Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | September 7, 2017

Love Like A Child

“And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3 (NIV)

I have always marveled at how the Bible refers to little children. As a matter of fact, if you check out Matthew chapter 18, you will read about the time the disciples approached Jesus and asked Him who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Were you surprised when you saw that Jesus called a small child to Himself? He  showed the child to the crowd and told them that in order for them to enter the kingdom of heaven they would need to change and become like that child.   Children are innocent and loving; they are caring and thoughtful; they are genuine; and they are also very forgiving! Some adults definitely need to learn to be more like little children, wouldn’t you agree?

Last week my youngest sister, Kantia, who lives in Quebec, Canada, came to Virginia with her two children, Isaque and Tirza, to spend a few days with me, following the sudden death of our brother and their uncle just weeks prior. We all needed some family time. Tirza is 11 years old and she exudes love. That girl can hold a leaf in her hand, or a butterfly, or a stuffed animal, and she will hold it as if it were the most precious gift she could ever hold. As a matter of fact, I felt that love one night as we lay on the floor watching a cartoon. Tirza cradled me as if she were a mama holding her baby, and as I tried to watch the cartoon, she gently touched my face and my hair, and then she would shower my face with kisses. It was almost as if God had embodied that little girl and wanted me to sense His love through her. I felt a peace that was so divine, that I forgot all about that cartoon. And even forgot I was sad.

Sometimes people need people. Sometimes people need God through people: people who love people. And sometimes the people we need are little people, like my 11-year-old niece Tirza, who, in just being the child that she is, showed me what true love is.
 

“Dear Lord, thank You for children. Thank You for loving them and for loving us enough to give us them.”

 
For His Glory

Luska Suzano
TRBC Women’s Life

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Posted in Encouragement, Hope, Love, Spiritual Living

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | September 6, 2017

Daughters, Princesses & Peacemakers

“God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.” Matthew 5:9 (NLT)
 

It was only the first day of school. We were all hungry. We were tired and cranky. One of my sons struggled with an assignment he did not understand. He was so overwhelmed that tears welled up, threatening to overflow. My other son’s computer was not allowing him access to the website for his online classes. He was already feeling the pressure of completing a much larger workload this year. Now his stress level soared even higher as he considered an entire day wasted as we tried in vain to fix his computer.

Tempers flared. Cutting remarks flew across the kitchen. Eyes glared. Every innocent gesture was taken as an act of war. Inconsiderate slights were considered aggressive attacks. I tried my best to calm the situation. Issues with school and technology are never worth damage to a relationship. I worked (more accurately, I fought) for peace in our home that day.

Our key verse tells us that “God blesses those who work for peace.” Is my attempt to make peace between brothers what the Bible is referring to here? The original Greek word means far more. Interestingly, this particular Greek word is only found in this context, this verse. The literal translation “peacemaker” is someone who has received the peace of God through the gospel. She then spreads this good news of peace with others. Though attempting to make peace between brothers is a necessary act in order to restore the sanity of the mother, this peace speaks of reconciliation with God.

When we spread the gospel of peace with others, we are called “children of God.” We wear the righteousness of God. God loves and cherishes us as a Father. We are children of the King of kings and Lord of lords. May we, as daughters and princesses, extend that love and peace to all others. Let’s not keep the peace we have experienced to ourselves.

Who do you need to spread the good news of the peace of God with today?

“Lord, we thank You for the peace we have received through salvation. Open up doors for us to share that peace with others.”

 

For His Glory

Tammy Randlett (http://staletoast.com)
TRBC Women’s Life

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Posted in Attitude, Hope, Spiritual Living

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | September 5, 2017

Trust In The Hard Times

“You, Lord, give true peace to those who depend on you, because they trust you.”  Isaiah 26:3 (NCV)

Some days are just hard. The best intentions and plans are set. There is a plan in place for you to walk alongside and make a difference. Then reality sets in and it just isn’t meant to be right now. It doesn’t mean it can’t happen, it just isn’t going to happen right now. Hearts are crushed. Dreams are put on hold. But, God is good and He holds the answers for when and where and it’s not now.

He offers us peace in those moments to continue to move forward. He gives hope in many ways. It could be in the beauty of nature around us, the phone call from a friend or a smile from someone at the grocery store. His Word promises that He will give us true peace when we depend on Him.

