Continue in Prayer

My topic today is taken from Colossians 4:2 "Continue in prayer." I have been thinking a lot lately about prayer and it's importance in the life of God's children. As a busy wife and mother it's often difficult to find time for a meaningful conversation with anyone!! And yet, prayer is most important especially when we are busy! I remember hearing this quote from John Wesley, "I have so much to do that I spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it." When I read the morning reading from January 2 out of Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon which used this verse as it's text I was convicted to be more prayful this year. Here is an excerpt of that reading:

It is interesting to remark how large a portion of Sacred Writ is occupied with the subject of prayer, either in furnishing examples, enforcing precepts, or pronouncing promises. We scarcely open the Bible before we read, "Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord;" and just as we are about to close the volume, the "Amen" of an earnest supplication meets our ear. Instances are plentiful. Here we find a wrestling Jacob—there a Daniel who prayed three times a day—and a David who with all his heart called upon his God. On the mountain we see Elias; in the dungeon Paul and Silas. We have multitudes of commands, and myriads of promises. What does this teach us, but the sacred importance and necessity of prayer? We may be certain that whatever God has made prominent in His Word, He intended to be conspicuous in our lives. If He has said much about prayer, it is because He knows we have much need of it. . . .If thou be a child of God, thou wilt seek thy Father's face, and live in thy Father's love. Pray that this year thou mayst be holy, humble, zealous, and patient; have closer communion with Christ, and enter oftener into the banqueting-house of His love. Pray that thou mayst be an example and a blessing unto others, and that thou mayst live more to the glory of thy Master. The motto for this year must be, "Continue in prayer."

We'd love to see what you create using this inspiration - please leave us a link to your project. Thank you for joining us today.

Julie

Hazel



Pauline

Kim

Lythan

Love is in the Air

Even in our local supermarket you can’t escape the signs that it is nearly St Valentine’s Day. The cuddly toys, cut-price boxes of chocolates and large displays of cards to choose from to help us show our love to partners, potential partners, friends, parents and perhaps even our teachers (there is a wide choice of cards to peruse!!)

Historians trace the origin of St Valentine’s Day to the Roman Empire, although a young priest called Valentine gave the day its name and clearer meaning. There are various legends about Valentine himself (I’ll leave the very interested among you to your own research!) but many believe the 14^th February to be an opportunity to celebrate love, and not just romantic love (remember those teacher cards I mentioned earlier?)

The Bible is full of passages talking about love – our love for God, God’s love for us and love that we have for one another. I’ve been reflecting on some of these passages recently because of a situation a friend has found herself in and I have to be honest and say that some of the seemingly ‘simple’ passages present us with some of the greatest challenges.

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'^a]"> This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' Matthew 22:37-39

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. . .And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Excerpts from 1 Corinthians 13:4-13

God’s love transcends all of our human definitions of love to the point that we perhaps cannot fully understand it. For me, the crucial thing is that God’s love is unconditional. It does not depend on feelings or emotions. He doesn’t change the love He has for us based on how we make Him feel or how ‘loveable’ we are. He loves us, created us to be in a relationship with Him, and sacrificed His only Son to restore that relationship. Even though we may struggle to comprehend it because of the limitations of language or understanding, the fact is that God is Love and as Christians we can rejoice in that fact, not just on one day, but 365.

The Beatitudes

Sadly, we say goodbye to Esther from our design team. Esther says, 'Having taken on more responsibilities since my son has started school, I don’t find myself at my craft table as much, let alone blogging. I think it is wise that I step down.' She goes on to say, 'I hope Salt continues to go on from strength to strength and it will continue to be used for the glory of God.' We already miss Esther, who was one of the founder members of the Salt team - she has encouraged and blessed us, not only with her gorgeous crafting, but with her care for our team and in sharing her spiritual journey with us. Thank you, Esther, for your love and friendship.

The Beatitudes

For this fortnight's, challenge I (Hazel) thought it would be good to look at the Beatitudes:

Matthew 5
1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes. Sadly, sometimes they are mistakenly seen as a blueprint for how we are to be saved, something for us to strive to attain – but rather, as Spurgeon said, they are ‘the marks and evidences of a work of grace in the soul.’ It is only possible to truly possess the qualities Jesus commends if we experience the salvation He offers. They are the characteristics that should be evident in every Christian.

As Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones said: ‘Happiness is the great question confronting mankind. The whole world is longing for happiness and it is tragic to observe the ways in which people are seeking it.’ In the opening verses of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is saying that if you really want to be happy, to be blessed, then here is the way.

The characteristics identified in the Beatitudes are not ones that come naturally to us, but are produced by grace and the work of the Holy Spirit.

I hope that you enjoy seeing the crafting response of the team - please visit their individual blogs to read what they have to say.

Our challenge: It would be lovely if you could join with us in creating something that is your response to these sayings of Jesus - or perhaps concentrate on just one of them. We would love to see any crafting that is prompted by these words of Jesus - please leave us a comment with a link to where we can come and see your creation.

Thank you to those who follow us, leave us comments and join in our challenges - we hope and pray that you are blessed by our little corner of the internet - combining our two passions of faith in Christ and crafting.

