Mother of Seven + 2

"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."  Ephesians 4:32 One of the first verses I memorized as a child was Ephesians 4:32.  I remember my dad telling me how he often had to quote the same verse when he fought with his brother.  Following the family tradition, my children all knew this verse as the "B verse" in our alphabet memory verses.  A fight would break out, and I was ask them to quote the "B verse."  When the fighting didn't stop, they earned the privilege of writing it on paper ten times. One particular child wrote Ephesians 4:32 so many times that at the age of 6, he proudly proclaimed to his grandparents that he could spell the word "compassionate."  Yes.  Yes, he could.  He had much practice.  Being kind was hard for this child, but I often found it much harder as a parent to teach the second portion of this verse. We had many a "face off."  Two angry chil...

The Connection between Prayer and our Hearts. David was called a man after God's own heart. Many of the Psalms are a record of the prayers and praises of David. He spent much time communicating with God. In order to have hearts modeled after God's, we need to follow David's example of communicating with the one who made us. After all only God can mold our hearts to look like his.  Prayer is essential in an undivided heart. In Psalm 86 we find one of David's prayers. “ Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” Psalm 86:11 What kind of heart did David ask God for? Make a list of things that can divide our hearts. Photo from www.freedigitalphotos.net What indicates to us where our hearts are? Mt. 6:19-21 “For where your ______________________ is, there your _______________________ will be also.” Looking back at our list of things that divide our hear...

Photo from www.freedigitalphotos.net Protect means to keep from being damaged, attacked, stolen, or injured; to guard. What types of things do we go to great lengths to protect? How do we protect these things? What should we guard above all else? (Proverbs 4:23) Why? What helps guard our hearts? Proverbs 30:5 (see also II Sam. 22:31; Ps. 18:30) - II Tim. 1:12-14 - Philippians 4:-6-7 Why is there no other effective way to guard our hearts? - Psalm 127:1 Read Psalm 91. This is a beautiful description of God's protection. What are some of the descriptions of God's protection from this passage? Who is promised this protection? What are we protected from? Psalm 119:11 - Eph. 6:10-18 –   Hebrews 2:14-15 – II Pet. 3:17-18 – What makes the Word of God a powerful protector? Psalm 19:7-11 - II Tim. 3:16-17 - Hebrews 4:12-13 - Rev. 19:11-21 - The best ...

Our usual way of living life has been turned upside down in recent days.  Thankfully we serve a God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  His Word is truth amidst a flood of news in which it is increasingly hard to discern the truth.  According to I Peter 5:8 our enemy, the devil, is always on the prowl seeking whom he can destroy.  That is why we must be alert and put on the armor of God that is described in Ephesians 6:10-18. In a battle the enemy goes for the heart because if he can mortally wound the heart, life will slip away.  Now more then ever we need to understand our spiritual hearts and be prepared for the battle ahead. So grab your Bible and a cup of coffee and sit down and join me for a "heart to heart" study. Study Guide #1 The human heart is a muscle that beats an average of 70 times per minute.  That is 100,000 times a day, 36 million times a year, and 3 billion times in a lifetime.  It's primary job is to keep our blo...

I've been sharing lessons on the heart with a group of ladies from our church.  Perhaps you would be interested in following along.  Today I'm going to post the study guide for the lesson on the Servant's Heart.  I will post that lesson on Wednesday.  I invite you to work through the study guide or perhaps even use it for a woman's Bible study of your own.  Christ offered his salvation freely to me, and I freely offer these to you for use in spreading the good news.  I just ask that you do not take the material and use it for your own personal gain.  It is copyrighted through my blog.  (Note:  I will be back with Money Saving Monday next week.)  Jesus is our prime example of servanthood.  A close look at his life will teach us all about having a servant's heart. Who did Jesus serve? How did Jesus serve? (Just a few examples.) Mark 1:29-34 Mark 7:24-30 Mark 8:1-8 Mark 10:13-16 John 8:3-11; Luke 7:36-...