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You don’t just jump into spiritual conflict unprepared. It could be deadly. Preparation and training are necessary.

We’ve been discussing testing of our faith. It comes to all believers in Jesus Christ, but I fear too often we don’t recognize it for what it is. When difficult times come to us—health issues, disease and death, financial crises, and similar trials of life—we often have a knee-jerk response of, “God, what’s going on? Why is this happening to me?” Such trials are not to be taken lightly or downplayed. The suffering is very real. The reality is, God can use these things common to us all to refine our faith and produce good results in us.

In my last post, these trials are what I likened to David’s lions and bears, which he subdued during his everyday shepherd’s life. This was David’s training ground for spiritual attacks, for fighting Goliath. And our health problems, financial troubles, and other challenges in life are our training ground for spiritual attacks, for fighting Goliath on the battlefield of faith in Christ.

In my last blog post, I re-posted the first of two blog posts about this topic. Here is the second.

Goliaths and Greater Things

David was faithful in his everyday life as a shepherd, sometimes at great personal risk fighting lions and bears. It was in his everyday life that he grew strong wielding the weapons of his trade—the staff and sling and stones—and he grew strong in faith in God. He knew God and could confidently say, “the LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear …”

We too face our lions and bears, those trials and difficulties that come into our everyday lives, threatening us in a myriad of ways. These are the enemies that come to destroy us.

Are we being faithful to fight them with the weapons given us—prayer and praise and the Word of God? Are we becoming adept in their use and growing in strength and trust in God? Can we say as David did, “the LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear …”

It is only in our everyday lives as we faithfully face enemies that would destroy us—our lions and bears—that we learn to fight, becoming skilled and strong, where we learn to know and trust the LORD, bringing him glory as we fight our personal enemies. This, too, is where we learn to recognize another kind of enemy: Goliath.

Goliath wasn’t David’s personal enemy, and he isn’t ours. Goliath is a different enemy. He defies the LORD of Hosts, the Lord Almighty.

Goliath is anything that is contrary to the person and purposes of God, and he must be fought with weapons that have “divine power to demolish strongholds … and everything that sets itself up against the knowledge of God …” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

Prayer and praise and the Word of God. These are the powerful weapons that we become skilled at using in our everyday lives fighting our lions and bears. Their power is spiritual, not of our flesh or the world, but of God’s Spirit who lives in us.

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When Jesus was on earth, he fought many Goliaths. When he was about to leave and return to his Father in heaven he told his disciples, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. … And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. … for he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:12-17, NIV, emphasis added).

Jesus expected us to fight Goliaths. Else what did he mean by saying, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8, NIV)?

Or “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20, NIV)?

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The Spirit was given for God’s purposes, the “greater works,” to be lived out in our lives. The questions we must ask ourselves are:

1. Do I recognize Goliath when I see him?
2. When I do see him, do I have the spirit of David that says, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
3. Do I have the chuztpah to reply to the naysayers as David did, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I … struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:34-37, NIV, emphasis added).
4. Do I have the jealousy for God’s Name that makes me willing to put “skin” in the game, my skin, for his Name and glory?

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The greater works we are to do, that Jesus expects us to do, are waiting to be done. They are there waiting for us to step forward, as David did, in the name of the Lord Almighty, that the Father may be glorified in the Son—through us.

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“David said to the Philistine, ‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.  This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down … and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.  All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands’” (1 Samuel 17:45-47).

Let us get stronger every day wielding the weapons of our warfare—prayer and praise and the Word of God—fighting our everyday lions and bears so that we may be strong in the Spirit, fit to recognize and fight Goliath—doing greater things—for the sake of his Name, for the glory of the Father.

Let us fear God more than men.

How have you fared with your lions and bears? Have you discerned the Goliath that you should be challenging for his Name’s sake? How is it going? Send me your questions and comments about this post at jacqueline@jacquelinegwallace.com .

 I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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Photo: Repent by jclk8888

“Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!” and “Goliaths and Greater Things” were first posted on Living with Hope and Purpose at JacquelineGWallace.com, blog posts of October 27, 2015, and November 3, 2015, respectively.

In our women’s Bible study we are investigating what the Scriptures have to say about being thankful for times of testing of our faith. If you recall, in my last post I said I had two pages of Scriptures, both Old and New Testament, that touch on the subject of tests of our faith and many speak to what our response should be. We went through some of those verses in this week’s study. Carolyn, who agreed to lead a few weeks of Bible study, contributed more pages of Scriptures, some of which were the same as I had copied out and others I did not have.

Everyday Tests for Everyone

James 1:2-4 was one most of us know: “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Another group of verses, perhaps not so well known, is from 1 Thessalonians 2:3-4: “We sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith, so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so it came to pass, as you know.”

