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 I know that many of you enjoy the Spotlight Saturday posts, and I also enjoy learning new bloggers and sharing about them.
However, I am trying to simplify my life as much as possible, and time spent on my blog is a big part of my day. So, in an effort to spend less time on the computer, I am no longer going to be doing Spotlight Saturdays posts.
 Today the spotlight is on Christin at Journey to a Gracious Woman.
Christin is the wife to Jonathan and mother to four children, ranging in ages from 6 down to 9 months. She is a homeschooling mom and her heart’s desire is to live a life of sacrifice for Jesus. She blogs at Journey to a Gracious Woman on the day to day journey of fulfilling her role as a woman after God’s own heart. The following is a post from Christin’s blog that was originally published on November 9, 2007: Godliness with Contentment
I’ve been thinking about this verse a lot this week, obviously because meditating on it helps to remember it and live it. These three words “godliness with contentment” keep turning in my head. What does this mean? Godliness with contentment. Godliness means righteousness or holiness. Doing right. Ok. Contentment means having joy and being more than satisfied. The word “with” in this scripture means to accompany. So, godliness and contentment must go hand in hand. This leaves no room for perfectionism. With perfectionism there is no contentment because it knows no satisfaction. It is always striving for more…it knows no rest. Godliness is not perfectionism. Believe it or not, there is a difference. Godliness is what Christ has made us through His death on the cross. It cannot be obtained through works. We have to know that our faith in Christ’s death and resurrection is the key to our godliness – without this, we have no godliness. At all. When we can accept this Truth and walk in it, we can then live out 1 Timothy 6:6 “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (NIV). It is great gain because we learn to walk in freedom this way. Knowing our godliness is not ours, but Christ’s in us, helps us to realize our works will not make us godly. It is our faith in who Christ (perfect) is and His death on the cross to justify us that makes us godly. 2 Timothy 1:9 confirms this, “God…saved us and made us his holy people. That was not because of anything we did ourselves but because of God’s purpose and grace” (NCV). Believing this Truth is what brings us contentment.
Make sure to visit Christin at Journey to a Gracious Woman!
Today the spotlight is on Lisa from Extravagant Grace.
Lisa is passionate about her vocation as wife to Stephen and mother to Leah (9), Abby (7), Luke (3), and Kaitlyn (3). She also considers it a privilege to share about God’s extravagant grace, especially with her children, as well as women and teenage girls, through relationships, writing/speaking, her website, Extravagant Grace, and ministry, Women with a Mission. The following is a post from Lisa’s blog that was originally published on January 14, 2008:
Ephesians 5:33 Amplified
However, let each man of you [without exception] love his wife as [being in a sense] his very own self; and let the wife see that she respects and reverences her husband [that she notices him, regards him, honors him, prefers him, venerates, and esteems him; and that she defers to him, praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly].
Okay all you married women out there, I have quite the little challenge for you in regards to your marriage, thanks to the inspiration of Anne Ortlund in her book, “Disciplines of the Home.” Anne dedicates an entire chapter to the subject of women respecting their husbands, echoing everything I’ve previously written about on this subject. But she offered a new twist on the timeless word from Ephesians 5:33, suggesting that we ought to evaluate ourselves on a scale of 1-10, in how we are doing as wives fulfilling this command. We can take her challenge to the next level by using the Amplified version to provide a greater framework for looking closely at how we’re really doing. Wife, on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being best, rate yourself….
With your honest answers, between you and the Lord, get on your knees and pray for yourself, your husband, and your marriage. And then apologize, if fitting, to your husband for the many ways you’ve been disrespectful to him. Trust me, this is an investment into your marriage and your family that will reap great rewards. God just loves it when we are humble and sincere! Be blessed, ladies! Make sure to visit Lisa at Extravagant Grace! 
