Ruth 2

Ruth and Boaz
Ruth 2

¹ And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.

² And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.

³ And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.

⁴ And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The LORD be with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless thee.

⁵ Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?

⁶ And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab:

⁷ And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house.

⁸ Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens:

⁹ Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn.

¹⁰ Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?

¹¹ And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.

¹² The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.

¹³ Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens.

¹⁴ And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left.

¹⁵ And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not:

¹⁶ And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.

¹⁷ So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.

¹⁸ And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed.

¹⁹ And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed her mother in law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I wrought to day is Boaz.

²⁰ And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.

²¹ And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.

²² And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field.

²³ So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.

 

 Verses 7 , Ruth wanted to work and she didn't mind working from morning to late gathering barley. She would just go behind and gather what was dropped or missed. Ruth was able to gather what she needed. Here we see God providing her need. Just as he Provides our need from day to day. What is your need that you have? Are you praying daily to the Lord for that need but before praying for your own need, pray for others.

It's evident in Ruth that people could see Lord in her. Can that be said of you? As we look at verse 15 - 18. We see more of God's provision through Boaz's men. In our daily walk with God as he gives to you through the scriptures do you keep it all for your self or do you share what you have gleaned with others? When you go to church and you learn and grow in God's word through the preaching of your Pastor, your Sunday School teacher do you just hoard it all for yourself or do you share the gospel with others.

As you go about your daily life, as Ruth did people notice. You may say I'm no body, people don't notice what I say or do. That's isn't true. People notice and they know what you do. You are known by your actions. The Bible teaches we are to give to others, we need to do unto others as we wouldn't them to do unto us.

Be a Ruth - willing to work, to gather after the crowd has gone through. Not always being a Me first person, but rather humble, meek, willing to work when others say there's no more to be done.

Are our deeds that are seen by others good? or bad? What testimony are you? One that is I want to be like that person, who reads her Bible, Prayers and is Christ like in all she/he does? Or If that's what Christianity is I don't want it?

Whether we like it or not we are an open book for the world to see. Be the BEST you can be before God and Man.

Ruth

Are you a Ruth? As we go through the book of Ruth lets see what we can do to better our lives as Ladies serving the Lord. I'm not sure how many lessons will come from this but I goal is for it to not be my words but what the Holy Spirit would have me write.

Naomi and Her Daughters-in-Law
Ruth 1

1 Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.

² And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.

³ And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two sons.

⁴ And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.

⁵ And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.

⁶ Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread.

⁷ Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah.

⁸ And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother's house: the LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.

⁹ The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept.

¹⁰ And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people.

¹¹ And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?

¹² Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons;

¹³ Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me.

¹⁴ And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.

¹⁵ And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.

¹⁶ And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:

¹⁷ Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

¹⁸ When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.

¹⁹ So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?

²⁰ And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.

²¹ I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?

²² So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

 

I love this passage of scripture. Let's look at the daughter-in-laws. Naomi told them to return to their land and to their gods. Of which Orpah did but Ruth on the other hand refused. This is where I want to look at verse 16

 

First Ruth says, "whither thou goest, I will go" There's a lot of devotion to her mother in law to do this. Do we have that type of devotion to the Lord, to our husbands, as Ruth did to the Lord and to her mother-in-law?

 

If your husband says, "We're packing up and moving to 10 Buck 2 are you going to go willing? I believe that even though Ruth wasn't following her husband, she was following one who knew the Lord.

 

The next thing is still in verse 16, "thy God my God" Did you notice when Naomi told her daughter-in-laws to return to their land she said gods not God. In the land of her husband and sons they, I believe served false gods but because Naomi had returned home she specifically said, "Call me not Naomi, call me Mara; for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me." verse 20. I believe that she knew the Lord and that she knew she gone against what he wanted for her.

 

Does this mean that Naomi had married a non believer. I do not know but seeing how God had dealt bitterly with her I would say she knew she had done wrong; after all Moab was not a good place. So why would she send her daughter-in-law back? As we go through the book of Ruth we will learn more about Naomi and Ruth.

