Silk and Purple - Persecution

OH my, ever have one of those wks where the computer is the last thing you do in a day, no matter how hard you to try to get to it? The last few days have been that way. To sit down and spend a great amount of time here was not going to be heard of. As Christians wives and moms we have so much to do and we have to be so careful what we put as most important and what can wait till another day. That is what I had to do with my blog, It's important to me, because I know the Lord had me start it for a reason, but when it's a choice of blog or family. Well, family wins. I have in recent days received a few e-mails about my blogs and the people have said, that I am wrong in posting what I post. I've even been told that I'm wrong using ONLY one version of the Bible for my scripture. I would like to say, I am a KING JAMES Bible ONLY person. I'm sorry if you don't like it but you know what, it's funny how God allows things like this to happen because today's lesson is Persecution!

II Timothy 3:12 "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."

Well look a there. My next lesson on Silk and Purple and for wives and moms is how Noah's wife endured Persecution. Here just this wk you could say I've endured it because of some e-mails I've received. I will say, I have several very precious ladies that either through text, e-mail or posting in comments let me know regularly how the different lessons help them. I'm not saying this to tote my horn and say look at me. I'm saying God has let these lessons help others and as long as JUST ONE person is being helped, I will cont to post. God is in control, God is Good, God is my Saviour, and God will use this for HIS glory, NOT mine.

Now on to the lesson....Read Genesis 6:1 -8:22

As wives of Pastors, Missionaries, Evangelist, Christian School Teachers, Lay people our husbands take a lot of persecution if they take a stand for our Lord. It's so sad to see what America is coming to. We need our men and women to stand up for what's right. Yes, persecution will come, Pastors and others have said, they foresee Christians being persecuted as in the Bible days. Are you dear wife, mom willing to stand by your man during the time of persecution? Will you stay by his side as Noah's wife did. Can you imagine building an Ark and all the persecution that took place. Mrs Noah had to go through it too, not just Noah.

As a wife and mother what do we need to do to be able to withstand the persecution:

1. Your walk with God must carry on.
You say, but Lord, "I can't go on!" He will carry you through. Stay true to the Word of God!

2. Your walk with God will give peace.
I have found in the past as well as now that the word of God gives peace. The other night I was awakened by an usual rain. At 3 in the morning the wind was blowing extremely hard and the rain was coming down in sheets. As I peered through the window, the lighting flashed and thunder crashed! I immediately walked through the house checking things and then arrived to my boys rooms. Yes, they are pre-teen and teens, but I wanted to be sure they were safe. As I prayed for them, the one son in Maine and my daughter in KY (who also was having severe weather at the time) I had a peace that came over me. I had scripture come to mind that I know for a fact I hadn't thought of for days. God's word that we hide in our heart, will come to mind and give peace when needed. God's word GIVES peace.

3. Your walk with God will help in your faith.

4. Your walk with God gives hope.
The hope of safety, the hope of all things are going to be fine.

5. Your walk with God gives love.
By reading God's word daily you see His love for you!

Wonderful Peace

Far away in the depths of my spirit tonight,

Rolls a melody sweeter than psalm;

In celestial - like strains it unceasingly falls

O'er my soul like an infinite calm.

-W D Cornell

My prayer is, if you are going through persecution that you will find Strength, peace, faith, hope and love by STAYING in God's Word.

Silk and Purple - Dependence

Psalm 119:195 "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

Psalm 62:5 "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him."

In the book of Genesis we learn about Eve. She was a very dependent lady. You may ask how do you see her as dependent. Well, think about it, she lived in the garden of Eden which had EVERYTHING she needed. She had all the beautiful flowers, delicious vegetables, the man that God had given her to. She didn't have to pull weeds or worry about thorns on the roses or anything that is thought to be "negative".

So when we look at Eve there are 3 observations to look at that not only she had but all women have.
1. Women are creatures full of pride.
Women many times have a hard time going to authority to ask for help.

2. Women are spiritually aggressive creatures.
We as women are more naive than men in many cases. I'm not saying we're dumb or stupid, men just are less naive in many area's than a man is. This is why Eve was so easily deceived by Satan. Because she, as we are, was more aggressive she jumped at the chance of becoming more spiritual, rather than going to her husband for help or better yet to God.

