Trials

Waiting On God

July 10, 2011 By Courtney 15 Comments

“Joshua had to wait seven days as he obediently marched around Jericho before God rewarded his patience and brought the walls down.

Israel waited for the Messiah to come. Mary waited nine months for Jesus’ birth. Jesus waited for the woman of Samaria to come to the well, Mary and Martha waited for Jesus to come to Bethany, and Jesus Himself waited three days in the tomb for the resurrection. A person who lives in submissive obedience to Christ is a person who is often called to wait.

~Ann Graham Lotz

If you are waiting on God in prayer remember Isaiah 40:28-31:

“Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
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.”

Walk with the King

Filed Under: Perseverance, Trials

Waiting On God

June 30, 2011 By Courtney 23 Comments

“Waiting on God isn’t about the suspension of meaning and purpose. It’s part of the meaning and purpose that God has brought into my life. Waiting on God isn’t to be viewed as an obstruction in the way of the plan. Waiting is an essential part of the plan. For the child of God, waiting isn’t simply about what I’ll receive at the end of my wait. No, waiting is much more purposeful, efficient, and practical than that. Waiting is fundamentally about what I’ll become as I wait. God is using the wait to do in and through me exactly what He’s promised. Through the wait He’s changing me. By means of the wait He’s altering the fabric of my thoughts and desires. Through the wait He’s causing me to see and experience new things about Him and His kingdom. And all of this sharpens me, enabling me to be a more useful tool in His redemptive hands” (emphasis mine).
~Paul Tripp
{Quote from Girltalkhome.com}

Walk with the King,

Filed Under: Perseverance, Trials

What Are The Secret Desires of Your Heart?

May 11, 2011 By Courtney 18 Comments

In this video, I talk about a time when my husband and I were clashing over how we were going to spend our weekends (my husband was traveling extensively for business on the weekdays). My husband wanted to spend them at home with just me and the children. I wanted to go out and have fun! I neglected to tell how the clash was resolved.

I listened to Keith and tried to understand why he felt this way. Then he listened to me. We came to an agreement that before I scheduled anything I would run it by him. Together we would decide which events to attend and which we should skip. We ended up missing a lot that year…and I learned a lesson in contentment and sacrifice. Keith is still a less social person than I am, but we have come to a place of understanding and self-sacrifice on both ends. Sometimes as wives we have to be willing to “go first”.

James 1:12-18 ESV

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

16Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

The method of Bible study I mention in the video above is called the S.O.A.P. Method:

1. S- Write out the scripture passage for the day.

2. O- Write down 1 or 2 observations from the passage.

3. A- Write down 1-2 applications from the passage.

4. P- Pray over what you learned from today’s passage.

Next Monday, we’ll complete James chapter 1.

Walk with the King!

This post is linked to Raising Homemakers, Titus 2sdays, and We Are That Family.

Today is Women Living Well Wednesday! It’s a Link-Up Day!!!

Join the fun, do a little blog hopping and don’t forget if you join below -please add the Women Living Well Wednesdays button to your post so your readers can find us here! (posts can include the topics of marriage, parenting, homemaking, finances, recipes, organization and more!)

Filed Under: James Video Series, Trials, Women Living Well Wednesdays

This Blog Was Born From A Trial

May 9, 2011 By Courtney 13 Comments

Love notes for Daddy in his suitcase

This past winter, I did a video series from the book of James on my sister site GoodMorningGirls.org.

For the next 5 weeks, I will be sharing those videos with you here on Women Living Well. If you are in need of some direction in your daily quiet times, I hope you will pull out your Bible and follow along with me.

For those who have already viewed these videos over on GoodMorningGirls.org, I hope you are gearing up to begin the Summer Book Club~ The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson! We begin May 23rd but the Good Morning Girls groups are enrolling NOW – this is the final week! We need all the returning groups to re-enroll and can’t wait to meet all the new groups too! (Questions about what Good Morning Girls are? Read here.)

Today I begin in James Chapter 1:1-12 titled: Consider Your Trials Pure Joy.

In the video, I talk about a dark time in my life – which actually led to the birth of Women Living Well! I hope you will listen and follow along in James 1:1-12!

James 1:1-12 (ESV)
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. 12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

“Our fight for joy is a fight to see God.” ~ John Piper
Wednesday I’ll be covering James 1:12-18 (and talk more about a marital clash we faced during this trial). I encourage you to read ahead in your Bible!

Walk with the King!
This post is linked to A Holy Experience, We Are That Family and .