be journeying through the entire New Testament chronologically!! Reading it how it was written! I actually did this, this year in my own devotion time and LOVE it! Which is why I know you will too!

We're also offering a HUGE challenge to anyone willing to accept it!! The challenge with be to memorize the entire Sermon on the Mount - chapters 5-7 in the Book of Matthew in 2020! This was Jesus' sermon- the greatest ever recorded and even if you can't get it all to memory wouldn't it be awesome to simply meditate on it throughout 2020!!? We'll be breaking the passage up into 2 verses each week. Two verses doesn't sound too terribly difficult and before you know it, we'll be done!

I am so excited to get started and I hope you'll join us and invite your friends to join in as well! It's looking like it's going to be an incredible year to grow in our walks with Him!!

All for His glory alone!

God bless you this Christmas, and we look forward to gathering together again in 2020!

Blessings,
sue 

1 John 3:1

All Your Works Will Praise You - Psalm 145

9:30 PM


Please read: Psalm 145

This Psalm was a very special Psalm to King David and I am sure that it is also the favorite of many of us who have received His unmerited Grace and Favor!  It is such a privilege to offer it to God, as our own Psalm of Praise and Thanksgiving!!   

“I will exalt You, my God, O King, And [with gratitude and submissive wonder] I will bless Your name forever and ever.” (vs. 1)

As I meditate on the first day I surrendered my life to Jesus (35 years ago), I am in awe of ALL the love and care He has poured over my life, and the lives of my loved ones! He took me by the hand and through His Holy Spirit changed and transformed that lost self-sufficient young woman into a child of God (1 John 3:1)!  


  “8 The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness. 9 The Lord is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works [the entirety of things created]. ” (Vs. 8-9)
“It may be truly said of our Lord Jesus Christ, that his words are words of goodness and grace; his works are works of goodness and grace. He is full of compassion; hence he came into the world to save sinners. When on earth, he showed his compassion both to the bodies and souls of men, by healing the one, and making wise the other. He is of great mercy, a merciful High Priest, through whom God is merciful to sinners. “(M. Henry)

Have these 35 years of walking the Christian walk, been easy? No, they haven’t. But, I can testify that He has always been with me through His transforming Work... just as He promised in His Word. (Hebrews 13:5, John 16:33)

So join me as we meditate in our hearts how blessed we are to be part of His Family!

“10 All Your works shall give thanks to You and praise You, O Lord, And Your godly ones will bless You.11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom And talk of Your power, 12 To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts And the glorious majesty of Your kingdom.” (Vs. 10-12)

Nothing can separate us from His love: through the good times and through the storms… even when our faith may fail; He will remain Faithful (Ro. 8:38-39)


“14 The Lord upholds all those [of His own] who fall, And raises up all those who are bowed down.”
His eyes are fixed on the broken-hearted, on those who are carrying a heavy load of sin; of bitterness; of sadness; of health issues… whatever it may be, for He is Able and Willing to lift it up from you: Just come and surrender it all to Him! (Matt. 11:28-30)

“And with respect to all that are heavy laden under the burden of sin, if they come to Christ by faith, he will ease them, he will raise them. He is very ready to hear and answer the prayers of his people. He is present everywhere; but in a special way he is nigh to them, as he is not to others. He is in their hearts, and dwells there by faith, and they dwell in him. He is nigh to those that call upon him, to help them in all times of need. He will be nigh to them, that they may have what they ask, and find what they seek, if they call upon him in truth and sincerity. And having taught men to love his name and holy ways, he will save them from the destruction of the wicked. May we then love his name, and walk in his ways, while we desire that all flesh should bless his holy name for ever and ever.” (M. Henry)

Yes, we should witness to those who are still astray and continually pray for them until that day, when we will all be in His Glorious Presence!  Till then, let us declare with gratefulness that He is Worthy of ALL our Love and Praise:

“My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever!!” (Vs. 21- Emphasis mine)

Blessings,

Mari



Becky Austin

Genuine Love is Transforming! (Romans 12)

12:30 PM




Our Scripture Reading: Romans 12

Today is Thanksgiving Day, a day when many gather with friends and family to enjoy a meal, companionship, and hopefully reflect upon the blessings of life they can be thankful for. It reminds me of the early church gatherings, where those who wanted to grow in Christ gathered in small groups within someone’s home to eat together, share life together, and grow together spiritually. 

