Dealing with the New Year! with a New Perspective

Philippians 3:12-14
“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” NIV

As Christmas comes to an end we anxiously await the words “Happy New Year!” My best friend and I have this tradition we do every year for the last five years usually around the end of December. We go to our favorite beach spot, where we talk and pray about the past year and look ahead to the New Year.

We ponder and discuss all the interesting occurrences that happened the past year; the good times, the bad times, the frustrating times and also the fun times. We share what valuable lessons we learned from our experiences, what God showed us and how He was faithful through all of it

We do this as a closure to one year and then an opening to the next. After we have laughed a while and then cried, we begin to look forward with great excitement, wondering what God has for us this coming new year. What new experiences will we go through and what new lessons will we learn. It’s all fresh and new and that is exciting.

In doing this I believe it helps us to view each year as a season, understanding that God is Sovereign and has new seasons of experiences and growth to make us more like Christ. I can testify there were times we went through seasons of grief and there were also times we experienced seasons of joy.

It helps me to remember that God is in total control and that we are constantly growing as His children and that He knows the plans He has for us. Plans of new wisdom, insight and understanding that He wants to impart to us, if we will allow Him to.

It also gives us a fresh new outlook of the coming year and enables us to leave the past where it belongs, not that we forget the past but learn from it and move forward into our present future with opened hearts and minds to receive whatever God has for us.

With that said, I put together eight ways we can view the New Year and every year as.

A Year of:

New Beginnings: Start out the New Year with a fresh point of view to new experiences, memories and blessings. Having an opened mind and heart to where ever the Lord may take you with full assurance and confidence that He is with you. (Matthew 28:19-20)

New Possibilities: There’s no limit to what God can do in your life and nothing is impossible with God. God opens doors that no man can shut and also closes doors that no man can open. The possibilities are endless with God that is according to His will. (Philippians 4:13)

New Plans: Every year is a new season, be prayerful of what God has planned for you and be willing to walk by faith in obedience as you follow His leading. Remember that His plans are always for good and not for evil to give you a future and a Hope. (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

New Purpose: As you forge ahead, God always has a plan and a purpose for what you will go through and experience. Remember that God always has a reason for what He allows in your life and through it you can trust Him completely. (Proverbs 1:3-5)

New Provisions: The bible says to not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow has enough worries of it’s own. Trust in your Heavenly Father who knows everything you need, who is your God and your Provider. He is faithful and He will do it. (Matthew 6:1-33)

New Growth: When we are willing to let go and let God work in us and through us, He will always stretch us and grow us. It is an important part of the growth process. Continue to grow in your relationship with Him and in His Word. Pray for God to mold you and make you pliable in the potters hand and then watch the master craftsman work on His masterpiece; which is you!

New Wisdom: With new experiences and new lessons come new wisdom and insight. Always make it a priority to seek out wisdom as hidden treasure or fine gold. In Proverbs it says that it will be like a garland of grace around your neck and honor you and present you with a crown of splendor. (Proverbs 4:7-9)

Renewed Peace: As you go through new experiences and new adventures whether they are good or bad, my encouragement is to keep your eyes fixed on Christ and He will give you rest and peace, because He is our peace and loves you and cares for you deeply. (John 16:33)
Keep in mind that if even the wicked give good gifts to their children how much more will your Heavenly Father give to those that ask Him? (Matthew 7:7-11) Let us give thanks to the Lord for getting us through another year as we look forward to what He has for us up ahead and praise Him that He is faithful and worthy to be praised!

Our God is an Awesome God
Who Reigns on Heaven and Earth
With Wisdom Power and Love
Our God is an Awesome God!

May the Lord bless you and your family with a blessed New Year!

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Filoiann Wiedenhoff is a Pastor's Wife, Work at Home Mom, Woman's Biblical Counselor, Bible Teacher and Writer. You can view her website at http://filoiannwiedenhoff.com/

Dealing with the Holiday Hoopla!

Making Christmas a Time of Remembrance

If you are like me the holidays can be a blessing but they also can be stressful, anxiety filled and very busy.

As a CWAHM and Pastor’s Wife, I literally have to sit and try to remember all the things I need to do in preparing for family to come over, cleaning the house, take care of church business and our plans for Christmas Eve service, writing the menu for Christmas dinner, try to finish all my home business work, in between shopping, shopping and more shopping.

Sometimes I wish we had eight arms and hands like an Octopus that could do multi-tasking simultaneously. Hey wait a minute….we already do?

We’re wives, moms, worker bees, nurses, secretaries, accountants, chefs, house keepers, counselors, disciplinarians, taxi cab drivers, sometimes bus driver’s and professional shoppers. Whew! What a list.

So how do we deal with the holiday hoopla added on top of that oh so crazy list? I came up with some helpful tips to make Christmas a time of remembrance:

1. Remember What Matters Most: In all our busyness we can be taken away from what really matters. Take a moment to reflect on your priorities which are Christ first, family, career etc… Try not to focus on things that just are not important and focus on the things that are.

2. Remember That it’s Not About the Presents: A great way to honor Christ this Christmas and at the same time teach your children the true meaning of Christmas is to share the birth of Jesus story with them, and then take them to the store and let them pick out brand new toys to donate to needy children or families. Make it a memorable and enjoyable experience and they will want to do it more often!

3. Remember Those That Are Lonely & Hurting: Christmas is also one of the most depressing holidays, for people who have lost a loved one, are lonely, hurting or ill. Please look around in your own sphere of influence and say a prayer, make a call or take over a meal or small gift to a friend or family member who needs your love or comfort and more importantly need God’s love through you. If you are one that is hurting this season, please call someone to pray for you, you are not alone and people care about you and would love to encourage and comfort you during this difficult time.

4. Remember the Soldiers: Let us also remember the soldiers that have lived and died honorably for the sake of peace. Please lift them up and their families for strength, comfort and peace.

5. Remember What Jesus Did For You: Christmas is a time of reflection on the real reason Christ was born and how His life as well as His death was a sacrifice for us. Remember back what your life was like before you received Him and reflect on how He has blessed you abundantly since that life changing day.

By remembering all the blessings Jesus has done for us and at the same time reaching out to others, we are commemorating His birth and honoring His life and allowing Christ’s Life to live in us and through us. It is a heritage to be carried on from generation to generation. May your Christmas be blessed and stressed free! From our family to yours!

Special Quote:
Yesterday was History, Tomorrow is a Mystery
but Today is a Gift and that is why they call it the Present!
Author Unknown.

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Christmas Devotional by Filoiann Wiedenhoff

Matthew 1:23
"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son,

and they will call him Immanuel" which means,

"God with us." NIV

The angel came to Mary bearing this wonderful news. It was a fulfillment of God's promise and covenant to Abraham that His seed would become a great nation, He would bless him, make his name great and that he would be a blessing to others; which is implying the coming Messiah through Abraham's decendants. As we look upon this Christmas season and give thanks for Jesus birth let us also give thanks to God for His faithfulness to all men that He keeps His promises that Christ who dwells in our hearts by faith to those who believe, is the complete fulfillment of that promise. Before Jesus was crucified He told his disciples that it were better that He go away that the comforter could come. He was referring to the Holy Spirit being poured out. He said this because Jesus knew that it was better that He go away and no longer live "among" them, so that He could return through the Holy Spirit to live "within" them. "Immanuel" which means "God with us!" Christ in us, the hope of Glory.

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Stop and Remember!

Don't forget to make this Christmas a Time of Rememberance.

Remember God!

What He has done for you.

Where He has brought you from.

Where He is taking you now.

& Praise Him for All that He Does!

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Don't forget to check out my website!

http://www.filoiannwiedenhoff.com/

Click on url or banner below.

Do You Struggle With Depression or Know Someone That Does?

Statistics show that there is a high percentage now more than ever of people who get depressed every day in this country. The holidays are known to be when depression and suicide is at an all time high.

