We know that Abraham was a man of faith. He was a man that God loved and gave the promise of the covenant. He was a man given a land and told that all the families of the earth would be blessed because of him.
This is some promise!
But we also see fear as a part of his life. He was a mixed bag of fear and faith, courage and cowering, trepidation and triumph. We see him as a very REAL human, someone with whom we can identify in the midst our own struggles and failings.
I’ve been reading through the scriptures chronologically. I have read through the bible many times in my life but I’ve always wanted to do it in the chronology in which it happened. So I’m doing it now.
As I was reading today about Abram’s (his name hadn’t been changed yet) call from Ur, I was struck again by his fear of man in regards to his wife. Sarai was a very beautiful woman. To the point that Abram was convinced (and rightly so) that others would want her for their wives. As they enter Egypt, he had Sarai say she was his sister and not his wife. His thinking is that this way, he would be treated well and not be killed in order to get a husband out of the way.
Here is a man who has ALREADY been told by God that his descendants would become a great nation but still he was afraid that he would be killed. Did he forget God’s promise? Did he think God so impotent that He couldn’t protect him? Did he think so little of his wife and HER protection that he’d allow her to fall into the hands of those who didn’t trust the Lord God?
But just a short time later, we see him swiftly going out to do battle against kings who had taken Lot captive.
WHAT???
He goes to battle for a nephew who wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place yet allows his wife to be taken into the Pharaoh’s house as a wife to save his skin? This is a man of contradictions!
To be perfectly honest here, I’ve always wanted to slap Abraham!!
But in all of this, God is the One who is faithful.
He was the One who protected Sarai when her husband only thought of himself.
He was the One who protected Lot through all the garbage of Sodom’s sin.
He was the One who fulfilled His promise to Abraham, even when Abraham was faithless.
He was the One who brought reproof on kingdoms for taking Sarai as the king’s wife (more than once).
What does this tell me? Abraham/Abram was flawed. Just like ME! But also, that in all his failings, God saw his heart and his faith, as weak as it might be, and by his faith he was counted righteous. God gives us greater faith but calls us to surrender our lives to Him. He meets us where we are at in our walk of faith – but always calls us further. As the book says, “further up and further in.”
How is YOUR walk of faith today? I confess that many days I feel more like the flawed Abraham than the faith-filled Abraham. But I KNOW that God is working in my puny life for His glory and MY transformation. What a joy to be on this journey of faith with the Lord God Most High!
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I’ve been meditating on prayer these past 11 years (I know, I’m a slow thinker!) and how we so often pray weak, faithless and lifeless prayers. I see 2 different trends in prayer in the church today.
those who think everything they say has to happen, as if words were a magic formula that controls God
those who tack, “if it be Thy will” at the end of every prayer almost as an excuse not to fully believe God can or will work
Unfortunately, I think that both of these views are wrong – although they each have elements of truth mixed in with the falsehood.
Today I’d like to talk just for a bit about the second trend. I was hearing the old hymn “Standing on the Promises” going round and round through my head today. And then I thought:
Do we really? Do we REALLY stand on the promises of God? Does that guide and direct our prayers?
So, I looked up the words to that old song.
Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
Through eternal ages let His praises ring,
Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
Standing on the promises of God.
Refrain:
Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of God my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.
Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.
Standing on the promises I now can see
Perfect, present cleansing in the blood for me;
Standing in the liberty where Christ makes free,
Standing on the promises of God.
Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
Bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord,
Overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword,
Standing on the promises of God.
Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
List’ning every moment to the Spirit’s call,
Resting in my Savior as my all in all,
Standing on the promises of God.
These are pretty powerful words! And I got to pondering about them. In order to stand on His promises, we have to KNOW what they are. We cannot just make them up ourselves. We need to know His Word. We need to have it filling our hearts and minds and spirits. We need to have it wash over us with cleansing power and newness of life. Without that, we are just living a powerless life of hoping rather than faith.
I don’t know about you, but I DO NOT want to live a life of spiritual impotence.