Will we trust Him and His timing or will we push ahead for future disappointments because we tried to handle things and our determination won over? My prayer is that we allow God to guide us and trust His timing and enjoy His peace in those tough moments.
 

“Father, thank you for Your reminders that you are near. May you always help guide us to trust your plan and give us peace in the tough moments.”

For His Glory,

Debbie Struble
TRBC Women’s Life

 

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Posted in Faith, Hope

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | September 4, 2017

A Different Light

“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it.” Hebrews 4:6 (NLT)

What do we do when someone is getting under our skin? Like they’re driving us crazy, and yet we sit there with our smile pasted on while our body is cringing in their presence. Usually it happens with someone we constantly have to connect with – a co-worker, family member or perhaps a close friend. Whether they realize it or not, they’re pushing our buttons.

Desperately trying to avoid an emotional outburst, we find ourselves hiding behind our feelings. And the closer the person is to us, the quicker we start stirring up our mind with negativity – building a list of all their wrongs. We see them in a different light or shall I say a different darkness.

When our thinking chooses to maximize someone’s weakness, we lose sight of their strengths and our actions start to follow our thinking. Patience and grace slip under the table when we encounter this person. Responses will eventually spew out of our mouth and reactions follow leaving little for God to find pleasure in.

Wonder what would have happened if instead of scrutinizing them, we got down on our knees and began to pray? Wonder if our patience level would have increased or better yet we might have gained wisdom in uncovering why they were getting under our skin?

Prayer has an incredible way of illuminating the truth and supplying us with God’s grace. When we bring all our relationships to Him, He reveals the true value of their soul. Gently, He reminds us that this one was worthy of the cross – shouldn’t we see them that way too?

“Father, help me to love others by choosing to focus on their strengths while leaving their weaknesses in Your hands.”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Women’s Life

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Posted in Attitude, Spiritual Living, Wisdom

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | September 1, 2017

Clouding Influence

“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9 (ESV)

When my schedule is tight and there’s not much margin, I move into super planner mode.  A busy weekend sent me into stretching every minute.  Strategically, I leveraged my time to reap the greatest productivity.  By Friday morning, the perfect plan was in place.

Early rise on a Saturday, I edged into my jam packed day.  Love the new grocery pickup options.  Put my order in Friday with pickup 8:00 am on Saturday.  Plenty of time for my husband to pick them up while I finished getting ready for a conference.   Breakfast would be waiting when he returned, I would put up groceries and head out by 9:00 am.  Kink #1 arises – no text message on my phone for pickup.  Easy solution just give them a call.  Thirty minutes of hold and research time revealed my order didn’t go through.   Order replaced for pickup when my meeting ended, got dressed and rushed out the door.

Kink #2 didn’t show up until I left my meeting at 2:00 pm and there was still no pickup text.  Drove to the store and found my order wasn’t ready.  Did I happen to mention, I was leaving to go out of town at 3:00 pm?  Panic set in as my plan unraveled right before my eyes. An update on the store’s website created some unforeseen delays.  Thirty minutes later, I’m driving home with groceries in the trunk – mission accomplished.

No matter how much we plan there are things that simply happen.  When life merges into our hectic schedule, we have two options.  First, we could rant and rave claiming our “right” and demand others fix our “wrong.”   Second option requires a lot more constraint, yet births greater glory.  It sees the people involved as imperfect human beings just like us and works to resolve the issue.  My gut reaction was option #1, but I had just finished listening to someone talk about being “Jesus” imitators in our world. To reach out to others despite our agendas and desire for margin.  This was an opportunity to seize the moment to share God’s love to a sweet girl apologizing for my delay.

Pulling out of that parking lot, I left with more than I arrived with.  The chip on my shoulder dissolved in the stark reality that productivity almost propelled me to shortchange my testimony.  Note to self:  Don’t cloud influence with your frustrations.

“Father, thankful for Your mercies when I miss the mark and demand “perfect” at the expense of others.  Grateful for Your Holiness that teaches me the value of influence.”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Women’s Life

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Posted in Attitude, Encouragement, Spiritual Living, Success

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | August 31, 2017

Wise With Our Lips

“Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Proverbs 12:18 (NIV)

I was trying on a dress I really liked but wasn’t sure of the length, so I had my friend Andrea with me to give me her opinion. The dress was about three inches above my knees and showed too much of my legs, in my opinion. Andrea pointed out to me that my dress was exactly the same length as the one she was wearing and that she thought it looked great on me.

