Witty Wednesday

Hi everyone! Here are more student bloopers...enjoy!



Without the Greeks we wouldn't have history. The Greeks invented three kinds of columns---Corinthian, Doric and Ironic.They also had myths. A myth is a female moth. One myth says that the mother of Achilles dipped him in the River Stynx until he became intollerable. Achilles appears in "the Iliad", by Homer. Homer also wrote "The Oddity", in which Penelope was the last hardship that Ulysses endured on his journey. Actually, Homer was not written by Homer but by another man of that name.



Then camethe Middle Ages. King Alfred conquered the Dames, King Arthur lived in the Age of Shivery, King Harold mustarded his troops before the Battle of Hastings, Joan of Arc was cannonized by Bernard Shaw, and victims of the Black eath grew boobs on their necks. Finally, Magna Carta provided that no free man should be hanged twice for the same offense.

Spiritual Mothering: The Titus 2 Model for Women Mentoring Women

Spritual Mothering is a book that, once on your hands, you must read, evaluate, and apply. Honestly, I can't say enough good about this book. From beginning to end it is biblical, careful, practical, convicting, convincing, and simple. Do you want to know how to live the gospel and impact the world around you as a woman? Read the Bible and then read this book that will come alongside you, and show what this can look like and why Spiritual mothering needs to happen.

As the author, Susan Hunt puts it: Not every woman can give biological birth, but every Christian woman can enter the high calling of spiritual reproduction and motherhood.

In this book we are given to principals that are foundational to spiritually mothering a younger woman.

1. God is our reference point, the model for all of life.
2. We are created to glorify God. This life purpose is the driving force of our spiritual mothering.

Spiritual mothering is when a woman possessing faith and spiritual maturity enters into a relationship with a younger woman in order to encourage and equip her to live for God's glory. She will train this woman to be able to apply the word of God to areas of our lives that are uniquely feminine.

In the book, after defining Spiritual motherhood and who is to be training younger women, she goes on to show us how to invest time and energy into someone younger. After every chapter there are questions and homework. When I say homework,I don't mean write a paper and pat yourself on the back. It is "life" homework. She has you doing things such as choosing a woman to pray for, writing a thank you note to a godly woman, approaching a godly woman and asking them to meet with you. She tells you to write to a younger woman a note of encouragement; another assignment is go and ask a younger woman if you can come and help her cook dinner, or come pray with her, or babysit so she can go out with her husband. She actually tries to get you to do some of the stuff she talks about in the book.


She weaves in practical biblical application and testimonies throughout the book. As you read about sound doctrine being essential to helping a younger woman submit to her husband, you will read a testimony from a woman about how another woman touched her life. She uses real life stories from women who had someone come alongside of them and helped them biblically deal with loneliness and singleness. Sometimes in the stories you will read of rocky marriages and woman coming alongside and equipping them to persevere for sake of the gospel. You will read stories of tired moms with young children learning to serve their families and enjoy them, and have sweet communion with God, because a godly woman came alongside to equip and encourage like she should.

You will be surprised that it is not about the bold, well- known, gifted beyond belief, unattainable, unapproachable woman. Most of the women you will read about inspiring, encouraging and equipping, are the meek, kind, understated women. You will read about an 18 year old on fire for Jesus helping a 16 year old who grew up in church but had no desire for God. You will read about an elderly single, quiet women praying for and babysitting for some young moms in her church. You will simply read of regular women, leading normal everyday lives; cooking, cleaning, caring for the needs of her family, but doing so for Jesus, having great impact for the Kingdom one woman at a time. For me, this was encouraging.

There was a time when women simply lived life together. They sewed together, cooked together, helped deliver babies and care for a newborn together; but that, my friends, is no longer the case. We must be more intentional. We have to see that God set it up so that we would care for one another, and you as a woman are set apart to influence the younger women around you. But that will not happen without working at it, because we live in a time and culture that makes it more difficult. We are independent of one another and frankly would rather allow tv, magazines and books tell us how to live, what it means to be feminine, how to raise kids, change a diaper, love a husband, and impact the world, then the mature seasoned woman sitting next to us in the pew. And then, sometimes, even if we would love for a godly woman to help us, they are nowhere to be found because they are to busy and unavailable.

