News

In the next few day's I will be sharing some devotional readings with you from a book called "Beauty Begins: Making Peace with Your Reflection".  A 7-day Devotional by Megan Shook Alpha Our Sacred Reflection You know when your mirror is foggy after a shower and you really can’t even see your own face? Well, that’s often how we see ourselves; we aren’t getting a clear picture. We are seeing ourselves through a mirror dimly, but God is saying, “Just wait because some day you will see with perfect clarity.” And if you are calling God your Father, yet denying that you’re a princess, you’re saying more about Him than you are about yourself. You’re denying that He is King. We need to realize that God truly has made us beautiful and we are royalty in His eyes. There are three different mirrors that we turn to in hopes of finding our sacred reflection: the mirrors of parents, peers, and culture. Starting from when we are born, and throughout most of our lives, we are looking into the mirror of our parents. We ask them, “Am I beautiful? Do you love me? How much am I worth?” and we base how we view ourselves on their projected opinion. Maybe you received a positive message from your parents. Or maybe not. But if you know how much you are worth and loved by God then no one’s opinion in this world should matter, not even your parent’s. The second mirror is that of our peers. We tend to compare ourselves to others at work, school, church, and pretty much anywhere. We long to be like those ladies on social media who seem to have it all together – chiefly their appearance. We are subconsciously asking the world if we are beautiful when we post a selfish post. We desire affirmation. We do it because we long for attention, we long to be liked. The third mirror is our culture. Am I prettier than that model? Am I thin enough like that actress? We are comparing ourselves to random people that we don’t even know! We are bombarded by unrealistic pictures of what this world thinks we should look like. And in doing so, we are often comparing ourselves to a lie. We are really searching for our sacred, truest reflection but we are only going to be able to find it in the mirror of Christ’s eyes. We will never see our true beauty if we keep turning to other mirrors. Only when we fix our eyes on Jesus we stop trying to fix ourselves, because then we are able to see our true worth. Think about it: What mirror will you choose to look to today? Verses for further reflection: 1 Corinthians 13 Hebrews 12:2 Psalm 45:10-11

Greetings Women of Grace. I would like to share a prayer that I read in my devotional today by Elaine Scott of Browns Bridge Church. God today I dedicate my mind to you. I want to think on things that are good, right, pure, and excellent. I want to take captive any thoughts that aren't from you. I want to remember your past faithfulness when I am tempted to doubt. Today, I dedicate my eyes to you. I want to see others the way you see them. I want to view my circumstances through the lens of hope and faith. I want to look at life as one who is confident that you are with me. Today, I dedicate my ears to you. I want to hear your voice above all the others clamoring for my attention. I want to listen to you and to honor others by listening well to them. Today, I dedicate my mouth to you. I want my words to be life-giving. I want to speak honestly and sincerely. I want to think before I speak. I want to let others have the last word. Today, I dedicate my heart to you. I want my heart to be pure and undivided. I want to master my emotions, not serve them. I want my dreams and desires to please you.  Today, I dedicate my feet to you. I want to go wherever you send me. I want to walk toward the messes, not run from them. I want to stand firmly upon the truth and not stumble. The most important relationship I have deserves my greatest expression of worship: a dedicated life.

Something to think about.  "For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart." (Heb 4:12 AMP)  We must allow the Word of Yahweh to penetrate our hearts, without the penetration of the Word of Yahweh there can be no change within the life. For many today think that going to church on a Saturday or Sunday is mandatory because its show that you are a Christian, but does going to church on Saturday or Sunday really says that you are a believer or is it a soul change event that starts from within says you are a believer? It is by the power of the Word of Yahweh, executed by the Holy Spirit that brings the change. Without the penetration of Yahweh's Word in our hearts change will not take place. When we allow the Word of Yahweh to bring change to our hearts, Yahweh is able to write His word upon it, thus bringing change to our soul man. And when this is done the Holy Spirit makes it a reality to our spirit man, thus putting Adam that is within all of us to death.

I just wanted to share something with you guy's that someone posted on my Facebook page.  Thought for the Day - January 5, 2016 “Faith is believing even though we may not have direct physical proof of something. Though proof may not always come in ways we can touch, there are things that happen around us that can only be explained as the hand of God working in our lives: a person helping us when we least expect it or a fortunate break when we need one most. Have faith that He is always working for you even when you might not be able to touch the results of His work.” I hope you have a wonderful day today my friends! – Elmer Laydon “So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25 NIV)

Hebrew for Christians A principle of spiritual life is that we descend in order to ascend, or the "the way up is the way down." As Yeshua said, "Whoever would be first among you must be slave of all" (Mark 10:44). Becoming nothing (i.e., ayin) in this world is the condition for seeing something in the world to come. But we become nothing by trusting in the miracle, not by trying to efface ourselves... This is not another venture of the ego. Life in the Spirit means *trusting that God will do within you what you cannot do for yourself... We can only take hold of what God has done for us by "letting go" of our own devices (Phil. 2:13). When we really let go and trust, we will become nothing (i.e., klume: כְּלוּם), carried by the Torah of the Spirit of life. The way is not trying but trusting; not struggling but resting; not of clinging to life, but of letting go..

Hebrew for Christians It is written in our Scriptures: "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." We often see what we want to see more than what is really there. That’s called wishful thinking. We overlook much, and we often ignore what might challenge our own preferred interpretations. For example, we may think that we are trusting God for our lives, but we worry, we attempt to control others, we get angry, and so on. We have a blind spot regarding the question whether we really trust God, perhaps because seriously investigating what we really believe seems too threatening (John 16:31-32). After all, what if we don't really know what to believe? What if we struggle to believe? What if we are confused? What does that say about who we are? So we ignore the real problem (namely, our lack of truth and our little faith in God) and continue to think we are something we are not. We fool ourselves and trade a sense of “satisfaction” at the expense of truth. This is a common failing of human nature. During the Nazi years, many ordinary Germans refused to investigate reports of atrocities at the death camps because it was too costly to discover the truth (the same might be said about any patriotic citizens who rationalize the actions of their government regardless of the moral issues involved). By willfully hiding from the facts, we pretend we are not responsible, and therefore we justify passivity in the face of injustice and evil.