I looked at her dress and did not notice what she was saying, so she asked me, “Don’t you see that my dress is the same length as yours?” There, in that tiny fitting room, it was hard for me to look down at my friend, who stands shorter than me a few inches, to notice the length of her dress.   So, I said to her, “Well, I am not that short and can’t really tell.” She looked at me, shocked that I called her a “shorty,” as I tried, unsuccessfully, to fix my phrase by saying, “oh, wow, that didn’t come out the way I meant for it to! I really meant that I needed to be short and look up…”

Andrea said to me, “Luska, you are making it worse by the minute. I get it, you think I am short.” By then, there was no way on earth that either Andrea or I could keep a straight face or – even worse – stop ourselves from breaking into severe, loud laughter in the fitting room. I then looked at her and said, “If you choose to never go shopping with me ever again, I will completely understand.”

I ended up not buying the dress, but on that afternoon, even though it felt like a joke between good friends, I was reminded that our words, if poorly spoken, can harm someone’s self-esteem and confidence.
 

“Dear Lord, sometimes we don’t realize the depth of what we say, because we don’t take the time to think our words through. Please help us to be wiser with our lips.”

 

For His Glory

Luska Suzano
TRBC Women’s Life

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Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | August 30, 2017

End of Summer Project

“God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8 (NLT)
 

Some people ascribe to the practice of spring cleaning. Spring is a time for discarding jackets, scarves, and gloves in order to better enjoy the fresh warmth. Spring is a time for buckling down and finishing schoolwork for the year, so we can enjoy summer vacation the moment final exams are over. Any deep cleaning gets pushed to the back burner for later.

Our family ascribes to the lesser known practice of the-week-before-school-starts cleaning. A wave of loathing for all things cluttered or overflowing starts the week off. Working under the pressure of a deadline—before the chaos of a new school year derails any extra projects—usually keeps us motivated. Some years, we lose steam partway through the process, giving up in exhaustion before crossing the finish line. This year we tackled every drawer, cabinet, and closet trashing, giving away, or selling everything that wasn’t necessary for our daily survival.

Just as we took the time to clean and organize our drawers, cabinets, and closets, so we as believers, must take the time to examine our hearts—every nook and cranny. What does our key verse mean when it refers to a pure heart? A pure heart is one which is free of the guilt of sin, the pollution sin causes. Our hearts and minds relish the purity that comes with living free of the pollution and guilt of sin. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 NASB)

Our reward for an organized, clean house is a temporary feeling of satisfaction knowing there is room … for more junk to fill up every space in the coming year. The reward for a clean, pure heart is infinitely better. To “see God” is not just to see Him with our eyes but to perceive Him in all His glory, to truly know Him more than words on a page but with every fiber of our being. More than mere temporary satisfaction, seeing God fills us to bursting.

Is it time for some end of summer cleaning?

“Lord, we bare ourselves before You to be cleansed of our sin. Thank You for Your forgiveness and the clear perception to really see You.”

 

For His Glory

Tammy Randlett (http://staletoast.com)
TRBC Women’s Life

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Posted in Spiritual Growth, Wisdom

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | August 29, 2017

Worth The Investment

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35 (NIV)

I saw her recently. A quick hug combined with a beautiful smile assured me she was well. Verbal confirmation quickly followed. Spiritually I ask? ‘Yes. I am.’ she answered. My heart rejoiced.

Why? Because our first acquaintance was in a one on one mentoring program where a troubled teenager, insecure in her identity was introduced. Little did she know her life would be radically transformed. Sadly, no one had taken time to teach her commonsensical things a young teenage girl should have known; therefore, those months were filled with a multitude of questions, practical and spiritual. Most importantly she was spiritually lost and quite open about it.

Gratefully, behind the scenes God was working and answering many prayers! About halfway through our journey I had the privilege of leading her to Christ. The investment paid off!! Over time she’s learned to walk independently, make godly decisions, find a job, finish high school, and grow in her walk with Christ.

