Author: hcfwomen

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like Superwoman? You marked off everything on your list. Maybe you worked ahead. You made every event in your calendar. You were even (mostly) on time. You cleared out the emails, made the meal, finished the project, folded the laundry (and put it away). No one was sick. Everyone was happy and went to bed on time.

What about the opposite? Have you had the day (or week or month or year) where nothing seems to be falling into place? You missed the meeting. You forgot the appointment. You said the words. You felt the hurt. You were late to the game. The kids wouldn’t stop fighting. Someone didn’t want to eat or sleep. Your to-do list was growing instead of shrinking, and you were so over-scheduled that you were running from one place to the next.

I’ve been thinking about what it means to be a woman of grace. If grace is defined as both unmerited favor and God’s empowerment, then it seems like Superwoman is our model woman of grace. And this other woman? Not so much, right?

But what if it’s both? Or neither? What if it’s about the condition of our heart in each of those moments? The Bible tell us that God gives grace to the humble (James 4:6), and in our weakness is when his power is made perfect (2 Corinthians 12:9).

In our everyday life, we’re going to be opposed. Between an enemy who’s on the prowl and the sin nature of our fallen world, we’re going to face troubles. Even Jesus said so (John 16:33).

Some days, we’re smashing down those obstacles left and right because we’ve got the power of God on our side. Other days, we’re hitting brick wall after brick wall because we’re trying to do it in our own strength.

What if, even on the worst days, we could stop and reset and humble ourselves and submit our hearts—and in that moment, receive all the grace that we need?

Guess what? We can!

The question for us, grace-filled women, is how we will respond to the opposition we face. When our day’s interrupted, when our heart’s disappointed, what will our response be?

Will we call upon the Lord and submit our hearts to him and say, “Help me; I need you”? Or will we tryto do it in our own strength and then later bury ourselves under our own blankets of comfort?

Do you know what’s great about grace? It’s unmerited. When we don’t get it right, there’s always another opportunity the next time. God’s not mad at us. He overwhelms us with love as he holds out his hand and says, “Do it with me this time.”

Every day, every moment, we get to choose to be women of grace. Let’s take His hand today.

We’d like to thank Laura Brandenburg for sharing this post.

Becoming a woman of grace is not complicated, but sometimes it isn’t easy.  It requires humility – realizing that without God we are completely lost, in this life and for eternity.

Let me tell you of one time when I was so humbled, and still God showed His grace in amazing ways. Back in 2010, I felt led to get my doctorate in education.  Circumstances prevented this until June of 2015.  The program was online most of the time, but for 2 weeks in June, I was to be on campus.  So, June of 2015, I was set to begin the program. 

Also in June of 2015, my mom went into the hospital with seizures.  She got worse and worse.  Mom died on June 19.  I moved into the dorm on June 21.  Kelly came home from Kenya June 22.  We had visitation on the 23^rd and her funeral on the 24^th.  Then I had 1 ½ more weeks to go at Tech. Even during this awful beginning, God’s grace was flooding my life and I didn’t even know it.  My cohort (a group of about 10 other students) was so supportive.  The teachers were wonderful.  I think that experience bound us together for our journey over the next 2 years. 

I was the first person in our cohort to defend my dissertation, and the first one in our cohort to graduate.  Completing this was the hardest thing, school-wise, that I ever did.  But God is faithful!  I was held and cared for the entire time – by GOD!  Truthfully, I had never considered myself “doctorate material” – whatever that is.  God showed me that HE IS doctorate material.  What do you need Him to be for you? 

From all the references we read in Scripture, grace is evidently both the motive and the means for everything God does for people on the earth.  Picture God reaching down to meet every need of His children.  As a woman of grace, I lean heavily upon the God who wants to meet my needs.  He is no stingy Father!  He’s always looking for a way to bless us.  Because of grace and by grace. What do you need God to reach down and do for you? 

The way that grace can reach me is when I humble myself and understand that I NEED His grace.  Recognizing that I need grace makes me a great candidate for it.  Humbling myself opens the door for God to pour grace into me.

Being a woman of grace requires confession and repentance. Along with confession to God, we are called to give and receive forgiveness from others.  Do you cringe at the thought of asking someone to forgive you?  Those closest to you offer a wonderful training ground for asking for forgiveness and giving forgiveness, even if no one asks for it.   

