Author: hcfwomen

“ …and this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ- to the glory and praise of God.” Phil. 1:9-11

In this prayer of Paul and in 2 Peter we are called, as children of the Heavenly Father, to pursue the moral excellence of God’s will. To become a reflection of Jesus. I don’t know about you, but this would scare me into not even trying if it stopped there. But we have been given all the promises of God, and His Spirit living within us, to help us accomplish the purpose for which He has called us.

  “ …and if someone takes your cloak, do not withhold your tunic as well.” Luke 6:29

My father had the reputation of following this principle. People would say of him “… if you ask Joe Bontke for the shirt off his back, he would also give you his coat, pants and shoes as well.” He gave whatever he had to help someone in need. Family, neighbors, and acquaintances were always borrowing money, farm equipment, whatever they needed and not returning it or bringing it back broken. I never saw my father angry or worried. My mother would be the one to be upset and angry, telling him he was being taken advantage of and that they were just using him. Dad would just say, “it’s going to be okay, it will all work out”.

I would love to say I take after my father, but truth is I am more like my mother. I did marry a man like my father. Stewart is a good example of the pursuit of moral excellence. He believes and lives, that whatever you do, do it with all your heart, as to the Lord and not to man. Colossians 3:23.

Moral excellence is not merely a matter of what is good over what is bad, but what excels and is best. Going that extra mile. Doing what is right even when no one is looking. It is wanting God‘s will in every area of our life. This includes values, attitudes, priorities, goals, or purposes, how we live and act in our homes, at the office, at church, in our community, one’s hobbies and entertainment.

People are watching us in how we speak, how we act and how we live our lives. The old saying that we might be the only Bible some people will ever read, is true.

A few years ago our son-in-law, Matt Gilleland, came to share with us how God had blessed him at his work that day. Matt was manager of a fertilizer chemical company here in Plainview. One of their trucks broke down around the Clarendon area. It was late in the afternoon and Matt was not able to find a mechanic willing to go check the truck to see if it could be fixed. He had about given up but had one more lead. This man also said no, but while visiting with Matt found that his family farm was next to my family farm. He told Matt of how good my father was to them and how they had been helped so many times. My father left a legacy for his family and his granddaughter’s husband received one of the blessings.

   “… do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” Rom.12:1-2

How do we have our mind renewed? We asked the Holy Spirit to fill us, give us faith, wisdom and understanding. We receive the truth of knowing how much we are loved by our Heavenly Father and who we are in Christ. We meditate and study His Word, and this grows our relationship with Him. This is a lifelong journey, not a short weekend trip.

I want to be a reflection of Jesus and leave a beautiful legacy for my family. I never want anyone to wonder if I’m a Christian, but to know without a doubt that I am! When I pass from this life, I want to hear these words from my Heavenly Father “WELL DONE DAUGHTER! WELCOME HOME.”

We would like to thank Elaine Norrell for sharing this post.

You asked, and we answered! Over the next few weeks we will be sharing some of the questions that were submitted during our 2022 Harvest Women’s Retreat, and the answers from some of the women in our church.

Check out this video to hear Laura Brandenburg answer this question:

“How do you stay faithful in the storm? I’m struggling to get pregnant and want to keep the faith, but I get discouraged.”

My prayers of late come from a place of brokenness, a place of earnest, a place of longing for the nearness of God.

In my study of diligence, I discovered that it means so much more than working hard. I’ve done that my entire life as I grew up in good ol’ West Texas. I know how to work hard. But lately, the hard work has felt more like running in a hamster wheel, sweaty, futile. From a place of requirement rather than from a place of the heart.

2 Peter 1:5 speaks of adding to our faith with “all diligence” the attributes of godliness that follow. I love the rich language of the word diligence. We are to seek God not merely with hard work, but with every effort, with diligence which is sincere and conscientious. Strongs concordance explains the Greek word as “earnest swiftness…we need to quickly and carefully and intensely prioritize God’s truth, adding His attributes to our faith.”

Earnest is “sincere and intense conviction;” it’s real and undeniable; it’s passionate and authentic.

