Inner Stability

Devotions
Oct 252010

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm (Mark 4:39).

Do you sometimes feel like there’s a cyclone spinning within you? How often do you lose your peace? Inner turmoil rises when our priorities get unbalanced and the things that matter most get the least amount of time.

When I feel frustration building, and I catch myself taking shallow breaths, it’s time to Stop. Breathe. Pray. Listen. I stop what I’m doing; take a few slow, deep breaths from my abdomen; pray for God to calm my heart and settle my mind; and listen to what the Holy Spirit needs to tell me. He often uses scripture to remind me of God’s priorities when my foundation begins to crumble.

I’ve learned to employ this four-step process when I feel unhinged. Then, I do what the Spirit leads me to do, or I finish the task at hand. It doesn’t matter where I am, who I’m with, or what I’m doing. It’s between me and God. And it’s a valuable exercise for maintaining peace and stability.

If I find that my frustration is based on poor priority management and an unrealistic schedule, then it’s time to sit down and get a reality check. What am I doing that I don’t really need to be doing? Which task is an assignment from the Lord and which isn’t? What am I doing that I want to do but don’t need to do? What must be done now and what can wait until a later time? What needs to be a firm commitment and what can be flexible or optional? What matters most?

Once I’ve answered those questions, then I do an honest assessment of my energy level. What are my limits? Am I working with them or against them? Am I allowing enough recuperation from my physical workout? From my mental work and my emotional expenditures? If not, my body will reveal the need to make changes, to cut out commitments, and to make room in my days for recovery.

I need time to rest my body and mind. I need to make room in my schedule to honor the needs of my God-given temple. Whether I’m engaged in physical, mental, or emotional activity, I need to give myself time and space to rejuvenate. And I need time to sit with God long enough to hear from Him and know what’s on His heart.

Each of us needs to discover what works in acquiring and maintaining inner stability. Sometimes it takes years of trial and error to figure it out. But what we learn from our honest self assessments along the way will reveal what genuinely fits who we are and what we need — not what someone else needs.

So, as I discover what works for me, and I sit down to determine my priorities, I need to seek God’s wisdom for what’s best at this time, in this circumstance, and in this season of my life. As long as I take time each day to be still before Him with an open heart and mind, ingesting His Word like food for my soul, and implementing the priorities He sets without adding things, I will build a solid foundation on which I can establish inner stability for life. Will you join me in this endeavor?

You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them (Psalm 89:9).

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God Has A Word For You At Conference

Devotions
Sep 272010

For several weeks I have been considering and praying about whether or not to attend the PWOC International Conference in Dallas, Texas, Nov 11-14 (I live in Japan). Three years ago I was at this same point trying to decide if I should go to the West Region PWOC Conference that was held in El Paso, Texas. A chaplain’s wife persuaded me to attend and it was an awesome experience. The speakers and music were so anointed by God that you could feel the heat and power of God’s presence. God used that weekend to teach, develop and empower me with His Spirit to lead women at the local PWOC that year and to minister to my family.

Quin Sherrer, a speaker at the conference, had some wonderful words of wisdom and testimonies she shared that impacted me personally. She spoke about prayer and spiritual warfare and the sphere of influence we have as Christian women over our home, husband, children, and friends. God places women on the front lines to do battle for their loved ones. God gives us authority in the powerful name of Jesus and His blood, to pray protection and deliverance over those He places in our lives. There is Victory in Jesus!

One particular story Quin shared was about a woman that suffered insomnia. Quin suspected she was experiencing an attack by the enemy because she had a picture of a dragon in her home. When the dragon, a symbol of Satan, was removed, the woman no longer was plagued with insomnia. God used this testimony to bring deliverance in my home. My daughter was experiencing insomnia for several weeks prior to the conference. When I returned from the conference, she was still suffering from an inability to sleep. I remembered the story I had heard in El Paso and decided we needed to search my daughter’s room for anything that symbolized the enemy; something that may have opened the door for a spiritual attack. A picture of a dragon that she painted was found tucked in the corner of her room on the floor. I was surprised! I immediately knew God wanted me to hear Quin’s story so I could be used to minister to my daughter. I prayed over her and the bedroom, removed the picture, and God delivered her from insomnia. God is Great!!

