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Sowing the Word In Our Lives

At The Masters Feet-coverIt seems when you’re trying to honor God with your life, a barrage of mishaps can come your way. It can be many different things trying to discourage you from honoring God with your life. When you keep obeying and serving God you can have opposition from Satan. Doing the right things isn’t always easy, but if we keep doing them we’ll be rewarded. God blesses those who honor Him. Life on earth isn’t easy for anyone, but we have to press on.

I have found a way to press on– soaking up God’s Word. God encourages us in His Word to keep sowing good things so that we may reap good things. Sowing good things can be frustrating when you are constantly attacked by Satan or tested by God. Through those attacks or tests, God is purifying us. He wants to know that we won’t take our hand off the plow sowing for His kingdom. He is ridding us of those impurities that are within us.

It’s easy to give up while serving God, but it takes courage to keep sowing good things in our lives and the lives of others. We may not understand why adversity comes our way when we are our obeying our Father, but we can be comforted that He loves us. He desires good for us and He has wonderful plans for us. Many times I become weary while doing good things and I want to give up. I’m so grateful for God’s Word because it encourages me and reminds me that my prize sets before me and I can finish the race.

My desire to write a devotional was to encourage others through God’s Word. It can strengthen our faith and boost our confidence in God. It’s so effective in our lives if we’ll apply it. Soak up the truths God gives us from His Word and be encouraged.

Book Description
Have you ever felt discouraged during a trial? What about feeling lifeless and numb? Have the cares of the world completely overwhelmed you? If this describes your life, then you’re in need of encouragement from God’s Word.

God’s Word is rich in knowledge and wisdom. His greatness is vast and His goodness never ends. There is power in His Word and in soaking it up each day. We can seek refuge and guidance from the Word of God. It is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. In it, we can find comfort during hardships and exhortations to praise God at all times.

This devotional book provides encouragement in various ways. It examines numerous scriptures in the Old and New Testaments to gain wisdom from above. Some devotions have personal stories to help you relate to the author while showing you that we all have struggles. While we are in the midst of trials and joys, triumphs and defeats, good and bad—we can turn to God’s Word for encouragement. Heather invites Master’s feet, as Mary did, and learn from Him.

Heather_2Mississippi born and raised, Heather Strickland is a stay-at-home wife and mother with a passion to encourage others through writing. God planted this dream of writing a book in her heart when she was a teenager, began to grow it during her early adulthood, and now – with the help of many dear friends – God has made that dream a reality. She enjoys sipping coffee on her front porch, flipping through the pages of a good book, and holding hands with her love. When she isn’t serving her family, Heather blogs regularly at Becoming Titus 2 Women, Laced with Grace, and The Imperfect Wives. But her primary ministry is to her husband and three boys. Not only is Heather crazy about them, they give her an abundance of writing material. Through them, God has molded her and taught her many life lessons. Heather is forever grateful for God’s grace and guidance in her life.

You may contact Heather on Facebook at Becoming Titus 2 Women or email her at the.stricklands06@gmail.com. The book is available on Amazon.com as a printed version or on Kindle.

 

 

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Chocolate paradise and every spiritual blessing
~ Guest Blog

Chocolate surrounded me. Left, right, ahead, and behind. Everywhere I turned, chocolate lay in great mounds. Every shape and size, wrapped and unwrapped, with nuts and without, cream-filled and nougat, round and rectangle. I have dreamed of a chocolate paradise such as this many times, but this wasn’t a dream.

This time I stood in an actual chocolate paradise. This was not some average, American chocolate shop. I had the joy of salivating in a European chocolate establishment. (And yes, Hershey, they do it better.) The chocolate aroma overwhelmed me and I had to squash the thought of Eve eyeing the forbidden fruit.

Everything I could have hoped for was here – plus many I could have never imagined. The tantalizing smorgasbord of tastes and textures excited me. Chocolate with coconut for my husband? Three choices! Sugar-free chocolate for my diabetic father-in-law? Oh yes, more than he could ever eat! The experience far surpassed my greatest chocolate fantasy. I left with gifts in one hand and my own personal stash in the other.

This morning I fondly thought about this chocolate shop visit when I read through the Bible book of Ephesians. Here’s a couple of passages that thrilled me:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Ephesians 1:3, NIV

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. Ephesians 3:20, NIV

I know my chocolate experience is a weak analogy for these glorious promises, but no physical comparison can measure up to the spiritual blessing God desires to pour into our lives. (So everything considered, being set loose with an unlimited chocolate selection was a good choice.)

Are you experiencing “every spiritual blessing in Christ?” Have you witnessed God do “immeasurable more than all you can ask or imagine?” I honestly can’t say I have, but I’m growing that direction. Want to come along?

You’re invited to join me in a study of the book of Ephesians. “Growing Up Together – a study of Ephesians,” begins Wednesday, January 18th on my blogsite. You can visit my blog now for a bit more information.

Do you long to experience God’s blessing in your life? In what areas do you feel your faith needs to grow?

