Showing posts with label bible. Show all posts

CAST Shop of the Week: GrandmaMouse

Meet Shirley of GrandmaMouse. In her shop you will find printable games in pdf format for various holidays and events as well as cards and other items. Shirley specializes in Bible games and has other great items suitable for Sunday School classes and youth group activities as well as prizes for kids for events. I particularly like her Bible Book Cards (I think I could have used these for my adult small group Bible study). Her prices are very affordable and this shop is a wonderful resource for teachers. Enjoy browsing her shop.

Father's Day Word Find (Personalized Father's Day Gift)

Please note that the only way to be featured as the CAST Shop of the Week is to tag your shop items "castteam" on Etsy and to not hide your teams in your Etsy profile. You will also have to have at least 12 items to feature. Those are the ways that I find great CAST shops to feature each week.

CAST Members: If you have a minute or two, please feel free to favorite ♥ this shop or promote it on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or other social media. Thanks!

by Sue of SueRunyonDesigns

10:02 AM | Category: bible, cast shop of the week, files, format, games, gifts, pdf, printables, prizes, shirley McKinstry, Sunday School, VBS, youth group | 6 comments

Emergency Preparedness

Pressed flower art by mingogardens

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” Isaiah 40:8

The area I live in, the northlands of Minnesota, was hit hard by flood waters this past week. Though there is a river running through my town of Cloquet, we did not suffer as much because we are on high ground. However, Duluth and many smaller towns around took a beating as 8 to 10 inches of rain pounded in a mere 24 hours. Roads were washed away, basements were flooded, dried up creeks became rushing rivers, rivers no longer had discernible banks and people lost homes. We do realize that with all this property damage we were blessed not to have any loss of life.

For some of you reading this, you have experienced similar floods and hurricanes and probably some much worst than ours but you have been prepared as to what to do when it happens. Our area emergency preparedness teams have numerous contingency plans for all sorts of disasters but not for floods. The flooding exceeded all records imaginable for this area. If it had been a snow of several feet, it would have been just a blimp in our radar… but rain took us by surprise.

It makes you wonder… what are we prepared for as Christians? Do you have contingency plans for whatever comes along?

What will shake your faith? Is it losing everything you own, a death in the family or possibly did you have faith in a pastor that went bad? Were there Christians in your life who did not treat you as a Christian should? I had that happen once when I was struggling to understand what faith and God meant to me. It kept me from attending church for years. But if I had my emergency preparedness plan in place that could have just been a blip on my radar. Instead it was a major set back.

Ocean wave by PastelPond

But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. James 1:6

We need to be thoughtful about our faith. Not allowing ourselves to be tossed by the wind. I probably have not put my plan into the terms of “emergency preparedness” but certainly I have been very purposeful of deepening my knowledge of the Lord and my relationship with Him. I want it to be just like the fire drills we all have been through, so ingrained in me that I know what to do without thinking.

How to have an emergency preparedness plan in place? (These are in no particular order.)

Read God’s Word daily. Even if it is only one verse. Once you develop the habit it will stay with you always. I am totally unsettled if I go to bed without reading the Bible.
Seek out a Biblical church that can feed you in the knowledge of the Lord, do not choose it just to make you feel good.
Become involved in Bible studies or other groups that help you grow in the Lord.
Learn to depend on God’s Word not on people.
Question what you are being taught. Check out the verses in context and see if that is how God meant them to be.
Be involved. Where, how? Just try various things. I tried children’s ministry at one time and it drained me as did cooking for others in need but when I started teaching adults I was energized!

angelasheartwork

Probably the most important of all… remember God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Take time on a regular basis (maybe at night in bed or while journaling) to remember the things God has done for you. Never let that leave you so that when the crisis in life hit, when you feel depressed or forsaken... review them. This is what I do.

I tell myself if God pulled me through that, if God helped me grow through this, if God saved me in another situation, etc... therefore why would He not do the same for me today? I then wait expectantly to see what He will do and how he will carry me through.

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. Psalm 130:5

(Note that the word “wait” in this context meant to expectantly hope)

11:22 PM | Category: angelasartwork, bible, Duluth, emergency preparedness, flood, Isaiah, James, mingogardens, pastelpond, pfdoriginalartworks, Phyllis Ducey, psalm 130:5 | 16 comments

Christ Our Shepherd

http://www.etsy.com/listing/64634355/the-king-of-love-my-shepherd-is-matted

Everything Jesus did while He walked on the face of this earth in human flesh, He did out of great love for us and as an example of how He wants us to love others. He came as our shepherd, putting himself between us and the perils of Satan and sin. He left us the Holy Spirit and the inspired word of God as the Bible that we would know His voice and heed it.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/62503585/psalm-23-sheep-good-shepherd-baby

