Decisive Women

by Dr. Sheila Spencer

Faith went on trial last year. It seems as if every woman was tested, some beyond human strength. All across America, thousands of women from every ethnic back ground and social status shared in some pain which ranged from infidelity in the white house to the church house. We witnessed women of God who stood in pulpits by their husbands of the Cloth. Although they may have thought they would be exempt because their husband was a “godly man” they found themselves in the same bed of pain as the non-Christian woman. What was a private matter between a husband and wife became public embarrassment across the dinner tables. Read more

It’s Not Just Easter

by Alyssa Carmona

This month is where many are reminded of the passion of Jesus Christ; while many view this as a sad day we view it as the most important day of our Christian faith. The resurrection of Christ marked our rightful position which Adam forfeited.

The world knows this day as Easter where we buy pretty pastel color dresses and white shoes; we eat candy and have scavenger egg hunts with the family. This is a month where those who never attend church feel the urge to go and appease their minds that they too are faith believers of Christ.

I would like us all to remember how important it is that we remind our friends and families of why this day is so significant. It’s important to make sure to take a special part of our day to honor what Jesus did for us on that day.

It’s even a greater idea to start by reminiscing this on Good Friday and maybe make a special family time each night until Sunday. This way we can take three days to commemorate Jesus’ crucifixion but most importantly His resurrection.

I know we get so busy with work and hyped during our busy schedule but be creative and remind your friends and families that Christ died so that we could live. Share His love and the price He paid during this significant and historical event so that we all can partake of His divine nature. ?

Light Fettuccine Alfredo

Great taste with half the calories!

Ingredients:

1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
2 small cloves garlic, minced (or more if you like)
1 cup low-fat (1%) milk
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
8 ounces fettuccine noodles
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

In blender, combine cottage cheese, milk, egg yolk and pepper. Puree until smooth.

In small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add minced garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add puree and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Stir in all but 4 teaspoons Parmesan cheese. Meanwhile, cook fettuccine according to package directions; drain. Toss with sauce. Top fettuccine with remaining Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley.

Accepting My Pesky Imperfections

by Daphne Eilein Landers

I spoke. She took notes. Toward the end of our session, she asked, “What is the most important thing you said today?”

I said many things in that hour-and-a-half. But to pick one and have to repeat it? I pondered her question out loud: “What is the most important thing I said today?” I searched my mind, and I knew what I needed to say, but I didn’t want to. She waited. I sighed. Read more

The Aching Void

by Karin Syren

“Nature will not permit a vacuum.It will be filled with something.Human need is really a great spiritual vacuum which God seeks to fill…” —George Washington Carver

We are all daily employed in filling the vacuums of human need. It drives us to fill our stomachs with food and drink, to fill our world with relationships, and our minds with a steady stream of information.

We seem compelled to continually fill the envelope of our time. We say we long for time to do nothing and yet the vacuum must be filled and alas, if we are not doing every minute, we believe we are wasting that commodity. How about drawers, pockets and purses? They never stay empty for long, no matter how often we purge them. They refill seemingly without our assistance!

We cannot tolerate a half-filled cup of coffee or tea. On the road, if we spot an open space in traffic up ahead, we maneuver our vehicle to fill it. Flower beds, bookshelves, cabinets and, most importantly, those empty spaces deep within us, all seem to call out to be filled. On and on it goes. What needs or desires in your life are you seeking to fulfill? What spaces are you longing to fill?

It is very interesting however that our attempts at filling are never enough. It seems we frequently approach the state of true satisfaction only when we experience the state of abundance called overflow. It is in our nature not only to desire simple satisfaction, the simple gratification of desires and appetites, ful-fill-ment, but then to desire the next step – overflow. Perhaps because we have all experienced deep lack, gaping holes, in our lives, we feel we need the extra security of over-fill.

Empty spaces are often referred to as aching voids. Ponder that term for a moment – it is rich in meaning. If you have ever had a tooth pulled and experienced the painful condition called dry-socket, you can fully grasp the meaning of the expression. Nature will not permit a vacuum. Consequently, the vacuum state is an exceedingly uncomfortable one at best – it is the state of being un-ful-filled.

Vessels want filling and we are all vessels, which explains our nature as desiring beings. Desire is simply a longing to be filled in one area or another. A synonym for desire is craving, which really takes it to the next level of desire. Craving is an overpowering drive, often moving one to actions they would not consider under normal circumstances.

Why does it seem we are never satisfied, always seeking over-filling, over-abundance, excess. It has been suggested that perhaps we come closest to satisfaction in the pursuit itself and when we are actually filled what we thought was the answer, we become dissatisfied and so we begin the whole cycle of engaging in the pursuit all over again. Sounds like an apt definition of addiction – the constant filling that never fills. Relationships, gambling, food, sex, drugs, alcohol – the more we engage, the less we are filled, the hungrier we become.

Can you see how this two-edged sword is the beginning of a cycle of misery which takes us to what James says about desire in his letter? This cycle leads to lust, which is nothing more than sickened, unhealthy desire, our attempts to fill the aching void.

And what do we provide ourselves through our pursuits? Only more emptiness! We attempt to satisfy spiritual hunger with carnal counterfeits which can never satisfy. And why do we feel we must provide for our own needs when the Bible gives us a better way? James 4 has some simple, piercing truths which begin to point us to the answer.

You do not have because you do not ask.

You ask and you do not receive,

because you ask with wrong motives

so that you may spend it on your own pleasures.