There are so many reasons for depression and suicide and one article I believe would not be long enough.

I wanted to encourage you if you or someone you know is struggling with depression you are not alone. There is hope and that there are many others who are going through the exact same thing.

Many women that I have counseled struggle with depression and in fact depression runs in my family. People do know how common it is but when you are going through it you still feel very alone.

I know because I personally have struggled with depression also. It can take a toll on your life and drag you down so low that you feel like you can't get back up. It affects your mind, how you think, your body, how you feel. It affects every part of you and can bring you to the point of despair.

That is why it's so important to seek out someone to talk to about this silent killer. Talk to a counselor or pastor who can give you some direction and instruction on where to go from here.
Also see a doctor and find out if it is hormonal or a chemical imbalance. There are so many contributing factors to depression that it can be one thing or it can be a number of things.

My encouragement for you is that the bible also speaks on depression. I wrote two articles called "Dealing with Depression Spiritually Part I" and "Dealing with Depression Practically Part II" that gives you practical as well as biblical counsel on depression that will lead you or someone you know in the right direction.

I encourage you to read it, copy it and if you know someone or people who struggle with it please send them my URL and encourage them to read my counseling articles and be encouraged that God knows what we are going through and He sees us and says He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is right there with us every step of the way because he loves us and cares for us deeply.

Filoiann M. Wiedenhoff is a Pastor's Wife, Work at Home Mom, Woman's Pastoral Counselor, Bible Teacher and Christian Author. She loves to write devotionals, articles, training and handbooks. She is currently working on a lay counseling handbook and devotional E-books due to publish by the end of next year. You can visit her website and sign up for her monthly newsletter on http://www.filoiannwiedenhoff.com/ Receive my new FREE ebook of my 6 "How to Deal" articles. Just click on my website.


Photo provided by flickr.com

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Do You Struggle With Anger or Know Someone That Does?

I want to encourage you that if you or you know someone who struggles with anger there is hope.

One of the main common issues people in general have is that we have these inner struggles that we feel we have to handle by ourselves either because of shame, guilt, fear etc.

We are afraid to expose our struggle for fear of what people may think of us or perhaps that we might be judged. I am no different. I have had those same thoughts cross my mind more than once.

Being a pastor’s wife, I have to look at myself soberly every day to check myself to see where I am at with God, and with myself. Am I taking care of my responsibilities at home, with my husband and my children? Am I being a good or bad example to our family, friends and church members?

There’s a responsibility that comes with being a pastor’s wife that isn’t in the bylaws but is there prevalent just the same. I’m only sharing this because I am not perfect and I have struggled with anger at one time or another.

I’ve been told that I have a “Samoan Temper” which means, that I’m the nicest person you will ever want to meet but once you cross the line “Look out!”

I remember one early morning I had to take my daughter to church to go to camp. I had told her more than twice to have her things ready and packed the night before so she would be ready to go the next morning.

Well, she didn’t listen and the next morning she was flying around the house looking for this and that and because of her disobedience she almost missed her bus. Needless to say I lost it. I blue a gasket and shouted at the top of my lungs. “I told you last night….”

It wasn’t a pretty sight, and I felt terrible about how mad I got. It wasn’t a conscience thing, I just lost it. I felt terrible though and apologized to my daughter on the way to take her and she apologized for not listening but was glad I asked her for forgiveness.

What made matters worse was what my son told me the next day. My son’s neighbor friend told my son, “Your mom was really mad this morning, we could hear her clear across the street!”

I quickly remembered that when I was shouting I was standing right in front of an opened window and the whole neighborhood could hear me. I was so embarrassed and felt very small. I know that was a check from the Lord to watch my anger and I have taken steps to guard myself from going off from that day forward.
I am thankful my husband who is also my pastor and counselor was able to give me some words of advice, encouragement and accountability.

I wanted to bear my soul to encourage you that anger can happen to anyone at any time in any situation but left un-dealt with can be cause for concern.

If you or someone you know struggles with anger please know that you are not alone and that it can be resolved.

I put together some advice and steps to help give you direction and guidance in my new article called “Dealing with Anger” which is posted on my website.

Please check it out. Remember that education is the key and having understanding is wise. So find out more info on this subject and copy my article “Dealing with Anger” for your reference.

Dealing with Depresstion Part II

Taking what you have and put it into practice

In part I, I addressed how to deal with depression spiritually with the main concept of believing that Christ lives in your heart by faith and is right there with you, helping you and giving you power and strength to keep moving forward and persevere through the trials.

Before I do, if you are suffering from deep or severe depression or suffer frequently, I encourage you to see a doctor and get a doctor’s diagnosis on your condition. It may be treatable with hormones or medicine for chemical imbalance. It’s best to find out for sure.

So how do we apply believing Christ is in us to this trial or any trial? This knowledge is very important to our foundation because it builds on the fact that we can’t but God can. That though we are new creations we still need Christ power to experience any real change. So when we are at our weakest we can believe that God is at His best and we can turn to Him daily and moment by moment to give us strength in our hour and time of need.


In this article I am going to address how to use that knowledge to put it into practical use in dealing with depression.

Here they are as follows:

Spend Time with God: During our hard times we need to draw near to God and the bible says He will draw near to us. Spend daily quiet time with God and allow God’s Word to encourage your heart.

Read Psalms and Proverbs: During your quiet time read some extra verses in Psalms and Proverbs. Reading on God’s Faithfulness and His love for us is always encouraging to the soul.

Spend Time in Prayer: I usually like to pray silently through out the day, especially starting in the mornings before my quiet time and ask God to strengthen me and help me persevere through my day when I’m having a hard day.

Talk about It: Talking to someone and expressing how you are feeling inside is always helpful to getting our feelings out and not keeping them bottled up inside. Don’t be ashamed to ask someone to pray for you. Having someone pray for you is always encouraging.

Take a walk: Getting out and taking a walk releases endorphins that energize the body and make you feel happier. You can exercise also to release stress or anxiety too. (Read my Dealing with Anxiety article)

Get out of the house: Take a drive or visiting with a friend or family member is always a good idea, especially when you feel like you want to isolate. Isolation can lead to deeper depression and morbid thoughts so stay conscience and aware of isolating and try to avoid it as much as possible.

Journal your thoughts: If you are restless or need help releasing your feelings or emotions try to journal. When you spend quiet time try journaling and write down how you are feeling that day and what scriptures ministered to you and how and even what you need help with from God. Sometimes my best prayers are when I’m being totally honest with God about how I’m feeling and asking Him to help me. I’m always encouraged afterwards because I believe by faith he cares for me and that He heard my cries.

Encourage Someone Else: When you are feeling your lowest, take a moment to think of someone you might know that needs your comfort, a phone call, help with something and reach out to them. Sometimes the best medicine is ministering to someone else who could use your help. Not as a works but sincerely. This not only blesses the other person but blesses you also because you are not thinking about yourself but someone else. It takes your mind off of you and on to someone else who needed your help.

Pray for Someone Else: Make a list of people you can pray for and begin to pray earnestly for them. This is another form of reaching out but with less physical contact. Praying for others put’s your mind and your heart on others and their needs and will take your mind off of yourself. It may not cure you of depression but it will surely give your mind a break and peace of mind with God.

Seek out Accountability: Have either your spouse, family member or friend be your accountability partner. What that means is to let them know you are going through this struggle and to have them call you every so often to check in on you and also so that you can call them whenever you need encouragement or prayer. This will help you to not isolate and not feel you are alone in your suffering.

Repent if in Sin: I know that it sounds awkward but one of the causes for depression as a Christian is if we are walking in sin. NOTE: I’m not saying all depression comes from sin. But sometimes we will feel depressed or become depressed because of sin. Pray and ask God to reveal if there is any un-confessed sin in your life and repent which means to change your mind about doing that sin and turn back or return to God. Confess your sin and the bible says God is faithful to forgive you and turn away from that sinful act and return back to God as your savior and heavenly father. God is faithful and He will do it.