Kathy Howard calls herself a “confused southerner.” Raised in Louisiana, she and her husband have lived all over North America. She doesn’t know whether to say “coke” and “ya’ll” or “pop” and “you guys.” But this Southern girl loves to encourage women through teaching and writing about God’s Word. Find out more about Kathy’s Bible studies and speaking ministry and get lots of free resources at www.kathyhoward.org

Photo & Content Copyright © – Kathy Howard

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Only God Can by Kathy Howard

Please welcome Kathy Howard, Christian speaker, author, Bible teacher, to Grace Alone. Kathy’s brand new book “God’s Truth Revealed” has been released. This book is a wonderful evangelism tool. But read Kathy’s blog below to find out more about “God’s Truth Revealed”.

Have you ever tried to convince an atheist that God exists? Or a postmodern thinker that Jesus is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life?” Not easy tasks. In fact, they’re impossible. We can’t do it.

Only God can give faith to a skeptic. Only God can reveal truth to a heart. The Bible says that no one can come to Jesus unless God draws them first (John 6:44). But He does draw. He does reveal the truth about Himself to individuals. He wants people to know Him. And He wants us to make the introductions.

I’ve never convinced an atheist there is a God, but I’ve seen God do it. My friend Victor was raised by a military father who taught him that God did not exist. That there is nothing after death. That life is about what you can get out of it for yourself. And he believed it all.

But then God began to put “doubt” in Victor’s mind. As a young man he began to sense there had to be a great power behind the wonderful complexities of the world. He began to investigate all kinds of spiritual things including Taoism, Buddhism, and other eastern religions.

Then Victor came to one of my Bible study classes. For three months he learned what the Bible says about God, faith, and salvation. He heard about Jesus. When our class was over Victor told me he believed in God. But he didn’t know what to think about Jesus.

Time passed. Victor watched his wife grow in her new relationship with Jesus while he struggled with the idea of faith. But God continued to woo him. God slowly unveiled truth about life, eternity – and Jesus – to Victor.

Two years later Victor came back to Bible study. This time his hunger to know God was obvious. Victor devoured truth. And he met Jesus. God took Victor from atheist to skeptic to believer. And I got to have a front row seat!

God has allowed me to witness similar miracles dozens of times. I spent several years teaching the Bible to adults who’ve never studied the Bible before. Everyone’s story is different. Each person’s journey with God is unique. But God’s truth about Himself, life, and eternity is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And He has revealed this truth in the Bible.

I used the experience God gave me to develop a Bible study for spiritual skeptics and new Christians. This study provides biblical, historical, and scientific evidence to support creation; the reliability of the Bible; and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. “God’s Truth Revealed” is a straightforward journey through the Bible to help participants understand the importance of knowing God, not just knowing about Him. Each chapter also includes the real-life story of an individual like Victor who became a Christian as an adult.

Do you know someone that God is wooing? If someone in your life is asking questions about faith or God that is evidence that God is actively working! Ask God how you can join Him in what He’s up to. There isn’t anything more exciting.

Kathy Howard

You can find Kathy at Kathy Howard. You can purchase Kathy’s book “God’s Truth Revealed” at Amazon and Christian Books.

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Overcoming the Fear of Change

Please welcome Karon Phillips Goodman to ‘Grace Alone…’. Karon is the author ‘Unafraid’. To find out more about the book and Karon’s blog-tour, please visit her website: ‘Unafraid – Living God’s plan On a Ladder and a Promise’ and ‘The Great 5-in5 Blog Tour’.

The old saying goes that change is the only constant we can count on, and while that’s not completely true, it’s a constant we often fear. Because change usually means we can’t count on everything we used to know, it not so gently kicks us out of any comfort zone we may have managed to create, right off the scaffolding we were so carefully navigating. And that can be scary to the point of panic.

Change means we have to adapt to new situations, often new people and new circumstances, with perhaps little warning or preparation. An unwelcome change in relationship, family, work, school, schedule or surroundings can rip out all the security and joy we felt and stop our building. The ladder staggers and the tools wriggle free from our hands as we try to get a grip on the new work-site. Sure, we have to give ourselves time to take hold of the changes we face, but our lives-our temples-suffer when these changes and our fearful responses to them paralyze us.

We see panic and loss, stress and confusion. God sees opportunity, a new page of blueprints.

I know what you’re thinking, and I can agree — it’s often hard to see opportunity for anything good in a change, but it helps when we break the stealth-cloaked opportunity down into two areas — changes within ourselves and the changes outside us — you could call it the design behind the project and the building that others see and feel. And yes, there’s joy there waiting to be discovered amid the immediate rubble from our ladder quaking.

Every change demands action and reaction from us. To regain a little control and peace and focus, we can take the opportunity to change ourselves to better reflect God in all we do – even in response to a perhaps unwanted turn of events, because His grace that makes it all possible is not on back-order by any new developments we can’t control. And what we’ll learn is that positive change in ourselves — a little self-improvement project behind the scenes, if you will — follows because it’s never too late to become a more wise, understanding and effective builder.

Some family changes in the past have allowed me [I could say forced but I won’t :)] to change my behavior toward others and the situations I faced, and I have to admit that while the changes weren’t easy, they were welcome, maybe by me more than anyone else, because it made it easier for me to live with me [and that’s a challenge in the best of times for us control-freaky people]. Yes, the learning curve is steep in this kind of effort, but the resulting progress on your temple will be worth it.
Continue reading “Overcoming the Fear of Change”