I want my prayers to have power in the heavenly places. I want the Spirit to infuse my prayer with His mind and His purpose. I want to pray in submission to His will, not just tack a token quote at the end of my prayers. I want to enter into the presence of the Holy Father when I pray.
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How many times do we hear ourselves saying, “I can’t do anything. All I can do is pray?” I remember a day about 22 years ago when the Lord slapped me upside the head when I said that!
I don’t have a lot to say, well, I do but I’m not going to say it today. I want to share this song and encourage each of us to meditate on the words. I’m sure you are very familiar with it, but really listen to the words, and let them wash over your soul with the power of prayer!
Are you spending time on your knees today? Are you walking in the power that He makes available as you draw near to Him in prayer?If you are not, then maybe it’s time!
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Are you a parent struggling with your teen not wanting to go to church? Do you see your children rejecting church, and perhaps even God, as they go off to college or jobs? Why does this happen? We try to raise them to love the Lord. But our hearts are filled with guilt and shame as we try to hide the deepest fear of our hearts: our children seem to be completely rejecting God.
Why does this happen? There are many reasons but I’d like to hit on 5.
Reason #1 – They are not really saved.
“But,” you say, “my children prayed the prayer! They walked down the aisle. They’ve GOT to be saved!” If only that were true. The reality is that praying the prayer and walking the aisle have nothing to do with salvation. Salvation is based on repentance and trust:
repentance (the word means to change your mind) is when we have changed our mind about our lives and what is right and what is wrong
trust in the finished work of Jesus on the cross and surrendering to that sacrifice on our behalf
Continuing to live our lives for our own pleasure does not make someone unsaved, but it is a sign of what is in their hearts. A life surrendered to the will of God (NOT to be confused with a set of Dos and Don’ts) is part of the fruit God works in our lives when we trust in Jesus.
“So then, you will know them by their fruits. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.” Matt 7:20-21
Reason #2 – They were discouraged from expressing their doubts.
In many churches in our country (and in many families) there is a taboo when it comes to asking questions – particularly questions that speak to doubts about God’s Word. Let’s be real: SCRIPTUREIS OFTEN CONFUSING!!! There are so many things in the bible that I don’t understand. And, if I’m being honest, there are a number of things that I don’t really like. Why should my child be different?
Has your child asked questions that were ‘poo-pooed’? Either by you or your pastor? Have their heart-felt doubts been treated with shame? Has their faith been questioned simply because they weren’t always convinced?
What we don’t realize is that just because WE can’t answer their questions doesn’t mean GOD can’t! Or even more, that He doesn’t actually delight in their questions. God is big enough for every question we have. When we encourage our children (and teach them how) to take their real questions to the Lord and to His Word, they begin to see that God really cares about their fears or doubts. We need to do all we can to bring our children to the foot of the cross and let His Spirit speak to the deepest needs of their hearts with hope and faith.
Reason #3 - They are in unrepentant sin.
When we continue to harbor unrepentance in our hearts, it begins to have a long term affect on us. Look at Cain! He was confronted by God, both before and after Abel’s murder. God gave him a chance to confess his sin and repent – to change his mind. But he did not. He walked right into that sin and killed his brother. Even afterward, there was no repentance that we see in scripture – just Cain justifying his actions with a hardened heart. Then he walked away from God.
Is there unrepentant sin in your teens life? Again, this comes down to the conviction of the Spirit in their lives, but something that you can be praying (and fasting) about!
BUT let me say this; there is a difference between struggles with sin and unrepentant sin. Someone who struggles knows it’s wrong, agrees that it’s wrong but has a hard time learning how to walk in victory. Someone in unrepentant sin knows it’s wrong and just doesn’t care. They are surrendered to their own desires and (sometimes almost gleefully) jump into the sin without any regret.
Reason #4 – They have never been taught what the victorious life means.
It is so disheartening to live with a desire to follow God only to continue to fail. When our children are not taught how to see God’s work in our lives, His hope through the Word and His power by the Spirit, this disheartening turns to discouragement and then to despair and finally to rejection.
