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News From ContagiousJoy4Him.com |
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Calling All Minister's Wives!Calling All Minister's Wives!Diane Nix  |
Got enemies? Feeling unloved?
Please don't miss the devotional thoughts in this week's mailing. Two incredible Minister's wives, Anita and Heather, both at different places in their journey's will share their hearts with you. Awesome insight!
We are praying for you and asking God to do a mighty work in your and through your lives. Just BE before you DO and know that HE Loves you no matter what! You are on our hearts!
Check out the daily devotionals on contagiousjoy4him.com
Never Give Up!
Love, Diane Nix
www.contagiousjoy4him
www.dianenix.com
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Fall Back On Him
Anita Onareker  | Do you feel like collapsing from all
the summer activities? Are you just about ready to crumble? Go right ahead!
There IS someone who sustains you, and has already agreed to be your guarantor.
God provides for His own, and you-precious
minister's wife-are His own. He
supplies all you need, because of His great love for you.
I was a pastor's wife for many years
when I finally understood that God loved me, and it was revolutionary and life
changing for me. Secretly I longed to understand God's love, yet I often
wondered, does He really love me? I knew God loves the world, and I was
confident He loved you-but somewhere
deep inside was the destructive doubt: does God really love me? Doubting His specific love robbed me
for too many years.
People seek purpose [thinking of
purpose as something to DO or a
meaningful activity] when in reality, our value is who we ARE, and not the
result of what we do. Please stop and think about that a bit. The value is who
engages in the activity, not merely the activity itself. Because we carry the
very image of God and He assigned significance to our life, we have purpose, a reason to live. He loved
us first.
God assigns our value and greatly loves
each one of us. God's love is about Him-not about us. We cannot be bad enough
for Him to turn away from us, nor can we be good enough to claim His attention
or merit. People are the valued object of
God's love, and we have opportunity to respond to that love. Responding to His
love takes various shapes and forms [activities, deeds, etc].
� Micah 7:18b says that God's love does not change; it is
unchanging. It is fixed and will never be altered. This verse says that God
delights in this FACT of His love.
John 3:16
- for God so loves the world - - that He gave...
� Romans 8:35-39 tells that nothing, [see the list - make your own list of adversity] can
separate us from His LOVE.
� Romans 5, verse 5b - ...the love of God has been poured out
within our hearts through the Holy Spirit... verse 8a - ...God demonstrates His own love toward us...
Demonstrate means to explain or show something; to show
validity of something; To prove clearly and convincingly. On a side note: the word validity means effective, and unexpired.
God demonstrated that His love has NO expiration date!
God explained His love by making the
meaning clear. He showed His love by allowing it to be easily seen. He
displayed it, and made it available to "see". God proved His love clearly, and
convincingly-by having Jesus die on the cross. When did He do this?
While
we were still sinners, when we didn't care about it at all, and while we had no
clue He loved us. Jesus makes us acceptable to a Holy God. I am eternally grateful for His demonstration
of God's love.
I pray this minister's to the deepest
reaches of your heart and soul, and you will welcome His embrace - - that safe
place to fall!
Anita Onarecker Wood
Author, Divine Appointment: Our
Journey to the Bridge |
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Got Enemies?
Heather Moore  |
It hit me the other day as I was reading the book of Psalms
that King David was completely honest.
Sincerity characterized his relationship with God.
Praising God, confession of sin, or hiding from enemies it
didn't matter. He was so honest with his prayers. He held nothing back from God.
The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted. It is God who avenges me, and subdues the peoples under me; He
delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against
me; You have delivered me from the violent man. Therefore I will give thanks to
You, O LORD, and sing praises to Your name. Ps 18:47-49
David always knew who his enemies were and he prayed for
deliverance. Maybe the fact that David was physically hunted down by King Saul
or being chased by entire armies of men made identifying his enemies obvious.
But, the fact remains that he always knew who his enemies
were and what they were capable of doing to him if they caught him. So he prayed mightily against them.
Most of the time, I am not as keenly aware of what my
enemies are. Maybe at best I am oblivious
and at worst apathetic. But
lately, my enemies seem to be constant companions. Doubt and Fear are their names. They seem to show up at the wrong times and in the wrong
ways.
I doubt that in difficult circumstances God can deliver me
and I fear that He will choose not too.
An awfully disgusting thought, right? I don't claim my thought to be
logical. It is not. Nor do I claim my thought as
truth. It is not. It is a lie.
The God who created whole galaxies out of nothing knows me
better than myself. The God who
gave sight to the blind has the power to release me from my doubt. The God who raised Christ from the dead
has the ability to deliver me from fear.
So today I am following David's example and praying against
my enemies. They have no place in my mind or heart. Doubt and fear
do not gain me anything; they only serve to hold me back from fulfilling God's
plan for my life.
Father, release me
from my doubt and fear today.
Deliver my mind from untrue thoughts. Replace them with faith and peace.
What are your enemies?
Ask God to deliver you from them today.
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