This book caused me to reflect on the women who have come alongside me in various ways and grow me in my appreciation of them. I can see how valuable the advice of several who have encouraged me to enjoy the baby crying because someday it is a sound I will miss. I appreciate the hope they inspire in me when I talk to others whose husbands have been without proper employment and see how they have come through that. I have benefited greatly as I see women who will take the time to pray with me and encourage me to stay focused on what my duties are now because I have young children, and stop worrying about what I can't do right now. They encourage me to glorify God in the here and now, and actually enjoy my children and not see them as a hindrance.

Thank you, ladies.


May God raise up many who will affect this world for Jesus one woman at a time.

Chapter 9 of Bookends of the Christian Life

 

Chapter 9 is about Gospel Enemy #3: Self-reliance.  For me, the information provided by the authors was an answer to prayer.  I have been asking the Lord to show me why I am so stressed out all of the time, eventhough I have given up my job and have no kids at home.

 

The authors explain that the cousins of self-reliance are self-confidence, self-sufficiency and self-esteem.  The "world" admires people who have these traits.  I don't know about you but, I was taught from little on that I needed to do things for myself and that no one else cares about the things I need or desire, unless it matters to them personally.  My parents taught me that I could accomplish anything if I just worked hard and believed in myself.

 

I developed a type of legalism in my life when I was very young.  I told myself that I needed to succeed at anything I did.  I about made myself crazy trying to live up to my standards.  When I was in grade school my teachers used to tell my parents year after year that if I didn't relax I was going to have a heart attack by the time I was 20.  In High School I continued to be uptight about everything.  I told myself that I always had to get an A and that I always had to win 1st Place in any of the swimming events I competed in as a member of the Swim Team.  I really beat myself up if I didn't meet those standards and I believed that my parents expected perfection also. 

 

The authors explain that if we are self-reliant in our daily lives that we shouldn't be surprised when we discover that we are also self-reliant toward God.  Being self-reliant toward God is dependence on our own power instead of depending on the Holy Spirit.  It is sin.  Romans 14 says "whatever does not proceed from faith is sin".  The authors say that we shouldn't be self-reliant about anything!  They say that self-reliance is an illusion, a lie.  This was so eye opening for me.  I know now that the pressures I put on myself so that I could succeed were against God's word.  The Bible says that we should come to Jesus when we are weary and heavy laden and He will give us rest.  He tells us to take up His yolk and follow Him because His yolk is easy and His burden is light.  We were never meant to carry our many burdens alone.  God knows that we will eventually be crushed by them if we don't give them to the Lord.

 

Self-reliance toward God also causes people to think that they can earn their way to Heaven, instead of simply trusting in the Lord for salvation.  It is also impossible to live a life pleasing to the Lord in our own strength.  Our strength is imperfect but the Holy Spirit's strength is flawless.  I think that God gives us abilities and gifts to be used for Him not so that we can rely on ourselves.  1 Corinthians 4:7 says "what do you have that you did not receive?"  This is so true!  We are born with nothing and we can't take anything with us when we die except for salvation by faith in Christ.  No one makes themselves successful, or rich or poor or anything else.  God gives everything to us.  It must hurt Him terribly when we go about our lives and forget Him.  Instead of being thankful for what He provides for us, we become boastful in what we think we did for ourselves.

 

The book made the very true statement that our very existence is dependant on God.  We cannot cause our hearts to beat or our lungs to breathe air.  We should be thanking and praising the Lord for every minute of life He gives us. Out of thankfulness for all God does for us, we should desire to use our lives to serve Him.  He is our "all in all" like a song says.

 

The chapter goes on to say that sometimes God takes away our self-reliance and self-righteousness by revealing our sin to us.  When we realize that we aren't relying on the Holy Spirit for our strength everday and for everything, we need to repent and make it a point to change our thinking.  We can't do it alone though, we need the Holy Spirit's help.  God also frees us from self-reliance in ways not directly related to sin.  One example is Paul's "thorn in the flesh".  He said it was given to him so that he would not boast in himself.  Eventhough he begged God to take it away, He didn't and told Paul that His grace is sufficient for him because His power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)  Paul embraced the source of strength that the Holy Spirit provides and we should too.

