[God] will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.

Everybody’s had some kind of bad stuff in her life; I sure have. And nobody’s saying we’re supposed to laugh every time another punch finds its mark. The important thing is to remember, during those times of weeping and mourning, the promise that God “will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.” Whisper it to yourself when you find yourself at trouble’s doorstep: “God will yet fill my mouth with laughter and my lips with shouts of joy.” Let that promise of joy-yet-to-come be your strength during the hard times.

The more you practice this attitude, the more powerful it is and the faster it pops into your mind when you’re confronted with difficulties. During my own trials, and I’ve certainly had my share, I’ve learned to reach into my innermost human computer and pull out scriptural data that can help me remember what

God has done for me in the past and what he has promised to do for me in the future. I can document the trials he has pulled me through, and, reviewing that history, I can anticipate where he might be taking me, even in the middle of trouble.

Excerpted from A Grand New Day ©2008 (Thomas Nelson) Used by permission.

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My determination to have a boring time was short-lived. I soon found out that one of my favorite childhood actors, Lisa Whelchel, was there and I got to hear her story. There’s just something about listening to a testimony from somebody you admire to help stir the heart. Since Lisa Whelchel was the first of many to speak that day, I decided to have a good time instead of a boring one. By the end of the day, I had listened to every word in every story, testimony, and song and shared my share of tears and laughter.

I remember at the end, one of the speakers said to fill out the card that came in the packets of flyers and pamphlets that asked if I had made a decision to take a step towards Christ and I don’t think I could have reached for my card any faster than I did. Proud, I filled it out and gave it to one of the people there. I shared my decision with my family on the trip home and the next Sunday, shared my decision with my new church. I have a good road ahead of me now and I owe it to Women of Faith. (And my grandmother, of course!)

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Scripture contains guidelines for God’s order:

• Your personal relationship to Jesus Christ (Matthew 6:33; Philemon 3:8);
• Your commitment to home and family—especially spouse and children (Genesis 2:24; Psalm 127:3; Ephesians 5:22,25; 6:4; 1 Timothy 3:2–5; 5:8; 1 Peter 3:7) and even to the extended family, as so beautifully portrayed in the relationship between Ruth and Naomi (Ruth 1:16–17);
• Your responsibility to employer and tasks assigned (see 1 Thessalonians 4:11–12); and
• Your service to God through ministries in the church and involvement in the community (see Colossians 3:17).

Once you have these divinely appointed criteria in mind, you are ready to sort out the opportunities that come (Psalm 32:8) and move forward in the most effective and productive management of time and resources. A very practical way of accomplishing this is to list all the tasks before you, consider each prayerfully as to merit and timeliness (see Colossians 2:5), arrange them in order of importance, then proceed to do the most important things first (see 1 Corinthians 14:40).

To be consistent in your priorities, consider these admonitions:

• Assign God first place (Matthew 6:33);
• Consult with the Father regularly in your quiet time (Psalm 55:17; Luke 5:15–16);
• Examine your own heart (Ecclesiastes 3:1);
• Keep yourself spiritually fit (Isaiah 30:15).

Jesus met with the Father in intensive prayer and meditation to determine his priorities and to prepare himself for each day (see Luke 5:15–16).

Note also these cautions:

• Put people before things (see 2 Corinthians 8:5).
• Do not limit your investment in those you love and others who cross your path, to money and gifts.
• Look for ways to invest yourself, your time, your energies.
• Family must be more important than occupation since Scripture clearly states that there is no success if the family is lost (1 Timothy 3:5; 5:8; Titus 2:4–5).
• Sometimes you must say no, as did even Jesus when some seemingly good requests for his time did not fit the overall plan for his ministry (Luke 4:42–43).

The underlying principle in determining priorities is always that spiritual values must overshadow worldly pursuits (2 Corinthians 4:18).

Excerpted from The Woman’s Study Bible, NIV © 2013 (Thomas Nelson) Used by permission.

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Obviously, Solomon was very bright, amazingly insightful, and clearly melancholy as he mused about life.  After his verbal wanderings, he focuses on life’s meaning in Ecclesiastes 12:13: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:  Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.”

Wiser words have never been spoken, and we can trust them even now, more than three thousand years later.

From Women of Faith Devotional Bible.  (Thomas Nelson) Copyright © 2003.  Used by permission.

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In a home in Capernaum, described by Mark as that of Peter and Andrew, the woman lay ill. Luke, the physician, informs us that her fever was high, and the accounts together tell us that the family  requested Jesus to heal her. She was important to them as well as to Jesus. He took her by the hand, her strength returned immediately and she got up and began serving the guests.

The value of a mother to a family has always been substantial, and Jesus certainly understood this family’s potential loss. But his miracle also reinforced his valuation of women in a society where many considered them to be inferior.

The healing also calls attention to Jesus’ pity for his own race. He displayed his power to a Jewish mother, a symbol of his deep desire that his own nation return to their covenant-keeping God. It is one more touch of God’s indescribable love. The woman responded by serving him, a stellar example to  very woman who feels his touch.

See also Mk 1:29–31; Lk 4:38–39; charts on In-Law or In-Love; Women and Jesus (found in The Woman’s Study Bible)

Excerpted from The Woman’s Study Bible, NIV © 2013 (Thomas Nelson) Used by permission.

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Candace is probably most familiar for her role as D.J. Tanner from the hit television series Full House, but that was before she grew up, got married, and put her career on hold to raise a family. “I never wanted to stop [acting], but after I had my children I had to reprioritize things in my life. I really wanted to be home with my children and be able to raise them. Traveling and working full-time just wouldn’t allow for that the way I wanted to do it.” After her husband (professional hockey player Valeri Bure) retired in 2006, the couple prayed about what to do “for a couple of years, then decided to open that door again.”

Now she’s back in front of the camera and appearing on GMC TV this Saturday (May 18) in the original GMC World Premiere Movie Finding Normal. What made Candace decide to take on the part of a brilliant big-city surgeon who finds herself stuck in a small town for three life-altering days? “I’m always looking at the script to see if this is a story that I want to tell and what kind of message is behind it,” she said. “Is this something that’s relatable or that someone can watch and it can encourage them or inspire them or get them asking questions?”  Beyond that, “I want to do something I haven’t done before. I want to find something in a character that I haven’t played before, that will be challenging for me.”

As for her role as Dr. Lisa Leland, Candace says, “She’s very driven and she doesn’t have the nicest bedside manner; that is something that is not inherently me. From a character aspect it was really fun to dig in and find her back story, why she is the way she is. She really takes a look at her life and wants to decide if the path she’s chosen for herself is really the path that God wants her on. I think that so many of us can relate to that theme in our life, certainly reflecting on our life to make sure that we’re where we think God wants us to be.” Reflecting on her own life, Candace says, “all the decisions I make in my life, not even just regarding work, have to do with my faith and where my focus is, making choices that are honoring to God as best as I can.”

Candace hopes viewers are entertained and know “they’re safe” in watching Finding Normal, but she also thinks it could do more. For instance, it could “maybe spark a conversation with your kids; maybe it might make someone just stop and think where they’re at with their life; and maybe it might inspire someone to take a step of faith and seek God in their life.” She continued, “There are so many things that I hope for in each project that I do. Overall, I just pray that it’s honoring to God.”

See Candace Cameron Bure in the original GMC World Premiere Movie Finding Normal airing on

Saturday, May 18 at 7, 9 And 11 P.M. ET/ PT on GMC TV.

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A Conversation with Candace Cameron Bure appeared first on Women of Faith.