Psalm of the Week - 37:7 - August 31, 2015

 PATIENTLY: AN ACROSTIC POEM by Sallee Bonham

Pray for the unrighteous
Always know that God has a plan
Trust in God's plan
I will not fret, I will pray
Earth is not my home, heaven is
No one will escape God's notice, do not fret about wrongdoing.
Turn to the Bible and read God's promises
Love the unlovable
Yes, God will take care of everything. He always does.

Verse of the Week -Deuteronomy 5:32 - September 1, 2015

Did you ever play Follow the Leader? 

My grade school classmates and I played this game during many a recess. A single file line of kids would form and the first person in line was the leader. The long line would begin to move and each person in line was supposed to mimic the movements of the leader. If you failed to mimic the movement, you were out of the game until only one person was left behind the leader. That person became the new leader and the game started over.

When Jesus is our leader, he wants us to follow his lead and mimic his actions. The best part about following Jesus? You are not out when you have trouble following his actions! He just wants you to continue following him until your movements bring you closer and closer to him.

Jesus has a leader, too. He is God's son. He obediently followed God's commands and did not turn aside to the right, or to the left during his lifetime. As long as we continue to follow our heavenly leader's example, we are going to get closer and closer to him until we too, join him in Heaven. 

Verse of the Week - Matthew 28:19 - August 24, 2015

The picture above is from our chapter's Run for the Son ride. See me in the middle? The patch on the back of my riding vest is a public profession that I am an evangelist and following the commission that Jesus gave to all of his followers. 

When I first started wearing the patch, or colors (the proper biker term), I was scared. There was no way I could be perfect. What if I failed miserably? What if, what if, what if... started whirling around in my head. Finally, I just said to myself,"I can do this because I am being obedient to his call." 

With the Father's, the Son's, and the Holy Spirit's help, the fear evaporated as I kept telling myself,"I can do this." The Lord equips me for the paths he calls me to follow. He gives me the right words to say, he gives me calmness when I need it, and he gives me encouragement when I need it. 

I hope you enjoy the video as much as I do.

Psalm of the Week - 51:13 - August 24, 2015

David was a sinner, as well as a king and prophet. In Psalm 51, he repents and then makes promises to God. David promised God that he would teach sinners, or transgressors, God's ways so that sinners would turn back to him. 

And John Gill Wrote:

• David was a prophet as well as a king; see Acts 2:30; and taught men the fear of the Lord, Psalm 34:11, and instructed them in God's ways, as he here promises he would;
•  by which is meant, either the ways which God prescribes and directs men to walk in, as the paths of faith, holiness, and truth, and the ways of his commandments; 
• or which he himself has walked in; meaning not the ways of his providence, which are sometimes past finding out;
•  but the ways of his grace, the steps and methods he has taken in the salvation of men, by forming the scheme of it, by choosing unto it, by making a covenant with his Son, and appointing him to effect it; 
• and particularly his ways and methods in receiving and pardoning backsliders, when returned by repentance to him; and who may be meant by "transgressors" here: 
• and then the sense is, that David, upon his being received and pardoned, would teach others like himself how graciously God had dealt with him; how plenteous he is in mercy; how ready to forgive, and how faithful to his promises; and so encourage them to go to him, and acknowledge their transgressions, and seek pardoning grace at his hands, who does abundantly pardon, and whose ways are not as theirs; see Isaiah 55:7;                                       Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

David's promise can be applied to every Christian today because Jesus gave all of his followers the job of making disciples of all nations and baptizing them. 

Enjoy the song below that is based on Psalm 51!

Psalm of the Week - 119:30 - August 17, 2015

• Those who know and love the law of the Lord, desire to know it more, and love it better.

• The way of serious godliness is the way of truth; the only true way to happiness: we must always have actual regard to it.

• Those who stick to the word of God, may in faith expect and pray for acceptance with God."                                        Matthew Henry's Bible Commentary

Verse of the Week - Hebrews 11:1 - August 17, 2015

The disciple Thomas, did not believe his fellow disciples when they told him Jesus had come among them, showed them his wounds, and told them he came to encourage and strengthen them. Thomas wasn't there when this happened.He doubted their words because Jesus was crucified, buried, and his body had disappeared after his burial. 

