PWOC International Blog

The Fullness of Our Inheritance in Christ Jesus

Feb 032012

A New Year should motivate us to seek God in new and fresh ways that would be pleasing to Him. Prayer is always the first and foremost way of seeking God as the Psalmist in 63:1 says, ‘O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You’. However, do we ever stop and consider we are able to seek Him because ‘We have obtained an inheritance according to His purpose to work all things according to the counsel of His will’ (Ephesians 1:11). This inheritance involves the greater gift of the Holy Spirit which is the ‘Spirit of Truth’ which Jesus assured His followers (John 14:17) would be in them always and would allow Him to manifest himself to them. It is through prayer that we can receive the richness of the ‘spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him’ (Ephesians 1:17). It is never anything of ourselves, but according to our adoption into the family of God, we receive the privilege to participate in the ‘good pleasure of His will’. (Ephesians 1:5). God desires ‘good things’ for all of us with an abundance of His presence which is all motivated by His love for us. How do we begin to understand this mystery?

The richness of this inheritance should bring us to our knees in prayer! We are strengthened in ‘the inner person by His Spirit and Christ dwells in our hearts through faith…to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge ; that we may be filled with all the fullness of God’ (Ephesians 3: 16-19). The fullness is the Holy Spirit which through Christ is ‘able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever’. (Ephesians 3:20) What a rich inheritance that can be passed on through prayer. The old saying, “Never under estimate the power of prayer (or a praying wife or mother)” is so true.

Recently, an old family bible was acquired which revealed references of a praying great grandmother and grandmother. The bible is a tangible reminder of an inheritance; however, there is little doubt that my faith is an inheritance from the fullness of the Holy Spirit working in their lives.

Take heed to the power in prayer that we have through the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Reflect upon the beauty of the fullness of our inheritance through Christ. “O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a beautiful inheritance”. (Psalm 16: 5-6)

Submitted by: Rhonda Mixon

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Your Kingdom Come

Bits & Pieces

Feb 022012

The PWOCI theme for this year is “Your Kingdom Come.” Many of us pray the Lord’s Prayer on a weekly basis. Do we really think about what we are praying? When we pray scripture, we become the voice of God’s word and angels take action. The angels have to act because they “perform His word, obeying the voice of His word!” Ps 103:20.

I want to focus on Matthew 6:10 from the King James Version. It reads: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in
heaven.” Did you notice the use of ‘in’ earth instead of ‘on’ earth? Genesis 2:7a reads: “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground.” The word ‘man’ (Adam) sounds like the Hebrew word for ‘ground’ (adamah). We are in fact made of earth.

Heaven invaded earth at the coming of Jesus. When we pray for God’s kingdom to come and His will be done in earth (or on earth) we are praying that God’s will be done in us; through us just as His will is done in heaven.

God’s presence reigns in the lives of His people. We have the power of new birth; the real power of the Holy Spirit. Let us access the
power of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us, for the kingdom. God is looking for those who are actively looking and seeking Him.

Take the authority offered!

Blessings,

Marci Everson
Alaska Region Titus II

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Simplicity

Devotions, President's Pen

Feb 012012

Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…(Hebrews 12:1b)

In order to have a fresh start to the new year, my family and I went through our house (especially the basement!) giving away things we no longer needed and throwing away the things that were no longer useful…to anyone! We had a great time together going through memorabilia and recounting memories, and the resulting order and release of weight was so wonderful.

My other “New Year’s Fresh Start” dealt with the budget. It was time to take a good look at where the money was going and how we were going to make it stretch in today’s economy. Although this task was just as necessary as the household clean-up, it wasn’t nearly as fun. I had to decide where to cut spending today in order to preserve savings for the future.

I realized that when I’m choosing to give away or throw away things I no longer need, it’s a somewhat pleasant process for me and I call it “simplifying”. But when it’s not initiated by me and it’s a necessary cut-back, I call it “pruning”. It got me thinking. If simplicity is aiming for the bulls-eye in the call that God has for me, will I simplify by laying aside those activities or responsibilities that are actually distracting me from hitting the goal? Or will I hold on to those things until God begins to prune them?

Beth Mills

President PWOC International

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Make a Stand

Devotions

Jan 302012

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. (Ephesians 6:13 NIV)

“After you have done everything, to stand”. I found myself pondering those words the other day. What does Paul mean by “after you have done everything”? According to the Henry commentary on this passage, “prayer must fasten all the parts of the armor”. What an interesting concept. How do you pray? I do not want to get too technical here because I believe that all forms of prayers are good. After all, we are to pray at all times (1 Thessalonians 5:17). If you are praying while driving I would recommend keeping your eyes open and your foot on the gas pedal or brake…. . That said, the issue at hand here is spiritual warfare. We are vain and sinful by nature. Our prayers can easily be vain as well. All I am asking is, what happens when you are kneeling? What happens to your spirit? I believe that when we kneel or even lay on our face, we remember our position and we remember to whom we are praying. It is in that position that we are to put on the armor of God. With humility we need to recognize that we are not strong enough and that we cannot fight alone. After we have recognized those facts and humbled ourselves, we “can stand”. Satan is cunning and will let you believe that you are good to go with the quick prayer you speed through as you are making the kid’s breakfast. Good, just not good enough.