3. Women were created with natures which are more spiritually aggressive than men.
The author of Silk and Purple has 2 children and when she taught her children about Jesus and trying to teach that, Jesus is everywhere; her daughter took it right away and accepted the fact that Jesus was there even though she couldn't see him.
However her son, was like, he's not here because I can't see him.
Now not always is the response of young children the same, men however do think more logically at times than a woman and so therefore where a woman accepts, this for this, a man will say No, it can't be because......(and whatever it is).

In Genesis 2:15 God had told Adam to "keep" the garden.
Keep - means to protect.
Adam was to protect all that was in the Garden of Eden, but then the serpent, Satan, came in and he knew he couldn't go to Adam. Why? Adam had been given charge to Protect, keep the garden safe. Where as Eve was to enjoy all that was there, and she is the weaker of the two, although very dependent she was the one whom Satan convinced to go against what God had told them.
In the sense of woman being more spiritually aggressive we see this in Eve.
Eve was more spiritually aggressive with a desire to make quick, emotional decisions. Where as Adam was a little less spiritually aggressive in that he was hesitant to take the lead.

So lady as a wife and mom we are dependent, we are at times more aggressive in our spirituality. BUT we are to as a wife, depend on our husband who then depends on God. Now this doesn't mean we don't have to depend on God. We need to depend on God so that we can be the right wife and mom we are meant to be.

Because of our dependence we need to pray daily for God to help us to submit to our husbands.  Without our dependence on God, our marriage, our children, our own lives - as Eve - will be lost forever!

As a Wife, what is your purpose?

Good Morning, we're in another week what can we as wives do to make our families, homes, marriages even better? Lets take a look at the home....I love the saying, "Home is the heart is" I also believe "home is where we live, not at the house, at HOME!" Yes, we live in a house, BUT the house is a building, Home, are the ones who LIVE in the house!

So what makes a home? As a wife, it's the family seeing our true love. It's the children seeing you love you love the Lord, your husband. It's your children seeing your love for them. It's your husband seeing your love for the Lord and for him, and the children!

The following is taken from "God's Ideal Woman" Written by Clifford Lewis

The Stick Together Families

The stick-together families are happier by far

Than the brothers and sisters who take separate highways are.

The gladdest people living are the wholesome folks who make

A circle at the fireside that no power but death can break.

And the finest of conventions ever held beneath the sun

Are the little family gatherings when the busy day is done.

There are rich folk, there are poor folk, who imagine they are wise,

And they're very quick to shatter all the little family ties.

Each with strangers likes to wander, and with strangers likes

to play.

But it's bitterness they harvest, and it's empty joy they find.

For the children that are wisest are the stick-together kind.

There are some who seem to fancy that for gladness they

must roam.

That for smiles that are the brightest they must wander far

from home.

That the strange friend is the true friend, and they travel

far astray.

And they waste their lives in striving for a joy that's far

away.

But the gladdest sort of people, when the busy day is done,

Are the brothers and sisters who together share their fun.

It's the stick-together family that wins the joys of earth,

That hears the sweetest music and that finds the finest mirth;

It's the old home roof that shelters all the charm that life

can give;

There you find the gladdest play-ground, there the happiest

spot so live.

And O weary, wandering brother, if contentment you would

win,

Come you back unto the fireside and be comrade with your

kin.

                                                                                -Edgar Guest

So, do you as a wife make sure that your part of the home, seen by all? Your love? Your care? As a wife, mom, friend, we are to love, and do for those we love.

Tomorrow we'll look at another aspect of the Home and how we as wives are such a big part of it. Now please remember we aren't the Head of the home, but we are a very important part of the home.







As a Wife, what is your purpose?

Ephesians 5:20-22 "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

Do you thank the Lord for your husband?
Do you submit to your husband as the Bible says we should?

In submitting to our husbands and being thankful for them we need to:
1. Not correct him
2. Not laugh at him
3. Don't accept him, based on what he does.
4. Don't always think and look at what his weakness is.
5. One of the worst things I hear wives doing: DON"T compare him to other husbands!

No we are going to look at each of these things. Now I asked you do you thank the Lord for your husband? Ephesians 5:20 "Giving thanks for all things...." you know you can put in there Giving thanks for your Husband! God wants us to be thankful for all things and that includes our husbands. Let him know how thankful you are for him.

