A Study in Spiritual Warfare

The spiritual world is very real. Our bodies won't last forever, but our spirits will!

As Christians, we need to remember this always. Live with eternity in mind! Even more than this, know that there is a real devil and there are real demons lurking throughout this world. Instead of just being fearful, be educated and stand firm in faith! Read what God’s word says about this. There is a spiritual battle going on, but God is MUCH more powerful than satan and demons! 

To promote your biblical study on this, I encourage you to check out the study our life-group is doing. It's a study in Spiritual Warfare by Mark Driscoll via Mars Hill Church in Seattle,WA. 

Check out this message series and more @ http://www.marshillchurch.org/search/results?q=spiritual+warfare

Read the passage of scripture below and visualize the metaphors of putting on the armor of God. As Christ followers, Jesus lives in us! Allow God to totally encompass you and live through you!When we grasp the power in this- wow, it is mind-blowing! 

Satan will try to bring us down, but it is all in vain because he knows that ultimately God is winning the war! Be alert, pray and read the Bible. Use God's word as a sword to fight any battle that comes your way! Be persistent and stand firm in the faith!

The Whole Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-20

 10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

 13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

 19 And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike. 20 I am in chains now, still preaching this message as God’s ambassador. So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should.

Worship Jesus with your kids in song and dance!

We sang and danced to this song at the grade school age children's church this weekend. I found it on YouTube and have been playing it today. My girls love it! It is a fun, energetic song with a great message! Choreograph some dance moves with lots of jumping around, and it's a great way to burn some calories and praise God with your kids! :)

Unhindered

We Shine lyrics

We shine, we shine, with the light of god

And when we speak, we speak with words of love

And when we dance, we may get a little wild

Cause we're the people of god, yeah, the people of god

When we sing, we sing, the angels' songs

The ones they're singing around the throne

We worship the king with everything that we are

Cause we're the people of god, yeah, the people of god

Now is the time for the people to rise

Lift up a shout, everybody cry out

Raise your voice, shout out a noise

Dance a dance of joy

We are the redeemed

We are the ones who are free

And we belong to Jesus

We are now alive

And in this world we will shine

We belong to Jesus

Where the spirit of god is freedom reigns

So come on, come on throw off your prison chains

We're liberated by a king only freedom remains

For the people of god, yeah, the people of god

[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/u/unhindered/we_shine.html ]

We're living in a kingdom that will never end

Living in the power that defeated sin

So come on everybody let your praise begin

Cause Jesus is alive and he's coming again

Now is the time for the people to rise

Lift up a shout, everybody cry out

Raise your voice, shout out a noise

And dance a dance of joy

We are the redeemed

We are the ones who are free

And we belong to Jesus

We are now alive

And in this world we will shine

We belong to Jesus

We're going into all the world

Carrying the light of Jesus

And we shine, we shine

In the darkest place we shine

We're going into all the world

Carrying the light of Jesus

And we shine, we shine

In the darkest place we shine

Now is the time for the people to rise

Lift up a shout, everybody cry out

Raise your voice, shout out a noise

And dance a dance of joy

We are the redeemed

We are the ones who are free

And we belong to Jesus

We are now alive

And in this world we will shine

We belong to Jesus

We are the redeemed

We are the ones who are free

And we belong to Jesus

We are now alive

And in this world we will shine

We belong to Jesus

1 Peter 1

1 Peter 1 (NIV, ©2011)

1 Peter 1

 1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

   To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:

   Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Praise to God for a Living Hope

 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

 10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

Be Holy

 13 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”[a]

 17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

 22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.[b] 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For,

   “All people are like grass, 

   and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; 

the grass withers and the flowers fall, 

 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.”[c]

   And this is the word that was preached to you.

When Love Tarries

"When Love Tarries" is chapter 4 in LAZARUS AWAKENING by Joanna Weaver. I got an excerpt of it in my monthly In Touch magazine (you can get your free magazine too, just register online @ http://www.intouch.org/). The website has April's articles on it, but I was reading from May's, which isn't online yet. I would like to post the article b/c it was great, but can't find it online. So, here are some study questions related to it. You don't need to read the article first. This is just a great little study for a quiet time with God from the Study Guide that goes with the book. 