A week later, Jesus appeared again and this time Thomas was there with the rest of Jesus' followers. Jesus singled out Thomas and told him to touch the wounds in his hands and side. Do you think Thomas actually touched the wounds? I do not think he did. However, Jesus had one last thing to say. He told everyone that people who believe without seeing are truly blessed.

Writing an acrostic poem for the word "FAITH" was part of my Sunday School lesson. The two students and I wrote phrases and words that we felt represented faith. My list is below.

F - Fill my life with Jesus

A - Acknowledge God Daily

I - Inside us is the Holy Spirit

T - Tell Jesus everything

H - He (Jesus) helps me

Where would you place your faith level on a scale of 1-5, with 1 meaning no faith at all and 5 meaning filled with faith? This is the same question that I asked at Sunday School today. You know my answer is a 5. My poem tells how to reach a level 5 faith.

1. Fill your life with Jesus. 
2. Acknowledge God daily.
3. Children of God are holy because the Holy Spirit lives in each one. The Bible says so.
4. Vent to Jesus, not people. Then, ask for Jesus for help.
5. Watch for how Jesus is helping. 

A Fallen Christian Brother

Riding a motorcycle can be a dangerous activity. 
Every rider has lost a brother or sister in an automobile versus motorcycle accident. On a Tuesday afternoon, a couple in our local Christian Motorcyclists Association chapter were in this type of accident. 

A sixteen-year-old driver failed to look twice and pulled out in front of the trike. The husband died at the hospital and his wife was life flighted a hundred miles to a trauma unit. Her multiple broken bones and internal bleeding required life support. The teen driver had minor physical injuries. 

On Sunday afternoon, Bill and I rode to the local funeral home to attend the visitation for the husband. A sad occasion, BUT we all know he is in heaven with Jesus. He loved the Lord. Paying our respects didn't end with the visitation at the funeral home. 

On the following Monday morning, the sound of motorcycle engines could be heard converging on the Mace's grocery store parking lot. As each rider pulled in and shut down their ride, a tight knot of sad riders formed around them to shake hands, or hug each other. 

At 9:00 A.M., kickstand up time, ten bikes pulled out to form a staggered line. We rolled down the highway, headed for the church, to fulfill the family's wish for their veteran dad - honor our fallen brother, their dad,  with a flag line and motorcycle escort.

At the church, Patriot Guard riders handed out American flags for a flag line to honor our fallen Christian brother. Riders continued to arrive in order to escort a fallen rider on his last ride home. 

Six solemn faced, chapter brothers carried the casket to the hearse. 

A half-mile of motorcycles escorted our friend, acquaintance, and brother to the cemetery. At the cemetery, military honors were rendered in the form of another flag line, a three shot rifle salute, and presenting the folded casket flag to a family member.

I hope this short article impresses you to,"Look twice and save a life." 

Psalm of the Week - 119:26 - August 10, 2015

www.joyfilledwoman.blogspot.com

Psalm 119:26 NIV
I gave an account of my ways and you answered me; teach me your decrees.

"While the souls of the children of this world cleave to the earth as their portion, the children of light are greatly burdened, because of the remains of carnal affections in their hearts...We can talk of the wonders of redeeming love, when we understand the way of God's precepts, and walk in that way."                           Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

 Children of light. I love that phrase! I am a child of light. You are a child of light. We are children of light because we gave ourselves to Jesus Christ. Can you see yourself as a glowing child of light, filled with the Holy Spirit? You should, because that is who you are through Jesus Christ. I LOVE it! 

Carnal affections, fleshly desires, satisfying the physical body, satisfying the flesh all mean the same thing. The old person we were before we gave ourselves to Jesus is still trying to pull us down. 

We fight that by asking God to teach us the Bible and what it means. Ask God for understanding, or enlightenment. The indwelling Holy Spirit will guide you. We have God and Jesus in heaven,  BUT we also have been given the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth to guide us to a greater understanding of the Bible (John 14:16-17)

Verse of the Week - John 14:16-17 - August 10, 2015

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 

My Sunday School lesson had an interesting illustration for the Holy Spirit.

• Take a blow dryer and turn it on.
• The Holy Spirit is sometimes compared to air, or wind, blowing
• Can you see the air?
• What are the effects of the air blowing that you can see?

Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to his followers. The moment you ask Christ to come into your life by 

1. admitting you are a sinner
2. by believing that Jesus died on the cross as a sin offering for you 
3. confessing your sin to the Lord in prayer

You are given the Holy Spirit to dwell in you. John 16-17 are Jesus' actual words. The Holy Spirit is like air, we cannot see Him, but we can feel Him and the effect of Him being inside us. He is that still, quiet voice that speaks to us like a gentle wind blowing through the treetops. 

