Dew Drops from Heaven

I posted this last year in July. As I was reading over this post, I found it to be just as encouraging now as I did then. My prayer is to encourage and love those who are dear to me with the words of my mouth. "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer" Psalm 19:14 May our words be a sweet sound in the ears of our Lord and a refreshing drop of dew on the hearts of those we love.


How often do we take the time to encourage the people we love? How often do we make an effort to tell them how much they mean to us, how we were moved when they did or said a particular thing? Well this evening I saw the importance of verbally encouraging the ones we love and in this particular case, our spouses.

We had some good friends over and we enjoyed a game of Win, Lose, or Draw, but with a twist. Each clue that was to be drawn was associated with a virtue. (Love, humility, etc.) As we unfolded each one some marvelous things were brought to the light. We had the opportunity to tell our spouses things we never thought to say and maybe things they thought they would never hear. It was such a beautiful thing to see. The encouragement that came from a few words. The air seemed easier to breathe and the future was something we could look forward to.

I would beseech thee to take the time to encourage your spouse. Let him or her know about the little things they do, or the qualities they possess, how those entities encourage you.

I want to leave you with a quote from the beloved author John Bunyan. He says so wonderfully:

"The doctrine of the gospel is
like the dew and the small rain that distilleth upon the tender grass, wherewith
it doth flourish, and is kept green (Deut. 32:2). Christians are like the
several flowers in a garden, that have upon each of them the dew of heaven,
which being shaken with the wind, they let fall their dew at each other's roots,
whereby they are jointly nourished, and become nourishers of one another. For
Christians to commune savourily of God's matters one with one another, it is as
if they opened to each other's nostrils boxes of perfume."

As the dew drops from heaven, may we nourish the roots of the one we love.

The 'Ivy' League Devotional Pt. 2

1 John 2 picks up where chapter 1 left off and tells us how we can be forgiven of our sins. “But if anyone does sin we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins-and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.” 1 John 2:1-2. Glory hallelujah!!!!! Thank you, Father for your grace and mercy. Once we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, he’s got our back! He is our attorney and we will not be condemned!

The next part of 1 John 2: 7- 12; really challenges us. It gives us a new commandment that is old. It calls us to simply love one another. So if we say that we love Christ and go to church and won’t speak to Laneeqa because she rubs us the wrong way, we are still living in darkness (1 John 2:9).

From there John really starts to step on toes. He tells us not to love the things of the world more than God. Not to be caught up in or to take pride in our possessions and achievements. (1 John 2:15-17) If you can’t say “amen” say “ouch”! That’s smart. Take a deep breath, say a prayer and continue.

The last part of 1 John 2, teaches us about the antichrist. To test the spirit by the Spirit. When I first read this passage some years ago I was very confused about what it was directing us to do. “And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father.” 1 John 2:22-23. You cannot love God and deny Jesus. You cannot love Jesus and deny God. They are one.

We have the Holy Spirit in us that allows us to discern what is good from what is evil. When Christ sent the Holy Spirit that lives within us and the Holy Spirit teaches us what is true. The moment that we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior we receive the Holy Spirit into our hearts. When we get caught up in a movement or on the latest dynamic speaker to hit the airwaves, yet something deep inside is tugging at our hearts and no matter how hard we try to ignore the feeling, it still persist. That’s the Holy Spirit. My Bible commentary recommends the following Scriptures for more on the Holy Spirit and what He does: John 3:6, Acts 1:5 and Ephesians 1:13, 14.

John definitely stretches us in our Christian walk. The book of 1John also blesses us in assuring us in our relationship with our precious Lord and Savior.

Until next week, women of God. "May God’s grace be eternally upon all who love our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 6:24.

Yours in Christ,

Michelle

The 'Ivy' League Devotinal Pt. 1

This is a word from our Sister Michelle on I John chapters 1 & 2.

1John Chapter 1 & 2

Praise the Lord Women of God!!!! How is it with your soul today? I pray that you find yourselves overwhelmed in the presence of the Lord.

Welcome to all of our new members! God is truly blessing the “Ivy” League Bible Study Fellowship. Counting the day and evening groups combined, I think that we are nearing the 30 mark in number, as well as being spread out all over the U.S.! I am looking forward to our study time together and know that we are going to not only enjoy an incredible spiritual voyage, but a lot of laughs as well.

