Monthly Archives: June 2014

The Proverbs

Good Sense

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I am wondering how much good sense I have this morning. This is why.

 People with good sense are slow to anger, and it is their glory to overlook an offense.
via Proverbs 19 KJV;CJB – Better is the poor that walketh in his – Bible Gateway.

See what I mean? 

It makes good sense to be slow to anger. Okay. I get that. I’ve experienced that. I see the folly of fast out bursts of anger spewing words based on feelings and little facts. However, the verse does not end there. 

It is their glory to overlook an offense.  

Whoa!

Is it my glory to overlook an offense?  

My glory? Hmm. Defining glory gives insight. See HERE.

a state of extreme happiness or prosperity

There are other definitions but in my opinion they do not fit the context of this verse.  In my upbringing Glory goes to GOD alone. And rightly so!

My glory – a state of extreme happiness or prosperity (of soul) for me to overlook an offense. 

I can only say amen. ABBA, Your Word is true. And thank You, this helps. 

Overlooking the offense is to my benefit.

I will be remembering this — for practice purposes. :)

Day 170 of 2014, a day to give Thanks.

Kathie

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Proverbs 19 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
1 Better to be poor and live one’s life uprightly than engage in crooked speech, for such a one is a fool.
2 To act without knowing how you function is not good; and if you rush ahead, you will miss your goal.
3 A person’s own folly is what ruins his way, but he rages in his heart against Adonai.
4 Wealth brings in many friends, but the poor man loses the one friend he has.
5 A false witness will not go unpunished; whoever breathes out lies will not escape.
6 Many ask favors of a generous person — to a giver of gifts, everyone is a friend.
7 A poor man’s relatives all hate him; even more his friends stay away from him.
He may pursue them with entreaties, but they aren’t there to be found.
8 To acquire good sense is to love oneself; to treasure discernment is to prosper.
9 A false witness will not go unpunished; whoever breathes out lies will perish.
10 It isn’t fitting for a fool to live in luxury, and even less for a slave to govern princes.
11 People with good sense are slow to anger, and it is their glory to overlook an offense.
12 A king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.
13 A son who is a fool is his father’s ruin, and a nagging wife is like a leak that keeps dripping.
14 A house and wealth are inherited from ancestors, but a sensible wife is from Adonai.
15 Laziness makes people fall asleep, and an idle person will go hungry.
16 He who keeps a mitzvah keeps himself safe, but he who doesn’t care how he lives will die.
17 He who is kind to the poor is lending to Adonai; and he will repay him for his good deed.
18 Discipline your child while there is hope, but don’t get so angry that you kill him!
19 A violent-tempered person will be punished; if you try to save him from it, you make things worse.
20 Listen to advice, and accept discipline, so that in the end you will be wise.
21 One can devise many plans in one’s mind, but Adonai’s plan will prevail.
22 A man’s lust is his shame, and a poor man is better than a liar.
23 The fear of Adonai leads to life; one who has it is satisfied and rests untouched by evil.
24 The lazy person buries his hand in the dish but doesn’t even bother to bring it to his mouth.
25 If you strike a scorner, the simple will learn to act wisely;
if you reprove the intelligent, he will understand what you mean.
26 One who mistreats his father and evicts his mother is a son who brings them shame and disgrace.
27 My son, if you stop heeding discipline, you will stray from the principles of knowledge.
28 A worthless witness mocks at justice, and the mouth of the wicked swallows wrongdoing.
29 Judgments are in store for scorners and blows for the backs of fools.
via Proverbs 19 KJV;CJB – Better is the poor that walketh in his – Bible Gateway.

 

Guests

Introducing HeBrews

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Friends, today I am introducing you to Leah Adams and her new Bible Study HeBrews-Cover1-796x1024which will be released July 1st!  Please enjoy our interview!

  • Leah, I may have readers who have not met you online. What would you like for my readers to know about you?    leah

I am a North Georgia girl who loves Jesus—A LOT. I asked Jesus to come into my heart at the age of 15. Within a few years, I made some horrible moral choices that drew me away from Him. I spent the better part of my 20s walking far from Jesus, and God let me go my own way until I was sick of it. Then, just like the prodigal son’s father, God welcomed me back, and overwhelmed me with a desire for His Word and His presence. He made it clear that nothing I had done, no sin I had committed, changed how He felt about me. God loved me with a ridiculous love. He lavished grace on the heart of His daughter, and ultimately called me into ministry in 2007.

My passion is teaching God’s Word, and He allows me to do that through two avenues: speaking and writing. I have had the privilege of speaking to groups all across the United States. While my signature message is about the legacy we are leaving for the generations that come behind us, the ultimate message is always about the grace, love, acceptance, and mercy that can only be found in Jesus Christ. I love speaking to women of all ages, but my heartbeat is for women under 40 years of age. My hope is that the words God gives me encourage and challenge women to walk intimately with Jesus every single day they walk the dusty sod of earth. I want them to know that Jesus loves them more than they can imagine.