Stay in Fellowship: When we are feeling bad or depressed we also want to avoid groups of people. If you are in a bible study or home fellowship group it is important that you continue to keep going. It will help you to stay in fellowship and also you can have your group pray for you and encourage you. I find that when I’m feeling my worst the bible teaching is always perfect for me that day and I needed to hear it. So go expecting God to bless you because you came to meet Him there.

Keep in mind that when depression overcomes you, your mind is consumed about you and anytime you can refocus your mind onto other things, people, situations it will give you some relief.

These helps will also keep you active during your depression and help you to stay in fellowship with God and with others. Again, continue to go to the meetings, bible studies, activities and persevere through the pain and God will bring you relief as you hang in there and work through it.

I hope these simple but effective tips will give you more food for thought the next time you encounter depression and remember to seek out a doctor’s advice.

Whatever you do, Please do not try to numb the depression with pain medicine unless it is doctor recommended. It is important that you face the situation and work through it rather than numb it. Also, numbing can also prolong the recovery process. Give your pain over to God and ask Him to take your burdens and your cares for He cares for you!

Scripture References:


Ps 55:22 “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you;
he will never let the righteous fall.” NIV

1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.“NIV

1 Peter 5:8-11 “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.” NIV

Matt 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." NIV

Heb 4:16 “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” NIV

Photo provided by flickr.com

Moving Forward From Loss - Jonathan Masoli

Dedicated to Jonathan Masoli

I just got back from San Francisco for a one year memorial of my cousins Jonathan's death. Just to recall last year, it was one of the hardest funerals I have ever attended aside from my parents. My cousin was a young and vibrant 30 year old man who loved life and died only a week and half following his wedding day.

He died on his honeymoon in beautiful Jamaicha. Although it wasn't so beautiful after it happened. There was much red tape to bring him back to the states and surviving were his parents, new bride and only sister. Our family was devastated by the loss and needless to say it has been a very tough year.

Approaching his one year memorial service I wasn't sure what to expect but couldn't believe it has already been a year since he passed.

It never seems to amaze me how God's faithfulness never seems to change. My dear cousin Jill, Jonathan's sister calls me and shares with me how hard this year has been and then shared with me some powerful words that blessed my heart. She told me that this year has been very hard but coming up to His one year anniversary she felt that God was healing her of the pain and loss but more importantly she shared how she believed that her brother would want her to live for Him rather than die.

At the memorial service she shared the passage of Ecclesiastes chapter 3 that talks about a time for every season and how her season of mourning was very tough but she also believed in this new year would be a season of healing and next a season of joy.

Both my uncle Eddie and cousin Jill shared at the memorial service how we have all had a season of grief but joy comes in the morning, that there will be a season of joy once again and that Jonathan would not want us to continue in grief but to live not just for him but for God. God has a plan for each of our lives and that plan is to live life abundantly the best we can be according to His will.

It was a wonderful and encouraging message and although we will always miss Jonathan his spirit will continue to live in our hearts and our minds and we will be able to hold on to the memories that we shared with him forever in our hearts.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What does the worker gain from his toil?

10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men.

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Jonathan We Love You and We Will See You Again!

Free Ebook Download

Hi everyone, I'm excited to announce I'm giving away a free ebook that includes my six most popular lay counseling articles Such as: Dealing with Fear, Grief and Loss, Discontentment, Disappointment, Worry and Stress and Un-Forgiveness and Bitterness.

Don't hesitate to drop by my website and get your free copy as a gift to you from me!

Download by Clicking Here: Filoiann Wiedenhoff.Com

Within each article I include practical and biblical steps on how to deal with these all too common real life issues. Here is a sample:

"Dealing with Grief and Loss"
Allow Yourself to Grieve and Give Yourself Time


There is a great confusion about what is considered grief and loss these days, unfortunately the miss-understanding of grief and loss leaves people feeling depressed, anxiety filled and alone and they don’t understand what’s happening to them.

I remember when I lost my father six years ago, a month later I thought something was wrong with me because I couldn’t think straight, my thoughts were all jumbled and didn’t know what was going on. A friend of mine who also counsels explained to me that it was part of the grieving process and I was comforted to know I wasn’t losing my mind, at least not yet

Hopefully this article will help give you more insight to this very common issue. Experiencing grief and loss can cover a gamut of situations such as; loss of a loved one, loss of a family pet, loss of a job, loss of a friendship, loss of a marriage through divorce, loss of a limb or health problems or illnesses, loss of trust in your spouse through infidelity.

As a society I don’t believe we realize how common experiencing grief and loss is and that it happens more often than people understand. I put together some basics on how to deal with grief and loss practically.

Here they are as follows:

Sit at the Lord’s Feet: As a Christian, we need to keep in mind that apart from Him we can do nothing. God is our physician, our healer, our comforter, our provider and He is faithful. Stay near to God and allow Him to minister to you through his Word, His love, His Spirit and His people.

Talk to Someone: As I said earlier, talking it out sometimes is the best medicine. It helps you to get out what you are feeling inside , helps your mind to process what happened or what you are feeling and it is also a form of release for your feelings and emotions. Talking about your situation or your feelings will help you to heal healthier and in most cases quicker.

Allow Yourself to Grieve: Don’t try to shut out the grief, but allow yourself permission to grieve and remember that it is not only okay but necessary for healing to take place. Shutting it off or out only hinders the process and can cause internal problems physically and spiritually if left not dealt with.

Don’t Fight the Process: Look online for the list of the grieving process and allow yourself to go through each process. Educate yourself. Fighting it or trying to “make” yourself okay doesn’t help you but hurts you in the end and can also prolong the healing. Your body goes through this process for a reason and you need to work through it.

Don’t Rush It: Trying to rush the grieving process doesn’t work so don’t rush yourself or give yourself a day and time for it to be over. It takes time to heal so allow your self that time. Also the other extreme is not healthy either when you take too long and can’t let go. If you think you are taking too long or trying to rush it, seek counsel about where you are and get professional counsel on your progress.

Read More...

Why is Discipleship and Mentorship So Important?

Matt 28:18-20Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in a the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

The greatest example Jesus left us when he was here was discipleship. Discipleship wasn’t a one hour class of info and then that’s it. He spent quality time with His disciples, taught them, ate with them, loved them and treated them as His family.

In His efforts to disciple men, Jesus was raising them up to be leaders and they eventually became leaders. It wasn’t about one man having 100,000 people coming and listening to him but teaching and equipping a group of men to go out and do the same to others.

I personally was discipled by a young woman when I was a teenage born again Christian and I can honestly say that if she had not spent that time with me I don’t know if I would be a Christian today. Her spending that time mentoring me and teaching me made all the difference in the world and now I have a heart to do the same for others. It’s a natural trickle down affect that makes lasting changes in a person’s life.

If you haven’t been discipled or mentored I encourage you to seek out someone who is mature in the Word and faithful. What it does is solidify your walk by setting it on a firm foundation built on the truth. It also eliminates opportunity to be misled or deceived by false doctrine and false teachers because you will have been well trained in the Word, rightly dividing the Word of God a worker who is not ashamed.

Here is some food for thought!

The whole pyramid money scheme wasn’t meant to be used for money, I believe it was an intelligent concept that could have been meant in multiplying the church. For example: If you were discipled and you turned around and discipled three people and those three people discipled three people and so on and so forth, by the sixth set you would have a total of 243 that were discipled.

Think about this for a moment 243 people? Large outreaches don’t get that many first time believer’s and even if they did, are they discipled once they become a Christian? The example of discipleship was laid by Jesus Himself by spending time with them, eating with them, teaching them and taking them with Him to minister and outreach.

Are You Feeding Yourself?

I wanted to share a piece of an article I read this morning. My heart was broken by it and saddened.