The ILBSF have been studying the book of 1 John for the past several weeks. My devotion assignment for the next two weeks, for the benefit of all of our newcomers, is to attempt to summarize our journey through the book of 1 John. This week I will ask for God’s guidance in covering 1 John Chapters 1 & 2. For next week’s devotion I will cover 1 John Chapters 3 – 5.

1 John was written by the apostle John, one of the original 12 disciples of Jesus Christ. This man walked and talked daily with our savior. John’s motivation for the book was to educate early Christians in regards to their faith and to help them discern false teachings. In 1 John, as with much of the Bible; it is astonishing how much of what applied then still applies today. Many of today’s Christians find ourselves confused about where we stand in our faith and who to believe or not to believe in regards to preaching the gospel versus false teachings. Well my sistas, John explains all of that to the early Christians as well as to Christians of today. John also provides assurance in regards to our relationship with Christ.

1 John Chapter 1 is only 10 verses long but full of power. The main concept is that God is light. “…God is light and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.” 1 John 1: 5-6. Either we are in relationship with God or we are not. We cannot say that we have a relationship with God and continue choosing sin. Sin is darkness and there is no darkness in God.

Because we are sinners; we have to confess our sins to God. God is faithful so He will forgive us. The challenge here for us my sistas, is admitting our sins. We have to ask God to convict our hearts of our sins so that we will seek repentance. I know that all of us do things that we know full well in our hearts are not of God and that we try to justify with those sins with excuses. “I was not gossiping, I was calling her so that she would pray for Sister Smith.” Remember ladies, if we say we have not sinned we are calling God a liar. 1 John 1:10.
So….. since this is via email, and we can’t see each other, all of us that have sinned and tried to justify the sin, raise your hand. No one sees but you and God. Confess and repent. Didn’t that feel good?!!!! I know I feel better already.

The 'Ivy' League Devotional

I shared with you earlier that I am venturing to memorize Psalm 119. I've learned the first eight verses and I am working on the next eight. I pray that there are many who are joining me and are experiencing the joy of engraving the Word of the Lord on our hearts.



My dear sister Jamie Love is apart of the Ivy League Bible Study Fellowship. It is a group of ladies from Illinois, Indiana, Georgia, Virginia,and New York. They are currently meeting, via the telephone, weekly and are going through the book of I John. Upon completion of I John they will begin studying Psalm 119. Jamie's niece, Michelle, will be writing a weekly devotional on this Psalm and I want to share her insights with you. Lord willing, I'll post it every Monday. Here is the first of her devotions. "Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart." Psalm 119:2

Psalm 119: 1-8

Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statues! Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. I will keep thy statues: O forsake me not utterly.

Welcome women of the “Ivy” League Bible Study to the meditations of Psalm 119. I have been blessed with the awesome task of writing weekly devotions over the course of our study of this beautiful poem. I am by no means a Bible scholar. I seriously considered extensive study and research of the scripture before I began the devotions. Considering the “Ivy” League Bible Study consist of minister’s wives, Bible study teachers, deacons and elders. Bishop anyone? I felt I better do my homework. However, after further prayer and leading by the Holy Spirit, I will write straight from the heart and pray God’s blessings over my thoughts.

Some of you already know that Psalm 119 is the longest Psalm and the longest chapter in the Bible. I feel that the Psalms are a collection of poems of praise, poems crying out to God for help and poems of advice. In the first eight verses of Psalm 119 we are being charged with sincere obedience of God’s law. If we are passionate about our search for God and his laws we will not stray from their paths. In this world of negotiations of principles and scruples; God has given us a book of instructions in which there is to be no deviation. As we draw nigh unto God and seek to please Him, we will spend more time honoring God and less time regretting some of our decisions. We can offer God our own psalm of thanks by obeying his laws. God in His awesome endless grace and mercy will always love us and as the writer pleads; the Lord will not give up on us.

Sisters; in the struggle of day to day living and as the wicked pleasures of gossip, nagging, envy and other sins try to over take us, hold fast to the law of the Lord and know that our treasures lie in heaven. Let us seek to be God pleasers.

Be blessed women of God. May the peace of our Lord reign over you until we meet again.

Michelle

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

There is a hymn that says, "Time is filled with swift transition, naught of earth unmoved can stand, build your hope on things eternal, hold to God's unchanging hand." I take comfort in knowing that the hand of our LORD does not change. With the many things we tend to face each day, which reminds us of the transition the world is making, it is with the unmovable, unchangeable hand of God that we are able to stand and accomplish the things set before us. Amen!!!