Being a woman of grace means seeing myself as God sees me.  Scripture after Scripture tells me who I am in Christ!  When I read these verses, yet I believe that they can’t possibly apply to me, for whatever reason, I’m lacking humility, because I’m refusing to accept God’s Word as true, despite my feelings. You really are a woman of grace, a daughter of the King of Kings!

Being a woman of grace means that I relinquish the need to “fix” everything.  When my mom was in the hospital and I was in this position of feeling like I needed to fix this, I begged God to tell me what to do to make it all ok.  He spoke to me one day and said, “This is not about you.  If your mom is ready to come home, she will come home.”  He was helping me to understand that my will was not the guiding force in this situation.  It gave me relief to just let God be in control, and to let my mom go.  When I have to “fix” everything, that’s pride.  If I think my way is the only way, there’s no humility there, and I resist His grace. 

As I am humble before God and receive His grace, I am in turn able to give that grace away to those around me.  Hoarding up the grace stops the flow.  I can only behave as a woman of grace to the degree that I receive that grace from Him.   Let’s fling the door of humility wide open!   Let’s live our lives as women who are both empowered by and who radiate grace. 

We’d like to thank Sheri Warren for sharing this post.

Staring out that window, I was moved to tears. The snow was falling gently, the sun glistening across it, and all four of my children were playing happily with each other, smiles plastered across their faces. Snow days weren’t always this way. They used to be chaos. When my kids were between the ages of one and five, they all needed help getting dressed. Then they only liked being outside for approximately 2.5 minutes before they were back in, taking off the same clothes I had just helped them put on. Then one would hit another with a snowball, and all the crying. Snow days weren’t always this peaceful.

But that day, it was. And as I stared out the window, tears rolling down my cheeks, I remembered all of the ways that we fought for this. Peace is opposed. And it is especially opposed in our homes. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to achieve. Biblically, peace often means taking action to bring something back into peace. Because of sin, our entire lives are now in opposition to the Lord and His plans—in opposition to the peace that He has for us. And while we can see peace come about in our lives, and in our homes, we must fight for it.

One of the names of God is Jehovah Shalom—the Lord is Peace (Judges 6:24). HE IS PEACE. And if we want peace in our homes, we must invite Him in. Invite His presence in. When my kids were little, I remember days where it just seemed like our entire lives were ruled by chaos. Nothing would go right, and all I could hear was fussing, whining, crying, and at times, yelling. In those moments, there was only one way that I knew to restore peace—invite the presence of Jesus through worship. As soon as I started the worship music, the difference was immediate—peace overtook the atmosphere of our home, and the whining, fussing, and crying would end. Jesus himself is peace—and He brings peace to our homes.

What I have learned since then is there is another important element to having peace in our homes. That element is us. As women, we have a special duty to set the atmosphere in our homes. The old phrase is true: “if momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” But as Christian women, we have more hope than just in our happiness. We have our hope in Jesus. And despite our circumstances, we, as the women of our homes, have been given the authority in Him to set the tone. This means that we must let peace reign in our own hearts. If we aren’t at peace, we cannot bring our homes to peace.

In the midst of a passage on how to walk the Christian life, Paul tells us to “let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts” (Colossians 3:15). If we want peace in our homes, it has to start in our hearts. I’m not naturally a morning person, but I have been getting up earlier than my children for almost two years now. My only regret is that I didn’t start this practice sooner. When I rise in the mornings, I get my daily workout in without interruption, and then I have morning prayer time. One of the things that I pray every day is for the Kingdom of God to come in my life—His righteousness, His peace, and His joy. It took about a year, but one day, I looked up and realized that my home was much more peaceful than it had ever been. And it wasn’t because of a total lack of fighting, struggles, or general discord. It was because of the peace in my heart. I no longer felt overwhelmed when these ugly issues showed their heads. I was able to respond in peace and bring peace because I was at peace. Christ has established His peace in my heart, and therefore I am able to establish His peace in my home.

The world has no shortage of struggles for our homes. But Christ has no shortage of peace for our hearts. Fight for it. Fight for the peace in your home, and fight for the peace in your heart.

One day, you’ll get a snow day and realize it was all worth it.

