Hebrews 4:12 says, for the word if God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
This verse talks about the Bible and it’s very interesting as it explains what it does. One of the things I did as a homeschool mother was categorizing things with my children. Two categories are living versus nonliving material. We recognize that a rock is nonliving whereas a bug is living. The scripture said the word of God is alive even though it’s words on paper. However, I have learned that at times, especially times of crisis. The word of God would leap off the page. I understood it before, but at those moments I had a deeper understanding. Plus at those moments the word ministered to me more deeply that I thought possible. God’s word will show you where you need to change. I have to say I’ve seen the Bible be what this verse describes: living and active.
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
The words Jesus said tell us the value of words from God’s mouth. We need them more than food. Because even if we die, we still have God. He’s what we need. The origin of this came from the time when Moses explained to the Israelites what God was doing when he tested them. He wanted them to realize the felt need they had for food wasn’t their biggest need. Their biggest need was God. He could provide food from heaven, if he chose. And he did. So far from saying our physical life has no value, the spiritual trumps the physical. We require the words from God to survive in this life and the next.
Have you ever had a friend pull you off to the side and say, “Watch out for Emmaline. She’ll be telling you what to do if you aren’t careful.”?
No one likes a woman who has to run every event herself, and our kids really hate it once they are grown. At that point, they are ready to choose for themselves.
A couple years ago, my husband and I started ballroom dancing. We love it. However, I have learned things about myself. The man leads while dancing. His job is to move forward and make his way around the room, avoiding other dancers. When I am facing him, I can’t see where we are going. I am so accustomed to getting things done that relaxing so he can lead is a real challenge. It takes real effort, but these dance lessons taught me how much I needed to be in control.
What a great spiritual lesson for all of us. Look at what the Psalmist says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. When you trust God, you must rest in him, knowing he can do what you cannot.
Today Shannon Popkin is my guest. She has just written the book, Control Girl.
Shannon’s bio;
I’m Shannon Popkin. I’m a wife and mom, a writer and speaker, a small group leader and Bible teacher. I’m so excited about my new book, Control Girl: Lessons on Surrendering Your Burden of Control from Seven Women in the Bible., which released in January 2017).With God’s help, I’m on a path that leads from Control Girl to Jesus Girl.
As a speaker, I love combining my love for humor and storytelling and with my passion for Jesus. I speak for ladies’ events, retreats, and moms groups. On my blog, I share stories from my life, which I hope will make you smile, and will encourage you to follow Jesus more closely. I also share posts from the other sites that I contribute to, including True Women.
I’m a big fan of history, and I love to read diaries. Once I read a diary about a girl who lived just before the Civil War. She was an older adolescent at the time. One day she was visiting a friend, and as she walked down the hall, she saw a reflection in the mirror she assumed was her friend. Warm thoughts filled her mind about how lovely and poised she was. However, as she got closer to the sitting room, she realized the mirror was catching a reflection of her own face. She was amazed at how her opinion changed and she found fault with that same reflection she had formerly admired. At that moment she knew she would have liked what she saw if she saw herself from someone else’s perspective.
That story fascinates me because I think that represents what a lot of women feel. We look in the mirror and do not like what we see, yet we long to be attractive. For instance, I have curly hair. For years I wished for straight hair and went to lots of effort to make it appear less curly. As far as our abilities or talents, we don’t take those into account either.
Scripture says Greater love has no man than this, than a man lay down his life for a friend. (John 15:13) Jesus left behind his glory and even some of his privileges as God to lay down his life for us. If God loves us that much we are worth a lot.
If we are going to minister to others, we need to have healthy relationships valuing ourselves with our gifts and strengths as God does.
Tina Yeager is my guest today. She is a counselor and a life coach and this topic is one she will address today.
Lasting Love: A Story from History with Angela Breidenbach
Doesn’t everyone want lasting love?
