Good Morning Family;
Phil. 1:3 says " I thank God upon every remembrance of you" and indeed I do thank God for all of you, because you all have made an impact on my life. In all of you, there is a God given inner source of strength; Ps. 27:1 says ....The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? You all have strengths in different areas, and that's what makes you unique. I want to encourage and challenge you this week. Prov. 31:10 says; Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. I looked up synonyms for virtuous: blameless, clean-living, exemplary, faithful, guiltless, honest, honorable. Initially, I thought it was enough that my husband thought me, a virtuous woman, and although that a good place to start, that's not enough. It is more important for God to think of me as a virtuous woman. And guess what? That's my challenge; For God to say 'well done, my good and virtuous woman' . That is the greatest honor, I think. So, here goes: This month and for the balance of year, let us make the committment, let us vow to: 1. Spend quality time with the Lord every morning. We need to start our day with Him, because He sets the standard!!! 2. Let us work on one (yes just one, out of the million, lol) bad habit, that God brings to mind. 3. Work on cementing a godly habit 4.Take some time off everyday just for you (no less than 10 minutes) {take a nap, read a pleasure book, paint your fingernails, call a friend} 5. Practice talking to God throughout the day (you SHALL enjoy His company) Let us work on these everyday, and watch God at work in our lives!!

For His Glory,
Brenda

I am

Lately, the Lord has been placing on heart, the need to get the girls into the mind frame of being in service to  Him.  Not just occasional service, but living a life of service.  What does that entail?  For us it involves a number of things... service to the Lord answers the question who am I?  Who are you?  First you are (Name) and you are a child of God (a christian).  That is who we are.  We went into the grammatical aspect of this (am).  It implies a state of being.   I am a christian.  What does being a christian look like?  This involves a relationship with the Lord.  It means that I am growing in grace and in the knowledge of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (II Peter 3:18).  It means that I am loving the Lord with all my soul and with all my heart and with all my mind and that I am loving my neighbour as myself.  God loves people (John 3:16)  In order to demonstrate my love for God I must love others.  This morning, our devotion was taken from Phil. 3:7.    How do we live a life of service?  We have to understand first, the privilege, the honor we have to be called a child of God.  It is a privilege!  Do we see it as such?  Or perhaps we think we deserve our salvation.  When we see our salvation as an honor and a privilege, then we are ready to be of service to the Creator of the Universe.  Do you see your salvation as a privilege?  Do you understand that God's love for you is an honor?

Parenting

To all parents,
It occurred to me, while having my quiet time with the Lord, that as parents (especially moms) we are very much about ourselves. One would even dare to say we are pretty much about me-ism.  The doctrines or beliefs about me.  Why do I say that?  Let's take me for instance; it is my desire to raise godly children, I believe that children are a gift from God and are to be raised to bring Him glory.  That is according to His Word Ps. 78: 6,7; Prov. 20:7,to name a few. I believe that.  I have Bible study with the girls on mornings and we talk about the Lord and His Word. We talk about His standards for our lives.  We talk of His faithfulness, His grace and mercy.  We talk of His goodness, His great love for us, for mankind.  I say to them we can rest on God's promises, He will never leave us nor forsake us.  We discuss Ps. 139.  I say I trust the God who orchestrates my life, from the time I was  a figment of my mom's imagination until the end of my life on earth.  But do I really?  Am I truly careful to demonstrate that I believe that?  I have been known to say that I do not like people much, and that is true.  On my own, in my own strength, I just do not have the capacity to love unconditionally, as the Lord commands.  I have a very low opinion of human nature, and through out my life of observing and encountering various people, there is very little about people to change my opinion.  There, I have said it!!  Guess what people, The Bible says it too!  The heart of man is deceitful and wicked (Jer. 17:9).  WE are innately wicked, there is no good found in us.  That is why we need a Savior. I allow my past to, at time direct my future ( actions, attitudes toward people and circumstances).  Why?  Why do I do that, if I believe that the Lord is in charge of my life?  Why do I allow my past to dictate my relationship with others?  Why do I have twelve inch walls between myself and others?  Perhaps, because I do not trust the heart of my Lord as I say I do.  Do you?