We want to thank Brooke Kellum for sharing this post.

“And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.” Isaiah 32:17-18

Having a peaceful home has been a priority for me for almost eight years. However, that was not the case in the beginning of my marriage or in the first few years of having children. In those days, my home was filled with unmet expectations, bitterness, and the opposite of peace—chaos. Throughout high school and college, I had made plans and had an idea of what I wanted the rest of my life to look like. I would go to nursing school, become an RN, and if I had kids, they would go to daycare until they were ready for school. Even after marriage, I continued with the plans that I had decided for my life. That is, until the Lord spoke to my husband and said that we were supposed to do something different as a family. 

In all honesty, the Lord had put this on my heart as well; I had just decided to ignore it. I felt like my dreams weren’t important and like all I had accomplished at school was for nothing. Our home and my heart were full of bitterness and resentment. It wasn’t until I finally decided to submit to the Lord and to my husband that things began to change. What I have come to realize in the years since then is that peace in the home begins with submission.

In my case, this looked like submitting to the order of the family that God had designed. It meant submitting to my husband as the head of our household and submitting to what God had chosen our family dynamic to look like. As I surrendered my old dreams and ideas to Jesus, he replaced them with new dreams and joy in being the keeper of my home. Through submission, I began to experience true peace in my marriage and my household. 

There are still some days that feel more chaotic than peaceful. I have noticed that those are the days I focus on my own plans for how my day is going to go. I wake up and forget to first start the day by submitting my mind, will, and emotions to the Lord. No matter what life brings our way, we can still experience his perfect peace. God’s Word says, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand” (Proverbs 19:21).

We also need to remember that peace is a person. To experience peace in our home, we must invite peace (Jesus) in. Where peace resides, chaos is not welcome! Women (whether they work outside of the home or not) have the privilege of being the keeper of the home and therefore the ones who cultivate peace. Cultivating peace in our home is like tending a garden. We must be intentional with what we allow into our home and weed out the things that do not need to be there. May we be women who fight for peace in our homes, even if that first looks like surrendering our hearts to the Prince of Peace.

We want to thank Courtney Harper for sharing this post.

The dictionary defines peace this way: “freedom from disturbance; tranquility.”  But notice that definition does not tell you how to attain it and for sure not how to keep it once it is found.

Let me share with you what I have learned about peace.  If you have never had peace, you don’t know that you don’t have it.  I was fifty years old before I experienced it for the first time.  My life up to that point had been a rollercoaster of ups and downs and bad choices.  I had been a Christian for eighteen years and had experienced many aspects of the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23).  But the fruit of peace had been missing.

When I met Dan, and we began our relationship, we both were very wounded from past failed relationships.  But I soon realized that there was something different about this friendship that was turning into something very special.  We were experiencing peace for the first time ever.

Once we realized what it was, we began to guard it.  Peace became the foundation for our relationship.  Now, after thirty years, we have not found anything that is worth losing our peace.

When there is a disagreement, we both back off to our neutral corners, and instead of thinking how right we are, we look for what we did or said wrong.  Then we come back together in a spirit of repentance with apologies and asking for forgiveness.  The result is that our peace is still there.

However, what if you are “right,” and you can prove it?  That is the time that you can choose to come into agreement (Matthew 18:19-20) and totally defuse the whole situation.

When we are wrong, we usually know it.  If we are wrong, and the other person is willing to submit, it relieves the pressure and gives us the opportunity to re-think and ask ourselves, “How important is this?”  But when it’s all about winning or being “right,” even when we are wrong, we can never admit it.  If it’s about winning or being “right,” we have to defend our position, even when we know we are wrong.  If it’s about winning, remember…the one who apologizes first wins.

But it’s NOT about winning OR being right.  It’s about peace.

When you find peace, guard it with all your might.  Nothing is worth losing your peace—NOTHING!

When there is conflict, and the battle lines are drawn, both sides begin to defend their position.  So, let’s say you do a really good job, and you WIN!  What have you really won if your relationship is damaged?

