In The Midst....

I'm in the midst of an MS attack....a pretty bad one. 


I'm praising God again for my sweet friends here...my family.


My church.


God's Word alive in me by the power of His indwelling Spirit.


Where would I be without the Lord and those He has placed in my life?!


I have so much to be thankful for!


This time around I am able to have my steroids done from a home health agency of lovely people.


No hospital stay...whew! That about wrecked the hearts of my kiddos last June.


It's the Womack family hospital here....Nurse Shane is so patient with me. :)


These steroids make me....well, hmm.....short on patience, and edgy...and very direct curt.


You could pray for my family....they'd thank you for it! 


Thank you so much to Kim and Marilena and Nancy and sweet Jane Marie for the meals.
I love you so!


Thank you to Precious Jan and Chris who stepped in with 4 hours notice, to lead week 2 of our Chocolate study last week! I was so bummed I couldn't have been there to watch the Lord work through you two!


I truly love you to pieces!


A few pictures from our walk in the cool of the morning today....so strange, the steroids make it hard to sleep, so I was up at 3:30..then Shane woke to help me, and we talked until 5.


I couldn't go back to sleep, and hoped Caedmon ( the early bird ) would wake to take the first walk of the season with me...he did. 












And so did sweetie girl (usually our late riser) in her fancy new hat she chose and bought a few days ago, with the Gymboree gift card that her Gram & Gramps sent for her birthday!

Oh, and Toot-Toot joined us. Brennan loves her baby! :)

So nice to finally have cool enough weather to get out in for a bit!






I have a HUGE prayer request that I'm not able to share with you, but would you pray for me about it anyway? 


God knows the details.... just reference the private Jes request. ;)




Including this passage for you to be challenged, excited and blessed by.
It answered so clearly Brennan's recent question of "Why do we want to fear God"?


Using the 5ws & an H, and the tool of seeing the contrasts and comparisons in the passage...can you find the answer to her question...one which I trust many of us have wondered, too?


I'm thirsty for comments! 


Seriously....they would be such an encouragement to me right now....to read your words of digging into Scripture to explain how we are to fear Him, why, etc....now that would be a TREAT!


Hey...have a field day....blueletterbible.org will even help you do a word search on fear...mmmm, yummy!


Just type in Psalm 128 in the search box..
Choose NASB for your version.
In the right hand corner over Psalm 128, click on "Show Strongs".
Then click on the number that shows up just to the right of the word "fears"....


Now, tell us all you learn about it. :)


Oooh...I can't wait to see what you discover!


Be sure to pray first....ask for the leading of the Holy Spirit, who will always lead you into all truth.

John 16:7

"But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.

John 16:13

"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

OK...here's the passage to dig into...

Psalm 128:1	How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways.
Psalm 128:2	When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands, You will be happy and it will be well with you.
Psalm 128:3	Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine Within your house, Your children like olive plants Around your table.
Psalm 128:4	Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed Who fears the LORD.
Psalm 128:5	The LORD bless you from Zion, And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
Psalm 128:6	Indeed, may you see your children's children. Peace be upon Israel!

Happy Trails to You.....Until We Meet Again....

Blue Letter Bible. "Book of Psalms 128 - (NASB - New American Standard Bible)." Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2009. 11 Oct 2009. < http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Psa&c=128&t=NASB >

Copyright Information, New American Standard Bible (NASB)

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Please visit their website at www.lockman.org.

His Power Made Perfect in Weakness

Tonight our ladies Bible study meets for the first time this fall.

We'll be studying Psalm 119, through Pam Gillaspie's new book,
"Sweeter Than Chocolate".

I gotta tell you, I'm so nervous!

We have a big group of women and teen girls signed up, amazing table leaders for breakout times, and the best in childcare.

It's all an answer to so many prayers...and I'm thrilled that women are going to be learning how to study God's Word for themselves.

It's just me.

This study is a new format for me, and I'm tired, some the lovely women whom I am used to studying with are now branching out to lead studies themselves and I'm going to miss them so much (but praise God for their obedience to Him, their desires to share His Word...such a praise!), and I have a sick kid....

Life has hit, in a word.

I just want these precious women...so many of them new to our ladies study or new to the area, to fall in love with God's Word...that's all I want...I want them to love It, and love Him, and live for Him....the same thing that I want for myself.

Your prayers tonight would be such a precious gift to all of us!