 

My question to you, are you willing to serve the God who created you, who disciplines you when you do wrong, the one who blesses us, you beyond measure? Ruth apparently saw something in her mother in law and she wanted a part of that.

 

Going back to verse 16 we should be willing to go where the Lord leads, to sleep where he provides no matter the niceness of it, to serve the people he leads you to, and most importantly to serve Him the one whom we put our faith in.

 

As I started really looking at this and really thinking on verse 16, that is what Missionaries, Pastors, Evangelist anyone who's willing to say Lord, I'll go where you lead, we do. I think back to Christmas of 1990 when my then boyfriend, proposed to me. Before he asked if I would marry him, he asked will you willing go with me to Poland? Without hesitation I said, Yes! Now we didn't end up in Poland but I believe the Lord knew I would go no matter where my husband was called to. The People my husband has been called to serve are wonderful people and they not only are his people, his flock, his congregation but they are mine also. No I don't preach, but I'm there if they need me. I also serve the same God, the Only God that my husband serves! So friend are you going to be a Ruth like is talked about in verse 16?

 

My prayer is that if you were saying, NO I won't go to Africa with you or What you want me to leave my home to serve a people I don't know, that this will help if only a little.

One step forward, two steps backwards

Do you ever feel that way? Like you take a step forward in life, on a project or anything and then it's two steps backwards.  That's about how I've felt the last few months..... Especially with us moving. But that is where I go to Proverbs where it says, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding, in all they ways acknowledge Him and he shall direct thy path.

See if I were to lean on my own understandings and if I were to say OK it's not going my way, I'm going to just give up on everything and everyone! Would that help me when I go those 2 steps backwards? No it wouldn't, it might make me feel better for a day but in the end I'd be miserable.

So rather than depending on Me, I trust in the Lord. Do I do this all the time? No because I'm human but You know I do try to and as I mature as Christian an as I grow, and as I learn more to trust in Him, the one the only who can, does and will take care of me; I trust more and more in the Lord.

What is it that you are going through that you feel it's one step forward and two backwards?
It is a struggle in you your daily prayer life?
Maybe you struggle in your Bible Reading?
Maybe in Soul - Winning?
Maybe it's a struggle in your relationship with God, a friend, your spouse?

Friend I'm not an expert and I don't claim to be, but I do know if you are struggling in an area, go to the Lord, Trust in him to direct your paths. You trust in the pilot to fly the plane, you trust in the conductor to keep the train going, you trust in floor you stand on to stay where it is and not collapse so why can't you trust in the Lord?!  I know this is a short not very deep or long lesson but it's something that we all need to learn to do ALL the time. That is: "Trust in the Lord!"

Trust in the Lord with ALL thine heart and lean NOT unto thine own understanding
In ALL thy ways acknowledge Him and He SHALL direct thy path.

What path are you unsure of? Trust in the Lord to lead, yea, you might go forward a step and slide back 2 but God is there to lead you and guide you all the way. All you need to do is hold on, trust the Lord and well the rest will be History.

Never Alone

Good Morning, I am sitting here this morning I hear the dishwasher running, the washer and dryer are going an other than that total silence..... I was thinking awe.... ALONE, Peaceful Quiet, no distractions. No, "mom what can I eat?" or "mom would you tell ___________ to stop bothering me." Yes even teen boys still do that LOL Like I've told many people just because our family has been given the title "Pastors Family" doesn't mean my kids are any different from the next families kids.

Anyway, Then I got to thinking, you know really I'm not alone none of us are ever really truly alone. If you are saved, and the Holy Spirit lives with in you. You are Never Alone!

No never alone, as the Bible tells us the Lord will never leave us nor forsake us. Do you feel lonely? Do you feel you've been left all alone? I have 7 passages of scripture that will help you. I will give all references and some of them give the verse here. But friend, you need not feel alone or lonely, the Lord is there by your side day and night.