The Spirit of truth will comfort and guide us by helping us to understand and live our God's Word. The Holy Spirit is supernatural and supernaturally illustrates our mind to understand the Scripture in ways that unbelievers cannot. Jesus is not physically with us, but we have his indwelling presence, the Holy Spirit. 

Journey Off the Map Vacation Bible School

VBS was small this year, thirty-eight children. However, all of my 5th/6th grade students have been baptised, attend church, church camp, and know the Bible fairly well. I loved teaching this group about sharing the good news as an evangelist and mission work.

Palm trees - 3 Pool noodles, 2 rectangular plastic table cloths, and 20 paper bags

5th/6th Base camp tent. The students loved being under this awning!

Tissue paper flowers to help decorate 5th/6th basecamp. I love how the two toned flowers turned out, very water lillyish. 

Three of us took pictures during the five days of vacation bible school. I used Windows Live Movie Maker to turn the pictures into a movie.  For a sound track, I went to iTunes and purchased three songs from the Journey Off the Map sountrack. ($3 for 3 songs)  We played the movie on the last day of Vacation Bible School for parents. It is a 9 minute and 45 second look into VBS. If you would like to view the movie, Click Here

The last day of VBS ends with a party! Popcorn, cotton candy, hotdogs, a bounce house, and a cake walk are part of the fun. I made cakes for the cake walk.

Verse of the Week - Ephesians 1:18 - August 3, 2015

About five years ago, I began listening to Andrew Wommack's teachings on God's grace. I have learned a tremendous amount about being a victorious, joyful follower of Christ from Andrew's teachings on the Bible. 

Andrew is a country boy from Texas and he has some sayings that he calls "Andyisms." The bolded phrase below is an Andyism. As a mechanically minded person, I understand the point of this Andyism completely. 

According to Andrew Wommack's Commentary Notes from The Life for Today Bible, Ephesians 1:18 is Paul's prayer that the Ephesians receive wisdom and a spiritual revelation:

...Just as we can't see with our physical eyes if we have them closed, so none of us can see with our understanding if our minds are closed. We have to have our understanding opened by the Lord to perceive spiritual truth...

...Wisdom and revelation can only be received as the eyes of our hearts are enlightened...

...Our way of thinking has to be illuminated in order to come to a more accurate and thorough knowledge of God. In fact, spiritual mindedness is the only way to true life and peace...

...The end result of this wisdom and revelation was that the Ephesians might know (1) "the hope of his calling," (2) "the riches of the glory of his inheritance,..." 

...Someone might ask, "Didn't the Ephesians already know these things?"...

...It's one thing to know about car engines; it's quite another to have the expert knowledge of a mechanic....

...Paul's prayer was that through a spirit of wisdom and revelation, the Ephesians would come to know the Father in a deeper, more perfect way than they had before....

Pray for spiritual understanding today. Ask the father for understanding of his word before you read your Bible. He wants you to come into a deeper relationship with him. Jesus studied with teachers in the synagogue. He astounded his teachers, but the point is that he went to the synagogue to receive instruction in his Father's house. Jesus grew in wisdom. He set the example for all of his followers. Luke 2:41-51

Read your Bible and attend Sunday School.  The eyes of your heart will receive enlightenment and you will grow in wisdom. 

Psalm of the Week - 119:18 - August 3, 2015

I have heard this sentence from fellow followers of Jesus Christ," I do not read my bible because I don't understand it." I did not understand a lot of the bible for a long time. Fortunately, I had several mentors (mature Christian women) who helped me realize the steps I needed to take in order for me to understand what I read in my bible.

1. Ask God for understanding of the scripture, or verses that are being read.

2. Use verses like Psalm 119:18 as prayers. Again, ask for understanding through prayer.

3. Use a study bible. A study bible is an invaluable tool to help you understand what life was like when the different books of the bible were written.

4. Go to Sunday School. Studying the bible in Sunday School will give you a mentor to talk too. Your mentor could be your Sunday School teacher, or another member of your class. 

5. Having trouble reading the words? Buy an audio bible that reads the bible to you and then you can follow along in your own bible. Listening to the difficult words, instead of trying to figure them out will help you to increase your understanding, too.