Women of Promise

    This devotional is from a spiritual mentor of mine, whom I have never met yet, but have listened to and learned from for many years.  Nancy Demoss Wolgemuth is a gentle-hearted Bible teacher, who teaches women to study the Bible, encouraging them in their relationship with Jesus. I needed this this week and I wanted to share with you. This is excerpts from a study she taught called "Seeking Him" on a Revive Our Hearts  podcast. I have linked the full transcript below. I hope you will take the time to listen to or read it all at some point.   I think most of you are probably familiar with the story of Helen Keller. You may have seen the video or the play called  The Miracle Worker . When Helen was nineteen months old, she was struck with a fever that left her blind and deaf. When she was six, her parents hired a tutor whose name was Anne Sullivan, to come and help this child develop some skills. When Anne first came to live in the Keller ...

 (Repost from a couple of years ago)      I am sentimental by nature.  I love things and pictures that remind me of times and people gone by.  But when I hit different milestones myself, I grow even more retrospective.  This tendency is not always healthy. It is easy to fall into traps of self-pity and wallow in our perceived loss.  However, we can learn from meditating on the lessons passed on by those who have gone before us.  These can serve as building blocks for us to build a legacy of faith and dedication to serving our Savior.       If you will indulge me, I would like to reminisce about my mother a bit.  Mom graduated to her heavenly home almost 20 years ago.  My birthday was a couple weeks ago and  I have reflected frequently on the fact that I am roughly the same age as my mom was when she received her cancer diagnosis.  A couple of health scares (which God graciously showed to be nothing...

     “You are loved with an everlasting love and underneath are the everlasting arms.  {Jeremiah 31:3} That’s what the Bible says…”  These words were the introduction to a radio program called Gateway to Joy , hosted by Elisabeth Elliot, wife of the martyred Jim Elliot.  My mom listened almost daily to this broadcast and I loved listening to the calm, confident voice of Elisabeth as she breathed life-giving words of encouragement from the Bible into the hear ts of mothers in all stages of life.  From the women aching to hold a child to the young mother living for bedtime when she might be able to wash her face and grab a bite to eat, to the wonderful, adored grandmother or the great-grandmother whose hair has turned to beautiful gray, Mrs. Elliot shared how the work of a mother’s hands and heart is a gift of worship to our Creator and is something all women can participate in.        The Westminster Shorter Catechism begins wit...

     Boys seem to naturally love to play war-themed games, don't they?  Sticks and even fingers inevitably turn to guns.  Around our house, the boys are just as likely to turn to full-body wrestling. With seven boys in the house (I have to include the adult boys in this! 😁), it is a constant chore to referee these wrestling matches.  Their energy is never ending, and their imagination is always rolling!     Another battle is constantly raging around us.  It is entirely real. This is not a figment of our imagination.  There is a battle for our souls and the souls of our children.  Each one of us has this battle raging within us every hour of every day.  This is a spiritual battle that is always taking place in our hearts for control of our minds and bodies.  These attacks are led by the Evil One, himself.       As my children grow, I love those times when their minds are captivated by something of true...

This past weekend was our girls' dance finale for the school year. We are blessed to have a church in the area which offers several dance, music and art classes. The goal of this program is to encourage the students to use these artistic expressions as a means to glorify and worship the Lord. The finale was an entire worship service, full of beautiful music and dance. The theme was the hope that comes from our Lord.  One thing was mentioned during this beautiful service, that has given me food for meditation. Galations 2:20 was quoted, but there was a slight change in wording from what I was most familiar:  "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith OF the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." KJV Newer translations read "... faith IN the Son of God..." and this is what I am used to hearing.  I had to look into this more closely. ...

      The words to the Gaither hymn, "Because He Lives," have been rolling through my mind this week.  At many difficult points in my life, the lyrics to this song have encouraged my heart, bolstered my faith and brought me peace by turning my focus back to the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus.  "Because He lives I can face tomorrow.  Because He lives all fear is gone!  Because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He LIVES!" ~Bill and Gloria Gaither        As we look to the celebration of this pivotal event this week, it is a beautiful exercise to review what the resurrection means to each one of us who are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.  It is more than a yearly excuse to get together with family and eat a delicious dinner. It is far more than chocolate and pretty eggs.   Why is the fact that Jesus walked out of that grave three days after His death significant to you and I to...

 I Samuel 1:27 “For this child I prayed, and the LORD granted me my petition which I asked of  Him.” NKJV We talked about women to emulate and imitate in an earlier post. Hagar, although a maidservant and a pawn, sought and found the God-Who-Sees. Another Old Testament  woman that has impacted my life is the opposite of Hagar - Hannah, a beloved wife. Hannah was a much loved but barren wife in a society where a woman’s worth was measured  in the children, she blessed her husband with. Her husband (as was the custom in that time)  had another wife and children, but he held a special place in her heart for Hannah and always  made sure she had a double portion. Hannah, while at the Tabernacle worshipping one year,  made a vow to the Lord and pleaded for a child. She promised the Lord that if He blessed her,  she would return that child to the Lord and it would serve Him all of its life. Like, Hannah, I have been childless in a world where babies seem...