One In A Million

Hi Ladies! Please join us for One in a Million, a Bible study that will challenge you to conquer your wilderness living and teach you what it means to live free in Jesus Christ. This new 7-week study from Priscilla Shirer is a one-in-a-million opportunity to fully engage in the abundant inheritance God has waiting for those who are willing to follow Him into the promised land. Be prepared to dig into God's Word and gain prayer support from the women who will be walking beside you in this journey. We hope you have a great time of Bible study and fellowship in the weeks to come!

You can sign up in the church lobby or drop us an email at CWCWomensMinistry@gmail.com

Where: Calvary Worship Center

When: Begins Monday, February 15 through Monday, March 29 at 7:00 p.m.

Cost: $20 for materials

That His Power May Be Seen

This past Sunday a visiting minister greeted our congregation and proceeded to talk about the healing of the blind man in chapter 9 of John. As I read the text that morning, I became stuck on verses 2 and 3. "Rabbi," his disciples asked him, "why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents' sins?" "It was not because of his sins or his parents' sins," Jesus answered. "This happened so the power of God could be seen in him." I have read these words over and over the last few days and just wanted to jump and shout each time. I'm struggling holding back my emotions even as I write this now.

Monday morning I was greeted early at work by Lind, a beautiful lady friend of mine that speaks faithfully into my life. She had a huge smile on her face and said, "How great is our God?" to which I replied, "pretty great." She continued to smile as she described a call she received over the weekend.....

Lisa (a dear friend of Linds and a former teacher of one of my boys), her husband and children are missionaries to Thailand. Well, last August Lisa and her children were in a serious car accident that left Lisa with a critical brain injury. The doctors told them that 90% of patients with this type of injury usually die shortly after the accident and the other 10% that live do so in a vegetative state. The family was really not given any hope and Lisa was in a coma.

Lind set up weekly prayer meetings specifically to pray for Lisa, and refused to believe that Lisa would be the 90% or the 10%. After a couple of months Lisa opened her eyes but she was still lost in her own world. Lind and her prayer group continued to pray for little miracles along the way. Many friends and family members stalked the website for updates. The call Lind received last Saturday was from Lisa herself. Not only had she awaken completely from her coma of 3 months, but she was talking with a strong voice and giving Lind words of instruction from the Lord. Lind was still celebrating that call on Monday.

The doctors gave no hope, but I believe this happened so that God's power can be seen in Lisa. Just think, she is in Thailand, a country that is primarily a Buddhist nation and only 2% of the population are believed to be Christian. How many lives will see God's power in Lisa? I think the number to be unmeasurable. The doctors are calling Lisa "A Miracle Girl".

"This happened so the power of God could be seen in him"? Do you really get it? The blind man in John 9 was blind so God's power could be seen in him. The trials you and I go through are so God's power can be seen in us. The illnesses we suffer and so God's power can be seen in us. For too long we have sat back and accepted the trials, illnesses and adversities as a part of the suffering we must endure. God wants to show His POWER in US!!! We need to pray that God's power will be shown in all our circumstances.

I asked Lind how she was able to keep praying so faithfully when the doctors gave no hope. She simply replied, "I refused to listen to any negative talk nor was I willing to accept anything less than what God's word told me. I knew I needed to pray for that miracle recovery until God answered or said otherwise". Wow!!

What have you given up on because you didn't get your answer right away, or you thought there was no hope of a miracle? Let's take God at His word and believe it to be true.

God, let us see your power in our circumstances. Reign down on us. Your word says that you forgive our sins and heal us of our diseases. You heal the brokenhearted and bandage our wounds. Lord help our unbelief and show us your mighty power. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen

When Will I Be Enough?