1. John 14:18 "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you."
2. Isaiah 58:9
3. Isaiah 43:4
4. II Corinthians 6:18
5. Genesis 28:15 "And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of."
6. Colossians 2:10
7. Psalms 40:17

As Christians we are not alone, but friend if you say I don't understand what you mean by never alone. Let me share with you the simple truth of salvation and you too can have the Holy Spirit live within you and you can also; Never be alone, never have to fear what tomorrow may hold.

We need to know somethings but friend we need not worry about it. God is in control and he knows our every sorrow, our every need and our every tomorrow. So please continue to read the following verses if you are not 100% sure of your salvation.

First friend realize that we are all sinners. You are a sinner
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

Here we see that with our sin we can't see God in Heaven. We are not worthy to see him. BUT
Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

First well look at "...wages of sin is death...." we must pay for our sins. As one who is not saved you will pay for sins. Jesus made it so that we don't have to pay for our own sins because He died on the cross for you, for me, for the whole world! He Jesus Christ PAID for ALL (YOUR) sins that faithful day on the cross!
Romans 5:8 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Friend you don't need to pay for your sins, Jesus did that for you. Now lets look back up to Romans 6:23b "...but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Earlier I mentioned there's a payment for our sin and that payment is going to be Hell. BUT (contrasting conjunction means there's good news to come) there's a FREE gift! What kind of Gift? The gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ!

Romans 10:13 "For whosoever (put your name there friend) shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

It doesn't say might, or could it says SHALL. Have you ever accepted Christ as your personal Saviour? Jesus has a FREE GIFT of eternal salvation through Him. This isn't works to get to heaven, it's not if I'm good, it's Eternal and YOU can know for sure that you will be in Heaven. Have Faith in the God of Heaven, the one who created Heaven and Earth, placed the stars in the skies, gave us the sun to warm us by day and the moon to guide us at night. Trust in the One the Only True God who loves you so much that he gave His ONLY son to die for you.

If you have accepted this free gift, Please leave a message on the this Post and let me rejoice with you in knowing that you Are now a Child of the King. You also can rejoice in that you are Never alone now.

Yes, as I sit here typing this blog post, physically there is not another soul around but in my heart is the Holy Spirit and he is ALWAYS with me and wants to be with you also!

Comments

I have decided to open the comments back up.... As long as things remain appropriate this option will be available. You do not have to be a blogger to comment at this time I have it as anyone may post. This is apt to change if I find things that are not Christ honoring.

Have a Great Day or evening wherever you may be :)

Moving & Rejoice in the Lord

Due to packing and moving I won't be posting much over the next several weeks. If you want to see the progress of our move I'm going to keep my blog http://7isheavenforus.blogspot.com updated as I can on how it's going.

As soon as we get Internet at our new home, I will get right back to posting here. In the mean time enjoy reading what I have posted and remember in all things give thanks!

This is the day that the Lord hath made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.
What are you rejoicing about today?

Yes I'm rejoicing that we're able to move into our own home, but I'm also rejoicing in that the Lord provided a way for us to do this. Without Him this would have never happened. Living by Faith and depending on God to provide my every need isn't always easy but sure is worth the wait.

Have a great day all! I'll post as I can and I said above you can keep up with our progress on my other blog.
 

Old things pass away

II Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

Old things pass away..... hum Yes as we get older and pass away. Yes, things will go away when they become old because we can no longer use them. BUT in II Corinthians it's not talking about that when it says, "...old things are passed away...." what is it meaning there?

Lets look at the verse as a whole. If we are be in Christ we are a new creature.... This means we have put the old man aside and want to live in Christ making us a new creature. So when we say old things passed away what we are meaning when you get saved you should want to put away:

~Rock music and listen to Good Godly Christian Music
~Smoking and maybe in place of that chew spearmint gum :)
~Drinking Alcohol change that to coffee, water, tea, etc.
~Maybe you need to change your friends.
~Maybe the books you are reading you need to change to the Bible and books that don't have the garbage in them. (If you need a list I can give you a list or I'm sure your Pastor, Parent or someone could help you with that.)