Praise God for raising up women to preach the Word of God and share testimonies that impact lives; not only spiritually, but also physically and emotionally. God wants to raise up each one of us, HIS daughters, so that we can declare, The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. [Is 61:1]

Paul teaches, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 6:12

If you are experiencing an attack by your adversary, Satan, then rebuke the evil one in the name of Jesus and plead the blood of Jesus over your self and household. Be bold to proclaim the Word of God with the authority He has given you through His Son and Trust Him to deliver and bring you Victory!

Hope you will join me in Dallas in November for the PWOC International Conference. I am ready to be empowered and filled with the Spirit from the teaching of Priscilla Shirer, music leader Kari Jobe and all the other wonderful teachers that will be leading workshops. I believe God has a special word for the women who will attend that will impact our lives, our loved ones, and the women we serve in PWOC.

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Devotions are published every Monday.  Submit comments or suggestions to Blog@pwoc.org

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You Can Pray

Prayer Points
Sep 102010

Submitted by Dawn Kennedy, International Prayer

PWOC is one of the most amazing women’s ministries in the world!  A group of sisters:  drawn together by their love for Jesus and their common military experiences.  It gives my heart joy to think there are 10,000 of us around the world studying, worshipping, sharing, training, and lifting one another up.  As I meet sisters from around the globe, one question haunts me.

Over and over women quietly pull me aside and share that they don’t feel comfortable praying.  It is everyone: new believers, young moms, seasoned saints, even women who have been in church all their lives. The good news is God does not condemn you.  He is drawing and wooing us and He wants to equip us.  And to take liberty with a few words repeated by a little mouse named Ratatouille (use your French accent, please!), “Anyone can pray!”

Praying is simply conversation with God, and conversation is a skill most of us have in abundance.  A conversation is not one person doing all that talking.  That would be a lecture.  Imagine two close friends sipping coffee, pouring out their hearts to one another.  One may talk less, one may bubble over with words, but they both share and they both listen.

I have been intercessor since childhood, but I am learning something new everyday.  Almost every day I ask the Holy Spirit to teach me how to pray.  I confess to Him that I don’t know what I am doing and ask for His comfort and teaching to guide me.  Sometimes He leads me in sweet adoration, other times I weep for another’s pain or loss.  Some days I am fiery in war and cry out for the Lord of Hosts to come and intervene. And some days I am weary to the bone, and I can do nothing but sit at His feet in silence, letting His Presence soak the dry, empty places in my heart.  All of these things are prayer.

There is one type of prayer that we can all do, and it is probably my favorite.  I like to find one scripture, read it a few times thoughtfully, and then listen to My Shepherd’s voice as He whispers His mercy, His truth, His Life to me.  Fancy words don’t matter.  Talking to Him and listening to Him are JOY!

God has been capturing my attention with a scripture found in Isaiah 33:5-6.  It says:

The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high.

He has filled Zion with righteousness and justice.

He will be the sure foundation for your times,

a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge,

the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.

God is a rich store of salvation, wisdom and knowledge.  We each come to the end of our ability to fix everyone around us.  When we come to the end of ourselves, we have reached the best place on earth: the beginning of His never ending supply.  Simple words from the heart are what He desires.

One year I desperately needed wisdom.  I did not know what to do.  Situations seemed complex and overwhelming.  I read Proverbs 9:10. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.   During that time, I did not know the ways of the Lord.  As I prayed my simple, “911” prayer all year, He began to teach me.

First, He began to set me free from being afraid of Him and afraid of punishment.  He removed my false foundation of fear, guilt, doubt and shame.  I didn’t even know those things were blocking the true reverential awe of the Lord in my life. But our enemy, satan, knew.  He wanted to stop the fear of the Lord in my life so that I could not open the God’s rich stores of salvation, wisdom and knowledge.   One simple prayer can change your life.  He wants to uproot the shaky places in  your foundation too.  I wonder what would happen if we began to trust Him with that process?  Would removing the false make room for the true?  Would you like the key to His treasure?   Anyone can pray, even you!