Jesus was the greatest example of investing in others. He personally chose twelve men to pour spiritual truth into over a three-year period. Mentoring at it’s finest. They had set backs and didn’t always listen, yet he continued to devote Himself confident they were worth the investment.

What about that neighbor you have been meaning to visit but haven’t? Or the co-worker whose life is falling apart? Or that teen without a role model? Who do you see that is worth the investment?

Someone saw value in you. Investments take time. Ask God to bring someone into your life that will benefit from time well spent. It will be worth it; it may even determine their eternal destiny. It did with mine!

“Lord, please allow me to see the importance of investing in others.”

For His Glory

Patsy Sanders
TRBC Women’s Life

 

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Posted in Encouragement, Spiritual Growth, Spiritual Living

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | August 28, 2017

When Glimpsing The Works of His Hands Captivates

 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”  Genesis 1:1 9  “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the works of His hands.” Psalm 19:1 (ESV)

For a brief moment, our nation was not fighting but sharing and laughing together as we glimpsed a total eclipse of the sun.  It started at 1:15 pm in Oregon and stretched across the U.S. ending around 4:00 pm.  Some areas had a better view than others, but regardless for those few moments, people were amazed by the spectacular and rare astronomic event.

While I was praying this morning, my heart was stirred by the sweet reminder that while everything else around us seems to be in chaos and disunity on August 21, God showcased who He is. Whether viewers of the eclipse believe in God or not – for a brief moment America was unified in worshiping God’s glorious creation.  While the moon cast a shadow on the earth, God was orchestrating every second.  It was as if His hand stretched across our country as a great reminder of His power and sovereignty.

Don’t know about you but that sends chills down my spine.  God’s timing is impeccable. Perhaps He is gently calling us back to worshiping Him rather than opinions, preferences and people.  Perhaps He is beckoning us to pursue unity among ourselves first as believers so we can imitate Jesus to our world. Perhaps He is simply reminding us that He is still in control. And just maybe He is giving us a glimpse of His glory that always overrides the darkness that surrounds our world today.
Spectacular, amazing, incredible, breathtaking, stunning – words spoken by those who witnessed God’s handiwork dancing in the sky.  Wonder what would happen if we said the same about all His creation – you, me and everyone that fills this whole wide world?  The ones He came to save, the ones He gave His life for and those He so desperately longs to see truly  love one another.

“Father, we bow in awe of Your glorious power and beauty displayed in creation. Help us to never lose sight of how incredible You are.”

 

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Women’s Life

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Posted in Faith, Hope, Worship

Posted by: trbccoffeebreak | August 25, 2017

Pursuing Our Faith Journey

“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.” Genesis 12:1-2 (NIV)

Genesis 12 introduces us to Lot, a man who held onto the curtails of his uncle, Abram’s, faith. Wealth, possessions and favor followed in Abram’s footsteps, so it’s a no brainer as to why Lot wouldn’t want to tag along. He was eager to follow and experience the benefits of Abram’s faith walk. Leaving his homeland of Ur for a great adventure.

What about us? Have we found ourselves eager to grab a hold onto someone else’s faith because success characterized their journey? Anytime, we hold onto someone else’s faith walk, we will always shortchange our own. God has a unique growth plan for each of His children’s lives, and He desires to deepen our level of trust in Him. Basing our decisions on what God is leading in someone else’s life without His clear direction for us will land us outside the will of God.

God’s word is very clear – faith is the reality of what we hope for – the proof of what is not seen (Hebrews 11:1).  Clinging onto other’s faith journey will not equip us with the tools we need for growth and dependence on Him.  Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6)

So, whose curtails do we tend to hold onto? Maybe’s it’s our parent’s faith. Or perhaps we’ve placed our trust in results evidenced in the lives of others rather than the One who sovereignly orchestrates the events in our lives. God works individually and creatively– there are no cookie cutter molds to achieve godliness. He is the Rewarder of those who place their faith in Him.  Don’t settle for someone else’s story – don’t miss out on the journey.  When we choose to embrace the faith walk He has for us, we will find that He is more than we can ever imagine.

“Father, empower us to step out in faith and pursue the journey You have for us.”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Women’s Life

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Posted in Encouragement, Faith, Spiritual Growth

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