Here is a shocking confession by one of the largest well known churches, Willow Creek Community Church. Please read this and be motivated and challenged to know the Word and know God through His Word today and I encourage you to seek out a mentor and discipler to teach you and guide you in understanding His Word.

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Shocking Confession by Willow Creek Community Church
A Piece from article written by Bob Burney

Willow Creek has released the results of a multi-year study on the effectiveness of their programs and philosophy of ministry. The study’s findings are in a new book titled Reveal: Where Are You?, co-authored by Cally Parkinson and Greg Hawkins, executive pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. Hybels himself called the findings “earth shaking,” “ground breaking” and “mind blowing.” And no wonder: it seems that the “experts” were wrong.
The report reveals that most of what they have been doing for these many years and what they have taught millions of others to do is not producing solid disciples of Jesus Christ. Numbers yes, but not disciples. It gets worse. Hybels laments:

Bill Hybels Own Words
Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back it wasn’t helping people that much. Other things that we didn’t put that much money into and didn’t put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for.

If you simply want a crowd, the “seeker sensitive” model produces results. If you want solid, sincere, mature followers of Christ, it’s a bust. In a shocking confession, Hybels states:
Bill Hybels Own Words

We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between services, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.

Incredibly, the guru of church growth now tells us that people need to be reading their bibles and taking responsibility for their spiritual growth.

You can view the full article Here!

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There’s an old saying:
Feed a man a fish and feed him for a day but teach a man how to fish and feed him for a lifetime!

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I pray that this article has motivated you to have a passion for God's Word. To spend time daily, feeding yourself and allowing God to speak to you. Don't be deceived but be Bereans who studied and tested everything they heard to the Word of God. Knowing God's Word is knowing God. God is the Word so please go to the source; no imitation will do.

Blessings, Filoiann Wiedenhoff

Leadership Series: How to Become a More Effective Minister by Learning to Listen

People say that listening is an art form, that not anyone can do it or that it takes a “special” person to be a good listener. Although I will say that some people are better at listening than others I disagree that it is a gift.

I believe everyone has the ability to listen if they wanted to; even Jesus speaks it many times to the churches that “All who have an ear let him hear what the spirit is saying.” Well, we all have ears and that was Jesus point. He gave us two ears and one mouth .and that alone should tell us something.

The bible says be swift to hear and slow to speak. The word “swift” means to be capable of moving at a quick speed. In other words, be quick to listen and hear what’s being said to you. There are many times we want to rush to say something, rush to give our opinion or rush to make a point and the entire time we’re not listening to the other person and furthermore in reality we are preparing in our mind what we want to say next, so we really didn’t hear everything the other person said.

If people knew that half of the time people aren’t listening to them, they probably would never want to speak to us again. It’s a good thing people can’t read minds or we would never have any friends. The point is, listening is something we have to be willing to learn how to do and practice.

Listening does not come naturally to most of us and if it did I believe there would be more lay counselors and ministers reaching out. I say this because sometimes the best medicine you could ever give someone is your ear to listen and your shoulder to cry on.

They don’t want you to fix their problem as much as they need someone to talk to and someone to care. So how can we become better listeners?

I put together some helpful tips to become a better listener:

Pray: Ask God to help you to listen and hear what the person is saying and ask God to give you wisdom and discernment. By saying a silent prayer to God at that moment you are doing three things. You are asking God to help you listen, you are inviting the Holy Spirit into your conversation and you are also listening to what the spirit wants to say to them through you through the wisdom that God gives you.

Eliminate Distractions: If someone approaches you while you are among a group of people, tell them to hold their thought as you take them five or ten steps away from everyone else. This not only will help you to listen more intently without distractions but it will also send a message to others around you that you are having a private conversation.

Stay Focused: Try to restrain from interrupting the other person but stay focused on listening to what they are saying. The most common occurrence is after someone speaks two or three words we automatically want to chime in with a solution or opinion. This is where you practice restraint and allow the person to finish their thought or what they want to say. By doing this you will get the full picture of what is going on or see the bigger picture and can then be able to minister effectively because you have listened intently focusing on what was said and even noticing what wasn’t said but the Holy Spirit gives you wisdom.

Find the Purpose: As you are listening; also listen for clues to why they are talking to you and what they need from you. Do they need prayer? Are they coming to you for comfort? Are they just venting and need a sounding board? Do they need assurance about something they are struggling with? Do they just need someone to listen? Do they need encouragement? By understanding what their purpose is coming to you, you can then respond appropriately.

Don’t Make Assumptions: I can’t stress this enough, DO NOT ASSUME ANYTING. Making assumptions or having pre-conceived ideas about someone or their situation is bringing in your own thoughts, ideas and opinions into their situation and can lead you off track spiritually. Biblically, our thoughts, opinions and ideas mean nothing and amount to nothing. The bible says that wisdom comes from above, it comes from God and it is God that gives us His divine wisdom through the Holy Spirit and His Word. By jumping to conclusions, we short circuit what God wants to speak or do for the other person through His Word and at the same time, we stop listening to the Holy Spirit because we are then drawing from our own conclusions on the matter and not God’s.

Listen with Compassion: Having compassion with humility of heart will help you to relax and help you listen patiently. We are in a tyranny of the urgent society and if someone is taking longer than a minute to finish their thought our minds start wondering and we try to cut the conversation short. Remember that people matter to God more than your time. We all have places to go and things to do, but your five or ten minutes of your time to listen and talk to someone could make all the difference in the world in that person’s life and could actually change their life. Not because you are that good but that God’s ministering power is at work through you to them.

Respond Biblically: If you follow all the steps prior you will be able to respond in the spirit and biblically. Not hyper-spiritually but biblically and practically. Encourage them, offer comfort and hope for their situation or if they just wanted someone to listen offer to pray for them. Sometimes that’s all they really want is someone to listen and pray for them.

Be Honest: After you have listened and you have a situation where you don’t know what to say, be honest with them and offer to pray for them, comfort them and direct them to someone that can help them. Being a good listener sometimes is all they need. They will appreciate your time more than anything else and your honesty.

Know God’s Voice: One of the most important parts of ministering is hearing God’s voice because you want to minister His Words and not your own. So how do you do this? Jesus said that the sheep know His voice. They know His voice because they know Him. They have been cared for by Him, fed by Him and loved by Him and they know Him intimately. Just as a child knows their father’s voice so the sheep know the Shepherds voice. It comes by knowing God through His Word and spending intimate time with Him daily. When you hear a voice speak in your heart and it not only matches with God’s Word, it is pure, it is love, and it is un-selfish, it usually is God. What does the bible say about wisdom from above? It is first of all pure. You have to test everything especially if you are not used to hearing His voice. The most important thing is to know God’s Word and know God intimately and begin to listen to His still small voice and He is faithful. Pray and ask God to help you discern between your voice and His.

Practice: Continue to practice listening every chance you get. You will find that as you practice focusing and listening patiently and prayerfully that you will become a good listener before you know it. It will not only make you more effective in ministering but also more selfless and compassionate because listening is more about doing for others and less about you.

I hope these tools will help you becoming a better listener and more effective minister.

Blessings,

Dealing with Disappointment

I can share a personal experience with you to help you understand what disappointment can mean and also how it can affect you personally deeper than you know.

A couple years ago when we were starting our new church plant in San Diego we promoted it, invited all of our family and friends and on that day we had over 100 people in attendance for our opening day church service. It was wonderful and turned out better than we could have expected.

My husband and I were definitely on a spiritual high feeling victory that our church plant was going to go smooth with no problems. NOT!!! The following Sunday our church attendance was nine people and all of them were part of our team that came with us.

Needless to say, my husband seemed fine but I was disappointed. I felt defeated and it was only the second Sunday of our church plant. At that moment you don’t know how to feel and you are left with two choices, give up or move on. We chose to move forward by faith because we believe that God has called us there and regardless if there is one person or 1000, if God has called us we need to be obedient to Him.

