I just returned from speaking at Singing Hills and we had
a sweet time in God’s presence.
The ladies inspired me
with their creativity and humbled me with their expressions of love for one
another.
.jpg "gems and beads on the crocheted doily")
We dug for gems, seeking
to find a shimmer of promise in the middle of the hard places. We dissected God’s
word in Philippians 4:6-9 and discovered the precious promise of peace.
Paul writes this letter to friends and commands them (and us) to:
Rejoice in the Lord always
Let your gentle spirit be made known to everyone
Be anxious for nothing, but in (not for) everything with
prayer and praise, bring your requests to God
And peace that will baffle the world will settle over us, and guard our heart and mind.
.jpg "shiny gemstones in a glass dish")
Every time we saw a gem glimmer in the garbage, we
added another gemstone to a dish on our centerpiece.
We discovered that we need to deliberately
seek out the positive in order to guard against despair and discouragement. And, like Jehoshaphat we need to put praise out in front to protect us from the enemy. (2 Chronicles 20)
We asked the question, “What if I don’t see anything good?” (Click to Tweet) because sometimes there is nothing that looks remotely like a gem.
Even when we don’t see the true,
lovely, excellent, or worthy of praise yet—God has given us His promises to
hold onto and His character is trustworthy.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 (Click to Tweet)
God is the substance, my friends. He is the reason for
our hope. He has been faithful in the past and will be faithful again.
.jpg "Cross with gems and beads surrounding it")
Psalm 138:8 says, "God will accomplish everything that concerns us."
I appreciate you praying for our weekend. I saw the
burdens lift from the women's shoulders as their praises rose to the Lord who loves them. Their faces shone with His glory.
Your prayer and God’s
power accomplished it!
All for His glory,
Jeanne
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Very nice article. Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Western...it is a recap of our weekend together in New Hampshire. We had a wonderful time in the word and together as sisters in Christ
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great program. Hope to join you in one of these presentations. Life is great when we take time to look for God's treasures.
ReplyDeleteTeach on!
Looking for the gems--focusing our heart and mind there, brings peace in the midst of circumstances. Thanks for your comment, Carolyn. I appreciate your thoughts and do hope you CAN join me someday at an event :)
ReplyDelete