Now submission. Yea, I know you hear it all the time "Wives submit yourselves unto your husband" guess what? I'm a wife too and I know how you feel also. There are times I'm thinking WHAT? But as the wife, as a wife who wants to obey the Bible, as a wife who wants to be Prov 31 lady, I go ahead and submit. Is it easy? NO I want lie to you I'm human, I'm a woman and I'm independent! But Guess what? If my husband ask me to do something or to follow him or to go with him, I will! Who am I married to? My parents? or Him? My work? or Him? something for each of us to consider.

Now We don't need to be correcting our husbands.
Here are a few things we should avoid correcting him on:
             ~when he's telling a story, let him tell it his way. Don't make him look ignorant!
             ~When he's telling a joke. let it go....
             ~His English
             ~The way he works
             ~His appearance
We want him to be his best, but we can, in trying to help him, hurt him. So be careful as a wife how you say things and what you "correct" him on.

Laughing at your husband.
Make sure that when you laugh it's with your husband and not at him. Even though he may not show it, when you laugh at him with others it's hurting his ego. If he's laughing and your laughing with him that's being as one, so to speak.

Wife, don't base your acceptance of the man you married on what he does. Don't try to make him more spiritual, the Lord will do that. Your husband will stand before the Lord, for his responsibilities.

Don't dwell on his weakness. Did you know you when you dwell on the weakness of something or someone, you no longer look at them as you should. Maybe he doesn't pick up his dirty clothes, guess what at some point you didn't either. Maybe he smacks his food, you did also when you were little and who knows you may still do it. Maybe your husband changes channels on the tv more than anyone else you know. Guess what, you don't need to dwell on it. You especially don't need to go to your friends and say you know my husband he does this and this (using negative about him). Now if your going to praise him before others, by all means Do It.

Don't compare him to other men! You know what each man, woman, girl, boy are D-i-f-f-e-r-e-n-t!!
None of us have the same looks, same way of working or anything. Just be careful DON"T compare your husband to an  old boyfriend, best friend  husband, your pastor, your SS teacher. He is Your Husband, He is who God made him to be, He can't be changed by you!

Accept your husband for WHO he IS!!

The challenge for this wk is to Praise him more, Thank the Lord for him daily, and most importantly Submit to your husband. Do as he ask, go where he ask, follow him where he goes. Remember to do all this with a good attitude and with the Joy of the Lord.

As a Wife, what is your purpose?

Ephesians 1:6 "To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."
Do you accept your husband for who is? Pretty strong question, very important though. We as wives don't always accept our husbands for who is....
Why is this? Maybe his past, maybe he hurt you, maybe trust is no longer there, so many things could be the reason one no longer accepts their husband for who he is. However, He IS your husband! You took the wedding vows and prayerfully when you said, "till death do us part" you meant. Now lets look at some things that we need to do and why we should accept the man we are married to.

Does your husband make plans for you and he? Do he plan dates or special days? Let him do this without suggestions. Our regular date night is on Tuesdays, the majority of our date nights Bill has already planned where we will go and everything. Now there are times he ask me if I would like to go to a particular restaurant. If I have a place I've wanted to go I will say something like, this place would be nice.
Now I don't know about you, but I have a way of choosing a place or dinner that Bill had for lunch. It's the craziest thing. You know though he never complains, it should be the same with us as wives. When your husband says I have planned for our date this and this, Accept it! Especially if he doesn't say, "unless you had something else in mind."

How many of you like to get gifts from your husband? I know I do!!! Accept what he gives you! Don't turn your nose up at the perfume, or say I prefer this type of flower. NO we need to accept what our husband give us.

Accept his schedule. Now this can be hard! Trust me, I'm home all day (by choice) and home school our children. There are times, I'm like, "Do you HAVE to go do this or that?" YES he does that is his schedule, he works to help feed our family, provide a place to live etc. So don't complain!!! I remind myself that his schedule is for OUR, Bill and mine, family.

Everyone handles people differently. Your husband whether in the ministry or working in the world, deals with lots of people, saved and unsaved. So, if you don't think he handles a person correctly, just accept it that, that is your husbands way of "dealing" with it.

Now this can be a touchy topic...Accept his affection towards you! YES, we are to as wives ACCEPT his affection. I won't go into details, but ladies, if you are married don't be cold to your MANS affection. It can, it has before, and it could destroy a marriage!!! I know we have our days, but you know the man whom you married does NOT deserve to me told NO. Accept your husbands affection.

