Be Still

"But I have stilled and quieted my soul." Psalm 131:2a (NIV 1984)

I'm a talker; always have been.

When report cards were sent home, my parents never expected anything better than a C beside the word "conduct." One of my elementary teachers politely called me "very social," while most were much more blunt. 

"She talks too much. 

She could learn more if she would talk less."

Unfortunately, old habits die hard.

I brought this trait of talking too much into my quiet time with God, filling the silence with words ...

lots and lots of words.

 I wonder if sometimes the Father looks to the Son and says, "I can't get a word in edge-wise with this girl! She could learn more if she would talk less."

To be honest, silence wasn't easy for this girl who likes to gab. I wanted to tell God what I thought would be good solutions to my problems. To-do lists ran through my head, instead of peace and quiet.

 Dusty shelves and piles of toys distracted my attention.

It felt unnatural not to be talking, so I resisted it.

I shared my uneasiness with God but knew silence and stillness were things I needed to practice. During these times I heard God's gentle encouragement, "Shhh. Be still. It's okay to be silent. You don't have to say a word."

Gradually I felt something I couldn't name until I read this verse: rest.

My spirit felt renewed and at peace. In silence and stillness, God united His heart with mine, allowing me to experience the rest I needed.

As we fill the reservoir of our soul with the true refreshment from God we learn to relax in the rhythms of His grace. We experience real peace and rest that only come from the silence and stillness of being with Him. We carry this refreshment with us as we face the challenges of our day.

Do you have the gift of gab like me?

Do you find it challenging to sit quietly with God?

Ask Him to help you practice and enjoy silence and stillness. Your soul will find refreshing peace. God's rest is exactly what our restless soul needs.


Dear Lord, my soul is having a hard time being still. I lay down my resistance to silence and commit to five minutes of silence with You for the next month. I praise You in advance for what You are going to say to me in the silence. I thank You for the rest only You can give. In Jesus' Name, Amen

Forgiving and Excusing

I find that when I think I am asking God to forgive me I am often in reality…asking Him not to forgive me but to excuse me. 

 

But there is all the difference in the world between forgiving and excusing. 

 

Forgiveness says 'Yes, you have done this thing, but I accept your apology...' 

 

But excusing says 'I see that you couldn't help it or don't mean it; you weren't really to blame.' 

 

If we forget this, we shall go away imagining that we have repented and been forgiven when all that has really happened is that we have satisfied ourselves with our own excuses. 

 

They may be very bad excuses; we are all too easily satisfied with ourselves.

 

 

 

Jessica Little Castleberry

I am Somebody

This is who I am 

 

But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. 

 

For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace. 1 Corinthians 15:10 (NLT) 

 

You are not your past. 

 

You are not your failures. 

 

You are not your state. 

 

You are a child of the King. 

 

You already know who God is, now be reminded today of who you are in Him: 

 

I am smart. I am important. I am a world changer. I am brave and courageous. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I am beautiful. I am called by God to do great things. I am strong. I melt in His presence, yet stand strong in the face of adversity. I can’t stop running because Jesus didn’t stop for me. I am a finisher. I am the right woman for the job. I am a winner. I am so loved. I am richly blessed. I am rooted and grounded. I am abundantly graced. I am my brother and sister’s keeper. I am empowered to lead. I am an overcomer. I am more than a conqueror. 

 

Greater is He that is in me than He that’s in the world. I am a daughter of the King no matter how I feel and no matter how it looks I will see His promises manifested in my life. 

 

I am patient and kind. I am truthful. I am hidden in Christ. I am an end time soldier in His army. I was born for such a time as this. I have what it takes. I am resourceful. I am wise. I wear God’s grace beautifully. I am who God says I am and I will do what He says I will do. 

 

Father, help me stay reminded of who I am in You. 

 

Help me not to let my problems define me. 

 

You define me. 

 

In Jesus name, Amen.

Jessica Little Castleberry

Guest Blogger

 

Service-Mail Ministry

In 1967, America was up to her neck in the Vietnam War. I was 12 years old. I did not know it then, but that was the beginning of my Mail Ministry. 

 

I began writing servicemen that were far from home. Encouraging them, reminding them of the people waiting for them, sharing the scriptures.

 

In a world of emails and tweets, sending notes is still part of my life. Receiving a card in the mail is so much more personal....and yes...precious the the receiver. I love to get mail.

 

Here are some ideas for you in starting a Mail Ministry. It doesn’t matter if you are 12 or 112, strong or weak, you can fulfill you purpose.

