Spring has finally arrived and we are fast approaching the 2013 Family Freedom Walk on Saturday, May 11^th.  Last year the Lord brought in over $61,000 which absolutely stunned us.  We would like to invite you to be a part of what God does this year through the walk.  If you can join us that day, call today to register and start getting sponsors (732.350.1187). If you can’t walk with us, please consider being a sponsor.  All the net proceeds go to support the Addiction Recovery Ministries to help restore lives, marriages and families from the devastation of addiction. 

This year our staff is having a friendly competition between the men and the women so it would be great if all our Victory Call readers would sponsor the women’s team for $25.00 but even $5 or $10 will make a difference. This link will take you directly to our webpage if you would give on-line.   Family Freedom Walk Support  or if you prefer you may mail a check to America’s Keswick 601 Route 530 Whiting, NJ 08759 in either case please designate your gift to FFW: Women’s team.

Thank you so much for your support. We appreciate you. 

Blessings,

The Victory Call writers

 

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. (1 John 2:15-16 NASB)

         It has been a challenge for me to hold loosely to the things of this world. I look at my hands and see how tightly my fists are clenched. And what are they holding onto so tightly?  I hold onto my family, my house and all my “stuff.”  Jesus is asking me to give it all to Him. 

         I shared with a friend how I was struggling to loosen my grip. She shared with me this illustration: We hold our peanuts in our fists. Jesus wants to give us more than peanuts but like little children we grip our peanuts tighter, refusing to let them go. Jesus asks, “May I have your peanuts?”  We reply, “No, thank you. I like my peanuts!”  Jesus again offers us something greater if we will let go of our peanuts.  Again we say “No, they are MY peanuts!” We really don’t trust God with our peanuts, and we don’t believe He would take better care of them.

         What is in your hands? Are you willing to relinquish all to Christ?

Kathy Withers

Kathy’s on staff at America’s KESWICK in the Development Department. Kathy has been married to her husband Dave for 27 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.

 

         Spring has finally arrived and we are fast approaching the 2013 Family Freedom Walk on Saturday, May 11th. Last year the Lord brought in over $61,000 which absolutely stunned us. We would like to invite you to be a part of what God does this year through the walk. If you can join us that day, call today to register and start getting sponsors (732.350.1187). If you can’t walk with us, please consider being a sponsor. All the net proceeds go to support the Addiction Recovery Ministries to help restore lives, marriages and families from the devastation of addiction.

         This year our staff is having a friendly competition between the men and the women so it would be great if all our Victory Call readers would sponsor the women’s team for $25.00 but even $5 or $10 will make a difference. This link will take you directly to our webpage if you would give on-line. Family Freedom Walk Support or if you prefer you may mail a check to America’s Keswick 601 Route 530 Whiting, NJ 08759 in either case please designate your gift to FFW: Women’s team. Thank you so much for your support.

         We appreciate you. Blessings, The Victory Call writers

Have You Established Your Heart?

…Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. (James 5:8)

 My friends have a sign at their front door with their family name stating, “Established in 1985.”  This reflects the year they decided to establish a new family.  In life we try and establish many things for ourselves.  We establish a family, a home, a business, a type of lifestyle and so on.

 In the dictionary it says that the word “establish” means…”to institute, build, or bring into being on a firm or stable basis.”  Establishing something is important and it can bring stability and focus in one’s life.  When we have established something or focus in on something we then have a goal to try to reach. 

 In James we see that it asks us to establish our hearts.  The Bible talks about the heart 743 times.  The Lord wants us to love Him with all our heart.  The Bible talks about…blessed are the pure in heart … a thankful heart … the desires of your heart … a humble heart … God looks on the heart … and to establish your heart.
 Where is your heart today?  Many times when we are weary, or things don’t seem right in our life, we hear the expression… “It is a heart thing.”  Have you established your heart to be focused on things of the Lord?  In the world we live in, it is easy to give our heart away to things of this world.  It is easy to have the desires of our heart turn away from things of the Lord.  It is easy to work on establishing the things we “think” are important like careers, a bank account, a status in the community and even in our church. But our heart is what needs to be established first in our life in order for the rest of our life to fall into place. 