Adapting to less-than-perfect situations 

Waiting for the fulfillment of our needs or desires 

Accepting not only delays but also denials of what we want 

etc..

One of the hardest things for many people to understand about God is that He doesn’t always interrupt or intervene when we’re in trouble. Instead, He specializes in redeeming the situation, using it for our good and His kingdom. Look at the following passages and write down the problem God allowed and the benefit that eventually resulted.

Acts 7:59–8:3 Acts 11:19–21

Acts 21:30–36 Philippians 1:12–14

Problem:_____________________________ Result: ______________________________

Problem:_____________________________ Result: ______________________________

We humans tend to love formulas—if we do A and we do B, then God will have to do C. 

Read Isaiah 55:8–9 and Romans 11:33–36 several times, and allow the heavenly perspective to sink into your heart. 

Write a response to the Lord concerning the ways you may have tried to control Him through “formulas” rather than simply trusting He knows what is best.

What do the following verses have to say about the benefits of waiting? Circle the benefit that means the most to you.

Psalm 40:1–3 _________________________________________ Isaiah 64:4 ___________________________________________ Lamentations 3:24–27 __________________________________

Read Romans 8:28 and write it back to the Lord as a prayer, replacing “all things” with specific details of your situation. End the prayer with a declaration of your love and commitment to His will.

There are a lot of great songs out there to minister to us in times of tribulation. In particular, the chorus of this song has been in my head all day!

I just keep singing:

"You Are My Joy

 You Are My Joy

 You Are My Joy

 You Are My Joy"

Let HIM fill you with HIS JOY that is unconditional and everlasting!

David Crowder's "You Are My Joy"

And He set me on fire, and I am burning alive.

With His breath in my lungs I am coming undone.

And he set me on fire and I am burning alive.

With his breath in my lungs I am coming undone.

And I cannot hold it in 

Remain composed.

Love's taken over me 

So I propose the letting myself go.

I am letting myself go.

You are my joy.

You are my joy.

You are my joy.

You are my joy.

And He set me on fire, and I am burning alive.

With His breath in my lungs I am coming undone.

And He set me on fire, and I am burning alive.

With His breath in my lungs I am coming undone.

And I cannot hold it in and remain composed.

Love's taken over me and so I propose the letting myself go.

I am letting myself go.

You are my joy.

You are my joy.

You are my joy.

You are my joy.

I need to catch my breath, I need to.

I need to catch my breath, give me a moment now.

You are my joy.

You are my joy.

You are my joy.

You are my joy.

I'm laughing so hard

And I'm laughing so hard

And I'm laughing so hard

Develop a Personal Mission Statement

Love this idea! I gotta do it! Thanks Titus 2 at the Well and Passionate Homemaking for this inspiration!

Project 16: Develop a Personal Mission Statement

Written on April 18, 2011 by Ashley Wells

0 Thoughts Shared - Leave a comment!

Each Monday, we share a project that relates to being a Christian woman and living out our Titus 2 roles in real life. For more information about this feature or to submit a project idea,click here.
This week’s project is:

to develop a personal mission statement.
A while ago I read a post from Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking that talked all about this. It was very inspiring!
Lindsay explains step by step how to make a mission statement:
1. List Your Roles
2. Dream
3. Define Your Roles
4. Make it beautiful and visible
Check out her post for more help this week while you make a personal mission statement. Having a clear mission and purpose is important!

Blown Egg Ornaments

I was honestly thinking today how I wish I could get Silk Tie-Dyed Eggs to last forever. They would be beautiful lasting gifts to give and decor for your home. So I went to Our Best Bites and voila, look what I found! Genius! I love this site :) Thanks! Check out their facebook page too!