Does your husband have toys? You know fishing poles, golfing, hunting, whatever his "toys" are accept them. Now the one thing (I'm going to tell on myself here) I absolutely can't stand is smelly fish!! I don't eat fish, and I DON'T don't clean them. However, after Bill and I talked we decided that if I had everything he needed on the back porch he would care for the fish outside then bring them in to freeze them and yes, he will even cook them outside, most of the time. Why did I tell you this, well we, I, need to accept the things my husband enjoys doing.

So ladies, as a wife, our purpose here is to accept our husbands. You accepted him as he was before marriage. Why change after marriage?
For richer or poorer
In sickness and health
the key phrase "Till death do us part"
Keep those vows accept the man God gave you, love him, enjoy being with him, enjoy his "toys". You will find that doing this makes your purpose as his wife will be much easier!!

What can you change in this area this wk?

As a Wife, what is your purpose?

Good evening, I'm not real sure how many lessons this will go, but as you may be thinking, she was reading another book :) Yes, I was, actually 2 books and between the 2 I want to touch on what our purpose is as a wife. You may say, but I know, I'm suppose to be here for my husband, take care of the home, take care of the children, or maybe you believe your purpose is to work out of the home, to bring in money to the home. Whatever you believe is your purpose, we are going to look into the Biblical purpose of wife.

I thought for fun I would through in this picture. This was mine and Bill's 15th wedding anniversary and I love the little sign at our feet. "Still Hitched"  I'm happy to say that Aug 24th we will be "hitched" for 20 yrs!! You know my purpose as a wife hasn't always been easy to go through with. My desire has/is to be the wife I was meant to be; To be God's ideal woman as my husbands wife; to do what God gives as a Wife's purpose. In the next day or so I will go over things that maybe you and yes I, didn't realize was part of our purpose. If you have followed any of my devo's in the past months. Let me say, One of the things that not only the books say, but the Bible and God says, Read your Bible daily, Pray without ceasing, Stay close to the Lord these are important in EVERY part of our marriages, and lives. You may not be a wife or a mom but I believe as if you will still read these post and if you will apply them to your life as a single person, or as one who could have children that you will learn and be able to apply these things to your life when the time comes.

Two of the books that I will be referring to off an on are:

God's Ideal Woman Written by Clifford Lewis

A Wife's Purpose Written by Cindy Schaap    I highly recommend both of these books to help your growth as a lady, wife and/or mom.

Genesis 2:18 "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him."

This is you and I! We were created to complete man.

"A wife's purpose is to meet her husbands needs by helping him!"

We will be looking at the ways we can help him and how we can fulfill our purpose!

Ephesians talks of how we are to submit to our husband. We will be looking into that and prayerfully answer some questions that maybe out there. In today's world the woman submitting to her husband is almost unheard of. We want as Christians to let it be known that it's not a "I have to submit" but rather "I get to submit" or maybe I submit why? "I want to" Or "I submit to my husband because God says I should and I want to obey God" So many ways people look at it.

Well, my friends it's late and I am looking forward doing this study. My prayer is that someone will see the need to submit and to follow her husband.



We're all teachers

Some Quotes I came across that even as parents we can apply at home, after all we teach our children at home. Well, at least we're suppose to, right?!

Train up a child in the way he should go....

~Children love to feel accepted for themselves and praised for their own unique qualities.
~Avoid the expression that life was much tougher when you were their age.
~Children simply need someone who cares enough to help them get beyond the hurdle.
~Celebrate victories with your children.

A Nations Strength

Galations 6: 7 & 8
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth in his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not gold, but only man can make
A people great and strong:
Men who, for truth and honor's sake,
stand fast and suffer long.

Brave men who work while others sleep.
Who dare while others fly--
They build a nation's pillars deep
And lift them to the sky.

Shipwrecks in Relationships

In order to tap into

the supernatural,

Miracle-working power

of God that is

available to me in my

relationships, I've got

to get focused on what

God expects from me

in this relationship,

instead of what I

expect from the

other person.

In the past few lessons we've been looking the principles that guide our relationships and how to avoid the shipwrecks that can happen. Every person that we interact with who crosses our paths constitutes a relationship. We are given instruction how to treat our enemies, those who hate us, criticize us, oppose, accuse and attack me unprovoked. So you can see there is yet one more relationship in our lives.