These are just a few things that can pass away. What is it in your life that you know is an "old man" or something that is "old and needs to pass away".

So friend you need to:
1. Live in Christ and become a new creature
2. put away old things
3. let new things become new in your life.

We all will make mistakes but we have the Bible that will help us stay on track, we have church and friends. My prayer is that through this someone sees the need to make these changes and become a new creature in Christ :) :)


 

Pastor Fred Adams and his choir singing

Injure Your Sin; Then Kill it....

Do you have a sin in your life that just seems to have a hold on you? Why not injure it; then kill it.... If you look at David and Goliath he was a bad thing in David's life.... with the strength given by God the stone hit Goliath in forehead and then David cut off his head.

If you take your sin and say, "YOU have no hold on me anymore!" Then take and "kill" that sin by first getting rid of the source, then replacing it with good. YOU CAN have Victory over your sin!

I Corinthians 10:13 says, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

When there is a temptation don't allow it get the best of you or take control of your life. God has made a way of escape and as individuals we each need to remember that!

Romans 6:6 "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."

Friend there is so much out there can drag us into sin, the world with it's enticing ways through billboards, commercials, radio, and yes the people you are around. Be careful what you do and what you allow yourself to do.

This topic actually came from a message my husband preached yesterday on "Getting Victory over your sin". He made the statement at the end injure your sin, then kill it. I thought that is a good title for a post. I was reading and praying this morning in I Corinthians when I read I Cor. 10:13. I love how the Lord will lead you to a verse and then it all just opens up and becomes clear :)

Friend is the sin controlling your life - TV, Rock music, Drugs, Alcohol, Smoking or maybe something else much worse. Decide today that the sin IS NOT GOING TO CONTROL YOU BUT YOU ARE GOING TO CONTROL IT!!  How will you control it, cut off the source and replace it with GOOD Godly clean fun and Spiritual things!

The Test of Life

With us being at the beginning of our testing for the end of the year I thought about test of life. We are faced with things daily, whether it be school, work, health, finances, medical bills whatever it is that may pop up in your life. Do we pass those test or do we fail?

Today as the boys were taking their test one of them was really getting flustered with the subject he was on. I told him, because it's achievement test, if you do what you can first then come back to work on the ones you aren't sure of you'll get more done in the time you have. Well, as anyone knows many times it's the trials of life we learn from the best if we allow the Holy Spirit to teach us. This child didn't want to listen because "he hates to skip problems" that is OK but because he didn't listen he was more upset over the fact he couldn't finish than if he had of followed the instruction. How many of us are like that in our daily walk with God? If we would ONLY listen to the Holy Spirit what could he do with our life.



We are told in the Bible to study to shew ourselves approved unto God. Do we do that? Just as the young person in school who must study to learn so must we study to grow in God's word.

II Timothy 2:15 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."



Do we study and learn as we should? I'm not talking just when we're students in school, but as Christians who should be growing constantly in the Lord.

If we heed and follow the Lords leading and study, what is it that the Lord could do with us? So friend rather than becoming flustered, overwhelmed, frustrated or upset depend on the Holy Spirit and be one that studies and learns from what you are taught and what is in the Bible.  WE all make mistakes but we can all grow in the Lord also.





So friend if your down in the valley with trials and temptations, remember God's right there with you carrying through back up to the mountain top. WE can't live life on the mountain all the time or we wouldn't be growing as we should.

Train up a Child

Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

Over the past week this verse has been one I've thought of often. Our children are growing up, and they are starting their own lives. As a momma this is a bitter sweet time. I was given these children to raise, nurture and train and now they are reaching the age that they will, if the Lord allows raise, nurture and train their children. If you have looked at my other blog, you would have seen our daughters Graduation pictures. These past few days have been full of joy, tears and well..... we are just very proud of our children.

Tom and Tabs will going to Texas soon to see a church and then if they accept the position they will be moving there. One may say so they are doing what they are to do. Well, Yes that is true they are following the Lord's leading and I do not and will not stand in their way or the will of God. As a mom it's hard to see her only girl move literally to most the Southern point of the US when I'm in the most Northern state of the US.

