Women of Promise

      When we hear something frequently, we kind of get desensitized to it, don't we?  I anxiously waited for Bentley to say "Mama" for the first time.  Now, after 15 years and 7 children, hearing someone call out, "Mama!" blends in to the normal everyday noise and I don't stop to realize how precious it is to have that title nearly often enough.       How often do we hear or say, "In Jesus' name, Amen." without stopping to think about what we are saying or just heard? I am guilty of this over and over again.  It is entirely appropriate for us to close our prayers with these words.  But, why?  Did you know that Revelation 3:14, Amen is given as a name for Jesus? To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen , the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. Revelation 3:14, NIV      Jesus is "The Amen!"  What does that mean?  Amen mean that something is absolut...

Image source: Knowing-Jesus.com      I think a lot of things.  No one knows what goes on inside my head except God.  Until I speak or write these things, they are unknowns to the outside world.  I could think for a lifetime that I love a person.  However, they will never really know that until I tell them.  My children will never know I need them to do something if I only think it.  I will need to tell them... and probably tell them over and over again!! To communicate, I use words and actions.       Jesus is God's Word, or the way that we can know God.  Jesus is God.  He is also the communication from God that tells us who and what God is.  He is the Word of God.  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1             Note the wording at the end of John 1:1.  "The Word was God."  It does not say, "The Word was a ...

       Shakespeare wrote "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."  I am not quite convinced (like Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables) that a rose would smell quite as beautiful if it were called a thistle or a skunkcabbage. 😆     When we name our children, we often think long and hard about what this child will be called for the rest of their lives.  Perhaps it is a beloved relative's name, or the name of a special person or place.  Often we research the meanings and choose one that reflects a positive image or message.  Maybe we just like the way the name sounds when combined with a middle or last name.       Depending on who you read, there are somewhere between 200 to 350 (possibly more) different names for Jesus in the Bible!  What we must understand is in the Hebrew culture of Biblical times, names were much more than just a title.  Names conveyed a description of who or what that person was...

     The Psalms are full of beautiful, lyrical praise to our God.  I know I am guilty of glancing over a Psalm in my Bible reading and saying, "Aw, isn't that nice?" and glibly moving on to my next reading.  Digging into my Bible recently, I rediscovered Colossians 3:16. I started looking into it just a little bit.    Let  the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom,  singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,  with thankfulness in your hearts to God.      "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly..."  Is that the desire of your heart? Is this a reality for you? Paul gave this as a directive to the church. This means it is an attainable goal for each of us, if we choose.   For the "word of Christ" to dwell in us, this tells us we need to be spending a lot of time there.  We need to be reading, memorizing and meditating on this frequently, even constant...