Making a House a Home

I've so very much to be thankful for, but nothing compares to knowing Christ!! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Mrs. U

Thank you to Do Not Depart for a GREAT article reminding us why we need to memorize the books of the Bible!!!  Read here...

As Christians, we should be memorizing Scripture-hiding God's Word in our hearts.   We are to have the mind of Christ and how better to do that than to truly know them by heart?

How to get started?   Here are a few helpful ways from...

1) A Holy Experience

2) Living Proof Ministries (Beth Moore)

3) Revive Our Hearts (Nancy Leigh DeMoss)


And here's what John Piper has to say about memorizing God's Word....



So... what are YOU memorizing right now? 

Are any of y'all involved with Good Morning Girls?  The next session is starting up on January 15th and I'd love to be part of a group!!  Let me know if anyone is interested!

His,
Mrs. U

The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards (1722-1723)

Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God's help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ's sake.

Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week.

1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad's of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever.

read the rest here....

Love never fails.

“Do we as a society believe that family is so important that we uphold caring for home and children as the best and most important job a woman might ever have?”...continued...

I enjoy reading what Courtney shares at Women Living Well.   She is so encouraging to remind her readers to get in the Word and focus on the Lord.  Right now she has a giveaway for a book entitled "Putting God Back in the Holidays".  Y"all be sure and head over there and enter to win!! 

“Yes, I read the Bible this morning. Don’t ask me what it said, because I don’t remember!”... read more....

Regeneration

O God of the Highest Heaven,
occupy the throne of my heart,
take full possession and reign supreme, lay low every rebel lust,
let no vile passion resist thy holy war;
manifest thy mighty power,
and make me thine for ever.
Thou art worthy to be praised with my every breath,
loved with my every faculty of soul.
served with my every act of life.
Thou has loved me, espoused me, received me,
purchased, washed, favoured, clothed, adorned me,
when I was worthless, vile, soiled, polluted.
I was dead in iniquities,
having no eyes to see thee,
ne ears to hear thee,
no taste to relish thy joys,
no intelligence to know thee; But thy Spirit has quickened me,
has brought me into a new world as a new creature,
has given me spiritual perception,
has opened to me thy Word as light, guide, solace, joy.
Thy presence is to me a treasure of unending peace;
No provocation can part me from thy sympathy,
for thou hast drawn me with cords of love,
and dost forgive me daily, hourly.
O help me then to walk worthy of thy love,
of my hopes, and my vocation.
Keep me, for I cannot keep myself;
Protect me that no evil befall me;
let me lay aside every sin admired of many;
Help me to walk by thy side, lean on thy arm,
hold converse with thee,
That henceforth I may be salt of the earth and a blessing to all.

HT- A Portrait of a Lady

From Nancy Leigh DeMoss

It seems there’s a lot of emphasis in the church today on freedom, love, and worship, as there should be. But we need to remember that God has established a process that leads to true freedom, love, and worship—and there are no short-cuts.

True worship begins with brokenness and humility over our sin. Mourning over our sin leads to repentance and then forgiveness. That produces freedom from guilt and bondage. Freedom gives us a greater capacity for love and then for worship.

And of course, true love and worship will lead us back to a new level of brokenness, deeper repentance, increased forgiveness, freedom, love, and worship.

So there’s nothing wrong with popping in a worship CD. But remember, we can’t experience true freedom, love, and worship unless we enter by way of humility, repentance, and forgiveness.

This is from Nancy Leigh DeMoss....

What helps you to grow in holiness?

“Come to the Holiness Conference—this weekend at the Expo Center!”

“Buy 7 Steps to Holiness today, at your local Christian retailer.”

You know, God uses something surprising to teach us holiness—suffering! In fact, the pathway to holiness always involves suffering.

When our lives are all roses and no thorns, we tend to be spiritually complacent. We neglect serious self-examination and confession. But affliction has a way of stripping away the stubborn deposits of selfishness that build up in the course of everyday life.

The psalmist put it this way, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.”

Are you going through a time of suffering? Let me encourage you, hard as it may be, to embrace it as a gift from God. Ask Him to use this time to make you more like Him.

It's never too early to start thinking about Christmas gifts- especially when it involves Samaritan's Purse and Operation Christmas Child.

I'm sure many of y'all are already involved in making shoeboxes each year, but if not, please watch the video and then head over to Samaritan's Purse and read how you, your family and your church can get involved this year.

I recently stumbled across a blog that shared about Rachel Barkey. She is a sister in the Lord who is dying of cancer. But, she says...

“Cancer does not define me. Neither does being a wife or a mother. All these things are part of who I am but they do not define me. What defines me is my relationship with Jesus.”

Please make time, especially any of you that do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, to go watch Rachel's video entitled "Death is Not Dying". And remember to pray for her and her family.

I received this email yesterday from Nancy Leigh DeMoss. How I appreciate her ministry!!

Who is supposed to serve?

In the past couple of decades, there’s been a movement challenging men to love and serve their wives. Every woman I know is very encouraged when we see God turning men’s hearts toward the Lord and their families.

We need to remember that God didn’t make men to be helpers to their wives. God made the wife to be a helper to her husband. In today’s evangelical world, it’s “politically correct” to challenge men to go home and serve their wives. It’s not so popular to talk to women about their responsibility to serve their husbands.

If we as women focus on what we think we deserve—what men “ought” to do for us—we’re likely to get hurt and resentful when our expectations aren’t fulfilled.

If your husband’s learning to serve you, that’s great. But remember, you’re never more like Jesus than when you’re serving other people.