Our Faith kept us going and I am happy to report that our church is growing and thriving. Praise the Lord. Had we of quit we would not be seeing the blessings we are now and we have learned some valuable lesson through it.

You see my problem was I had expectations that weren't realistic. I thought it would be a peace of cake to start a church plant and that it would just grow magically. I learned a valuable lesson, which was that my expectations were not based on fact or reality but my own thoughts and opinions and it was a hard lesson but it opened my eyes.

I put together some tips on how to deal with disappointment and hope it helps you as it did me. The definition of disappointment is, “The state of having a feeling or emotion of being defeated in an expectation or a hope.” In looking at this definition helps us to learn how to deal with disappointment.

Re-Evaluate your Expectations: Are your expectations realistic? Or do they set you up for disappointment? Having un-realistic expectations will disappoint you every time.

Be willing to Drop Some Expectations: There are some expectations that are not worth having at all. As you look again at your situation be honest and ask yourself if you are having an expectation that is selfish, petty or unrealistic. If so, you are only hurting yourself by keeping them and should let them go.

Be Flexible: Learn from your mistakes and be willing to change your point of view about your situation that is realistic and considers the good as well as the bad and keep in mind what matters most.

One of the first exercises my husband and I give to couples in pre-marital counseling is to write down all of their expectations about the other person and then we have them read their list out loud and then tear it up and throw the list away. People don’t like this exercise very much because we are forcing them to get rid of their expectations of the other person, but it is an important one to learn and could save them a lot of grief after they get married..

We do this because it is normal for every person to have an ideal spouse in their mind of what they will be like and how they will act. It can come from their up bringing or what they have learned along the way, television or by what they have read of what a spouse is supposed to be like and act like. They then naturally bring those expectations into their marriage and right away they become immediately disappointed that their expectations are not being met.

Unfortunately it happens a lot in marriages and is more common than people realize and people wonder why they are having arguments and problems the first year of their marriage.

Sometimes when I counsel women who go through similar issues, I tell them to not be so hard on themselves and they won’t be hard on others. It’s a trickle down affect that occurs when people place hard or un-realistic expectations on themselves and then will naturally place those same expectations on others.

The worst part of this scenario is that when the person is working extra hard to fulfill these un-realistic expectations for themselves they expect others to do it too and they are constantly disappointed that others are not fulfilling their part. So in this scenario re-evaluate your own expectations of your self and see if you need to let go of them so that you can be freed from your own disappointment and not place that same expectations on others.

We encourage couples to not go into their marriage with expectations on their spouse but to get to know and accept their spouse for who they are and work together in accomplishing their goals and dreams together using their gifts and talents they both have.

Don’t get me wrong we also go over the roles of the husband and the roles of the wife with these couples but roles are responsibilities that are given to fulfill their role as the husband or the wife and not “personal” expectations. It’s important to know the difference.

My husband always says, “If you don’t have expectations you won’t be disappointed.” It’s true. We deal with our ministry the same way. It is what it is and we have to be willing to work with what we have to make it better and not focus on what it isn’t or what we don’t have but enjoy and be blessed with what God is doing.

The only expectation we have now is that God is faithful and He will do it. It may not happen how we expect Him to or when we expect Him to but He does it in His perfect way and in His perfect time. His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways!

So if you are dealing with disappointment take a moment to evaluate your expectations and be willing to make the necessary changes that will lift anything that may be keeping you down or others down. Sometimes our worst enemy is our own self. I hope these helps will give you something to work with when dealing with disappointment.

Blessings,

For Your God is a Consuming Fire

Deut 4:24
“For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. “
Living in San Diego, and having survived the second round of fires from also four years ago it was an amazing experience to go through it again last week. We were fortunate to not be affected by the fires but there were many that were.

Our hearts and our prayers go out to the fire victims who lost their homes and their animals and during this time we are praying for God’s comfort and provision to be poured out upon them.
What makes it ironic is that the day the fires started my husband who is a pastor preached on God being a consuming fire, and how when the winds join that fire it is unstoppable.

He was teaching on the day of Pentecost how the bible says in the book of Acts that the Holy Spirit came down like a wind and fire and brought up his experience of the fires four years ago as a Red Cross Chaplain.

On the following Saturday evening when the fires had died down, we were able to relax a bit and ponder what just happened. My husband was preparing for his sermon the next day and asked me what did I personally get out of what happened with the fires.

He was continuing on in his passage in Acts regarding the wind and the fire but also wanted to address how God also uses real life situations to speak to us. I had been thinking about that since the fires began, asking my self and the Lord, what was God speaking to me about this very thing. The scripture I kept hearing was, “Your God is a consuming fire.” Deuteronomy 4:24 “For the Lord your god is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”

I was moved and touched by the passage. My husband and I discussed the passage and then he shared five more passages that he looked up that same morning for his men’s discipleship study. It was amazing how they intertwined together. Here they are:

Isaiah 54:5 “ For your Maker is your husband — the Lord Almighty is his name — the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. “NIV

Jeremiah 3:14-16 "Return, faithless people," declares the Lord, "for I am your husband. I will choose you — one from a town and two from a clan — and bring you to Zion. Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.”

Ezekiel 16:8 "'Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine. “NIV

2 Corinthians 11:2 “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.” NIV

Ephesians 5:25-29 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.” NIV

In these passages I will share how they have comforted me and hope to encourage you and bring you comfort also.

When we go through life trying to live the best way we can, doing our best to stay above water, raise our kids, pay our bills, be good stewards, be good examples of light and salt and in the midst of all our efforts we can easily forget why we are doing it in the first place. We tend to focus on things that really don’t matter instead of the one question evacuees were having to ask themselves “What do we take with us?” For them it came down to what really mattered most. What was irreplaceable and what were, items such as photo albums, special mementos and id and insurance papers. They had only a few minutes to make those decisions and again it brought them down to what really mattered most.

It is unfortunate that it takes a fire to wake us up to this reality. We forget why we came to Christ in the first place and why we pledged our heart to Him, that is until real life situations make us stop and remember God, His love for us, that we are His betrothed bride, that he clothed our nakedness and shame, that he raised us up and cared for us and fought our battles, took away our sins, and gave us a comforter the Holy Spirit to live in our hearts, by faith.

I was also touched because I was changed and transformed because of His love for me. I was 17 and at the end of my rope, thinking this world had nothing for me, until the day that Jesus came into my life and offered me his love and affection. He took me out of the miry pit and placed my feet upon a rock and took care of me, healing my wounds of the past with his savvy and washing me to cleanse me of my sins. I was never the same and was so in love with God that nothing else mattered. My life was in his hands and I was completely changed from that day forward.
He was my first love and I loved him deeply. I needed to be reminded that His love for me still burns with passion, that He is a jealous God who will not stand for a bride who loves another. That anything else that I put before him is a false idol and needs to be removed. I was also reminded of this passage:

Revelations 2:4-5 “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.”

If these passages have spoken to you as they did me, please pray and ask God to show you where you are with Him. Have you forsaken your first love? Do you need to return to Him and repent? If you said yes then I encourage you to do as it says here in Revelations to return and repent and do the things you did at first. Remember where you have fallen and return to Christ your betrothed bridegroom and fall back in love with Jesus again. Spend intimate time with Him getting to know Him better and meditate on His Word and allow Him to speak to you, love you and encourage you.

His love is a consuming fire and when your filled with His love it will spread like a wild fire into everything and everyone in your life and you no longer have to try to live this life but your life will be lived out through Him.

Turn or return to Him today for tomorrow is not promised


Special Quote:

Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery but Today is a Gift and that is why they call it the Present.” Author Unknown

Pray For San Diego - What To Take If Evacuated?

Today our children stayed home from school because of the air quality from the fires. We have some fires up north of us and one fires down south. Right now we are in no danger but praying.