We have trained, lead, prayed, shed tears, laughed, praised, disciplined, and so much more for each of our children. We have trained up our children in the way they should go. Was it easy? No. With the Lords guidance, the Bible and prayer, I believe we have succeeded in raising them now it's up to them to follow Proverbs 22:6. Will they depart from their training when they are old? We don't know, but our prayer is that they remain faithful to the Lord. That they remain faithful to what we taught them and they remain faithful to His word and constantly seek His face.

The picture below consist of 3 generations. One of our children is missing because he had to work and wasn't able to be at the graduation. In the photo are : Grandparents - The Nofsinger; Our children -- in the back Paul IV, middle - Tom, Jason and Samuel; Front Tabitha. Then Bill and I.
Tom and Tabs know they are to serve God and they are following what they believe to be God's leading. Are we to question that? No Do we want them closer? Yes But we followed Prov 22:6 and therefore they must go and do what they have been trained to do. Our oldest boy Paul IV is at college and training further for his future. Caleb (not pictured) is going to college in the fall.



Our prayer is that as each of our children step out into the life meant for them that they remember their training and that they follow the Lord.

You may ask how is this for us in Train up a child? Well, friend as Christians we are instructed by God to train our children. If we don't heed this instruction, How will our children know? Yes in some cases they still end up doing what the Lord has for them, but you also have those who don't.

I'm not saying we're perfect because we're not and we made our fair share of mistakes in raising our children. The Lord however, even through our mistakes has kept our older children in the path they were brought to.

In closing may I ask that you not only pray for your children but for their future. Our children are the future of America and if we don't train them in the way they should go, who will lead our country in the way it should go. I know America is in trouble already, but as Parents of the upcoming generation I beg of you to follow Prov 22:6 and train them so when they are old they won't depart from it.

"Train up a child; and when he is old, he will not depart from it." This should be every Dad and Mom's prayer today and not only their prayer but the verse that they keep before them as they train their children.

The Prodigal Child

Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

Luke 15:25 - 28 "Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.
And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him."

Friend do you have a child you are concerned for? I mean one that seems to be going opposite his training? Don't give up on them! The Bible teaches that if we train up a child in the way he should go that when he is old he'll not depart from it.

If you have a child that seems to be taking the wrong path let me encourage you to Pray, to fast, to be there at all times for that child. To many times when a child goes astray they get pushed out of the family or they are told never to return to their parents home. This is wrong, God gave you that child to raise and nurture, if you did what God said to do through his word, Yes, the child may go wrong but as we read in Luke 15, A son came home. So who's to say your son/daughter won't come home.

This isn't going to be long but if you have children young or old you should be praying for them daily. This world has so many things to "offer" that our children see as fine, even when taught it's not that we need to bathe them in prayer and as they leave home cont to bathe them in prayer.

Friend if you would like me to join you in prayer for a child I'm going to put my e-mail here which I usually don't do. But Our children are our countries future if we don't train them to serve and follow God who will?

You may e-mail me at: our7isheaven@yahoo.com I will pray if you send me a note.

I have a Request....

I don't believe I've ever done this but I'm going to ask you to Pray for our Big Day May 11th.

Here are the specifics that we are praying for and that I'm going to ask you to join us in prayer for:

1. Souls to be saved
2. The Lord to receive the Honor for that day
3. That we'll have 100 in attendance

It's not a lot that I'm asking you to join us in prayer for, but this is Big for the Second Baptist Church of Palermo, ME.

See this is not only Mothers Day, but we are Dedicating our New Sunday School Building to Mrs. Susie Potter the lady whom 20 yrs ago was an intricate part of the re-opening of SBC! She went home to be the Lord a few yrs ago and it was decided if there was ever a Sunday School building built it would be dedicated to her!


As a side note - you may not see much posted this week but that's because we'll be busy finishing up things for this coming Sunday! May God Bless each of you!

