Friday, April 8, 2016

A Most Extraordinary Event

by Jo Ann Larsen

Larry and Jo Ann were an ordinary couple. They lived in an ordinary house on an ordinary street. Like any other ordinary couple, they struggled to make ends meet and to do the right things for their children. They were ordinary in yet another way—they had their squabbles.

Much of their conversation concerned what was wrong in their marriage and who was to blame—until one day when a most extraordinary event took place.

“You know, Jo Ann, I’ve got a magic chest of drawers. Every time I open the drawers, they’re full of socks and underwear,” Larry said. “I want to thank you for filling them all these years.”

Jo Ann stared at her husband over the top of her glasses. “What do you want, Larry?”

“Nothing. I just want you to know I appreciate those magic drawers.”

This wasn’t the first time Larry had done something odd, so Jo Ann pushed the incident out of her mind until a few days later.

“Jo Ann, thank you for recording so many correct check numbers in the ledger this month. You put down the right numbers fifteen out of sixteen times. That’s a record.”

Disbelieving what she had heard, Jo Ann looked up from her mending. “Larry, you’re always complaining about my recording the wrong check numbers. Why stop now?”

“No reason. I just wanted you to know I appreciate the effort you’re making.”

Jo Ann shook her head and went back to her mending. “What’s gotten into him?” she mumbled to herself.

Nevertheless, the next day when Jo Ann wrote a check at the grocery store, she glanced at her checkbook to confirm that she had put down the right check number. “Why do I suddenly care about those dumb check numbers?” she asked herself.

She tried to disregard the incident, but Larry’s strange behavior intensified.

“Jo Ann, that was a great dinner,” he said one evening. “I appreciate all your effort. Why, in the past fifteen years I’ll bet you’ve fixed over 14,000 meals for me and the kids.”

Then, “Gee, Jo Ann, the house looks spiffy. You’ve really worked hard to get it looking so good.” And even, “Thanks, Jo Ann, for just being you. I really enjoy your company.”

Jo Ann was growing worried. Where’s the sarcasm, the criticism? she wondered.

Her fears that something peculiar was happening to her husband were confirmed by sixteen‐year‐old Shelly, who complained, “Dad’s gone bonkers, Mom. He just told me I looked nice. Even though I’m wearing all this makeup and these sloppy clothes, he still said it. That’s not Dad, Mom. What’s wrong with him?”

Whatever was wrong, Larry didn’t get over it. Day in and day out he continued focusing on the positive.

Over the weeks, Jo Ann grew more accustomed to her mate’s unusual behavior and occasionally even gave him a grudging “Thank you.” She prided herself on taking it all in stride, until one day something so peculiar happened that she became completely discombobulated.

“I want you to take a break,” Larry said. “I am going to do the dishes. So please take your hands off that frying pan and leave the kitchen.” (Long, long pause.) “Thank you, Larry. Thank you very much!”

Jo Ann’s step was now a little lighter, her self‐confidence higher, and once in a while she hummed. She didn’t seem to have as many blue moods anymore. I rather like Larry’s new behavior, she thought.

That would be the end of the story except one day another most extraordinary event took place. This time it was Jo Ann who spoke.

“Larry,” she said, “I want to thank you for going to work and providing for us all these years. I don’t think I’ve ever told you how much I appreciate it.”

No matter how hard Jo Ann has pushed for an answer, Larry has never revealed the reason for his dramatic change of behavior, and so it will likely remain one of life’s mysteries. But it’s one I’m thankful to live with.
You see, I am Jo Ann.

Looking ahead…

As Larry demonstrated, a little encouragement can transform a marriage. None of us—king or queen, president or business leader, husband, housewife or child—is without the human craving for appreciation. Mark Twain once said, “I can live for two months on a good compliment.” A kind word is like that. It fuels our energy and infuses us with new enthusiasm for facing the challenges life throws our way.

I invite you during this week’s discussion to consider the incredible power of encouragement. As you apply each principle, I think you’ll find that the sun shines a little brighter and your day runs a bit smoother. You might begin by simply telling your partner how much you appreciate having him or her around.

- James C Dobson

From Night Light For Couples, by Dr. James & Shirley Dobson
Copyright © 2000 by James Dobson, Inc. All rights reserved.