I have learned that when there is an opportunity to enter into battle with your spouse, and the objective is to win at all cost, you will leave your spouse bloody and defeated.  Let me remind you this is the one that you vowed to “love, honor, and obey,” not to mention that you became “one flesh” with in God’s eyes.  Look at Mark 10:7-8: “For this reason a man will leave his parents and be wedded to his wife.  And the husband and wife will be joined as one flesh, and after that they no longer exist as two, but one flesh” (TPT).  Could we say that fighting with your spouse is like punching yourself in the face?  

Make a conscious decision to live in peace in all your relationships. Then guard that peace jealously.  Let me say it again…When you find peace, guard it with all your might.  Nothing is worth losing your peace—NOTHING!

We want to thank Di Zeigler for sharing this post.

I have always had the mantra “Work smarter, not harder”. I would much rather do things faster and more efficiently. I want things done yesterday, and I will process every possible solution to a problem before I start to accomplish the given task. I analyze, or maybe better said, I overthink, because I don’t want to waste time or energy. But here’s the thing about life. Sometimes harder is smarter. Sometimes God chooses to take His time in leading us through the hard, because He knows the work done will not just get us from point A to point B, but will transform us into the women He wants us to be. 

My life has always seemed to revolve around waiting. Whether it was waiting for the right group of friends, waiting for the man I would call my husband, waiting for a family, or waiting for the feelings of inadequateness to go away, God always seems to do the most work in my heart when I am forced to slow down and just wait. I haven’t always been the most patient waiter, either. 

I find the story of Sarah in Genesis a perfect example of waiting gone wrong. Sarah, then Sarai, wanted more than anything a child. The longing and the waiting was too much, and after 10 years of waiting for God to give her His promised child, she couldn’t stand it any longer. She chose to allow her husband to sleep with one of her servants, in hopes that through her getting pregnant, that maybe it would fulfill the longing she had for a child. Sarah believed the lie that I think we all believe when the journey is taking longer than we think it should. She believed that God was holding out on her. 

When we zoom out of Sarah’s story and get a birds-eye view of the journey of Sarah’s life, what we find is the truth. 

“By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.” Hebrews 11:11 

God wasn’t wasting Sarah’s time or delighting in her misery. He was doing surgery. He was removing all the doubt that had built up in her heart, so that she could have a deeply rooted faith in Him. Hebrews says that she “considered him faithful”. She depended on the promise when the journey seemed bleak; impossible even. God wants our journey to result in great, unshakeable faith in Him, but that takes time. It takes intentional working out of the unbelief in our hearts. If you find yourself stuck in the journey, ask God what parts of your heart need to find Him faithful.

We want to thank Savanna Rodriguez for sharing this post.  

I once was asked by my nephew if I thought I would be the same person if I wasn’t a Christian.  I didn’t even have to think about that question.  I absolutely knew that I would not even come close to being the same person.  I didn’t have a clue who I would be or what my life would look like if I didn’t know Jesus and have him in my life, and I wouldn’t want to know.  Everything good in my life was because of Jesus.  

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 

2 Cor. 5:17

I had a pretty rough childhood, and even though we weren’t avid churchgoers, I always felt Jesus’ presence, especially when home life was scary.  I sometimes would hide from my dad on weekends to escape his wrath, and I always felt someone was there with me.   

At the age of thirteen I accepted Jesus as my Savior.  That was when I knew the Lord was the comfort I had always felt.  

My life was still in an uproar.  My circumstances didn’t change when I came to know the Lord, but I had peace knowing that I had a heavenly Father.  I knew that whatever happened to me, I was not alone, nor was I unloved.

Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Hebrews 13:5

I got married at the age of sixteen.  I thought life had finally become normal.  I was elated knowing that someone loved me and I loved him.  I was happy.  Life was like a fairytale. We never argued.  Life was the way I had only dreamed it could be.  After less than three years of marriage, my husband came in one day and told me he was engaged to a lady that worked for him.  My utopia crumbled.   Still, even in my despair, I felt the presence of the Lord and knew everything would work out.  

I moved back to Plainview and tried to begin a fresh new life.  It wasn’t long before I met Bobby.  He was going through a similar situation.  His wife left him and we understood each other’s pain.  We got married and have been together for 45 years.  There have been lots of ups and downs, but we are a cord of three strands.  God is at the center of our lives, and He has seen us through the good times and the bad.