Good day Family,

Let us continue to work with the definition of vitrtuous (Prov. 31:10): blameless, clean-living, efficient, excellent, examplary, faithful, guiltlesss, honest, honorable; again I want to challenge you and me to raise the standard again this month. I trust that we spent time with the Lord every day this week, if we faltered, let us remember that  Jesus Christ has become our advocate, we ask HIs forgiveness and we begin again, He remains faithful and just to forgive. What bad habit were you working on with the Lord's strength to get rid of? This week continue to pray and seek the Lord, He waits for us, desires that we get to know Him, to spend time with Him. Let us continue to do this! 2. Continue to work on the bad habit, only Jesus Christ can truely help to get rid of it. 3. Do something for YOURSELF once a day this month. You can: paint your nails, wash your hair, read a book, go for a walk, talk to a good friend, buy a pair of shoes {lol. love this one} spend some time with a friend, discuss God's Word. Whatever you choose to do, do it in the name of Jesus. Let us realize we need the Lord today more than yesterday, everyday we need Him more. Let us choose to get closer to the Lord.

For His Glory
Brenda

Submissive wife?

Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct.
1 Peter 3:1-2 (ESV)  Isn't God's Word profound?  Some people may find submission to be a dirty word, but God is very knowlegeable.  Something I realize last week: actions have consequenses (good or bad) and consequences most of the time  have long arms, they affect the people around you ( husband, children, friends, extended family).  I have found that it is easy to submit when my husband is doing what I want him to do, it is easy to submit when I do not care enough about a given situation.  Very easy to submit under these circumstances, BUT what about when it is something I care very passionately about?  Well, I can assure you it isn't easy, and most times instinctively, I fail.  But on the days I do not fail, guess what happens.... God always works it out!!  ALWAYS!!!!  Sometimes, He shows me that the way I wanted to go was not the right way and sometimes my husband changes his mind, sometimes he goes ahead and I am proven right.  But God takes care of it.  These are the times when I have to look beyond my husband and keep trusting the Lord Jesus Christ.  As Samuel told Saul ' to obey is better than sacrifice!'  Trust the Lord and His Word He know what He is doing!!

New Year.

Good Morning Family;
Phil. 1:3 says " I thank God upon every remembrance of you" and indeed I do thank God for all of you, because you all have made an impact on my life.  In all of you, there is a God given inner source of strength; Ps. 27:1 says ....The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?  You all have strengths in different areas, and that's what makes you unique.  I want to encourage and challenge you this week.  Prov. 31:10 says; Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.  I looked up synonyms for virtuous: blameless, clean-living, exemplary, faithful, guiltless, honest, honorable.  Initially, I thought it was enough that my husband thought me, a virtuous woman, and although that a good place to start, that's not enough.  It is more important for God to think of me as a virtuous woman. And guess what?  That's my challenge; For God to say 'well done, my good and virtuous woman' .  That is the greatest honor, I think.  So, here goes:  This week, let us vow to: 1.  Spend quality time with the Lord every morning, for the month (whenever you read this, count four weeks).  We need to start our day with Him, because He sets the standard!!! 2.  Let us work on one (yes just one, out of the million, lol) bad habit, that God brings to mind.  3.  Work on cementing a godly habit  4.Take some time off everyday just for you (no less than 10 minutes) {take a nap, read a pleasure book, paint your fingernails, call a friend} 5.  Practice talking to God throughout the day (you SHALL enjoy His company)  Let us work on these everyday this week, and watch God at work in our lives!!

For His Glory,
Brenda

New year, or just Another year?

I thought this statement so profound, when I first heard it.  Will 2011 be a new year or just another year?  I had not given much thought to the new year.  I knew it was around the corner,  and I was excited that the Lord had granted me the opportunity to see another year, but I had not given any thought to what I would do differently.  As my Sunday school teacher said you do not have to do anything at all, you do not have to change anything in order to have just another year.  That was an "Ahaa! moment. So I decided to reflect upon the past year.  The Lord had been good to me in 2010.  The family was healthy, the girls seem to be well adjusted.  Upon further reflection, I have to admit that the Lord also did some changes in my spiritual life.  I learned to care more for and about people than 2009, that for me was the biggest change, and I look forward to embracing that change even more in 2011.
Will 2011 be a new year or just another year?