“A Most Extraordinary Event” by Jo Ann Larsen. © 1992. Used by permission of the author.

William Augustus Muhlenberg, Priest, and Anne Ayers, Religious

Today the church remembers William Augustus Muhlenberg, Priest, 1877 and Anne Ayers, Religious, 1896.

The personality and character of this man captured the imagination of the entire Episcopal Church in the nineteenth century. He was claimed by all parties, calling himself an "Evangelical Catholic." He was an enthusiastic exponent of Frederick Denison Maurice's ideas of Christian social involvement (see April 1). He was remarkably versatile, an excellent preacher, schoolmaster, and poet.

For over forty years he served parishes in Pennsylvania and New York and became one of the most widely loved and trusted pastors of his day. Some consider the founding of St. Luke's Hospital in New York City his greatest achievement. However, he also founded two religious communities, a number of schools, and contributed to the organization of several public charities.

Muhlenberg long exercised an important influence in the General Convention and the activities of the whole Episcopal Church. He was the chief author of the "Muhlenberg Memorial," a document which profoundly affected the life of the Episcopal Church. He was instrumental in initiating significant prayer book and hymnal revision. In proposing his name for the church's calendar, the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music declared, "There was not a significant area of the church's life that he did not elevate and strengthen."

Help us to build up your church, not as an empire, but as an ensign of your kingdom, O Lord. Amen.

God of justice and truth, do not let your Church close its eyes to the plight of the poor and neglected, the homeless and destitute, the old and the sick, the lonely and those who have none to care for them. Give us that vision and compassion with which you so richly endowed William Augustus Muhlenberg and Anne Ayers, that we may labor tirelessly to heal those who are broken in body or spirit, and to turn their sorrow into joy; through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Read the Wikipedia article here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Augustus_Muhlenberg

Daily Readings for April 8, 2016

Exodus 16:22-36
On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers apiece. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, he said to them, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy sabbath to the LORD; bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.'" So they put it aside until morning, as Moses commanded them; and it did not become foul, and there were no worms in it. Moses said, "Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is a sabbath, there will be none." On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, and they found none. The LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and instructions? See! The LORD has given you the sabbath, therefore on the sixth day he gives you food for two days; each of you stay where you are; do not leave your place on the seventh day." So the people rested on the seventh day. The house of Israel called it manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, in order that they may see the food with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.'" And Moses said to Aaron, "Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the LORD, to be kept throughout your generations." As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the covenant, for safekeeping. The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a habitable land; they ate manna, until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. An omer is a tenth of an ephah.


1 Peter 3:13-4:6
Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God's will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you-- not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him. Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin), so as to live for the rest of your earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God. You have already spent enough time in doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in licentiousness, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry. They are surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of dissipation, and so they blaspheme. But they will have to give an accounting to him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.


John 16:1-15
"I have said these things to you to keep you from stumbling. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God. And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me. But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them. "I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.


Morning Psalms

Psalm 16
1   Protect me, O God, for I take refuge in you; I have said to the LORD, "You are my Lord, my good above all other."
2   All my delight is upon the godly that are in the land, upon those who are noble among the people.
3   But those who run after other gods shall have their troubles multiplied.
4   Their libations of blood I will not offer, nor take the names of their gods upon my lips.
5   O LORD, you are my portion and my cup; it is you who uphold my lot.
6   My boundaries enclose a pleasant land; indeed, I have a goodly heritage.
7   I will bless the LORD who gives me counsel; my heart teaches me, night after night.
8   I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand I shall not fall.
9   My heart, therefore, is glad, and my spirit rejoices; my body also shall rest in hope.
10   For you will not abandon me to the grave, nor let your holy one see the Pit.
11   You will show me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy, and in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.


