Showing posts with label John 3:16. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John 3:16. Show all posts

Moments in Mentoring

My dinning room
I feel I should be sharing this but am not sure how to start or not make it trite.  I mentor two women – V and T.  They have two very different personalities and are different places in their walk with the Lord.  V is in her 40s and T is in her late 20s inching close to 30.  We meet in my dinning room that has a little sitting area with two nice (though quite worn) high back antique chairs.  I meet weekly with them, V on Tuesday nights and T on Wednesday nights.

V and I have met for 2 years now.  It came about quite casually in conversation that she would love to have someone meet with her and I have a heart for working with women to help them grow in the Lord.  Our meetings started the following week. V struggled through the first year not being able to absorb the Words of God easily and certainly not being able to grasp Biblical concepts well.  We discussed that she possibly had ADD problems and I credited much to that.  Though she was not absorbing the Word without much effort we could see how she progressed in her walk with the Lord.  V struggled with her husband.  They talked rudely and sarcastically to each other. We reviewed that in Ephesians (5:33) God through Paul tells wives to respect their husband and we prayed she could find ways to respect him no matter how small they may seem.  We reviewed her victories each week…how often she read the Bible, how often she prayed, did she have a kind word to say to her husband, did she succeed in not gossiping at work, etc.  All the little things we struggle with daily that add up to straying from the Lord or drawing closer to Him
Victory Prayer Shawl by CrochetNFaith

When she felt guilty for not praying, reading or being kind to her husband I stressed that she needed to let go of the guilt.  That Satan would love for her to condemn herself and immobilize her by making her feel like a failure.  That is why I always emphasize learn from our slip ups, focus on our victories.  Let God have the glory.

Our little spot in the two old worn chairs became a place of security to V and awe to me.  I saw God work in many ways that it is almost too overwhelming to explain.  I think of Jesus’ disciples who tried to write a synopsis of His ministry and I understand how overwhelming that must have been.  And in my own little way relate to John who wrote:
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Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. John 21:25


Some time after we had been meeting over a year, she shared that she was not convinced she was going to heaven.  This puzzled me because I had been confident in her salvation but she wasn’t.  The next meeting we walked through the “*Romans Road” topped off with John 3:16.  (If you are not familiar with these verses, they are at the end of this article.)
Mirror by hotdogcrafts

I had V read each verse out loud several times.  And I ask her questions after each.  Is this the truth?  How do you know that?  She affirmed Yes and that God does not lie.  I’d ask if God was the same yesterday, today and tomorrow?  Yes.  When we reached John 3:16 I continued to ask the same questions and added: Are you going to heaven?  She said yes.  Then I asked why.  She stated she believed in Jesus and confesses her sin.  I’d say again and she would reread the verse…followed by the same questions.  We did this possibly 6 or 7 times when she said “I feel warm all over”.  V visibly looked different.  A peace had descended on her.  It was a beautiful sight and a privilege that God allowed me to be a part of. 

Now before you begin thinking that I am a person who believes in “feelings” or emotional experiences to know God is working, I am not.  I never had an experience such as V that reassured me of my salvation.  I have full confidence in my salvation through my belief in Christ.  I strongly feel it is a gracious blessing of the Lord when we get that feeling of being encompassed by Him but it is not a necessity to faith. 

1865 Bible by WestwardGifts
After that day, V changed.  She had a hunger and thirst for God’s Word.  Passages that she struggled with were clear to her.  It was as if her mind had been in a fog and the Spirit of the Lord brought clarity to her.  Each week is an awesome experience seeing how God works in her life and during our time together.  He will grant me words and insights that specifically speak to where V is at that day. As we read God’s word, He brings it to life how it applies to her (and me).

V’s life is in change.  I had her write her goals down a while back and we review them each week.  One was to find a new career…it just happened last week.  Another was to re-build a relationship with her husband…she has found “fun” and joy in her relationship with him.  Her primary goal of drawing closer to God is unfolding before us weekly. 

And one of the goals I presented V with when we first began meeting is that one day she will invest in another woman as I have with her and become the mentor.  Last week was the first time she said she thought she could do it!  How great is that?

From 7 to 9pm on Tuesday nights I am blessed incredibly.  I almost feel those worn out chairs are sacred ground for God works in a mighty way when V and I sit, talk about the week, read God’s Word and pray together.  What makes it even more special is on Wednesday nights at the same time in the same chairs, God meets with T and I with still more amazing results! (That will be a post for another day.)

My soul praises the Lord!