Diligence is “careful and persistent work or effort” or “having or showing care and conscientiousness in one’s work or duties”

Therefore, we need to work with sincere and thorough care when it comes to increasing in the attributes of God. It’s an act of faith, not of works.

The conviction of this word and the prompting of the Spirit have been ruminating in my heart in this personal season of healing and restoration. I have known the nearness of God. I have walked with Him in faith. I have hurt. I have numbed out emotionally to keep from feeling pain-not with substances, but with work some days. With social media some days. With brainless games that help me “unwind” at the end of the day. But it doesn’t only numb the pain. It also numbs the joy. It robs delight. It robs me being fully present with my family, with my friends.

In a moment of quiet, while watering my garden, I prayed a prayer that is vulnerable because it reveals the state of my heart. “More than a move of location, I need a move of the Spirit. May I always seek Him first. May I have a passion about my calling again. May the jaded edges be refined and may hope reside in my heart again.” It’s not that I want to return to the same closeness that I’ve experienced with God in the past. It’s that I long for my heart to beat with His-like a transplant. My very existence depends on Him.

I shared this prayer with a dear friend. She replied, “that we would all pray that prayer with as much sincerity” as me, but honestly, that sincerity comes from a place of utter longing. When we are saved we rejoice because God through the sacrifice of Jesus has taken our utter depravity, our entire incapability of overcoming sin on our own, and He gifts us with, He graces us with, salvation. When we acknowledge our need, how much greater is the satiation of that need?

My initial internal response to her was the desire that no one would experience the pain that provoked such sincerity. And yet, we all already have experienced that pain-the pain of distance from God. Since the fall of mankind in the garden of Eden, we all have.

Diligence looks like hard work, but it’s not. It’s not hard because it is sincere, it’s careful, it’s conscientious. Adam and Eve worked before sin entered the world. Work is good, but it doesn’t have to be hard. May we all diligently pursue the heart of God.

We would like to thank Mary Coleman for sharing this post.

You asked, and we answered! Over the next few weeks we will be sharing some of the questions that were submitted during our 2022 Harvest Women’s Retreat, and the answers from some of the women in our church.

Check out this video to hear Bambi Lutrick answer this question: How do you surrender to your husband when you are struggling with his reasons for leading you in that direction? (Not ungodly leadership, but inconsistent leadership)

Growing up in the church, I regularly heard the word diligence, “be like the ‘dilig-ANT’ Dad would say”, or I’d read “…go to the ant you sluggard (lazy bones) observe her ways and be wise…no one has to tell them what to do…so wake up sleepyhead…”(Proverbs 6:6) Diligence meant working hard, doing what needs to be done and not being lazy! “See a need, fill a need” was a quote from the movie ‘ROBOTS’, that ran through my head constantly. I became very work oriented. If I wasn’t working hard, I wasn’t pleasing my parents, friends, employers, and more importantly God!

My family was a part of a ministry that taught families how to become Character Families. Achieving true success by applying the Character Qualities of Jesus Christ, to life. We taught scriptures, songs, and stories to help them understand each character quality and how to display it. The opposite of diligence is slothfulness – such a negative picture, in my mind, of what we looked like if we weren’t working hard and going, going, going! 

Diligence was defined as ‘Accepting each task as a special assignment from the Lord and using all my energies to do it quickly and skillfully.” Problem was, I lost sight of the ‘assignment from the Lord” part and just accepted every task given to me, and used all my energy to do it quickly and skillfully. I became a “yes woman” (and to be completely honest, I married a “yes man”). Looking back, I realize, that I am STILL very works based. If my kids are not DOING something productive, I tend to give them a job or get onto them asking, “what could you be doing to help?” Sometimes I’ve even seen my husband sitting on his phone, not doing anything productive (in my opinion) and feel resentment in my heart about all the things that need to be done and wonder why he isn’t helping! I had begun to get exhausted as I took on tasks, not wanting to say yes, but saying yes to please people anyway. 