Psalm 17
1   Hear my plea of innocence, O LORD; give heed to my cry; listen to my prayer, which does not come from lying lips.
2   Let my vindication come forth from your presence; let your eyes be fixed on justice.
3   Weigh my heart, summon me by night, melt me down; you will find no impurity in me.
4   I give no offense with my mouth as others do; I have heeded the words of your lips.
5   My footsteps hold fast to the ways of your law; in your paths my feet shall not stumble.
6   I call upon you, O God, for you will answer me; incline your ear to me and hear my words.
7   Show me your marvelous loving-kindness, O Savior of those who take refuge at your right hand from those who rise up against them.
8   Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me under the shadow of your wings,
9   From the wicked who assault me, from my deadly enemies who surround me.
10   They have closed their heart to pity, and their mouth speaks proud things.
11   They press me hard, now they surround me, watching how they may cast me to the ground,
12   Like a lion, greedy for its prey, and like a young lion lurking in secret places.
13   Arise, O LORD; confront them and bring them down; deliver me from the wicked by your sword.
14   Deliver me, O LORD, by your hand from those whose portion in life is this world;
15   Whose bellies you fill with your treasure, who are well supplied with children and leave their wealth to their little ones.
16   But at my vindication I shall see your face; when I awake, I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness.


Evening Psalms

Psalm 134
1   Behold now, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, you that stand by night in the house of the LORD.
2   Lift up your hands in the holy place and bless the LORD; the LORD who made heaven and earth bless you out of Zion.


Psalm 135
1   Hallelujah! Praise the Name of the LORD; give praise, you servants of the LORD.
2   You who stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God.
3   Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing praises to his Name, for it is lovely.
4   For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself and Israel for his own possession.
5   For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.
6   The LORD does whatever pleases him, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the deeps.
7   He brings up rain clouds from the ends of the earth; he sends out lightning with the rain, and brings the winds out of his storehouse.
8   It was he who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, the firstborn both of man and beast.
9   He sent signs and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants.
10   He overthrew many nations and put mighty kings to death:
11   Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, the king of Bashan, and all the kings of Canaan.
12   He gave their land to be an inheritance, an inheritance for Israel his people.
13   O LORD, your Name is everlasting; your renown, O LORD, endures from age to age.
14   For the LORD gives his people justice and shows compassion to his servants.
15   The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
16   They have mouths, but they cannot speak; eyes have they, but they cannot see.
17   They have ears, but they cannot hear; neither is there any breath in their mouth.
18   Those who make them are like them, and so are all who put their trust in them.
19   Bless the LORD, O house of Israel; O house of Aaron, bless the LORD.
20   Bless the LORD, O house of Levi; you who fear the LORD, bless the LORD.
21   Blessed be the LORD out of Zion, who dwells in Jerusalem. Hallelujah!

Daily Meditation for April 8, 2016

From Forward Day by Day

Exodus 16:23b “Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD.”

Not long after I posted a blog about downshifting into summer mode, a colleague wrote to thank me. She noticed the infectious busy-ness that some clergy and other church leaders model. I get caught up in that “if I feel busy, I must be doing things right” mentality, too.

Thanks be to God for reminders like this one from Exodus, for the commandment to take Sabbath rest. Even, and perhaps especially, in the wilderness times, we are called back to rest in God’s presence and remember that God is God and we are not. We are called to rest from the busy-ness we create and trust God.

Sabbath rest, no matter what day of the week we observe it, creates time and space for our own soul work. It can stand as a witness to a way of life that honors our whole selves, as creatures made in God’s image. God, who worked to create for six days then took a day of rest, made us to desire meaningful work—and to take meaningful rest.

Men of the Bible - Samson

His name means: "Little Sun"

His work: To deliver Israel from the Philistines.
His character: Samson's erotic attachments to foreign women eventually led to his death. A man of mythic strength, he was inwardly weak, given to anger and unfaithful to his Nazirite vows. His prayers as well as his actions against the Philistines seem to have been motivated by the desire for personal vengeance.
His sorrow: To have been blinded and imprisoned by his lifelong enemies.
His triumph: To have killed more Philistines by his death than he had while living.
Key Scriptures: Judges 13-16 

A Look at the Man

One of the first Bible stories children hear is the story of Samson, the man who defeated his enemies with a superhuman feat of strength. But it is such an unsavory story that we find ourselves leaving out certain details, for example, Samson's boasting, his visits to prostitutes, or his murderous rage. Even the man's prayers were selfish, focused as they were on his own desire for revenge rather than on God's glory.