Also...please pray for my friends Jodie, and Chandy and their families.
(I love ya'll!)

I'm reminded today that His power is perfected in weakness...

His grace is sufficient.

I will boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. (Please, Lord!)

2 Corinthians 12:9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

Chris and Tracy Klicka

You all are so gracious...


You write to me often, asking how you can pray for me.


You tell me almost every time that I talk with you, that you ARE praying for me. You can't begin to imagine how much those prayers mean to me!


Today, I'd like to ask you to also pray for Chris Klicka.


Chris has worked tirelessly for the Home School Legal Defense Association.


His articles in the HSLDA newsletters have been used of the Lord to sharpen many of us who have devoted our lives to homeschooling our children.


Chris also has MS.


It's a long story, and you can read it here, on his Caring Bridge site, but it appears that Chris is about to pass from this life, to life eternal with His Savior, Jesus Christ. 


Would you please pray for his sweet family, and for his wife Tracy?


They are not at home with their many friends, their church or their family...but instead are diligently working to fly each family member out to CO, where Chris was at a homeschooling convention when he fell ill...


Please pray that the funds for those plane tickets will be available, and that Chris will be able to kiss his kids goodbye before he goes Home. 


Pray that the God of all comfort and grace will sustain Chris' family through every breath in these coming days.


Thank you for praying for him and his family.


In love to you today,
Jes

What to Write When I Don't Even Know What to Say...

Recently my family and I were driving down an unknown stretch of highway in a different state.


My husband, who is always prepared, had Googled maps, cross-consulted the atlas, and done his full due diligence in making certain that we'd reach our desired destination with no challenges of direction.


I was fulfilling my role as navigator, carefully reviewing said maps as we barreled down the interstate.


You'd have been proud...I wasn't letting any twist or turn escape me.


I was ON it! :)


Until...


until, that is, we traveled about 10 miles and then realized we were heading in a direction completely opposite of the one in which we were supposed to be going.


So, we exited, thinking this the perfect time to unload and take a potty break.


Ugh.


I was wrong.


Again.


First with directions, then in my skills of observation.


I can't remember the last time that my kiddo and I did our "business" that quickly! It was dark, and unfamiliar territory, and I just plain wanted back into the safety of my 1997 Chevrolet Chrysler mommy van! 


(I never can remember the name of that van! Or maybe, to tell you the truth,  I just like the fun of saying "Shevrilay" the way my Texan grandparents did.)


By the time that we got back onto the freeway, and were headed in the correct direction, Shane and I were both a little keyed up. We were tired, still had one kiddo that had "business" to do, and miles to go before we'd sleep.


I pulled out the Google maps Shane had printed off, and then looked and looked again at the atlas and we finally deduced that the error was not our own.


It was a mapping error.


Seriously!


Whew. Deep sigh....back on the road again...


And then, we hit traffic, and I'm not understating things when I say hit it!


One moment, we're zooming down the freeway and the next, we're at a standstill...no explanation. Traffic has funneled into two lanes, and we are creeping along at a snail's pace.


Then we see them...


flashing lights so bright that the night sky looks as if someone is setting off fireworks for a 4th of July celebration.


The children were amazed as we drove past, because they'd never seen a firetruck that close up at night. 


I thank God that they are children, and that firetrucks still thrill them.


I thank God that they missed the other views of the scene that night.


I thank God again that they are children and that firetrucks still thrill them, and that they noticed nothing else....


not the woman who stood by the side of the road in shock, just staring down into the city lights below the freeway...


the guard rail all torn to shambles....


the large blue blanket covering the body of the person who had lost their life on the scene...


nor the hand...


the hand that the emergency workers failed to cover up.


Why the whole body was covered while one hand was allowed to remain sticking straight out, I'll never understand.


It took me a while, as we rode past the scene, to catch my breath.


A while to gather my thoughts.


In truth, I'm still trying to gather them.


Once words could again be formed on my lips I said to Shane, "That could have been us. Had we not gotten bad directions and then decided to stop for a restroom break, that could have been us."


I thought about how I could have been that person standing on the side of the freeway with my loved one's hand sticking out from under the blanket, while the rest of the world just zoomed on past....


I wondered, "Did that person know that they were created in the image of God? Did they know the Lord? Are they celebrating their life choices right now, or grieving them beyond words? Who will comfort that woman that I saw standing in shock on the roadside? "Oh Lord God, will you pour Your mercy upon her?""


And that night, my shot prayer was for her.


"Lord, You know her name, but I know only her stance of shock.
 You know her heart, I but briefly witnessed her heartache. 
 You love her, Lord.
 Please...love on her now."


It's taken me some time to be able to write this post, and I'm not even sure why I felt I needed to.


I hope we won't complain about missed exits anymore, and that each of us will remember what the book of James reminds us about our lives here on earth... our short, lives of vapors....

I love you tonight, sweet friends.

Jes

James 4:13

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit."

James 4:14	Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are {just} a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.
James 4:15	Instead, {you ought} to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." Blue Letter Bible. "James's Epistle 4 - (NASB - New American Standard Bible)." Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2009. 24 Sep 2009. < http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Jam&c=4&t=NASB >

What Is On My Heart Today....

Thankfulness to God that so many have signed up to take Precept training this weekend. May they fall head over heels in love with studying God's Word.


Sorrow over how human I am...how weak my flesh is...how much I mess up on a daily basis.


Other thoughts..probably due to the fact that we're on another "West Wing" marathon around here...


Am I praying for my President?


When President Bush took office, thousands of Christians across the world signed up with the Presidential Prayer Team to lift him up in prayer.


Have we done that for President Obama?


I'm going now...lots to do before tomorrow...but I'm going to pray for my President, for my Vice President, for their families...for all of those in leadership over us today.


May they know the grace and truth found only through a personal relationship with God through Christ Jesus.


May we who love the Lord be like Daniel, Joseph, Paul... may we show the power of the Risen Lord through lives surrendered to Him...that others will see the Holy Spirit giving glory to God, through us.


Just some random thoughts.


Love to you today,
Jes

Winner To Be Chosen In An Hour Or So....

*******UPDATE*****


We have winners!


Thanks for playing! Your sweet comments were a huge encouragement to me...I'm going to be doing more giveaways. This was fun.


For the copy of Gladys Alyward: Michelle 
(I gotta say, I love this..Michelle was a missionary to Russia, so I think it's pretty cool that she was the winner for this book. I love you girl! Send me your address and I'll get it right out to you.)


For the copy of the Kinsman Redeemer study - Kristi
(Congratulations, girl! May this study be a huge encouragement to you! I'll need your address too.) :)


For those of you who haven't registered for the free giveaway yet, I'll be drawing a name in about an hour or so....give or take a few hours of life in our crazy house!


We only need 3 more comments, and then I'll add a second drawing for a copy of the three week long Precept Upon Precept study on Ruth...


"Don't Despair...There's Hope! You Have a Kinsman Redeemer!"

This is the description of the study, from the Precept Ministries website...

Kinsman Redeemer: Don't Despair. There's Hope. You Have a Kinsman Redeemer!  -(3 lessons) - If you were a slave, who would buy your freedom? If you had an enemy, who would come to your defense? In the Old Testament, this buyer-defender known as a "kinsman - redeemer" was usually a close relative. If you're a believer, you already have one -- Jesus Christ! This rich study shows how Jesus both bought us (redeemer) and advocates (defends) for us, offering us an opportunity to rebuild our broken lives. A great short study to introduce friends to a taste of inductive Bible study. 

Speaking of Ruth...thank you to my friend Ruth who fixed the formatting of my post, and got me all set up with the new version of Blogger so that I can do cool new things like pick my nose online I mean, do the strike through feature. 

:)

We're going to have FUN now!  Thanks, Ruth!

But...I can't find the spell check feature, ....uh oh, that could mean trouble!

OK...time's a tickin'...post your comment on the original post here, or on my Facebook page. 

Love ya'll!

Jes

I Have Formatting Problems...Can You Tell?

****UPDATE****

My engineer husband informed me last night that I didn't have a full understanding of the word implode.

I assured him I that I did...

He then explained that if my head imploded, there would be nothing to clean up because all of the damage would have happened inside my head..

I figured...."Hey, answered prayer! No clean up!"

:)

What HAPPENED to my last post?

It looked so pretty when I first posted it, now it looks like I have no concept of what a paragraph is!

I have a prayer request today...my head feels like it's going to implode.

Please pray that it doesn't...as that would just be one more thing to clean up!

Love to you today...

Jes

A Full Post...and a Register to Win!

Big Rally....If you read to the end, you can register to win a FREE gift...one so priceless to me, that every time someone asks to borrow one of mine, I say...."I'll just get you one." :)

Leave a comment here or on my facebook page, and you'll be registered to win your OWN free copy! Please forward the link to your friends...let's see how many people we can give some goodies to! I'll close the register to win on Wednesday, late afternoon. :)

There is much on my heart to share with you tonight. So much, I'm not quite sure where to begin.

I was pondering Psalm 23 tonight, but in a brand new light.

Perhaps I should back up a bit...

I've been watching a DVD series by Ray Vander Laan on the Kings & Prophets of Israel. As I'm sure you've realized by now, I could sit and listen to him/watch him on site in Israel, for hours at a time.

He's a Biblical historian, and the way that he makes the stories of the land of Israel come alive...the way that he makes them real to me today, and helps me to see the application or the "Faith Lessons" as he calls them, is just life changing for me.

In one episode that I watched recently, he was discussing the difference between how a Westerner and an Easterner might describe God.

I'm going from memory here...so it won't be word for word, but he was explaining how a Westerner (American) might describe God as powerful or all knowing.

Yet, an Easterner might describe Him by saying "The Lord is my refuge, my rock. The Lord is living water, or my Shepherd."

Then this week, Shane and I were debating about whether or not to put Caedmon into an upcoming Latin class. Shane took Latin in high school (and maybe college too?) and has spoken of it many times, so I thought it was a no-brainer that we'd put Caedmon in it.

Yet, when Shane came home one night and we had time to discuss it, he said "Jes, they'll be translating Caesar."

"Really?!"

"That's what we did."

So, we thought about that some, about how that's contrary to what we want to be giving our kids at this juncture in their lives. You see, as much as possible, we want them to learn more like Easterners...from more of a Hebraic way of learning.

We've realized that there are two very different ways of learning. There's the Greek way...through philosophy and scholastic answers, which is what Shane and I both received

in school, and then there is the more Hebraic method...which teaches reasoning, both on an inductive and deductive level, and also teaches through imagery and keen observation.

The latter is what we want for our children.

We don't want great philosophers. (makes me think of that verse that talks about empty philosophy...)

We hope and pray for children who will know how to reason through any situation God allows into their lives.

Reason.

We've lost the art of reasoning through things in our culture, all too often.

We were trained to wave our little hands in the air, begging for recognition that we had the "right" answer.

Remember those days?

Ugh. Those were a drag.

Had we been asked, "Who is God," in the USA, would "He's Living Water," or "He's the Door" or "He is my cup and my portion forever" have been considered "right" answers?

What a difference it is to sit with a group of kiddos, all studying the same subject, and tell them "Listen, I'm not just looking for right answers. I'm looking for thinkers. I want you to dig deep into your minds before you answer me. I want to know that you can tell me the WHYs and the HOWs behind the questions that I'll be asking you."

See what I want from them?

I want them to learn to reason.

So...back to the Latin class. We decided that we'd rather opt for Hebrew and Greek from home...we don't want Caesar. We want God's Word, and books about people who have chosen to live their lives according to His statutes.

So, we'll be using our Bibles;

 

Precept's Discover 4 Yourself on Daniel;

Christian Heroes of the Faith by YWAM.


We'll be studying the life of Amy Carmichael,

a missionary to India, who served to set children free. I think it will coincide wonderfully with our study on slavery, and I absolutely LOVE this series of books...so much so that we bought the whole set for our kids for Christmas a few years ago. They love them too!
And I'm so excited, because NOW they have curriculum guides to go along with the stories, to give you ideas of how to use the stories to create unit studies. Love it!

Heroes of History by YWAM, and on and on...

Today, we packed up our homeschooling items, and went down by the pond. We studied about Harriet Tubman, and even acted out one of the chapters of the book...the one when "Jim" didn't want to go on...he kept telling "Moses" that he wanted to just go back to the plantation and take his lashings.

Harriet encouraged him and cajoled him, and when nothing worked, she stuck a shiny silver revolver in his face and said, "You either gonnna press on, or you gonna die right here."

(I paraphrase a bit, but that was the gist.)

Seemed Harriet had to do that quite often.

Slaves would get part way through their journey of freedom with her, in the underground railroad, and they'd grow tired and weary, and want to turn back. Nothing but pure fear would motivate them to keep pressing on.

They'd known fear since childhood, so fear worked when grace didn't.

Yet, once to freedom, they thanked Harriet repeatedly.

Made me think about us.

You know how it's just plain HARD to keep our minds off of Egypt sometimes, figuratively speaking.

You know THAT sin..we all have it...THAT sin...THAT one that keeps you thinking it's alright to visit Egypt for the day. It's ok to go back to the plantation...just for the day.

I talked with the kiddos today about what the gun that Harriet pulled on Jim really represented.

I asked them first, if they knew....

Caedmon had some pretty deep insight.

Brennan thinks in word pictures...she must be Hebrew. :)

Then I told them...that gun represented the freedom of the slaves that she was transporting, as well as the ones along the line that may have been helping her out.

Then I boiled it down for them....

We ALL have to have Harriet Tubmans in our lives. We ALL have to have those people who can speak the scary, tough, and sometimes hard to hear truths into our lives, because what they want for us is total freedom.

We HAVE to have people who love us enough that their eyes are focused not upon the immediate, but upon our freedom.

Total freedom.

Yes, we are free in Christ...but some of us in Christ are still allowing ourselves to go back to Egypt for a visit, and we're justifying the whole thing.

I know I sure can...I find that I am not slow to anger. I am not slow to speak and quick to hear.

I hate some of the things that come out of my mouth...especially through this whole MS thing....talk about unglorifying!

Yet, I praise God for the people in my life who love me enough to get up in my face with that silver revolver called "words of love" and help me refocus, and then repent.

There is no justification for sin.

Ever.

Psalm 23 - ever read that like you're the sheep saying it?

Hmmm...that was so cool tonight...it's worthy of it's own post.

But first....a promised give away....register your comment on this post, and if you're the chosen winner, I'll give you a brand new copy of the very first "Christian Heroes: Then & Now" book that we ever read.

It's based upon the life of Gladys Aylward, and it's fantastic! Talk about growing your faith!

The miraculous story of Gladys' life will surely do it. How God worked through her will leave you dumbfounded, and hopefully inspired that He can use your life in amazing ways for Him, too!

So, just leave a comment here for me, or on my facebook page. If you add the name of someone whose salvation I can be praying for, you'll get entered into the drawing twice! :)

You can be anonymous in your commenting, but if say, "anonymous #3" ends up winning, I'll need your name then. :)

Hey! It's time to have some fun! Call it a blog party giveaway!

Please hit the envelope button below and send this to your friends....the more the merrier! :)

Maybe because it's late, or maybe because I'm crazy for people to grow in Christ.....I'm going to up the offer....if we can get 20 people to comment between now and next Wednesday, I'll offer a Precept Upon Precept study of Ruth, our Kinsman Redeemer, as well.

It's a life changer!

MMM..wonder what I'll give away if we get to 30?


Love you guys!

Jes

 

A Plea for Prayer...Today!

****UPDATE****

Thanks to each of you who have commented, or emailed to say that you'd be praying.

It was really ME I needed prayer for...I don't know why I was so nervous about this meeting, but I was.

I suppose I just wanted to adequately share my love for the precious women and teen girls of our church, and longing for them to want to know God through His Word....for them to fall in love with studying for themselves.

My sweet husband went with me...love that Biblical covering of grace, thank you Lord!

The meeting went SUPER, and our elder and pastor helped me iron out the few concerns I had about the study...logistics mainly.

Then they listened to the vision for the upcoming Precept Training, and we watched a 4 minute DVD that Precept has called, "The Power of Inductive Bible Study"....if you don't have that DVD, you NEED it!

It's powerful, and tells in 4 minutes, what the heart of the ministry is.

You can call Precept and ask for it. You might need to go through Jan Priddy.

Her email is jpriddy@Precept.org, and she's the Director of Leader Development.

My aboslutely favorite part of that DVD is where the head of stewardship for the Ministry, Stan Latham, says something along these lines...

"What we are about has abolutely nothing to do with Precept Ministries, yet EVERYTHING to do with establishing people in God's Word."

(Sorry Stan...that's my paraphrase, but I think it's pretty close.)

Could you love that anymore if you had said it yourself?!

Amen and amen!

So, thank you for praying for me and for our church leaders...we're all set for "Sweeter Than Chocolate" to start in a month...it's looking like it's going to be a big group, and I would truly cherish your prayers (and suggestions) of how to create an atmosphere of intimacy with a group of 25 or more.

