Posts in Christian Service
All Wrapped Up and Tied in a Bow - Anne Marie Sanftner

Let’s be real for a minute and please let this question sink into your beautiful soul. Do you feel the need that your life must be all wrapped perfectly and tied up in a perfect bow? Do you ever feel like you don’t measure up to other people’s expectations? Do you ever feel like the expectations are too? How about an example; do these thoughts or similar ones ever creep up in your head? “Look at that perfect Christmas tree…mine doesn’t look like that.” “That family picture is so beautiful…I wish we could do that so others can see us look that good.” “They always get such amazing Christmas gifts…we can’t afford those but I’ll get them anyway.” “It all has to be perfect…I have to do whatever I can to make it perfect.” I am using Christmas time as an example because I sincerely feel that not-measuring-up can be a dominating feeling during and after the holiday season. 

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Look Up - Jean Santos

I heard a sermon illustration about a bee. It was said that if you put a bee in the bottom of a glass jar, the bee will never fly out. Why? Because the bee never looks up to realize that the way out is right above him. I think that all too often, I am the same way. When I face problems, I tend to look around for answers, but forget to look up for His answer. I am so thankful that my Father is a “very present” help. (Psalm 46:1) He’s right there---every step of the way---even when I don’t realize it. He promises me in His Word that He will never leave me or forsake me (Hebrews 13:5-6). The key is that I lift up my eyes. I need to turn my eyes upon Jesus and look full in His wonderful face! When I do, the things of this earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace. When days are dreary…look up! When the long nights are weary….look up! Jesus cares! When the sun is shining….

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What to do When You are Overwhelmed - Kelly DeMoville

Now don’t get me wrong, I do get depressed; I do struggle at times with frustration; I do wonder why things can’t be easier or why does everything have to be tough sometimes, but I try very hard not to live there. In fact over the last few years, I’ve had many conversations with God about certain things in my life that seem “unfair!” And God has been working on me in this area very much in the last couple of years. One of my very favorite Bible characters is Joseph.

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What Day is it Today? - Jeanne Nichols

These years have not been easy, but I’m so grateful I have had the Lord to guide me as a mom, a wife, a caregiver, and now as a grandma. I have not faced these trials perfectly, and many times God has had to chastise me because of my attitude. However, I am thankful for a patient God who has molded my family and I along the way.

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Bottle Necked - Teresa Ross

When you serve the Lord together, your hearts knit in a special way. A church God allowed us to help restart in 2004 held special memories for us. God allowed us to purchase a building for it! Memories with the ladies, decorating for different events. You grow to have a special place in your heart for each person. God was faithful!

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Be Carefull for Nothing - Joannie Rodriguez

. KEEP YOUR MIND IN CONTROL… verse 6a – In other words, don’t be too worried or

dedicated to the problem or situation. Paul was reminding us to not worry about

anything. Yes, nothing at all! I know this can be really hard to do, especially when it

involves marital and family problems, sickness, and problems at church which can often

be difficult to ignore. I, myself, have had the tendency to rethink things too much. I put

too much focus on the problem or on the person creating the problem. I often have to

be reminded to not get too emotionally attached to the problem or to someone that I

feel has offended me. We cannot allow these problems or thoughts to take over our

minds and reside deep in our hearts. If we do, we will soon find ourselves having to deal

with the issue of anxiety.

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Following the Master's Plan - Stephanie Stratton

So, we know the areas in which God does not give us strict guidelines. But what about the areas He does give specific instructions? Like fellowship with God, prayer, church attendance, tithing, soul winning, faithfulness, purity, godliness? Are these things important to us? In the last few years, I've had multiple conversations with people who told me that God would understand why they chose not to tithe to a local church, or go to church because we now have livestream (a great tool when there are no other options or because of sickness, but not a substitute for fellowship with other believers, Hebrews 10:25), or that soul winning wasn't something for them because they are shy, or that Bible reading and prayer is too time consuming and God would rather that they were doing something more “meaningful”, or that watching an R-rated movie was okay because it was with their spouse and they skipped all the bad parts, etc. These weren't people “of the world”. They were born again Christians. People in churches of like-faith. According to the Bible they are playing a dangerous game. Isaiah 33:31b says, “...for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.”

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The Benefits of Stillness - Sherri Roberson

Ladies, would you agree we are a busy people. The busyness of keeping house, cooking, taking kids to practices, church and the list could go on and on. If we aren’t careful the day will get away from us without giving any thought to God. I love the verse in Psalms 46:10. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. There are tremendous benefits of being still. When God created us He gave us five senses, I want to look at three of those senses. When we get to the place where we can be still there are some wonderful benefits.

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Be a Light for Christ! - Cassandra Foust

Jesus is in the middle of His famous sermon, “The Sermon on the Mount.” The verses here are so well known that you may have them memorized. As a missionary’s wife I think of this topic very regularly. I often ask myself “Am I showing the light of Christ to those around me?”‬‬‬‬‬‬

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I Choose to be a Christian! - Abby Sapp

Every day when you wake up, get ready and are about to leave your home for the day. Do a heart check, if your heart is right with the Lord, you will know if your outfit that day is modest and pleasing to the Lord or not. Also, ask the Lord to guide your words for the day and your thoughts.

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Is Serving Others Where I Need to Be? - Faye Jalbert

Many times, Christians are really not experiencing the joy of serving Jesus, because they are not serving His children. In Matthew 25:42-45, Jesus says, “For I was an hungred, and ye game me no meat: I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked and ye clothed me not: sick and in prison and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him saying, Lord when saw we thee hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?” And now for the topic of our devotion…verse 45, “Then shall he answer them saying, Verily I say unto you. Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.”

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Facts, Feeling, Faith and the Future - Zana Reichen

A young lady came to me upset over a health problem which caused her loss of energy, frequent pain, and feelings of defeat. In addition, she did not have money to take final exams, and she is to have surgery when she returns to her home state this summer. She wanted to feel better, have money for finals, have money for surgery, was fearful of surgery, and wanted to know where money would come from in the fall for school—and wanted all these answers now! I wanted to say, “Whoa! Slow this horse down, woman!” Knowing her health situation, I suspicioned that her particular physical problem was playing a part in her mental and emotional well-being.

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Trusting Through Infertility - Tracy Lankford

“Approximately 1 in 8 couples are affected by infertility in the United States. That’s about 6.7 million people each year who have tr
ouble conceiving.” This shocking statement is from fertilityanswers.com and is echoed over and over again in any google search.
Have you heard the statement “God meant it all for good” ? I find that sometimes, these statements that are meant to bring comfort can bring a feeling of disappointment because what we face as ladies just does not feel like it belongs in the category of “good.” Many times we find ourselves lining up in the category of pain, hurt, brokenness, unfulfilled dreams, or perhaps even anger. God in His wisdom and mercy has given us several examples to learn from, some of which we will look at in the book of Genesis today.

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Music: Where Is Your Heart? - Sarah Teague

Let’s start with how music affects us physically. Have you ever heard a song that had a fast beat to it? Often we call it a “toe-tapper,” because the fast rhythm makes our body react in a happy, go-lucky way. Here’s a question to ponder: does the music you listen to affect your body in a positive way? If the music you listen to causes your body to react in a worldly manner, is it truly Christ honoring? One of the three aspects of music is the rhythm. Is the rhythm so prominent in the music you listen to that it overwhelms everything else?

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