04.15.2011

How To: Make Blown Egg Ornaments 

One of our most popular holiday posts is our tutorial on dying Easter eggs with pieces of silk. It’s a unique process that creates amazingly beautiful eggs and it’s always a shame when it’s time to toss them!  Many readers have asked if it was possible to use the same process on a blown-out egg so they could be kept indefinitely.  The problem that arises is that hollow eggs float, so they’re difficult to boil.  But thanks to one resourceful reader, we’ve solved that problem.  So today I thought I’d do a little tutorial about how to blow out an egg, and then create charming little ornaments from them- including silk-dyed ones!

First you’ll need to gather some household supplies.  Some people will tell you that you have to have special egg-blowing tools with special egg-blowing names.  This is a sham.  You really just need a baby snot sucker (seriously, isn’t that the real name?), a pin, and a paper clip.

You can also try a plastic medicine syringe (instead of the snot-sucker), the type you’d use to give medicine to an infant.  The one in my picture is much too narrow but I thought I’d include it anyway to show you the type.  You’d just want a much wider one (but really I think the blue squishy blower thingy works better)  You also need a paper clip, and in a minute I’ll show you how some drill bits come in handy as well.

If you’re going to save the inside of the egg for cooking, then make sure to wash the outside of your egg and make sure that all of the tools you are using are clean and sanitized.

Place your eggs in a bowl of warm water for about 10 minutes before starting.  This will make the entire process much easier.  Hold an egg firmly (you know, as firmly as you can hold an egg) and use your pin to gently pierce a hole in one end.  It helps to gently twist the pin back and forth first to sort of screw it in before you actually push it through.  (These are my husbands man-hands by the way.   Nice job honey, you’re a natural.)  Repeat on the other end of the egg.

Once you have a teeny tiny pin hole, it helps to have a teeny tiny drill bit (seriously, the smallest one in the set).  Gently “drill” through your pin hole to enlarge it.

Now grab that paper clip and unfold it.  Stick the paper clip inside the egg and swirl it all over the place.  The object here is to scramble that yolk up which will help it all come out easily.

Now grab the infant bulb syringe (I had to google that.  True story.)  If you don’t have an infant or former infant in your home and therefore don’t have 17 of these laying around your house, you can get one at the drug store for a very inexpensive price.  Like, cheaper than 9 months of pregnancy and then child-birth in order to get 5 free from the hospital.

Place it directly over one of the holes and squeeze over a bowl.  The egg will come right out of the other end.  If you meet any resistance, don’t keep blowing air or your egg might explode.  Give it a shake, or stick the paper clip in again, or increase the size of your hole.

Once everything is blown out, you might want to fill your syringe with warm water and blow it into the egg.  Shake it up and then blow it out to get the inside clean.

Once you’ve got your hollowed out egg you can do all sorts of crafty things with it.  To make an ornament, thread ribbon, string, or twine through the holes.  Using a extra long crafting needle really helps.  If you need to enlarge your holes to fit the ribbon, use your pin to gently pick away at it.

Just tie a knot at the bottom end and a loop at the top end.

To make Silk Dyed eggs, follow the instructions in this tutorial. When it comes to the step where you boil the eggs in the pot, use a strainer turned upside-down to keep the eggs under the water.  OR, if you can fill your eggs with water it will weigh them down as well.

After they come out they will be filled with boiling water.  Make sure to let them cool first, and then blow out the water.   After they’re dry, thread ribbons through so you can display them!

If you want to dye your eggs with normal colored dye, then dye uncooked eggs before you blow them out.  Try adding beads to your string.  It not only looks pretty, but it covers up messy holes!

I love plain, solid color eggs- and they look really pretty with colored beads.  These would be really cute with monograms drawn on- or cut out of vinyl.

I’ve always wanted to learn Ukrainian egg painting, aka: Pysanka, but apparently I have too many hobbies already.  So I settled for a Sharpie.

Turns out all of those years of mindless doodling in school was actually useful.  Way more useful than algebra at least.

I should mention I totally snagged this idea from  my little sis who sent me pics of egg ornaments she made last year.  She painted designs on them with black paint and threaded them with red ribbon which was so pretty.

Lastly, you know how much we love seeing your projects- so post them on our Facebook page so we can all oooh and ahhhh!