Another area of ministry that the Lord has assigned to my husband and me jointly is ministry to international students who are studying in the US. Over 750,000 students from other countries study in America every year, and the vast majority of them are never in an American home. What a missed opportunity for the church of Jesus Christ to show the love of Jesus to students who might, otherwise, never hear about Him!  Greg and I regularly host international students in our home, and have developed close friendships with many of them. In fact, we have become ‘American parents’ to a delightful young woman from Australia. God brought Bree, Greg, and me together, and she is now very much a part of our family. We love her as if she were our own.

  • What occupies your free time? Hobbies, interests?

I love to read….Christian fiction and biographies are what can be found on my bookshelf, alongside lots of biblical commentaries, Bible translations, and cookbooks. I enjoy cooking, camping in our fifth wheel RV, and spending time with my husband and my girlfriends.

  • What are some items on your bucket list?

I would love to visit Australia, Germany, Hawaii, Alaska, and the Grand Canyon. Speaking gigs in any of those places would make the trip that much sweeter! My husband is a golfer, and we would like to attend the Master’s golf tournament. I sponsor two girls in Tanzania through Compassion International, and visiting them one day is definitely on the list. I would like to write another Bible study, or ten, if the Lord gives me the words. As I said, I love to cook, and attending a weekend Southern Living cooking school would be great fun. A return visit to a hummingbird haven where many different types of hummingbirds are together in one place is on the list. I’m amazed at those little fliers.

  • How did you develop an interest in writing and when did you begin writing seriously?

I have enjoyed writing and public speaking from my junior high school days. I always excelled in English, and term papers were never a drag for me. I know….I’m a geek.

My deep-end dive into writing came in 2002 when my Daddy was diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer. As he progressed through his chemo treatments, I would write a weekly email to family and friends who wanted to keep up with his progress. Each email would close with a few inspirational thoughts that usually included Scripture. After my Daddy graduated to heaven in late 2004, people began asking if I would write a weekly devotion and send it out via email. After a year or so of doing that, over 125 people were receiving each email, but unfortunately, my ISP was deleting the emails as spam. It was at that point that I made the jump to a blog format, where I now offer my writing.

When the Lord called me into ministry in late 2007, I needed something to speak about, and that something was the topic of legacy. For my first speaking engagement, I wrote a 15 minute message about the legacy we, as Christians, are leaving for the generations that come behind us. Eventually that message grew into an hour-long message, and ultimately became the foundation of my first Bible study, From the Trash Pile to the Treasure Chest: Creating a Godly Legacy, which was published in 2010.

  • What is the back story behind HeBrews? What was the impetus for you to write this book?

I began writing HeBrews: A Better Blend purely out of obedience to the Lord. Several years prior to writing the study, I had done a pretty intense self-study of the book of Hebrews. It was my hope that the Lord might allow me to write something out of that time of study, but I wasn’t sure. Perhaps it had just been for my edification. In 2012, I sensed the Lord giving me the go-ahead to write a Bible study from the book of Hebrews. I’ve learned that when God says do something, the best response is ‘Yes sir’. So, write I did. I had no intention of publishing HeBrews, thinking it would just be an act of obedience, and perhaps a study that my Tuesday morning small group would do. God had other plans. When I was about halfway through the writing, my friend, Brooke, introduced me to the wonderful woman who is now my Editor at Warner Press. One thing led to another and before I knew it, God had opened the door for HeBrews to be published. It was totally a God-thing, and I often tell Him that this is His doings, and the responsibility is on Him to place HeBrews into the hands of the people who need to read it.

  • Share with us a bit about your book.

HeBrews: A Better Blend is an eight-week Bible study that takes the student through the entire book of Hebrews. The Old Testament constructs that were so important to the Israelites, i.e. Old Testament tabernacle, priest, sacrifice, and covenant, are examined alongside the New Testament parallels that we find in Jesus. Jesus was the BETTER priest, administering a BETTER covenant, offering a BETTER sacrifice, and ultimately bringing us into a BETTER tabernacle.

There are five days of homework each week, and most days the student studies from both the Old and New Testaments. HeBrews: A Better Blendcan be done by individuals, and in group settings. At the beginning of each week of study, I offer a dessert recipe taken from my collection, or from the collections of some of my friends and family. Dessert definitely makes Bible study richer. No pun intended!

  • Why should someone read HeBrews: A Better Blend? What does it offer them personally?

The study of Scripture, God’s Love Letter to humankind, is as important to me as taking my next breath. Without it, I would be right back in the ditch of sin that I crawled out of 20 years ago. HeBrews: A Better Blend offers the reader a guided study of the book of Hebrews, as well as opportunities to apply faith principles to their own life, and grow in their faith in Jesus Christ.

  • How can my readers find you? Blog? Social media?

I would love to meet your readers. They can find me at my website and blog, The Point, at http://www.leahadams.org.

