God gave me a gift a very long time ago. I always thought I knew how He wanted me to use it. So I would go off and do what I thought I was to do. Things would not work out like I thought. Has that ever happened to you? I know it is my gift because I feel it all the time and am excited about it, but then
I run ahead of God thinking I know how He wants me to use It.

Now I have learned to wait, to be still. How hard is that? Now the Lord has given me direction. He has even given me a time to start. Other ideas came to me and as I write this it is 2:30 a.m. I couldn’t sleep so I journaled all my thoughts and realized I was starting to run ahead of God again. I know I have grown because they were just ideas and I didn’t start running ahead again. I sought the Lord for a heart check. Is what I think I should do for God’s glory or Robbins’s glory?

It’s funny how God works because after I journaled I read a devotion, “Where are you?” God doesn’t need to ask where I am because He knows but He needs me to know where I am. Am I walking with Him or have I run ahead thinking I know what to do? God is preparing me, speaking to me of different things, but I must remember to wait to allow Him to lead. It must always be about Him and not about me. God will show me the time, He will lead, He will bless and He will get all the glory, and I will be blessed and thankful He used me.

Psalm 127:1-2 Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat — for he grants sleep to those he loves.

Robbin

Robbin is a 2013 Women of Character Graduate. Her husband Ray is on full-time Keswick staff and they live on the grounds.

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For one laden with guilt and shame, this verse breathes fresh air into their heart and soul.

We have all been there – burdened by some sin we can’t seem to conquer or vanquish, knowing in our head we are forgiven but feeling condemnation in our heart.

Allowing the truth of the totality of God’s forgiveness to overwhelm our heart brings amazing and glorious freedom and peace.

Yet let us also consider John 8 – the story of the woman caught in adultery brought to Jesus by the scribes and Pharisees – seeking to stone her. Jesus responded to them “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7) One by one they left – Jesus said to the woman “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” (John 8:10-11)

It struck me as I read this that, as followers of Jesus Christ, there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Romans) and as we are set gloriously free of the guilt and shame, we should go and sin no more.

Blessings,
Diane

Recently, during a Sunday morning worship service we sang the old hymn: “Take my life and let it be.” I didn’t get much past the first stanza:

Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

The last phrase has been on my heart and mind ever since… ceaseless praise.

The thought came to mind immediately “what would I not be doing if I maintained ceaseless praise?”

Ceaseless praise…instead of grumbling
Ceaseless praise…instead of worry
Ceaseless praise…instead of anger
Ceaseless praise…instead of gossip
Ceaseless praise…instead of complaining
Ceaseless praise…instead of judgment
Ceaseless praise…instead of criticism
Ceaseless praise…instead of unkindness
Ceaseless praise…instead of bitterness
Ceaseless praise…instead of nagging
Ceaseless praise …instead of rehearsing the past
Ceaseless praise…instead of sarcasm

When I find my mind wandering where it ought not to wander – I whisper to myself – “ceaseless praise.”

I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. Psalm 145:1-3

Blessings, Diane

Take my Life and Let it Be, words by Frances R. Havergal; music by Henri Abraham Cesar Malan.

“Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known. Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the house tops.” Luke 12:23-3

I have read these verses dozens and dozens of times, so why on THIS day did it leap off the page into my heart? My first instinct was to write in the margin of my Bible… “Imagine if this was true,” a silly thing to write in the margin of God’s Word. What I meant was, imagine experiencing this in reality. Just think about it… You know those conversations we have when we lower our voices so we are not overheard. The statements we make about others that are sarcastic or unkind. The information we pass along that we have no business passing along. Imagine those things we said “in confidence” about others being proclaimed on the wide screen display or posted on the bulletin board at work or broadcast on the 6 o’clock news.

Don’t we gossip because we figure no one else will hear?

God hears.

All of us have fodder in our lives for others to gossip about. How do we want others to guard our reputations? Do we not owe that same consideration to others? It seems to me gossip is a manifestation of pride. At the unspoken core of our gossip is the belief I am better than them or I know better than them. I would not do what they are doing. Do you hear the proud heart?

I really want to take myself to task in this area. I not only want to hold myself accountable to not talk about others but I also want to be courageous enough to stop others when they are whispering in MY ear. It takes courage and humility.

“… Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the house tops…” Luke 12:2-3

Will you join me?

Blessings, Diane

Diane Hunt is part of the Development and Addiction Recovery teams at America’s Keswick. In addition to being a Biblical Counselor, she is a Women’s speaker for retreats, conferences and events. She is a regular writer for Victory Call and one of the authors of Crossing the Jordan Bible Study. She has been married to her husband John for 30 years. She has 2 adult children, 4 grandchildren, 3 adult step-children with 7 grandchildren making 11 in all. She delights in reading and teaching, but mostly in laughing at the funny things her grandchildren say and do.