I know there are many of you reading this that feel the same way. As a wife and mum of 5 who homeschools, has a baking business, and helps run a children’s ministry (insert here whatever it is you regularly do), it feels like the work is never done and that we don’t have time to be lazy! “I’ve got to get the kids to this, that or the other sport/school/church event! I’ve got to do this, that or the other thing for my coworker/family member/friend.” Let me encourage you to think about it from a different perspective: God has given me opportunities to be diligent and to do everything I do, with my whole heart, as if I’m doing it for the Lord— seeing every task and activity in life as an assignment specifically from Him and using ALL my energy to do it quickly and skillfully—FOR HIM. Finish the dishes AND wipe the counters-FOR HIM. Teach your children to put their toys and clothes away AND pick up the rubbish—FOR HIM. Demonstrate to them, by example, how to change their perspective.

I’m learning that no one else may ever notice OR care about the work we do as wives, mothers and employees… in some instances it’s even expected-that’s what you’re SUPPOSED to do. BUT GOD! God notices! God cares! God SEES us! If WE can see our day to day activities as individual assignments FROM GOD to grow our character and see Him as our ‘employer’, we don’t need to worry if others don’t recognize what we do for them, nor do we need to wonder whether we are appreciated or be concerned when we are overlooked or taken for granted. Instead, we can be motivated to fulfill the instruction of Ecclesiastes 9:10 “whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…” 

Let’s change our perspective to the Lord’s. Let’s take on our daily tasks with the motivation of love and an attitude of joy, and see them as opportunities to serve and be a witness for the Lord. Let’s ask Jesus to be Lord over each aspect of our day, to help us see that ultimately it is He who we are serving, and that with a changed perspective we CAN be content and do every task as if Jesus Himself asked us to do it for Him! We CAN do ALL things through Him who gives us the strength and the empowering of the Holy Spirit to do it.

Am I doing this _____ as if I’m doing it for the Lord Himself and not merely for others? (Colossians 3:23) The DOING of the work is a given. It’s a constant; it doesn’t end. The HEART of the work, the ATTITUDE in which it is done, is the key. THIS is the part that God cares about…and that we should care about.

We would like to thank Bree Elam for sharing this post.

I have a 3-year-old daughter who is full of life, FULL of questions, and watches just about everything I do. Anyone relate? 

The other day, I found myself pressing pause on the never-ending task list running through my brain to sit down and color with Charis for 10 minutes. She opened the coloring book to a spot where there were 2 blank coloring pages right next to each other – one for me and one for her – and began carefully coloring. Sometimes she likes to be silly and scribble all over the page, but most of the time, she’s pretty careful to color inside the lines because she has someone in mind that she wants to give her picture to when she’s finished. As we color, she asks me 50 questions about why I’m coloring the flowers purple and the girl’s shoes red, and any other “why” that crosses her mind. Then she says “Mommy, ask me why I’m coloring inside the lines.” I oblige, and she answers, “Because, ‘Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for man. – Colossians 3:23.’” Wow! I celebrated that she’s applying God’s Word to her life in her own little 3-year-old way, encouraged her, and then heard her little voice echoing this scripture in my head the rest of the day.

Life and motherhood are full of opportunities for sanctification, aren’t they? There’s nothing that will spur you on toward Godliness like having your child understand, live out, and speak a biblical Truth that you still sometimes struggle with well into your walk with the Lord.

If I’m being honest, I’m easily distracted. Sometimes I lose sight of the greater picture in the middle of all the things I do daily that seem mundane, tedious, repetitive, unnoticed, and even meaningless. And when I allow my feelings to distract me from the bigger picture, I can easily fall into a pattern of working half-heartedly or even begrudgingly.

Sometimes, though, all it takes is a simple reminder from my preschooler for my heart to remember that I’m a partaker of God’s divine nature and have been given everything I need for life and godliness.

His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 

2 Peter 1:3-4

Diligence is part of God’s very nature and is foundational to my spiritual growth.

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:5-8

When we work diligently, everyone in our life benefits. It brings peace to our own lives, serves those around us in a way that makes them feel the love of the Father, and brings Glory and Honor to God, the One who created us in His image and prepared for us good works to be done while we’re here on Earth (Ephesians 2:10).

