ByGrace

We have special friends visiting with us this week, Stew and Donna Schepers , so since we're enjoying some good fellowship I'm reposting something from my archives. These were my notes from a sermon my husband preached several years ago. God bless you this week! My husband preached an excellent message tonight! He's been preaching through the book of James on Sunday nights, and we're finally in the last chapter. Tonight's sermon was on patience - so timely! :) Here are my notes. Five Ways to Let Patience Perfect You - James 5:7-12 1. Use the patience you already have - v. 7 - "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain." The farmer has enough patience to wait for harvest - doesn't expect immediate results - keep trials in perspective - this too shall pass 2. Establish your heart - ...

Welcome to The Week In Words, where we share quotes from the last week’s reading. If something you read this past week  inspired you, caused you to laugh, cry, think, dream, or just resonated with you in some way, please share it with us, attributing it to its source, which can be a book, newspaper, blog, Facebook — anything that you read . "I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." ~ Maya Angelou, via Michael Hyatt A good thing to remember! One thing my husband and I have learned in 15 years in the ministry is that many (most?) people come to church because of relationships. They feel welcome, or feel loved, or feel secure . . . it's not true across the board, but I think there's some merit in this quote. I've been reading some books by Grace Livingston Hill lately. The latest one I read was Blue Ruin . The main female character, Lynette, found herself on...

Today is the 27th anniversary of the day my husband and I said, "I do!" It sure doesn't seem like we've been married 27 years already; the time has just flown by. As I was trying to decide what to post today for a devotional, I remembered a quick little study I'd done back in 2008 on the wife's responsibilities in marriage. I decided to repost that this week, as it fit in nicely with our anniversary today. Mind you, I don't live by each one of these every minute of every day - sometimes not even every day of every week! - but after 27 years, I've learned that I can trust what God says about marriage, put it into practice, and reap the benefits of a happy, contented marriage. Let's start with the obvious commands given to the wife . . . 1. Wives are to submit to and reverence their husbands – Ephesians 5:22 , Colossians 3:18 , and Ephesians 5:33 That’s it. Two little commands, but not so easy to obey all the time! Those are just for us, w...

When I was a little girl, one of the popular comics was a man named Flip Wilson. He was famous for saying, "The devil made me do it!" That makes a nice little excuse, doesn't it?! While I believe Satan can tempt us to do wrong, as Christians, I don't believe he can make us do anything: we choose to sin!  Last week, one of the passages of note in my Bible reading was Isaiah 14:12-15 (just mouse over the reference for a pop-up box of the text). This passage speaks of Satan's mindset as he rebelled against God: "For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High." I immediately thought of the passage in the New Testament that speaks of Christ's mindset, in Philippians 2:1-11. Here we have Jesus' attitude: "Who, being in the f...

Welcome to The Week In Words , where we share quotes from the last week’s reading. If something you read this past week  inspired you, caused you to laugh, cry, think, dream, or just resonated with you in some way, please share it with us, attributing it to its source, which can be a book, newspaper, blog, Facebook — anything that you read . This quote is from a cousin, via Facebook: "Self respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself." Unknown I agree! Dignity does grow when we can rule ourselves and say no to ourselves! So much of the Christian life is a matter of discipline.  From Pastor Johnny Pope, also a Facebook friend:   "If people are upset with me because of my position (what I believe), I have no regrets or remorse. If people are upset with me because of my disposition (how I behave) I should repent and resolve. “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecut...