Break Time

This is so hard but I will have to slow down for a while. Our Beth Moore Esther series is starting up March 2nd and we opened it up as a community Bible study with two different times. I am the lead facilitator and we have just under 40 ladies signed up (praise God!). I will be busy in this.

I have also decided to study for a special certificate within my nursing career related to palliative care. It too will require a lot of time away buried in books, preparing for the big exam in June. I'm still teaching at the college part-time and working at the hospital part-time. Oh yeah...there's still the family and our other ministries...you see why I need to "slow down"?

Pray for me in these endeavors, especially the women's ministry and the certificate I am trying to achieve. I cherish your prayers and I will continue to pray for each of you.

I love you all. You are such an encouragement to me-I hate being limited here. I have grown to need you, to draw in the words God lays on your heart in each post you pen for Him. You are such a part of my life!! I do plan to continue with ABC's of the Word and the Beth Moore's siesta's scripture memorization. I promise I will stop by when I can.

I am not leaving...just slowing down.

Forget me not!

His Maidservant~Pamela

in.his.grace@live.com

ABC's of the Word...C

This has been one of the best blogging activities I have gotten involved in.I love scripture and Pam from Grey Like Snuffie host this wonderful activity of sharing scripture using an alphabet format. Go here to see everyones chosen scripture for this week. You will be so blessed!

This week, my "c"word is COMPLETE using two pieces of scripture:

Acts 20:24 (NIV)

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and COMPLETE the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.

...and my chosen memory verse with the Beth Moore Siesta Memory Team for March 1st...

2 Corinthians 8:11-12 (NIV)
Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your COMPLETION of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.

I found this definition of COMPLETE on dictionary.com: thorough; entire; total; undivided, uncompromised, or unmodified: a complete victory; a complete mess.

COMPLETING the task God has set before us can sure fit into these adjectives don't you think? We can COMPLETE the task as He has ordained with Him leading or we can complete the task as we see fit with the end result of a COMPLETE mess! I choose the first descriptive complete here, agree?

So I leave you these verses to chew on but more so to be encouraged to COMPLETE the task God has laid before you of testifying to His grace. I know I am a living, breathing example of grace, sweet grace.

Be blessed!!

His Maidservant~Pamela

He hears you...

This weekend we had our Sunday school class over for a dinner party. I had worked at the hospital the night before so when I came home, I put the brisket in the oven and mixed up the cheese ball before hitting my head on my pillow. I had cleaned the day before but of course there was more to be done. Joe and the girls handled that while I got a little shut eye.

I share that because, needless to say, I didn't sleep long knowing what was left to be done. When I only get a few hours of sleep I tend to feel "numb" later in the day. I am slower to respond, I tend to yawn a lot, it is just plan hard for me to do anything too complicated.

At this dinner party everyone was sitting around in the family room and kitchen which is open to each other. Kids were in the library (front room is what we called it from my simple roots) and downstairs. Everyone could be heard-I mean everyone...multiple conversations. I have a hard time hearing with background noise on a good day so I was really having a hard time focusing in on one conversation. I should have recorded it for you. It reminded me of Jim Carey's movie in which God allowed him to take over for a few days (the name of that movie escapes me at the moment). Voices everywhere, multiple topics, laughter...

So I chose to grow quiet. I thought to myself...is that how it sound to you God? So many voices? How do you focus? How do you hear me-just me when I need to be heard from you?

You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and You listen to their cry ~ Psalm 10:17

The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles. ~ Psalm 34:17

Oh how magnificent is our God that He can hear all of us talking to Him at the same time and understand. How compassionate that He would take the time to listen. How humbling to know that He wants to hear us.

He wants to hear you. I want to encourage you to call on Him this week. Not just daily but moment-by-moment. Please Him.

But I also want to caution you with your words. What words will He hear from you this week? Our words can give life, our words can also kill. We have all been on both ends of that haven't we?

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. ~ Psalm 19:14

As I sit here now in silence, I wonder if God ever has times of silence. Does He ever crave it like we do? Does He ever need it?

When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. ~ Rev 8:1

There will be silence...but for now, may your voice be heard, may your words please Him.