We have just celebrated Valentine’s Day. Now everyone is either eating candy or watching their flowers wilt or wishing someone gave them candy and roses. Our society suffers from an obsession with love, and yet we can’t even define it. We love our homes, our cars, our pets, and our spouses. Whenever this emotion takes hold of us we must obey its bidding. We can fall in love and out of love quickly. Using Scripture, we can define love. (Of course, we have to go back to 30 a.d. to the time when the church began. the disciples wrote what they learned from Jesus.) The love God has for us is called agape. It’s a love that impacts the will, seeking the best for the one loved. Agape not based primarily
Using Scripture, however, we can define love. (Of course, we have to go back to 30 a.d. to the time when the church began. The disciples wrote what they learned from Jesus.) The love God has for us is called agape. It’s a love that impacts the will, seeking the best for the one loved. Agape is not based primarily in the emotions, although emotion comes along with it. Jesus demonstrated agape when he came to earth. He left his glory behind and came to die for our sins.
Agape love does unselfish acts of service regardless of what the emotions appear to dictate. This is the kind of love that lasts. Ladies, you and I know our emotions ride a roller coaster depending on the state of our hormones and the amount of sleep we get. If we truly care about someone, we will agape love them whether we feel the emotion or not. Many times, we choose to act, and those emotions come later.
Today Angela Breidenbach shares a story of love from the history of her family:
3:50 Your grandfather married your grandmother to keep her reputation?
You can overcome abuse, and we are going to talk about how that’s done.
The mind is incredible. God designed us so we can access our memories and relive events. As we do that the emotions wash over us again as if it was happening in that moment. In fact, that’s one reason Worry is bad for us because we imagine something bad happening and our bodies respond as if it did happen. All the negative chemicals start flowing through our bodies. Those bad chemicals can make us ill.
Ladies, If you’ve lived very long, you’ve been through heartrending stuff, you’ll have baggage. Stuff from the past that weighs you down and impacts your actions and even reactions. What can we do about that?
2 Cor. 10 5 says, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,”
Today we are going to talk about how you can implement that verse and how Scripture can help you heal:
I have Becky Harling with me, and she wrote, Rewriting Your Emotional Script
2:25 Why pray Scripture? Isn’t that magical thinking?
3:12 How can God heal you with the Word?
4:00 How can we be ‘poor in spirit’?
5:30 We need God.
6:45 How is letting go different from being a victim
It’s really easy to worry about the future, but Christians know the end of the story. Several years ago on a Saturday morning, my husband slid into the floor and had a grand mal seizure. Wow! What a catastrophic event. In an adult, a seizure is a medical emergency. We suddenly went from normal living to crisis mode. A sense of unreality came over me as I discovered my husband’s illness was very serious. For the first few days, I stood by his bed and watched as doctors tried to treat his complex problem. Ultimately his full recovery took four years, and those years unsettled us all. In the same way, we live in a rapidly changing world. Events come at us so fast. These unbelievable events seemed impossible a few years ago. If anyone disagrees or questions, that person receives a nasty label. Intolerant. Bigot. Hater. I keep reminding myself that I live in America where we are supposed to have freedom of religion and freedom of speech. Many in the church are rattled and frightened. This election season had passed in a similar fashion. Americans are angry because no one listens to them in Washington.
I cannot imagine facing any of this without God. During that time when my husband was ill, the Lord sent me to the book of Daniel while I taught a class. There the Lord revealed that Daniel’s greatest dream was for his people to return to the land with a restored relationship with the father. However, God knew that wouldn’t happen in Daniel’s lifetime, so God allowed Daniel a peek into the future. Daniels greatest longing would come true, but not while he lived.
As Christians, we don’t wield control, but we can be assured that God does. The book of Revelation reveals God’s plan for the future, and we can be confident, regardless of what we see going on. God will accomplish his purpose.
My guest is Dr. Ken J. Burge, Sr. He has written Revelation on Fire a Bible study on the last book of the Bible.
2:15 Not everyone in the church believes like you do about the future. Can you give reasons why hold your position on future things?
5:00 Describe your Bible study method
9:15 Revelation said these things will ‘shortly take place.” That was written over 2000 years ago. What does that phrase mean?
11:00 What does the text mean when it says people will be blessed seven times?
12:00 Can you give reasons why you believe in the rapture of the church?
14:00 Who were the people in chapter 3 who are praising the lamb for redemption?
Learn more about Dr. Burge here. Find his book here.
[tweetthis]Believers shouldn’t fear the future [/tweetthis]