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is a tree of life. Prov 13:12
Are your teens living heartsick in their struggles with sin? Are you working to give them tools to gain victory? I don’t mean, “Don’t do that. It’s sin.” That might be fine if they are 2, but not when they are 14. They need practical help, they need encouragement from the Word, they need us to come alongside them and bring courage to their hearts. Are you helping them see that God’s sanctifying work in their lives actually DOES change them?
When we don’t teach them to see the work of the Spirit in their lives, guilt begins to reign supreme in their hearts and minds. This is a tool of the enemy that will devour their hearts, pushing them do whatever they have to do to stop the guilt. And this might very well mean they leave the church as soon as they are able.
Reason #5 – We are living a lie as their parents.
Nothing turns our children away from the church (and maybe even from God) faster than hypocrisy. Do we live one life at church and another at home? Do we put on our Christian Mask of being all holy and use spiritual language when we are around believers and then become Mr. Hyde when we are with our children? Are WE teaching them to live a lie by our example?
If this is where we are living, then it is no wonder that our children would RUN from what we claim is a good thing. They’ve not seen God’s goodness lived out in our lives and they reject the words we say because they reject the life we live.
This needs a powerful change in OUR hearts. Repentance, confession and surrender.
We need to repent of our hypocrisy to the Lord.
We need to confess our sin to our children and ask for their forgiveness.
We need to surrender our lives fully to the Lord and lean on His Spirit to guide our lives.
None of this means that we can change our children’s lives. God is still sovereign and still gives them choice. They still have to live their lives before the Lord. BUT we can do everything in OUR power to make sure we are not the stumbling block our children’s lives and relationship with God.
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This week I saw a video online (you’ve probably seen it too) but I’d like to post it here.
I loved this video. It actually shows a deep spiritual truth that we seldom think about:
Who is setting your image?
Self-image has been a catch phrase for several decades now. Christians often balk at the concept, but the reality is that each of us have an image of ourselves. And it is almost always wrong!
These women described an image of themselves to an artist and he drew what they described. And then others described that person to the artist with a markedly different viewpoint of their beauty. Why is that?
Well, on a spiritual level, we very often get our image from what we consider valuable. We compare ourselves to others around us that WE deem beautiful or lovely or valuable. And we either pump ourselves up in vanity and pride to come out looking better than who we see around us or we degrade ourselves (also in pride, a negative sort of pride) to come out looking worse than those we see around us.
Other times we get our image from the voices we hear in our heads. The are usually not the voices we need to be listening to.
We hear those criticisms from our mothers back when we were 5 years old.
We believe the mean words of junior high girls from 20 years ago.
We remember every negative thing, listen to the whispers of the enemy of our flaws and failings and weaknesses, focus on every attribute of ours that comes short of our image of perfection.
In all of this, we forget one simple and very basic truth for the saint.
We have been re-created in the image of JESUS!
Most of the time we do NOT live in this truth. If we did, we’d be living in victory and joy. Instead, we find ourselves dwelling in defeat and despair. It’s because we are visualizing an image of ourselves that is false. And, of course, we listen to the lies of the enemy set to demoralize us and help us live in a lie.
BUT…
We are new creatures in Christ!
We have been made anew in the image of the Son of God.
We have been redeemed.
We are no longer the unworthy sinner.
We are now a child of the King, heir to His Kingdom, joint-heirs with Jesus, washed in His blood!
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete… Col 2:8-10a
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Col 3:1-4
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Cor 5:17
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’ Rev 2:17
Who are YOU allowing to define your image? Are you beholding the beauty of the Living God in your countenance? If not, it is time for an Extreme Make-over by the Creator of the Universe!
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I started reading through the bible chronologically this month. I’ve always wanted to do this method and never have. It’s been fun and I can’t remember the last time I read through Job.
