Encouragement for Your Journey, Mom (4/4)

A Weekly Encouragement Series based on Hope for the Weary Mom Devotional by Stacey Thacker and Brooke McGlothlin

A Hope (A Quote from the Book):

“Jesus is unchanging in our ever-changing world. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is always himself. Every day in every way we can trust the fact that Jesus is going to show up and be himself in our lives. He is power and love and discipline in my life. He is savior, friend, and the one who goes before me. He is willing to walk beside me. He is my hope for today because his name was hope in the very beginning of time. (pp. 114-115, He Never Changes)

A Help (A Message of Encouragement for Your Journey): It is a blessed gift to know that the LORD is faithful. To know that He is consistently present and gracious and true. The LORD never wavers. He never shows Himself unreliable. He never goes back on His truth. He is faithful in a way that goes beyond man’s definition of the word. And isn’t that a comfort? Isn’t it a relief, moms, to know that you can count on the LORD who sees you, knows you, protects you, provides for you, and loves you? Isn’t it a great consolation to know that our Savior, Jesus Christ, is ever ready to save you and your family, no matter how many times or how many ways? He is our undeniable hope.

Your Hope & Help Lesson for the Week: God is unchanging, unwavering, undeniable and undefeated.

Your Hope & Help Scripture for the Week: Hebrews 13:8

A Heart (A Prayer from My Heart to Yours): Oh LORD, How excellent is Your name in all the earth! It is an absolute delight to know and experience You. It is a wonder and a joy to praise You as Savior and King. We thank You for Your faithfulness, and we appreciate You for being consistent in our lives. Teach us how to be true to You in every way. And be with us as we daily learn to surrender our all into Your keeping. In the saving name of Jesus. Amen.

#chooseHOPE #startwithHOPE #HOPEforthewearymom

Encouragement for Your Journey, Mom (3/4)

A Weekly Encouragement Series based on Hope for the Weary Mom Devotional by Stacey Thacker and Brooke McGlothlin

 

A Hope (A Quote from the Book):

“…God won’t always speak to me about everything I bring to him. Sometimes, I just have to base my decisions on what I already know to be true…The fact is God’s word is our life and breath.” (p. 105, He Speaks to You)

A Help (A Message of Encouragement for Your Journey): Every word written in the Bible is the inspired word of God. It was written so that we might learn of Him and His promises. It was written so that we might come to know His Truth and be saved. It was written so that we might experience the LORD, tasting of Him, partaking of Him, and being satisfied by Him. How often we forget to stop, quiet ourselves and hear or rather listen to His voice by way of His holy Word. There is a blessing in being still and knowing God and in remembering His words. There is a blessing in recalling His past deliverances in our lives and in reminding ourselves of His saving grace. And in those moments when we think the LORD seems to be quiet, we have to trust that He is still speaking and reflect on those things that we know and that have come to know as His unwavering truth. We must know and believe in our hearts that His inspired movement speaks even in what we view to be silence.

• Your Hope & Help Lesson for the Week: God speaks in many ways. The more time we spend with Him and His inspired word, the more we become attuned to His voice and movement, whether in seeming silence or not.
• Your Hope & Help Scripture for the Week: 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (AMP)

A Heart (A Prayer from My Heart to Yours): My LORD and dearest King, You are a gift and a blessing to all who would know You. Thank You for speaking and moving in the ways of love. It is my prayer this day that You would help each woman, mother, and saint be still and know You as the God who saves. May You speak in each life in a very special way and teach every individual what You would have her know. Point us to Your heart, keep us in Your grace, and carry us home at Your appointed time. In the saving name of Jesus. Amen.