His Maidservant~Pamela

I almost forgot to post my prayer for you this week. It comes from 1 Peter 5:2 "Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God." You are God's shepherds and my prayer is that you will carry out service for Him this week that brings others to Him. This may involve your family, this may involve a ministry, this may involve someone at work. Shepherd them towards God!!

~In Him~

As I have reflected throughout this week on being chosen, beloved, living in the peace of Him and not this world, I was taken to the scripture below in my quiet time this morning. It was a sweet reminder where I got my trade closing when I e-mail someone (In Him~Pamela). Several years ago I had done a study in Ephesians and went through and highlight every time this book referenced being "in Christ", "of Christ" or "in Him". I thought it would be a wonderful reminder to carry us into this weekend. I hope you will be blessed!

Ephesians 1:3-14

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

May your adventures this weekend reflect being "in Him"!

In Him~Pamela

ABC's of the Word...B

Deuteronomy 33:12

"About [insert your name] He said:Let the BELOVED of the LORD rest secure in Him, for He shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between His shoulders."

This will always be a favorite verse of mine. I received it at the She Speaks conference last summer after praying at the cross. It marks a milestone in my life: no more living in who I was from my past, but living in who I was in Christ, present tense-Secure in Him.


How is it that we can know that we can live securely in Him? Because we are His BELOVED.


"BELOVED" is defined as "greatly loved; dear to the heart."* YOU are greatly loved and dear to our Saviors heart. Rest in that today. Take time to praise Him for this perfect gift-His love. No matter where we are in life, no matter what we have done (good or bad), no matter the attitude of our heart, He loves us (present tense). Notice I didn't say He loved us (past tense). We are His BELOVED.

For more verses to ponder with "ABC's of the Word" go here!


His BELOVED Maidservant~Pamela






*Dictionary.com

American Idol?

I actually had the chance to sit down with my daughter Olivia tonight to watch American Idol (Joe took the other girls to gymnastics). She has pictures of last years winner David Cook all over her walls - she's 11! (I am suppose to tell you "she loves him"). He is cute. He is also from our area.

Remember those days? Who was it for you? It was Starsky and Hutch for me. Grief. Really. Oh my gosh...I think my heart just quickened when I found this picture. My bedroom walls had them all over it.

Ahhh...those things that stir our heart, that motivate us, drive us, excite us!! I have outgrown my fascination with Starsky and Hutch (thank God) and my passions have turned to other things. More healthy things. More spiritual things. So how do I show it?

My passion is my faith, my God. I have crosses spread throughout my house. They represent His grace that I know so well. I have framed scripture on my walls, it is my favorite book. Our bookshelves are lined with Christian books and two praying angel figurines are on the mantel above the fireplace...but is that enough?

No. It is how He is reflected in me and through me. It is how I live my life. Do I listen to Him? Do I hear see Him? Do I show Him to others?

1 Samuel 12:20-22 (NIV)
20 "Do not be afraid," Samuel replied. "You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 21 Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. 22 For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own.

So I had to think tonight about this American Idol show-I am caught up in its energy. What if there was a show like this one that is all about God? How can all that energy be put into a show about our relationship about God? Maybe a show that has it's contestants trying to out beat the other with what God has done in their life? What would that show look like? Would millions watch it, call in and vote for Gods goodness? Would thousands try to get onto it? What would the judges look like-be like?

Who should American's idol be?

Humm....so what are your thoughts?

Energize for God!


His Maidservant~Pamela

My verse of prayer for YOU this week...

When Joe and I got married almost four years ago we had both come out of a messy, mired-filled pit, broken but changed (Ps. 40:1-3). At our wedding reception we laid out little 2X3 cards at each place setting which we had purchased from Abbey Press. The poem served as a testament of where we had been and how we could possibly be blessed in where we were going....

HANG IT ON THE CROSS

If you have a secret sorrow,

A burden or a loss,

An aching need for healing...

Hang it on the cross.

If worry steals your sleep,

And makes you turn and toss

If your heart is feeling heavy...

Hang it on the cross

Every obstacle to faith,

Or doubt you come across,

Every prayer unanswered.....