There was a purpose for every word Jesus spoke, every place He traveled to, every miracle He performed, every one of the 40 days and nights of temptation in the wilderness and every moment of pain He endured upon the cross. That purpose was to reconcile the lost with the Father who loves us beyond comprehension. And so also there is a purpose for every trial and every blessing in our lives, every triumph and defeat. God wants to work in each of those things so that His glory will be made manifest to those around us and that they too will be reconciled with Him. In order for that to happen we must become ever more Christ like, willing to endure those trials for His name sake, willing to share His victories in our lives with others, willing to empathize and minister to those whom God places in our lives and our paths daily.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/43579894/needlefelted-lamb-magnet

1 Peter 5:2-4 puts it this way “Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.”

http://www.etsy.com/listing/30396698/god-an-archival-print

Who is the flock under your care? Your own children and their friends, your spouse, your friends, your coworkers, your brothers , sisters, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, the clerk at the grocery store, the teller at the bank, the person who cuts your hair, your doctor, very simply put: whomever you might cross paths with today.

by Cherry's Creations

3:00 AM | Category: armor of God, bible, Christ, christian, flock, jesus, Monday devotional, scribture, sheep, shepherds | 5 comments

Decisions Along the Journey

by Phyllis Ducey
pfdoriginalartworks

Necklace by SissyPretties

Recently my husband and I traveled back to visit my family and helped my mother-in-law clean out closets in preparation for scaling down their household. While there, at the spur of the moment my 18 year old niece, Rachel decided to drive back with us and her grandma said she would pay to fly her back. Cool beans! We always have a great time.

She got here and decided to fly back on Sunday. I was bummed I hoped she would stay another day. We were booking her flight (she was flying back standby) and called my mother-in-law who informed us that major snow/rain storms were heading our way and would impair travel in Chicagoland area.

Rachel was in a quandary as to whether or not to leave. Being 18 she has not a lot of life experience in traveling on her own. To make a good decision she needed someone to guide her through the possibilities of what would happen. So we discussed what could happen if she left on Sunday. The possibilities were: she could get on the plane and arrive there in an hour; she could get on the plane and the weather could be so bad in Chicago that the plane would be diverted to another state; she may never get on the plane and have to sit in the Duluth airport for 6 to 8 hours until the next flight was able to head out; or she could wait a day until the weather cleared. She thought through her options and I feel she made the good decision to stay another day (which meant we’d have more time together so I was happy).

The decision was hers and whichever one she made, she eventually would have gotten home but the journey could have changed depending on the circumstances. If a blizzard caused big delays, she could have uncomfortably spent a day in the airport or worse yet her flight might have been diverted to somewhere unknown to her. Without a lot of life experience to know how to transfer around an unknown airport or book alternative flights the simple one hour trip could turn into a nightmare.

Our journeys through life are much the same. We are bombarded with decisions daily and most aren’t wrong or right but can alter our journey from a pleasant one into a nightmare. How do we make informed decisions if we have not had the life experiences to understand the consequences? The only way I know is through prayer and reading God’s word.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:6-7
(for more on this verse see my blog post Heavy Heart)

The Bible (that 2,000+ year old book) has something for every situation to guide us. No, it does not tell us how to load software but it does give us principals to decide what software to use. Is it legal? The Bible tells us to give to Caesar what is Caesars or in other words pay for what is due to the person it is due to.

(Jesus said) Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Matt 22:19-21

It does not tell us whether to go on the internet or not but once again gives us principals to guide our usage of it such as staying away from pornography.

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Col 3:5

If you do a study in the book of Proverbs you can write down what a wise man does and what a fool does. Follow the wise man’s ways and your journeys will be much more pleasant and successful. Though God has never promised us an easy journey but He has promised that He will be there for us.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5

A poor decision may mean a difficult journey but He has promised that He will help carry our burdens if we come to Him with them.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matt 11:28-30
(for more on this verse see my post Easy Burdens)

Because after all He came to give us both a rich life here on earth and a rich eternal life.

Jesus told this simple story, but they had no idea what he was talking about. So he tried again. "I'll be explicit, then. I am the Gate for the sheep. All those others are up to no good—sheep stealers, every one of them. But the sheep didn't listen to them. I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. John 10:6-10 (The Message)

And when all is said and done isn't this why we celebrate Christmas?

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Below are some wonderful Etsy shops for you to browse in. Rachel did the picks for them so if you are wondering what a 18 year old would like for Christmas, here are some great ideas!!