As I was getting ready for church this morning, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I was less than impressed and began to lecture myself for the recent weight gain I experienced. Many of you know that over the last year I have worked hard to lose weight, so just imagine my frustration to find that I’ve picked back up a few of those pounds over the last couple of months. My self lecture continued for a few minutes when I was reminded of two things I have said over the last couple of weeks: “Every girl needs ice cream when she is sad”, and “Chocolate! I’m feeling a bit stressed and need some chocolate”. I was stunned when I remembered those words, especially when the Spirit whispered to my heart, “When will I be enough?” While the reasoning behind these statements and the emotions true, the statements themselves showed me that that food had become my God. I’ve allowed my worries, my anxieties, and every other emotion to be shared with and comforted by chocolate, ice cream, rich foods, and sugar instead of my loving God. The food lasts for a moment and tastes good on my lips, but God is my portion forever.

Psalm 73:25-26 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Lord, forgive me for not giving you all of me... my worries, anxieties, fear, joy, happiness, all the emotions that sometimes cause me to seek other means of comfort. My desire is for YOU! The love I have for the rich things that are not good for me has hurt me in the past and began to destroy my health. I give that all to You! Help me to restrain myself. Help me to not eat out of emotional whims or mindless comfort. Let me be a woman seeking you first in all things. Let my desire only be for You. You are my strength and my portion Forever!!! Amen.

Make It Known

Hello!

Life is very busy, but God is so faithful! It is easy to feel overwhelmed and anxious when life is so busy and there is so much to do! God gave me this word this week and I wanted to share it with you!

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." Philippians 4:6

It only takes a moment to breathe a prayer and God hears each and every one of them. I encourage you to post this scripture somewhere that you will see it!

I will leave you with this old hymn and remind you to take it, whatever it is, to the Lord in prayer!

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.

Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised Thou wilt all our burdens bear
May we ever, Lord, be bringing all to Thee in earnest prayer.
Soon in glory bright unclouded there will be no need for prayer
Rapture, praise and endless worship will be our sweet portion there.

Little Faith, Big Building

***My husband wrote this article on faith. I thought it was appropriate to share it on our blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. If faith can move a mountain, it can certainly build a sanctuary.***

What type of faith do we have? A casual one: if it works out then it is great, if not, then it wasn’t that big of a deal. Working faith: we have faith it will happen, but we are going to start working on it ourselves just in case God doesn’t do it. If we believe that God will provide the means necessary, which is more a display of faith; working to provide those means ourselves, or working to use those means the best possible way?

This reminds me of Matthew 15:32-38. Jesus tells his disciples that He is going to feed the multitude. They immediately asked where they could possibly find that much bread in the wilderness. Automatically, they thought that they had to help Jesus do something He said He was going to do.

That is us so many times. We immediately say, “How am I going to get this done” after God has said he will take care of us. “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things the Gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. (Matthew 6:29-32)

I think our faith is small many times because we do not want to take the chance that God will not come through. We want a backup plan. We have that doubt that it might not work out, so we try to help get it done. This is contrary to having faith. True faith lets us begin the second phase. We can start acting on the result, knowing it is on the way. Remember the ten lepers that asked Jesus for mercy in Luke 17:12-19. As soon as Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priest they took off. They didn’t wait to see the healing, they believed it was going to happen. The Bible says, “as they went, they were cleansed.” This is a remarkable example of expecting with faith. They sincerely embraced that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) They acted on the result before they witnessed it. Can we step out with this kind of faith? Can we truly begin as Peter did; stepping out of that boat onto water knowing that it just doesn’t make any sense? Can we stop ourselves from trying to complete what we have entrusted to God?

No opinion on faith can be complete without using the scripture about how little faith you need. “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17:19-21) This seems to make it pretty easy to use faith until you read the end part. Fasting!! That is pretty difficult to do. I need those calories every day. But it is very clear to attain the faith needed to move mountains we must sacrifice ourselves in prayer and fasting. Have we done this lately?

