Cheering Me On in a Season of Mercy – Denise M. Ford

Recently, while enjoying craft time with my granddaughter, Violet, she said to me, “Well, did you know Nana, it’s going to be my first day at preschool. So, Mommy will come with me to watch me.”

“Oh, that will be exciting,” I responded.

“Well, you know, Nana, Mommy will be cheering me on!”

She gestured with her hands waving, palms up.  Her smile crinkled her nose and her eyes. The truth of her statement could only be interpreted as overwhelming delight.

Cheering me on! Oh, how I felt caught in her confidence!  I could picture the moment: a mom on the sidelines as her child runs onto the field to take part in a new game, to move through a new experience, to step into a new role.

Cheering me on! I allowed this phrase to settle into my heart over the past few days.  It led my thoughts as I prayed.

I pictured the seasons of my life cascading before me, down the sheer drop of a memory waterfall that could threaten to suck me over and into an endless vortex of regret.  Except that at the edge of the waterfall, stands my Lord and Saviour.  And He’s…why He’s cheering me on!

Not to jump into the thundering swirl of tumultuous transgressions, but to cross over and above it.  He’s cheering me on! 

I can’t let go of this image. 

How appropriate as September unravels its days into the high school football season.  Both our sons devoted their fall months to honing their skills as defensive backs on the Springbank Phoenix football team. How many games did I run up and down the side lines cheering them on?  How many times did I hold my breath as helmets banged loudly, bodies crashed into each other and players unwound themselves out of a heap of tangled limbs?  Even when I knew they were properly equipped to handle the plays on the field, I still prayed for their protection.  I still cheered them on in quiet and loud cries that poured forth from a mother’s loving heart.

What does the Lord’s cheering sound like?  How do I know He is cheering me on?

I believe I have entered into a Season of Mercy. A season in which each morning I acknowledge the blessings He has afforded me through His mercy. Then I ask, who can I show mercy to, for you, Lord?

The words from Isaiah 45:4-5 resonate within me as I seek to understand this Season of Mercy as I enter my sixties. 

This decade promises to bring new playing fields of opportunity into my life.  If I listen for Him to call me, if I trust that He has equipped me (or embraced and armed me), surely, I can pursue the purposes He has designed for me.  I don’t need to know all the details that will happen in each new day.  I simply need to know that He will be cheering me on with quiet and loud cries from deep within a loving Lord’s heart.

In Romans 12 (TPT version) Paul says, “God’s marvellous grace imparts to each one of us a grace-gift.” We come fully equipped to our playing field and He cheers us on to use our gifts.  Through the years I’ve come to identify that I often use the gift of compassion, or Mercy, in my relationships with others.  Today as I read Romans 12:6-8 again I focus on the line “if you have the gift of showing compassion, then flourish in your cheerful display of compassion.”

Oh Lord, I pray I will come ready to suit up in your gift, to fully embrace and arm myself with your Mercy so that it can flow to others.  So that I can properly cheer on others in compassionate and caring ways. 

I think of my granddaughter animated and sparkling with the very idea of her Mommy cheering her on.  She doesn’t have any preconceived notion of a cheerleader at a game. She pictures a loving mother providing a smiling face or a thumbs up “you can do it” wave. She knows her mother will be by her side no matter what happens.

In this Season of Mercy, I hope to respond to others in cheerful displays of compassion. I hear my Lord, I see my Lord, and I know my Lord is with me, cheering me on!

At this point, my husband enters the room to bring me a cup of coffee. He listens as I lament over how to find the right finish to this blog post.  He has no idea what I have been writing. 

“You have such joy when you talk about writing, even when you are frustrated,” he says. “I can see it emanating from you, with your smile lighting up your entire face.”

And there it is, The Lord, my Lord, cheering me on through my husband. 

This is my Season of Mercy.  I hope to let His mercy flow to others in circumstances only He knows will unfold.  

Thank you, dear, sweet Lord, for cheering me on!

Can you hear Him?  How is He cheering you on?

Gift(s) of Everlasting Life by Sharon Espeseth

Everlasting and Eternal Gifts

This Christmas I'd like spiritual gifts for myself, my loved ones, and anyone really. . . Using the Bible as our catalogue, we will find an abundance of things free for the asking--God's love, forgiveness, salvation and eternal life. We, created by God, can admit we need help.







Emmanuel: God with Us

God loved us so much He sent His Son to be our Emmanuel,  God living with us. People thought God's Son would be a political king or a man of means. Instead He came as a baby, born of a young virgin, engaged to Joseph, a descendant of David. The angel Gabriel came to Mary and explained the role God wanted her to take in His plan. Mary couldn't know what this meant in the future, but she trusted God and became the vessel to bring God's son to us. Joseph accepted his call to be Jesus' earthly father.


Jesus Begins His Ministry

We don't read much of Jesus' life until the Wedding at Cana, where Mary asked her son to turn water into wine. The hosts had run out of wine. Jesus performed His first miracle--turning water into wine, and He did it for his mother and as a kindness to the wedding party.

Fully human and fully divine, Jesus needed to spend time with His Heavenly Father. While Jesus,  was with us, He taught us how to relate to God and how to relate to our fellow human beings.

In Mark 12:30, we read the New Commandments Jesus gave. First, Jesus says, "Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength." Secondly, "Love your neighbour as yourself." Not only did Jesus give us these new commandments, but he also practiced them in daily life.

God's Son was tempted and tested, like we are, but even more so. The Pharisees and Sadducees watched his every move and asked questions to "trick" him into saying he was the Messiah, the Son of God. Admitting his divinity would be considered blasphemous and then they would have reason to kill him.

In the meantime, Jesus walked among ordinary people like us and talked to people of any race, creed, or moral standing. He visited and ate with tax collectors, prostitutes,  lawyers, and common people in all walks of life.

Loving Us As We Are

One example of His acceptance is the story of Jesus asking the Samaritan woman for a drink of water. Jesus stepped over the "rule" that Jews didn't talk to Samaritans. The woman expressed her surprise

"If you knew the gift of God."

at Him, a Jew, asking her, a Samaritan for a drink. (Story in John 4:7-42.)

Jesus replied, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed the water I give will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

Jesus told this common  woman that He was the Messiah. She believed and went to tell the people of her town what had happened. By her testimony, they also believed. Jesus didn't talk to the leaders of the town, he spoke to a woman he knew had had five husbands and she wasn't married to the man she presently lived with.

The Gift of Eternal Life

When it was God's time, Jesus obedientl took our sins upon Himself and made His way down the streets of Jerusalem. With the help of Simon, a passer-by, Jesus carried the burden of the heavy cross, but Jesus alone carried the sins of the world.

In the Garden of Gethsemane the night before His crucifixion, Jesus agonized and prayed to His Father, "If it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not my will but Thy will be done." (Luke 22:42)

God loved us so much that He gave us His Son. Jesus loved God and loved us so much that He surrendered to God's will. Through Jesus' death and resurrection, we have the gift of eternal life.

The Fruits of the Holy Spirit

Before ascending to heaven, Jesus promised He would send the Holy Spirit as our Comforter. The
Holy Spirit, as part of the Godhead Three, also comes with a basket full of gifts to make our lives more abundant. By living close to God and listening to the Holy Spirit, we will receive His fruits as listed by Paul in Galatians 5:22--love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. ,

The Gift of Availability

In Revelations 3:20, Jesus reminds us, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with this person, and they with me."

God Answers Prayers

Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matt. 7:7-8)

The Gift of the Eucharist

At the Last Supper, Jesus shared a meal with his disciples. . . "He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way, after the supper he took the cup saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.'"

The Eucharist is spiritual food. By eating it we are giving thanks, remembering Christ, and asking for help in serving God.

The Gift of God's Word

God has entrusted prophets, teachers and writers to record the books and stories that make up the Bible which is God's Word. Paul in his second letter to Timothy says of God's word, "Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another--showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us." (2 Timothy 3:16 The Message)

One More Gift

I stand corrected by God's Word, for there is one more important gift that we may humbly receive. That is grace, God's grace. After receiving all these wonderful gifts, we don't need to think we are something special.

Paul says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not of works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

My Prayer for You at Christmas

Throughout the Christmas Season and through the New Year, may God grant you the Love, Peace

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!

and Joy that comes from Faith, Family and Friends. May God season you with large sprinkles of Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness and Self-control. Amen.

Writing so that . . . by Ruth L. Snyder

I'm currently participating in an online Bible study from Proverbs 31 Ministries. We are studying Scripture using Wendy Blight's book, Living So That. She explains:

". . . our lives should not be self-centered and static; rather, they should be others-centered and active, making a difference for the kingdom of God."

"The authors of Scripture . . . intentionally chose to use these two words to connect a truth of Scripture to a practical application of that truth. They used them to bring truth alive and make it relevant and applicable to our everyday lives."

This month we've been encouraged to think about what we want our writing to make happen inside our readers. This is one of those questions where there is no right or wrong answer. Each of us as writers is unique with particular giftings from God.

• Some are "prophets" - called to point out and correct error
• Some are "teachers" - called to help others understand God's truth
• Some are "helpers" - called to come alongside others
• Some are called to hospitality - called to make others feel comfortable 

And the list goes on (See I Corinthians 12).

As I thought about my writing and how I want it to affect my readers, I realized that no matter what type of writing I'm doing, whether memoir, fiction, devotional, creative non-fiction, etc., I want my writing to evoke emotion. Readers become engaged when their emotions are involved.

I also want my writing to effect change in the reader. This change could be as simple as giving the reader a good chuckle or as complicated as shifting the reader's world view. When I write, I want to be intentional, not haphazard. Mary DeMuth sums it up well:

"I'm on this world to write words that change people."

I am writing, so that my readers are engaged and moved to change. These are lofty goals, but I remind myself that I'm employed by the King of Kings and empowered by the Holy Spirit. I dare not aim for anything less than the best. 

What do you want your writing to do?