We all know the story. Job is a righteous man but Satan is determined to prove that anyone under serious trials will reject God. God gives the ‘go ahead’ but sets boundaries on Satan’s work in Job’s life. Job’s wife, good support that she is, encourages him to “curse God and die”. He rejects that plan and accepts what God allows. Then 3 of his friends come and sit with him for 7 days and nights without speaking. So far, so good.
Over the next many chapters, we see back and forth dialogue of Job and his friends. He is wishing he’d never been born and declaring his faultlessness, they are convinced he has sinned grievously and is being punished by God.
When I was a young believer, Job really bothered me. I’d read what his friends were saying and they were right. I’d read what Job was saying and HE was right. But how could they BOTH be right if they were claiming different things?
So, like any good student of the Word, I set it aside and wouldn’t think about it.
Of course it’s not so complicated. Yes, BOTH sides had things they were saying that were correct. The problem was in neither side really KNOWING who they were speaking to or about.
The 3 friends didn’t have a clue who Job really was. They didn’t take the time to listen when he started to talk. They saw their opportunity to share what THEY thought and not what was specific to the needs of the moment and the man.
Job wasn’t so hot either! He was impugning the character of God! He was saying that God had no right to bring all this calamity on his life since he (Job) was a righteous man.
Yes, God judges the wicked. Yes, Job was righteous. But there was more to the story.
How many times do we jump in to speak our peace without stopping to consider WHO we are speaking to? Are we quick to quote scripture before determining if the scripture actually speaks to the true need of the person? Are we quick to lay aside the truth that God is God and He can do what He wants and is STILL righteous (no matter how we see things)? My lesson from this is to be more like the challenge in James 1:19
This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger…
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Have you ever just wanted to teach a bible study? Your heart is bursting to share the Word with others but teaching isn’t your spiritual gift. What do you do? Are you stuck just not ministering in areas that are not your gift?
I’m here to tell you: that’s NOT how the gifts of The Spirit work!
His gifts were not given to us to LIMIT our ministry. They were given to us to EMPOWER our ministry!
Let’s look at 3 different saints and how they use their unique gifts for God’s glory and for the body of Christ, all through teaching.
Tom might have a gift of administration
Betsy might have a gift of pastor (yes, women can have the spiritual gift of pastor)
Allen might have the gift of mercy
Every single person listed here can do ANY kind of ministry they want. That’s right, ANY kind! Then what do spiritual gifts have to do with anything, you might ask. Well, our spiritual gifts will anoint HOW we minister.
Tom might let his gift bring order and clarity to his teaching. He might have regular handouts for his classes. He might link you up as partners to encourage and help one another. He might have your studies on Powerpoint for greater visual clarity. He will teach the Word using his gift to organize and lay things out and delegate. And every one in his class will gain from his using his gift. They will actually be strengthened in this area of administration as they sit under Tom’s teaching.
Betsy will be a shepherd in her teaching. She will make sure that individuals are not getting lost in the shuffle. Her students will feel loved and cared for in her class. They will learn, from watching her, a greater focus on caring for one another’s needs – to bear one another’s burdens and every one in the class will be strengthened in the area of shepherding one another as they sit under Betsy’s teaching.
Allen may use his gift to stretch the class to reach out to the hurting. His class may do more service from their study of the Word. They may focus on the downtrodden, the rejected, they may focus more on being the hands and feet of Jesus – to actually live out in a practical way – the teachings of the scriptures. And every one in his class will be stretched and encouraged in their vision to reach out to the hurting as they sit under Allen’s teaching.
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 1 Cor 12:4-7
Don’t let anyone hold you back in ministering in any way. But manifest the Spirit’s gift to you in strength and in power as you strengthen the body of Christ!
Download my FREE ebook on learning to study the Word so that you can teach others.
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My very dear friend, Terri Groh, has written a beautiful devotional book called Words of Encouragement for a Discouraged World. She has 52 weekly devotionals that encourage you to spend time in the Word and to look at your life from the eyes of faith, and with a heart to hear God’s voice.