#chooseHOPE #startwithHOPE #HOPEforthewearymom

Encouragement for Your Journey, Mom (2/4)

A Weekly Encouragement Series based on Hope for the Weary Mom Devotional by Stacey Thacker and Brooke McGlothlin

A Hope (A Quote from the Book):

“Unless God removes the things that don’t bring him glory – the things that are dead, rotting, and preventing health – we’ll never walk in the fullness of what we were designed by God to do. Yes, it hurts like the dickens. The process can be excruciating at times, leaving us crying out in pain no matter what we do to make it go away. But the end result is something more beautiful than we could ever have created on our own. New life. Beauty from ashes. And the ability to walk in the fullness of who we were created to be.” (p.50, He Heals)

A Help (A Message of Encouragement for Your Journey): Struggling with a challenge, an illness, or any form of dis – ease can be difficult, to say the least. Over the course of time, it can take its toll on a life. For busy moms, this can be tremendously burdensome, especially when considering that we have to be on 100% of the time. We are expected to function optimally, without question and without fail. Sadly, many of us, in an effort to ease the struggle, resort to unhealthy practices or enter into unhealthy relationships that lead to a very unpretty state. But God, in His infinite wisdom, can take every unpretty place within us and around us and turn it into something beautiful. He can take the ashes of our lives, whether in the physical, the mental, the emotional, the relational, or the spiritual, and turn them into a wondrous beauty. He does this by way of Jesus Christ. All healing is in Him. Let us all unwaveringly agree to walk in wholeness and to be made well by the touch of the Savior.

• Your Hope & Help Lesson for the Week: No matter what you are struggling with or how long you have suffered in silence, the LORD can and will heal you.
• Your Hope & Help Scripture for the Week: Mark 5:34

A Heart (A Prayer from My Heart to Yours): LORD, You are the God who sees and the God who knows all things. You are aware of the struggles, challenges, sufferings, and battles that each woman in this group is dealing with. You know where her dis -ease resides. You see where her ashes have marred her appearance. I come now asking You to heal her hurts, to remove her stains, and to beautify her unpretty places. Show her how to live both well and abundantly from this moment on. In the saving name of Jesus. Amen.

#chooseHOPE #startwithHOPE #HOPEforthewearymom

Encouragement for Your Journey, Mom (1/4)

A Weekly Encouragement Series based on Hope for the Weary Mom Devotional by Stacey Thacker and Brooke McGlothlin

 

A Hope (A Quote from the Book):

“In the very moment of fear – the very moment when I feel my most vulnerable, wondering if God will pull through and be good to me one more time – I can say No! to my temptation to fear and Yes! to God’s truth instead, allowing his perspective to flood mine, pushing fear away with it.” (p.19, He Is Good)

A Help (A Message of Encouragement for Your Journey): As mothers, we have a lot on us. We have to get things done. We have no time for fear, and yet fear seems to have time for many of us. Fear creeps in when we least expect it. It comes into our homes and hearts, wanting to take up residence. It wants to paralyze us, keeping us in an immobile state and hindering us from moving forward into the arms of God. It wants to burden us, weighing us down so heavily that we cannot remember to release our cares to the One who cares most. Finally, it wants to manipulate us, creating doubt and anxiety so that we question whether or not God will provide for us or even save us. But from this moment on, let us agree to confidently shout out a NO! in the face of fear and a YES! to God, believing, trusting and knowing that He will faithfully show Himself strong in our lives.

• Your Hope & Help Lesson for the Week: God’s grace, power, and strength will always cover you.
• Your Hope & Help Scripture for the Week: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

A Heart (A Prayer from My Heart to Yours): Father, You are indeed the Almighty. All power is in Your hands. I come before You humbly asking that You touch the heart, home, and life of every woman and/or mother in this group and beyond. Show Your love, grace, power and strength to each one. Replace the fear, the doubt, the anxiety and the unbelief that each person carries with Your truth. Help us all to remember to cling to Your Word and promises. In the saving name of Jesus. Amen.

#chooseHOPE #startwithHOPE #HOPEforthewearymom

#TRUTH 2015…This Is What I Know

Reflections on My #TRUTH2015

Another year has come and is almost gone. Six hours into 12/31/15, this is what I know. #TRUTH2015 was a success, but it was also a wake up call. In an attempt to share my personal insights, I leave you with this list of reflections, so that you might learn.