Hang it on the cross

For Christ has borne our brokenness

And dearly paid the cost

To turn our trials to triumph...

Hanging on the cross.

~Lisa O. Engelhardt

This card is now on my bulletin board in my office at the college and I was again drawn to it after reading a comment from a fellow blogger (forgive me I forget where) last week referencing Beth Moore from her Bible study group. She quoted Beth with this statement:

"You can not amputate your history from your destiny...allow it to complete it's purpose".

Both this poem and statement is like a fine piece of chocolate wouldn't you say? I feel someone out there needs to read these words this week. Savor it. Indulge in it's thoughts. Let it carry you into this new week!


This week the verse I am praying for all you blogger friends is from Hebrews 12:1-3 (NLT)...

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.

but for more insight, read it in The Message version:

Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

I pray Lord, for each of my friends in this blog ministry Lord. I pray that she will press on in her testimony of grace. I pray she will be free of any strongholds that are preventing her from the purity of Your presences in her day. I pray my friend (your name) will be focused on You Jesus in this week. I pray most of all she will be You to others, especially those who do not know You personally. I pray that no matter what my sweet blogger friends have endured or are about to endure this week, that you Lord, will be their strength, that you will carry them when they need to be carried, hold them when they need comforted, and walk or run beside them in this race of life! I pray that each friend fulfills Your purpose and plans in this week. Bless my blogger friends Lord. Amen.


Have a sweet week!! Be blessed!!


His Maidservant~Pamela

What kind of passion burns inside you?

I do not mean to offend but...



You know the story of Jesus in the temple when He showed His righteous anger at what had been occurring in His Father's house-right? You find the story in John 2. In reviewing it I paused to reflect on our own churches. How many out there fit the "cookie-cutter-model"? You know...the same kind of congregation, maybe with the same required dress code, maybe even very similar types of worship styles to the same God on Sunday mornings but with a people so very different or should I say indifferent to each other? Judgemental? Legalistic? Maybe even controlling?

If Jesus walked into your church today...what would He see? What would He hear? What would He experience?


Mark Batterson in his book "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy day" encourages Christians to live more foolishly and with a child-like faith. Has your "caution-alert" siren just gone off? Hang in there with me...



Sometimes being "foolish" in the worlds eyes is just the opposite in God's. Look at David when he danced over the return of the Ark of the Covenant to it's rightful place. His wife found him to be foolish, God called him a man after His own heart. What about Noah and that ark? People laughed at him and called him crazy-they later drowned. Or Sarah pregnant in her 90's? Imagine the talk. What about the wise men following a star, or a man hanging on a cross for the sin of others? All things the world would see as foolish but God sees as faith. "A childlike faith that believes in limitless possibilities" as pen by pastor Batterson. That's the kind of faith I want.

I know you have read and heard John 2:16&17 multiples times but read it in the New Living Translation:

Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!”
Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: “Passion for God’s house will consume me.”

Yes. Powerful, deep words. For you see, God's house is not limited to the building we call church. God's house is each and every believer. We each represent a brick that builds His house. We each are vital to His kingdom work. We may claim a different faith denomination but we claim the same God. We may serve in different capacities but we are laborers for the completion of His house.


Do you want to see this project complete? I do and the only way it is going to happen is if we allow a passion for God's house to consume us. Then we follow His lead in His kingdom work. Serve. Minister. Introduce Jesus to others. Live foolishly out of a compassion for the one who hung on that cross and has given you more grace and mercy then you deserve.

Be passionate for God's house friend-foolishly passionate.

Jeremiah 23:18 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

For who has stood in the council of the LORD to see and hear His word? Who has paid attention to His word and obeyed?

His Maidservant~Pamela


P.S.
I wrote this post last weekend and have been mauling over it all week. Then later in the week I came across a similar topic to what God laid on my heart here at "At the Well...In Pursuit of Titus 2". I encourage you to go visit if you have not been there already.

ABC's of the Word

Hey Ladies! I am new to this but is seems like so much fun! Forgive me if I do not do this completly right. Pam at Grey Like Snuffie is the host of "ABC's of the Word" every Thursday. This week we are to find a verse with an "A" word.