When I remember this, I can work wholeheartedly in everything I do, as if I’m working for the Lord and not for man, because I really am working for the Lord and not for man.

When I’m diligent in disciplining my daughter, I’m working as God’s agent for her good and for His glory.

When I’m diligent to keep my home in order, I’m working for the Lord so that my home is a place where my family and others experience the peace of His presence.

When I work diligently in my job, I’m representing His excellence to my sphere of influence and drawing those around me to Jesus. 

Elisabeth Elliot, a missionary, author, speaker, and woman of incredible wisdom, summed it up this way:

This job has been given to me to do. Therefore, it is a gift. Therefore, it is a privilege. Therefore, it is an offering I may make to God. Therefore, it is to be done gladly, if it is done for Him. Here, not somewhere else, I may learn God’s way. In this job, not in some other, God looks for faithfulness.

So I want to encourage you today like Charis encouraged me: Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for man.

Because you really are working for the Lord.

We would like to thank Catherine Dunn for sharing this post.

You asked, and we answered! Over the next few weeks we will be sharing some of the questions that were submitted during our 2022 Harvest Women’s Retreat, and the answers from some of the women in our church.

Just because we are older doesn’t mean it’s too late to use the gifts God has given us.  I’ve found that in different seasons of my life, I have been able to use different gifts.  Maybe you think you have wasted your gifts, when really, you have just been using gifts doing the things that you were called on to do at that point in your life.  For example, as a mom, I used the gifts of administration or service many times, organizing my children’s activities and providing for their needs.  Now that my kids are grown, I have the chance to apply those gifts to other areas of life, like church or volunteer work.  So, my gifts were not wasted when they were used in my family.  I believe that spiritual gifts are useful in all areas of our lives, not just at church.

Sometimes getting a little older gives me more time to practice using some gifts that I hadn’t explored before.  Being older brings with it lots of experiences that have (hopefully) developed some wisdom.  Because I have been through some things in life, I can offer encouragement and empathize with women who are just now experiencing them.  I have testimonies that I can share.  I have had a longer relationship with the Holy Spirit to understand some things that I did not understand earlier in life.

If you do not know what your gifts are, look at the things you are drawn to.  Do you love to give to people?  Do you enjoy organizing things?  Do you enjoy working with children or babies?  Do you thrive on Bible study or telling others about Jesus?  What you enjoy can give you a clue to your spiritual gifts.  Also, ask your best friend or your husband what they see that you are good at.  They can often recognize your giftedness when you have overlooked it.  

If you think you might have a gift but are not sure, why not just try it?  Step out of your comfort zone and take a chance – just once.  You might be surprised at the outcome.  Take a turn at serving in Kid City.  Offer to help by cooking or serve on the greeter team.  Offer to pray for people and write them an encouraging note.  If something grabs your interest, go for it!  You may think that your gift is not an important one, but EVERY gift is worth celebrating.  And it’s never too late to get started.

We would like to thank Sheri Warren for answering this question.

What comes to mind when you hear the word Diligence?

I think of the ant that works away during the summer…I felt like a joyful ant growing up. 

When I was 5 years old, my family would wake up and get dressed at 4:00am, and we’d drive to work the cotton fields.  I would run through the fields carrying jugs of water and placing them strategically under tall weeds to keep cool.  I would go back to grab the hoe and help my family work so we could help the beautiful West Texas cotton thrive without weeds hindering their growth.

My mother was a single mom, and I was her only child until I was a teenager. My grandmother lived with us, whom I lovingly called mom as well, and she practically raised me while my mother worked.  She had twelve children, and some lived with us.  

I sometimes think about how both of my mom’s worked hard all their lives. They were diligent women.

I didn’t get a chance to meet my father until I was older, although I did have eight wonderful uncles that taught me how to tell time, gave me lots of quarters to buy stuff, took me fishing and let me listen to Mr. Roboto by Styx, George Strait, and Neil Diamond – why?  Those apparently were some of my favorites!  My uncles also showed me how they worked hard at their jobs, and they loved softball.  There were so many other endearing memories that were made growing up in a big family.  These were diligent men in my life.

Maybe you wonder like I have – what does it mean to be a diligent person?