We are told to share the gospel and give all an opportunity to accept Christ. Mrs Corle did an interesting  word study on how to avoid disaster and shipwrecks.

Disaster - comes from the English language of ancient nautical history. It means "to lose one's fair"

Think about it in ancient days they didn't have the modern day equipment to guide the ships. They had to depend on the stars. Where as today we compasses, and maps and things. So in order to avoid shipwreck you cannot lose sight of the guiding star.

The Bible is our guiding light. So in order to avoid shipwreck in our relationships we need to follow God's word which is a light unto our path.

Psalm 119:105 "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and light unto my path." If we lose sight of the way the Bible is leading we'll have a disaster/shipwreck. Stay focused on God and the Bible, if you make your decisions on your relationships according to God and the Bible and let that be your guide, your relationships will fair much better.

When you have the "rough seas' in a relationship don't run or quit on that person. Keep going. I think of the fact that I work with deaf people. Relationships with the deaf are very unique. For one I"m hearing and they don't think I understand them. (not so much their language but what they go through). It would be so easy so that's it, I'm done the deaf aren't worth it! You know that wouldn't be good for me or them. If you know sign language, use it! Deaf are in their "own" world which is a minority in a hearing world! When a deaf person sees, a hearing person is trying to talk with them, trying to be friendly, it really makes their day. I realize this lesson isn't on deaf and how to treat them, but I see MANY relationships between deaf and hearing that could be so much stronger if the hearing person would be the "captain" of the relationship!!!!

When a problem arises in a relationship don't throw in the towel so to speak! Let God and the Bible be your guide and keep it afloat!

If you have children, or if you babysit, or you teach, for every negative you hear or get "deposit" 5 positives into their minds! You say how do you do this? Let me explain:

I'm going to use one of my children as an example here:

My son: I hate math!

Me: Math can help you in many ways.

Son: How?

Me: 1.  you need math to do your check book when you are older.

2. You say you want to be a mechanic, you need to know your fractions an how to use them with various things.

3. God could use you to teach a shop class and you would need to be able to explain the various things about math and how it applies to tools.

4. I tell him I love him and that I want the best for him so this why we need to learn these things.

5. God wants the best from us and we need to put aside the I hate attitude and have the I can attitude.

These are just a few things I have used. Now until I studied this lesson and really thought about it I had never used 5 positives for a negative, but you know I have tried it several times and the children have benefited from it. We've also had a better time of learning or whatever the negative remark was. You know with my 3 teenage boys I have noticed a better mom/son relationship develop!!!

Remember relationships also need good manners. You know when you say yep, or yea to someone to it's really not showing that you respect your relationship. Now I know sometimes in play or casual conversation we may do that but don't call the person names. One of the things I really have to work on with my boys is calling their brothers names. When it comes to your home courtesy and thoughtfulness are more important than anywhere else.

Learn to say "magic words" Not hocus-pocus stuff" or abracadabra. I'm talking important words like:

Please

Thank you

I'm sorry

I was wrong

Can we talk about it?

I love you

I need you

I admire you

You are important to me!

ALL these are so important. Mom, it's ok to admit to a child that you were wrong! Yes, I know you are the adult, but guess what??? We make mistakes too!!! I will never forget the first time I went to my daughter and said, "Can you forgive me?" She looked at me like I lost my mind. (that could of been a possibility haha) Really, she was like you are asking ME to forgive YOU!!! I had made a mistake and she needed to know that Mom was human too. That mom needed forgiveness just like she did!!! Make sure courtesy and thoughtfulness is kept right in your home!

Don't let it be said of you, "you always hurt me" rather let it be said, "she is always willing to help, and she helps me!' You can make the choice!

Keep God and the Bible as your guide to keep you from having a disaster or wrecking your ship in a relationship. 



Shipwrecks in Relationships

Good Morning!
Today we're going to look at crucified life and how this will affect our relationships. Truly living the crucified life is real, this truly applies to who I am and what I do right now! As I've mentioned in other blog post: Our walk talks and our talk talks, but our walk talks louder than our talk talks. Find out how much we really mean business for the Lord in our lives, minute by minute, play by play.

J - Jesus
O - Others
Y - Your
This is the formula for Joy!  It reminds me of a song I learned in High School.
J is for Jesus, he is the way.
O is for Others, trust him today
Y is for you my friend, why don't you come to him
Joy is the way you feel when you let him in!

