Growth Through Faith ~ Stretching Situations

Hello to you my dear friends!
I appreciate your visits and those kind words left in your comments.
  Thank you for gracing my life with your friendship. ♡

The New Year is well on it's way and many of you have shared

on your Blogs already of your WORD for the year. 

I have so enjoyed reading your posts as to why you chose the word you did. 

Some of you have already shared testimonies of how

the Lord is working in your lives with and through your word.

One of you dear ladies has a terrific word for this year

and I have quietly claimed it as a second word for my own life

and have put it into practice in a BIG way over this past weekend.

I'm  looking to ACCOMPLISH a lot in the way of purging 

in both my home and our outside buildings this year.

My husband had better keep an eye on his garages. 😉

As Christians we all want to experience the fullness of the Christian life. 
There is so much more to having a relationship with God 
than simply having our sins forgiven.
But in this life we will all encounter faith ~ stretching situations
in order for us to grow in our walk of faith;
that is, if we are willing for the Father to speak to our heart
and direct us through those difficult situations
that are most certainly going to come into our lives at one time or another.
The beautiful thing is that whatever the Lord allows
into our lives it is for the purpose of increasing our intimacy with Him.

Proverbs chapter 5 speaks to us on the security in wisdom
and it is full of instruction. 
"Keep my commandments and live."Verse 4
☆
"Get wisdom!Get understanding!" Verse 5
☆
"When you walk your steps will not be hindered,
and when you run you will not stumble." Verse 12
☆
"Take firm hold of instruction and do not let go." Verse13
☆
" But the path of the just is like the shining sun,
that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day." Verse 18
☆
"Keep your heart with all diligence,
for out of it spring the issues of life." Verse 23
☆
Those are just a few of the excellent verses on getting wisdom
found in chapter 5.

So when we face trials 《and we will》 or must make decisions 《and we must》
that require strength and wisdom far beyond our own,
that is when God wants us to seek Him through His Word
and in prayer.
Likewise, He asks us to pay attention to the promptings 
of His Holy Spirit, to listen to that still small voice
and be confident He'll work through our obedience
to Him in an amazing way.
As we seek to serve God obediently and trust Him to lead 
us in our Christian life we can trust Him in everything,
even those faith ~ stretching situations.

Heavenly Father~thank You for Your unfailing love.
Help us always to trust Your will and Your ways.
Amen.

Be Blessed!
~ Debbie ~

My Steady Man

  April 16th will be the wedding Anniversary

of my husband and me, 36 years in celebration!

~

A very dear friend gifted me with the book

"Created to be his Help Meet" By Debi Pearl, 10 years ago.

God used Debi's book to teach me

many valuable lessons,

and by God's grace changes (for the good)

took place in my life as a wife.

~~~***~~~

I'm not real sure why ~ but I felt compelled

to pull that book off my bookshelf

and skim through it just the other day.

I was drawn to the chapter that speaks on having

"wisdom to understand your man"

( Co-authored by Rebekah (Pearl) Anast )

"A wise woman learns to adapt to her husband"

~

In this chapter, Rebekah speaks about three kinds of men:

Mr Command Man ~ Mr Visionary ~ Mr Steady

"Most men are a little of all three,

but tend to be dominant in one.

And all the training and experiences of life

will never successfully make a man

into a different type of man."

Isn't God awesome in His creation!

My husband was created by God,

in the likeness of God and for His glory.

(Genesis 1:26)

My husband is who he is because that's how God created him.

Man was created in the image of God ~ therefore ~

"God is dominant - command man a sovereign

and all-powerful God. He is also visionary

omniscient and desirous of 

carrying out his plans. And, 

God is steady the same yesterday and today and forever,

our faithful High Priest."

My husband is the "steady man"

and wow! He is just that!

Thursday we will celebrate 36 years together

as a married couple,

and my steady man is basically the same

"yesterday and today."

~~~***~~~

I began pondering on our 36 years together

keeping in the back of my mind

what Rebekah said in that particular chapter;

"As we identify our husband we will be able to

see where we have been a curse 

or a blessing to him."

Those are thought provoking words.

Ten years ago when I read those words

for the first time, I examined myself and asked God

to reveal to me the areas in my life

where I may have been a curse to my husband.

And as we all know, when we ask, God begins to reveal.

~~~***~~~

Now, 10 years later as I read these words again,

I look back to where God began to change

me so as to be more of a blessing than a curse.

I ponder...and ask myself,

"Have I grown through the grace of God

into a woman my husband would find lovely?

Am I a blessing or am I a curse?
~
I would encourage you to reflect on your own marriage
(those who are married)
and between you, God and your husband,
search and ask the question,
Am I a blessing or a curse?
Then let God's abundant love flow through you.

