Recently I mentioned that, over the years, I have grown to deeply appreciate the attribute of the sovereignty of God, especially as I need to calm my soul. Even as I typed those words in a recent Victory Call, a little nagging thought twittered in the back of my brain, “Do you appreciate God’s sovereignty to calm your soul but not appreciate His sovereignty to rule in your own life?” Ouch.

In the process of looking for a quote from R.C. Sproul, I found this R.C. quote that nailed my issue right on the head, “Most Christians salute the sovereignty of God but believe in the sovereignty of man.”

“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;” Mt 15:8

I can say I believe in the sovereignty of God but if I live as if I am in control of my own life do I really believe it or just know it? My life, not my words, demonstrates my real beliefs. So that begs the question, do I just salute the sovereignty of God or do I really believe it?

Thoughts to ponder today.

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, 3 grandchildren, 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.

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge or him everywhere.” 2 Cor. 2:14

This is a verse that I just love, because it reminds us of what God promises to do in our life and why He promises to do it. First, He always leads us to Victory! Second, He gives us victory so that we can spread the news about Him everywhere.
At Keswick, we are about to embark on a new adventure. Our goal is to open a women’s addiction recovery house this fall so that women can find victory and then go out and give testimony through their life to the power of Christ.

This is not an easy task; although we have been doing addiction recovery for 117 years it will look different because men and women do addiction differently. Women get addicted for different reasons, they progress faster in their addiction, they recover differently and they return to their addiction for different reasons. We need to recognize that 70% of the women in addiction are victims of abuse compared to only 12% of the men. The rate of PTSD is 2-3 times higher in women than men in recovery. Rape and domestic violence due to alcohol abuse by the perpetrators is over 70% and the victims are more likely to turn to drugs and alcohol to cope. Because of those statistics, women in addiction share a lack of healthy relationships and the experience of trauma.

Women are also dealing with body image concerns, boredom, identity issues, belonging needs, acceptance and intimacy desires and needs, as well as suffering from more mental health problems than men. Many women also began using due to issues with motherhood, from stress and anxiety in raising a family to the pressures of single parenting.

The need is great. Over 2,000 women a day begin using drugs for the wrong reasons. 30% of addiction treatment admissions in NJ are women and that number is growing. At Keswick, we are ready to meet this need and to help reach out and support women on their road to recovery and, most of all, to offer women a Christian resource for healing and recovery.

Please begin to pray for us and ask God how you can partner with us on this new journey. There will be follow-up Victory Calls to continue this topic and explain our program and how it is being designed to truly meet the needs of women on the road to Victory.

Lynne Jahns
Barbara’s Place Program Director

If you or someone you know has interest in applying, please know we are still in the preparation and planning stages of Barbara’s Place, and until we have an opening date set we will not be taking applications. Since we have such a limited number of beds (8), admission to the program will be based on successful completion of a multi-step application process rather than on a first-come, first-served basis. Please watch our website for the application and information as it unfolds in the fall.

“…the prudent ignores an insult.” (i)

It is difficult sometimes to ignore unkind or critical words isn’t it? Perhaps you are like me, insults tend to roll around and around in my head. It is often hard to imagine how else that person could have possibly meant what they said other than the insulting way that I took it.

An insult can ruin an otherwise great day or week. One insult can wipe out a dozen or two words of encouragement.
To just say, “ignore it” sounds way easier than it really is.

Yet, the wisdom of Proverbs tells us “…the prudent ignores an insult.” (ii) This past week, I have had numerous opportunities to deal with insults. Oh, the people may not have intended for them to actually be insulting but sometimes “just speaking the truth” isn’t always tactful or necessary.

How do we let an insult roll off our backs? What if we take a giant step backwards and try to view it from God’s perspective? What if we found a way to make light of it? What if we return a blessing? Oh, now that is cutting deep. Return a blessing for an insult? “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.”(iii) “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.” (iv)

Here is an action plan when you are insulted:
1. Love your offender
2. Take action to put feet to your love. Find some way to express it in spite of how you feel.
3. Bless your offender
4. Pray for your offender

Do not allow the insult to rob you of joy and peace. Stop offense dead in its tracks. Decide to ignore the insult.

Blessings, Diane

i Proverbs 12:9
ii Proverbs 12:9
iii Luke 6:27
iv 1 Peter 3:9

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, 3 grandchildren, 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.