In my personal Bible study I am doing by Beth Moore, Believing God, I read this verse last night while waiting for the girls at gymnastics:

Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do AMAZING things among you." ~ Joshua 3:5

Listen to the Beth Moore version:

"If you set yourself APART to me, I will distinguish Myself to you in ways more wonderful and miraculous than you have ever imagined."

Gotta love the message for us today from this piece of scripture--amazing--apart--two totally separate and different words give us such a powerful message of what we can count on from God when we do our part. I so want to see Him and hear Him and to know Him-don't you?!?!?!?

Blessings!

His Maidservant~Pamela

YOU ARE CALLED

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. ~1 Peter 3:8&9

YOU ARE CALLED. These three words are so powerful. YOU ARE CALLED. Soak it in. Believe it. YOU ARE CALLED. When it becomes truth for you, live it.

YOU ARE CALLED to live in harmony with those around you. YOU ARE CALLED to be sympathetic, to love, and to be compassionate to those who cross your path this week. YOU ARE CALLED to live humbly, to be humble in your actions. And here is the tough one...YOU ARE CALLED to be kind even when you have been wronged.."do not repay evil with evil, insult with insult".

YOU ARE CALLED.

As I was looking for verses to pray over each of my family members this week and a verse for my blog family (that is you!), this one, for God's reason which I don't fully understand at this point, this verse He has chosen for me to pray over you this week. No matter what lies ahead-in the good and in the bad-remember YOU ARE CALLED to live out all these things. Be a blessing this week friend.

You are indeed a blessing to me.

His Maidservant~Pamela

Do not grow weary....

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ~ Matt. 11:28

Something has been weighing heavily on my heart. I bring it to my blog in hopes that you will take the time to pray in this for me. I believe the greatest thing we can do for each other is to pray for each other.

Our women's ministry in my church is void of anything. I cherish the friendships and spiritual connections I have developed here in blog land. I cherish the sharing of the spiritual, the sharing of our hearts, mind and soul. Several years ago, God laid it on my heart to be involved in the women's ministry. My husband is on the church leadership team (called deacons or elders in other congregations). It seemed only fitting from a female perspective, this wife should follow suit.

My heart is ecstatic over what I have found in my God throughout the years. I don't want to keep it in. I want to share it. I want other women to be as motivated and excited about this relationship with our Heavenly Father as I am. But this ministry seems dead. There are some wonderful godly women in our church and yet...they are only in the pews. There is no Titus 2 ministry occurring. If we host a women's Bible study, maybe five will attend (we average around 250 in services each Sunday). My heart is trying to grow weary.

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. ~ Isaiah 40:29

So I continue to seek His face in this. The longing in my heart for this ministry will not go away. Some days I wish it would. I have to and will continue to prod forth. God has a plan. I must seek it out. This journey He has taken me on, carried me through, has grown in my heart such a profound desire to lead others to Him. Despite the resistance I may experience along the way, I am determined not to be overcome by the weariness that tries to knock at my life's door.

The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. ~ Isaiah 50:4

Pray for this ministry and my leadership of it. I felt God instruct me that it is time to extend out of our church walls with this ministry. A few of the ladies agreed. So the women's ministry team (which is only about two of us now) will be hosting Beth Moore's Esther Bible study as a community Bible study. We have opened two session, one in the evening and one during the day to be flexible and not during typical "church times". As of last week, only five church ladies had signed up. The advertisement for this study went out in the local paper Wednesday and will continue throughout this month. Pray God will send the right women from our community and church to this. Pray for growth. Pray that He will also send me another partner who is just as called, just as excited about sharing God to others.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ~ Galatians 6:9

There are a lot of people out there that need to know our Lord like we do. We are His missionaries, His light in this cold dark world, his maidservant to complete His kingdom work. There is a harvest out there and we need to be busy in it.

I cherish your prayers my friends.