 “…love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).  Establish your heart on loving the things of the Lord.

 James not only tells us to establish our heart but that the coming of the Lord is at hand.  Join me in establishing your heart for the right things with the expectancy of HIS return.

Lynn A. Wilson

Writer for “Real Victory for Real Life” 
365 Devotional Thoughts in the Spirit of America’s Keswick
VOLUME 2
 To order a copy of “REAL VICTORY For REAL LIFE” 365 Devotional Thoughts in the Spirit of America’s Keswick, forwarded by Dr. Joseph Stowell visit  www.americaskeswick.org  and click on store. 

Now available on Kindle!

http://www.amazon.com/Real-Victory-Life-Volume-ebook/dp/B00BMJ9LRG/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1362515015&sr=8-1

 

 

 

 

Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. Is 65:24

I’ve said it; you have said it, “just when we thought we had extra money, something happens.”  Don’t you just love finding money in your pants pocket or getting an unexpected check in the mail?  That unexpected rebate from the insurance company or extra money after the bills are paid?  Our first reaction is “yeah!!!”  Our second reaction is often “what will we do with it?”  We all love it.  We throw all caution to the wind even though experience says soon and very soon we will also have an unexpected expense, a flat tire, a car repair, the hot water heater goes, we have to make an unexpected trip to see a sick relative.  It is so annoying. 

Why is it annoying?  Because we think it’s EXTRA money and it’s ours to spend.  Right? Recently I began to see unexpected money as God’s provision in advance.  God knows our needs before we do and He is the God of the previous.  How many times have we heard stories of how God answered a need on the exact day of the need through a series of circumstances that started weeks earlier?  Behind the scenes, God orchestrated events to provide for a need that hadn’t even been prayed for yet. 

Remember Abraham’s servant?  In Genesis 24, Abraham sends his oldest servant to the city of Nahor to get a wife for his son Isaac.  Upon arrival the servant prayed:

And he said, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham.  Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.  Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’-let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.” Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder. Genesis 24:12-15

I am assuming that Rebekah, who is the answer to the servant’s prayer, picked up her water jar and headed to the well before the servant even started to pray, but God coordinated the timing so that BEFORE HE (the servant) FINISHED Rebekah was there, the answer to his prayer. 

So you see that unexpected influx of money could very well be the provision of God, in advance, for a need you don’t even know about yet, but He does.  So rather than annoyance, perhaps we should be grateful for a God who knows and cares for us.  Before we even call, He is answering. 

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 over 28 years.  She has 2 adult children and 3 grandchildren and 3 adult step-children with 7 grandchildren making 10 in all.  She delights reading and teaching, but mostly laughing at the funny things her grandchildren say and do.  

 

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 1 John 4:20

This is a baffling statement.  We know it is true because it is in God’s Word, but yet it is difficult to understand.  Doesn’t it seem that it would be much easier to love God than to love a brother?  God is perfect. God is love. God is kind. God is compassionate. On the other hand our brother is … well, a sinner. 

 

God doesn’t mince words here.  If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar… A liar?  God says we CANNOT love God if we DO  NOT love our brother. 

That is not all, God also says, …“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” So not only are we to love our brother but we are also to love our enemy. 

Additionally, we cannot love God and hate our brother because to love God is to obey Him. 

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.  1 John 5:2  If you love me, you will keep my commandments. John 14:15

We are commanded to love our brother, our neighbor.

Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”  And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:36-39

Therefore, to love God IS to love our brother. 

How can that be?  This command creates a dilemma when we see love as an emotion or a feeling because, after all, how do we generate the feeling of love if no love exists?  The dilemma is dispelled however, when we understand love is not a feeling. 

Love is a verb.  Love is an action.  Love may be followed by a feeling but the feeling alone does not constitute love. 