I was able to sit down and talk to a woman who had gone through some recent health issues. She told me of some other hardships she had experienced in her life. As I listened, it seemed to me that she ended almost every sentence with, “But God is always with us.” What an encouragement to me this lady was! What a great reminder to me that God is always with me, even in the hard days of grieving, walking with another family member through illness, and the stresses of everyday life.
As I reached for my promise card this morning I read, “The mountains may depart and the hills disappear, but my kindness shall not leave you” Isaiah 54:10. There it is again … another reminder that He will not leave me. I would have to say that if the mountains departed and the hills disappeared, then I would be witnessing utter destruction. Yet He will not leave me! And He will not leave you in the destruction of your health, your marriage, your relationships or wherever else you feel God has abandoned you. I am reminded that NO THING can separate us from God.

Our greatest struggle is that we base God’s nearness by our own feelings not with knowing this as fact. That is my struggle and I don’t think I am alone in it. It is my desire to depend on that promise as fact, based on nothing else but that God keeps His word and won’t leave.

Isaiah 54:10 continues, “My promise of peace for you will never be broken. I, the Lord, say this. I have mercy on you”.

Praying that you and I will remember His promise today. God is always with you.

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.

“Whoever walks in integrity walks securely.” (Prov. 10:9)

Are you committed to integrity or do you prefer integrity?

What is the difference, you ask? If you are committed to integrity you have integrity. You will live with integrity no matter what, even when doing so is difficult. If you only prefer integrity then you do not have integrity because you only make choices of integrity when it is convenient and that is not integrity at all.

Integrity requires integrity all the time. Just like honesty. To be an honest person one must be truthful all the time because if they are only truthful some of the time they are not characterized as an honest person.

Integrity warrants doing the right thing every time, not perfectly but conscientiously. Every known choice is made to do the right thing. I don’t mean the person is sinless. To have integrity means being above reproach regarding truthfulness and honesty.

So, for example, you are given too much change at the cash register; do you tell the cashier of his mistake? The person in front of you has money sticking out of their back pocket (as my sister did recently), do you tell them or mind your own business? Do you declare all your income on your government tax forms or only the money the IRS can check on? Do you follow the laws even when no one is watching? If you can sneak onto the beach without purchasing a beach tag do you do it or do you pay the fee even if it seems ridiculous to you?

You get the idea.

How will we as Children of the One True God stand apart from the rest of the world if we don’t walk securely in integrity? There is security in integrity. You don’t have to explain your way out of anything. You don’t have to worry about getting caught. You don’t have to remember the lie you told in the first place. Security comes from doing it God’s way in the first place.

Walk in integrity. Walk in security.

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, 3 grandchildren, 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.

i Proverbs 10:9

When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent. (Prov. 10:19)

I love the rare opportunities when I can take my grandchildren on a one on one date. One day my 6-year-old granddaughter chatted away. More than once she stopped and said, “I sink I tawk too much.” I just loved to listen to her chatter. If you knew me and my husband it would be no surprise which side of the family she got that from.

…whoever restrains his lips is prudent. The older I get, the more aware I am that sometimes restraint is the best option but restraint can be difficult. Our very nature resists restraint. Somehow the pride of our hearts is compelled to let others know what we think.

It wasn’t too long into being married that I learned not every silly little thing that popped into my head had to come out my mouth.

The truth is, some things are better left unsaid.

Are my words hurtful? Unkind? Unnecessary? Profitable? Encouraging? Edifying? God-glorifying? Do they bring healing? Are they me-centered or other-centered? Filter your words through God’s grid.

“Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.” (Psalm 141:3)

Be blessed today. When you lay your head upon your pillow tonight may you not regret a single word you spoke today.

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, 3 grandchildren, 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.

iProverbs 10:19
iiPsalm 141:3

During our weekly staff enrichment time, we watched a video of a message given by Priscilla Shirer at a Catalyst Conference. She shared an illustration of her two-year-old niece wanting something to eat. She would march into the kitchen and stand in front of the box where food was stored (the refrigerator!) and point and say “Eat!”  Her daddy would then pick her up, put her in her booster seat at the kitchen table. She would shimmy and wiggle her way out of the seat and march back over to the ‘fridge and point and say, “Eat!” Her daddy would again pick her up and put her in her booster seat at the kitchen table. She would shimmy and wiggle her way out of the seat and march back over to the ‘fridge and point and say, “Eat!”  This went on several times. Priscilla didn’t say, but I’m guessing the little girl’s daddy, in between placing his daughter back in her booster seat, was working on fixing her something to eat.