This is the Day that the Lord hath made I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Just a thought......

When you are having a rough day..... Read your Bible.
When you are crying and just can't stop.... Pray.
When you seem to just not be able to make it another day, Remember God is good he made you and He KNOWS YOU!

Weak - Psalm 18:1 - 29
Need Direction - Psalm 73:21 -26
Upset - John 14

God loves you and he knows..... I know this isn't my usual post but some of these scriptures has been what helped me through some hard times.

This is the day that the Lord hath made I will rejoice an be glad.

Rejoice in the Lord alway and again I say Rejoice.

Prayer

Philippians 4:6-7 "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

As I was reading this morning in my devotions in Philippians which goes with a book I also use for my devotions titled "A Heart Devoted" this really touched my heart. The story in this book for today is :Grandchildren Need Prayer" but as I was thinking about it, not only do the grandchildren of today need prayer but the children. There is so much garbage out there, when I was growing up we had no cell phones, computers, I pads, I pods, and all the other technology that's out there. As a matter of fact we had a small screen TV, a radio, a tape player and record player. OK, I know I'm telling my age with this :) ;)

As a child I played out side and I could say, "Mom, I'm going for a bike ride around the neighbor hood." Mom was fine with it she knew I would be back in about 2 hrs. Today children can't do this and this is why Prayer for our children and grandchildren is so very important. Now I don't have grandchildren yet but as a Parent of 5 children I'm praying constantly for them.

Here's  little excerpt of the story I read this morning.....  It ISN'T POSSIBLE! He can't be old enough to enlist in the Army Reserves! Why, I remember when he was just a little lad and ran through puddles and got all muddy.... He almost took us by surprise when he showed us his picture on his drivers license.... Then the car accident and we prayed all the way to the scene that no one would be badly hurt and they weren't..... Then the day he received Jesus Christ as his Saviour. We thank the Lord that all 12 grandchildren have been saved "by grace through faith"..... Then he told us he was joining the Army Reserves, now a 6'2" young man, this had been his dream and now his choice to do this. We prayed through the basic training, then we prayed when we heard he would possibly be deployed overseas.

Friend do you pray for children, your grandchildren? We never know when they will die. The reason I felt this needed to be shared is in the last several months I've been hearing of children dieing before their parents. A most recent passing is a little girl named Reagan, I never knew her personally but this precious child is now with the Lord. Her parents loved her, prayed for her and although we do not understand why, God took her home to be with Him. Her parents will and are missing her greatly, but they have the peace of God that she is in Heaven. Friend if we don't pray for our children, pray for salvation, pray for God's hand of protection on them, Satan will step in and there's no telling what will happen to them.

So my question to you is are you praying for the young people of our nation? The current generation and generations to come will have it much harder than we did growing up. Today's world is NOT the same as it was when I was 10 years old or when you were 13. Yes, there's always been temptations, but not like there is today!

Pray with out ceasing!

 

Are you A Turkey or An Eagle?

I know this sounds like an odd question, but if you'll read through and stay with me you'll see why I'm asking this question.

I attended a Preachers Conference this past Saturday, 4/26/14, that our church hosted and heard some GREAT preaching, one of the Pastors that spoke talked spoke about going on your strength  or in God's strength. Now as we know a turkey really isn't very smart and they don't fly well, where as an Eagle is Large he has a huge wing spans and he will let the wind carry him. So now I ask, "Are you a Turkey or an Eagle?"

In Isaiah 40 verse 31 we read "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles...."



See if you've ever seen a turkey he tries and tries to fly  but really doesn't get that far up off the ground. We as Christians can try and try in our own strength to get up, to serve God, to be what "I" want to be but as the turkey we're not going to get very far. Here in Maine we are seeing wild turkey's all the time. They are so funny but yet reminded me of the Christian life. You have a group of 10 or 20 turkey's and something comes upon them to cause a scatter and there's usually 1 or 2 who can't decided who to follow. Just think how as Christians we sometimes do that. A road block comes into our Christian walk and we all of a sudden don't know who to follow. Self? or God? Now lets look at the Eagle.