Obviously, whatever the source of the trials and afflictions, we are not to be taken by surprise nor discouraged by them. And we need to encourage one another in them. We are even to count it joy to suffer because the testing of our faith can produce wonderful outcomes in our lives, such as endurance and completeness/maturity in our spiritual lives, as well as character and hope, as Paul says in Romans 5:3-5. “We also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

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The topic of tests of our faith reminded me of a post I published in two-parts on my blog a few years ago and I’m re-posting the first part here.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!

Well, maybe not tigers, but definitely lions and bears. That’s what David said, “When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth.” He went on to declare, “When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it” (1 Samuel 17:34-37).

Now, I’ve seen a bear close up. Sure, it was at night and all I could see was a big round, furry looking thing lumbering swiftly away from me (thank goodness it was going in the opposite direction!), but I knew it was a bear. We saw its tracks in the snowy yard the next morning and followed the trail of garbage up the hill into our neighbor’s yard. No sheep, just garbage. Hungry bears apparently are not fussy about their meals. From the size of that behind and the paw tracks it left, I’m glad it wasn’t running toward me!

A lion and a bear. Running after it. Grabbing the sheep from its jaws and then grabbing the beast by the hair and killing it. That is an amazing feat. Done not once but twice. All in the line of duty. Just part of the ordinary life of a shepherd.

David was responsible and dependable. He could be trusted to take care of business, in this case, sheep-keeping: guarding and guiding [and defending].

David was faithful to fight and do what he had to do; he did the right thing, even at great cost to himself. He may have had the scars to prove it. He used the weapons of his profession—the sling and stones and staff—becoming adept at their use. In the process of fighting the lion and bear he grew skilled and strong. His faith in God grew as well, for David knew he didn’t do his fighting alone. “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear ….”

David was faithful in his everyday, ordinary life.

We all live ordinary lives. We all face our lions and bears, those trials and difficulties that come into our lives, perhaps threatening our livelihood or even our life. These are the enemies that come to snatch away our lives, enemies that threaten to destroy us. Are we being faithful to fight them with the weapons given us—prayer and praise and the Word of God? Are we becoming adept in their use and growing in strength, growing in our trust in God? Can we say as David did, “the LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear …”

It is only in our ordinary, everyday lives, faithfully facing the enemies that would destroy us—our lions and bears—that we learn to fight, becoming skilled and strong in spirit. Ordinary life is where we learn to trust the LORD.

What bears or lions are you facing today: Health issues, fearful job or financial challenges, death or disease of a loved one, divorce, addiction? So many beasts that would tear us apart and destroy us. Only by wielding the weapons of prayer, praise (yes, praise) and the Word of God, in the power of God’s Spirit, can we successfully defeat such enemies.

But that’s not the end of the story. Fighting lions and bears has another vastly important function in our everyday, ordinary lives. For only then will we, like David, recognize and be fit to face the giant, Goliath, who defies the Living God.

More on that next time we meet.

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I want to remind you of another topic of study: the Lord’s Prayer and how Jesus taught us to pray. Offered in 10 weeks via Zoom, Teach Us to Pray will begin on January 24, 2022, meeting at 10 AM Pacific Time. 

If you are interested in joining us for this study, please register through the link below.

We hope you will join us!

Click Here to Register for Teach Us to Pray.

If you have any questions, you may email  jacqueline@jacquelinegwallace.com.

Please note, you will receive two confirmation emails after Registering:

1) an email request to Confirm Your Subscription. Please confirm to be included in the Zoom Bible study.

2) If you do not see the second Confirmation email letter in your In box after 30 minutes, be sure to check your Spam/Junk folder.

 Bear-by-sgarton-m10.jpg

“Faith, by its very nature, must be tried.” (Oswald Chambers)

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Who hasn’t heard of Oswald Chambers? One of the best devotional books ever published, in my opinion, is My Utmost for His Highest. It is a compilation of portions of messages and talks Mr. Chambers gave throughout his life, all of which were painstakingly recorded in shorthand by his wife. Many books were published from these notes based on sermons and teaching of Oswald Chambers.

And you may have heard of author Jan Karon, who delighted many readers with her stories about an Episcopalian priest and his neighbor cum wife in the fictional North Carolina town of Mitford. It is from a quote, the one above by Oswald Chambers, in the book, At Home in Mitford, that a question arises about the testing of our faith and giving thanks for it.

Grudging Gratitude?

