GO LIGHT YOUR WORLD... SUNDAY IN THE SON

Go Light Your World

There is a candle in every soul
Some brightly burning, some dark and cold
There is a Spirit who brings fire
Ignites a candle and makes His home

Carry your candle, run to the darkness
Seek out the hopeless, confused and torn
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world
Take your candle, and go light your world

Frustrated brother, see how he's tried to
Light his own candle some other way
See now your sister, she's been robbed and lied to
Still holds a candle without a flame

Carry your candle, run to the darkness
Seek out the lonely, the tired and worn
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world
Take your candle, and go light your world

We are a family whose hearts are blazing
So let's raise our candles and light up the sky
Praying to our Father, in the name of Jesus
Make us a beacon in darkest times

Carry your candle, run to the darkness
Seek out the helpless, deceived and poor
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world

Carry your candle, run to the darkness
Seek out the hopeless, confused and torn
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world
Take your candle, and go light your world

~Oh, the JOY~

HOW BEAUTIFUL... WOMEN IN THE WORD WEDNESDAY....

2 John 1:4-6


 ⁴ "It has given me great JOY to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. ⁵ And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. ⁶ And this is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands. As you have heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in love."

LOVE J esus

LOVE O thers

LOVE Y ourself

~Oh, the JOY~

HOW BEAUTIFUL... GRATITUESDAY...

I am so

thankful

for the beautiful BODY OF CHRIST! 

God's design is for the church to be a group of faithful, loving believers led by their HEAD, JESUS CHRIST,

with THE MIND OF CHRIST! 

Jesus' church is to have elders appointed in each local congregation.  These elders are to be shepherds, overseers of "the flock", and pastors.  We have had 6 elders in our local church family and this Sunday we added 2 more.

To be an elder, you must have a spiritual and supportive wife.  This is so evident with all 8 couples.  Above are 2 transformed moms and their husbands (the new elders) receiving THE BLESSING from the initial 6 elders.

Afterwards, Steve gave Dave and Mike THE CHARGE of their new responsibilities:

Then, they turned to face their church family,

as we read words together of our committment to them. They were AFFIRMED.   

Elders and elders wives? 

Dedicated to loving the LORD by loving His children.

HOW BEAUTIFUL!!!

Love J esus

Love Others

..Love Yourself

~Oh, the JOY~

HOW BEAUTIFUL... MEDITATION MONDAY...

2 Corinthians 4:6-8

^"For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair..."

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Yesterday, I saw men stand before our congregation being appointed as elders.  Their wives stood with them.

Yesterday, I heard these men say that they were flawed individuals who stood before us by the grace of God.

Yesterday, I was once again reminded that God shines through jars of clay ("cracked pots") to illuminate the darkness for His glory.

Yesterday, I heard story after story of God's love in the lives of these two men and their wives.

HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THE BODY OF CHRIST!

Love J esus

Love O thers

Love Y ourself

~Oh, the JOY~

HOW BEAUTIFUL... SUNDAY IN THE SON...

HOW BEAUTIFUL

as sung by Twila Paris

How Beautiful the hands that served
The Wine and the Bread and the sons of the earth
How beautiful the feet that walked
The long dusty roads and the hill to the cross
How Beautiful, how beautiful,

how beautiful is the body of Christ

How Beautiful the heart that bled
That took all my sin and bore it instead
How beautiful the tender eyes
That choose to forgive and never despise
How beautiful, how beautiful,

how beautiful is the body of Christ

And as He lay down His life
We offer this sacrifice
That we will live just as He died
Willing to pay the price
Willing to pay the price

How Beautiful the radiant bride
Who waits for her Groom with His light in her eyes
How Beautiful when humble hearts give
The fruit of pure lives so that others may live
How beautiful, how beautiful,

how beautiful is the body of Christ.

How beautiful the feet that bring
The sound of good news and the love of the King
How Beautiful the hands that serve
The wine and the bread and the sons of the Earth
How Beautiful, how beautiful,

how beautiful is the body of Christ.

~Oh, the JOY~

THE BLESSING... FAMILY FELLOWSHIP FRIDAY...

There are books that focus on giving BLESSING to God, yourself, to your family, and to others.  THE BLESSING, by Gary Smalley and John Trent is a very popular book that I read years ago.  It will quite probably open your eyes to many new things that you have not contemplated before.

Another one that has become a huge blessing to so many may not have been specifically written for the purpose of teaching blessing.  It is titled WHO I AM IN CHRIST by Neil Anderson.  When the reader works through the process of this book, she is more ready to bless God, herself, and others.  Some fellow mothers and I have committed to read this book this month.   It has 38 chapters broken into 3 parts:

PART ONE:  OUR ACCEPTANCE IN CHRIST
PART TWO:  OUR SECURITY IN CHRIST
PART THREE:  OUR SIGNIFICANCE IN CHRIST

What a blessing it is to your family when you, as wife and mother, understand deeply who you are in Christ.

Just this week, after learning about how GOD BLESSES, in our Sunday morning Bible class, a couple from church went to a Michael W. Smith concert.  They were very encouraged that he ended His concert by giving his audience THE BLESSING.  They brought us Michael W. Smith's book entitled, THE SIMPLE BLESSING. 

Here is a YouTube video of Michael "giving a blessing" to a christian school at the end of his chapel talk.
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LOVE J esus!            BLESS J esus!

LOVE O thers!        BLESS O thers!

LOVE Y ourself!      BLESS Y ourself!

~Oh, the JOY!~

THE BLESSING... TRANSFORMING THURSDAY...

It takes great COURAGE to walk the walk of Jesus Christ. 
Steve and I are teaching a parenting class entitled, HOW GOD DOES FAMILY.  Each week we take a principle from scripture and expound on it. This week the principle is:

GOD BLESSES!

We discussed that we have a choice each day to be: A BLESSING OR A CURSE. Yes, the choice is ours. 
There are many ways to BLESS our families. One of those ways we've been talking about on this blog. Love your family enough to be patient and...

• kind... What a BLESSING kind words can be!
• keep no record of wrongs... Instead, spend your time keeping of record of what's right about your child/spouse.

Yet, what do words of BLESSING look like? We want to point out not just what a person does, but enCOURAGE "who he/she is". I modeled how I have done that with Steve and our children:

• Steve, Jesus is THE COUNSELOR and WISDOM... I see Jesus in you, in those ways!
• J, Jesus is THE LION / LAMB and HEALER... I see Jesus in you, in those ways.
• J, Jesus is THE ROCK and IMMANUEL... I see Jesus in you, in those ways.
• C, Jesus is THE CREATOR and WORD... I see Jesus in you, in those ways.
• C, Jesus is THE FOUNTAIN and GOOD SHEPHERD... I see Jesus in you, in those ways.

You can do the same for your family via pointing out names or characteristics of Jesus that they remind you of.  In addition, how about giving a BLESSING to each one as you see in them parts of the fruit of the HOLY SPIRIT?  Say things like:

• The JOY of the Holy Spirit flows out of you to BLESS others.
• The Holy Spirit LOVES through you in a great way.
• Your life exudes the Holy Spirit's PEACE that passes understanding.
• Your FAITH is so enCOURAGING to me, as I watch you being led by the Holy Spirit.

Let God mold you today into a woman of COURAGE who BLESSES others with her tongue.

~Oh, the JOY~