The Eagle is a strong bird, he's very large and if you think about could let lots of things slow him down. But have you ever noticed the Eagle when the winds are strong he doesn't fight it, he lets it carry him along. As Christians when those winds, trials, hard times come into our life do we let Christ carry us through or do we fight it as the smaller birds do, going backwards and then gaining a little and repeating this step over an over. The Eagle will ride along on his wings gliding and going letting the wind carry him, so shouldn't we allow our Saviour do the same for us, carry us along through those trials and hardships.

Is it easy to do as the Eagle? No not always, but I think I'd rather be an Eagle than a turkey. The flesh would tell us it's easier to just follow the crowd as the turkey does most times that would be easier right?! But as Christians the Bible tells us to wait on the Lord to be renew our strength, mount up with wings as an eagle. Is it always easy to wait on God. :) NO, I can attest to that myself. By waiting on the Lord though one of our prayers has come to be!

So my question is Are you a Turkey or An Eagle?

Be Not conformed to this world....

Good Morning! I started reading a book last night and I'm only in chapter 1 but oh my the knowledge and wisdom of the 4 young ladies who wrote the book! You ask what book are you reading? It's, "Growing up Duggar" Yep I'm one of those people who enjoy the Duggars. Nothing wrong with it and if you ever really watched it or read the book you know they are good solid Christians. I'll not go into all that I've gotten out of just the first 1/2 of chapter 1 but I there is one point that I thought I would expound on, on my blog.

The girls, Jinger, Jana, Jessa and Jill are wise beyond their years. I say this because they not only as children said, This is Dad and mom's rule so I'll follow it, but as they became teens and now young adults they have chosen to make those rules, standards and way of life their own. I admire them for that and I can say even our children thus far have said the same thing. Praise the Lord for families who not only train their children but their children see that their training is what they want in their own lives.

Romans 12:2 "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

"..be not conformed...." what exactly does that mean?
The Dictionary says conformed is:

1. To correspond in form or character; be similar.

2. To act or be in accord or agreement;

3. To act in accordance with current customs or modes

 

"..be ye transformed...." means:

1 a :  to change in composition or structure

   b :  to change the outward form or appearance of

   c :  to change in character or condition :  convert

2:  to subject to mathematical transformation

 

Ok we now have looked at the meaning of conformed and transformed. So as Christians we are told to not be conformed to this world which means we are not to be in accord or agreement with the world. Rather we are to be transformed which is changed in our appearance an structure.

 

So in order to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, you need to determine that you are going to separate from the World. You're not going to go to the movies, the bar, hang out with those who smoke or drink etc. Being transformed is dressing like a Christian modest in your dress, not doing that which is NOT Christ honoring.

 

Something that I read in the Duggar book was as we look in the mirror what do we see? The young lady, the teen, the woman who looks are in the mirror are you happy with what you see? You should be! You should be able to look in the mirror and be able to say, I am fearfully and wonderfully made, God has a purpose for me and I'm going to NOT be conformed to the wiles of the world but rather be transformed in my mind, my walk, my dress, my attitude, anything that would make one be different.

 

Friend you don't understand what I am talking about maybe your first step to be transformed is salvation. If you aren't 100% sure that you are saved you wouldn't completely understand what I'm talking about. I will be more than happy to show you or talk to you so that you too can be transformed.

 

Are you weary? Are you heavy hearted?

God has blessed us with a wonderful group of people! It was a blessing to see 35 in church on Easter Sunday. We had been praying for 30 and the Lord gave us 35!!! Where two or three are gathered together in my name.... God answers prayer even when things are rough and you feel you can't make it another day.

The Lord knew on Thursday what we needed on Friday, Saturday and Sunday! Friday our family had a blessed day spending time together as a family, Saturday was a GREAT day working at the church and soul winning, Then Sunday all our efforts were rewarded.