In September 2018, I found out I had breast cancer.   It was really strange when I was given that diagnosis.  I wasn’t scared.  I thought something was wrong with me for not being afraid.  I was certain I would be okay.  I didn’t know what the future would hold, but I knew Who held my future. 

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11

I don’t think I have ever been as close to the Lord as during that time.  I had a couple of friends who had breast cancer and were going through treatments at the same time I was.  They have both passed away, both with peace, knowing who held their future as well.  

Jesus has held true to his promise that he would never leave me or forsake me.

We want to thank Naomi Jones for sharing this post.

When life’s journey involves a scorching desert or thorny briar, it is not human to celebrate the trial. It is not natural to be pleased with pain – that’s a psychological disorder, actually. Yet James begins and ends with an exhortation to endure with joy and patience when facing trials of many kinds (James 1:3-4 and 5:11). Why? Trials test faith producing endurance, steadfastness, and perseverance. Those lead to maturity, completeness, humility, a crown of life. 

The original Greek words for this perseverance goes beyond surviving pathetically, whining until being scooped out of the briar patch unscathed. “Hypmeno” in both noun and verb form implies bearing trials, having fortitude, enduring patiently, suffering, abiding. The “meno” part, abiding, elicits the idea of staying, dwelling, resting. In my mind, this would occur in pleasant places, in tranquil alcoves with a brook peacefully trickling by – not the concept of remaining under trial! Not through a test of faith! Yet the endurance is a result of faithfully facing trials. Interestingly, the Greek word for testing, “Dokimion,” implies trustworthiness. A testing of metal or a gem ensures its authenticity and quality. A testing of one’s faith reveals its trustworthiness. 

Through adversity, a trustworthiness of faith abides. 

My life’s journey has included sanctuaries of tranquility where God’s words, planted in my heart, produced the character of Christ. Running in my lane, where God has called me, has also led me through a dust storm so intense that the light seemed blocked out, so thick that if, given over to my flesh, my faith could have suffocated. Yet God’s word was a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Psalm 119:105).  

With scripture as my “forward and rear guard” (Isaiah 52:12), my faith grows with a testimony of God’s trustworthiness through any terrain – peaceful or scorchingly barren. Caring for my mother-in-law through her battle with colon cancer involved a maturing of faith, humility, and surrender.

This season involved faith with works. Works of service, of driving to doctor’s appointments, of changing colostomy bags, of being faithfully present. Faith to pray for healing, knowing that God’s healing might not look like I so desired. Faith that God’s ways were better than my desires. Faith that – though I never received a word that it would happen this way – that God could remove the protruding mass and restore Momma’s physical strength. Faith to pray for physical healing – though the peace remained in knowing that spiritual, eternal healing triumphs over the finite, physical restoration. Faith that, though not caused by Him, God would and will use this horrific disease for His good and His glory. Faith to release her from the physical fight. Faith in clinging to the hope of eternal life in Christ. 

This season involved humility. Humility in asking for help. Humility in receiving meals rather than delivering them. Humility in shampooing carpets. Humility, praying in the Spirit when I didn’t know what to pray or how to pray. Humility in asking my children’s and husband’s forgiveness after outbursts of anger in response to an accusation. 

This season involved surrender. Surrender of anger, of unforgiveness. Surrender of control. Surrender of pride knowing that there was absolutely nothing I could do to will the mass to shrink – no amount of sleepless nights; no amount of money; no amount of prayer. Surrender to eternal healing rather than extended temporal time here. 

Walking through this sand-blasting season tested my faith, tested my tongue, tested my willingness to surrender my will to God’s sovereign will. With my belief anchored in the wisdom and love and truth of God, time and again, His word, hidden in my heart, reminded me of His steadfast love and goodness. Some days, my flesh would rather have remained immature without enduring loss; yet, in the same way that a child who doesn’t grow and mature is not healthy, a believer who doesn’t grow and mature through trials is not spiritually healthy, either. The Word hidden in my heart in seasons of tranquility sustains and guides my journey. Let us make the most of every opportunity to walk in the light, in truth, in wisdom, in joy as we endure trials of many kinds. Let us give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His love endures forever. (Psalm 136)

We want to thank Mary Coleman for sharing this post.

“Don’t stop Beliving……” Any time I hear the word Journey, this song always pops into my head – not the whole song – just the hook.  It’s so catchy! 