God Bless,
Phyllis Ducey
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Klipboard by kuteklipboardsbyamy
*The "Romans Road" are selected verses from the Bible that give you a quick Biblically solid path to salvation through Christ.  They are: Romans 3:23, 6:23, 10:9-10 and I add John 3:16 




11:39 PM | Category: , , , , , , | 9 comments

Lessons From a Skydive
A friend of ours decided that the best way to celebrate her 18th birthday was to jump from an airplane and parachute to the ground.   I was excited for her.  It sounded great for this adventurous young lady.
Then she invited anyone who was interested to jump with her.
Well, that would not be me.  I don't fly anywhere, let alone with the intention of leaving the plane mid flight.
However, my 66 year old mother decided that she wanted to make the jump.
Her Dad had always wanted to fly a plane and she figured he would have wanted to skydive too.
So, her excuse was that she was doing it for her dad.
I knew that she was just excited about the adventure.


If you read my personal blog you know that we showed up on an excruciatingly hot day
for the sky dive.  Two of the four who had signed up to jump were able to do so,
and were successful.
However, when it was Mom's turn a nasty thunderstorm blew up and the flight was cancelled.
No worries.
They rescheduled.
Great!
I got to go through all of the worry longer and one more time.

Well, that day came and we trudged out to the airfield.
We had quite a group.
The teens brought a game and sat in a circle playing together.
Younger ones flitted here and there watching everything they could 
take in.

To our left parachutes were carefully packed. 
This being the most important factor in a skydive.
Those packing the chutes chattered quietly as they intently 
focused on taking the large chute and carefully making it as tiny as 
was humanly possible and putting it into a tiny backpack.
This was the lifeline by which a human life would depend as they left the plane.

As Mom got into the plane I couldn't believe she was actually doing this crazy 
thing....you know jumping out of an airplane.


She said it didn't hit her until she was approaching altitude and the 
jump was imminent.
Suddenly the door was open and, as it was a tandem jump, 
the jump master was barking orders in her ear.
He told her to let go of the plane and step out.
In this moment she looked at her hand,
tightly gripping the plane and willed it to let go.
It would not.
Smart hand, if you ask me!

Now, this plane is stalled so that the jumpers can safely clear
the propellers and other dangerous situations.
Time is of the essence.
This meant that the jumpmaster had to pry that rebellious hand 
from its grip and they were out of the plane.



Mom said after the fact that she realized then how much trust she 
was placing in both her jump master and her parachute.
She also noted that in order to engage that trust she had to take the first step.
In our lives this is also true.
We come to situations that make us want to just stop and stay where we are
but if we do we miss out on the adventure or blessing we are there for.

Now, before they would allow any of these tandem jumps there were 
a couple of hours of instruction.
Very important instruction.
If the newby did certain things wrong it would put both the 
jumper and the 
jump master in very real danger.
Listening to their instructor was paramount to a successful return 
to the ground.
However, the instructors told the students that if necessary 
they would override them and work to set things right.

So it is for us in our Christian walk.
The most important instruction is that of our need for a "jump master".
We can try as hard as we know to be good and make it to Heaven.
Kind of a reverse jump.
However, that is impossible.
None of us can achieve this on our own.

For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 3:23

For us, in  order to engage that jump we must take the first step 
of placing our trust in Jesus and His saving work on the 
cross.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten 
son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish 
but have everlasting life.
John 3:16

He will guide us safely to the other shore.
When God looks on us in judgement it is not us He will 
see, but Jesus in our stead. 
We will be hiding deeply in the Robes of Jesus
finding grace and acceptance in Him.

Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. 
Philippians 3:19-21 NIV 

Can you imagine?
Written By Becky - Good Neighbors Candle Co.
7:24 AM | Category: , , , , , , | 11 comments

Sunday Scripture - John 3:16



As I sat thinking today of what I should post, this scripture quickly came to mind.  At first I pushed it aside... I really was looking for something a bit more "Christmas-y".  The "Away in a Manger" type scriptures that actually focus on the story of Christ's birth were what I was thinking of including tonight.  But, no matter how much I pushed it back, it just came back up over and over again.

Then, it hit me.  How much more "Christmas-y" can you get than the fact that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son?"  Isn't that exactly what we celebrate at Christmas?

My prayer this year is that as we are in the midst of all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, with schedules packed about as full as they can get, that we won't lose sight of this precious gift that was given to us on that long ago night in Bethlehem.  I pray that we would never take it for granted and that we would celebrate not only at Christmas, but all year long.

Happy Sunday!


8:34 AM | Category: , | 5 comments