Diligent comes from the Latin diligere, which means ‘to value highly, take delight in,’ but in English it has always meant careful and hard-working.  If you’re a diligent worker, you don’t just bang away at your job; you earnestly try to do everything right.

The Bible defines diligence as: “the effort to do one’s part while keeping faith and reliance on God.  In other words, diligence and faith are two sides of the mystery.  One does not know how, despite one’s effort, it all works out; but diligence when combined with faith, assures spiritual success.”

I love to work! I love to be diligent in my work! I take delight in it. I love to display beauty and to exhort others. I love people and I love to let them know, without a doubt, that they are seen, valued, and loved! I’ve come to find out that although hard work is good and I’ve spent most of my life being diligent in most things, the most vital things to be diligent in, are the things that God wants for you and has for you.

I didn’t always have that.  I’ve had great examples of secular hard work.  I didn’t grow up in the church, but since the moment I gave my life to Jesus, I have never turned away.  I am diligent in my love for Jesus! Knowing that He would never fail me, leave me, or turn from me is what has sustained me. I’ve had many moments where I found myself learning about biblical diligence and truths that I had never seen modeled.  Ecclesiastes 3:1, says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens…”

In 2018, God taught me to be diligent in my rest.  I’ve worked hard all my life and the game changer happened while attending Gateway’s Conference.  I had tears running down my face because Robert Morris’ story – being near death’s door—mirrored my story just the year before.  We were both healed, by the grace of God.  I remember hearing how God commands us – not requests, but commands us— to rest.  I now rest diligently.

It’s very important to find balance.  Sometimes you must pour more into your marriage, children, or work, but always— yes, always— find time to rest.  You are honoring God not only with your body, but with your heart, mind, and soul when you rest.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the human heart…”

Scripture is so important in our day to day lives and I’ve held onto Romans 12:9-11 during different seasons of my life.  It says, “Let love be without hypocrisy.  Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.  Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.”

I’d like to leave you with this important truth…spend time with Jesus and ask Him what he wants you to be diligent in during this season of your life.  The Holy Spirit is faithful in hearing and guiding you. God is good, all the time! I pray that your heart becomes diligent – able to make better what has been found in your due season of faith and to take delight in it.  God can saturate you with joy in doing the hard things.

I hope, while you’ve read this that you’ve been able to grasp a bit about me, how I grew up and what my heart is. My encouragement for you is to live out what Matthew 22:37 says, “Love your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul.”  

Grow and be diligent in new things.  Go from glory to glory.  Much love to you my sweet friends!

We would like to thank Mandy Villarreal for writing this post.

This month, we’ve been talking about Knowledge from 2 Peter 1:3-8.  

I’m going to get a little nerdy as we think about what hinders God’s divine knowledge. Philosophically speaking, there are four levels of knowledge:

1. What I know I know. 
2. What I know I don’t know. 
3. What I don’t know but think I know. 
4. What I don’t know I don’t know. 

Let’s toss out Number 4 because these are unknowable, right? If we don’t know we don’t know, then we don’t know. 😊

But what do we know? What do we not know? And what do we think we know, but don’t actually know? 

I can wallow in the 2 and 3 here. I can get frustrated by what I don’t know. And I can get stuck in a place where I think I know better. 

One of our twins struggled with eating from the very beginning. She started losing weight in the hospital, like all babies do, but she lost more than 10% in her first few days and that’s not normal, so we knew pretty early on that she wasn’t getting enough to eat. 

We knew there was a problem. And if you know me, I’m like let’s find a solution! 

Me and Google. We’re going to figure this thing out, right? 

There’s no peace in that, unfortunately.

And it leads to Number 3—where I think I know, but I don’t actually know. 

So I pushed and pushed and around seven weeks, Halle was finally diagnosed with a tongue tie. But she had some other issues as well, and so we had to wait to get it resolved. 

And I wish I could say I was patient. I wish I could say I just trusted that the doctor and other specialists working with her knew better, that they knew what they were doing. 

