For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14 NIV
Last month, I spent a couple of weeks studying the Book of Esther. I knew I would enjoy it and learn a lot, but I didn’t expect God would use it to speak to me. I shouldn’t have been surprised.
God uses what we know and where we are to speak to us.
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Written on
September 8, 2012 by
Kris in
Blog
No one is ever ready when I would like them to be. Around here, when I say, “get your shoes on, it’s time to go” I’m often met with grumbling, or a frantic race through the house for that something to bring along in the car. It doesn’t seem to matter that I gave a five minute warning, or that I’m already standing at the door with purse and keys in hand–nobody’s ready, and so until they are prepared for action, we’re not going anywhere.
The other day as I read 1 Peter 1, I noticed this little line, that though I’ve read it before, didn’t leap out at me until that day–
Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self‑controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
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This summer, I have two healthy cherry tomato plants growing in my garden, despite the fact that I didn’t plant them and I’ve done nothing to make them grow.
Long after they started to grow, my daughter heard me talking about these plants, and she innocently said, “I planted them.”
What?
With a shrug, she said, “I planted two tomatoes last year.”
Apparently, not knowing if they would grow, she took two tomatoes from last year’s plant and buried them. Not seeds, but whole tomatoes.
I thought the extreme temps and very little rain would be the end of them, but my husband started watering them and they continued to grow.
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I spent some time visiting with a dear friend the other day. We each have things that are heavy on our hearts. Issues that we see as being potential problems for God’s people. Situations where individuals are investing themselves in things that could ultimately hurt them spiritually, and also have a ricochet effect on the lives of those closest to them.
How do you handle this kind of conversation?
I have a few tips to share should you ever find yourself in a similar situation.
1. Don’t Gossip
- Be very careful to discuss the problem without names.
- Details are unnecessary, stick to the big picture.
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We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5
I awakened this morning with the title of this post running through my mind. What if the first time you had a thought, it was just that . . . a thought? The second time you thought it, you were granted a mulligan by God’s grace. But if you continued spinning it around in your head, it appeared across your forehead in ticker tape format. Right there for everyone to see!
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This past Sunday while I sat in church there were many great challenges and ideas thrown out that day. My hand was furiously writing as I tried to keep up with all the notes that I wanted to put down on paper as the pastor was preaching. Notes were lining the edges of bulletin and I loved it. In the midst of these great insights and ideas there were three little words that pierced right to my heart.
Reclaim your commute.
It sounds simple enough, but what does that really look like?
If you are like me, you like to multi-task and the commute is the perfect time to get phone calls made or even just chill out to some great music.
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Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27 NIV
Never did I think a girl that grew up in a small town of rural Kentucky would ever have a heart for missions. Let’s face it; I grew up in a tiny little place that had one blinking red light, a roller rink, and a main street that was lined up with lots of mom & pop stores.
I loved growing up in a small town and still wish I had a chance to raise my boys in that small town life, but God had other plans.
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My mother has given me some great advice over the years. But the one piece that I remember the most—and the piece that I put to use with the most frequency—is something that she probably doesn’t even remember saying at all. It was one of those times when she was trying to console an upset teenager (me!) and attempting to use that segment of time as a teachable moment.
“Sometimes, Staci, you just need to get in the car and go through a drive-thru for a Coke.”
I’m not sure how much stock I put in that nugget of information at the tender age of seventeen, but I do know how wise I’ve come to view those words as I raised my own children and maneuvered through a myriad of life’s complex twists and turns.
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