The question asked by the main character, Father Tim, and the response by his neighbor, Cynthia, got us to thinking it would be good to follow up on it for ourselves. That question and response are:

(Father Tim) “Would you agree that we must be willing to thank God for every trial of our faith, no matter how severe, for the greater strength it produces?”

(Cynthia’s response) “I’m perfectly willing to say it, but I’m continually unable to do it.”

Exploring our thoughts about this exchange will be the topic of discussion and Bible study for the next two weeks in our women’s Bible study. I, personally, want to root out the biblical answer to the question Father Tim poses.

A Novel Idea

Some may look askance at the idea of a Bible study arising from a story of fiction, but why not? All of life presents opportunities to see the hand of God at work in our lives and of the lives of those around us. In fact, it should give us pause if we are not growing in our awareness of the presence and activity of God in our lives and those of others.

Our faith in God through Jesus Christ will be tested. This is not conjecture, it is a tried-and-true fact, attested to in Scripture (James 1:2-3; 1 Peter 1:6-7). It will come whether we are aware and ready for it or not. If we are not aware and prepared for testing and trials of our faith, we run the risk of running in a trajectory away from God and blaming him when things go awry, rather than running to our heavenly Father, who is our Refuge and Rock of safety. And only source of comfort and peace, I might add.

It will be an interesting study. So far, I have over two pages of cut and pasted Scriptures related to the topic. God has spoken. He is not silent. It is for us to listen with ears that hear and obey.

More on that next time!

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I want to remind you of another topic of study: the Lord’s Prayer and how Jesus taught us to pray. Offered in 10 weeks via Zoom, Teach Us to Pray will begin on January 24, 2022, meeting at 10 AM Pacific Time. 

If you are interested in joining us for this study, please register through the link below.

We hope you will join us!

Click Here to Register for Teach Us to Pray.

If you have any questions, you may email  jacqueline@jacquelinegwallace.com.

Please note, you will receive two confirmation emails after Registering:

1) an email request to Confirm Your Subscription. Please confirm to be included in the Zoom Bible study.

2) If you do not see the second Confirmation email letter in your In box after 30 minutes, be sure to check your Spam/Junk folder.

Since the middle of June, I’ve been posting about the Bible study Teach Us to Pray—the Practice of Prayer: learning to pray from the Lord’s prayer and teachings of Jesus. These posts were not the full Bible study lessons but only, as I recently told a friend, “teasers” to stir up curiosity and interest about the Bible study. Now we, the Teach Us to Pray Team, want to invite you to the Teach Us to Pray Zoom Bible study.*

Why? Because wherever you are in your faith journey, there is always room to grow in the area of prayer. As a new believer, or a long-time Christian, we all know we should spend time in prayer but, honestly, we can lack the motivation, discipline, and habits necessary to make it a part of our daily routine.

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What’s It All About?

This study will answer questions like:

-How do I connect with God?    

-How can I achieve my desire to spend time in prayer when I struggle to make it a priority?

-How can I get over feeling lost in knowing what to pray for?

And many more.

Through this online prayer study, we will use the Psalms and The Lord’s Prayer to:

-walk you through what it means to pray,

-give you practical steps to grow in prayer, and

-help you prepare your heart for time with God. 

You will also be encouraged by a community of other women practicing the discipline of prayer alongside you.

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Getting to Know God

At the core of prayer is a relationship with God.  That is the first prerequisite.  So, even if you are not a believer yet, this is a great way to be introduced to what a relationship with God looks like. And as a believer in Jesus Christ, you will learn how to grow in that relationship with Him.

Teach Us to Pray will begin on January 24, 2022, and meet for 10 weeks through Zoom.  You must have a computer capable of using Zoom, ideally with a video camera. A smart phone will also work with the Zoom app.

If you are interested in joining us, please register through the link below.  You may email jacqueline@jacquelinegwallace.com with any questions you may have.

We hope you will join us in jump-starting your prayer life!

Click Here to Register for Teach Us to Pray.

Sincerely,

The Teach Us to Pray Team

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P.S. You will receive two confirmation emails after Registering:

1) an email request to Confirm Your Subscription. Please confirm to be included in the Zoom Bible study.

2) If you do not see the second Confirmation email letter in your In box after 30 minutes, be sure to check your Spam/Junk folder.

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*The body of this letter was composed by Debbie Haupt, Teach Us to Pray Team member.

Photos by: First, gift_harbeshaw_517714 on Unsplash; second, woman praying at Women’s Retreat, The Bridge Bible Church, Bakersfield, CA.

Have you ever recited the Lord’s Prayer in a church service? Some churches recite it frequently; others, such as the churches I grew up in, not so much. As a consequence, when I was in a church service where the congregation did recite the prayer, I stumbled along, trying to remember the words I was vaguely familiar with but hadn’t committed to memory. (I have memorized it since then and I encourage memorizing it for everyone.)