And....prayer request #2 was answered...after having the Drs. in the Neurological clinic at Barrow review my records, I've been accepted there. Their first available appointment isn't until Dec. 23rd though, so if you'd now please pray that I could get in earlier, that would be SUPER!

Shelly...can't wait for your post on Marriage Without Regrets!

Nanner...I'm going to see if there's an MWR class in Houston starting anytime soon, and let you know.

Love to you all...

Jes

Hi Sweet Crickets,

You know...that's not really a fair name for you all.

Crickets do make noise...maybe I should call you moths.

Moths are quiet, like you all have been lately. :)

I need some comments. I feed off of them like catfish on hotdogs!

Quick prayer request...a selfish one.

OK, two actually...

1. I've been asked to share my vision for the women of our church tonight at our elder meeting. Please pray that God will speak, and that I'll be able by His grace to share what He has laid on my heart for all of us.

It's His vision and His heart for the women and girls that I want to be able to share...and my mind doesn't work the same way as it did a year ago...please pray for supernatural clarity.

Please pray.

2. Please pray that I'll be accepted as a patient into Barrow Neurological Institute, and that it will happen before the end of the year. You know, our deductible has been met for 2009.

My Dr., whom you've read about, has encouraged me to let another set of eyes look at everything, and we've decided to do that....please pray for clarity there, too.

Didn't you LOVE the post by Renae and the one from Nanners?

More guest bloggers to come...there are some amazing stories that are being sent to me...

I'm not proofing today...gotta get my act together.

Thank you so much for praying for me, and for sending in your prayer requests. I love them!

I love YOU! Thank you for being an encouragement to me during this tough time.

You are precious to me!

Jes

Precept Training in Phoenix, AZ 2009

Just to remind you about training...it's not too late to sign up. ;)

And, somebody tell Ms. Shelly from SC that she needs to write a post about leading "Marriage Without Regrets" will you?!

She's led it like 15,000 times or more...

Two Precept training workshops are coming up at

Standing Stones Community Church, Phoenix, AZ - in the Phoenix North Valley.

24820 North 16th Ave., Bldg 1, Suite 100; Phoenix, AZ 85085 (16th Ave & Happy Valley Rd.)

Workshops are open to anyone...men, women and teens.

We are praying to have people from all over the Southwest coming, and hope you'll be one of them! :)

For a registration form, please email me at PreceptBibleStudy@gmail.com.

FREE training for Pastors and some Church leaders is explained below.

Here's the schedule:

Sept 18th, Word Studies; 9am-5pm
Sept. 19th, Basics of Precept Upon Precept; 9am-5pm

FRIDAY:

Word Studies (1 day)

Learn to do Word Studies to uncover insights not readily apparent in English.

Discover how definitions and grammatical structures of verbs help in more accurately interpreting the text.

SATURDAY:

Basics of Precept Upon Precept (1 day)

If you’ve never done a Precept Upon Precept (PUP) course, this is where to start.

This workshop will qualify you to lead Precept Upon Precept classes after learning to do homework and how to effectively lead a discussion. Experience the joy of discovering the Truth of the Bible for yourself!

FREE - for information about FREE training for Pastors and Church Leaders, please go to:www.precept.org/reachthem

Please forward this invite to your friends, your churches, other Precept leaders, and the class members whom you lead...

and please be praying that God would raise up other leaders from within your classes.

People need to know how to dig into God's Word for themselves...will you help them?

For additional info: PreceptBibleStudy@gmail.com or 623-444-6551

Let's be on our faces, begging God for new studends and leaders to be raised up.

I'm praying for new male leaders....wanna join me in that?

Love to you in Christ Jesus,
Jes

Do You Have "Those People" in Your Life?

I heard a pastor about a year ago, with a message that impacted my heart in a mighty way.

I think it was Pastor Chip Ingram, but I'm not positive. I wish I had a link to it for you...it was so good!

He said that as believers, we all need to have both a Paul and a Timothy in our lives.

We need to have someone through whom God is pouring into our lives, and someone into whose life we are allowing God to pour through us.

Think about that....

A Paul (or a Paulina)

and a Timothy (or a Timothea)

Someone who is teaching us to be more like Christ, and someone with whom we are sharing what He is teaching us, how He is growing us, pruning us, disciplining us even...