Matthew 11:28 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Isaiah 40:31  "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

If we give our burdens to the Lord he WILL give you rest. I know it's not always easy but that's what we need to do. It doesn't matter if the burden is emotional, physical, mental or whatever your burden may be. "Come unto me... are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 

This past Thursday was one of those days that emotionally I couldn't go on, on my own. I had some pretty harsh things said to me. Some things in my 40 plus years of life I had never had said to me in the way it was said that day. I've had to really pray and lean on the Lord to get through the past few days. Weary is what I had become but by Sunday I knew I needed to "...wait on the Lord...." Why? I had to be what our church people needed and I needed to be what the children needed for what is a VERY special day, RESURRECTION Sunday!

Sunday as I put on that smile, that was yes, forced and I as watched the teens, the children and the little ones run and get the special things Pastor and I had for them, it was a Joy to watch. Before that as I sat and listened to my husband Preach Because of Jesus dying on the cross and raising again is why you and I can get through these tough times as Christians.

Are you weary? Are you heavy hearted?
Are you burdened with burdens you can't share? Give it to Jesus.

Lay your burdens at the cross, he will take it for you!

Friend I know at times life gets hard, things become unbearable however, With GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!

Trust Him

How often do we honestly trust the Lord?
Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding, In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths."

When the Lord says to you that you should do this or that, do you trust Him and do that thing or job? Today people seem to have an issue with trusting the Lord or anyone. Why is this? Even when we know the Lord is ALWAYS one we can trust, we don't. We hear to much in today world, that it's all about "me" just like in movies everything is fine I can do it, I don't NEED anyone. Stop an really think about it. We NEED Christ! We can't live a prosperous, joyous life without Christ. So are you going to Trust Him or Yourself?

What are things we need to trust the Lord with?
1. Our lives
2. Our spouses
3. Our children
4. Our ministry
5. Our everything!

This isn't a long lesson but as we go through our daily life we need to TRUST the Lord. He knows our tomorrows and he knows what we need.

So trust in the Lord with all THINE heart and lean NOT unto thine own understanding!
When we try to lean our own understanding we fail but when we trust in God he helps us to get through whatever he's asked us to Trust Him for.
 

Be content

OUCH! Be content your told.... is that always easy? I don't think so. Contentment -

a state of happiness and satisfaction.

In general I would say we are all happy, usually satisfied. But being content all the time. Is it easy? No it's not but the Bible tells us in: 

 

Philippians 4:11  "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."

You will notice that I have underlined, made bold, highlighted and italicized the phrase "...therewith to be content." Why you ask? Well, there have been events in our lives that we, you and I, may not be content with but have you ever stopped to think, God brought us to it, be content because, He WILL take you through it.

This won't be long or elaborate but let me share with you, if you don't do as Philippians 4:11 says and be content, you will be miserable! I realize that when it says "state" it doesn't mean the 48 continuous states. But in this particular situation I'm going to use state, as in where you live.

Has God placed in the balmy, warm Southern states? Has he placed you in the Midwest in Tornado alley? Has he placed you out west where there's desert and lots of wild fires? Or has he placed in the North where there's more cool days than not? No matter what part of the US you are in, if you are there because God sent you there BE CONTENT!

I'm talking to children, teens and adults. You may have struggles which we will all have. You may feel no one understands your situation. Maybe you feel that you've been forgotten by all. Friend, God hasn't forgotten you, he understands your situation and he wants to be there for your struggles. Are you going to allow him to be the God of god's in your life.

I'm currently dealing with a situation that if I'm not careful could make me as an adult to become discontented. However, with God's help and with prayer and the Bible this girl isn't going to become discontented because I know without a doubt that God has placed our family in the state of Maine and there's a purpose behind it." What's that purpose, to be a witness for him and to plant the seed of salvation in as many lives as we can. If our family allows discontentment to set it, who will have won? Satan! That is something I DO NOT WANT!

Friend, "...whatsoever state I am therewith to be content." Are you going to follow the scriptures?
Just a thought for each and everyone of us to consider and ponder.