 

I never looked at my way of living my life as sin.  I knew that salvation is by faith in Christ alone but I figured that He wanted me to use my brain, my strength, and my talents to get through everyday life.  I now know that I don't need to place demands on myself to always be the best in my own strength.  I feel free now to rely on the Holy Spirit for help in everything.  I don't have to get so stressed out anymore.  God wants me to give all of my cares to Him.  I recommend that you do also.

 

 

 

 

The Gospel Spoken

Here we are in Louisville, KY and we are so close to getting settled in. Just one more week (Lord willing) and we should have all of our books, tools, and even the kitchen utensils within our nice new apartment. You never really know what you have and how much you need it, until you have to live without it. Take, for example, flower vases. I own them, but because I left them packed in my storage unit when we moved into our temporary apartment, they are entirely useless to me. So although I have a lovely silk floral arrangement to brighten the spirits of all who enter my house, it sits hidden away on top of the refrigerator in a pile because my vase is still packed away in storage. This is a great picture of our lives too!

I was saved from a life of rebellion and pride. In my heart I practiced and delighted in every evil way. I was destined for wrath and judgement and, quite frankly, if I had continued down the road that I was on, I probably would have ended up in a hopeless life filled with desperation. But the amazing thing is that while I was living this awful, self-centered, repugnant life, Jesus opened the door and walked into my life bringing with Him His wonderful life-giving light and the Holy Spirit to change me and quicken my heart and soul! He opened my eyes to see the good news that Jesus died for my sins and actually took them from me and bore them (every filthy one of them!) upon His own pure body! He filled my heart with love for this gracious God who would leave the beauties of Heaven to live a humble servant's life, so that He could purify me and make me His bride and present me holy and blameless to God the Father who's plan this was from before time! He died the perfect death, satisfying the penalty for my sins, and rose from the dead three days later because God the Father accepted Jesus' sacrifice as good and right and perfect. Then He went back up into Heaven and He is getting a special place ready for me there, so that I can live there with Him someday! And Jesus says that He didn't just do this for me, but that He did it for every one who believes on Him! This is the best thing to ever happen to me. In fact this is the biggest most valuable treasure that I could ever possess!

Yet... all too often I pack up this treasure in a cardboard box and stuff it into the back of my "storage unit" where it collects dust and is entirely useless. Just like my lovely flowers that are just waiting to show forth their beauty and bring a smile to those who will see them, so too this "gospel of the glory of God as seen in the face of Jesus Christ" is ready to burst forth and bring life and light into the lives of people that God has providentially put in my life. But just as I hinder the "work" of beautiful flowers by not displaying them, so too, I hinder the work of the gospel by not speaking it! God's word says in Romans 10: 17 "So faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ". It says that God will effectively work out His will through the speaking of His word in Isaiah 55:10-11 "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." Just as God sent Isaiah with a message to His people, He has sent us with a message of hope to the world. God will save! God will redeem! What a wonderful message of joy and reconciliation we have within our hearts! And what a shame when we store it up and do not display it's beauty for all to see. We must speak the good news so that people will hear and will be changed by the Holy Spirit and come to Jesus!


Oh that the Holy Spirit would cause us to be filled with boldness and that the overflow of the joy that we have in knowing Jesus as our Savior would fill our lives and our mouths everyday, so that God's magnificence is displayed through us; and in others as well!

Noticing Small Blessings

As Christians, we are daughters of a loving Father who takes great pleasure in heaping abundant blessings on His children. Unfortunately, too often we have very lofty views of what a blessing is and we miss all of the small blessings that are showered on us daily.
I think this is rooted in our lack of comprehension of who God is, of who we are, and of what He has done for us. If we are living in the gospel, if we are reminding ourselves every day that God saved us while we were wretched, loathsome, dead creatures who despised the very One who could give us life, our lives never seem as ‘bad’ as they did before. If we truly see our salvation, the gospel, God as the ultimate and all-encompassing gift then we are much less likely to take blessings from God for granted.
When I drove to Parkside every morning, I passed a long stretch of the lake. I was continually amazed at how different it always looked! Every day was beautiful and unique. I found myself looking forward to that vision each morning, which is saying something since I’m usually pretty grumpy for the first hour or so that I am awake. One day it hit me: God created this lake to glorify Himself. The lake glorified God by its very existence. I was also created to glorify God and I do this by being utterly satisfied in Him. This lake was a blessing. God didn’t have to create it in such a way that it was a unique sight each day. God didn’t have to create it to be beautiful to look at. God didn’t have to have me live in an area that I got to drive past it every day. And here I was, daily enjoying God’s blessing and never once praising Him for it.
It was a true breakthrough for me. Every good thing is from above but so very often we forget to thank God for the good and instead only turn to Him in times of trials and hardships and need. I’ll pray my little heart out if I think I might be late for work but it is not my first thought to thank Him when traffic is good and I arrive safely half an hour early. I might pray for good weather if I wake up to a cold and drizzling day but forget to thank Him when I wake up to sunshine.
Ladies, let us take our joy in our Lord. Let us see all blessings as from His hands.