Hazel

Pauline



Stacy

Kim (to read journaling, click on photo to enlarge)


Lythan

Ruth

* * * * * * * * * *

News from our friends at Scrapbook News and Review magazine:

They are pleased to announce that they're adding a new monthly feature to their online publication - Faith Full Cards - and they're looking for submissions! The focus for these projects is 'faith-based' and they should showcase Bible verses, inspirational quotes and/or images.

Please follow these instructions for submissions:
*All projects must include a complete supply list and contact info.
*All images should be named with the contributor's name, and project title. Example: Mary Smith_Valentine's Greeting.jpg
*Image should be no larger than 550 pixels on longest edge.
*Please email submissions to ahouse@scrapbooknewsandreview.com by the 1st of every month.

WAAAAAAAAY LATE!!!!!

I(Mona) apologize that this is MANY hours late! With everything that has been going on in my life this past week, God really spoke to me today with this verse:

When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul. (Ps.94:19)

It always amazes me how God speaks to me where I am and knows exactly what I need to hear when I need to hear it. My husband and I have been hit with "bad luck" from all sides and I was at the end of my rope and felt that nothing else could go wrong. But then God reminded me that he can fill me and He is my strength when I have nothing left to go on. I felt I had no hope, no joy, only melancholy, but then I remembered my Creator, my Jehovah -Rophe (The Lord who Heals) to give me strength to get through!

Between problems with school, hacking computers, lost money, thousands of dollars in bills in the course of a week, and lost friends, my heart is broken. But God is my healer, he will take care of me when I no longer can. Thank you Father!

Daily

Happy Thursday! This is Tanis with today's challenge topic.

Before I start, I just want to say THANKS for stopping by and I hope that if you decide to study and record your learning, that you'll link your project up here!!

I was going through some old sermon notes and found one that I knew I needed to spend some time looking at again - here's a few points and Scriptures that jumped out at me. I know this is a challenge for me - busy schedules and kids running this way and that can be draining on your time with God. So it's good to rethink about DAILY spending time with God!

Being a DAILY Christian

1. Remembering God DAILY, because He is a daily God.
Psalm 68:19
Praise the Lord; praise God our savior!For each day he carries us in his arms.

2. Know that you are DAILY accepted and DAILY forgiven if you are DAILY returning to God for forgiveness.
1 John 1:9
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

3. DAILY trusting Him with our problems and concerns.
1 Peter 5:7
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

Isaiah 33:2
But Lord, be merciful to us,for we have waited for you.Be our strong arm each day and our salvation in times of trouble.

4. DAILY talking to Him.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

5. DAILY claiming his promises.
Lamentations 3:20-25
The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!”

6. DAILY praising Him in all circumstances.
Psalm 42:8
But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,and through each night I sing his songs,praying to God who gives me life.

Psalm 96:2
Sing to the Lord; praise his name.Each day proclaim the good news that he saves.




Lythan



Stacy

Pauline

Tanis

Julie

Ruth

Hazel

Kim

Happy New Day!

How are you doing with your New Year's Resolutions?

Still on the diet? Going to the gym? Decluttering? (that is mine and the answer is "kinda"). My husband is learning poems and he is doing really well so far - I am proud of him!

But they are not that easy to stick to are they? These promises that we make to live our lives differently.

What helps me is knowing that God's time is not the same as my time

These helpful words are from Ecclesiastes 3

¹ There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

² a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

⁹ What do workers gain from their toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. ¹³ That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil - this is the gift of God

I think it says that sometimes we have to let God be God and go with the flow and try to respond to his time and not be in a hurry to make it our time. What it also means is that the opportunity to change our lives and turn around and take the steps we need to get closer to God don't happen only once a year. Because what do New Year's Resolutions do? Sometimes they just set us up to fail, to feel bad, to be less inclined to even try next time.

The good news for us, the great news is that thanks to Jesus death and resurrection for us, every time we come to him saying sorry, every time we share the ways we know we have fallen from grace, he picks us up and hugs us and says "I forgive you.

I love the way that it is expressed in the song by Amy Grant - Brand New Start

When I think of all the things he's doing for me,

It makes me stand in wonder at what he's making me to be

Trying to walk through straight but getting turned around

Always asking the Master to take a back seat and wait around

But I praise the Lord for giving me a brand new start each day

And I praise his blessed name for guiding me all along the way

If he didn't I wouldn't even try

I'm going to try and declutter still and I will encourage Phil in his poem learning, but most of all I am going to try and be the person God made me to be, to trust in him and when I need it, to receive a fresh start once again

Faith Hope Love

1 Corinthians 13

Love

¹If I speak in the tongues^a]">[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,^b]">[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.
⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
⁸Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. ¹¹When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. ¹²Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.


When i read these verses i think of motherhood ,marriage and life in general, but i was recently reminded more of motherhood. Biologically she is not my child but i care about her very much. She came to live with us not to long ago and she is leaving us very soon. She made some bad choices over Christmas and i am asking you to keep her in prayer our korean student..

p.s. i never got my project done i will post it later

Stacy




Kim




Hazel



Julie

Tanis

Ruth

Lythan

Mona




Pauline