We are located in San Diego, CA. We don't have fires that often but when we do, they can be vicious and last for days. There are currently over 6,000 people that have been evacuated. At Qualcomm Stadium we have over 4,500 people staying in that one location alone out of 19 total temporary shelters that have been put up all around San Diego County.

San Diego and the Red Cross have done an amazing job organizing the shelters and support for the evacuees and we're happy that many neighbors are coming out and donating a lot of food and supplies. My husband is also a Red Cross Chaplain and is waiting for his orders to be sent out to the sites.

Please pray for everyone involved. We are praying for those people who were evacuated from their homes, those who lost their homes and also those who lost their animals. Pray for the Fire Fighters and staff members that are in real need of sleep and rest and those that are in the hospital for burns. May the Lord bring comfort, healing and protection upon them all.

One question I had to ask myself having to consider being evacuated myself is what would I take with me if evacuated today. It is a simple question but takes some real thought not a lot of thought but real thought meaning no fluff just what really matters most.

It caused me to think about how in a situation like this, "things or stuff" really don't matter. Here's what I thought to take:

1. Important Identification papers
2. Insurance papers
3. Bibles
4. Pictures and Photo Albums
5. Necessary Clothing to last a few days.
6. Special or sentimental items.
7. Blankets and Pillows
8. Personal Hygiene Products
9. Air Mattresses or Cots
10. Tents if you have them
11. Bottled Water
12. Flash Lights and Batteries
13. Warm Jackets, Hats and Gloves

I put this list together today but thought I would share it with you to give you an idea of what I thought of. It made me think that it's better to be prepared and know exactly what you will need than to try to figure it out on the cuff.

One idea to go even further is to write down a list of detailed items just for evacuation purposes. It's always better to be prepared because if or when that day comes it's easy for our thoughts to be scattered and our sound judgment to be clouded by fear and with well prepared lists it alleviates us having to think too much and can focus on the main important part which is to get your family to safety.

Take a moment to think if you were evacuated tomorrow what you would need to take and keep in mind that you may need to go for a few days.

Will the Real Rich Man Please Stand Up

Luke 16:19-23
"There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. but there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell* from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom."

Right from the very beginning Jesus tells this story making a distinction between a certain rich man and a certain beggar named Lazarus. It was clear that Jesus knew both these men but the difference was, one knew Jesus and the other did not.

Lazarus at this time was physically ill, full of sores, and could no longer stand. He was left with nothing to relieve the pain except medicine that came from the licking of stray dogs. It is a well known fact that dogs and other animals produce antibiotic micro-organisms in their tongues that naturally heal wounds.

How amazing that God can provide for our weaknesses and illnesses in unconventional ways we don't understand. Never the less Lazarus suffered greatly in this world.

There must have been many a day that Lazarus laid watching outside the gate, feeling cold, sick and hungry as grand officials, dignitaries and the like entered the rich man's estate; as they fine dined, had lavish parties and celebrations and the whole time unaware of his presence.

But now his grief and agony was finally over and upon his death he was carried away by angels to Abraham's bosom. What a great experience that must have been for Lazarus to be transported to heaven first class Angel style.

But much more than that was who was waiting for him. Abraham received Lazarus at his bosom, (the front area of the chest) which we all know is where the most intimate embraces of love and comfort are made, perhaps because this position is closest to the heart.

What an honor that was given to Lazarus for Abraham himself to be waiting to receive him. It reminds me of the Beatitude in Matthew Ch. 5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted." Although Lazarus may not have felt comforted in his lifetime he was definitely comforted in heaven.

Another observation about Abraham's embrace is that in order to be embraced at someone's bosom both parties are most likely standing. Imagine Lazarus no longer lying ill but standing perfect and upright in Abraham's arms.

What a great comfort this is to also be reminded that we will not only receive an inheritance and great reward in heaven but also our illnesses and our sorrows will be taken away. No longer to fear, suffer or grieve but rejoice in the Lord's great mercy and love.

It's so easy for us as Christians to see the wicked prosper and wonder why we are not prospering as they are. During those times it is important for us to remember that our rewards are in heaven and that the temporal pleasures we see now do not compare to the eternal rewards we will receive in heaven. As we put our trust in God and continue to focus on Christ and press forward, we will be blessed beyond what we can imagine or think, as we persevere by faith.

As it is written:

Phil 3:13-14
"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." NIV

So who really was the rich man here? The bible says that the first shall be last and the last shall be first. If we truly want to be blessed here on earth we have to learn to view life, our situation and people through God's eyes and not our own and measure success using God's Word and not the World. The bible says that this world and it's passions are temporary and passing away.

If you are struggling in your life today, feeling beat up, physically, financially, or experiencing grief, I hope this devotion will be a comfort to you as it was for me, that not only are we rich in Christ Jesus but that our reward is waiting in heaven for us.

If you don't know Jesus personally, I want to encourage you to receive Him in your heart today and receive salvation and all the precious promises that He gives you by the power of the Holy Spirit and through His Word the Bible.

Today is the day of salvation for tomorrow is not promised, I encourage you to please receive him today. If you need more information on salvation please contact me through my website.

Personal Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the illustration you gave us in Lazarus, that although he had nothing in this world to give that your plan had everything for him to receive in love, comfort and eternal life. Help us to remember that our treasure is in heaven and not of this world and that temporal pleasures on earth do not compare to the eternal blessings you have waiting for us in heaven. We give you all the praise and the glory. In Jesus name, Amen.

God Bless you!

"Don't Call Me Naomi"

Ruth 1:20-21

"Don't call me Naomi, " she told them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted e me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me."

As she entered the city there was already a stir of Naomi’s tragic situation and seeing Naomi and Ruth, the women exclaimed in the prior verse, “Can this be Naomi?” not recognizing her by her change of disposition.

Naomi’s name means “Pleasant and joyful” and perhaps at one time she wore that name proudly and was well known among the city as that. But upon her return she could not bear to carry her own name, but called herself bitter because that’s what she was. She goes on to tell those women that she left full but came back empty and that the Lord has afflicted her and brought her misfortune.

It is understandable how Naomi must have felt at that time. It was hard enough to lose her husband but to lose both her sons was just a devastation and to have no grand children to carry on her family name must have made her feel abandoned by God. As it was traditionally in those days, being barren and having misfortune was known as God’s favor was not upon you and your household and because of this, she grew in resentment and that resentment turned into bitterness.

Little did she know that God was not only going to show mercy and compassion upon her household but bring forth His only begotten son through the line of Boaz, her husband’s kinsmen redeemer.

If you have read the story of Ruth you know that this story is one of the most romantic stories in the bible between Ruth and Boaz. It was a prophetic visual symbol of love between Christ and the church; Boaz representing Christ who is our kinsmen redeemer and the church as Ruth who was once barren but now was full and blessed beyond what she could imagine or think.

This story personally gives me comfort and hope, that although God allows His children to go through trials that He never leaves us nor forsakes us and will use whatever we are going through for His Glory. Undoubtedly, it does hurt at the time and is painful, but we can turn to the God of all comfort who comforts us and come boldly to His throne of grace in our hour and time of need because He loves us and cares for us deeply.

At the end of the story Naomi’s family was going to live on through her kinsmen redeemer, and she was no longer barren but made full. From that day forward Naomi was able to live once again as “Pleasant and Joyful”.

If you are going through a trial or have experienced a loss, I hope the story of Ruth and Naomi has given you some comfort and hope that although God may feel far away, He is right there with you, you are not alone and you can turn to Him as your comfort. Allow Him to restore you that once again you can experience the joy of your salvation in God’s perfect time. May God bless you and encourage you today with His love.

Personal Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for the story of Ruth and Naomi that gives us comfort and hope that no matter what we are going through that you are with us and that you understand. Help us to trust you in the midst of our trials and cling to you as our God of all comfort and our kinsmen redeemer. We need you and we love you. In Jesus name Amen.