When I think about all the various journeys in the Bible, I feel like the people would have been humming the same tune. Take Abraham for example:  God told him to leave all his possessions behind and GO, only to go to the place He would show him. Abraham was not given the exact destination.   He and his family just had to believe God would provide. Along this journey, he and Sarah were also on another journey to parenthood. Sarah longed for a baby until she reached such an elderly age, and at one point even lost all hope. But God told her, “Don’t stop believing!” This would ultimately give them Isaac. Abraham would then set out on a journey up Mount Moriah to sacrifice that one son who was promised to him, totally distraught and uncertain of what might lie ahead. Again, God told him “Don’t stop believing!” 

A New Testament example would be Peter. He’s a journey all his own! At one point he is fishing with his brother, a journey to provide for his family. They were disappointed in their gatherings and were ready to give up, but Jesus appeared, again saying “Don’t stop believing!  Cast your nets to the other side and be filled!”

On The Road to Emmaus, Jesus was there, in the midst of two men who loved him dearly. They had given up, they had “stopped believing.”  Jesus didn’t reveal Himself at first. He so tenderly let them talk. He allowed them to share what was on their hearts and minds, to expose their disappointments in what they had believed all along to be true. Once they reached their destination, sitting down for a meal, Jesus blessed the meal and disappeared. This was a physical manifestation to encourage us to never stop believing. It is true! 

There are so many different types of Journeys, Physical Journeys. Location related Journeys, Psychological Journey, Emotional Journey, Spiritual Journey, Journey towards Maturity…….the list could go on and on. 

My personal family has had many journeys of parenthood, financial freedom, sabbatical, and transitional in regards to career, none of which we could have gotten through if we ever stopped believing. God had to be the center. He had to be the first! Today, I was helping my kids with a devotional and at the bottom it said “and lastly, go to the Lord in prayer.” While I understood the concept of what this particular book was trying to address, it was a teachable moment to show our boys, we go to God First! If He is the leader of our Journey and we never stop believing and following his direction, we will finish each journey with the ability to look behind us and see His guiding hands of love and protection through it all.

We want to thank Ashton Riddle for sharing this post.

Journey – An Act of Traveling From One Place to Another…..

Throughout our lives people and relationships come and go. Some relationships last a lifetime, others, only a season or two.

With each season, as relationships change, we too are changed. Our hearts, minds and emotions are affected. We can either be positively affected and our hearts rejoice or negatively affected and our hearts become hard and closed off.

How we deal with these changes will be a witness to others of where we are in our relationship with Jesus.

On our journey we have one constant. If Jesus is Savior and Lord of your life, then that relationship never ends! It will always be changing, but it will be because we’re growing and maturing as we move into a deeper more intimate relationship with Him.

So in this journey, as we travel from one relationship to another, as people move in and out of our lives, do they see Jesus?

I know for myself it’s been a real challenge! The way God wired me, once I open my heart to someone, I am all in. I’m completely committed and will fight with everything I have in me to protect and nurture that relationship. I love and care deeply. So when a season comes to an end, a part of me dies with the changes that take place.

I’m still learning that in my walk with Jesus and others, I must love and care with a surrendered heart and open hands! I’m called by Jesus to love no matter what, for as long as He asks me to do so.

We must come to a place in our relationships that we get used to different. God is very creative and He needs our obedience to Him so He can move through us and draw others to Himself.

So as you travel from one place in your life journey to another, remember, time spent with Jesus and nurturing that relationship will spill over into the lives of the people He brings into our lives, whether it’s for a lifetime or simply a season. Be moldable, teachable, surrendered, soft hearted and obedient and abide in His love.

“Love one another as I have loved you…” John 13:34

“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. “  John 17:9

Jesus’ whole ministry was immersed in the relationships He had. Some were only for a season, others for a lifetime. First with His Father in Heaven, then with His parents, Joseph and Mary. Next were all of the disciples and the others who followed Him. However, the example I treasure in my heart, comes from His prayer in the garden just before He was arrested. He saw me and He saw us from the beginning. He prayed for us to have a relationship with Him. Though only for a season, while He walked the Earth, they will last a lifetime in Heaven.

Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV)

“This then, is how you should pray: 

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

We would like to thank Janie Keller for sharing this post.