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Prayer for August 8-14

Prayer Points
Aug 062010

We agree together that God has given us different types of leaders to build us up and train us. We call forth these leadership gifts in our body.  We ask for God’s favor, protection, wisdom, and peace to guard leaders.  We pray they would be strengthened in their responsibilities to equip us.  We pray for unity in our faith and in the knowledge of Jesus.  We pray that we would each grow and mature and that we would know the truth and speak it in love.  We pray we would become more and more like Jesus, the head of us all. Help each of us to learn and do our special part so that we can help each part of our wonderful ministry to grow and be healthy and full of love. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Ephesians 4:11-16

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Leadership Development Update

Leadership Development, Leadership Wednesday
Jul 282010

Being a part of the military community, we are always learning new acronyms. One of the fun things about figuring them out is assigning your best guess or your funniest guess to the letters:-) Sometimes these acronyms help us to remember important or memory-worthy information. Although neither of these is military related, two of our latest favs are E.G.O. and W. O. W. E.G.O. stands for Exalt God Only and W.O.W. stands for Women of Wisdom – what Ft. Huachuca calls their seasoned sisters.

We picked up the last acronym during a W.I.L.D. Weekend. Speaking of acronyms – our Trainer bag has a subdued imprint of the W.I.L.D. logo on it. Most likely, Women Intent on Leadership Development is not the first guess most people have when they see it as we travel. As people take a really close look and see it spelled out, plus Protestant Women of the Chapel International underneath – there is usually a little smile that follows or a question. Some of our theme apparel and accessories receive some interesting glances too!

The W.I.L.D. Weekends have been fabulous!  We have incredible godly and dynamic sisters serving on our Regional boards! WoW! It has been such a treat and a joy to partner with them to meet and train this new season’s PWOC leaders! Some of you reading this update were there! We pray that you were as blessed and encouraged as your Training Team was in the time and energy that you invested to be there.

It would have been absolutely grand if all of you in leadership could have been there or were able to attend the upcoming one in your Region! Those of you who are hearing in your spirit a call to leadership would also have been blessed by the information on spiritual leadership and the wisdom shared by the seasoned leaders – our W.I.L.D. WOW!

The main purpose of W.I.L.D. Weekends is definitely not to exclude leaders or pre-leaders. As Brenda shared earlier in her June 9th PWOCI blog entry, the purpose is to provide more intentional spiritual leadership and board position training, as well as an opportunity for board team building as a foundation to the teams being built at your local installations. This is where we start “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12)!

The Leadership Development Team would like to share some of the information presented at this season’s W.I.L.D. Weekends on the PWOCI Blog’s - Leadership Wednesdays. We are going to start off using the acrostic LEADERSHIP over the next 10 weeks or so.  It’s not exactly an acronym, but close!

Look for more of this year’s leadership curriculum in the Leadership Development workshops at the PWOC International Conference in Dallas this November. A few more Web–based resources and possibilities are coming your way too!  Woo hoo! Technology to His Glory!

W.I.L.D. is the Heartbeat of Protestant Women of the Chapel International’s Leadership Development!

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Defeat Your Enemy

Devotions
Jul 192010

Has life brought you treachery, harassment, and heartache? How much of it is from other people? How much of it is the result of sowing seeds that reaped painful consequences? How much of it is plain old torment from Satan? After all, he uses people and circumstances to harass us.

How do you deal with attacks from the devil? Do you deal with them at all? Have you bothered to contemplate the power and plan of your Enemy?

He wants to steal from you. He wants to kill you. He wants to destroy you. (John 10:10a)

Sound unbelievable? It’s true and it’s real. He’s hard at work attempting to reach his goal every day. So, what do you do about it? First, you must be aware of and know your Enemy. Second, you must seek God’s wisdom in dealing with him. Third, you must intentionally take action each time he attacks.

Ultimately, the battle is the Lord’s, but He instructs us to stand firm adorned with the armor** He has provided. How? Fill your mind with God’s Truth — His Word — every day. One verse of scripture can be used to replace a lie from Satan.

