Bible Passage for the Week

John 14:27 - "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."

Jesus spoke these words and offered us peace.  It is not a kind of peace that the world tries to offer, but a peace that is fulfilling.  Our hearts do not have to be troubled; we do not have to be afraid because our Savior has taken care of everything.  In that we have a fulfilling peace!

Many times we do not let Christ's peace surround us, we try and take care of things ourselves or try to achieve peace from the world.  Post this passage around your house, in your car, on your phone, where ever it is that will remind you that peace surrounds you!

Cheryl 

Bible Passage for the Week

God had a great plan in mind when He rested on the 7th day of creation!  He lead by example and so many times we forget to follow His example. 

Well...I am taking vacation this week with my family along with some great friends!  I run hard for so long and forget that taking a break is important and in God's plan.  Therefore, I am going to take a moment to say - focus on your favorite bible passage this week.  Pick one for your family and post it around your house.  Talk about why it is your favorite and the importance of knowing God's word!

And remember...take a break as it is in God's plan!

Cheryl

Bible Passage for the Week

Psalm 139:8-10 notes, "If I ascend to heaven, You are there!  If I make my be in Sheol, You are there!  If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me."

Sometimes this vast world can be quite lonely.  It doesn't matter where we are at physically or emotionally, Christ is with us!  He will guide us and lead us through whatever it is we face.  This is a great verse to commit to memory so when we are struggling or feeling lonely we always know Christ is by our side.

Cheryl  

Broken Dreams Filled with Hope

I don’t know about you but when I got married and dreamt about having kids my kids were going to act appropriately!  They were not going to throw temper tantrums in the store.  They were not going to back talk their parents.  They were not going to openly disobey me.  Then I had kids and that dream went out the window!  The tantrums, the whining, the disobedience, and the back talk it is all there! 

With my “perfect” children dream out the window, my parenting dream went out the window too.  There are days that I am harsher than I should be; words come out of my mouth that shouldn’t.  There are days the discipline doesn’t match the crime; the kids are grounded way longer than they really need to be.  There are days that I simply don’t want to deal with whatever it is and I choose not to address it.  My dream parenting didn’t have any of those behaviors in it! 

Lamentations 3:22-23 notes, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”  With my “perfect” parenting and “perfect” children out the window these verses are filled with such hope!  The love I receive and my children receive from the Lord never ceases!  It does not matter how imperfect we were throughout the day.  The best part, His mercies are new every morning! 

Each and every morning you wake up; remember it is a new beginning!  Share with your children how gracious our Lord is and thank Him for this new day and the ability to start out with a clean slate! 

Bible Passage for the Week

Isaiah 33:5-6 notes, "The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness, and He will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is Zion's treasure."

So many times things are crazy and and we are unsure of how it will turn out.  Well, we have our stability!  Christ is our stability.  We have salvation through Him and He provides us with wisdom and knowledge.  We need to make sure we always turn to Him so we have stability in this crazy world!

Cheryl

Encouragement

Encouragement

1 Thessalonians 5:11 – “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

Encourage – a word our Lord uses.  So, what does it mean to encourage and what happens when you don’t encourage one another?  How do you encourage one another?

It is another simple word, another simple act that seems to disappear from our daily lives.  Having said that, it is important to take a look at what encourage means and how we can incorporate it back into our daily married lives.  The “technical” definition of encourage is…

1.        Inspire with courage, spirit, and confidence

2.        To stimulate by assistance, approval

3.       To promote, advance, or foster (dictionary.com)

There is not one part of this definition that would take away from our marriages.  In fact, the definition works well with how Christ talks about encouragement.  Encourage one another and build one another up.  If we inspire with courage, spirit and confidence we build up our spouse.  If we give approval we build up our spouse.  If we promote and foster we build up our spouse.  Therefore, when we encourage our spouse we build them up. 

However, as noted above, encouragement is a simple word that requires simple actions and it is seems to be lost within the daily marriage routine.  We can run the risk of taking each other for granted.  So what are some ways to encourage our spouse?

One very powerful way to encourage is through prayer.  It brings about a peace and comfort to know your spouse is praying for you.  My husband texts or emails when he knows there is something big, tough, or exciting going on in my life.  When he sends a text or email he simply says “praying for you”.  Those words let me know he cares enough about me to take time to pray and it encourages me in whatever situation I am in.  Isaiah 35:4 goes along with this concept.  “Say to those who have an anxious heart, Be strong; fear not!  Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God.  He will come and save you.”  Encourage through the words of Christ!

Other ways to encourage…

·         Say Thank You

·         Take time to listen

·         Write them a note

·         Ask for advice

·         Be genuine

This is a short list of things to do.  You have to do what works for you and your spouse.  Whatever encouragement looks like for the two of you should be what you focus on this week.  As you encourage one another, you build one another up.  When you build one another up, you develop a deeper relationship.  When you develop that deeper relationship you both win!

Cheryl 

  

Bible Passage for the Week

Psalm 68:19 notes, "Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation."

This bible passage is filled with so much hope!  God bears us up DAILY!  He doesn't just get around to it or when we are in desperate need; He is there for us daily! 

Last week we had Vacation Bible School and we have the children share each day how God was present in their lives that day.  What a great witness these kids were!  They shared numerous things on how God bears us up each and every day.

Post this around your house, in your blackberry, in your car, or wherever to remind you that we have a Lord that covers us each and every day.

Cheryl