~~~***~~~

A wise woman learns to adapt to her husband.

We live in a world where selfishness reigns,

"it's all about me."

How can one adapt if one is all about self?

Some women really believe they can change 

their husbands in order to have their own selfish ways.

~

My husband is who he is,

not what I want him to be.

I married who this man is ~

who the God of the universe created him to be,

and it's not my business to change him.
The secret is not to try to change 
the man God gave you as your spouse
but to receive him with acceptance
and help bring out the best of his God-given personality.

~

In the beginning years of our marriage

I thought I could change my husband

in some areas ~ but now after 36 years

I have come to realize and accept 

that he is very much a steady man

who is " the same yesterday and today."

My place as his "help meet" is learning to adapt,
not wanting to control but giving the controls
over to God, and trusting in His promises. 
~
"Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord,
and whose hope the Lord is.
For he shall be like the tree
planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out
her roots by the river, and shall not see
when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green."
(Jeremiah 17:7-8a)

My Dear husband has been divinely designed by God,

and in the grace of our marriage, walking beside him,

honoring him and adapting to who he is,

is exactly what God would have me to do as his "help meet."

(Genesis 2:18)

~

I desire for my husband to be the one God made him to be

without getting in the way;

Steady as a rock ~ gentle ~ caring ~ providing ~ understanding ~

 a man of peace and safety ~

one who doesn't make quick and hasty decisions ~

one who avoids controversy ~ doesn't find fault or gossip ~

and a man who will be faithful

until the day God calls him home.

In God's time and in His way

He is refining me into the wife He wants me to be.

36 years, and God is still, ever so gently,

dipping me in that refining pot

skimming off the uglies

so that I will come forth as gold.
Oh to be the work of His masterpiece 
bringing glory to His Holy Name.

~

The desire of my heart, with grace,

is to be a woman who honors, obeys and loves Jesus,

by honoring my husband.

(Titus 2:3-5)

" God is the Master at making heavenly marriages"

I have been blessed with a dear loving and faithful husband,
and give all my praise to the glory of God!
~
To my Dear husband,
thank you for being the "Steady" man 
God has designed and called you to be.
Happy Anniversary with love
~

Our Precious Heavenly father,
as women, teach us the truths of Your Word
that we might be gracious and lovely,
 as the wives You have called us to be.
Help us to love, honor and cherish our husbands,
giving You all the praise and glory.
Amen.

Be Lovely
~ Debbie ~ 

I'm joining with Stephanie at
Roses of Inspiration

Walking in the Light

Well, it has been three weeks since my knee surgery
and I have to say that I am doing
much better than this precious little guy!
~
My husband was able to catch this wonderful photo shot
of a cow elk and her very new baby near our home.
Don't you just wonder - in animal language-
what that mother is instructing her baby to do?
How beautiful the way she stands near
as the little one scrambles to get up
and continue on their journey.
~
Proverbs 4:12
"Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go:
Keep her, for she is your life".
~
Wisdom is a journey of many steps,
a path upon which a person openly receives truth.
A heart that is willing to hear and receive
the instructions on wisdom
is a heart bent towards God and His Word.
Jesus spoke of many who had
ears to hear but did not listen.
!
Proverbs 4:18-19
"But the path of the just is like the shining sun,
that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
The way of the wicked is like darkness:
They do not know what makes them stumble".
~
The way of light and the way of darkness
is clearly marked out for us in God's Word.
Those who seek wisdom
 are able to discern-and keep discerning-which path is safe.
At times we may loose our footing
as we walk in the pathway of light,
but God is there to illuminate the problem for us,
to guide us-to help us-to encourage us-
and to pick us up when we stumble and fall.
~
But those who stumble in the darkness
have no way of discerning
what has tripped them up.
Just like this little guy. Had he stayed on better ground
rather that stepping onto this black top
he likely would not have lost his footing.
Are we no different?
Sometimes we stray off the pathway of Light
causing us to loose our footing
and then we stumble and fall.
~
God would have us to be in the Word,
so as to have a heart and mind that is discerning.
God provides the wisdom.
Anyone can acquire it if they have a heart to pursue it!
~
Our precious Heavenly Father.
Thank you for Your Word that instructs us in wisdom.
Cause us to have a heart that is bent towards reading it daily,
and help us to apply Your principles to our every day life.
Thank you, for always being there when we stumble and fall,
and with a tender loving hand, ready to pick us up,
and nudge us onward for Your glory.
Amen.
~
I would like to say thank you dear friends for your prayers on my behalf.
My recovery has gone well. To God be the glory!
~
~Be Lovely~
Debbie