Witty Wednesday

Happy Wednesday! Karen is on vacation so I am posting this for her :)

Hi everyone! Its Wendsday so here are some more World According the Student Bloopers. Enjoy!



In the Olympic Games, Greeks ran races. jumped, hurled the biscuits, and threw java. The reward to the victor was a coral wreath. The government of Athens was democratic because people took the law into their own hands. There were no wars in Greece, as the mountains were so high that they couldn't climb over to see what their neighbors were doing. When they fought with the Persians, the Greeks were outnumbered because the Persians had more men.


Eventually, the Ramons conquered the Geeks. History calls people Romans because they never stayed in one place very long. At Roman banquets, the guests wore garlics in their hair. Julius Caesar extinguished himself on the battlefields of Gaul. The Ides of March murdered him because they thought he was going to be made king. Nero was a cruel tyranny who would torture his poor sujects by playing the fiddle to them.

Gospel Powered Parenting book review from Challies

Tim challies has a book review on his site called Gospel Powered Parenting.

Here is an excerpt from his review:

"We cannot effectively teach or discipline or care for our children if we ignore the gospel. This is the message of the book and it is one we, as Christian parents, do well to ponder and to heed."

Looks like a book worth reading.

Making decisions in light of Proverbs 21:5

 

Making decisions is something we all do many times during each day.  Some are easy such as whether to wear a coat when you go outside on a cold day but some are more difficult.  How are we to know what to do when we're faced with harder ones?  I think that the first step would be to consult scripture.  Does God give us any clear direction?  We need to follow God and His word first and foremost.   If the scriptures are silent on an issue that comes up in your life, Proverbs 12:5 gives us some advice.  It says: "The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, but everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty".  I think it says not to make hasty decisions.  There is an old saying "haste makes waste" and I think that is true.    I know that sometimes we must make hasty decisions such as whether or not an injured child needs to see a doctor or if the injury is treatable at home. Driving a car also requires hasty decisions such as whether to put on the brakes or change lanes if there is danger ahead or a slow vehicle ahead of you.  Sometimes I need to make a hasty decision as to what to cook for supper.    Sometimes we have to make huge decisions such as selling a house or purchasing a car.  Betsy and Ryan just went through a time of decision making concerning their desire to move to Louisville and attend seminary.  I think that in those times, we need to just slow down and take a look at the "big picture."  Dan and I recently decided to replace some windows in our home.  We had several different companies come out to give us estimates and hear their recommendations.  We didn't go with the first company that came.  Instead we took a step back and took a look at everything we could choose from and then made our decision.   So, the next time you need to make a decision where the scripture is silent and you have time to make a choice, please remember the wisdom of Proverbs 21:5.  Take a step back and make a rational decision instead of a hasty one.  I think you will be glad you did.

Happy Birthday Jackson

9 years ago was one of the most important and memorable days of my life. It is the day I became a mother. I had dreamed about motherhood and thought on what it would mean. I had many hopes and fears, and on this day all those hopes and fears were realized. Jackson Elijah Aldrich was born 8lbs 2oz , 21inches long and as far as I was concerned, perfect!

He is nine years old today, the oldest of 5 little Aldrich munchkins and acts the part. He can be a tad bossy, usually in a mild sort of way. He is a goofball and loves to tease his little sister. He developed a love for baseball early (specifically for Brewers baseball), due to his daddy and PapPap. He loves to watch games on tv and call Papap when Fielder hits a homerun. More then that he likes to play baseball with his little brothers and anyone else who will take the time. His face brightens when daddy takes the time to play catch.

