What Is My Purpose in Life?

Thursday, October 25, 2012

At some time or another, we all wonder - What is my purpose in life?

The good news is that we don't always have to know our exact purpose in life because God helps lead and guide us. When we give ourselves to God, he uses us in ways we could never imagine we were capable of handling on our own.

Have you ever had a day when you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders? Or at least, the weight of your entire family or even your church?

God knows we are not perfect and, PRAISE GOD, he gave us encouraging scriptures in the bible to help us through those tough times.

Instead of dwelling on what you can do for God, talk to him - and I mean TALK to him about it. What do I mean by talking to him?

Talking to God is more than praying. It is when you keep what you want to talk to him about or what you need help with in the front of your mind every second of the day.

As you keep that thought in your mind, don't worry about it. Just think about it and often silently say, "Dear Lord, I need you to help me with ???" Fill it in with what you want to talk about. You can even just say, "Lord, I don't know what to do about ???, I need your help." Or, "I am giving it to you. Have your will with this."

By doing this, you are having a closer walk with God and allowing him to use you. He will take the worrisome problem your having leaving you to go about your daily life with less stress and a happier life.

May God bless you.

comments | | Read More...

Strong in The Lord - I Met a Woman Today

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Today, the Sunday school teachers at our church were blessed to have a meal at a local restaurant. And although the food and fellowship with my Christian family was wonderful, it wasn't the best part.

Our pastor's daughter lined up a special guest speaker to add to the wonderful meal. It was a woman like none I'd ever met before. I had heard of her and her family because she lives in our community, but had never been blessed to met her in person.

Her name - Tammy Nichan.

Anyone who has read 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' has more than likely come across a story of hers - and believe me, she has many. She has led a life of thousands ups and downs to say the least.

She has two sons, an adopted daughter, and two children who have passed away. While many people would have given up on God, she has embraced him. She had leaned on him. She has chosen to put him first in her life and travels to talk about her experience as a Christian mother with others with the hopes that she may be able to encourage, bless, and share God. She is one Christian woman who is very strong in The Lord and is not afraid to share it!

I would love to tell you more, but I feel I can't do her justice. Instead, I will send you to her blog and you can spend some time in the pages of her life while you shed tears for her all the while finding yourself blessed to have come across her pages.

To begin the journey with her, start here.

May you find yourself closer to God with each passing day.

comments | | Read More...

Joseph, His Brothers, and a Silver Cup - Genesis 44

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Many stories we learn about in the bible comes in the form of short and sweet. While there are several stories that let us follow a character from beginning to end like Moses, others tell only portions of their lives.

Since God is never wrong and knows exactly what we need, we obviously don't need to hear every detail of all their lives even if we'd like too.

That being said, I wanted to add this post about Joseph. For the most part, God has seen fit to tell us nearly all of Joseph's life story which is a very interesting story if you have never took the time to read it. You can start in Genesis 37 and read through the rest of the book of Genesis to get a better grasp of Joseph's life.

(Picture courtesy of Ndecam - Flickr)

The Story of Joseph

As you'll recall, Joseph's brothers were very jealous of him. Their father, Jacob, made it known that Joseph was his favorite son and because of this, Joseph's brothers hated him, envied him, and was extremely jealous of him.

Because of their jealousy, they took Joseph's coat of many colors, threw him into a pit, and eventually sold him as a slave. When their father ask about Joseph, the brothers gave him Joseph's coat which they had torn and covered in animal blood. They lied to their father and said he was dead.

God was with Joseph though and many years later, after a lot of hardship, Joseph became the ruler over the land of Egypt. He only answered to the Pharaoh himself while everyone else answered to him. Because his brothers sold him, Joseph was in a position to save the entire country and other parts surrounding Egypt.

>>>Visit Christian Magazine Today<<<

Joseph's Silver Cup

When a devastating famine came to the land, Joseph had made provisions and store up enough food to take care of the whole land during this time. The famine was so widespread it even affected his family in Canaan causing his brothers to come to Egypt to buy food.

Joseph had taken on the role of an Egyptian which allowed him to be hidden from his brothers even in plain sight. Although Joseph wanted to run to his brothers, hug them, and tell them he forgave them because he knew this was where God needed him, he held back and decided to test his brothers.

These test would let Joseph know if his brothers had changed over the years or if they were still jealous and unkind. After several other tests, Joseph decided to give one last test. He ordered his servant to put his silver cup into his youngest brother's sack.

Joseph knew that if his brothers tried to take care of Benjamin, the youngest brother, then they truly had changed. But, if they let the Egyptian take Benjamin away without a second thought, then they had not.

Changed Men

When Joseph's silver cup was discovered in the sack of Benjamin, the other brothers pleaded for his safety. They even wanted to take his place so he would not become a slave. Joseph realized his brothers had changed and revealed himself to them.

Because Joseph stayed true to the one true God during all this time, Joseph was able to save not only his family, but the lives of thousands. God uses us in ways we could never imagine possible if we only let Him.

comments | | Read More...

Biblical Characters - Bible Costumes for Your Kids

Friday, October 12, 2012

Click Here to enter the Christmas Plays and Costumes Store!

With Christmas time, there comes Christmas plays and what better way to celebrate than inviting the entire family to church to watch the kids.

You'll find that you will have more visitors to your church at Christmas and Easter than any other time of year. Use this time to share the salvation message. You never know what part of the Christmas play, or what someone says, or even what they read on the Christmas program will spark something inside them that will cause them to began a life for Jesus.

Here are a few biblical costumes, but you can find dozens more at the Christmas Plays and Costume Store.

Child Moses Costume

Great costume for boys or girls and can be worn anytime of year for plays, skits, events, and even Halloween.

Pair this costume with other biblical characters for a fantastic night of fun and excitement!









Deluxe Mary Costume for Girls

Girls biblical/religious costume features a robe with attached headpiece and a gown with an attached rope belt. Ancient paintings and statues of the blessed Virgin Mary depict her in a flowing blue robe and headscarf similar to this Girls Deluxe Mary bible character costume.

Angel Bunting - this cute little outfit can be worn for Christmas or even Halloween. It is so sweet and cute you can expect lots of  'oohs' and 'aahs'. Be sure to have a camera ready because this is sure to be a Kodak moment!

comments | | Read More...

Christmas Gifts for 2012 - Find What Your Looking For

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Christmas gifts for 2012 started selling months ago, but sells have begun to ramp up quickly! This year, like dozens of years before, certain Christmas gifts can be hard to find, especially the new releases and those gifts that will not be available until closer to Christmas.

To save you time shopping around online or running from store to store only to find out that that one special Christmas gift you've been searching for won't be available until next week. Sounds crazy, but it happens all the time.

We decided to open a Christmas Store (powered by Amazon), so that customers just like you won't have to run all over the country trying to find the item that is already sold out.

Instead of waiting until the item comes out, then fighting to get the last one with your fingers crossed, how about pre-ordering it?

Amazon has a pre-order option that allows customers to place the order weeks before it is available and when the item goes on sale, yours will already be in the mail!

Sounds great, doesn' it?

Take a look at Our Christmas Store to see what you can find. If you don't see the exact item your looking for - do a search in the top left corner...Merry Christmas and happy shopping!

comments (1) | | Read More...