How do we love our brother?  By being loving, by acting loving, by doing loving things.  Loving our brother or loving our enemy is not sitting around thinking good thoughts or having good feelings towards them, it is action.  Speak a word of encouragement, take a meal, send a note, give them a drink of cold water… the list is as long as your imagination.

Let us love God by loving our brother.

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 over 28 years.  She has 2 adult children and 3 grandchildren and 3 adult step-children with 7 grandchildren making 10 in all.  She delights reading and teaching, but mostly laughing at the funny things her grandchildren say and do.  

 

Spring has finally arrived and we are fast approaching the 2013 Family Freedom Walk on Saturday, May 11^th.  Last year the Lord brought in over $61,000 which absolutely stunned us.  We would like to invite you to be a part of what God does this year through the walk.  If you can join us that day, call today to register and start getting sponsors (732.350.1187). If you can’t walk with us, please consider being a sponsor.  All the net proceeds go to support the Addiction Recovery Ministries to help restore lives, marriages and families from the devastation of addiction. 

This year our staff is having a friendly competition between the men and the women so it would be great if all our Victory Call readers would sponsor the women’s team for $25.00 but even $5 or $10 will make a difference. This link will take you directly to our webpage if you would give on-line.   Family Freedom Walk Support  or if you prefer you may mail a check to America’s Keswick 601 Route 530 Whiting, NJ 08759 in either case please designate your gift to FFW: Women’s team.

Thank you so much for your support. We appreciate you. 

Blessings,

The Victory Call writers

 

Good morning, dear sisters. Today I share this Gospel Coalition blog with you (which I did not write) to encourage you as a woman to be all you are called, equipped and prepared to be for the glory of the One Who sits on the Throne!!

“It may be better to sleep on the corner of the rooftop than live with a quarrelsome woman, but friends, educate that woman and there is hardly a limit to what she can do with her mouth and mind-for good or evil.

God created woman as a helper knowing Adam would need help. What that help was exactly will be up for debate for centuries; we only know that the command to both man and woman at that point was to be fruitful, multiply, and subdue the earth.

A friend of mine confesses that at times he fears exposing his weaknesses to women in his life for various reasons. To which I replied that a woman was born to see a need, to come and encompass that need, nurture it until the time is right for it to be birthed into something more beautiful than he could imagine. We are built to help in ways men will never be able to help. That is our good design.

Another friend and I were talking recently about the droves of women coming out of seminary in the coming years. These women have or will have studied biblical texts, learned Hebrew and Greek proficiently, interacted with scholars, and written theses. They have a deep and true abiding love of God’s Word, and a respect for the inerrancy of it. Women make up more than 51 percent of seminary students, and we can probably expect that number to grow.

These women have taken the command to be fruitful and multiply seriously, and for many, in the absence of their own children, they have become incubators of God’s Word. They meditate on it, murmur on it, pray it, speak it, and teach it. They are poised for a gracious reception of hungry souls, souls weary of milk, starving for meat. They are disciples. And even more, they are disciplers.
They may hold a collective Master of Divinity, they may give their brothers a run for their money in both their drive and grace, but over all of it, they see a distinct need in the world and want to help it. They are like the hen who gathers her chicks, finding the odd ones out and pulling them close, covering over, receiving the broken and disillusioned. And brothers, they should not be a threat to you.

These women are perfectly situated to teach other women. They are the Naomis, the marginalized taking the faces of future women in their hands and saying, “Here is how we see the kingdom built, and it will take daring women who trust and believe the Word of God, who will do beautifully vulnerable things to see the birth of a King brought forth.”

As secular feminism rises, more and more women within the church will be looking for strong female voices. They are not looking for poor theology, but many of them haven’t been taught how to study their Bibles, or how to discern good theology from bad. More women than ever lack husbands or godly fathers, so there is great opportunity for us to be like the women Paul wrote about in his letter to Titus: teaching what is good (Titus 2:3). Culturally it may look different from what first-century Christian women looked like, but the message is still the same: the gospel comes in, fills out, changes us, and sends us out to make disciples.

