My Dear Sisters,

Greetings in the exalted name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, faithful and true! I hope this letter finds you rejoicing in the great goodness which God has stored up for those who trust in Him (Psalm 31:19)!

…The Lord has been very gracious to teach me more of Himself and draw me closer in a special way over the past several months. At the beginning of the year, Gideon designed for me a beautiful framed picture that said: “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”—Psalm 37:4 I decided that that verse would be my focus Scripture for 2013, and it has been exciting to watch God faithfully work in my life through His Word.

Dear Sisters,

I hope this letter finds you delighting in the Lord and rejoicing in the majesty of His character! Lately I have been pondering Psalm 34:1 and asking God to make it a reality in my life: “I will bless the LORD at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” The Lord is gracious and worthy of our praise!

Dear Sisters,
One thing the Lord has reminded me lately is, in the words of Proverbs 14:26, “In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and His children shall have a place of refuge.” One of my goals in life is to have peace rooted in my Savior, Jesus Christ. There are certain spiritual weaknesses that will hinder this peace in my life. For example, fear and anxiety will cause me to worry and will not allow me to keep my thoughts stayed on Christ; self-pity will cause me to be dissatisfied; pride will cause me to concern myself with what others think of me (fear of man); and disobedience will cause me to have a guilty conscience.

    I have been reading A. W. Tozer’s The Pursuit of God. I highly recommend this challenging book! It definitely stimulates a hunger and thirst to know Jesus! Through this book, the Lord has taught me many important truths, but one of them has been to wait patiently on Him

One afternoon as I was praying that God would make Himself manifest to me, I was pricked with the thought that sometimes it’s best to just listen. I had spent plenty of time pouring out my desires and hopes to God. I had asked Him to teach me to do His will (Ps. 143:10); but when I was done with my requests, I would just go back to my daily routine. I realized that if I spent the entire prayer time talking, I was not taking time to hear God speak to me. 
    The next day I spent a few minutes in prayer with this sole request: “Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth.” (1 Samuel 3:9) Questions filled my head about various decisions and topics. It was interesting to just listen. I heard birds chirping, my sister’s bubbly voice singing, and something poking around in the woods behind me. Even as I shut out all the distractions, it seemed that the Lord was not manifesting His Person and His will. 
    Ever so gently, the Lord brought this verse to my mind: “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”—Psalm 46:10 I suddenly realized that God knows the big picture, but He does not choose to reveal it all at once to me! For the time, He just wanted me to focus on one thing: He is God! That is a powerful truth that I must grasp to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.
    Remember Mary and Martha? Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”—Luke 10:41–42 Quite often we get caught up striving to understand “many things.” God is omniscient and knows more than we do. When our hearts are quieted because we do not know the next step, we are more dependent to listen to and obey His voice. 
    We must learn to take life one day—one moment, rather—at a time. As God reveals His direction to us, we should follow. But in the meantime, let’s just remember to be still and know that He is God!

The Lord is reminding me to seek His face. A friend and I are memorizing Psalm 27, and as I have pondered this beautiful chapter, God has revealed so many truths! One thing do I desire of the Lord! When He asks me to seek His face, my heart cries out that His face—and His face only—will I seek. “When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face; my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.”—Psalm 27:8 

    You see, when we are seeking the Lord, we cannot be seeking anything else. Looking into His face causes us to be awed by His power, His grace and mercy, His love, and His justice. 
    What sort of things snatch our attention and shift our focus away from the Lord? The list is endless as it is anything that is not God Himself. Here are a few examples:
    Fear. Fear is a very real feeling that grips and penetrates our hearts and lives. When we are fearful, we are focusing on things, people, doubts, situations, or the unknown rather than seeking the Lord. Psalm 9:10 brings me peace during frightening circumstances. “And they that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee: for Thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee.” This ties in beautifully with Psalm 27:8.
    Wants. We all have something we want in life. It could be money, friends, material things, fashionable clothes, easier school or work, etc. But Psalm 27:4 reminds us that we should only seek our Lord’s face. “One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple.”
    The World. What a distraction! Fads, attitudes, pleasures—they pull us away from our responsibility to seek the ways of Christ. Nothing, however, is comparable with the rewards and blessings of being devoted to our Lord. “Teach me Thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.”—Psalm 27:11
    What does it mean to seek, anyway? I think it is a yearning, burning desire to have something. All of our energy is put into seeking it. We search, we persist. We “hunger and thirst” after it. Is this how we seek after Christ? Are we passionate about abiding in Him, loving Him, and being devoted to His work? He will always accept those who long to know Him better, so start seeking Him today!
    “But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.”—Deuteronomy 4:29

Seek His Face,
​Tiffany

One evening I was reading a children’s book about prayer to the twins. We modified its “system” a bit, and I used the twins’ hands (above) as a visual. Hope it helps!

    A good way to remember who to pray for each day:
    Thumb--Since it’s closest to our heart, this finger reminds us to pray for the people we love the most: family and friends.
    Pointer Finger--Perhaps we’ve seen teachers and pastors use this finger when trying to get a point across! It can remind us to pray for our spiritual leaders.
    Middle Finger--It rises high above the rest, which reminds us to pray for our government and our country’s leaders. 
    Ring Finger--As the weakest finger, it reminds us to pray for those who are ill, those who are weak, and those who are spiritually lost.
    “Pinkie”--The smallest finger, it reminds us to pray for ourselves, but only after we have lifted up others, for Christ’s way is always self last.
​

Is there not something 
we can do to help,
The plight of those in 
sorrow and woe,
And ease their burden 
heavy just a bit,
And bring them hope of 
better days to come?


For this is Christ’s 
command to everyone,
Who says that they are 
striving Him to please,
To bear ye one 
another’s heavy load,
And for His glory 
to do good to all.


And there are many 
burdens small and great,
Wherever in this world 
that you may turn,
There’s no doubt some 
that are inside your door,
Oh, lift them for His sake 
Who loves us so.
​

When William Carey, known as “The Father of Modern Missions,” left for India, one of his friends observed that his departure could be likened to someone being lowered into a deep, unexplored mine. For someone to be safely sent into the mine and enabled to begin mining for souls, others were needed to “hold the ropes” that lowered him down into it. As William Carey and his friends stood at the brink of decisions, considering this venture into India, William volunteered to go—if his friends would faithfully support him as he went. His mission would not be successful if they did not do their parts in “holding the ropes.” Though missionaries ultimately depend on God for their every need, we can be the human instruments that God uses to support and help them in their endeavors. Here are some practical ways that we can do this:

How often does God answer a specific prayer and you rejoice over it? Maybe your excitement bubbles into a desire to tell everyone you know of the amazing work of God in your life by answering that prayer. How many times have you faced something big and suddenly your faith-o-meter plummets?
 
“This is impossible,” you may think.... Of course, we know God will never fail us, but even if we do not directly admit it to ourselves, our thought patterns can reflect this false belief. It is easy to grow discouraged. What can we do to avoid this pitfall? Remember.

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16 KJV, emphasis mine.)
   
​Here are some notes from a sermon that my pastor preached a few weeks ago, that help us know how to pray for others.