Do you have those people in your life?

If you don't start asking God to send them to you.

Your walk with the Lord will never be the same.

I have been blessed of God to have many Paulinas who pour into my life. Some don't even know it...these are the women who minister to me by their life choices...the women who are living as sacrifices to Christ Jesus in their every day lives.

I'm a keen observer.

Truly.

I'm a watcher...that's how I learn.

I observe and observe and observe some more.

The following post is written by one of those Paulinas in my life....one of those women whom I've "watched".

She's been a Precept leader for many years, and has shared her life with me through email.

I fell in love with her very quickly. I've observed her life through her notes to me, and have lost count of the many times that God has laid her on my heart to pray for her.

I count it a privilege each time.

She's running the race, sweet friends...she's pressing on, and her focus is on the Lord, the body of Christ, and the lost.

Here's the crazy part, we have yet to meet face to face.

We'll get to do that in a few weeks, at the upcoming Precept Training at our church, praise the Lord, and I just can't wait to hug her sweet neck!

You know I'm going to cry...you now that...when I finally get to see her, I will weep.

No doubt about it.

I love her. I love her heart, and I love how she lives to honor God.

Here is her guest blogger post.

Her name is Renae. I trust you'll fall in love with her too, so when you do...lift up those prayers!

Thank you, sweet Renae. You are precious, and I thank God for you.

For almost a week now, I’ve been trying to figure out how to express what Bible Study means to me and how it’s affected my life.

How can I briefly explain something that over the decades has TOTALLY changed my thinking, behavior, priorities, reactions, desires, relationships, goals and my attitudes?

Not that I’ve arrived and have it all figured out and now live a sinless life….oh, no, not by a long shot. I’m very aware every day that I have a LONG ways still to go in my sanctification process and life-race.

Through the study of His Word, I’m continually finding new areas that need to come under the Lord’s control, sins that need to be repented of and confessed, and new things that I need to learn and apply.

However, it’s learning what God has to say that affects the way I spend my time, talents and abilities, money, energy, and the way I want to spend the rest of my life.

In God’s Word, the voice of God speaks directly & personally to us & He reveals His heart and His grace.

That’s a simple statement of truth, but isn’t it also staggering and mind-blowing?

To think that the infinite, all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful, wonderful God of the universe would even be interested in revealing His heart and in speaking to finite, faint-heated, feeble, frail me is just beyond words and incredibly wonderful.

As a believer, I have the privilege of direct communication with God. WOW!

I can hear from God and find Him revealed in His Word. WOW again!

God’s Word is a living Word, so it carries divine quickening power in it. And WOW once again!

As Andrew Murray said, “The words in which God has chosen to clothe His own divine thoughts are God-breathed, and the life of God dwells in them. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. The Word was inspired when first given and the Spirit of God STILL breathes in it.”

When we understand and believe that, the Bible is no longer just a book, it’s a letter written personally to us. When we’re receiving His Word in faith and hearing from Him, that’s when His Word comes alive for us and in us. And when that happens, in my experience, the WOW-factor never ends.

Prioritizing time in God’s Word and wanting to hear His voice more than the voice of our emotions and more than the input of the world is the desire that gives us an ear to hear and a heart to absorb His Word.

Only God Himself can be the Interpreter of His Word.

The Holy Spirit, who dwells within all believers, will reveal the spiritual meaning and power of the Word. Every day, with His help, the Word can be the means to a deeper revelation of God Himself and to our deeper fellowship with Him.

Asking the Holy Spirit to grant me comprehension and a heart to hear and obey, and then having confidence (believing) that God still wants to speak individually to me through His Word is what brings both light and life to my heart and spirit.

In the Word, God has revealed His heart and His will.

I could go on and on with specifics benefits of Bible Study, and I wouldn’t begin to cover what a blessing it is in my life.

To have access to the mind and thoughts and will and promises of God and to see how He’s worked and is continuing to work through history for His purposes and His glory is an incredible privilege.

For me to do a prayerful, consistent, organized study of the Word of God and to apply what I’m hearing and learning to my daily life, brings meaning, purpose, joy, peace and hope to my life.

I guess to sum it all up; hearing the voice of the sovereign God inviting me to intimacy and fellowship, and by His Spirit to be able to gain insight and understanding through His Word, is priceless and exciting and challenging and wonderful beyond what a million blog entries could ever adequately express.