As I sit here thinking about just who Jackson has become at 9 years old, by God's grace; I would have to say God has granted him a very sensitive and compassionate spirit. He cannot stand when people are hurting and he seems to know when someone is as soon as he walks in the room. I pray that someday God would turn that characteristic into one that enables him to care, encourage and strengthen someone through the gospel of Jesus Christ. I pray that Jackson's compassion will never wane, but become more Christlike. I pray he will never become cold, angry, bitter and too proud to care openly for people. I pray that his compassion will grow as true affection for God grows.

I am so grateful for godly friends and family who have helped and continue to help him see the savior. He knows the gospel and claims to trust and love Jesus. I see his excitement to learn more about our Lord and it causes my heart to sing.

Jackson, my dear son, may God reveal Himself more and more to you through His word, His church, His world, and your family. Remember that even a child is known by his deeds and will give an account to the Lord most High. Cast yourself upon Jesus, who although He knew no sin became sin on your behalf that you would be brought near to God. Young man, boast in nothing for you have nothing to boast in but Jesus. Be earnest and faithful to submit and listen to those in authority over you. Be slow to speak and quick to listen. Be thankful for all things. God is good and all that He gives is good even when it doesn't seem like it. Right now life consists of school, chores and play - redeem it and do it all to the glory of God just as the verse says that you have been walking around quoting. Daddy and I plead to our gracious Heavenly Father on your behalf everyday, that you desire Him above all else. May He grant you more birthdays and as each year passes fit you for His eternal Kingdom.

We love you, Jackson. We are blessed to be your parents. I tell you all the time that you are God's precious gift to me, I mean it.

Love,
Mom

Strengthening Women Conference

The Strengthening Women Conference is just around the corner! We are very excited and anticipating a wonderful time of worship and learning on Saturday October 3rd. Our guest speaker is Julie Ganschow. She is a NANC certified Biblical counselor. If you would like to know a little bit about her, you can read the interviews we did with her recently, here. You can also learn more about her counseling ministry here. She has a blog called BC4Women which is a very helpful resource, I strongly suggest checking it out.

When she comes to Missio Dei Fellowship she will be speaking on the very important subject of communication. I don't know about you, but that is a key area I want to glorify God in and could use some help. Gospel centered lives lead to gospel centered communication. What comes out of the mouth matters because we will all give an account to God for our words. Words matter because they are a reflection of the heart.

As one writer put it:

Your communication will reveal the kind of (person) you really are, because what comes out of your mouth is usually what's in your heart. If you truly desire to exemplify Christ you will seek to become a good communicator. Everything that Jesus Christ communicated was holy, clear, purposeful and timely. Stuart Scott The Exemplary Husband, Focus Publishing, 2000, p. 229. ( I actually never read this book, but saw the quote on facebook from Bruce Roeder who is a biblical counselor with the same ministry as Julie).

We truly hope you will join us October 3rd. You can register here.

God Bless!

TBC to Missio Dei

Last week our Church officially became Missio Dei Fellowship.

I wanted to commemorate in some small way the Church that we were for many, many years. If you would like to read that go here.

My thoughts and opinions are nothing significant, but I love the people here at this church and I want them to know that whatever you feel, you are not forgotten. Certainly not by our LORD who is the only one who counts. I personally want to thank Old Temple people for their years of faithfulness, their persevering spirit, and their abiding love for the Savior. Please continue to persevere and follow the savior. Do not be discouraged or lose hope. I beg you to come alongside the young as you have me and entrust your service to Him who sees the heart and what is done in secret. I beg you to trust and come alongside our elders who I know love God and His people and are reasonable, trustworthy men.

There are so many of you I did not mention in my post, because there is an overwhelming number of you who have fought, loved, lost, cried, and served through much here at this church. May the Lord bless you, comfort you, strengthen you, and fit you for His Kingdom.

I also want to thank Pastor Matt for reminding us as a body what we are to be and the things we can never change as we are now in a season of change as a church. It was timely and thought provoking. For those who missed it, I highly recommend listening to it on Sermon Audio.

