daddy4ms

Some of you may know that I serve part-time as social media coordinator for USMB conference.  One of the things I have done on their social media is share Bible verses with images that tie in with the words.  I decided to start sharing them weekly here on the blog. I hope you grow in your understanding of who God is from these verses.

My Aunt Kay Jean suggested I start sharing a verse of the day.  I liked her suggestion but decided instead of a verse of the day, I would share a verse of the week.  Be reminded of who God is from His Word. 6  “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7  From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ 8  Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9  You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10  Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. 11  I will r...

My Aunt Kay Jean suggested I start sharing a verse of the day.  I liked her suggestion but decided instead of a verse of the day, I would share a verse of the week.  Be reminded of who God is from His Word. 22  The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23  “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, 24  The Lord bless you and keep you; 25  the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26  the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. 27  “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” (Numbers 6:22-27)

God is blessed Bless ed be the Lord , the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen. (Psalm 41:13)   Bless ed be the Lord , the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. (Psalm 72:18)  Bless the Lord , O my soul,      and all that is within me,      bless his holy name! 2  Bless the Lord , O my soul,      and forget not all his benefits, 3  who forgives all your iniquity,      who heals all your diseases, (Psalm 103:1-3) So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Bless ed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” (John 12:13) therefore in Him we are blessed And God bless ed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”...

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3)

Today, I am reminded of God's faithfulness, provision, and love. We leave today for vacation in Branson and I am looking forward to time away with family.  Before we left, I needed to run some errands which included purchasing a family pool pass to get the discount (you know I am always looking for a sale).  All of these things--Branson vacation and pool pass were reminders.  Why? Because of the generosity of a family from our church, we can stay at a home in Branson without cost. Because of the generosity of a family from our church, we have season passes to Silver Dollar City for free. Because of the generosity of an anonymous donor, our pool pass was purchased for us. I am thankful for each of these individuals/families for their generosity.  I thank God for them and their love for me and my family.  I am grateful to serve God with these families at Hesston MB. I have prayed blessing over them as they have understood, "it is more blessed ...

Here is a great illustration and teaching from Steven Furtick of Elevation Church.  Do you believe this?  If not, ask God to reveal why not and immerse yourself in His Word.

This past week, we received a generous gift from a church family.  If you have read my blog over the last four years, you know we have been trying to sell our house in Iola.  We finally closed on October 31, 2012.  We were so excited!  However, due to the down market, we ended up having to pay to sale our house.  I know it doesn't make sense and it really confuses our kids.  But it was our reality.  Only a handful of people knew that we had to take money to closing.  We went to the bank on the 31st and basically depleted our checking and savings accounts to close on the house.  There was just enough money to keep both accounts open.  We were thankful that we did not need to borrow money from anyone.  Then unexpectedly, we received a gift that left us speechless! It reminded me of a verse that has been important to me over these last four years.  Ephesians 3:20-21 says, 20  Now to him who is able to do immeasurably mo...

On Sunday, June 24th, I delivered a message entitled, "Guess Who?" based on Ephesians 1:1-14.  Here are some notes from that message: ·          Greetings-In verse 1, Paul addresses them as “saints in Ephesus”.  As I read these words, I wondered if this was a special greeting for a really good church.  As I studied, I discovered that Paul begins his letters to 6 out of 7 churches this same way in Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians.  If Paul was writing to us today, he would begin our letter “to the saints at Hesston MB.”  In Christ, you are a saint! You are: ·          Vs. 3-Blessed with every spiritual blessing o    Spiritual blessings are contrasted with blessings of OT which were based on following the Law.  These blessings are freely ours because of what Christ has done not what we have done.  So, what Christ has is ours. · ...

I finished reading The Family Blessing by Rolf Garborg this past week.  In it, he encourages parents and grandparents to bless their children and grandchildren.  However, he ends the book by showing the importance of blessing others in our lives outside our families.  He uses Jesus as the example as He blessed the little children.  So, here is my blessing for you today:   " May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:13)

If you were to record the words to your children into two columns today, what would it show?  In one column, include the words of blessing or encouragement you shared and in the other words of condemnation, cursing, name calling, etc.  I am reading The Family Blessing by Rolf Garborg and this past week I was reading a few chapters from the book.  He shares the following verse from Proverbs 18:21: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits." He writes that not only is a daily blessing of our children important, but it also important to consider the words we use throughout the day.  Previously, I have written about blessing my children with words from Numbers 6 or Ephesians 1.  These words remind them who they are and whose they are.  But he challenges us as parents to think about all of our words.  Proverbs reminds us that our words can be also death to our kids. What does this look like?  He ta...

Whether you are a parent or grandparent or not, all of us can see the benefit of a blessing from someone.  I bless my kids every night at bedtime.  Why?  Because I love them and I want to remind them who God is and who they are.  For my oldest kids, I use words from Ephesians 1 about their identity in Christ.  For Molly, I use the familiar blessing from Numbers 6:24-26.  There are many great passages of Scripture you can use to bless your children, grandchildren, or others you come in contact with throughout the day.  Here are a few great resources to help you better understand blessing others: A Father's Guide to Blessing His Children by David Michael.  Available from Children Desiring God resources. The Family Blessing by Rolf Garborg The Blessing by John Trent Bedtime Blessings Set by John Trent So, receive this blessing from me to you today: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the H...