I am also on several social media platforms:

Facebook Ministry page

HeBrews Facebook page

Twitter

Pinterest

  • When and where will HeBrews: A Better Blend be available to the public?

The release date for the Bible study is July 1st. It should be available at major e-tailers, as well as Christian bookstores.

  • What final thoughts would you like to share with my readers?

I want to encourage your readers to fix their eyes on Jesus. My prayer is that they will raise their eyes above the horizon of their circumstances (good or bad), and look to Jesus for their strength and hope. He is everything we need. EVERYTHING! Developing an intimate relationship with Jesus will not happen accidently. It requires intentionality, perseverance, and lots of time allowing Scripture to speak to the heart. Once a heart gets a taste of walking in intimacy with Christ, there is no going back. I want that for your readers, because I know what a thrill it is to me.

 

Thank you, Leah, and thank you Friends and Readers here at The White Stone.  More to come . . .

Day 167 of 2014, a day to give Thanks.

Kathie

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Christian Living, World Evangelism places

It’s Thursday!

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Okay. It’s Friday but it was Thursday when I started writing this.

Hmmm.  Not really a word but a sound – it’s the sound I just made.

Today is Thursday. 

Thursday for a time was World Evangelism Day for me. It was the day once a month a Place was chosen, I would research the place learning what I could on-line and then for a month on Thursdays I would pray for the people of that place. 

Today is Thursday.

And today I checked Blog Stats and in the Stats was a name. A name of a Place. Cameroon, Africa. A far away place from Lower Alabama but of interest to me and of all days – today. Thursday. 

Cameroon

Estimated population of Cameroon is over 22 million. See HERE.

This LINK provides much information about Cameroon.
Here’s an excerpt: Food in Daily Life. The sharing of cooked food is one of the major ways to cement social relationships and express the high value placed on human company. Sharing food and drink demonstrates hospitality and trust. Social support networks among kin and friends, particularly between country folk and their urban relatives, are held together symbolically with gifts of cooked and uncooked food. Read more: http://www.everyculture.com/Bo-Co/Cameroon.html#ixzz34TgxGexT

Cameroonians have a variety of religious beliefs, and many individuals combine beliefs and practices of world religions with those of their own culture groups. Approximately 53 percent of the population are members of Christian denominations, about 25 percent practice mainly “traditional” religions, and approximately 22 percent are Muslim. Most Christians live in the southern areas, and most Muslims in the north. Christian missions constituted an informal second layer of colonialism. Read more: http://www.everyculture.com/Bo-Co/Cameroon.html#ixzz34UD2mRgl

 So what do I pray? I’m not sure … yet. But pray I must. :)  Join me if you like. 

Day 164 of 2014, a day to give Thanks.  Kathie 

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Christian Living

Casual Reading

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Thursday already! Weeks are zipping by and I hardly notice until it is Thursday again! And how many weeks of School (summer) vacation has raced by already? Are we nearing the end of the third week? I’m shaking my head in disbelief.

I’ve been giving I Thessalonians a casual (suited for every day use – not formal) read this morning; it is such a rich Book that even a causal read brings out the pencil for underlining. Like this:

11 for you know that we treated each one of you the way a father treats his children — 12 we encouraged you and comforted you and appealed to you to lead lives worthy of God, who calls you into his Kingdom and glory.

via 1 Thessalonians 2 KJV;CJB – For yourselves, brethren, know our – Bible Gateway.

The way a father (and Mother) treats his children.

Paul loved the people at Thessalonica. They were family to him and in his words to them we can learn about family. Such as how to interact with children, and we only have three points to remember!

1. Encourage them.

Don’t belittle them even when they have messed up. Even discipline is to be for THEIR good NOT because WE are angry or tired or hungry or irritated or any other excuse we may offer for OUR poor behavior. 
And when they show an interest in sports, music, art, writing, sewing, cooking, scrap booking, etc. ENCOURAGE them – find a way to help them succeed; within godly reason, of course!

2. Comfort them.

When their little hearts are broken big, don’t dismiss their pain just because it is not adult sized; take time to comfort them; take time to listen even when they are not talking. And comfort them with the security of boundaries; godly boundaries that are met with consistent ‘comforting’ discipline when those boundaries are breached. Comfort them by providing a home of godly peace; eliminate as much chaos (physically, emotionally and spiritually) from the home as GOD and you can muster.  

3. Appeal to them to lead lives worthy of God

And this one! Crucial! I think it is mentioned third because if we are not doing 1 and 2 we are not making good progress on doing 3. Make living for JESUS appealing!  For me, we don’t make living for JESUS appealing by christianizing the world’s play book. We appeal to them to lead lives worthy of GOD by authentically loving JESUS (and them) and living holy lives ourselves!

Truth is I am no expert here, nor do I have a perfect track record; however, this casual reading of ABBA’s play book gave me some serious thought! Serious enough to share with you.   :)

Sweet blessings my Friends —  Day 163 of 2014, a day to give Thanks.  Kathie 

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