Witty Wednesday

Hi everyone! Here are some more World According to Student Bloopers!!

The Bible is full of interesting caricatures. In the first book of the Bible, Guinesses, Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree. One of their children, Cain, once asked, "Am I my brother's son?" God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac on Mount Montezuma. Jacob, son of Isaac, stole his brother's birth mark. Jacob was a patriarchs, but they did not take to it. One of Jacob's sons, Joseph, gave refuse to the Israelites.


Pharaoh forced the Hebrew slaves to make bread without straw. Moses led them to the Red Sea, where they made unleavened bread, which is bread made without any ingredients. Afterwards, Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten commandments. David was a Hebrew king skilled at playing the liar. He fought with the Philatelists, a race of people who lived in Biblical times. Solomon, one of David's sons, had 500 wives and 500 porcupines.

I hope you got a good laugh. See you next week with some more bloopers!

Importance of Living in the Gospel

Have you ever sat down and tried to find sin and the effects of sin in your life? I have, and it can be a very sobering exercise. Sin is everywhere, standing boldly in the middle of the street, blocking every doorway, lurking around every corner.
It can be easy (sometimes) for us to recognize and avoid the sin that is waving a red flag in our face (No, I won’t take that opportunity to steal money from my boss. No thanks, I’m not going to sleep with that cute guy from work. Nah, I won’t run over that obnoxiously slow pedestrian jay walking in front of my car). But so often we are too busy rejoicing in our ‘victory’ over the obvious sins that we are unwittingly falling prey to the less obvious.
God is so faithful to never give us more than we can handle, and this includes allowing our sinful hearts to be revealed to us slowly rather than all at once. Sometimes one particular sin we have allowed to take up residence in our hearts is revealed to us (Wow, I am a hugely impatient person! I need to work to conquer this sin in my life). Other times, many of our sins are revealed to us at once.
Regardless of how our sin is revealed, there is only one way to vanquish it in our lives and that is through the gospel. Remember: sin only at the very end reveals itself as an outward, visible action. It always begins in the heart. The sin of sleeping with the cute guy from work began with the sins of pride, discontentment, lust, and covetousness, not to mention the sins of not glorifying God, not seeing God as supreme in your life, not relying on God as the only source of lasting joy, not being a good witness to the guy, not loving your neighbor as yourself, etc. The list goes on and on.
When looking at sin at its core, not in the outward result of the sin but at its root, we can become very discouraged. You thought you were dealing with one sin (fornication for the single or adultery for the married) but instead you find dozens of sins all leading up to the one. This finding can sink even the stoutest of heart into a depression. Sin is everywhere, in places we never expected to find it, in places we had never before noticed it. Before you know it, you can find yourself huddled in a corner with no idea of how to even begin to fight the sin you now see before you. You may be tempted to just give up.
Sisters, take comfort in the gospel. No matter what sin you see in your life, no matter how much sin you see in your life, know that Jesus has already paid for it! Jesus knew the wrath of God on the cross so that we could know the grace of God in our lives. We have been justified through the blood of Christ and no matter what sin we see in our lives, God sees the righteousness of Christ when He looks at us.
Take comfort in the Holy Spirit, in the Scriptures, in prayer. God has not left us to conquer sin on our own. He has given us three ‘tools’ to help us through our sanctification. Know that the Spirit daily gives us the strength and ability to fight our sin and become more holy. Know that Scriptures has given us everything we need to know pertaining to life and godliness. Know that we may come boldly before the throne of God in prayer in the name of Jesus.
Take comfort in the promises of God. Everyone that Christ has died for will be saved and nothing (not even you!) can change that. We have been given the ability to fight the sin in our lives knowing that it has already been conquered and paid for through Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Chapter 8 of Bookends of the Christian Life

 

