Heaven Will Surely Be Worth it All

Often I'm hindered on my way, burden so heavy I almost fall
Then I hear Jesus sweetly say, Heaven will surely be worth it all

chorus: Heaven will surely be worth it all, worth all the sorrows that here befall
After this life with all its strife, Heaven will surely be worth it all

Many the trials toils and tears, many a heartache may here appall
But the dear Lord so truly says, Heaven will surely be worth it all

chorus

Toiling and pain I will endure, till I shall hear the death angel call
Jesus has promised and I'm sure, Heaven will surely be worth it all.

chorus

Just wanted to share a song today. AJ and I traveled to see his family this weekend. It was his little brother's birthday on Thursday. He is a ripe, old 19! 

We were listening to gospel hymns on the way down including the one above. I am often hindered on my way, but I am so thankful that I have the promise of Heaven when this life is over. That alone is worth any and every sorrow on Earth. 

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding [and] eternal weight of glory; 2 Corinthians 4:17

You can have this same promise if only you will obey the Master.  

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.              Matthew 11:28-30

6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6

I am so blessed to be living the life I am. I am so thankful to God for His mercy and care. 

For a free online Bible correspondence course go to You Can Be Sure. Why not be sure of your salvation? 

W.I.A.W.

If you follow a lot of blogs you will notice some bloggers have weekly schedules and do certain themed posts on certain days usually with a catchy title using alliteration liiiike... Wednesdays are sometimes W.I.W.W. (What I Wore Wednesdays) or W.I.A.W (What I Ate Wednesdays). Well over here, for today at least, W.I.A.W. stands for "Wow, It's Already Wednesday?!"

That is exactly the way I feel today! I actually feel this way every week. Every day just goes by so fast and before you can blink its a new week. Several days ago I posted about some things I wanted to accomplish and some things (time-wasters) I wanted to phase out of my life. Well, Saturday I went to JoAnn fabrics and bought the materials needed to make a skirt. I wasn't really expecting to see anything I liked. I actually had to pick between three different fabrics. I am keeping the others in mind for other projects! OR just more of the same project in different prints.

I am having a hard time deciding what style to do. There are two tutorials from Cotton and Curls that I want to try and they are both fairly simple... looking. Haven't tried them yet, so I can't say for sure. Also, my skill level is BEGINNER. I have started two dresses before, got half way through, got stuck and then never finished. This time I want to try and practice correct technique and take my time so the end product is wearable. There will be an end product! Here are the two styles I am trying to decide between.

If I make this I'll need to make it longer than in this picture to  keep it modest while sitting. This being a wrap style I may even need to just attach at the overlap so it doesn't separate. (Thinking out loud.) source

Looking at this tutorial just now to get the picture made me realize how much simpler this one is than the other. source

Simpler is better for a beginner... especially if that beginner is me! I plan to begin working on this tomorrow, my day off this week. If I'm not too ashamed when it's finished I'll post pictures! The material I chose is very similar to the material C&C used in the first picture. I was thinking if mine turns out to be wearable I might wear it to the upcoming Valentine's banquet here at MSOP! 

Without any clever seg-way, I'm changing the subject!

This past week we (MSOP student wives) were required to develop and turn in a Bible class lesson about a certain Bible character or characters. After we turned them in to our teacher we all swapped lessons and now we each have about 25 different Bible class lessons already made up to take with us wherever we are going! I am super pumped about it. It's gotten me even more excited about finding a congregation for AJ and I to work with and begin teaching children's Bible class again! 

I want to share something our teacher, sister Tish Clarke, said about teaching Bible class that really stuck out to me. What she said wasn't a huge secret or something very profound; I guess I just never heard it said out loud before. She said, "When your students leave your classroom they should leave thinking about God and what He means to them rather than thinking about Jonah and a big fish!" Meaning, they need to remember what they learn about God from the account of Jonah and the big fish, not just that Jonah was swallowed by a big fish and was there for three days. I haven't taught MANY Bible classes before, but the ones I have taught I think I was too focused on making sure I had enough "to do" to fill the class time and making sure I was going to keep their attention. Those things are important, but not as important as those little ones hearing about God from His word and the application to their life. I can't wait to put this in to practice!  

Are you working on any sewing projects?
Have any tips for a beginner?

   

Finally November

Wow, it's finally November. October just dragged on and on for me. It was probably because I failed miserably in keeping my resolutions and just wanted to get to a new month! Part of me wants to just quit the resolutions before I ever really started. BUT that is part of the reason I wanted to START doing the resolutions... because I often quit things I start. So here goes.