Be careful of what the world teaches where it's ME, MY, MINE!! I"m #1 that's all that matters. NO we don't want to get in that trap. In every relationship, husband wife, pastor - people, parent - child, boss - employee, co - workers, extended family and friends. God is to be first in our lives and determine "What does God expect from me in my relationships?"
Then decided, "What are the needs of "others" and how does it fit in obeying God in his relationship?"
By doing this it won't leave much room to worry about yourself.
Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me, and gave himself for me."
Romans 6;11 "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."
If we follow these instruction given by God in his Word, then I can't be offended and the hurt feelings won't come.

Now test will pop up in our lives to see if we really mean business serving God but if you remember and follow what Galatians 2:20 and Romans 6 :11 says you will do fine.

Just remember Christ is your Captain and the captain of your relationships is you. The pitfalls that come in life will affect a marriage before it does other relationships. Satan is out to destroy the marriage and then the rest will fall into place. Don't let your marriage relationship be attacked. If you focus on your self it will, but by helping your husband encouraging him and being there for him it will strengthen your marriage.

Give your marriage to God and stop expecting the impossible. God will take care of your of marriage and your relationships if you only give it to him!

Shipwrecks in Relationships

Not everyone is good at holding or having relationships! But you can avoid having a shipwreck in the relationship. Just remember one of the most important things in our lives as Christians, wives and mothers is relationships.

Direct Quote from Mrs Corle book: "The closer you are, the less it takes to hurt you. But when you're hurt, don't retreat to stay away. Retreat, recover, renew, reload and RETURN good as new to begin once again to obey the Lord's instructions concerning this relationship. Keep a "Don't Quit -- Won't Quit' attitude and outlook, and don't ever allow despair to take over and make your decisions. Remember that you've the Captain of this relation-ship and you've got to keep steering it in the right direction."

You may say, but I can only patch up my relationships so much. This may be true, but our Captain the Holy Spirit of God can patch and re-patch as long as we allow him!!! The Great Physician is capable of doing so much we just block him from doing those things he wants. He WON"T force himself on you. You need to ask!!!

Ephesians 4:26-27 "Be ye angry, and sin not; let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil."
This verse is for ALL forgiveness! In your all relationships:
Marriage
Motherhood
Friends
Church etc

Marriage - If you let the sun go down without making things right with your marriage. You will start the next day, with strife. This can and will be very bad for a marriage!
Motherhood - You need to train your children that have a clear conscience when you go to bed, helps you sleep better and it keeps wall from building up with pains.
Friends - true friends won't want that wall to come between them and you want to face them the next time knowing that all is forgiven between the two.
Church family - Most people from church you see 2 days a wk. It would be terrible for something to happen and you never made things right with that person you only see once in a while.

Sorry my computer does things on it's on or something I can't figure out some of what it does LOL

Anyway back to our lesson: We all need to learn to "Live one day at a time" Don't worry about yesterday, it's the past. Don't worry about tomorrow because there's always that chance tomorrow won't come and you'll have a wasted a day worrying!

Forgiveness means you deal with each situation  and each day one at a time, and then really forgive and let it go as if it never happened! That's true forgiveness and that's how God forgives!!

Changing the direction a little in things do you like to collect things? Did you know you can collect things through relationships and not material things....Why not choose to collect some good and positive things: happy memories, blessings from the Lord, answers to prayer, spiritual victories.
Don't be a drudge collector.

Remember if the devil can destroy relationship, he also can destroy our lives!!!
I like the saying I've heard many times (not sure who said) Friends (relationships) come and go in our livesSome for time then they are gone, Some for a period of time (maybe a few months or yrs) then others are for a life time! In these relationships keep them fresh and alive. Don't stay away because your feelings are hurt, don't let Satan destroy you or the relationship by allowing him to sneak in with heartache, unforgiveness.

Friends are friends for ever if the Lord is Lord of them!!!
Relationships are Relationships for ever if the Lord is Lord of them!!!

Shipwrecks in Relationships

Good Afternoon! Wow, I started these lessons yesterday and this morning the sermon was perfect! Looking at yourself making sure your right with God and that you are rotten on the side putting on a front!! My, how that can be applied to our relationships!!! Don't put on a white wash appearance in relationships when in your heart and soul you're rotten! WOW!!!
we start todays lessons we're going to first list a few of the relationships that our lives are full of:
Marriage
Motherhood
Friendships
Family
Church etc.