Chapter 8 tells us about the help of the divine encourager - the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13 says "by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope".   I don't know about you but, I seem to be in a constant battle against sin.  It is either some worldly desire or a sinful way of thinking for me.  But I know that if I place my hope in the Spirit, He is always there to help.  He points me back to the Gospel message that Jesus died to pay the penalty for my sins and that I have a righteous standing before God.  We in no way deserve what Jesus did for us.  When I speak the Gospel to myself daily, my gratitude transforms me.  It causes me to feel loved.  How can I willingly turn away from a God who loves me so much that He sent His Son to die in my place so that I can have fellowship with Him?   The Holy Spirit also encourages us to obey God's commandments.  We are to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.  Because of sin, this is a tall order.  I know I need the help and encouragement of the Spirit to do this.    Years ago I was allowing myself to think wrongly and I got into a deep depression.  A friend faithfully came over every week and she told me that I needed to put off the sin of wrong thinking and put on right thinking.  She told me about Phillipians 4:8-9 which said to think on whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely and whatever is of good repute and to dwell on anything that is excellent and worthy of praise.  When I finally did this, I felt a change in my life.  I was filled with the joy of the Lord.  If a person does not replace sin with God and His ways, she is in a type of vacuum.  She will most likely go right back to the sin.  I know that when I put myself on a diet and purpose not to eat certain things, I will feel deprived if I don't replace what I am giving up with something else that I will enjoy that has fewer calories.  It is the same with putting off sin.   The book brings out the fact that we must battle desire with desire.  Whichever desire is the strongest will always determine the outcome.  We must strengthen and encourage our godly desires.  The Spirit is faithful to help us in this area if we ask Him.  The book says we should ask ourselves this question:  "Because he loves me so much, I love him more than______________________."  This is an excellent way to realize just what we are doing with our lives.  If I love anything more than God, then I am not feeling gratitude for Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.    This chapter also brings out the fact that our purpose in life is glorify God and enjoy Him forever.  I used to think that good works were the purpose of my life.  I knew that Jesus saved me by dying on the cross, but I felt that doing good works was the way to show Him gratitude.  I guess this way of thinking is somewhat true because if we are showing the love of Jesus to others by helping them, than God is pleased.  But God desires a relationship with us too.  He wants us to enjoy Him.  We can look at nature and enjoy it and that brings glory to God.  We can give Him glory for His blessings in our lives.  I especially enjoy looking at the stars at night and giving glory to God for them.   "The Holy Spirit uses our growing appetite for enjoying our relationship with God as a powerful encouragement in our battle agaist sin."  "When we enjoy God more than sin, we give him an even deeper level of glorifying love, a level he alone deserves."   The Holy Spirit also points us to the truth of the Bible.  There are many promises from God to us and the Spirit leads us to them so that we can step out in faith and battle against sin.  I think that memorizing His promises, is the best way to bring them to mind when we need them.  I know that when something happens in my life, I am usually not thinking rightly at first.  Either I revert back to being depressed or I want justice immediately or I think other sinful thoughts.  But if I have God's promises in my heart, those feelings are short lived because I choose to believe in His promises and put my trust in Him.   Do you have any stories about ways that the Spirit has brought God's promises to your mind when you were facing difficulties?   Do you have a special promise from God that you continually rely on?   Just remember that God will never leave you or forsake you. .

Julie Ganschow Interview - Pt 3

Hello Ladies! I hope you are all enjoying Labor Day. Today we concluding our interview with Julie. You can catch up with our first two interviews here and here.

We have enjoyed getting to know Julie a little better and are looking forward to meeting her in person at the conference in October.


Julie, last time you gave us some advice on how we can communicate with our husbands. Do you have any one special piece of advice on how to communicate with our children?

Yes, I think too many parents expect their children to think like adults. Learn the difference between childish behavior and disobedience by asking good questions that will reveal their heart and open communication. Making statements will cause them to close off.

Unfortunately, we are all aware that although there is some great material available on the subject of biblical communication, there is also a lot that can be dangerous. Is there any such material that you would advise against reading?

Oh my yes! That list is way too long for this post! I avoid anything that is written by psychologists and reflects a "needs based" methodology.

Can you briefly describe the heart attitude that one should have when preparing to improve in the area of biblical communication?

In a word- humility. I believe we spend far too much time talking about how right we are! We do not care to really listen much, and when we are "listening" we most often are thinking about what we want to say next.

Are there any specific verses that you often use regarding how women specifically should communicate?

Yes, Eph. 4:25-26, Col. 4:6, 1 Thess 2:4-9, Titus 2:1.

Julie, thank you so much for allowing us to pick your brain and get to know you a little bit.

Ladies, please remember to register here if you haven't already.