* Has God given you the opportunity to learn the biblical languages? Teach other women so they might rightly discern what is true.
* Have you studied church history? Teach women so they might help change history.
* Have you been given the gift of a discerning eye and mind? Teach women to exegete the Word, instead of the proof-texting all too common in studies meant for women.
* Has God radically transformed your heart in regard to the gospel? Extol his name to others in everything you say and do.

And our response should be, like Isaiah, “Here am I, send me!”1

Stephanie Paul

Stephanie Paul serves as part of the Addiction Recovery Team at America’s Keswick as Director of Women’s Addiction Ministry. She has been married for almost 30 years to Sesky Paul who is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy. Stephanie serves alongside him as Care Group leaders in their church. They have two grown children.
Her single focus in ministry at Keswick is to image Christ in grace and truth to wounded and hurting women, encouraging them to make Jesus the truest Lover of their soul and the One in whom all hope lies.
1 http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2013/03/26/who-will-teach-the-women-who-want-to-be-taught/Posted By Lore Ferguson On March 26, 2013

Spring has finally arrived and we are fast approaching the 2013 Family Freedom Walk on Saturday, May 11^th.  Last year the Lord brought in over $61,000 which absolutely stunned us.  We would like to invite you to be a part of what God does this year through the walk.  If you can join us that day, call today to register and start getting sponsors (732.350.1187). If you can’t walk with us, please consider being a sponsor.  All the net proceeds go to support the Addiction Recovery Ministries to help restore lives, marriages and families from the devastation of addiction. 

This year our staff is having a friendly competition between the men and the women so it would be great if all our Victory Call readers would sponsor the women’s team for $25.00 but even $5 or $10 will make a difference. This link will take you directly to our webpage if you would give on-line.   Family Freedom Walk Support  or if you prefer you may mail a check to America’s Keswick 601 Route 530 Whiting, NJ 08759 in either case please designate your gift to FFW: Women’s team.

Thank you so much for your support. We appreciate you. 

Blessings,

The Victory Call writers

 

Ps. 138:7-8 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand Against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me.  The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands. (NKJ)

In this Psalm the Lord is making clear that He can perfect what concerns me.  He will stretch out His hand against my enemies; it’s not my battle.  I can move forward in the work He has given me with confidence.  But will I apply that truth daily and really get past the worry to a place of peace?  Do I really believe the Lord can perfect what concerns me?  Can I move forward into what God has before me and not let the enemy distract or hinder me?  Am I willing to go through a narrow place and let God fill me with faith?

My questions have brought me to consider some things I want to share with you:

Before David could walk into his destiny he had to face and defeat Goliath by faith  (1 Sam. 17).   I must get out of the way by faith, so God can work through me and defeat my Goliath.

The Canaanite woman had to face the fear of going to the Lord who she knew had come for the Jews before she could see her daughter healed (Matt. 15:28). I must get past my fear of not being good enough for the Lord to hear my prayer.  I am never going to be good enough……but God’s mercy endures forever.  His promises are yes and amen.

The centurion understood authority and he had to humble himself and recognize the authority of Jesus before the Lord noted his great faith and healed his servant (Matt. 8:5-13).  I must understand who I am as the daughter of the King.  I am under His authority and must humble myself and let Him be God in all things.

Today I have made a choice to trust that the Lord is able to perfect what concerns me.  Here is my prayer.  I invite you to make it yours if you wish.

Dear Lord, I give You my REGRETS from the past.  I give You my INSECURITIES that keep me from boldly saying and doing what I need to do.  I give You the PLANS AND SCHEMES OF THE ENEMY of my soul that set me up for failure.  I give You my SELFISH ways, where everything is about me.  I give You MY THOUGHTS that wear me down. I declare You can perfect that which concerns me.  I invite you to mold me, and shape me so that by faith I will walk fully into the destiny You have prepared for me to the glory of your name.  In Jesus name I pray.