Gym=F. I didn't go at least four days every week. I didn't go at least two days a week. I think I exercised more regularly when I didn't have a perfectly laid out plan telling me exactly what to do each day...

Quit sugar using the "8 week sugar detox"=F. Never started. I have a problem. I need to be locked in a room for six weeks until I am no longer addicted to sugar. I wish it was as simple as just liking sweets. It's so much more than that and I won't bore you with the details.

Keep up with the "Digging Deep" Bible study=C. I sadly and pathetically get so easily distracted by worldly things.

Stick with the budget=B. We actually did pretty good with this. We, of course, did go over on our eating out budget. It was sort of a weird month with Aaron being out of town two separate times and me gone for a weekend. Excuses, I've got plenty. Other than that, if felt good to have a plan and to know where our money was going overall.

I think that averages to a D. Great.

Some people like to dedicate the month of November to NOT doing something like "No Spend November", "No Make-up November", etc. Cute play on the word "no" huh? Well I've decided to make it "No Excuses November".

No more excuses when it comes to living faithfully to God first and foremost.
No more excuses when it comes to exercising and eating better.
No more excuses when it comes to our budget.
Just to name a few...

::mood change::

I am super excited that it is November. I love the weather this time of year. I love the opportunities coming up to be with family. I love the special opportunity to reflect on the many blessings God has given me and AJ. Many people take the month of November to share something they are thankful for each day on Facebook. I think that is a great idea. Of course we are to be and should be thankful year round. God's word instructs us to be thankful. Ephesians 5:20; Philippians 4:6; Colossians 2:6,7; 3:15-17 just to name a few passages. I think actually listing or "counting my blessings" each day would help me with my excuses problem.

God has afforded me with every necessity of life and beyond so I really have no excuse.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: Ephesians 1:3

A Light for Your Path

Another beautiful Lord's day here. The sun is shining and the sky is clear blue. The heavens truly do declare the glory of God. Psalm 19:1

Have you ever heard someone tell you, "You do not have to DO anything to be saved"? Have you told someone that yourself? If someone believes this they will usually lead you to Ephesians 2:8 and say, "See? Through faith, not by works!" Obviously this person has not taken into account the entirety of God's word. We read in James 2 that we ARE justified by works and that like the body is dead without the spirit, faith is ALSO dead without works. So which is it? Does the Bible contradict itself? Skeptics would stop here and say, "YES!"

NO! The Bible does not contradict itself. Read the passage in Ephesians again. "for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory." (Ephesians 2:8, 9 ASV) "not of works, that no man should glory." What works could a person glory in? Well, works that they created by their own devices. So what type of works ARE we justified by according to James 2? Works of God. James refers to Abraham and Rahab and how they were justified by their works. Well who's idea was it for Abraham to sacrifice is son to God? Who's idea was it for Rahab to remain in her home to receive the spies? GOD. Abraham and Rahab, along with many others in Hebrews 11, did those things by faith in obedience to God. God TOLD them what to DO and they DID it. So when we are "doing" something to be saved, we are not "working our way to Heaven" as long it is something God commanded. We are simply submitting ourselves to God's will.

Please consider the following.

Mark 16:16- "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."

Does that sound like if we DO NOT believe we can be saved? Does the word damned describe salvation? (Most people in the religious world will certainly agree that you have to believe in Jesus in order to be saved, leaning solely on John 3:16. Someone might even say, "You do not have to DO anything to be saved EXCEPT believe..." contradicting themselves.)

Luke 13:3- (Jesus speaking) "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

Does that sound like if we DO NOT repent we can be saved? Jesus repeats himself just a couple verses later. Does the word perish describe salvation? (Here we go again. Someone might say to you, "You do not have to DO anything EXCEPT believe and repent..." contradicting themselves even further.)

Luke 12:8,9- (Jesus speaking) "Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God."

Does that sound like if we DO NOT confess Christ we WILL be saved?

John 3:3- "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Does that sound like if we are NOT born again we CAN enter the kingdom of God?

So is there anything we must DO in order to be saved? It does not seem like according to the word of God that all we have to do is believe. It is true that God's grace in an unmerited gift to all people, but we MUST obey Him in order to recieve His gift. Matthew 7:21; Hebrews 5:9 Notice the words DOETH/DOES and OBEY.

Please consider the "whole counsel of God" when you are studying His word. Acts 20:27