Why would God, knowing the future, choose such a person to play such a role, even sending an angel to announce his birth? The question is not easily answered. But it is certainly true that Samson would have been a better man had he paid attention to the call God had placed on his life. Instead, he seems to have squandered the promise of his life by living it in a self-centered, self-directed way.

Ironically, the pattern of his life formed a vivid picture of Israel's own unfaithfulness during a period when it seemed incapable of resisting the allurement of foreign gods. And so the people God had set apart and called his own, the nation he intended to build up and make strong, grew progressively weaker in the land he had promised.

Samson's story reminds us of God's faithfulness, of his ability to deliver his people regardless of the circumstances and despite their sins. It also reminds us of what can happen when we allow ourselves to become attached to things and people, however enticing, that might end in our own self-destruction.

Reflect On: Judges 16:23–31
Praise God: For his sovereignty.
Offer Thanks: For God’s strength working within you.
Confess: Any promises you have made to God and not kept. Ask God: To make you a person who is strong on the inside.

Today's reading is a brief excerpt from Men of the Bible: A One-Year Devotional Study of Men in Scripture by Ann Spangler and Robert Wolgemuth (Zondervan). © 2010 by Ann Spangler. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Enjoy the complete book by purchasing your own copy at the Bible Gateway Store. The book's title must be included when sharing the above content on social media.

His Princess Every Day - Friday, April 8, 2016

Devotionals for Women - Inspirational author and speaker Sheri Rose Shepherd imagines what a letter written from God to you would look like.

His Response to My Prayer

My Beloved Daughter,

Come to Me anytime you wish, My beloved. I love to hear you call out to Me for help. I long for you to witness how My mighty arm moves in response to your prayers. Don’t underestimate the power of your petitions. Your words spoken on behalf of the sick will activate My Spirit to bring them comfort. Your plea for those hungry, either for their daily bread or the Living Bread, will lead Me to open My hand and satisfy their hunger. Your prayer for the desperate will usher in My direction. Your prayers unleash My power at work in the world. One day in heaven, you will see how your prayers affected and protected many lives, so open your heart and lips and tell your heavenly Father what is on your heart today. I will hear and respond!

Love,
Your God who loves when you pray
 

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. - John 14:13-14

Treasure of Truth

You are his daughter; therefore, you have been given the ear of the King of Kings!


This devotional is written by Sheri Rose Shepherd. All content copyright Sheri Rose Shepherd 2015. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Visit HisPrincess.com for devotionals, books, videos, and more from Sheri Rose Shepherd.

CHRIST IS RISEN INDEED

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 1 Corinthians 15:20

Brother Andrew shares today’s devotional:

At the time of the cruel persecution in the Soviet Union under Stalin, public meetings were regularly held in order to ridicule religion, the church and the priests. On one occasion the inhabitants of a town were summoned to the main square. From a platform on the square, a fluent 'scholarly’ atheist, who seemed to have many proofs against the Bible, God and the clergy addressed the public.

The crowd had listened silently. But when the local priest was called to the front to answer this brilliant oration, an uneasy muttering rippled through the crowd. The man went and stood close to the microphone and everyone held his breath. The tension could be cut with a knife, and you could hear a pin drop. What would his answer be?

We shall never know what went on in the heart of this man - his fear, his prayer - but at last his voice could be heard, resounding through the loudspeakers, not only to the crowd, but also to a large part of the city: “Khristos voskrese!” Christ is risen!

For one split second there was silence. A shudder went through the crowd and then, as a blazing testimony to the priest and to the atheist opponent, the cry broke out, unanimous and powerful: “Voistinu voskrese!” The Lord is risen indeed!

That was a bad day for atheistic propaganda in Russia. It was also a bad day for the religious leaders in Jerusalem, nearly 2,000 years ago, because they had to bribe the soldiers with much money to get them to tell lies (Matthew 28:12-13). It was also a bad day for the guards who “became like dead men” (Matthew 28:4).

But it was a bad day especially for the devil because if he had known this, he “would not have crucified the Lord of Glory” (1 Corinthians 2:8).

The one who believes in the Cross and the Resurrection takes the side of those who are persecuted. Or, to put it another way, whoever identifies with the persecuted church stands in the power of the Resurrection - a target of misguided and corrupt people, but nevertheless together with the mighty Conqueror. The Lamb conquers and we conquer too...in Him. Hallelujah!

