Good morning, Ladies!
Fall is officially here! It is warm and beautiful, but terribly dry here. I hope that each of you have learned from last week's reading and are eager to grow in God's grace even more. I will keep things sweet and short here today and get straight to our weekly reading plan: Monday - Romans 6 Tuesday - Romans 7 Wednesday - Romans 8 Thursday - Romans 9 Friday - Romans 10 I'm praying for each of you this week as you are spending daily time, with God . Keep reading! Joyfully His, Andrea
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Hello Sweet Sisters!
I hope each of you have taken so much treasure from our Scripture reading this week. Many of you may have come to salvation by reading Romans. Many times it is said to be the "Romans Road", because it tells us simply, how to accept Jesus as our Savior through faith. Romans is Paul's letter to Rome, sharing with them the Good News of Christ. Today, I simply want to share the verses that stood out to me. "This Good News tells us how God makes us right in His sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, 'It is through faith that a righteous person has life.' " ~ Romans 1:17 "For merely listening to the law doesn't make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in His sight." ~ Romans 2:13 "Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are." Romans 3:19-20 "We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins." Romans 3:22-24 Salvation is simple. We are all sinners. I am a sinner. I am no better than anyone else. I don't deserve eternal salvation and I will NEVER be able to earn it. Thankfully, I don't have to. It is freely given by God, if only I believe. God grants instant salvation to those who believe that His only Son, Jesus, died on the cross for ALL ( I mean EVERYONE'S) sin. That's it. We admit that we are sinners, we believe in the sacrifice Jesus made for us and we confess our faith in Him. (I am praying for any of you who may not have done this yet, but feel God pulling you toward salvation. Don't delay. Turn your heart and life over to God and believe in Him and accept His sweet gift.) Chapter four shares how Abraham, the founder of the Jewish nation, was counted as righteous by God all because of his faith, not his good deeds. Abraham was a sinner, too. Go back to Genesis and read over how many mistakes he made. Yet, because of His faith, God counted him as righteous. Chapter 5 reminds us of the hope we have, now that we have been made right with God through our faith in Jesus Christ. Because of our faith, we can rejoice in trials. Our trials will develop endurance, our endurance will develop our character, and our character strengthens our hope of salvation. What verses spoke straight to your heart this week? What is God opening your eyes, heart and mind to? I'm praying for each of you, as we continue our journey through Scripture. Keep reading! Joyfully His, Andrea Good morning, Sweet Sisters!
Today we begin our Fall Bible Study. I'm looking forward to digging into God's Word with each of you! The purpose of our study here at Redeeming Elegance, is to encourage and support Christian women in their daily walk with Christ. Specifically, reading the Bible every day. I am a wife and a homeschool mother of (almost) six children. I understand how busy our lives can be and how hard it is to find time to read Scripture and be still before God. That is why Redeeming Elegance exists. Our Bible studies are easy to follow. We read through the Bible, one book at a time, one chapter per day. Each week I will post a reading plan of 5 chapters, leaving the weekends open for you to catch up if needed. I hope to post through the week verses and things that stick out to me and I would love for each of you to comment on how God is speaking to you through His Word. Although our studies here are intended for individual reading, it is also very easy to adapt to your Ladies Small Group if you want to read through the Bible, one book at a time. So, let's get started! Here is this week's reading plan: Monday - Romans 1 Tuesday - Romans 2 Wednesday - Romans 3 Thursday - Romans 4 Friday - Romans 5 I am praying for each of you this week as you commit yourself to reading the Bible each day. Keep reading! Joyfully His, Andrea At the beginning of this year, I set a few personal goals for myself. I wrote them down, prayed over them, and stuck them right inside the cover of my "thank you" journal so that I would be reminded of these goals often. Unintentionally, three out of my four goals had a reoccurring theme: encourage. Specifically, my "encourage" goals consisted of:
1. Be more supportive and encouraging to my Hubby. 2. Be more intentional and encouraging to my children. 3. Be encouraging to other wives and moms. I wish I could say that I have reached each of these goals 100%. But sadly, I'm a work in progress and this is something I will forever be working on. Life is hard for everyone. Most of us take on way more than we should, some of us have been handed with unexpected trials, all of us have been hurt by others, and everyone of us have the every day "musts" that we have to contend with. Wouldn't a little bit of encouragement help ease our worries, stresses and anxieties? Like I said, I'm still working on this. I try to remind myself everyday to be more encouraging. I don't always succeed, but I am trying. God gives us many verses on encouragement. I wanted to share a few that really stood out to me. "So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing." ~ I Thessalonians 5:11 "Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too." ~ Philippians 2:3-4 "As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend." ~ Proverbs 27:17 "Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them." ~ Ephesians 4:29 "Share each other's burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ." ~Galatians 6:2 "Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near." ~ Hebrews 10: 24-25 "Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken." ~ Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 I'm going to stick with my goals. I'm going to try harder. I want to always remember, I know I will slip up, but my prayer is that God will help me to become an "Encourager". So here's my plan: *I want to build others up. *I want to put others first and think about their interests instead of my own. *I want to be a friend who supports, encourages and sharpens my friends. *I want my words to be good and helpful to all those who hear them. *In any way I can, I want to share other's burdens. I want to pray for them and help them in whatever need they may have. *I want to be a motivator. *I want to make time for others, starting with my husband and children and those God has placed in my life. *I want to help others stand firm, when they feel like their feet are being taken out from under them. This is my prayer. However, God wants to use me, I am His to use. Lord, help me to be encouraging to my Sweet Hubby, my Precious Children, and my family and friends who You have placed in my life. Let my words, my actions, my reactions and my attitude always reflect Your love to those who need a bit of encouragement. And when I fail, pick me up and give me the strength to try again. Make me an Encourager! In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Reach out and encourage your people, today! Joyfully His, Andrea Hello Sweet Sisters!
Today we are supposed to begin our Fall Study, but due to a personal time constraint, I am pushing it off one more week. So, our Fall Bible Study through the books of Romans and Exodus, will begin next Monday, September 18, 2017. This is a great time of year to start a new study as we get more established in our fall school, work and holiday schedules. Please share this with all the ladies you know and also feel free to use this study in your own women's small group. We are in the midst of our first few weeks of our homeschool year over here, so my days have been full of teaching, training and all the normal "keep the household together" routines. I look forward to studying God's Word with you over the next few months! Joyfully His, Andrea |
For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. " AuthorHi! I'm Andrea, wife to my handsome hubby, homeschooling mama to my 7 amazing blessings, and daughter of the King of kings. I am so glad you have stopped by my little piece of the web. My prayer is that the Lord will use this blog to encourage you in your personal, daily walk with Christ. Archives
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