I have been so blessed to know Terri (online) for many years. She is real, she is honest, she doesn’t sugar-coat her life. Her passion and love for others is at the core of her writing and evidenced in her life of ministry with her husband and children. I know this book is supposed to take you through the course of a year, but I wanted to read some of it to review, and couldn’t put it down. I through it in just a few sittings and I was EXCEEDINGLY blessed! Her writing is easy to follow but, with gentle prodding, we are encouraged to check our hearts and our focus to make sure we are centered on God.
This isn’t a deep daily bible study. It won’t take you hours of homework every week. Sometimes our lives have time for those. Sometimes we can barely get time to read more than a verse in a day. This is a wonderful book to bring encouragement to the real issues of your life, to take those few minutes to re-orient your heart back to the Giver of hope and joy.
I strongly encourage everyone to pick up a copy and be blessed all year!
Terri A. Groh has a B.A. in Psychology from Nyack College and also attended the Alliance Theological Seminary, working on her Master’s of Divinity. She has been married to her husband, Dan, for 24 years, and is mother to three children, Nathan, Stephen and Emily. She ministers alongside her ordained husband in a church about 70 miles north of New York City. Terri also tutors children with reading difficulties, specializing in the Orton-Gillingham Multisensory method. She has a craft business and loves to read, sew, cook, and write in her spare time. You can read more at Terri’s website, www.terrigroh.com.
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What does this phrase mean, “one accord”? Let’s look at some verses and do a bit of digging into the Greek, shall we?
These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. Acts 1:14
Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart… Acts 2:46
And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, “O Lord, it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM… Acts 4:24
At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico. Acts 5:12
The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. Acts 8:6
… seemed good to us, having become of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul… Acts 15:25
… so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Rom 15:6
I haven’t listed all the 11 places where this same word is used, but I think you get the idea. The Greek word here is homothymadon and is translated (in the NASB): with one accord, of/with one mind, with one impulse. Now, I am NOT a Greek scholar but my short study of the word gives an insight that I think is important.
You’d think we don’t, but we do. We love to keep them and we love to break them. We love having everyone on the same playing field; everything equal and fair. All the same. This is uniformity.
A cursory look at this word (and these verses) might leave one with the idea that homothymadon means every one the same. All with the same idea and thought. Identical. But it doesn’t. Not exactly. It really seems that a closer understanding of the word would be harmonious.
When I think of harmonious, I think of music. My family is a musical family (none of which comes from me). I love listening to them sing and play. Different ones will work within the melody and come up with notes and beats that are different but fit well within the beauty of the piece. In fact, the harmonies added make the melody all the more lovely and rich. Different sounds, different actions, even different beats but all with the same purpose, the same mind, the same accord for the entire piece. This is unity.
Wow! This opened up a whole new imagery for me with the saints!
But doesn’t this sound familiar from someplace else?
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.
And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.
There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.
But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 1 Cor 12:4-7
Even in the body of Christ, God has worked His harmony within the unity of the Spirit! We all have different roles to play, different gifts, different ministries, and even different effects. But all by the same Spirit. All in one accord, one mind, one passion, one purpose.
God didn’t create us to be Stepford Wives living like clones of one another. He created us each different and unique to express His glory.
He creates us for unity NOT uniformity!
How can we live out the uniqueness of our creation while still building the unity (one accord) of His body? How can we work to express the harmony of the saints together with all the heavenly host to be of one accord for Jesus?
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Have you ever noticed how hectic our lives are in today’s society? If our children go to school, they are up before 6 (and us along with them), race to get ready, race to prepare breakfast and lunch for them to take, race to get them either on the bus or dropped off at school. Even if we homeschool, we are up and get breakfast and get busy with schooling, then lunch, doing laundry while grading, getting the house cleaned after an afternoon of crafts and/or school projects, then supper and evening events.
Work hours are long, more and more companies are requiring mandatory overtime. Sometimes long drives to and from work/school. My husband teaches at a college and teaches evening classes and grades, what seems like, all the time. Our children have sports, church, ministry things they are involved with, and we are not even a big sports family. Plus our own church ministry. We are on the go all the time.