You may be very successful, but if your not careful Satan will sneak in and he could destroy your relationships. How will this happen? It happens because we don't direct our relationships to the course of the Bible. Just as a captain directs the course for his ship, so must we direct our course through Jesus Christ.

We established yesterday that we are the Captain on the ship. I like to look at it more as I'm the Co-captain and Jesus is my Captain. So whatever he says is what I do.

Relationships are the blending of 2, their hearts, lives, minds and goals maybe even dreams. Careful that you don't insist "my way". You can destroy a relationship by saying me, me, me. We also need to be considerate, compassionate and cooperate in the relationships we have.

This next little bit is from Mrs Corle's book, I loved the way she put it: "Someone jokingly said, It's no wonder husbands and wives have a tough time adjusting after the wedding. I mean, while you thought there were only 2 people who said, "I Do" there were actually 6!" You say what???? Well lets cont with what Mrs Corle wrote. "The person you thought you were, the person he thought you were, and the person you really were, pledging eternal love to the person you thought he was, the person he thought he was, and the person he really was." WOW!!! Did you ever look at it that way? I know I hadn't until I read her book and started working on this lesson.

When you have relationships you have more chances of problems, which in turn makes more chances for blessings. This why we need to Read our Bible, Study our Bible, Heed what the Bible says, and DO what the Bible says.

The next step to our relationship is Prayer!! We need to pray for ALL we have relationship with. In these relationships we need to protect the most vital one from Satan! Remember earlier I said, "Satan is out to destroy relationships and he wants to destroy your life." Be careful!!!

Pray without ceasing! this helps to ward off Satan. When both of you are close to God the better your relationships will be.
Proverbs 21:1 "The kings heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water; he turneth it withersoever he will." This could salvage a relationship from shipwreck. 

Be careful that your relationships aren't selfish. As humans we can have a tendency to look at a relationship as, My needs, My wants, My feelings and we don't want that in a relationship.

Seek God's desire in your relationships! They can create the biggest challenges sometimes the biggest hurts and disappointments. The closest relationships have love, rewards, also potential for pain. As you grow closer to a person you have more possibility for things to happen that are good and bad. Be careful not to shipwreck in these relationships.

Put away what YOU expect, but rather what the OTHER person wants! You'll be much happier and your relationships will be better.

There are a few hidden "undercurrents" that can send you spinning in a relationship that will put you on the rocks.

Shipwrecks in Relationships

Good Morning :) I hope you're having a great day! We're going to start a new set of lessons today. Over the last month I noticed that relationships seem to struggle. I'm not meaning marriages necessarily but friendships, parent - child you friends, it sad what we let to interfere with our relationships.

We need to protect all relationships in life. First I'm going to give a few things that could destroy a relationship in marriage:
1) Not praying together as a couple/family.
2) Not having family alter/fun time together.
3) Allowing negativeness into the home.
4) Not keeping the communications door open.
These are just a few things that can cause "Shipwrecks" in our relationships!

Here's a few things that can keep a relationship strong in marriage:
1) Have daily prayer time with your spouse/family.
2) Having Bible time/fun time with your family.
3) Keeping a positive attitude!
4) Communication!
Imagine what you can avoid with these things, Prayer, Bible Reading, being positive, communicating with your family and others.

Now we're going to look into some area's of Relationships. Ask yourself how is this relationship?
~Husband - wife
~parent - child
~boss - employee
~pastor - people
~The Lord - you
The Lord's instruction for relationships is being peaceful and happy. We need to make sure that the Lord is the Lord of our relationships. I love the song:
Friends are friends forever if the Lord is the Lord of them. (you could put this way:)
Husband and wife are friends forever if the Lord is the Lord of them. (Put anything in there if the Lord is the Lord of it, it WILL LAST!!!

Now in this topic I'll refer to "Ships", "storms", "shipwrecks" etc in relationship to our lives. I pray that before I start that you'll decided today that you are going to Avoid Shipwrecks in your Relationships. Mrs Cathy Corle wrote the "Avoiding Shipwreck In Your Relationships" The passage of scripture that we'll refer to occasionally throughout this lesson is in Acts 27.

vr 14 "But not long after there was against it a tempestuous wind, called Eursclydon.
    15 And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive."

