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SHEILA RHODES
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Tag Archives: Faith
26 Feb
Growing Our Children and Grandchildren To Love The Lord!
But as for you, continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus
(2 Timothy 3:14, 15).
As you know, parents play an important role in the spiritual development of children. Timothy was discipled by his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois (2 Timothy 1:5). The faith of Lois and Eunice had been communicated to Timothy while he was still a small child. Several years later this faith and commitment to Jesus Christ were a reflection of the faith and commitment of both his mother and grandmother. Our children need to see us as parents, grandparents and church leaders commit ourselves to communicating our Christian life, faith and heritage to them.
Discipling children begins with example. Children need God-honoring examples of Christian living. They need to see their parents worship both corporately and privately. Children need to see Mom and Dad respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit in making daily decisions. They need to see family members demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit in everyday family life. Parents need to demonstrate their belief in spiritual gifts by discovering and deploying their gifts in meaningful ministry in the local church.
Spiritual instruction isn’t confined to the Sunday school classroom. Life is filled with teachable moments. Parents must constantly be looking for opportunities to share their faith, whether worshipping, working or relaxing.
Finally, prayer is essential. God promises a meaningful experience to our children (Acts 2:39). As parents we need to cling to the promise of God. We need to pray daily that our children will give their heart to Jesus and be filled with the Holy Spirit from childhood. Instruction and prayer are imperative to growing children who will love, follow and serve Christ.
As parents, we need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to set an example for our children to instruct them in scriptural truth, and to intercede for their completeness in Christ.
My heart cry is for the Holy Spirit to work in our lives and help us to love, guide, and train our children. My friend, Pastor Debbie Lanier, spoke my heart cry recently when she wrote ~ “Whatever gets celebrated in our lives gets replicated. I choose this day to celebrate the active work of God in my life and family. Oh, how I love Him!”
If we celebrate the active work of Christ in our family and life, our children and grandchildren will replicate this same expression of faith and the ways of Christ in their own lives over time. We live it out by example through our faith and actions.
Grandparents are not just elderly moms or dads who dote over their little grandbabies. I’m a grandmother and love every single second of it. There’s just no sweeter love than that of a grandchild. For those of you who are grandparents, you know exactly how I feel. It’s such a JOY isn’t it? I’m sure you WILL lavish excessive attention and 
affection over them!) There’s a reason you’re called a “Grand”-Parent. “Grand” means “having more importance than others.” Your parenting is at a higher dimension than
when you were young with children of your own. You have a Grand Imperative that God sets in your heart. The older we grow, the more precious life becomes and the more attention MUST be given to the Next
Generation…and the Next…and the Next. It’s an Imperative …a mandate from God!
Who else has the life-experiences, wisdom, and knowledge like a Grandparent who loves the Lord? Who else has the heart to intercede for the Next Generation like a Grandparent who knows their time on earth is limited?
Proverbs 26:6 says ~ Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it.
OUR LITTLE GRANDCHILDREN… OUR JOYS!
Posted in Sheila's Heart
Tagged Christian Living, Faith, God Imperative, Grandparenting, Parenting, Ways of Christ
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16 Dec
O Come All You Faithful – Come And Behold Him!
O Come all you Faithful! How many of you just sang this song in your heart – O Come all ye Faithful … Joyful and Triumphant? It is a song of young and old. Angelic beings even know this song. It is a song of a God who loves us so much that He came as a baby and who trusted his parents to care for him. He was vulnerable to the cares of life just like you and me, yet; He believed in you so much to accomplish his purpose that He sent His son, Jesus, Son of God. I often wonder what the heavens must have been like as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit discussed going down in human form. Were the angels whispering? Did the Universe break forth with a celebration? Did the animals stir from their sleep? Did the fish swim toward Bethlehem? Did the trees wave their branches? I believe the whole earth sang in glorious celebration!
Just like an expecting family – I believe that when God sent His Son to the earth all creation was stirring with excitement. Even those who did not want to believe knew of His arrival. After all God created us in His image. For those who did not believe, I think their very DNA from the Father stood alert at the coming of the newborn King.
No one knows exactly when a baby will come but the Heavenly Father. He speaks and the womb (God’s creation) moves at His command. It was true for Jesus and it is true for You!
At God’s command let there be:
Authority – light and darkness
Heaven and Earth – firmament (the vault of heaven; sky) in the midst of the waters;
Establishing – waters under the heaven gather into one place and let the dry land (earth) appear; Let the waters be called Seas;
Seed – Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields see, fruit trees;
Orders our Steps– Sun to shine by day and the moon and stars to guide us by night; let them be for signs and seasons – days and years
Depth and Height – great sea creatures to cover the depths of living water and birds to fly over the expanse of the heavens
Pleasure – Animals
Dominion – Man and woman in His image. God’s very DNA fills you today!
Blessing and Honor – Rest to ponder the goodness and righteousness of the Lord
Did you think this was a creation story? Well it is. God created all of this for you to reproduce His glory on the earth as it is in heaven. Sadly, many men still could not see it, so God’s amazing grace gave you the greatest evidence of all – His Son Jesus. A baby, born of a virgin, now in flesh appearing came to life for us. A baby who was vulnerable, in need of a parent to care for Him – feed him, cloth him, bath him, change him and teach him. He was faced with the same consequences and choices we do; He was given everything you already had from your Heavenly Father. God’s creation and purpose for us never changed. Jesus resurrected what was already given to you.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. – Isaiah 9:6,7 (NIV)
O Come all ye faithful….Come and behold Him…God’s ultimate creation story!