Over the past couple of weeks, almost a month, things have been moving in a, "I don't have time to slow down!" fashion. There have been trip after trip, loads of laundry to wash, dry, fold, pack, unpack, and wash again. As a result of that, my blogging has come to a 5 mile per hour crawl. (Not a complete halt) I am praising the Lord for this moment where I can share His faithfulness and goodness with you all.

My family and I just returned from Lecanto, Fl. My husband was the speaker for Seven Rivers family Bible conference. The conference was on the Pilgrims Progress. We all had a powerful time journeying through this book which depicts the christians life so vividly. I encourage all to visit www.sevenrivers.org to download the messages. I had a sobering time sitting under the preached word and I know that you'll, too, have one.

It's good to be in the swing of things again. Stay tuned there is more to come!!!

I Finished!!!

The 38th annual Peachtree Road Race has gone down in the history books. And praise the Lord, my name went down in it. The Peachtree was an event one cannot easily forget. I didn't realize how big the Peachtree was until I crossed the start line. There were people every where. Bands and radio stations lined the streets, along with families and friends with coolers full of cool drinks, something to eat and for some beer and wine. Little girls were on the side walks cheering on all of the participants in the race. I mean folks dressed in costumes, people from local churches, and volunteers. It was a sight to behold.


While the onlookers relaxed and soaked up the rays of the sun and for some the coolness of the shade, those who were actually participating had other things on their minds. Finishing!!!! As I was waiting for the announcers "On your marks, get ready, go!!!" I was asking myself, "What have I gotten myself into?" The start line was a long ways away from the finish line. I couldn't believe I was about to start a 6.2 mile race. Well, once the race began, there was no time to think about how far I had to go, but taking each step with the confidence that I was getting closer to the end.


Isn't that true of our walk with the Lord? How much time do we spend worrying about how much further we have to go? Or what obstacles may be in our way? I kept reminding myself that each step I take in this life is just a step closer to the life I'll spend in eternity with my Lord. In Hebrews 12:1 it says, ".... and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith...." Everyone there had a unified goal, and that was to reach the finish line and get the coveted T-shirt. However, I wanted to do more than just finish. I wanted to endure. That race was hard. There was a hill that was called "Cardiac Hill". It seemed as if that hill would never drop. Jesus also walked a road that probably seemed like it wouldn't end. Hebrews goes on to say, ".....who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." How awesome is that picture. Christ endured all the way to the cross and on the cross. I knew I could endure 6.2 miles which withers in comparison.


Jesus Christ was my inspiration and my strength. I can say with Paul "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." (2 Timothy 4:7 emphasis mine) Praise the Lord, I finished!!!!!

The New Life Conference

My dear beloved friends, have you ever eaten at Golden Corral or Ryans? Did you find yourself trying to figure out what to chew on first? That was my experience at the Godly Life conference in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. There was a buffet of God's Word, but this time I knew exactly what to chew on. Pastor Louis Love, Pastor Thaibiti Anyabwile, and Pastor Anthony Carter cooked up a serious dose of protein. I walked away full and satisfied. I thank the Lord for these men who are speaking boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. (Ephesians 6:19)

The fellowship was great!!! We spent alot of time laughing and eating. Each year I look forward to this conference. And each year I come back well nourished by the powerful Word of God. I highly recommend all to visit New Life's website and order the cd's from the conference. I guarantee you'll never be the same.

Continue to pray for next years conference. I'll keep you posted on dates as well as the conference theme.

Be sure to visit their site at http://www.newlifevh.org. (Click on Conferences, then Messages on CD.)

Hiding the Word In Our Hearts

The challenge has been set. Our next set of memory verses are from Psalm 119. Yes, my friends we will be taking a trip through the whole of Psalm 119. Now let us not fret, we will take the next six months to work on this. Each week we will memorize a section. (eight verses) As you go through this Psalm, take note of all the references to God's word. Just about every verse speaks of His word.

May the Lord be glorified as we seek to know Him through the study of His word.

"Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart."

Preparing for the Peachtree

In an earlier post I spoke of participating in the Peachtree Road Race, here in Atlanta, on the 4th of July. Friends, that time has come. More than 50,000 people, including me, are two days away from the anticipated event. Over the past couple of days I've been asking myself, "What have I gotten into?" :) Well, as I train for physical stamina, I've also been training for spiritual endurance. Memorizing and studying God's word has helped me tremendously. I am trusting and believing that His word will see me through. Hebrews 12:1 says,

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

My prayer is that I will run with endurance, just as Jesus Christ endured on the cross. The word of God has sustaining power!