“So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please go into my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.” Genesis 16:2

It is easy to read and re-read this account of Sarai and her desire to have a child of her own and know that this is not the way God wanted things done. But, then I have to remember my own bright ideas that were my way of manipulating the outcome I thought was best for me. To see others’ bright ideas as not so bright is easy. Seeing our own bright ideas as disobedience is another story. I’ve done it and I know you have, too. This is another reason why grace is so amazing. Even when I make decisions that are not in God’s plan for me He is able to work them out. This does not give permission but gives comfort when we have moved ahead of God or taken matters into our hands. There is always forgiveness. There is always a way that things will turn out for good to those who love God and are called to His purposes and yes, there may be consequences. Yet we are never out of God’s reach.

Psalm 139:8 says, “If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.” I believe this is where the phrase ‘You’ve made your bed now lay in it’ came from? But the Bible doesn’t say that. The Bible says in my own words –“You’ve made your bed in a really bad place but I am with you still.”

So, has your bright idea backfired? Are you in a place you did not expect to find yourself? God IS with you! Talk to him about your bright idea and how it failed miserably. Allow him to speak to you on what you need to do next and be obedient to what you know God wants you to do now. He is still there.

Blessings,
Kathy

Kathy’s on staff at America’s Keswick in the Development Department. Kathy has been married to her husband Dave for 28 years. They have two adult children. Kathy is active in her local Church and has taught Sunday school and Bible studies for women. Her passion is to encourage women to deepen their walk with Jesus Christ by finding and living out the truths of God’s Word.

Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

When my husband came to the Colony of Mercy one of the questions that was asked of me was, “What are the desires of my heart?” And I was given this passage from Scripture. Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

I had no idea how to answer because I had no idea who I was. The word “delight” in this Psalm means to be dependent upon God and derive one’s pleasures from Him.

I made my children and husband my god and therefore my identity, so my desires were to please them and cause them to depend on me so that I had purpose and meaning.

As I sought the Lord, He showed me that my children had moved out and my husband had gone to rehab all through the year. This was the beginning for me. I had lost my identity. The Lord had to be my all in all. Through my journey, I found that I was a daughter of the King of kings which made me His princess. I learned while my husband was away to delight in the Lord and to be dependent on Him. Then I was able to learn the desires of my heart. God showed them to me; He placed them in me. My desire was to be the wife and mother that my husband and children needed. It was no longer about me but about God. He would work through me to love and encourage others.

Robbin W.

Robbin is a 2013 Women of Character Graduate. Her husband Ray is on full-time Keswick staff and they live on the grounds.

Remember when you were a kid and your friends would say “prove it!” They were challenging the truth of whatever statement you made. As we have become adults, it has been a very long time since someone said “prove it” to me. Sitting in service one Sunday, in the midst of what the pastor was preaching he said, “prove it,” and it flew from his mouth to my heart, and the seed for this Victory Call was planted.

Do I love Jesus?
Am I born from above?
Am I a follower of Jesus Christ?
Do I live by faith?
Do I pursue holiness?
Do I hunger and thirst after righteousness?
Do I forgive others as Christ has forgiven me?
Is my passion God’s glory?
Do I seek to please Him?
Am I characterized by obedience?
Do I delight in grace?
Are my relationships filled with grace?
Is my life distinguishable from the world?
Am I growing in my relationship with Jesus Christ?
Do I model God’s love to others?
Does my life overflow with gratitude?
Do I PROVE IT?

What evidence is there in my life that these statements are true?

Lord, may I live out truth in my life. May it be genuine and sincere and evident.

Blessings, Diane

Diane Hunt is part of the Development and Addiction Recovery teams at America’s Keswick. In addition to being a Biblical Counselor, she is a Women’s speaker for retreats, conferences and events. She is a regular writer for Victory Call and one of the authors of Crossing the Jordan Bible Study. She has been married to her husband John for 30 years. She has 2 adult children, 4 grandchildren, 3 adult step-children with 7 grandchildren making 11 in all. She delights in reading and teaching, but mostly in laughing at the funny things her grandchildren say and do.

Each New Year brings a chance for a new start, a new beginning. We can put aside our old ways, old failures, past expectations and start fresh. We can also do that each and every morning. We have a brand new series of hours waiting for us to enter into.

In this year there are a few things, by the grace of God, I hope to accomplish. Each day I want to keep my focus on the Lord. I don’t want to let my emotions move me, but rather the Word of the Lord. Life can be a whirlwind but I want to remember that His grace can cause me to ride the whirlwind rather than letting the whirlwind ride me. I think you know what I mean.