For example, if you’re wracked with guilt over something and you’re continually tormented by it, confess your thoughts and feelings to God. Then, ask Him to lead you to a verse that will counteract the lie you believe. For guilt, Romans 8:1-2 is helpful: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. Write the scripture on index cards and place them on your mirror, in your purse, in your car. Read the scripture often and eventually memorize it.

This isn’t a joke or a suggestion. If we, as Christians, are serious about walking in truth, if we are serious about overcoming wrong thoughts and beliefs, and if we are serious about living victoriously as Christ intended, then we need to stomp out the taunts and temptations thrown at us by the Evil One. We defeat the devil one choice, one action, one truth at a time. In so doing, we stand firm.

Do it. Take your Enemy seriously. He means business. So should we.

**Ephesians 6:10-18 Full Armor of God

Finally, be strong in the LORD and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. . . .

(A good resource for additional knowledge and understanding of Satan is When the Enemy Strikes by Dr. Charles Stanley at In Touch Ministries.)

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Prayer Points for May 30th - June 5th

Prayer Points
May 282010

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy Ones bring understanding.

Proverbs 9:10

This is a passage we could pray daily.   Wisdom in a time of peace is good, bringing wholeness.  Wisdom in a time of war is necessary, giving us what is necessary to overcome terror and to look to a Holy God who Himself is The Answer.

Dear God,

We need wisdom.  We ask you for wisdom to govern ourselves, to love and train our children, to honor our husbands.  We need wisdom for everything: to love, to forgive, to worship, to know You, to solve problems and to bring your message of restoration to those hurting around us.

Please cleanse our hearts from fear:  fear of man, fear of failure, fear of the dark, fear of loss and grief.  Set us free from control, the fruit of fear.    Heal us from trauma.  Scoop out the fears that cause us to keep you at arms length.  Melt away our fear of intimacy with You.    Set us free from presumption, of going our own way.

We want to make room in our hearts for good fear, the fear of the Lord.  We want to worship you with awe.   God we want to know You: the Holy Ones, the whole trinity, and be filled with Your Spirit of Understanding.   We love you and long for You.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

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Stability and Truth

Devotions
Apr 262010

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. James 1:5-8

I don’t want to be unstable. I want to have a firm foundation for my life, built on the Truth, and established by Christ. I want to be stable spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically.

How do I establish and maintain stability? By applying the truth of God’s word — the truth about who He is, and the truth about who I am. Do my beliefs line up with the truth? Do my actions? Are my choices built on God’s wisdom, omniscience, and sovereignty? Or are they driven by circumstance, feelings, people, the past, the pain, or sin?

Our lives are built one choice at a time. What we do today affects the quality and stability of our tomorrows. Jesus is the only One who can empower you to build a stable life. Ponder the passage below and ask Him to reveal any cracks in your foundation.

Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete. Luke 6:46-49

We were not designed to live haphazardly, being blown about by the winds of the culture, or by other people’s preferences and opinions. And if we allow ourselves to be governed by our own unhealthy beliefs and attitudes, then we are building our lives on the sand. We must be governed by truth – the absolute truth.

(Other passages to consider: Psalms 127:1; Proverbs 24:3; Matthew 7:24; 1 Peter 2:5; Hebrews 3:4)

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The Wise Woman Builds Her House

Devotions, Testimonies
Aug 272009

Submitted by: Courtney Oliver, McChord AFB

 

Good morning all! I woke up this morning at six and couldn’t go back to sleep, so I got up and got into God’s word. Per our pastor’s request, I am reading a Proverb a day for the month of August since we are studying it at church, and interestingly enough, I’ve been doing a study of Proverbs and wisdom over the summer at PWOC. It seems that God has a word for me about wise living. So since it’s six a.m. and I am in a writing mood, I thought I’d share some of what He’s been sharing with me in the hopes that it encourages us all.

Months ago, I read Proverbs 14:1, “The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.” This verse has truly haunted me over the past few months. I think of it and repeat it often to myself, thinking about what it really means for me and my household. Almost every time I think of it, I find myself stopping and asking the Lord to make me that wise woman who builds her house up. It reminds me that in my home, I have tremendous power and responsibility to set the environment for my family. But I can’t confuse power with control. Part of wisdom is giving the control to Jesus. Only by His power through me will my household have peace and be the sanctuary that my husband and my children need.