Isn’t that just like us, at times, with our heavenly Father? We tell Him what we want, or think we need – sometimes even demand it. And then He gently places us in the best place for Him to provide for that need. And what do we do? We shimmy and wiggle our way out of it and stomp back to what we want and ask for it again. And He lovingly directs us back to where we need to be for Him to meet our need, and we start the process all over again.

And we just hate to wait, don’t we?  According to some statistics I found on Wikipedia, the average person spends 45 to 62 minutes a day waiting – in line at the grocery store, to fill up your gas tank, waiting for an elevator, waiting for a program to load on your computer… Waiting is a regular part of life, but most of us chafe at it.

Why is it we think we know so much more about what we need – and when and how – than God does?  It comes down to whether or not we trust Him. We say we trust God, but when the answer we seek is delayed, or comes in a different form, we wiggle and squirm and stomp our feet in frustration.

The Psalms are full of reminders to wait for the Lord because our hope comes from Him.

Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day. Psalm 25:5

Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord! Psalm 27:14

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Psalm 37:7

I will praise You forever, Because You have done it; And in the presence of Your saints I will wait on Your name, for it is good. Psalm 52:9

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope. Psalm 130:5

These are just a couple of the Psalmist’s encouragements to wait for the Lord.

Years ago some friends of mine sang a song about trusting Jesus. The chorus goes like this:

Trusting You, Jesus, ain’t always easy, easy to do

‘Cause I keep on getting’ so far ahead of You

Help me, Lord, to keep on trusting You.

May we learn to trust Him, rest in Him and wait on Him.

Ruth Schmidt is on full-time staff at America’s Keswick, and grateful to be a daughter of the King.

Recently I mentioned that, over the years, I have grown to deeply appreciate the attribute of the sovereignty of God especially as I need to calm my soul. Even as I typed those words in a recent Victory Call, a little nagging thought twittered in the back of my brain, “Do you appreciate God’s sovereignty to calm your soul but not appreciate His sovereignty to rule in your own life?” Ouch.

In the process of looking for a quote from R. C. Sproul, I found this R.C. quote that nailed my issue right on the head, “Most Christians salute the sovereignty of God but believe in the sovereignty of man.”

“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;” Mt 15:8

I can say I believe in the sovereignty of God but if I live as if I am in control of my own life do I really believe it or just know it? My life, not my words, demonstrates my real beliefs. So that begs the question: do I just salute the sovereignty of God or do I really believe it?

Thoughts to ponder today.

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, 3 grandchildren, 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.

When I attend networking events I have the opportunity to say a 30-second “elevator pitch” on America’s Keswick and what happens here. Many of the business persons I meet end their speech with the question, “Who do you know who….”? The point is to let others in the room know who would be a good referral for their business. I thought of this this morning. I awoke at 1 am and my mind was “on”. I couldn’t fall asleep so I grabbed my phone and began searching Twitter. I found a tweet from Bill Welte and what was shared was just what I needed for the “I’m awake early in the morning, peace for my heart so I can get back to sleep, kind of help”. When I woke later and was getting ready for work I got a text from a dear friend who knows my heart. She told me about a devotional she would email me. The words were perfect for me this morning…just what God needed to speak to my heart….AGAIN! I don’t think Bill nor my friend thought to ask “Who do I know who….” before sharing. They just shared what touched their hearts not knowing the reach the verses, quotes and devotions they shared would have.

I would like to encourage you today to ask “Who do I know who…….needs to read what I’ve read today, needs a hug, needs encouragement, needs some chocolate or just needs a smile.” Someone needs you to share with them today!

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.

We are such an impatient people and I think our impatience grows with each passing generation. Those that lived through the Great Depression learned patience of necessity. They learned to save and prepare for another time. Today we have instant everything. Instant news, instant communication.

God has not changed. We want instant God, one that answers our prayers now. We want what we want now!!

All through Scripture we see and witness people waiting on God.

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! Ps 27:14
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. Ps 62:5
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. Ps 130:5-6
Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. Is 30:18
Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Is 40:30-31
The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. Lam 3:25

The Lord’s timing is not our timing. There is value in the wait. There is grace in the wait. There is growth in the wait. There is intention in the wait. There is God in the wait.

You are blessed today.
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, 3 grandchildren, 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.