Kate is a twenty-something-year-old Christian homemaker living in a small town in farm country. She’s been married for six years, and has a six-year-old daughter. Kate is always seeking to become a better Christian, wife, and mother, and to improve her homemaking skills. One of Kate’s favorite Bible verses is Proverbs 14:1, “The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down” (NIV). The purpose of her blog is to share her (often slow and painful) progress towards becoming more like the famous Proverbs 31 Woman, and she also writes about the useful things she learns in the process. Kate recently started, “Philippians 3:14 Fridays.” It’s a weekly blog carnival, hosted each Friday at Which Proverbs 14:1 Woman?, in which you share your weekly or monthly goals. It’s purpose is twofold: encouragement and accountability. The following was the first “Philippians 3:14 Friday” post from Kate’s blog that was originally published on April 2, 2009: Philippians 3:14 Friday! Ta da!
This Friday is April 3, so let’s share our goals for the month of April. If you set goals for yourself for March, share how you did!
My March Goals: Results
Reading: I finished all three of my books, including typing up my notes, and started reading a few others.
Craft: I finished my heart swatch. I really enjoyed knitting it! Projects:
Daily Goals:
My Goals for April
Reading: Craft:
Projects:
Homemaking:
Daily Goals:
Yikes, that’s a lot of goals. Fortunately, many of them are very small goals. For example, it takes me five seconds to take my vitamin. Hopefully, these will slowly become habits, and I’ll eventually be able to take them off my list because I’ll do them automatically. So what are your goals? Post about them on your blog, and sign up below (Ashley says – You can find the linky here). I hope you’ll also visit other participants’ posts and leave encouraging comments. =) Make sure to visit Kate at Which Proverbs 14:1 Woman?!
Dawn is married to Tom and has been for 18 years. They have 3 children: Zaine – 22, Aaron – 17, & Kyle – 7. Her passion is reading God’s word and sharing her past experiences in hope of encouraging someone else in the process. Dawn’s goal in life is to share her Father’s Love (Heavenly Father) with those who don’t know Him. Dawn’s blog is her online journal where she writes about what God shares with her in her time with Him. She believes He wants all women, young and old to look to Him as their “Father,” the one who never fails them. The following is a post from Dawn’s blog that was originally published on May 8, 2008: I have a plan to give you hope and a future… Those who know they’re loved have a great advantage in life. There’s a sense of peace that comes with knowing you are loved, there’s an inner confidence that affects everything you do. Knowing someone else loves you suggests that in their eyes, you have value, and if that person believes that you have value, then you can begin to believe it yourself. Out of that sense of value comes confidence. To be completely honest and somewhat vulnerable I will admit I have struggled in the area of confidence throughout my life; especially when I was a little girl. Have you ever had the feeling you’d like to hide away in a closet somewhere and stay there awhile? Or pull the covers over your head and just not get up from your bed? Have you struggled with depression and felt like you were in a hole so deep it seemed impossible to climb out of. I have, and I have felt the neglect and pain caused by an earthly father’s failure to love and protect. It is devastating and follows a person throughout life. However, as uncomfortable and disheartening as it may seem at the time, God always has His own way of bringing hope, peace and love especially when He knows you need it most. It’s His love He offers first, and then He offers Hope and promises a future. When I was young, around 8 years old, I cried out to God. I was alone and scared and needed desperately some love and comfort. I’ll never forget that night. I can’t say I saw angel or heard a loud voice, but I did hear God’s quiet voice and He told me He loved me. I knew then at that very moment I was NOT alone and I fell asleep with such peace that night and not even one nightmare did I have. “The Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you” (Jeremiah 31:3). So, first I received His love, and then He brought me love through other people. I look back and can see every moment God was working in my childhood. Every person He used to bring more love. “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). I know we hear people say God is good and faithful and sometimes the meaning slips away in the repetitiveness of the phrase, I challenge us to really accept what God says to us about His love and to understand the true meaning of His Love. “How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings” (Psalm 36:7). It really is about trusting His Word even when trust doesn’t come easily. When it comes to the battle of the flesh and the spirit, let the spirit win. “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:4-5). Have you put your faith in Jesus? Have you been re-born?–Invite Him into your heart and be renewed by the Holy Spirit.
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Most scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Powered by WordPress & Atahualpa |
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Welcome to the very first edition of a new blog carnival: Philippians 3:14 Friday! You can see more info and find out how to participate