Thirty-Some Days in James 1, Day 38: A Giveaway!

I’ve really enjoyed studying James 1 with you all! I’m certain I’ve learned as much as you have in our journey through this first chapter of James. We will continue studying James 2 in January! That study will be posted on our new Mama’s Refill site, and will move at a slower pace to accommodate my even-busier-than-normal schedule for the next few months. It should also help more of you work at the same […]

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Revision of Day 32!

If you have not completed Day 32 yet, please note this revision!  When you start looking at “Speaking” in Nave’s Topical Bible, only look at the verses from Proverbs in the section labeled “Speaking: Evil,” not the entire section on Speaking! I mentioned that detail in the instructions for app users, but missed it in the general directions. I have edited the lesson, but the email you received will still have that […]

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Thirty Days in James 1, Day 24: Naptime

I surrender. 🙂 No matter how hard I try, I can’t stay awake to finish up today’s lesson, after this lovely day of celebration. I’m waking up enough now to put away my books, turn off my computer, nudge the dog out of the way, and go to bed, where I belong. 🙂 We’re going to still call this Day 24 so our lesson numbers continue to line up with […]

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Thirty Days in James 1, Day 18: Illustrations

Every trial we face in life is not only an opportunity to move forward; it’s also an opportunity to go backwards. We can either persevere and move forward toward maturity when we fall into trials, or we can move away from God, away from growth, and away from blessing, as we give in to despair or bitterness. Verse 12, with its promised crown of life for those who love God, […]

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Thirty Days in James 1, Day 17: Love

James opens his letter, helping us see that God wants to bless us with growth and maturity when we encounter trials. “The trying of your faith works patience.” Now, as we reach verse 12, we see once again that God wants to bless us through our trials, this time with future rewards. “…when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to […]

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Thirty Days in James 1, Day 10: Endurance

Trials test our faith. Our response to them shows whether we actually believe and trust God, or if we only say that we do. They help us see what we really believe. But God is not like one of those teachers who makes a test as difficult as possible to see how many people will fail it. He’s not giving us a test to see if we pass or fail. […]

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30 Days in James 1, Day 1: Let’s Begin!

Are you ready to spend the next thirty days (or more, if you choose) in James 1? I’m excited! We have so much to look forward to as we study together! When Jesus became a man and lived a perfect life, dying on the cross to pay the penalty for sin that we could never pay, and rising from the dead to conquer sin and death, He accomplished far more […]

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New Study on James 1 Starts November 1!

I have a very vivid memory of stepping into the shower — my alone-space where maybe I could think two coherent thoughts in a row — in total despair over some end-of-my-rope issue with some under-age-five child. He (or possibly she, I don’t remember which child it was, but I can make a pretty good guess) was clearly resistant to any approach we had tried while addressing his (or her) […]

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Unless the Lord Builds the House

We’ve been trying to build a house for two years — two years of ups and downs, trees cut down that no one wanted to help us haul out, a road that devoured over a hundred loads of gravel, a water line that kept breaking and finally had to be replaced, the rainiest winter in years for rainy Oregon, dozens of new houses being completed on every side of our […]

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How to Follow the Study on Diligence and Laziness without an Instagram Account

Several of you have asked if you might receive the lessons for our current mini-study on diligence and laziness via email. Unfortunately, this shorter study is not available by email. However, you do have some other options: If you look to the right on this post, in the sidebar of this blog site, you should be able to see the four most recent posts from our Instagram account. If you […]

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