Patricia Wenzel
WOC Graduate

Material taken from Sunday 3/17/2013 message by Dr. Chuck Pierce – “Recovery to Wholeness”

Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart. (Psalm 24:3-4a ESV)

           Have you ever stopped to consider just how approachable our great God is?  Scripture tells us that He is so holy we cannot look upon Him and live.  It says that He dwells in unapproachable light.  He is devastatingly holy and righteous.  How can fallen and cursed sinners dare to look to Him and expect favor?  And yet, He Himself tells us to draw near, to seek Him, to call upon Him, to walk with Him, to call Him Father.
          The goodness of God does not end with the invitation.  He does not uselessly invite unjustified men into His presence, but He makes a way for them to come near to Him.  With our sins in the way, we cannot stand before Him, and He cannot tolerate us.  The psalmist says that the one who can stand in His holy place is he who “has clean hands and a pure heart.”  That description can only be fully true of one Man – our Savior Jesus Christ.  The Father provided a way for us to draw near through Jesus.  On our behalf, Jesus fulfilled the law that we broke and bore the wrath that we earned.  After conquering death, Jesus ascended to the Father, where He perfectly intercedes for us in the presence of God.
          Because Jesus made us righteous and acceptable to God, we can now approach God with confidence.  The writer to the Hebrews put it this way, Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water (Hebrews 10:19-22 ESV).
           God’s plan from eternity past was for His people to be with Him.  He assured us of His intentions from the first pages of Scipture, and He made it possible through Jesus Christ.  He said that the pure and the clean can enter His presence, and then He provided a way for us to be made pure and clean.  We are justified and declared righteous in Jesus.  Through our Savior, although we are still sinners and do not in any way merit God’s approval, we have total and complete access to God.  As if it couldn’t get better, the Holy Spirit assures us of our adoption and gives us the freedom to call God Father, just as He told us to.  His graciousness is worthy of our adoration.

Jenn Lawrence, Guest Services

Writer for “Real Victory for Real Life” 
365 Devotional Thoughts in the Spirit of America’s Keswick
VOLUME 2
 To order a copy of “REAL VICTORY For REAL LIFE” 365 Devotional Thoughts in the Spirit of America’s Keswick, forwarded by Dr. Joseph Stowell visit  www.americaskeswick.org  and click on store. 

Now available on Kindle!

http://www.amazon.com/Real-Victory-Life-Volume-ebook/dp/B00BMJ9LRG/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1362515015&sr=8-1

          Today my heart wants to linger on the topic of prayer. I’ll begin with the questions put forth yesterday: Are you in real need?  Do you admit that you are helpless to handle that need?

         In yesterday’s Victory Call I quoted Catherine Marshall: “Whatever I have learned about prayer has come as the result of times when I could answer a resounding YES to both questions. Looking back over my life, those times of need stand out like mountain peaks rather than, as one might suppose, valleys of despond. Peaks – because each time I learned something important about God-how real He is and how gloriously able to answer prayer.”

          Acknowledging our need and admitting we are helpless to handle that need are two powerful motivations for the believer to fall down before the Lord and ask for help.

          Are there moments in your life right now that you know you are in real need? Are you going to God and talking to Hi,; giving Him the need, and trusting it to Him? If not, may I encourage you to pause now, lift your heart and soul to heaven and ask Him to come and hear you?

          Beloved, the need doesn’t have to be a personal one; it could easily be for loved ones or any situations you are aware of in the crazed, lopsided, sin-sick world we live in. The bottom line is: great need and insufficient resources.

          Remember, we worship a listening God!
“Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live. Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may oppress no more. I said to the Lord: “You are my God; hear the voice of my supplications, O Lord. O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, You have covered my head in the day of battle. Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked; do not further his wicked scheme, lest they be exalted.” Selah Psalms 116:2; 10:17-18; 140:6-8

          “Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. I cry out with my whole heart; hear me, O Lord! Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.” Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation.” Selah – Psalms 61:1-4; 119:145a; 27:7-91

Stephanie Paul

Stephanie serves as part of the Addiction Recovery Team at America’s Keswick as Director of Women’s Addiction Ministry. She has been married for almost 30 years to Sesky Paul who is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy. Stephanie serves alongside him as Care Group leaders in their church. They have two grown children.
Her single focus in ministry at Keswick is to image Christ in grace and truth to wounded and hurting women, encouraging them to make Jesus the truest Lover of their soul and the One in whom all hope lies.