James 4:2b-3 NAS

Too often, we look to the world to fill our empty spaces and then fall into the trap of friendship with the world which James identifies as hostility toward God (James 4:4). The Bible calls this adultery! That may sound way too strong, but it is what God has to say about it.

What then is the answer? It is found at the cross upon which Christ bore not only our every emptiness, but all our attempts at filling that void, the attempts that only separate us further from true and lasting satisfaction through the Blood of Jesus.

How much more, then, will the blood of Christ,

who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God,

cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,

so that we may serve the living God!

Hebrews 9:14 NIV

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

James 4:7-8 NAS

His word is always a promise and His word declares if we draw near to God, He will surely draw near to us (James 4:8). If we will accept the sacrifice, then we can boldly draw near the throne of grace and our needs are filled. (Hebrews 4:16) Any time you are in the presence of God you will be filled. Note that the Bible tells us this is something we must do ourselves. God will not do this part for us. We must accept and we must draw near. So often we turn it around and expect this of God, yet busying ourselves with what God has said He will do for us.

If you then, being evil,

know how to give good gifts to your children,

how much more will your heavenly Father

give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?

Luke 11:13 NAS

This then is the filling that truly satisfies, nourishes, heals and empowers and that connects to the Father, then to the aching world, bringing ever increasing fulfillment.

Steep your mind in the Word of God, renewing it to the only real and lasting satisfaction. Learn what is yours by the blood. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Renew and make complete your whole self, spirit, soul and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23) by means of regular fellowship with your heavenly Father in prayer, praise and worship. As Psalm 46:10 exhorts, make time to be still and know Him, truly know Him. It is the only true fulfillment and it is what you were created for.

Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God,

and fully to enjoy him forever.

Westminster Greater Catechism

When you understand what took place at the cross, the Great Exchange, and its eternal and very personal significance, you will reap infinitely greater benefits in quietly allowing yourself to be filled than in your frantic lifetime quest to fill yourself!

***

Copyright © 2010 Karin S. Syren. The above article is adapted with permission, from Karin’s upcoming book, The Bible Minute Devotional, for release through Xulon Press.

RESOLUTIONS TO REALITY: Here it is March already and for most of us, our New Year’s Resolutions are long forgotten. It need not be the case this year! Join Karin for 6 weeks of private coaching at the unheard of cost of $129 in her new program Resolutions to Reality. It’s never too late. Email Karin today at ksyren@solushunz.net for details and to schedule your informational phone call. Make this the year you succeed!

Karin is a Vision Coach helping individuals and groups articulate and realize the manifestation of their dreams. Increase your confidence by developing a clear picture of where you are going and how to get there. Discover what makes you unique and how to form your future around it. You may contact Karin for information about her Life with a Plan program and So-lu’shunz Open Door Coaching at ksyren@solushunz.net. For more information about Karin’s private and group coaching offerings, check the Open Door website at Solushunz.com.

Holes In Our Hearts Have Been Nailed To The Cross

Inspirational Ink: Insight for a Woman’s Life

by Tammi Ector Fisse

Sitting in chapel with my sixth graders, I was thrilled that for once they weren’t fidgeting, but were still, listening intently to the devotion being presented by the father of one of their classmates. With his ability to capture and hold the attention of every normally squirming child, from our Kindergarteners through the eighth grade rulers of the school, it was no surprise that he later changed careers and became a tremendous teacher. Read more

Fearless by Max Lucado

Each sunrise seems to bring fresh reasons for fear.

They’re talking layoffs at work, slowdowns in the economy, flare-ups in the Middle East, turnovers at headquarters, downturns in the housing market, upswings in global warming. The plague of our day, terrorism, begins with the word terror. Fear, it seems, has taken up a hundred-year lease on the building next door and set up shop. Oversized and rude, fear herds us into a prison and slams the doors. Wouldn’t it be great to walk out? Read more

And This Little Piggie…

by Laurette Willis, Director of PraiseMoves, LLC www.PraiseMoves.com

Jesus, being a devout Jew, did not eat pork. In fact He used pigs as receptacles for the demons within the Gadarene demoniac (Luke 8:22-39). The man was set free when Jesus evicted the demons from him and sent them into a herd of swine. The pigs were destroyed when they plunged off a cliff into the lake and drowned. Read more

Come out of Hiding

by Trudy Doleman

You knew the day would come when you had to shed the coat, hat, boots and gloves. You ignored the signs that it was time to start thinking about putting away the heavy sweatshirts and sweat pants. Now here it is April and you cannot hide any longer. Everyone will see the evidence of a fading winter there and there and there….everywhere! Don’t beat yourself up too badly, we have all been there. We have all been guilty of the “out of sight, out of mind” thinking. It is an easy frame of mind to assume. The past is not a problem and the future seems further away. You can just sort of coast along. The hitch is that you are not fully involved in the present either. This in-between place in our hearts and minds is often where we struggle the most. Read more

Avoid Over Processing God

by Kathy Pearson

Have you ever been the victim of a chemically challenged hair dresser? If you haven’t been the victim of such a catastrophe, consider yourself blessed. For those of you who, like me, have stared back at your reflection in the mirror in utter dismay, you know the feeling. A process designed to make you more attractive, results in making you look anything but!! While you may cry, frantically seek a solution, threaten to sue, refuse to pay….in the end, there isn’t much you can do except bravely accept the situation praying that God will grant you a miracle in the form of a whole new head of hair before morning. Read more

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