As we approach the end of our building project we have given time and money until it seems we do not have anymore. Our financial situation is now near desperate and we are not sure how it is going to get done. Now is the time we can say, “God, I can’t do anything else. It is up to You.” We cannot have the casual faith, because this has to be done. We cannot have the working faith, because we are unable to complete it ourselves. We have to have faith the size of a mustard seed! Have we prayed, fasted, and had faith that God will supply the money and resources for our new building? If so, we have to prepare for the people who will show up at our door. If haven’t, then we need to take care of that, so we can prepare to use His blessings accordingly.

Written By James Wiley

Cross The Jordan!

There’s an old saying, “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence,” but for two and a half tribes of Israel, the grass wasn’t greener on the other side of the fence. They were content to stay just where they were at. I have to wonder, were they really happy there? What did they miss out on?

The story that I am referring to is in Numbers chapter 32. Here were the Israelites, who had wandered in the desert for 40 years. They were preparing to enter into the land that God had promised them. Remember, the land was promised to Abraham way back in Genesis chapter 12. This promise was a long time coming. The Israelites had come a long way through slavery, oppression and forty years in the wilderness to this point in history. They knew the inheritance that lay just beyond the Jordan River. They knew that all they needed to do was go, in the power of God and possess the land.

We find in Numbers chapter 32 that two and a half of the tribes of Israel (Reuben, Gad and part of Manasseh) wanted to stay on the East side of the Jordan River. They wanted to settle right where they were at, instead of going into the Promised Land with the rest of Israel. The reason that they gave for this was that they were herdsmen by trade and that they land that they were currently residing in was good for the herds (32:4).

There is quite a bit of dialogue after the fourth verse, but the part I want to get to is in verse 33. These tribes went with the rest of Israel into the Promised Land and defeated the enemy. Yet, they chose to return to the land on the East of the Jordan and this land became their inheritance. They gave up their stake in the land that God had promised them for a land that was good in their own eyes. They were walking by sight, not by faith!

The Bible doesn’t give a whole lot of detail on this story, but from what I can tell, those who stayed behind were willing to settle for what seemed good to them. We know that the land that God had promised was a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey (Numbers 13:27), yet they chose to stay where they were. No doubt the land they chose to stay in was good land. They were permitted to do this, but it wasn’t the perfect plan that God had chose for them from the beginning. Don’t you wonder what they missed out on? Doesn’t it make you wonder?

So where’s the life application part for us? How is this little chapter in Israel’s history going to teach us anything? I think often times as Christians we settle. We have a good life. We have a good relationship with our Savior. We look around and we see good surrounding us and we are content to stay exactly where we are at. It’s the enemy of complacency. We have a good life, so we see no need to press on to the Promised Land and find the treasures and blessings that lay beyond the Jordan River. Do you ever wonder what you are missing out on by staying right where you are at? When we ever realize that good in our eyes is not good enough?

Going beyond the Jordan for these tribes would have required a lot of work. They would have had to move their herds and their families across the Jordan. They had come this far, and were willing to settle in the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, instead of the land of Canaan. I have no doubt that the land there was good, but I know that because it wasn’t the land that God had chosen for them, it wasn’t as good as it was supposed to be. There’s nothing more completely satisfying than being in the perfect will of God. God in His sovereignty knows what’s best for you and your life.

Are you standing at the edge of the Jordan right now? Are you happy where you are at? Are you wondering what may lay beyond the Jordan? Maybe there is something in your life that you have refused to give up to this point. Maybe your prayer life is not what it should be. Maybe you aren’t devoting yourself completely to the work that God has called you to do. Are you content with what you know about God’s word? Are you content with your relationship with Him?

Make the commitment with me today to go beyond your current status and press on to a deeper and more meaningful relationship with your Savior. Pray that you will desire to press on beyond where you are at. Pray that you won’t be content, but that you will long to move forward in God’s perfect will for your life. It’s not going to be easy. I am not going to sugar coat it. It will take work. It will take determination. But just as God promised He would go with Israel into the battle, He will go with you (Deuteronomy 31:6). Cross the Jordan and enjoy the blessings that come to those who will chase God with their whole heart. It will be worth it!