His Maidservant~Pamela

Having A Bad Day

I'm having a bad day. I should have known better when I journaled "Lord, make me a loving considerate, and compassionate wife and mother". I lost it with my 9-year old when she started crying over her clothes this morning. Grief. She is the kind of kid that couldn't wear socks with a seam when she was younger and now she only will wear sweats or shorts because "jeans bother her legs"? WHAT? What girl does not like a pair of good fitting jeans? Old Navy has been good to us over the years but when she enters middle school I fear for her fashion sense. And God forbid if we buy her a shirt with long sleeves-"too tight on my arms". She is this dainty little thing...nothing is too tight! But I love her. I failed her again this morning (I prayed for God's forgiveness already).

Then I went to pick up my Beth Moore Esther order at the Lifeway store on a local college campus. They were at chapel so I had to wait. Made some errands to buy valentine gifts....found nothing.

Went to a local hospital to show a new clinical instructor around and the educator seemed to attack anything I would say. She is new there and to us. I finally just clammed up. I asked the new clinical instructor if I had said something wrong and he was clueless as to what I could have said to get the reactions we did from this person. So I pray for her. Who knows what is gong on in her life.

Then to end it all...Go to my daughters last game of the season that she is cheering at to find out her coach BENCHED HER!! She and another cheerleader went to sonic after practice and before the game. They got back 10 minutes late (Emma says she misunderstood the time they were to be back). The coach wouldn't let them (or the other girls they bought for) eat their food and told them to practice some more before the game. Not only did she have to sit out for the first half but she and her friend was not allowed to cheer on the floor between the third and forth quarter. My daughter is the one that does the cartwheels and is thrown up in the pyramid. NOPE. BENCHED. Just a bit dramatic (and the coach is related to my daughters dad-where is the family support???). Grief. Suppose I need to pray for her too but I don't want to.

I feel like a gremlin is inside waiting to explode out (and not the cute kind). WHY? I don't like feeling this way. God has been so good. I have been memorizing my scripture. I have been trying to live honorably and just. Then today I have been hit with nothing but negativity. And now I have a headache!

So I pray. There is somehow peace when I pray... is that so like our Lord?

A co-worker stated there is some things she just doesn't pray for herself because of how she gets hit with it later (like my prayer for myself this morning-instant failure). She said she instead will ask her friends to pray those things for her. Will you friend? Pray I will be loving, considerate, and compassionate wife and mother. Pray this negativity will not win out and steal the joy God has been giving me.

May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. ~ Psalm 141:2

Yes...our prayers for those who cause us grief and our prayer for those we love are an incense to our Lord. It pleases Him.

So I continue to pray. What else am I to do?

His Maidservant~Pamela

Live an Active Faith!

Hello Friends! How did last week go? Did you experience God in the unexpected? Was He in the uncertainties of your life? Did you experience any of those God-ordained moments I have talked about in previous post?


As I sit and try to reflect back on last week and where I saw God I feel blinded. My mind does not allow me to remember well. I know I missed God in some things. Our pastor is encouraging us to stop every hour we are awake to reflect on God and thank Him or Praise Him. It really should not be too much to ask of us considering all God has done for us. Right?


So what might we encounter as we walk through this door into a new week? What adventure awaits us? Is satan on the other side of this door waiting to attack? Have you prepared your heart and mind for that? What is God calling you to do for Him in this new week? How might you grow your faith and lose a little more of the unwanted things in your life?


This week I want to challenge you to continue to look for those God-ordained moments. May you be encouraged in this by John 15: 16&17 (NIV):

You did not choose Me, but I chose you. I appointed you that you should go out and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. This is what I command you: love one another.

God chose you. He picked you for His team. Now play to win this week! Produce fruit-take on the challenge God has set before you to demonstrate Him in your life. Live out your faith in love, not just for your answered prayers but so that you can honor Christ with your life. I challenge you to remember God every hour!

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. ~ Micah 6:8(NIV)

I'm saying it again-this week make your faith active. Act justly (honestly, fairly). Show a little mercy (compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender), and walk humbly (marked by meekness or modesty in behavior, attitude, or spirit; not arrogant or prideful).


How appropriate that with these thoughts ahead of me for this week, I find my my chosen memory scripture in next Sunday's scripture for our adult Sunday school class....

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ~ 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)

But it's the Message version that really speaks volumes:

But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.

I will pray this scripture not only for my life this week but for yours also-that you will remember God each hour and live your faith!!


His Maidservant~Pamela