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. (Luke 18:1 NIV) When times are hard, do not give up — pray. God is near and is working for you. When you do not know what to pray, write the words of Romans 8:26 on a sticky note and place it on your bathroom mirror. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. (Romans 8:26 NIV)

So remember to spend time on your knees, put on the armor, face the devil’s schemes, and make 2012 the year you will be victorious. After all, if our God is for us, what can stand against us? (Romans 8:31)

Muriel Gregory

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Worship and Expectations

Bits & Pieces, Resources

Jan 292012

God has recently been teaching me not to worship my expectations, but to worship Him in the midst of the circumstances He allows. I first realized this while reading How People Change by Paul David Tripp, but am trying to move to the place of full surrender in this area. When I let go of my expectations, then I’m not so easily tempted to be frustrated, hurt, anxious or angry.

Another helpful book I’m reading along these lines is Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges – full of great reminders about the good news of the gospel for maturing believers in Christ.

Andrea Plotner, Asst. to the President PWOC International

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Created to Praise

Prayer Points

Jan 282012

Psalm 150:6 says, “Let every thing that has breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.

We are created to praise God. Some people do not realize that. When the praise service starts, they sit back and say, “I’m not comfortable with all that singing and dancing. I guess praise is just not my thing.”

Yes it is! According to God’s Word, if you breathe, you are meant to praise. And don’t try to slip by with saying, “Well, I have praise in my heart.” That is not enough. God’s Word says that you need to have it in your mouth as well (Psalm 34:1)! Psalm 132:9 says, “Let thy saints shout for joy.” You can’t shout and be quiet at the same time.

When you first begin to truly praise, it may seem awkward to you, but if you will keep it up, it will become a way of life. Why? Because praise causes the Glory of God to manifest itself in your life. It causes you to walk in the light of His countenance (Psalm 89:15). It will start a revival inside of you.

Did you know that every revival in history was started by people the world considered absolute fanatics? God does things differently than the world. So when you set aside your inhibitions and start letting God’s Holy Spirit to operate through you, you may look strange to some people but you will look wonderful to God.

By the way, don’t just think of praising Him in church. Praise Him in your own private prayer time and throughout your day. Learn to maintain an attitude of praise and thanksgiving. When praise comes natural to you in your own private life, it won’t be difficult to praise Him in the midst of the congregation.

It is time we opened our mouths and our hearts and do what God has created us to do. Praise!

Father, Teach us to be obedient to you. Teach us your ways to sing praises and to dance before you in that heavenly throne room of Grace. We will raise our banners high and know that we can reverse what Satan meant to keep Silent. Thank you Jesus, for allowing us to see that it is the enemy that does not want us to Praise you. For Satan knows that Praise is a powerful weapon. A weapon, he once used until he chose to leave your kingdom, through his pride. In Jesus name, Amen

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All Things New

Praise and Worship

Jan 272012

A new year is here! Time for a fresh start. A new hope is rising up in us that we can begin again. The holidays are my most favorite time of the year, and then it’s suddenly over and New Year’s hits so quickly and we’re off and running again!

New Year’s brings resolutions. I’m all about committing to better ourselves in areas we need to grow or be challenged in, but the whole “resolution” thing seems to fade quickly and then we forget what we were going to resolve to do!

Each year I am challenged to select a verse and see what God does. I thought I’d share a couple that I’ve been mulling over lately.

My verses for this year that the Lord showed me are:

Isaiah 40:30 – They that wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up on wings as eagles. They will run and not grow weary, they will run and not faint.

Matt. 6:33 – Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

It’s so hard for me to pick just one, and I find that sometimes the two I get piggy back on each other. I used to memorize and even sing these verses as a child, not paying attention to the words that were coming out of my mouth, probably like most kids. As I have gotten older, however, I pay much more attention to these songs, these words that were penned so many years ago. When we sing the Word, we are calling His promises into being, we are encouraging ourselves and we are touching the heart of God.

New Year’s always brings a renewed excitement. I feel like a runner at the starting block, ready for the race to begin. The gun goes off and I’m out there, full speed ahead! Then somewhere along the way, I start to get tired and weary. I’ve run several marathons and half marathons. I understand the adrenaline rush and the weariness that sets in half way. But, we must keep pressing forward, “resolving” to run to win and finish the race well.

As a woman, it’s easy to multitask, over-commit and begin to grow weary and lose sight of what God’s plan was for us originally. So my goal this year will be to seek God’s kingdom (Your Kingdom come), live righteously and call on Him for renewed strength (Your will be done), especially those times I’m starting to feel weary!

I don’t know what you have going on in your lives, but I encourage you to take a moment and be still before the Father. Seek Him and find out what He desires for you this year. My prayer for us all is that we take the theme of PWOC to heart this year and understand what God’s will is for us each day of 2012!

