MICAH: Simple Instructions

The prophets declared doom unendingly.  We don’t know if anyone ever asked, “What exactly does God want from us?”  Had that question been posed then or if it is today, Micah is a great place to go for the answer.  He gives it to us in Micah 6:8“.  He has shown you…what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Those are fairly simple instructions, but absolutely impossible to do unless God Himself empowers us, which is what He does through the ministry of His Holy Spirit.  What a great God we serve!  He tells us what to do then enables us to do it.

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

The Bible provides us with good examples of folks who patiently persevered, working in the background until they were called center stage to strut their stuff. Why, Moses was so far offstage, it took a burning bush to get him to move in the right direction. Joseph was thrown in prison. He used that time to prepare for God’s call. David was out in the field watching the sheep and learning how to take on lions, tigers, and bears when Samuel came calling to anoint David king.

Gideon was threshing wheat on his farm when an angel popped in for a little visit and an assignment to lead the Israelite army. James and John were fishing when Jesus called them to fish for men.

Moses, David, Gideon, James, and John all remind us that we should go about the business God has appointed for us today—whether that’s tossing out our chipped china saucers, puzzling over a long-lost process (like remembering how to cook), or tending the garden.

The Lord is perfectly capable of finding...

Conflict is inevitable in personal relationships. It is humanly impossible to live in total harmony with others at all times. Jesus told his disciples how to settle disputes between believers (Matthew 18:15–20). Paul resolved his conflict with John Mark, which had developed between the first and second missionary journeys (Acts 15:36–41). John warned Christians not to hate each other (1 John 4:20–21).

The Bible offers several steps to resolving conflict and settling disagreements among people:

1. Scripture admonishes the believer to face the conflict—acknowledge its existence and accept its impact. Christ advised his disciples to go immediately and directly to the person and discuss the grievance (Matthew 18:15). Others should be enlisted to mediate the conflict only if the conflict cannot be resolved one-to-one (Matthew 18:16–17).
2. Scripture instructs the believer to forgive the conflict—to put the disagreement behind and move ahead in harmony once...

Women of Faith - MARK: a Lesson in Focus

His Gospel and his story-telling ability are among my favorites.  Again and again in the Gospel of Mark, he uses the word immediately.  Mark was clearly fascinated by the Man, Christ Jesus.  He paid careful attention to how He lived, what He did, and what was important to Him.  Mark watched Him closely and wrote it all down.  He focused on the Savior as a servant.  We benefit today from his detailed account of the miraculous and marvelous life of our Savior.

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

The words of a gossip are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.  Proverbs 18:7-8

This has been difficult to write as I can be a guilty party in gossiping.  I often participate in these harmful conversations with good intentions of understanding a friendship, out of care, or maybe even to vent.  At some point my humanness gets the best of me and I’m not able to control my tongue and pride.

My conversations become prideful by allowing myself to feel more of a wife, mother, friend, or colleague. Or I can feel like the more trusted friend because I was the first to know about something intimate. Or perhaps I just want to be seen as “right” by telling my side of the story. I’m sure there are many other examples. (In our church circles you can even occasionally see this in the guise of praying for each other, having the appearance of godliness in our gossip.)

It’s all a snare. There are many verses on the dangers of...

Faith in God

Here’s a secret: mommy’s beds are powerful. When my kids snuggled in bed with me, colds were cured, bad days got better, tears dried up, and no creepy thing or bump in the night stood a chance! For my kids, life was right in my presence.

Sisters, life is right when we snuggle in God’s presence, too Moses understood this power principle better than anyone; in Exodus 33:15, he said to the Lord, “If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.” In essence, Moses was saying to God: “Daddy, we don’t feel safe without you and we aren’t going to do life without you.” He flat-out refused to leave God’s presence. And so should we.

In our day-to-day lives as women, we feel we have to have the answers, we have to manage our homes, we have to take care of everyone’s needs and, honestly, it’s just too easy to forget that we are God’s child. Moses didn’t forget that there is safety, provision,...

Now then, we are Ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us;                                                      we implore you on Christ’s behalf,  be reconciled to God.
2 Corinthians 5:20

Life Leadership is the second strand with our Women of Faith Ambassadors.

Click here to watch the "What is Life Leadership? video.

LIFE LEADERSHIP: As a woman of faith, a Life Leader leads herself well in all aspects of life, and she is also a good role model to help others do the same in her home, work and community. A Life Leader leads themself well.

Every day we are developing real life leadership skills, so that you stand out in your community as the light of Christ for others. We continually develop them in several ways.  

First of all, our Facebook community, is a great place to start.  Women in our group are...

Stumbling Through Life

I stumble my way through life. Recently at a conference, I tripped down the stairs.  At the bottom of the stairs stood the board of this organization, where they all turned to me. One of them said, “Beth. Beth can be our next President Elect.”  This is my life.  I struggled in school, but obtained my doctorate degree.  My selfishness impacts my marriage, but I have a wonderful marriage. I could give countless examples. And while my struggles are frustrating, they are helpful in my battle with pride and serve as constant reminders that I am with God and His grace.

Pride is at the core of what hurts our relationships and divides the body of Christ.  We’ve witnessed its many forms—obsession with notoriety and praise (titles, being right, possessions, numbers, sales, rankings, gifts, etc.). We see pride even in our care for the “least of these” or humble circumstances (serving the poor and inflicted,...

I never grew up in a church. The only time I went was with friends, which was not very often. There were many times I said, "I have accepted Jesus in my heart" or "I found Jesus." But I never felt anything. I was always under the assumption that you just say "Yes, Jesus I invite you into my heart" and then you would have this amazing, overwhelming presence of Jesus wash over you. (Which I never felt.) I thought I was supposed to accept him, and then he was supposed to do all the rest. And since I never felt that, I thought that I wasn't worthy of him . . . that he didn't want me.

I came with some family members [to Believe God Can Do Anything in Des Moines] because I felt obligated. But listening to the different speakers, it started to make sense. Listening to Christine and how she explained that you can't just throw everything at Him and say, "Here you go, now fix my problems." How things you've done in your past that make you feel broken does not disqualify you from having a...

MATTHEW: Prophecy Fulfilled

Nothing is more important in our Christian experience than understanding who Jesus is.  His life, His character, His ministry, His work on the Cross, and His death and resurrection are the most foundational realities of our faith.  Gracefully, God gave us not one, but four biographies of the most important Person who ever lived.  The first story, the Gospel according to Matthew, gives us the assurance that Jesus is indeed the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.  Matthew reveals Jesus as the Messiah, the One who had been promised to be the forgiveness for our sins.  And Matthew gives us marvelous insight into the incredible way Jesus lived and loved.

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