Mar

15

Father Knows Best

By Julie B Cosgrove | 1 Comment


All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father (Jacob) said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him.  Genesis 49:28

I want the best for my family. I think we all do. Yet, I cannot mold them into what I think is right, nor shape their  lives to go a certain way, no matter how hard I try.  I can influence, or at least make that effort, but where the seed falls is beyond my control. How much easier it is to turn over a stranger’s life or an acquaintance’s circumstances to God. But when it comes to our own family and the path they are walking, it is much harder, isn’t it?

Recently in Church we read the familiar story of the Prodigal.  The loving Father gave unconditionally, even when he knew his son would go off and make mistakes. Yet the father remained steadfast, hopefully watching the horizon each day, believing one day that son would come back around, saving back the fatted calf,  polishing the ring and stashing a set of dry clothes aside.  It reminds me of the nursery rhyme, “Leave him alone and he’ll come home. . .”

Jacob knew his sons better than perhaps they knew themselves. He knew their traits, their tendencies and loved them all anyway. So did the father to the prodigal son. So does our Father in Heaven. Yes, I will keep on my knees. Yes, I will keep watching.  I so much want the people in my family to each receive the abundance of blessings God has for them. I want them free of illness, free of pain, free of the consequences of their life choices. 

But, Father knows best and He has it all under control.  Just as He has for me and my life. Because, I know there those in my family who feel the same way about me.

Mar

12

Gift of Service

By Jan Ross | Leave a Comment


Being a “servant” carries with it a negative impression–bondage, servitude, enslavement, burdens, etc.  By definition, that’s exactly what a servant is. But the context of today’s verse sheds a totally different light on the word “servant.” Actually, it is used in the context of a “gift.”

This verse explains four “gifts” which are given to those who have new life in Christ:

“But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.“  (Romans 6:22)

WE ARE FREE FROM SIN
WE BECOME A SERVANT OF GOD
WE ARE GIVEN FRUIT UNTO HOLINESS
WE ARE GIVEN EVERLASTING LIFE

These are all benefits, including the privilege of being a servant.

We are designed to be servants, either to sin or to righteousness.  There are no in-betweens.  There is no other way.  We either serve God or we serve sin.

The choice is ours as it was in Joshua’s day: “Choose you this day whom ye will serve” (Joshua 24:15).

Choose God and you choose life!  Being a servant then becomes a benefit, a privilege, and a blessing rather than a burden.

What is your choice?

Father, it is my choice to serve YOU above all else, not only for the benefits but simply because I love You! You have put in me a servant’s heart which makes me glad to serve You! I don’t count it a burden to serve you, as I am bonded together with You through Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour. Thank you for freeing me from sin, allowing me the privilege of being Your servant, gifting me with fruits of holiness, and giving me everlasting life. Lord, for all this I cannot begin to thank You enough. Your blessings are truly without measure. Amen!

© Jan Ross
All Rights Reserved

Mar

5

Top 100 Christian Women’s Blogs

By Carrie | Leave a Comment


Christian Women Blogs
I just received the following email from Internet Cafe Devotions:

Congratulations!

Every year Internet Café Devotions hosts Blessed Aroma, a call out to blog readers to nominate their favorite blogs, in specific categories, written by Christian Women. Those with the most nominations are compiled into a list that gives us the TOP 100 Christian Women’s blogs each year.

Your blog was chosen this year in the category of: “Gathered Together”. We hope this blesses you as much as you have blessed others!

You can view the list here: Top 100 Christian Women’s Blogs

Thanks so much to the wonderful ladies who write here and congrats!

Mar

2

Love letters…

By Becki | 2 Comments


We’re all women here, right?  Who doesn’t love a sweet, from the heart love letter?  Thought so. 

My “love language” is words of affirmation {if you don’t know yours, you MUST find out…http://www.5lovelanguages.com/…read the book too}. 

What does ”words of affirmation” mean?  It means that what you say to me sticks like hot glue right to my heart.  I need and crave positive words affirming me as a woman, mom, friend, sister, daughter, co-worker, on and on.  Words fill my love tank.  And words can empty it too.

I’m 38 years old and recently remarried.  I’ve only been calling Jesus my BFF for about 5 years now.  Before that I was hell on wheels.  I made every mistake in the book.  I loved the wrong people, hurt myself and everyone around me, made horribly, dumb decisions….BUT I lived to tell about it.  God has been pursuing my heart for a very long time.  Looking back I can see it, see HIM there beside me.  I ignored Him…never even saw Him, really.  And then one day the tug to my heart was too much to bear.  I finally let go and let God take over. 

My life has never been the same since.

I’ve learned that people often view God as they view their earthly father.  If you have a good, loving dad, you tend to see God that way too.  If you had a distant, uncaring dad, unfortunately, you see God that way too.  I find it hard at times to see God close to me, caring for me and there if I need Him.  Of course, He is and always has been just that….THERE.

There are sooooo many blessings that have come from that decision to let God in.  My family tree has literally changed.  My girls have a realtionship with God like I never knew a kid could have.  That makes my heart overflow with gratitude to Him for not only changing me, but changing them.

The biggest blessing I’ve received, though?  My husband Mark.  Not only does he write me sweet love letters once in a while, but he models for my girls exactly what they should be looking for in a husband.  He is the answer to my biggest prayer.  Our marriage is not easy but it is where God meant for us both to be.  Nevermind that Mark makes me over the top happy, but he is laying a path in my girls’ hearts to NEVER settle for anything less than what God has prepared for them.  They will have healthy, productive, joy-filled {not always easy but blessed none the less} marriages because they see what a REAL God made man looks like.  WHAT A BLESSING.

I am taken aback on a regular basis by the love that God has for me and the fact that He has given me far more than I deserve.  He has never given up on me in a world where I’ve been written off more times than I can count.  He pursued me when I was running away as fast as I could….and He caught me.  He listens when I speak to Him, He crys with me when I cry, He laughs at me on a regular basis {I’m positive of that….I fall UP the stairs, people} and He holds my hand when I need it held….in fact, He has never let it go.  He has written a love letter on my heart that NO ONE can take away from me.

And what girl doesn’t love a sweet, from the heart love letter?

Watch this video for a love letter from God:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEfJpJ1lhQc

Mar

2

Patience, Please

By Julie B Cosgrove | Comments Off


Psalm 62:1  For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.

My mother always told me patience is a virtue. I just was not born with much of it.  I’m a doer, a fixer. I can’t stand to sit around and wait. Instead, I must keep busy. That actually helps to calm the anxious butterflies crashing against the walls of my stomach and the myriad of thoughts bouncing like BB’s back and forth in my brain.

So naturally, this is the area of discipline my fabulous Father in Heaven keeps trying to instill in me, often waiting until the eleventh hour to come through and answer my prayer, handle the situation or smooth my life back over. He knows how often I leave it at the foot of the Cross, then turn back around, pick it back up, dust it off and carry it back with me. “I feel better dumping this on you. It is not so heavy now. Thanks- I can take it from here.”

That’s it not His way, or the best way.  I hear Him say, “Wait, bring that back. I have such wonderful plans of what to do with it. You’ll be amazed. ”

And then I remember that other adage of my mother’s – Good things come to those who wait.  Not only does God transform the problem, or hurt, or anxiousness into something that will glorify Him, He transforms me as well – at least until I am tempted to not be patient again. Which happens.

 But, I am learning! Praise Him He is the patient one – patient with me! That is one thing I can trust in above all else. And that fact alone drops me to my knees in penitence.

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.  62:8

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