God's Chisel (Part 1)

Below is the video we will be discussing at the Bible Study this week!  I encourage you to watch it and be encouraged!  Discuss it with your friends!  And don't forget to share below what you have discovered in your walk with God through this video!

God loves you!  He only asks you to give up the sinful things in your life because He loves you and wants you to become more like Him! 

Blessings!
~ S*

Questions to Ponder...

At this week's Bible study, I asked a few thought provoking questions... Listed below are the questions and my scriptural answers from my life in this moment.

1. How has God been leading you?  Jeremiah 29:11, Psalms 37:4,9, Isaiah 40:31

2. How do you listen to God's voice and obey His leading and direction for your life?  How does He communicate with you? 1 Kings 19:10-12

3.  How important is a strong relationship with God in your future spouse?  What kind of relationship must he have to be considered by you?  Luke 11:17, Matthew 12:22, Mark 3:23

4.  How do you think you will make your relationship with the Lord stronger when you are married?

I encourage you to look up the scriptures listed and find some of your own that you would apply to these questions...

In my walk with God, I have been waiting to hear from Him to see what He has in store for me.  I know I am where I am supposed to be currently, but I have been starting to get a little restless.  Recently a new opportunity arose, and I have done my part in accepting this opportunity if that is what God wants... We shall see where it leads.  During this period of pause/waiting to see what is next, I have learned to trust in the Lord more than ever (Proverbs 3:5-6).  I have an amazing peace about where I am because I know I am following God's plan for my life.  (even if it isn't exactly how I would have planned it myself...) 

My relationship with God is very important to me.  And I want my husband's relationship with God to be ultimately important to him.  So this photo/saying is what I am longing for:

Who are you waiting for?  I am waiting on God, and if He decides to bring a husband along in our journey together, so be it!! 

Blessings!

~ S*

Graduation!

It's that time of year again!  Weddings and Graduation parties galore!!!  The time to celebrate all of the amazing blessings in our lives... Yes, you may have gone through a few bumps to get to these accomplishments, but that just makes them all that much more exciting! 

My questions for you this week are: What drove you in this accomplishment?  How was your success obtained?  Who cheered you on, and who thought you could never reach this point? 

What scriptures were your foundation?  One of my favorites is: "For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."' Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Following God's plan for you is not always the popular choice.  Maybe He told you not to go to college, and you get lectures monthly telling what a horrible idea it is not to go for a "higher" education.  Maybe you felt led to go into a field that others think is crazy.  Or maybe you haven't figured out what your next step is.  That is okay!  When we wait on the Lord, and trust in His perfect plan, there is nothing to worry about (Psalm 37, Isaiah 40:30-31, Psalm 59:9) 

Take it from me, you don't want to let others decide what is best for you.  Let God decide.  "For I know the plans I have for you... Plans to prosper, to give you hope and a future." He knows what's best, and I encourage you to follow His lead. 

Congratulations to all who have accomplished those diplomas, degrees and/or marriage licenses!  May God bless each of you in all that you do!

Blessings!
~ S*

Time for a Laugh!

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine..." Proverbs 17:22

What gives you a good laugh?  My sister and I stumbled upon a family who puts up YouTube videos every week... They always give us a good laugh, and I thought you might enjoy them as well: Below is one of my favorites and you can click Here to visit their YouTube channel and check out more.

I hope you all have a great week!  Enjoy a good laugh, and SMILE!  It is amazing how contagious that is!

~ Blessings~
~ S*

What are YOU Saying? (Part 2)

It is amazing how powerful your words are.  Proverbs 18:21 says, "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat it's fruit." (NIV)  The New Living Translation says, "The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences."


Everything we say has a consequence.  Most recently I personally have been trying to evaluate common phrases/sayings.  I'll give some examples:


1. Holy crap (Holy cow, etc...)
2. Darn (Oh man, oh crap, dang, shoot, frick, etc...)
3. Worked like a charm ( Third time's the charm, lucky charm, etc...)
4. I'm getting a cold (flu, headache, etc...)
5. I could never do that...
6. _______ is genetic, so I know one of us is going to get it.



1. There is no such thing as Holy crap.  Or holy anything for that matter.  When something is Holy it is sacred and set apart for God.  We should be striving to be Holy. Not calling worldly things holy when they are far from it.


2. Darn is just like saying a curse word.  So are the other examples.  When you say "Oh dang it. I should have had that." Technically you are cursing what ever it is you were doing.  You are not speaking in an uplifting or encouraging way.  (Philippians 4:8)

3. I used to say these all the time until I learned what a charm was.  A charm is something people make to ward off evil spirits.  It is a hocus pocus kind of thing.  Almost demonic in itself.  We have Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  We have the Bible the Word of God.  We don't need a charm, for "The LORD is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalms 27:1, NIV)

4.-6. "If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies." (1 Peter 3:10, NLT)  What ever you confess over yourself will happen.  Confess health, life, and prosperity over your life not sickness, death, and poverty.  "The tongue can bring death or life..."