Messenger bag by BizzieLizzie

Baby booties by PearCreekCottage

Mini Composition book by UnexpectedTreasure

Knitted scarf by NannasKnitting

Dragonfly necklace by jensjewelry

Fingerless gloves by DesignProjects

10:30 PM | Category: bible, decision making, devotion, guidance, journey, Phyllis Ducey | 9 comments

Amazing

by Phyllis Ducey
pfdoriginalartworks

There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for

all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests."Luke 2:8-13

Could you imagine being there that night? Minding your own business, working the night shift on your job and making sure the sheep were safe... then whazaam! An angel of the Lord starts talking to them. How amazing that must have been! An appointment set by God that totally took them by surprise.

Amazing -
Per dictionary.com (one of my favorite websites) as an adjective it means "causing great surprise or sudden wonder." The noun form would be amazement ("overwhelming surprise or astonishment).

When I think of the wonder Mary and Joseph must have felt at that same moment... I think amazing! When I dwell on the throught that the baby who was born over 2,000 years ago has brought me eternal life... I think amazing! When I realize this same baby grew into manhood with the purpose of dying for my sins... I think amazing!

If we can pull ourselves away from the hustle and bustle of Christmas activities and take some time to meditate on the wonder of the season... we should be overwhelmed with astonishment! God has incredibly granted awesome events throughout history recorded in the Bible. One truly amazing one for me is that the Bible written by 40 different writers over a span of 1,400 years (covering about 4,000 years of history) has one theme and one story all pointing to what we celebrate as Christmas and Easter. Wow!

And not to sound like a 30 minute infomercial "but wait, there is more!" God filled our world with wonder all around us. The tiny but vast array of snowflakes, the beaurty of autumn leaves and the uncountable stars in the heavens. He wakes us up to amazing sunrises and closes our days with rich pinks, golds, oranges and purples as the sun sets.

But wait... there is even more! God so values each one of us that He sent His son to go through an ugly and painful death where Christ took on all our sin so we may be pure through Him. He also gifted us with something amazing within to bring Him honor and glory (I touched on this in my last week's post - The Gift that Keeps on Giving).

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. Ephesians 1:7,8

God still makes appointments for us:
A few weeks ago I had agreed to meet with a recruiter who wanted to do business with our hospital. I had little or no interst in meeting with him except that I had some curiosity of prices so in a weak moment consented to the meeting. He showed up on a day he thought we had prearranged. I had no recollection of setting an exact time or day and was quite annoyed that he would drop in. So I went down to tell him I did not have time for a discussion but something about him changed my mind when I met him face-to-face.

We went into my office and discussed business for about 30 minutes or so. Interspersed in our conversation were little tidbits of our personal lives. He appeared to be a genuinely sincere person who not only knew his business well but enjoyed people. In that 30 minutes God took us a whole other direction, I did hear about his product but what I heard even stronger (much to his surprise) was a man at the precipace of change and trying to decide if he should risk that change or not. He travels a great deal with his job and was now going to have a second child in the next month or two. He shared that he was in a quandry because he had been at his job for 10 years and though very good at what he did, he felt he had no skills for anything else.

The young man God revealed to me as we talked was a person who had wonderful customer service and people skills that could easily be translated into various occupations. I saw this man with amazing talents and a heart for the Lord. At that moment God gave me insight and encouraging words that he needed to hear that day. He arrived a stranger and left a dear friend! We both concluded that the meeting was a "God appointment". My hope is that our discussion helped him discover some of the amazing aspects of who he is.

My prayer:
The gift I pray for him and each of you this Christmas season and throughout the new year is the discovery of that amazing part of you. Don't know what it is or feel so unworthy that you could not possibly feel amazing (I spent a good part of my life like that)... pray. Ask God to reveal it to you then watch and listen. Maybe you too will have an unexpected meeting that God directs!

If it can happen to lowly shepherds... it surely can happen to you!!

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Col 4:2

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Christmas is getting closer and closer - check out these great shops!

The darling angel in the beginning is from creationsbycurry

And the beautiful Madonna and child pendant is from AxisMundiDesigns

Snow angel by TemporaryTrappings

Antique gold clutch by thedesignersloft

Pendant by puzzlingcrafts

Clutch by Ahmelie

10:00 PM | Category: amazing, bible, devotional, divine appointment, Phyllis Ducey, prayer, shepherds | 7 comments

...

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105

Black Laptop Case Large Embroidered Psalm 119 - 105 by CarrytheWord

On Wednesday nights at our church we have a special program for our children ages 3-5th grade. It is a terrific program that has just blessed my children many times over. The theme Bible verse each year is this same verse from Psalm - "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

Isn't that a great truth with which to equip our children with early on in their young lives?! What a gift we are giving to them by teaching that regardless of what they may encounter in their lives, they can always rely on God's Word to guide and direct them.

Experiencing self-doubts? Turn to the Bible to be reminded of how God made each one of us special and unique and loves us unconditionally.