 

 

 

 

 

http://ourshelteringtree.blogspot.com/2015/08/5-ways-to-begin-mail-ministry.html

Always be ready

 

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear

I Peter 3:15

 

Each Friday in April we will examine a Bible truth that will assist us in our quest to Finish with Purpose.

 

What is our first task, or purpose as a Christian?

 

To share the gospel of truth to those we know that are lost.

 

Earlier this week, we shared the Plan of Salvation in the note titled “Do you believe in God”.

 

This is a very easy way for you to bring a loved one to a saving knowledge of Christ. I personally, break it down into five parts, sending enough in an email to help the reader begin to think in spiritual terms. Most people believe in God. Build upon that knowledge of who God is and what He requires for salvation. Always be ready to tell YOUR story!!

 

I hope you find this helpful and together we will see souls saved.

 

May God richly bless you and your faithfulness to serve Him.

Do you believe in God?

Believing in God is important. By believing in and understanding that God is holy and just, we can understand what we need to do to spend eternity with Him.

 

God gave us the Ten Commandments to point out to us that we all have sinned and that our sins separate us from God. God is holy and sin can not enter into His presence. We have all sinned. You...and especially me. Every person that has ever lived with the exception of Jesus Christ the perfect Son of God. Jesus is God incarnate. Being God, He was able to be the required atonement for sin. He alone can pay the price that God demands for our salvation.

 

If we believe that God is who He says He is...then we must also believe Him when He says who we are and what we must do to live in His presence. God gave a list to Moses that outlines His laws.

Exodus 20:2-17

1. “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
3. “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
4. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
5. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
6. “You shall not murder.
7. “You shall not commit adultery.
8. “You shall not steal.
9. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Pretty clear. These are specific things, but they also are an indication of the heart. Try as we might...we can not keep even these 10 commandments of God's. So what is step two? It is knowing, and admitting that we have sinned against God. No one...no matter how good they believe themselves to be can honestly look at this list and say....Yes...I have always kept these commandments.

 

We have discussed that you believe God, and that God says that we have all sinned. We looked at the list of commandments and we know that we have broken many if not all of them.

 

Romans 3:23 Tells us that ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

This means that our sin separates us from God. God is holy and pure, He can not and will not allow sin in His presence.

 

Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death. Wow...He even said the "wages" ...we worked for it...we earned death because of our sins.

 

Death here means spiritual insensitivity. When we are still in our sin, we have no life with God. We are alive physically but dead spiritually. If we continue in that condition, we will be separated from God for all eternity.

 

The wages of sin is death. but God's free gift is eternal life. While wages are earned, a gift is offered... no strings attached. God says He will give us eternal life - life with Him - in the place of sin's payment of death.

 

How can God remain true to His holiness and forgive unholy sinners? Because Jesus, His Son, has paid the price for sin by His death on the cross.

 

Second Corinthians 5:21 says, "He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we may be made the righteousness of God through Him."

 

Jesus arose from the grave to conquer sin and death for all who receive Him as God's free gift.

 

"For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved." - Romans 10:13

 

How can you receive God's free gift of love and life?

 

Romans 10:9-10 "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."

 

A person receives God's free gift of love and life by placing faith in Jesus Christ. To believe is simply to take God at His word. With our heart (whole believing) we believe that Jesus is God's Son who died for our sin on the cross and arose from the grave to live in us as Savior and Lord.

 

To believe in Jesus will result in confessing that faith with one's mouth.

 

Do you acknowledge that your are a sinner?

 

Do you believe by faith that Jesus, God's Son, died for your sin on the cross?

 

Will you now confess Him as your Savior and Lord?

 

Romans 10:13 "for Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved."

This verse says that any person who will call upon the name of Jesus, the Lord, shall be saved.

 

To call means simply to ask in prayer. The verse does not require one to know more... do better... clean up one's life... or in any way try to add to what Jesus has done for us.

 

Will you now call upon Jesus to save you from your sin so that you can know God's love and forgiveness?

 

Pray like this: "Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner, and I am sorry. I need a Savior. I know I cannot save myself. I believe by faith that Jesus, your Son, died on the cross to be my Savior. I believe He arose from the grave to live as my Lord. I turn from my sin. I ask You, Lord Jesus, to forgive my sin and come into my heart. I trust you as my Savior and receive you as my Lord. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me."

 

When anyone calls on the Lord in this manner, that one is saved according to God's Word. If you pray a prayer of repentance and faith, you are saved. You have God's word on it.

 

If you have any questions, please let me know. I will be happy to talk to you one on one and answer your questions to the best of my ability.

 

Nothing will give me greater joy than to know one day, we will spend eternity together with Christ.