But what is a wise woman? What is a foolish woman? Proverbs talks often of the differences between being wise and being simple, a fool, or a mocker. At the beginning of Proverbs in my bible, there is a commentary that says:
           
           The “simple” are the least harmful group: they live without thinking and are too lazy to change. But they, like the others, will end up  sorry. “Fools” have more smarts but have made a conscious decision to live by their own wits, independent of God and independent of advice. “Mockers,” worst of all, are rebels against God who make their prideful position known to everyone. They mock God, but God will mock them in the end.

Yikes. As I read that this morning, I can point out times and even specific decisions in my life that looked more like one of these women than a wise one. Laziness, a conscious decision to do things my own way and pride have definitely been sins I’ve been guilty of and will surely be guilty of again. Praise Jesus for His never-ending grace and mercy! But praise Jesus again that we who are in Christ do not have to live this way. God has not only put His Spirit within us, He has also made His wisdom available to us. Our pastor gave us a working definition of wisdom that I thought was so good. Wisdom is a competent response to the complexities and realities of life. I love that!

I see this definition as totally in step with what God’s word teaches us about wisdom. That it will give us knowledge of God and understanding of Him. That it will keep us on straight paths and away from evil. That it will lead to prosperity and not ruin. It will make us good, upright and blameless. I so totally want to be that woman as opposed to the prideful, lazy and blindly headstrong one! And life is complex and very real. We need wisdom to keep us on the right path otherwise we will be living life from one crisis to the next. And don’t we all know or haven’t we all been women who do that? Who survive from one meltdown just to have another? Beth Moore says that in “all situations, in Jesus Christ, we can C.O.P.E- we Can Operate Power-packed Emotionally.” Even in a crisis, if we seek wisdom from the Lord, He will give us peace and HIS power and show us a better way to deal with the complexities and realities of life. We don’t have to be women whose homes are a mess (physically or emotionally) because we can’t deal with what is happening around us. We can set a better example for our children that what the world shows “modern” women to be. We don’t have to be emotional wrecks who freak out when bad news comes or when the kids (big or little) have bad days or bad phases and it feels like everything around us is going nuts. We don’t have to be stressed out, burned out, freaked out or crapped out. Through God’s wisdom and the supernatural power it brings to our lives, we can live with victory, freedom, peace and calm in our homes. Our homes can be safe places of sanctuary for us, our husbands and our children. Our homes can be and need to be a safe place against all that is wrong in the world. We need to make them places of comfort, where all who dwell there are free to express their thoughts, feelings and emotions safely. WE CAN MAKE OUR HOMES THIS WAY!!!

How? We ask the Lord to give us wisdom. James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” A few things about this pop out to me:

1-Gaining wisdom requires action on our part, we have to ask for it
2-God gives this “without finding fault”- He’s not going to look at us as we ask and go, “Nope, sorry, you’ve made too many mistakes to ever be considered wise! Stinks to be you!” He does not do this to those He loves. He desires us to become like Him; any steps we take to do that, He is going to encourage and bless.
3-”And it will be given to him.” It doesn’t say “might” or “possibly” be given to him, but that IT WILL. We need to ask for wisdom in expectation of receiving it. Plain and simple. This is a promise of God’s word.

For me, I’ve gained the most wisdom simply from the word of God. It is full of life and life-giving principles. I love it and I love how God uses His word to speak so clearly to His children. When we practice being in God’s word, we find out that we make better decisions and have better attitudes. Both of these things are key in building our homes. As I face being a mom, I wonder how my time with God is going to change. I may not have the abundant time to spend alone with Him, or the presence of mind to even pray coherently. But I do want to keep a commitment to being in His word and to practice being in His presence whatever I am doing. Washing clothes, changing diapers, paying bills. I hope that we all make it a habit to do this, and ask for wisdom as we do.

I love you all dearly and I want to see us all live as women who are set apart by the Lord. I pray over each of your homes, that they will be places of peace. That the Lord will give all of us wisdom to be women who build our houses.

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