Dealing With Worry and Stress

Have you been worried or stressed over something that is starting to affect you in more ways than one? There are many reasons we can easily be stressed or worried such as our finances, our relationships, our work; you name it and the worse part is it never seems to go away.

You are not alone, life in itself has enough worries of it's own, even in Matthew chapter 6 it says not to worry about tomorrow for tomorrow has enough worries for itself. I want to encourage you that there is hope for your situation and that your worries can be turned into peace if you will heed God's word about this very normal and common dilemma. Let's look at what God's word says about this:

1. Do not worry = Telling someone not to worry is easier said than done. Take comfort in that Jesus understands what you are going through and shares in Matthew that we should not worry because our Heavenly Father is faithful to provide for His children. (Read Matthew 6:25-30)

2. Pray your Petitions to God = Taking our worries and concerns to God can be the best thing you could ever do. The bible says to come to Him and make your requests known to God with assurance that He hears the cries of His children. (Read Phillipians 4;6-7)

3. Come to Jesus = When we are at our worst God is at His best, come to Christ and allow Him to take your burdens and lighten your load. You can be honest with God in prayer, vent to Him, cry to Him and then ask God to take your burdens and believe that He is faithful and He will do it.(Read Matthew Read 11:28-30 )

4. Cast Your Cares Upon Him = Cast means to cast off or take off and in this passage it means to cast off your cares to Him, give them over to God and allow him to take them from you, because He cares for you. (Read 1 Peter 5:7)

5. Stay Focused on Him = As you are giving your burdens over to God you can now re=focus your mind and heart back onto Him and off of your troubles, trusting that God is going to take care of you. When you do you will receive His peace in return. (Read Isaiah 26; 3)

6. Trust Him = Remember that the bible says that Jesus is our peace, and we can put our trust in Him to not only take our burdens but to carry them. Once you give them over to God be sure that you don't take them back. Put it in His capable hands and leave it there!
(Isaiah 26:4 )


Trust in Him that He is faithful and that He will do it. Release it to God and then praise Him and thank Him for being so good to you. God is sovereign, He is still on the throne and in total control. Allow Him to be on the throne of your heart and He will give you much peace in return and so much more.


Personal Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father,
When I am worried or stressed, help me to take my eyes off of my situation and re-focus back on you. Help me to trust you and give you my burdens and not take them up again and fill me with your peace that transcends all understanding so that I can rest again and be refreshed. Thank you Lord for hearing my prayers because you care for me. Amen

Personal Blog

Hello,

I decided that in between my devotionals and counseling helps I will write a personal blog about me and what's the latest. Right now I am focusing on family, supporting my husband with our church and writing. My goal is to finish and publish my lay counseling handbook which is almost finished but I need to edit and polish it and perhaps make more revisions. I've been working on it for almost three years; something I would work on every time I had the chance. Our family and ministry keep us pretty active and I'm thrilled to see our church plant is growing.

What's in the Mind of a Pastor's Wife

Before I became a pastor's wife I used to wonder what went on in the minds of Pastor's wives. I knew that I could never truly understand but wanted the inside scoop of how they felt. So incase you might be wondering, you may not care, but I will share with you a little of what goes on in my mind:

• I have a strong faith in God's faithfulness because he is faithful inspite of me not because of me.
• I have a strong purpose to hold up my husband's arms and be his support especially when no one is looking
• I feel a strong call to my family remembering that my first and foremost ministry is my husband and children.
• I feel a strong obligation to God to be blameless that no man or woman would stumble because of me.
• I feel a strong call to rightly divide the Word of God that I would not be ashamed or shame my Jesus.
• I feel a strong sense of community, that within our church and outside people matter to God and people matter to us.
• I have a strong focus that in the midst of pressures and other peoples expectations that I have to be myself and focus on Christ and be pleasing to Him.
• I have a strong call to minister to the orphan, the widow, the poor and the needy because the bible says that this is true religion.
• I have a strong sense of belonging, that I am not just a pastor's wife but a daughter of the Most High God, who has a Heavenly Father that loves me unconditionally and has forgiven me and gave me a new life as a new creation.
• I have a strong obligation to share that good news with the world that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that who should ever believe in him (Jesus) would not perish but have ever lasting life.

These are just some things that I have learned, processed and felt compelled to do and live as a woman married to a pastor and as a child of God.

The most important lesson I have learned as a pastor's wife is that I'm not perfect and that I can't do it on my own I need Jesus. The bible says that apart from Him we can do nothing. In the midst of my imperfections He is perfect and so I look to Him for my strength, protection and my perfection.

I hope this gives you a better idea of what goes on in the mind of pastor's wives and if you attend a church I want to encourage you to hold up your pastors and their wives arms because they need your support and they pray for you daily.

Seek Him First

Matthew 6:33 "Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added to you."

In life we are tempted to seek after many things, with so many distractions and interruptions that can easily take us away from the things that really matter. What does Jesus say here in Matthew 6:33? To seek first the kingdom of God. The word "seek" in the Hebrew means "to search for as in searching for silver or gold."

The bible says that where our treasure is our heart will be also. What is your treasure today? Are you spending time with God? If not I want to encourage you to remember Christ as your first love and return to Him and go back to doing the things you did at first.

Anything that we put before God is considered an idol and apart from Him we can do nothing. What does Jesus say will happen if we seek the Kingdom of God first? That all these things will be added or given to us.

I encourage you to make a decision today to do as Mary did; she chose to sit at the Lord's feet rather than be "busy" for God, and Jesus said that Mary made the better choice and it will never be taken away from her. When we choose to seek Him first ,He gives us more than we can imagine or think in return which is Christ Himself and what more could we possibly want?

Personal Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father,
It is so easy for me to be busy. Please help me to slow down, sit at your feet and spend time with you that I can make you my number one priority and return to you as my first love. Please forgive me if I have strayed and refresh my heart and make me new again. Thank you Jesus for loving me and hearing my prayers. Amen

Filoiann Wiedenhoff

8 Spiritual Principles in Writing a Devotional Part II

In Part one, I addressed the technical side of writing a devotional, how to pick your scripture, find your overall theme, do your research, draw your conclusion, personal application, write it out and Edit it. In this article I want to address the spiritual side of writing a devotional that deals mainly with preparing your heart and your mind when writing your devotional and the value that devotionals carry.

I put together eight principles to spiritually prepare your heart and mind for writing a devotional:

1. Pray: Before you write a devotional you must first pray before during and after and ask God to not only speak to you about the passage you will be writing about but also prepare your own heart to receive it. The majority of devotionals you will write are meant for you first. Prayer also helps you to be more led by the Holy Spirit and enables you to have spiritual understanding of the passages and themes you are writing about.


2. Ponder: Pray for God to help you ponder it for a few minutes so that you can see something you’ve never seen before in the passage or through your research or possibly receive something you already know but need to digest to fully to understand it for your self. It’s one thing to think or assume that we know something but it’s another to really understand fully what something means.


3. Piece: As you are in prayer ask God to help you piece it together and see the bigger picture, this will help you have a smooth flow from introduction to conclusion. When you are able to see the big picture from beginning to end, it is much easier to communicate it on paper.


4. Practical: In writing devotionals that speak not only to you but to others; another important principle is to keep it practical. Over-spiritualizing by talking in platitudes although it may sound nice and spiritual it does not help the average person apply it practically to their own life today. Keep it simple, make it practical and applicable to every day life and you will find it is more affective..

5. Personalize: We’ve already talked about personal application but personalizing your devotional means to include personal information about you which is okay as long as the focus stays on the overall theme and the scripture passage. Personalizing is optional but for the record I have personalized devotionals and they are great in showing that the writer is a real person that experiences the same issues as anyone else but like I said, you must make sure you stay on point and not make it more about you than the passage you are writing about.