Have a difficult decision to make? Turn to the Bible and find how we can turn it over to God and He will show us the answer.

Stressed? Worried? Afraid? Turn to the Bible and read of how we can give it all to God and leave it there.

All we ever need can be found on the pages of our Bibles. Take a minute today to read from the Bible and let God lead the way and light your paths!

Happy Sunday!

Melanie/Beads-N-Style

12:01 AM | Category: bible, bible verse, scripture | 5 comments

God's Recipe ??

by Helen of HelensCorner

So the other day I was making brownies for a birthday party and I clearly heard the Lord speaking to me.

"Helen, pick up your Bible!"

I knew it was the Holy Spirit.

Who else would tug, nag, and constantly push me to open the Bible at such an odd moment??

So I did... I stopped stirring that chocolatey, creamy, filled with wonder brownie mix, and opened my Bible.

I continued my reading from 2 Peter:

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

(2 Peter 1:5-8)

Did you just read that? Is that a Recipe from God or what? I guess it wasn't such an odd moment afterall. Right when I was baking... and if you know anything about baking, YOU KNOW that every ingredient is vital... and measuring each ingredient is even MORE vital than the ingredients themselves.

So, here's what I picked up from that passage:

Recipe for an Effective and Productive follower of Christ

Ingredients:

Faith

Goodness

Knowledge

Self-control

Perseverance

Godliness

Brotherly kindness

Love

Instructions:

Add all of the ingredients together. If you're able to increase the quantity of each of the above ingredients, the more EFFECTIVE and PRODUCTIVE in the knowledge of Christ you will be! Remember that EVERY INGREDIENT IS VITAL to the "success" of this recipe.

Enjoy in Abundance!!!

by Helen of HelensCorner

See more on Helen's Blog

6:00 AM | Category: armor of God, bible, CAST, castteam, Christ, christian, cookie recipe, effective, follower | 7 comments

Oh, How I Wish I Had a Memory!

by Phyllis Ducey
pfdoriginalartworks

Bible bookmark by BountifulBlessings

We are so privileged in the USA to be able to carry our Bibles with us and to freely study them. In my house we may have 12 to 15 Bibles in various places. Periodically we get a new favorite. Right now my husband and I are reading through a Chronological Bible in

the New International Translation format. It has a very interesting lay out but is not my favorite Bible. I am sure some of you are like me and have one special one… it is underlined, written in, marked up and has a few torn pages with a raggedy cover from being used and tossed around so much. My current favorite has big print which makes it easy to read. My friends all called me old when I got it and laughed at me. Since then several have picked up one too. (Then I laugh at them.)

I have lost count but think that I have probably read the Bible cover to cover 7 to 8 times. Some chapters (such as Ephesians) I have read dozens of times. I only share this because I really take to heart the following verse which tells me to write God’s word on my heart.

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night."
Psalm 1:1-3

My big frustration is how am I to write it on my heart if I can’t memorize it? You’d think by now I would have huge chunks of the Bible memorized… do I? No! I try and try. I have memorized:

"the thief comes to steal kill and destroy but I have come to bring you life and bring it abundantly."
John 10:10

I never tried to memorize that, I just had a pastor 15 plus years ago who used that verse so much it never left me so it has stuck. Or so I thought... even that I don't have exactly right. The end of the verse should be:

"I have come that they may have life, and they might have it more abundantly."

Psalm 19 is one of my favorite Psalms (of course how can you even choose one over the other … each is such a work of art?) that I did try to memorize. I have literally memorized it beginning to end at the very least 3 times. I even had it successfully memorized each time for a full month. Could I recite it to you now? No… well, maybe the first 2 verses.

Oh how I wish I had a decent memory!

I worry sometimes that there will be a day when we no longer are able to have the freedom to carry our Bibles or maybe not be free to read them. There are countries even today where people are persecuted if they are caught with one. If that day comes I want to have it in my heart where no one can take it away from me.

Though this memory of mine struggles greatly, one thing that has been a comfort to me is that I have found is that when I need a verse God seems to just pop it into my mind…whew!

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect
1 Peter 3:15

That is another reason I read daily so that I may be so saturated in the God's words that it oozes out of me. And I want to be prepared to give a witness at all times. And (as if that was not enough) it encourages me as I continue to learn how much God loves me.

Some call the Bible a an old archaic book, some call it a fairy tale, some call it a love letter from God while others call it an instruction manual for daily living. (My son-in-law calls it a weapon of mass instruction.) Whatever you choose to call it... it is an incredibly precious gift from God not to be ignored or taken lightly or left to collect dust... and I love it!

BTW, what do you call it?

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Once again I have selected some great shops for you to check out and give them a heart. Keep in mind there is only 4 months and 2 days until Christmas!!