I worship you my Heavenly Father. You are so good to me. I have such a good life. Your blessings abound in my life. But Lord, I don’t want to just stay where I am at. I don’t want to miss out on the blessings that you have for me if I will press on in Your ways and in Your work. I know you God, but I want to know You more. I love You God, but I want to love You more. Go with me God. Guide me in Your perfect will. Help me to press on and remind me that there is something better on the other side. I thank You Lord that You have chosen little ol’ me. Lord, use me for Your glory. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”
--Deuteronomy 31:6

Really?

I’m often humored at the things God will do in my life, just because. Yesterday afternoon I was having an average day, following a typical busy schedule and not really thinking a whole lot about me...... then I saw something that hit me in the eyes.......

I was pulling back into the parking lot at work after lunch. The one thing I consistently ask God for is a close spot to the door. I usually carry a very heavy briefcase, so I do not want to park in the North 40 and carry that bag. Some days God sees fit to give me a close spot and others He allows me to walk. I’ve asked Him a few times for consistency in the close spot, but up to that point He had not granted me my request. Anyway, yesterday I was granted a close spot, one isle from the door. As I was turning off my car, I looked up to see a sign marking a parking spot within 15 feet from the door. The sign simply read, “Reserved, Executive Assistant.” The first words from my mouth was, “Really?” and then I finished it with, “are you kidding me?”.

This year our corporate office announced that the management teams would not get raises in 2009, (the specifics behind it are not crucial, so I will leave those out). I made peace with that decision thinking I was just thankful I had a job in this economy. However, as I was getting out of my car yesterday, after seeing the “reserved” sign, all I could think of was, “so I don’t get a raise, can I have a stinking parking spot?”. I didn’t think much more of it as I walked past the space into the office building.

This morning, as I was getting ready for work that sign flashed into my mind. I shook my head and thought again, “Really?” the Admin has a parking space close to the door and I don’t? I know, your thinking, “its just a parking spot”. Well, to me it was the principal of the matter. I did have a close spot a couple of years ago, then it was taken away to add more visitor parking. The Holy Spirit put me into check quickly to not be envious. Truth be told I wasn’t envious, but just wanted a close parking spot. I decided not to dwell on it any longer and continued about my day.

As I arrived at work this morning, I found a close spot and it immediately put a smile on my face. I whispered a quick “thank you” and continued to my desk. I wasn’t there more than 10 minutes when my director called me. She asked me to stop by her office when I got a chance. She wanted to give me a parking pass so I could park up front. Seriously my first word was, “Really?”. I was surprised. It still makes me giggle when I think about it. I can just see God watching me yesterday. He saw my eyes move over the sign, heard my words of sarcasm, searched my heart for my reaction and said, “Would someone give that girl a close parking space please?”

My mind goes to Jesus’ teaching about “asking” in Matthew 7:7-11. Here Jesus basically says, “Ask and you shall receive” but I like verses 9 - 11, “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him”. I had been asking and looking for my close spot daily. Today I got that close spot and then God also let me know that tomorrow I have a close spot, and the next day, and the next.

This may seem small and somewhat trivial, but I just wanted to illustrate how sometimes God chooses to bless us even in the small things. As a parent, I look for ways to bless my children and beam with happiness when they are are pleased. So, I can only imagine that God, with His great love, wants to bless His children even more. Just image how delighted God must be to give us those small things, and there is no budget that limits Him. We only look for the big blessings, but God gives us small blessings daily if we look for them. When we recognize His hand in the ordinary and give Him the thanks, it just makes Him want to give more.

Father in heaven, how I love You. Many times in my busyness, I don’t see the things you lay before me as gifts. Often times I shake them off as coincidences, when you are there the whole time waiting for me to acknowledge You. Your word says, “You have examined my heart and know everything about me.You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!” Thank you for your hand of blessing upon my head and for always working in my favor and for my good. Keep my feet on the right path, Lord, that leads directly to you. Amen.