6. Point: No matter what the overall theme is it should always, always point to Jesus! I can’t stress this enough. You can stress your theme for example “Having Faith through Life Storms” using faith as your focus but make sure that Christ, our Heavenly Father and/or His Word is weaved throughout the text. This creates a wholesome dependence on Christ and not on the writer or on the action but on the person who gives us everything we need, Jesus Christ Himself. In doing this we are pointing them to the one who is our healer, our provider and our portion.


7. Personal Prayer: After you end your devotional with a conclusion you can add a personal prayer where you take the conclusion and turn it into a prayer by rewriting it in a way that is personal. For example: If the conclusion is to trust God through life’s storms, my prayer may sound like this: “Dear Lord, no matter what I’m going through I know that you are faithful and will see me through this. Help me to trust you even when I don’t understand and help me to cling to you even when I don’t feel like it. Thank you Lord for loving me and hearing my prayers. Amen”


8. Precious: Remember in the end that writing devotionals is personal between you and God and whether others read it or not, it is precious because it comes from your heart and that makes it precious to God also. David wrote the Psalms with love and devotion and God called him a man after his own heart. Isn’t that all you really want in the end? I know that I do.

I hope these spiritual principles will help give you more to work with when writing your devotionals. The most important principle is to have fun and enjoy writing them. May the Lord bless your devotional endeavors!

Blessings,

8 Simple Steps to Writing a Devotional Part I

Have you ever wanted to write your own devotional but thought you weren’t “Spiritual” enough? You read big name Christian authors and speakers devotionals and think to your self you could never write like they do? If you have had similar thoughts this article is for you.

I want to start off by saying that big named Christian authors and speakers didn’t start out writing professionally until they have had years of practice. One important element to keep in mind when considering writing devotionals is if you are a born again believer and you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you then have also been given the Holy Spirit and through the Holy Spirit Christ who lives in your heart by faith, works and wills in you to accomplish His good purpose.

It is the Holy Spirit that enables you to accomplish His good work to which the bible says gives us understanding, wisdom, gentleness, kindness, love and all the fruits of the spirit. With that said, that also enables you to write inspirational, encouraging, and affirming devotionals that speaks to the mind, body and the soul.

The second most important element when writing devotionals is to write it for your self first. The inspiration or encouragement you receive is what you will use to encourage others. Simply writing for someone else is usually not as affective because the tone and language of the devotional may come off as a lecture or preaching at someone rather than to someone. Self application is a must to write heartfelt and sincere devotionals that touches the heart.

My advice is to write from the heart and write with a Holy fear that you are simply relaying God’s words but with your own personal touch. I have put together 8 simple steps to writing a devotional and encourage you to practice, practice and practice some more, but as you do you will be blessed more than you can imagine or think. Over the years my greatest healing came through writing personal scripture devotionals that changed my life and it will change yours as you make the time and effort to spend with God and allow Him to speak to you. God is faithful and He will do it!.

Here they are as follows:

1. Pick your Scripture: In your daily quiet time with God, pick out the scripture that speak most to your heart. God speaks to us through His Word and when we take note of the particular passages and dig a little deeper God will speak volumes.

2. Read in Context: Once you have picked a passage it’s important to understand the scripture in context. Simply put; read what the passage means in it’s own chapter. Read above and below to get the full meaning of why the passage was said and what it means. If necessary read cross references or bible summaries.

3. Find Overall Theme: To find the theme, once you read the context of the passage along with a particular message look for what the Holy Spirit may be showing you through the passage such as; forgiveness, love, holiness, anger, etc…Take that as your overall theme and build your devotional around that theme.

4. Do Your Research: Find keywords within the passage, especially your theme words and look them up in bible dictionaries, Webster dictionaries, do cross references on your main passage and topical scriptures, you can also add a familiar story or bible story that sums up the theme and last look up bible commentaries to expand your understanding on the passage itself and also confirm your own thoughts and conclusions.

5. Draw your Conclusion: After you have done all your research findings you can then draw your conclusion of what the theme or topic’s real message you believe God want’s to say to you personally and through you. Write it down.


6. Personal Application: Once you have done a thorough study on the passage or theme topic then spend time pondering this lesson and ask God to help you receive this for yourself and then begin applying it by putting it into action in your own life. You can also write that down.

7. Write it Out: Next begin to write it out in format. The most common formula is: 1. Title 2. Introduction 3. Body 4. Conclusion. Here is the part where you put all your research, your writing, thoughts and personal experience and/or revelation into a readable devotional format. Organize your thoughts first then condense all of your writings into a brief and to the point summary of your findings that is clear, concise and to the point, a devotional format that is simple for anyone to understand.

8. Edit, Edit, Edit: The definition for Edit simply means to refine to conform to a standard or purpose. Go over all of your writing, checking for spelling, errors and grammar and make sure your devotional stays on point. Editing is also another important element to writing devotionals, articles, papers etc... If you think you need to brush up on your grammar, there are grammar handbooks available online or at your local library.

Once you start writing devotionals you will grow and improve in your writing abilities and skills but more importantly your relationship with Christ will grow and be more intimate as you spend more thoughtful time in His Word. I hope these tips will encourage you that anyone can write devotionals as long as they come from the heart and glorify God!

Blessings to you,

Filoiann M.Wiedenhoff

What Motivates You?

Ps 91:14-16"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.He will call upon me, and I will answer him;I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."NIV

There’s an old story I heard when was a little girl, about a woman who was in a car accident. The car rolled over twice and her child was stuck underneath. The mom saw that her child was about to be crushed under the car and without thinking she miraculously lifted up the car high enough to set her child free. Some people believe this is just another Urban Myth, but most people believe this story to be true.

It’s a well known fact that people can do amazing things when they are scared or in a life or death situation. Why is this? They are motivated….some may not even realize what they are doing but for the most part they are driven by a motivation whether it is fear, anger, bitterness or love. With this woman she was motivated by the pure love of a mother.

Let's take a look back at Psalm 91;14-16 and see what motivates God and look at the list of promises that God will give to us:

1. I will Rescue him

2. I will protect him

3.I will answer him

4. I will be with him in trouble

5. I will deliver him

6. I will honor him

7. I will give him long life.

8. I will satisfy him.

9. I will show him my salvation.

I don’t know about you but every time I read this passage I’m blessed to be reminded that He is our rescuer, our protector, our deliverer, our provider. The one who gives us life, and His salvation. He lists nine amazing promises that He will do for us. How comforting is this to read?

Now let’s look at what He asks of us in return:

1. We love Him

2. We acknowledges His name

3. We call upon Him

There’s no comparison. We cannot even come close to doing what God is willing to do for us. Let’s now look at His motivation, the first part of verse 14 says it is “because he loves me”. He gives us His answer right at the very beginning of this particular passage, that His motivation is love. It appears that His motivation is our love for Him but in reality it is His love for us. The bible says that He loves us as our Heavenly Father. The bible also says that He has drawn us with cords of loving kindness (Hosea 11:4) and also that we love because He loved us first (1 John 4;19). God’s sole motivation in everything He does is love.

My question for you is what is your motivation for all that you do? Are you motivated by love, God’s love? If it isn’t love, then what is it? Take a moment to ponder these questions and also ponder this list of promises that God proves His love over and over again by first dying for us, and now living for us. The apostle Paul wrote that Christ love compels us (2 Cor. 5;14). What compels you? What moves you to do what you do? I encourage you today to be compelled by God’s love and allow his love for you to motivate you to love Him, acknowledge His name and call upon Him. Call upon Him while He is near, today is the day of salvation for tomorrow is not promised. Let love motivate you to love Him today and move you to draw near to Him and seek Him with your whole heart.

Last question: What obstacle or hindrance is so great that would keep you from a God and love like this?

Personal Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father,Thank you for loving me the way that you do and all the precious promises you provide for me. Please help me to receive and comprehend the depth and the width of your love for me that I may be compelled and motivated to love you more and live for you. I love you Lord. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.