As a Captain of a ship - he has a direction to reach it's destination. The same with our life, we had a directions we are going and it can end up in a shipwreck, or on a calm sea.
Storms will happen in our relationships:
~marriage (you know that arguments will arise, disagreement comes BUT you can avoid shipwreck)
~child training - "Train up a child in the way he should go...." Now if we allow the storms to control us, do you think that your child will turn out right? Stay focused and don't allow your child training to shipwreck.
~in laws - you say, "I can't _________" don't say I can't decided this couple had my husband/wife they are they're parents and I'm going to avoid a shipwreck with them!!
I will say, there were rough sea's with my mother in law. However I can say, "I loved her" and I did my best to avoid the shipwreck. I believe that because I didn't let our differences come between us, the Holy Spirit was able to work in her life and she now is Heaven! Why? I didn't allow the storms to shipwreck our relationship!!
~maybe church, work, ministry etc. - be careful of the storms in these area's it can hurt and crash relationships.

Now stop and look at yourself, not your husband, not your children, not your parents, not your friends BUT look at YOU _______________ put your name there. Say to yourself, do I cause storms that could avoided? Do you complain about things that maybe could be left alone in your marriage? Do you show negative attitudes with your boss that could be left alone? Stop! Look at Self! Avoid the shipwrecks of life that you cause by NOT thinking or stepping back and saying, "What can I change?"

Remember, "There is none righteous no not one." When you enter a relationship of ANY kind NO ONE is perfect!

Where do you want your different relationships to go?
I have a dear friend in TN that I LOVE! We lost contact during high school because my family moved away. She and I had a good relationship and I wanted to keep that, but as I said we lost contact. Well, a few yrs ago, maybe less we were able to get back in contact. You know I believe our relationship picked right back up where we left it. Thank the Lord for our relationship and our friendship.
There's another friend in, Indiana that I met in college. She and I have had our ups and downs. We haven't lost contact, but I believe our relationship is strong. Why? I can't say it's because we never had a storm pop up, because we did and have. I believe it's because we tried to steer clear of the perils of life, of the sea that could of caused major shipwrecks.
My husband and I, YES we have our problems. You know what.... We don't let them shipwreck our relationship. Could 19 yrs of marriage had a shipwreck or two? YES! Trust me as a wife and mom we've had our times. BUT the Lord is the Lord of our relationship!!
Dont' let the little things make you crash into the rocks and put you upside down in the sea of life.

Don't use excuses as to why your relationships don't work: These are some I get so tired of hearing:
-I have a bad temper, I can't control. That is WRONG you can control your temper.
-I can't help it, I'm a sensitive person. Good I'm glad your sensitive BUT don't let it rule your life, it will shipwreck your life if you let it!

So are you a foolish or wise captain?
The foolish captain will end of shipwrecking his ship in calm waters because he doesn't pay attention to the perils of the sea/life!
Where as the wise captain will steer clear of the perils when the waters are calm or during a hurricane!

So remember: Christ is on board with you! OR should we say you are on board with Christ. The captain of your ship is Christ and if you depend on him, HE WILL help you avoid the shipwreck of your relationships!!!
He gives peace in the time of storm!!!

Missionaries

Hello friends,
I was wondering if you could help me compose a list of Missionaries for our Prayer list. I'm going to give the list I have so we don't have duplicates then if you could add anyone you may know in comments it will help me to build up the prayer list on this blog:

The Johnson's - Japan (Military)
The Harris family - Welland, Ontario Canada
The Tulley's - Brazil
The Whitmore's - Brazil

I have many more to add, just can't at this time.

Shipwrecks in Relationships

Good Morning for another 2 min :) I hope everyone is doing well. Well, I've been reading another book and WOW!! Mrs Cathy Corle is an excellent author. This will be an series of 8 Lessons, on "Avoiding Shipwreck In Your Relationships" This is the title of her book....

In Mrs Corles book she says, "A friend is someone who knows all about you, and loves you anyway!"
"A friend is one who listens with their heart, who sorts out the good and valuable in what you say, and lovingly throws all the worthless chaff to the wind."

So as we start these lessons tomorrow remember: no matter how great a storm you may face along your journey, Jesus is the One who can speak peace into existence, and the winds and waves obey His will. Sail on!  (these are directly from her book)