Perhaps you don’t have your physical family close this season. Don’t let that deter you from knowing that you belong to a bigger family. Once you accept Christ, you are adopted into a huge spiritual family. It’s part of God’s plan for you to grow within relationships and not in isolation. Relationships are where we get to practice what we learn in His Word and allow God to mold our hearts to reflect the attributes of Christ.

God wants to transform us and He wants us to be a vital part of the body of Christ. In fellowship with like minded believers, we are encouraged, challenged, and loved. I gather with a small group each week and it is amazing to study God’s Word together, and to share and discuss how to put spiritual truths to work in “real life”. 
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2

In Romans 12, we are given examples of what a transformed life starts to look like. I think the key to it all is in verse 9: LET LOVE BE GENUINE!
I don’t think that we can achieve genuine love on our own. This is the kind of love that only God can instill in the depths of our being. It’s a process of yielding to Him, denying our selfish motivations, and learning to be grateful for what we have as well as how to be genuinely concerned about the wellbeing of others. 

These are the attributes that stood out to me:
-“Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”
   Romans 12:10
-“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”
   Romans 12:12
-“Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”
   Romans 12:13
-“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.”
   Romans 12:14
-“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”
   Romans 12:15

An interesting observation, is that so much of what God asks of us in attitude and thought involves how we view and interact with others. Even with just these few, there’s a lot of room for God to do some major transformation work in my heart. It’s a work I must allow Him to do. My part is to seek Him, and yield to Him daily as He convicts me and whispers to me throughout the day. 

What about you?  What stood out to you in this chapter? Are you in fellowship with other Christians who can help you in your spiritual journey? Are you renewing your mind by studying and applying God’s Word to daily life? Are you yielding to His Spirit as He teaches you about genuine love? Remember, It’s not about “What” we do.  It’s about the transformed heart that motivates us to action. It’s about genuine love.

Happy Thanksgiving today and everyday!


Ephesians

The Gift {Ephesians 2}

9:00 AM

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2


"But God". Two of the most precious words found in the whole Bible!

Did you know that, "you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh... But God, being rich in mercy, [and]because of His great love with which He loved us,  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—  and raised us up with him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (Ephesians 2:1-6)?

That really is a LOT to grab onto all at once, isn't it?

We were dead!? Yes, that's what His word says. (I once did a study on God's view of death and I'll add the link here if you're curious to understand His view.) Dead to God, and separated from Him because of our sins. We all were at one time running hard after our own passions and the courses of this world. The truth is, not one of us was running hard after Him!

But God!

And because of HIS great love for us, even while we were running the other way, He offered us the gift of LIFE!


These two verses here tell us almost everything we need to know about salvation.


  • What are we saved from? Death. "The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
  • What will not save us? Our own efforts. We'll never be good enough. Titus 3:5 tells us that it was "not by works of righteousness (good works) we have done but according to His mercy He saved us."
  • If our efforts won't save us. If we were separated from God and running away, how then do we become saved? These verses above in Ephesians 2:8-9 clearly tell us that salvation is a gift! A gift offered to everyone.

Every Gift Has To Have Three Things


  1. A Giver - Salvation is "the gift of God" (Eph 2:9)
  2. A Cost - It has to be paid for. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10) Jesus paid the price we couldn't pay on the cross. 
  3. A Receiver- receiving His gift is as simple as admitting you need it! That you cannot save yourself and you are trusting Jesus and making Him Lord of your life! (No more running from God, you're running towards Him) And taking Him at His word when He says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he that believes [has faith] in Me has eternal life." (John 6:47)


 It's as simple as that! And for everyone who accepted His gift, "He made us alive in Christ Jesus and seated us with Him in heaven. (v.6) Do you know what that means? It's a done deal... according to God. He counts you as one of His own and has already seated you at the table.

It's the greatest transformation ever! Death to Life - eternal life! Seated in heaven with Jesus! Not because of anything we did to deserve it, but because of all He did for each one of us!

To God be the glory, great things He has done!

Blessings,
sue