We here at Women in the Word want to wish you and yours all of God's best for the upcoming new year. We may not know what the future holds, but we know and trust the One who holds it! God bless...
2022 is just around the corner. And after the celebration of another year gone by, comes a new beginning. Are you ready to jump into the new year determined to make a change? In just three days, starting January 3rd, WITW’s monthly Bible challenges begin. Challenges designed to give you God’s peace, personal spiritual growth, and the tools to become a mighty prayer warrior. We hope you'll also follow the link below to join us over at Facebook in both the challenges and the discussion. Because we all grow when we share with each other! I’m so excited! And I just can’t hide it! How excited are you?
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WitW Monthly Challenge
With less than 10 days left in 2021, are you ready for something new? Join us in 2022, starting January 3rd for monthly challenges designed to make you, healthier, happier, and stronger in your relationship with God. January will be a month dedicated to finding peace in a world that is anything but. Are you ready for a new year and a new you? And don't forget to check us out on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/womenintheword2
A New Year is almost here! Are you ready for 2021? I don't think any of us anticipated all we'd face in 2020, so what about 2021? I chose this poster because I thought it depicted our future to a tee, for the truth is, no one knows what we will face next year, but are you prepared?
There was a reason Jesus urged the disciples to remain vigilant about prayer in Matthew 26. Although, Jesus knew what He was about to face, He wanted to teach His disciples a valuable principle about the power of prayer that enables us to experience victory over temptation;
"Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:40-41 emphasis mine)
If ever there was a verse of scripture that described me to a tee, it’s this one. My heart longs to bless the Lord everyday. And everyday I seek to serve Him wholeheartedly, yet find myself failing at some point. Somewhere along the way my old nature, with its prideful, selfish self, seems to take over.
I wonder if the disciples were truly too tired after a filling meal, or did their pride tell them they could handle whatever their future held. Just imagine, Peter was willing to die for Him one moment, (Mt. 26:31-35) and the next couldn't remain vigilant in prayer.
The truth is, beloved, Jesus understands that our flesh is contaminated by sin and weak when it comes to spiritual things. Therefore, He encourages us to seek His strength so that we may live for Him and not give in to our flesh.
God's Holy Spirit within every believer desires for each of us to be holy and pure, so when we surrender our will to Him, we will become more like Christ. But when we depend on our own willpower and our own
strength, we will succumb to temptations.
Jesus is telling us here, that we should always be on the alert to
the possibility of Satan’s temptation. Watch, in the Strong's Concordance is defined as,
give strict attention, be cautious, be alert, take heed lest some calamity
overtake you.
Jesus also encourages us to pray, by bringing our needs and weaknesses “specifically” and “strategically”
before God's throne in order to receive His help.
The truth is, no one really knows what 2021 will bring. But if we know and follow after Jesus, we've already been given everything we need to make this next year glorious!
O, Father God, You are our Rock and our Salvation, our Fortress that cannot be shaken. I thank You for loving us in spite of knowing that we will fail You at times. Thank You for being our strength when we are weak. Thank You for sealing us with Your Holy Spirit who leads us, guides, teaches, and aligns our lives with Yours.
Father, we don't know what our future hold, but we are so very grateful that you do, and nothing will ever take You by surprise! Father, may each of us surrender our lives to You each day, trusting that You have our very BEST interest in mind. In our precious Savior's name; in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
See you in 2021!
Blessings!
sue
Welcome to our study entitled, “Walking in Wisdom”. As we spend the year together in the New Testament, I pray that God will bless each of us with growth, wisdom, and understanding as we dig deep into His Word!
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Monday Jan. 6
Can you believe it? Here we are fresh off the holidays and ready to begin 2020! Another year is upon us, and with it comes both renewed hope and a commitment to resolutions made. For me each new year brings the familiar pattern of good intentions and promises of doing and being better. But invariably, my faithfulness comes up lacking and my follow through becomes almost nonexistent. And even though I own my accountability, I try not to be too hard on myself; after all I’m a work in progress. So I forgive my failures, never give up trying, and remember that although I might not always be faithful in fulfilling my own promises, I know who I can always count on to fulfill His; and that’s God. For as I am reminded by the Apostle Paul, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” (2 Tim. 2:13)
That’s why I’m happy we are beginning our study in the book of Luke. Because more than just the beautiful Christmas Gospel of our Savior’s birth, Luke also contains promises made by God. And here in chapter 1 we learn of the awesome ones He makes to Mary, the Jewish girl chosen by the Lord. Living in Galilee and engaged to a man named Joseph, Mary is visited by the Angel Gabriel. After greeting her as, “favored one”, Gabriel lists seven promises God has in store for her and the baby she would be carrying. 1. She will conceive and bear a son. 2. He shall be named Jesus. 3. He will be great. 4. He will be called the Son of the Most High. 5. God will give to Him the throne of David. 6. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. 7. His kingdom will have no end. (vs. 31-33)
I often imagine how Mary must have felt hearing the glorious news. Was she scared, excited, overwhelmed? Did she laugh, cry, or stand frozen in shock? Of the many emotions Mary must have felt, the Bible is clear that the one she didn’t feel was disbelief. For after asking how this miracle would come to be and hearing, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child will be called the Son of God.” (vs. 35), She simply replied, “may it be done to me according to your word.” (vs. 38) The example of strength and faith in God shown by Mary, a young girl of probably between 13 and 16 years of age, is something to behold and an inspiration to us all.
So how did Mary find such unshakable faith? First, she believed God would keep His promises. Mary knew the history of the Jewish people and how, “Not one of the good promises which God made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.” (Josh. 21:45) Second, she trusted God’s ability to make His will come to fruition. For not only did Gabriel say, “Nothing will be impossible with God” (vs. 37), God Himself also declares, “Behold, I will do something new, I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” (Is. 43:19) Finally, she walked in surrendered obedience to God. Just as we are told in 2 Cor. 9:8, Mary knew the Lord would provide whatever He required. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.”
Each January 1st carries with it the excitement of a clean slate, a fresh start, a new beginning. It marks the start of the year ahead filled with the certainty of love and loss, triumph and tragedy, joy and sorrow. Yet no matter what 2020 may hold, whatever change this new decade ushers in, we can rest assured that, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Heb. 13:8). So make resolutions. Commit to growth. Set new goals. Above all else, trust in the promises of God. In her lifetime Mary saw four of God’s promises fulfilled, and soon she will see the final three as well. And just as He did for Mary, God will fulfill each of His promises to us, so that like Elizabeth we too will cry, “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.” (vs. 45)