1 http://www.biblegateway.com

          One of the books I’m reading from today is Adventures in Prayer by Catherine Marshall. In her prologue she says, “Admittance to the School of Prayer is by an entrance test with only two questions. The first one is: Are you in real need? The second is: Do you admit that you are helpless to handle that need?”1

          If asked, most of us – myself included – would not disagree that prayer is part of our Christian lives in which we sometimes stumble around. We know we ought to. In fact, we sincerely want to, and yet, over the years I’ve had many conversations with women who feel that their prayer life seems wanting, that it lacks a sense of really connecting to the One to Whom their prayers are directed.

          For years now, I’ve sought to grow in this area. Admittedly, I stumble and fall often. Most definitely I do so without any hint of condemnation. What I do feel is the continually encouragement from the Lord to continue to draw near; to never let the desire to talk to Him fall away or get sucked up by the busyness of life.

          On a number of occasions my awareness of weakness and lack has led me to teach on the topic of prayer and the result is always more than satisfactory, more than fulfilling. How could it not be! Drawing near to God is one of, if not the greatest of experiences for the believer.
 

          In those times of teaching I’ve seen women overcome with emotion as they share their encounters with God as they open their mouths (some for the first time) and talk to their Father from their simple place of need.

          Catherine goes on to say that: “Whatever I have learned about prayer has come as the result of times when I could answer a resounding YES to both questions. Looking back over my life, those times of need stand out like mountain peaks rather than, as one might suppose, valleys of despond. Peaks -because each time I learned something important about God – how real He is and how gloriously able to answer prayer.”

          I can shout Amen and Halleluiah to her discovery. For, I think when our prayer is all of God and Who He Is -the sufficiency of His Person and Power and Grace – then, and only then do we cross the divide which transcends our frail weak humanity and enter into a measure of His Spirit which He allows in those precious moments to remind us of Who He is in the midst of our need.

          Oh, how I’ve learned to know and believe that He truly does hear and see and know and care and love and want to incline His ear to listen to my voice and yours.

          So dear ones, how would you answer the above questions?

          My encouragement to you today:
 Posture yourself rightly before the One Who Is Holy and talk to Him.

          “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”  Matthew 7:7-11

Stephanie Paul

Stephanie  serves as part of the Addiction Recovery Team at America’s Keswick as Director of Women’s Addiction Ministry. She has been married for almost 30 years to Sesky Paul who is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy. Stephanie serves alongside him as Care Group leaders in their church. They have two grown children.
Her single focus in ministry at Keswick is to image Christ in grace and truth to wounded and hurting women, encouraging them to make Jesus the truest Lover of their soul and the One in whom all hope lies.
 
1 Adventure in Prayer, Catherine Marshall, page 1.

We all want promises don’t we, at least promises we can count on?  I know I have let people down telling them I will do something, fully intending to do so, but then failing to do it.  I have been let down by others who have told me they were going to do something but they fail to do it.  We humans are fallible. 
     There is only One Whose word we can be certain of, Whose word is always true, Who keeps every promise, without exception. 

 

     “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant” 1 Kings 8:56.
Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope! Psalm 119:116.
     So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. Hebrews 6:17-18
     God’s promises are true.  We can trust Him to always keep His word.  We can be assured that what He says He will do.  We may not be able to see His work in keeping His promises but we can be assured that He will keep it. Our God is True.  
Rest today in THE Promise-keeper.
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 over 28 years.  She has 2 adult children and 3 grandchildren and 3 adult step-children with 7 grandchildren making 10 in all.  She delights reading and teaching, but mostly laughing at the funny things her grandchildren say and do.