Humbly,

Kayla Atkins

Worship Leader, Ft. Campbell, KY

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West Region Update

regional review

Jan 262012

God is amazing! He is moving and we are moving with His Spirit!

My prayer as I started out as a West Region President was that new PWOCs will “pop up” everywhere in the West. It is still my desire and prayer. Last September, a new PWOC started in CA and just tonight, a sister at Camp Pendleton emailed me asking why there was no PWOC there! Isn’t that amazing???? What is more amazing is that our awesome God is being made known!

Isaiah 64:2 says “As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make Your name known to Your enemies and cause the nations to quake before You!” When God comes down, He doesn’t just come down quietly. He comes down to make His NAME known to the enemies! The nations can’t help but tremble at His presence!

Let us continue to run this race together. Let us continue to call on the Name, the Name that is above all names, Jesus! Let’s make His Name known, make Him famous! We are workers together for Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Sara <><

West Region President

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Tweet...tweet!

Bits & Pieces, News & Announcements

Jan 252012

On October 7, PWOC International posted its first tweet.

“What is tweeting?” you might ask. Tweeting is posting short entries (less than 140 characters) on Twitter, the social networking site known for its brevity. Started in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, the aim of Twitter was for a small group to have the ability to communicate via SMS texting (short messaging service). In less than six years, this form of communication has exploded. It now has over 300 million users, and over 300 million texts are generated daily.

Jesus called his disciples to, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15). This first century church He was addressing was called to physically “go,” but with the innovative tools that we have in our hands today, we are called to “go” using different media and methods. Twitter is one of those methods. It is another way to reach an age group that finds itself highly technical and desiring to be constantly connected. The majority of those who tweet are under the age of 25. It makes perfect sense for PWOC to have its presence where our young women are at…connecting…informing…and building them up in Christ.

The PWOCI Communications team sought out Heather Hayman to lead the tweeting for Protestant Women of the Chapel. Our main vision is to encourage and inform the PWOCI body through scriptural insights, upcoming events, videos, article links, songs and so much more. As women begin to “follow” PWOC on Twitter, they can be encouraged daily and feel connected to their military sisters worldwide. To begin following PWOC, find us on Twitter @PWOCIntl.

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A Young Ladies Bible Study at Ft Bragg PWOC!

regional review

Jan 242012

Wow! Our Fall Semester 2011 at Ft Bragg PWOC was fabulous. The new Young Ladies Bible Study grew to 20 young ladies between the ages of 12-16. Our Spiritual Life leader, Bree McDougall, chose ‘The Purple Book’ for not only our Young Ladies Study but also for one of the adult PWOC Bible studies. ‘The Purple Book’, by Rice Broocks and Steve Murrell, provides a foundation of Biblical truth and challenges the reader to walk out her Christian faith. The exciting discussions that followed each chapter challenged each young lady to look at her life and walk with Christ in such a way to establish a foundation that no storm in life will prevail against and to fill a heart that’s shaped and guided by the knowledge of God’s Word. ‘The Purple Book’ is a twelve-part Bible study designed to help new believers and longtime followers of Jesus stand firm and grow strong in the Christian life.

Some of the moms of the young ladies in this class chose the ‘The Purple Book’ as their adult study. This enabled the mom to have intimate conversations at home with her daughter as both of them were tackling the discussion questions. Each week the young ladies joined the PWOC ladies in Praise & Worship. During a special PWOC Tuesday the Young Ladies Bible Study was highlighted. Besides some of the girls joining the Praise & Worship Team, others girls helped with Hospitality, Greeters, and Program set-up and clean-up. This exposure to the various PWOC ministries opened doors for the Young Ladies Bible Study to get involved every week with the PWOC ministries according to the gifts and talents of each of the girls. As their Bible study leader, I walked the girls through the various PWOC ministries so they would have a good understanding of the ministry and see how their unique gifts and talents could be used for God’s glory at PWOC. The various ministry leaders have truly appreciated the extra hands. This Young Ladies Bible Study is enabling Ft Bragg PWOC to train-up a younger generation in the aims of PWOC:

To LEAD Women to accept Christ as personal Savior and Lord.
To TEACH women the history, beliefs, and programs of the church, all built on a solid foundation of worship and Bible study
To DEVELOP in women the skills of prayer, evangelism, stewardship, and social service, against a background of spiritual development.
To INVOLVE women in the work of the Chapel, in keeping with their abilities and interests

Why wait for daughters of military families to be out of the house and married to the military to begin involving them in our local PWOC? What a great opportunity PWOC has to train-up our young ladies to be Godly young women who are impacting the military community and living out and promoting the aims of PWOC. Our daytime and nighttime PWOC meetings can be used as a training ground for the next generation of spiritual leaders.

Peace & Blessings:

Sandy Murphy

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Older Entries

PWOC International Blog

The Fullness of Our Inheritance in Christ Jesus

Your Kingdom Come

Simplicity

Make a Stand

Worship and Expectations

Created to Praise

All Things New

West Region Update

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A Young Ladies Bible Study at Ft Bragg PWOC!

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