Recently I received another challenge from a well-known Preacher/Teacher who was preaching a message on New Years Eve. She spoke of a time when Hezekiah got a really bad report. Here is the passage from 2 Kings 20:1-7:

“In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’ ‘ 2 Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, 3 ‘Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4 Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 5 ‘Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, ‘I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’ ‘ 7 Then Isaiah said, ‘Take a cake of figs.’ And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.”

If I get a bad report today I want my first reaction to be as was Hezekiah. I want to put my face to the wall and pray to the Lord. To seek Him first before anything else. The prophet had given Hezekiah a word from the Lord, but even the word of the Lord can be changed when we humble ourselves before a holy God and seek Him and Him alone.

Praise God we can move forward, one day at a time, living our lives in this world but with a tremendous advantage. We can start each and every day knowing we are children of the Most High God. He is able, He loves us, He will never leave us or forsake us, He is worthy of our praise. He is our comforter, our healer, our mighty God.

Have a wonderful NEW DAY,

Patricia Wenzel
Women of Character Graduate

She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. Proverbs 31:25

A few months ago, I was walking through the mall with my daughter and some friends. We approached this group of people waiting in line to play a money game.  You know, the kind where you stand in a clear glass box with a wind tunnel of money blowing about. 

Well, in that crowd was a few folks and their dogs. I’m still unsure of how dogs fit into the money box game scenario, but nevertheless they were there. 

This one little furry thing starts barking something crazy. He was wagging his tail, and jumping up and down. My little girl stopped to observe him. My friend’s daughter kept moving and hid behind her mama’s leg. But not my girl. No, no. She stood there in the dog’s face, watched him for a moment and began to laugh at him. I mean not just chuckle, she was out of breath with laughter. She personified the phrase, “she laughs without fear of the future.”

As I reflect on this memory, I realize that’s exactly how we have to be. First off, the dog was tiny as far as dogs go. But even to my three-foot-nothing toddler, she could tell that he was all bark and no bite. 

Often that’s how the problems, and sometimes the people, in our lives are… Small compared to the big picture of God. They are all bark and really have very little bite.

The scriptures challenge us to decide daily what we are going to let govern us…. fear or faith.  

Will we have faith in God and His sovereignty? Or will we fear the possibility of failure?

Will we have faith to always work things out for our best interest? Or will we always fear the worst and not accept God’s will on a matter?

Today I will close with my favorite quote about fear. It’s from the movie After Earth with Will Smith and his son Jaden. Will Smith’s character is offering some words of encouragement to his son, while he is on a life or death mission:

“Fear is not real. The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present and may not ever exist. That is near insanity. Do not misunderstand me, danger is very real but fear is a choice.” 

Today, will you choose to be fear or faith?

Diera Shaw-Mendez

Diera Shaw-Mendez is a minister and youth leader at New Beginnings Worship Center, Pennsauken, NJ, and works full-time for an educational nonprofit in Philadelphia. She is wife to Chaplain Juan Mendez and mama to Olivia Joy. She spends her “spare time” running an online invitation design shop on Etsy and write occasionally for her personal blog, With Style, By Grace. Diera is a God-fearing, Starbucks loving, tech junkie (…in that order!) who simply wants to inspire women to invest in THE beauty that never fades!

For a few years now I have been sharing on our Bible Reading Facebook page. I would like to invite you to download a copy of our Reading Plan for 2015 and join the group as we read through the Scriptures this year. The plan this year is to read some of the Old Testament and some of the New Testament each day. I encourage you to make a plan of some kind to keep yourself focused on and being fed from the Word of God in the upcoming year. I was given a small book called “Words of Wisdom” which is Psalms and Proverbs for each day. I am challenging myself to read that each month along with the reading plan. Next to my chair at home I have a basket which contains all my “stuff” for my reading time. Pen, highlighter, journal, Bible, reading plan and “Words of Wisdom”. I also have a few extra devotionals, standards like “Streams in the Desert” and “My Utmost for His Highest” and a new devotional for the year, “New Morning Mercies” by Paul David Tripp. I may not use everything everyday but as the Lord leads me to what I need to read everything will be right in my basket!

If you fail to plan you plan to fail! Make a plan to keep reading fundamental to your growth this year!

Blessings,
Kathy

Find our page, America’s Keswick Daily Bible Reading Plan, on Facebook and download the reading plan for 2015 at http://www.americaskeswick.org

Kathy’s on staff at America’s Keswick in the Development Department. Kathy has been married to her husband Dave for 28 years. They have two adult children. Kathy is active in her local Church and has taught Sunday school and Bible studies for women. Her passion is to encourage women to deepen their walk with Jesus Christ by finding and living out the truths of God’s Word.