For more information about Ruth L. Snyder and her writing, visit http://ruthlsnyder.com

Collaboration as Writers - Ruth L. Snyder

I recently had the opportunity to participate in the 5th Annual Book Marketing Conference, an online program put together by D'vorah Lansky, author of Book Marketing Made Easy. The theme of this year's conference was eBook Publishing Boot Camp. The sessions included in the program were:

• Four ways to write your non-fiction book or eBook to publish and sell on Amazon Kindle in 7 days or less, presented by Jim Edwards
• eBook editing for maximum profits, presented by David Perdew
• How to prepare and publish your books for Amazon's Kindle, present by Val Waldeck
• Successful eBook publishing using Barnes and Noble, Kobo, & Smashwords (for Apple), presented by David Wogahn
• The print-on-demand revolution, presented by John S. Rhodes
• Turn your eBook into a print book, presented by Kristen Eckstein
• Build buzz for your eBook, presented by Sandra Beckwith
• Leveraging influencers, presented by Susan Baroncini-Moe
• Google hangouts for authors, presented by Jason Matthews
• Create a course with Udemy & earn, presented by Alex Mozes
• Magnify your message with powerpoint, presented by Dr. Jeanette Cates
• Grow your business with teleseminars, presented by Bob Jenkins
• Become a Kindle bestseller, presented by Connie Ragen Green
• Successful book launch strategies, presented by Shelley Hitz and Heather Hart

As you can see, I received a lot of useful information. However, as I reviewed the online learning opportunity, I thought about how collaboration with other writers is both necessary and helpful. Why?

1. Our time is limited - We all have responsibilities other than writing. Quality writing takes time. Once the writing is done, we have editing, publishing, and marketing to think about. Then there's blog posts, creating and updating your website, and interacting with people on social media like Facebook, Twitter, Linked In. Whew!
2. We can't be experts at everything - God has given each one of us different skills or gifts (see I Corinthians 12). Each of us has a unique part to play in the body of Christ. Not everyone can write non-fiction books in an orderly, clear manner. Neither can everyone write fiction that grips the reader from the first page to the last and encourages personal growth in the process. Some people are good at selling. Other people are more skilled at speaking. Some do well on social media. Others do better face to face. We all need to figure out what we are good at and what "energizes" us. Then, we need to surround ourselves with people who are good at doing the tasks that we are not so good at.
3. Working with other people gives us exposure to a broader range of people. Networking is a word we hear often these days. Working together enables us to broaden our network by getting to know people that our friends know. For example, if five people each have 100 unique contacts, by working together, they have increased their contacts to 500. 

This brings me to InScribe Christian Writers' Fellowship. There are many things we are doing well:

-FellowScript provides information and helps writers develop skills

-Satellite InSpiration groups enable writers to learn and grow together

-Members only contests provide opportunities to get feedback on writing

-InScribe Writers Online (this blog) gives members the opportunity to showcase their writing

-The InScribe website provides a venue to share information

-The InScribe professional blog is another opportunity for members to share their writing expertise and to attract new members to InScribe.

There are many other things we could be doing. However, for this to work, we need more volunteers who are willing to share their gifts. Do you have some time you could donate? What other directions do you think InScribe should pursue? 

www.trusteesnyder.blogspot.com
(Education information)
www.ruthlsnyder.com
(Ruth's writing and family life) 
www.earlyyearssuccess.com
(Information for caregivers of children ages 0-5)
Follow Ruth on Twitter:www.twitter.com/@wwjdr

Experiencing Joy in the Home

2 Timothy 2: 14-26

What makes a happy home? It is a home where Jesus and His love is known. It is a home where the fruits of the Spirit are observable and evident. The dwelling place ought to shine for God’s glory so that everyone can see the good works that God has chosen for us to do.

What about the home of the mind, body and soul? In order for our homes to be happy we need a pure heart, a pure mind, body and soul. Our personal closets need to be purified to be a worker approved by God. The Bible tells us to “pursue righteousness, faith and love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22)

God expects his workers to be cleansed. “All who cleanse themselves will become special utensils, dedicated and useful to the owner of the house, ready for every good work.” (2 Timothy 2:21) The Scriptures tell us that in order to prepare ourselves for good work, we are to be clean, dedicated, useful and ready. Then we will become special utensils.

God’s word also tells us that not all workers are alike. “In a large house there are utensils not only of gold or silver but also of wood and clay, some for special use and some for ordinary.” (2Timothy 2:20) God does not expect us to work beyond our capabilities, however. There is a different work for every different utensil. And we know that each utensil is special.

1 Corinthians 12:8-10, lists our different gifts. Some are given gifts of wisdom, knowledge, healing, prophecy and discernment. God understands and knows our talents but there is one gift that we all possess and that is the gift of love. We are told in 1 Corinthians 13, whatever the gifts we are given, if we try to use them without love we are nothing. “If we have faith but do not have love, we are nothing. Love bears all things, believes all things, and endures all things.”

Let us be good workers approved by God by using the gifts we have. Verse 15 says: “Do your best to present yourselves to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed rightly explaining the word of truth.” Do all to the glory of God! Amen!

Thought: Are you content with the gift or gifts that God has given to you, whether great or small?

Jan Keats