1. The place where you start is never the place where you end.
2. If you say that you love the LORD, then do that in every way.
3. Selfless love is this…be willing to sacrifice the very thing you want most and trust that God will take care of the rest.
4. Praise is purposed, no matter what your life feels like, looks like, sounds like, or seems like.
5. If you ask something of God, He will respond according to His perfect will.
6. Holiness is a way of life, and righteousness can be practiced.
7. When a hard and sobering truth is revealed, you can no longer deny knowing about it, you can no longer avoid dealing with it, and you can no longer make excuses regarding why you have not surrendered it to God.
8. The Holy Spirit is so much more than is known. Get to know Him.
9. Six things doth the LORD hate. (Proverbs 6:16-19)
10. Love does indeed rule and it should at all times.
11. Forgiveness is beneficial to the one who forgives and to the one who is forgiven.
12. Having a hope-minded focus is needed daily.
13. Live loving by way of teaching, serving, and ministering to those in need. You have been equipped to do so. That talent, skill, ability, and/or gift that you have was meant for God’s glory not yours.
14. Be a good steward when it comes to faith, family, finances, fruitfulness, and fellowship.
15. Die to self daily.
16. God simply is. See and experience Him anew every chance you are given.
17. The person you see before you – in the mirror, on the street, under the bridge, behind the stronghold – is your neighbor. Be mindful of how you treat him. Love him as yourself.
18. God always provides a way of escape.
19. Never stop learning, growing, stretching, and being transformed.
20. Encourage. Edify. Ignite. Inspire. Aim.

Thank you all for encouraging me, praying for me, and learning with me in 2015. In 2016, my personal journey points toward #DestinationJESUS. I would love for you to join me as I study God’s Word, read and review books, and host a number of spiritual enrichment challenges and giveaways. God bless you all as you prepare for your 2016 adventure.

Hope for the Weary Mom Devotional

About the Devotional: “From the authors of Hope for the Weary Mom comes a new 40-day devotional.

Jesus promises rest to those who seek Him. But how can a weary mom find rest in Jesus when she doesn’t know Him? How can she build her life on the truth of His Word when she doesn’t know it? Hope for the Weary Mom Devotional offers 40 truths every mom needs to know in a devotional format–easy for a busy mom to fit in her life. Discover how to live dependently upon Jesus as His Word becomes more rooted in your heart. move from weariness to hope in your God-given role as mom. focus on who God is and how He moves and works in your life.

Each devotion includes a prayer, Scripture, and questions for reflection. You’ll be moved to deeper truth and be left with a hunger for more of God’s Word.”

The Phone Tree Book Club|Kingdom Woman (Day 7/7)

Kingdom Woman – Her Church, Her Community 

SPOTLIGHT:

“As you seek to be a kingdom woman, you need to know what matters most to the King, so it can matter most to you.”

“You will know that a woman is a kingdom woman if she knows how to hold her tongue…your tongue reveals the level of your spiritual maturity, and that’s what matters when God goes looking for a kingdom woman to use for His glory and kingdom agenda.”

“Whatever it is that God has given you – be it a talent, gift, or unique capacity in life – He has done it on purpose. Not so you will hoard your blessings, but so you can use the position He has given you to bring about His purposes in the lives of others around you.”

“A kingdom woman is not a perfect woman. She is a forgiven woman. She is a woman who has been loved by the Master despite her past, her weaknesses, or her struggles. She is bold. She is the woman who, because she has nothing left to lose, puts it all on the line to point others to the Giver of Life.”

Scripture Reflection for the Kingdom Woman: Psalm 62:5-8

Encouragement for the Kingdom Woman & the Aspiring Kingdom Woman: Know God and you will find yourself. Trust God and you will find your voice. Believe God and you will find your way home.