Gateways to Joy

Loving others, an old and new testament commandment. It just dawned on me, "Loving other's is a commandment." Don't get me wrong.  I know we are "told" to love, and I know we,Christians, must love— but until today I never thought about it as being something we are commanded to do. Does that make sense? John says, "Behold, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning ..." What love is and is not has been a topic on my mind for a few weeks. I'd like to share with you some of  my thoughts as it pertains to my reading 1 John 2: 7-8. When I think about love I look at it through the lenses of self-sacrifice and servant hood.   I know that God loved us because while we were yet sinners He gave His only Son. God's love for us prompted Him to action.  An action that was in our favor.  An action that was "good" for us.  God's action also prompted His sacrifice. ...

Good Morning Girls! I'm passing the below information to your from the Good Morning Girls Blog! I've noticed that when the links alone are put up some of you go, but not all of you, and I don't want you girls to miss the information that Courtney and the other ladies take so much time in preparing to bring to us, so I thought I would bring their information to you! Welcome back to week 2 of our study in the book of I John!  If you are joining us a week late, here is a  link to the Free E-study guide  - download and print it or use it as a guide as your write in your own journal! Let’s get started by looking at this week’s key words in I John 1:5-10.  Remember there is no right or wrong way to do this.  Mark the words that you see repeated often or that mean something to you.  You can use colors or symbols.  I like to use a  yellow triangle to represent the Trinity  -  God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit....

Good Morning Girls! Today is our day of reflecting on what we've read so far in the book of 1 John 1:1-4. How are things going for you? All of this, for some of you, is rather new so I realize  some of you might still be in the phase of "trying to grasp"... that's just fine.  I'm in that phase too. There are so many of you that I have not yet emailed.  I have soooo many emails to respond to for various reasons, but just haven't been able to get to all of them just yet.  Please know that I will. Today I will share Courtney's video with you all.   Courtney is the lady behind the Good Morning Girls Bible study.  Before I share her video though, I want to share my reflections with you all: When I read John's reflections about his friend, it is easy for me to see how Jesus was in fact the friend of this man John, and they loved one another.  Just as you and I have special friends that we cherish and love.  John and Jesus were that to one a...

Watch live streaming video from goingbeyondministries at livestream.com Instead of writing something else about this book, I decided to share with you all the not so live, livestream, so that you, too, can listen to the discussion that Priscilla and the other two women in the broadcast discussed. They hit on many topics that we women, married and single, struggle with. We may all be different, but we suffer like things. I don't know about you, but so often I go through life wanting to get to the next thing...the next phase, and in looking back I see how due to my discontentment I've missed out on a lot.  Sometimes it's only in looking back that I see how far I have gotten and how some of the very things I longed for were with me.  I see friend that God truly was and always is faithful toward me. He does know exactly what He's doing. Please, please, stop where you are for a moment.  Take a deep breath... slow down and be here.  Right here in this moment a...

What has God placed in you? You know, that gift that He's gifted each of His children with in order to do Kingdom work here on earth? Are you using that gift?  Or do you feel as if you've been over-looked? Maybe you don't exactly know what your gift is yet. Worse, maybe you feel "unlikely" to have been given one. Are you one who sees yourself as "unlikely?" Hm? "God chooses to use the most 'unlikely,'" says author and speaker Patsy Clairmont. Throughout Scripture we can find that statement to ring true.  Seems that all God used were the unlikelies.  For crying out loud, look at Jesus.  It was said that nothing good can come out of his home town when people found out where He was from.  I would call Him a pretty unlikely in the eyes of the locals. Maybe you've been told you're an unlikely.  Unlikely to do this and unlikely to accomplish that.  I sure have. Though it wasn't always with words.   Sometimes it...