RESPONSE: Today I rejoice in the glorious truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.

PRAYER: Lord, may the persecuted church around the world resound today with a vocal outburst of assurance that Jesus is alive.

Girlfriends in God - April 08, 2016

Is Your Past Still Tripping You Up?
Gwen Smith
 
Today’s Truth

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. (Philippians 3:13b, NIV) 

Friend to Friend

It spoke to me as I strolled down the check out aisle of Marshalls that day. The wall art that was featured on an impulse-buy rack.


Amen! I thought.

The message? Simple: “Don't Stumble On Things That Are Behind You.”

My mind reeled, and I thought hard about this seemingly simple directive that points to a habit that trips so many of us up: looking back. Allowing the past to deter and diminish our future.

The Apostle Paul had a difficult past to contend with. His early years were spent tormenting Chris followers. Then he met Jesus and everything changed for him. He chose to move forward as the new man he’d become.

Instead of wallowing in the muck of condemnation, he stepped into the grace of Christ with determination. He wrote a heart-felt message similar to the wall art in his New Testament letter to the believers in the church of Philippi. I’ve read the passage so many times...

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:10-14, NIV)

Many of us know this section of scripture, but it’s important for us to realize that the conversation doesn’t end there. What Paul says next is a game-changing statement:

Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. (Philippians 3:15-16, ESV)

I want to be mature. I want to think this way. I want to hold true to what I’ve attained in Christ. It’s the way of life!

I read this and I begin to realize that what Paul is really saying is something to this effect: Let it go, people! Move on. Greater things await you. Don’t look back. It's no good for you. You won’t gain any traction on the plans that God has for you. If you choose to look back then you need to grow up because that is not where your promise lies. If you are mature in your faith you will believe the gospel. When you are forgiven … You. Are. Forgiven. Believe it. What Jesus did for you and me covers anything that we lay at His feet. Fully.

I’m reminded that it's time to move forward. That it’s time to fix my eyes on what is ahead, not on what is behind. That God’s mercies are new every day.

Clearly this press-on message is not about sweeping unconfessed sins under a rug and pretending they don’t exist. When we stumble - when we sin - we can’t just forget it and move on. We confess it to the Lord and ask Him for forgiveness.

Grace meets us in the asking and settles it with God. Because of this we can move forward in His grace. Even when life is complicated and messy.

And it’s not about locking deep heart wounds in a secret compartment of your heart. The Bible invites us to take our aching, angry, abused, or offended hearts to Jesus so that He can give us the rest we long for. Healing for our heart wounds.

The reward of faith is freedom in Christ. The past has no hold on us. Grace fixes the gaze of the believer forward.

So the next time I’m tempted to look back at a failure or an old heart wound, I will remember the wall art wisdom from Marshalls and choose not to beat myself up … not to re-hash that painful conversation … not to blame that person … not to stumble on things that are behind me.

Instead I will reach for grace. I will reach for Jesus and call to Him for help.

And in the reaching I begin to take my place among the mature-in-faith.

Let’s Pray

Holy Lord, Thank You for grace. Please help me move beyond the hurdles that trip me up and give me the strength and wisdom to look up and see the hope I run toward in Christ.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen. 


Now It’s Your Turn

Struggling with this? Let me ask you a few direct questions {in love}. Do you really think that living in the past and letting it loom large in your now is helping you? Is it empowering you to grow in strength, dignity and joy? Is it fueling you toward the prize that awaits you in Christ? No? Then be done with it in Jesus’ name. Spend a few moments in prayer and write about this in your journal.

CLICK to TWEET: The reward of your faith is freedom in Christ. The past has no hold on u. @GwenSmithMusic @TweetWithGiG 

More from the Girlfriends 

Ready to move forward in faith today? Gwen Smith’s new book, I Want It ALL, gives you practical help to connect your struggles to the solutions of God found in His Word. Order yours today from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBook.com or your favorite retailer.

Connect with Gwen on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest


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Verse of the Day - April 08, 2016

Romans 5:10 (NIV) For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

Read all of Romans 5