Blessings!
~S*

What are YOU Saying?

This Week's Scripture:  Proverbs 18:21 (In this lesson we will be using the NIV and Message translations)
  
A lot of people underestimate the power of their words.  The Bible says in Proverbs 18:21, "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." (NIV)  The Message gives an even clearer interpretation, "Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit--you choose."  (Message)  I was blessed to learn this early.  When I speak bad/negative things over myself (sometimes even jokingly) they often happen.  However, when I speak life and healing over my body, that is what I reap.


I can give you and example: Remember the rhyme: "Don't step on a crack or your mom will fall and break her back."  We all step on cracks, even if we don't at the time that we might be saying the rhyme.  I know of a person who said that, and their mom did hurt her back.  "Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit--YOU choose." (The Message emphasis added)


When it is cold outside we shouldn't say things like "you'll catch your death of pneumonia."  Or when something is really funny it is great to laugh and laugh hard, but we shouldn't say things like "that kills me."  "That was so funny I about died." or "stop it you're killing me."  "The tongue has the power of life and death..." (NIV) Don't prophesy over yourself (or others) negative things.  If we do we are just opening up a door for the devil to use against us. 


"What if people say bad things to me/about me?"  Well, if someone says to you "you'll catch your death of pneumonia." (or something of the like) The first thing I do is say, "No, I won't."  You are already resisting it that way.  Then usually in my head I resist it from happening, and thank God that I am healed and no weapon formed against me shall prosper!  If my friend or someone I am talking to says something like: "I about died" or "_______ will kill me" I always try to speak life over them by saying: "I hope not. Or "No it won't."  And you can always try to share with them what you have learned about the power of your words.


Another example: I know of someone who had a cold and some else said "your going to get pneumonia." That person did get pneumonia.   


So please keep in mind how powerful your words are.  And I challenge you to memorize the Bible verse for this devotion.  Pick a version of your choice; it doesn't have to be one used in this lesson.  Choose what kind of words you are going to use.



Blessings!
 ~S*

You Are Healed!

Do you know what you are saying when you say you are healed?  Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines heal/healed this way: 1. a. to make sound or whole. b. to restore to health. 2. a. to cause (an undesirable condition) to be overcome: mend. b. to patch up. 3. to restore to original purity or integrity : to return to a sound state. Synonym = cure.  Wow!  It always amazes me how different a word you "know" can look when you read the definition.  Today we are going to focus on definition number two above.
 

The Bible is an excellent source of healing scriptures and stories!  Let's look at what the Bible says about being healed.  Psalms 107:20b says, "He sent forth His Word and healed them."  We know God/Jesus is the "Word" because of John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Isaiah prophesied healing because of Jesus when he said, "4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried away our sorrows, yet we consider him stricken by God, smitten by him and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds* we are healed." (*Some translations say stripes.)  1 Peter 2:24 says, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."

We are also redeemed from the curse of the law.  Galatians 3:10 says, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.'"  If you want to know what the curse(s) of the law are, check out Deuteronomy 28:15-68.  If you don't think your particular sickness/issue is listed there remember in Matthew 16:19b Jesus says, "whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." And in Deuteronomy 28:61 it says, "The Lord will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law until you are destroyed."  In other words, we are redeemed from every kind of sickness or disaster.

Jesus always healed the sick.  The bible says many times that "He healed them all."  For more encouraging healing stories you can look up the following: (some of these deal with the "healing"/redemption of sins along with physical healing.)

1. Jesus heals a paralytic Matthew 9:1-8
2. The healing of two demon possessed men Matthew 8:28-34
3. Jesus heals many Matthew 8:14-17
4. Jesus heals the sick Matthew 4:23-25
5. Jairus's Daughter brought back to life Matthew 9:18-26; Mark 5:21-43; Luke 8:40-56
6. Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead John 11:1-44
7. Jesus heals a man who was born blind John 9:1-41
8. Jesus heals blind Bartimaeus Matthew 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43

 These are just a few examples of God's healing power.  It didn't stop when the Bible was done being written; god is still Jehovah Rafah our healer today.  The Bible also says in James 4:7, "Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."  Or as the Doughnut Man says, "Submit to God (Say Yes Sir!). Resist the devil (Hold it right there!). And he will flee from you (And he will run away)."

Blessings!

 ~S*

 PS. You are healed!!!