June Journey to the Heart

We have been given the amazing opportunity to lead a girls Journey to the Heart in June. The Journey to the Heart is a 10-day experience in the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In the midst of 3,000 acres of woods and lakes you will enjoy Bible study with your team of other girls, have sweet fellowship, worship and prayer, and rich, personal time with God.

Out of all the retreats and Bible conferences we have ever attended, the Journey has had the greatest spiritual impact on our lives! We would love to see every single Christian young person go on a Journey. Prayerfully consider sending your older daughter(s) with us. This journey will help them learn how to love God with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength! 

To sign up, click here.

Should you have questions, feel free to email us or leave a comment.

Being an Example - notes from the January meeting

1 Timothy 4:12, Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.

Setting an Example in Your Youth
God calls us, no matter how young we are, to live a life that is an example to other believers! Realize that God has positioned us where we are for a purpose. He is equipping you and giving you the power to follow Him now, right where you are. My obedience to God will encourage my generation to follow Him. I’m here for people! My life is to bless others. Do others see God’s love reflected in me? In some way, you’re impacting, shaping and causing others to become like you. Paul said, Pattern yourselves after me [follow my example], as I imitate and follow Christ (the Messiah), 1 Corinthians 11:1 (Amplified).
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loves us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God, Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV).

The time and day to love and follow Jesus is NOW! Who are you modeling your life after? Jesus should be the first one! Take time to read biographies and stories of men and women who lived their lives for Christ. Do you influence others, or are you easily influenced? Ask yourself: TODAY, does my heart belong to Jesus?
other verses: Ecclesiastes 12:1, Psalm 90:14

Speech
Your words reflect what’s in your heart: Out of the abundance (fullness or overflow) of the heart that mouth speaks, Matthew 12:34. Honor God in what you say. Do you speak the truth in love? - Ephesians 4:15. Are you loud or gentle in your speech? When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say, and she always says it kindly - Proverbs 31:26 (The Message).

Life/Conduct
Today’s choices will influence the direction of your entire life. So now is the time to seek with all your heart what is best! Choose to live now for what counts for tomorrow and all eternity. It’s the springtime of your life! What seeds are you sowing in this season of youth? Your conduct/behavior/how you live- does it reveal Jesus to those around you? You shall know them by their fruit, Matthew 7:16.

Love
Eighty percent of Americans claim to be Christians... why don’t we act like it? What if Christians really were Christ-like? God Himself is love (read 1 John 4:7-21). By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another, John 13:35. We can love others well only when we are rightly related to the Lord and living according to His principles. Have I opened my heart to receive God’s love? Have I asked God to make me more aware of His presence? Have I taken out “the garbage” in my life? Mother Teresa, “We are all pencils in the hand of a writing God, who is sending love letters to the world.”

Faith
“Above all,” you and I need to learn to take up our shield of faith. We also desperately need to know the Word of God so as to answer the enemy when he comes to us with doubts and deception. Where do I sense the enemy sending his fiery darts? Is my shield of faith up? What lies am I believing about God? What Scriptures should I use to resist the devil?
verses: Ephesians 6:10-18, Psalm 119:11, 1 Peter 5:6-9

Purity
The word purity here means sinlessness of life. This can only come through Jesus. He creates in us a clean heart. He gives us the desire to stay true to Him. Seek to please Him in all you do. Purity also means unmixed, not contaminated. We need to keep a check on what worldly things are influencing our thoughts and motives (movies, magazines, books, friends, etc.). Examine your heart and your motive every day. Purity also includes how you treat others - with respect, honor, and genuine love. Keep Philippians 4:8 in your mind! Is ____ true, honest, just, pure, lovely, etc.??
Have I examined my heart and my motives? What is influencing me?
verses: Psalm 51:10, Philippians 4:8

Matthew 5:16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. NASB


Many now are watching the footsteps that we take,
Many soon will follow in the choices that we make.
So let us then be faithful, to be what we should be,
And leave a good example that they can clearly see.

Be an example of the believers in word and in conduct,
Be steadfast, in love, in faith, in purity of life;
For those behind us, let us stand within the gap
And make a difference in their lives.
Be an example to follow Christ.

Let us then be watching the weary, day by day,
Looking to encourage and to lead them in the way.
To run the race with patience, on Jesus fix their eyes
And challenge them with excellence, that they might win the prize.
~Mac and Beth Lynch


You tell on yourself by the friends you seek,
By the very manner in which you speak,
By the way you employ your leisure time,
By the use you make of dollar and dime.
 
You tell on yourself by the things you wear,
By the spirit in which your burdens you bear,
By the type of things at which you laugh,
By the records you play on your phonograph.
 
You tell what you are by the way you walk,
By the things of which you delight to talk,
By the manner in which you can bear defeat,
By so simple a thing as how you eat.
 
By the books you choose from the library shelf,
By these things and more, you tell on yourself.
- Author Unknown