Posted in Ministry Messages
Tagged Christ, Christmas, Creation Story, Faith, Faithfulness, Love
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28 Aug
Are You A Dream Maker or a Dream Killer!
Lately, I have been reading articles and hearing people and ministers talk about dreaming big again.
Do you remember being a little child and you had so many dreams about who or what you were going to be when you grew up? You would go and tell your mom or dad that you were going to be a doctor or a nurse and then another day you would say to them you were going to be a policeman. When your parents would ask you why you wanted to be these people, your answer was “I want to save people’s lives”.
How wonderful it was that when we were young, our imaginations would run wild and we truly believed we could do anything that our imaginations could think up. The funny thing is that life has a unusual way of changing our minds and the way we think. Whatever happened to that child like faith?
A friend of mine once told me that there are two types of people in this world, dream makers and dream killers.
Dream makers have an optimistic outlook on life no matter what the challenge of the dream. They always see the bright side and are determined to make it work.
Dream killers are those, that no matter what you say about your dream, they are pessimistic and they always see the negative side of your dream, but they never encourage you to fulfill your dream. Most of the time these individuals are negative because they have missed out on their own dreams.
So which one would you be?
We recently have had one of our missionaries from Africa in to minister at our church. He was sharing his dream in which the Lord had called him to minister to the people of Cameroon, Africa. He went onto say that he was a high school dropout and had no knowledge of the things of the Lord. He did not know how to dream. When he came to know the Lord, he was in his mid thirties, and he could not get enough of God. When he was in his fifties, he received his GED certificate. Since then he has finished four years of college and now that he is in his sixties he is receiving his Doctorate degree. He told us that he learned to dream big, no matter what the age. In order to fulfill the needs of the people of Cameroon, Africa he needed his Doctorate degree.
Earlier in their missionary works, he and his wife had felt called to go to Prague, Czechoslovakia. They left their homeland and traveled to Czechoslovakia. On the way traveling there, he became frustrated because he could not find his way into the city where they needed to be in. He pulled the car over, (loaded with all of their belongings) on the side of the road in frustration. He told his wife, I am done, this is a mistake. He hears the Lord say follow that Taxi cab. He begins to follow the Taxi cab and he looks down at the license plate and it reads, ACT 9-6-7. He tells his wife to look that scripture up in the bible and this is what it said.
Acts 9:6-7
So he trembled and astonished said, “Lord, what do you want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do”. And the men journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.
The Taxi cab took them to the exact place that they were looking for. God knew his frustration and stepped in. I love how God works on our behalf!
It is ok to get frustrated about a dream that we have, we are only human. Just imagine if this missionary and his wife had given up back in Czechoslovakia, he would have never went on to get his Doctorate degree and begin opening up a school in Cameroon, Africa even their work in India would have had no meaning.
Everyone’s dreams are going to be different, and maybe God will not use a license plate to direct your path, but he will use people or things to get us in the right direction and dream big again in him.
Have that child like faith once more and dream big! Believe that you can do anything that you set your heart to be or do. Dreams do not happen overnight, so keep your faith alive in God, and move away from those who want to crush your dreams that God has given you.
All things are possible through those who dare to believe. Choose this day to be a dream maker and let the Lord enlighten your pathway
Melissa Pirtle ~ is a worship leader at Northwest Believers Church in Katy, Texas. Spontaneous worship is one of her favorite parts of worship. Melissa loves mentoring the younger generation on how to flow and hear by the spirit
Posted in Sheila's Heart
Tagged Believe, Dream Killers, Dream Makers, Dreamers, Faith, Trust
1 Comment
06 May
Open the Garden Gate – Join Me For Coffee!
“God has promised that He will never leave you or forsake you. No matter what you go through in life, you don’t have to go through it alone.” ~ Joyce Meyer
It’s a perfect day for coffee in the garden…
Please join me ♥♥
…… (♥….…♥
….…)… …((* ✿ Good Morning , wishing ALL✿
……((….…♥) a beautiful day!✿
_ر██ __ ██Ɔ_
♥As you begin your day….
Look around, and focus on
the small blessings that you
may take for granted each day!
We all have so much to be thankful for!
✻ღϠ₡ღ✻
(¯`✻´¯)
`*.¸.*✻ღϠ₡ღ¸Love, from the ♥
*Psalms 119:11 – Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Where hope grows, miracles blossom.
~Elna Rae~
“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
~ Colossians 3:2
Nothing satisfies like Jesus !…♥
♥ Faith Full ~ If YOU could view yourself through the eyes of Jesus, YOU would know how precious you truly are ♥
I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize the Lord is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine. It makes no matter where He places me, or how. That is rather for Him to consider than for me; for in the easiest positions He gives me His grace, and in the most difficult, His grace is suffice ~(Artist: Sam Timm)~
Always TRUST in the Lord! He has wonderful plans for your life if you allow Him room to be top priority as Lord of your life. He desires to prosper you in ways that you can not even comprehend. He wants to give you hope and a future that will be fulfilling…TRUST HIM!
“Prayer is the risen Jesus coming in with His resurrection power, given free rein in our lives, and then using His authority to enter any situation and change things.”
~ (Ole Kristian O. Hallesby)
♥ Hope you have enjoyed your time at the table with me drinking some coffee, or tea on this gorgeous
☆`•.¸¸.✻MAY DAY´´¯`•.¸¸.٭✻.☆
♪. ♫
♥
“Say good-bye to the things that are stealing your peace and joy and get on with God’s plan for your life!”
Posted in Garden of My Heart
Tagged Encouragement, Faith, Flowers, Garden, God, Hope, Inspiration
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