What is margin anyway and why do we need it?
According to Webster’s it is:
The part of a page at the edge left uncovered in writing or printing.
Something allowed, or reserved, for that which can not be foreseen or known with certainty.
When I was in school, all my coursework was hand written on lined paper. We had to keep a certain amount of margin on both edges of the page. This allowed a few things. It gave us space if we had to write a word so we wouldn’t go off the page, and it gave space for the teacher to write their comments or corrections for us to address.
In other words, the margin was a bit of leeway on each page to give breathing room so we didn’t run off the page into oblivion.
How often do we allow margin in our lives today? Are we involved in so many things that, if anything goes wrong, our lives “run off the page”? Do we give ourselves some breathing space in case things get too hectic or do we max out the commitments we have in our days?
Years ago the woman who was involved in overseeing my discipling used to say, “For the believer, the good is the enemy of the best.” That seems, at first glance, to be an odd statement. But if we look a little closer, we see the great wisdom in it.
a bible study is a good thing
being involved in ministry is a good thing
doing play dates for our children is a good thing
mentoring others is a good thing
counseling others is a good thing
taking classes is a good thing
But here comes the point:
If any of these GOOD things are not what God is calling us to be doing, they actually become the ENEMY of the best things God has for us in our lives. If we are spending all of our time, effort and energy on these GOOD things, we do not have the opportunity to do the BEST things God has for us.
And it is all of these good things that generally cause us to live our lives WITHIN the margins of our lives. They sap our strength, our energy, our focus and have nothing left to give to the God ordained responsibilities in our lives.
Have you ever noticed that Jesus would take Himself away to a secluded place, away from the crowds and even His disciples? Jesus knew full well when His life had run into the margin and that He needed to be filled with the peace, rest, refreshment and power from the Father. He knew when He needed to allow His physical body to be given time be filled from on high. He knew the BEST the Father had called Him to and lived right there, not allowing the demands of others to thwart His following the Father’s best.
by: twinmomy_bucket
But so often we forget to take that intense time of fellowship with God. We run on our own strength and fill up the margins of our lives so that we no longer have the time or opportunities to find those secluded places of refreshment and filling. We run out of gas in our engines with no time to fill up – we run our lives on fumes and wonder why we are living without the power of the Spirit.
Please know I am NOT saying that any of the things I’ve mentioned above are bad, or that we shouldn’t be doing them. What I AM saying is that ALL of the things in our lives need to be brought before the Lord. We need to be willing for Him to weed out all the things that are sucking life from us so that we have room for the life-giving things He has for us.
Also remember that this will change as our lives change. When I was a young mom with numerous young children there were few things God opened up for me to be involved in. Just being home to raise and disciple those young children (and then with homeschooling as well) and minister to my husband took most of my energy and focus. Adding bible studies or other ministries would have caused me to live using up all the margin of my life. Now that my children are older, I have more leeway to be involved in things outside the home. As my life responsibilities change, so do the things God opens up for me.
But for each of us, no matter WHAT situation we are in, we need to be sure that we are taking EVERY event, task or ministry before the Lord to see if it is HIS best or just a good thing that keeping us from the calling of God for us. Don’t let your margin get filled up so that when trials come (and they will), you have no space in your life.
Let God design your schedule so that there is opportunity for those times of refreshing, so that you don’t fill up the margin with every day events that will sap you of joy, peace and power of the Lord.
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(image courtesy of Master/
Terri A. Groh has a B.A. in Psychology from Nyack College and also attended the Alliance Theological Seminary, working on her Master’s of Divinity. She has been married to her husband, Dan, for 24 years, and is mother to three children, Nathan, Stephen and Emily. She ministers alongside her ordained husband in a church about 70 miles north of New York City. Terri also tutors children with reading difficulties, specializing in the Orton-Gillingham Multisensory method. She has a craft business and loves to read, sew, cook, and write in her spare time. You can read more at Terri’s website, 