But the truth is, I just stewed for three more weeks, struggling through seven feedings a day—about seven hours of my day spent trying to will my sweet, colic-y baby into eating. And all the while thinking, if only they’d fix this tongue tie, she would be better. Nothing else we’re trying is working. 

I KNOW if they would just do the procedure, she’d be better. 

Then, we got Halle’s tongue tie fixed around 10 weeks. And it made a teeny tiny improvement in her eating, but not really in her weight gain. 

I thought I knew. But I didn’t actually know. 

James 4:6 says that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. 

Do you know what pride is? It’s when we think we know better. When we think we know everything, God opposes us. And He leaves us there until we figure out that we need to surrender to His knowledge and His sovereignty. 

“I don’t know, but you know” has become one of my almost daily prayers. 

If I focus on what I don’t know, I’m frustrated. If I focus on what I think I know, I’m fooled. But if I focus on Him, I am fulfilled. 

We only have to know the One who knows it all. 

We surrender what we don’t know, or what we think we know, and we humble ourselves before the One who knows. We press in to know Him more.

And so that’s what I did. And true to His word, God met me. And in his graciousness, he gave me a word of knowledge about Halle. Since then He’s given me two prophetic words about her. 

These are not medical diagnoses. They are insights into her heart and her soul and have directed the way that I pray for her and for me. 

Sometimes we have to surrender what we think we know in order to get God’s divine knowledge, in order to be reminded of who He is and what He has accomplished for us and what we can do through Him. 

What unknowns are you facing right now? 

Maybe you’re in the midst of a big decision, and you don’t know which path to take. 

Maybe you’ve got a child who is struggling in this season, and you don’t know how to help them. You would fix it if you could, but you just don’t know. 

Maybe you’re waiting on a promise. You’re waiting on a word God has given you. You don’t know when He’ll fulfill it. You don’t know why it hasn’t happened yet.

God knows. 

Wherever you find yourself, God already knows. He knows you intimately. He knows your situation intimately. He knows all your doubts and your fears and your anxiety. He even knows when you think you know better. 

So, we can just lay it all down and take refuge in this truth: We only have to know the One who knows it all. 

We would like to thank Laura Brandenburg for writing this post.

Philippians 1:9-11 I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding.  For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.  May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation – the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus – for this will bring much glory and praise to God.  

Knowledge is the condition of knowing something through experience. Experience is the key – knowledge is easily confused with preparation.  

We can read, research, and learn about something all day long – but until we actually dive in and give it a try we will never have actual knowledge on a subject, whatever it may be.  

Think of a mom – pregnant for the first time: we read all the books, have all the apps, gather all the baby gear – this is preparation. Knowledge grows as you experience the baby’s behavior and must adapt, adjust, and truly learn how to care for the child moment to moment, day to day, year to year. 

Think of school/college/training – we go to class, read the textbooks, do the assignments, pass the tests – this is preparation. Knowledge grows in the real-time work experiences, dealing with people, unforeseen circumstances, working through disasters and victories.

The same is true of our walk with God. Daily we should be reading the Word, praying for guidance, seeking truth, guarding our hearts, listening to the Spirit…. this is preparation.  

When we have prepared and trials come, and we all know they do, we have the ultimate source of life to tap in to. The Word will be readily on our lips to speak over a situation. We will know where to turn for the guidelines and guidance we need. We will have the truths of God hidden in our minds and we will be able to apply His promises over whatever is before us. Our hearts will be prepared to handle the fiery darts the world shoots at us daily. We will be in tune with the Spirit and know how to listen and discern for the Lord’s will and direction.   

This spiritual preparation will allow us to walk through the fire and come out refined – this is how we grow in knowledge and understanding.  Just as Paul prayed in the scripture above, we realize that through Jesus we are able to live pure and blameless lives while waiting on Jesus to return.  We will experience a life filled with the fruits of our salvation and a righteous character will be evident in our lives.  In this knowledge is where we find that true and unexplainable peace spoken of in 

Philippians 4:6 In every situation with petition and thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  

This process of preparing to grow in knowledge that leads to peace has to be continuously repeated until we meet Jesus face to face and He is welcoming us home as good and faithful servants.  

We would like to thank Jill Winders for writing this post