The Lord’s Prayer wasn’t a big focus for me growing up. I didn’t understand it. Well, on a surface level, yes, I did, but not in a deep way. It was somewhat of a mystery to me. I didn’t quite know what to think of it or what to do with it, even though it did have some lovely turns of phrase.

More Than Meets the Eye

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In recent times, however, after a more thorough study of it, I have come to highly value the Lord’s Prayer. It’s like Jesus gave us, in the Lord’s Prayer, a key to unlock a great treasure, one we didn’t even know was there. Or that we needed.

The Lord’s Prayer came about when one of Jesus’ disciples asked him to teach them to pray.  He knew that John the Baptizer taught his disciples to pray, and this unnamed disciple of Jesus’ was apparently hungry enough to go deeper with God, to ask Jesus to do the same for them.

Unlocking the Treasure of Prayer

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So, Jesus gave his disciples a model prayer, a pattern for crafting our own personal prayers to God. It is a teaching tool with which to build our prayers, guiding us to go deeper with God, teaching us how to pray.

Teach Us to Pray—The Practice of Prayer—Learning to Pray from the teachings of Jesus, with practical application is a Bible study that takes us deeper into understanding the Lord’s Prayer, unlocking that treasure trove God has for us, and drawing us closer to God our Father.

Come along with me as I blog about the lessons in this Bible study of the Lord’s Prayer, and get a taste of what I mean.

I sat across the living room from Jean in the women’s Bible study. I knew in that moment I wanted to do what Jean was doing … someday. I also knew there had to be a lot of years’ experience of living and spiritual growing and maturing between that day and the day I’d be ready to be doing what Jean was doing, leading women in Bible study.

I’d read the verses that instructed a pastor to, “teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. ⁴ Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God” (Titus 2:3­—5 NIV).

I knew that someday I wanted to be able to do that, teach younger women to truly live life, becoming what God calls us to be. At the time, I was a young wife and mother myself, not an older woman yet, so I knew I had a lot of living to do before that day came!

Well, I lived every day to the fullest, I believe, for the next few decades. Strange when you can count your life in whole decades, isn’t it? I thanked God for every day, knowing each one was a gift from God, through all the ups and downs, good days and very hard days, sorrows and joys. The joys overshadowing the sorrows, mostly realized at the end of dark valleys. Learning to live this life God calls us to amid the life we find ourselves in.

The decades marched by one day at a time. I blinked, and I was that “older woman.”

I am confident that, as an older woman who has been learning as a disciple of Jesus for many decades, I need to be about the work God called me to back when I was a young woman, when I had only two and a half decades under my belt. And so, I am pursuing that work, teaching other women.

There was a surprise season of writing. First came my book so many people encouraged me to write. Following the publication of Brokenness to Beauty: Transforming Your Brokenness into a Beautiful Life in January 2016, I was again encouraged by several women to write a Bible study to accompany the book. So, I did. Brokenness to Beauty Bible Study: Going Deeper to the Source of Transforming Your Brokenness to Beauty was published late in 2018 and I launched it in January of 2019 (click on the link on each book to learn more about the book).

For several months I have felt “written out.” My season of writing, at least for now, seems to be over. And that’s okay. I want to be doing what God wants me to be doing in this new season. And so, I am.

I’m now facilitating my second class of Brokenness to Beauty Bible Study and I love to open the Word with women. I also started and am facilitating a Women’s Discipleship group.  What could be more exciting than getting into the Word of God with others and learning together from our Teacher, God’s Spirit, and striving to obey him?

What has God called you to in this season? Maybe you’re in the early decades of your life. Be faithful in each day to obediently follow hard after Jesus. Maybe you are in the mid- or later decades of your life. Be faithful to obediently follow hard after Jesus! Following means learning and obeying. Follow his call to the area where he wants to use your skills and knowledge gained in the years you’ve been learning and becoming what he wants us to be.

Want guaranteed success in all you do? There’s only one way I know of to be assured of it:

“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Joshua 1:8 NIV).

Live life!

“One of the things I really like is how you have us dissect the verses to see what the Bible is really saying. I’ve been learning a lot.”

So said Maria as we sat in a booth at a Denny’s restaurant. She is one of the women studying the Bible using the Brokenness to Beauty Bible Study. Published the end of last year, this is my first time facilitating a Bible study using it. My responses to the positive comments, like Maria’s, are always, “Praise God” or “Thank the Lord.”

And I am truly thankful and give any and all praise back to God, where it belongs. God is using his Word as he promised he would, to instruct and enlighten us as we study it together. His Spirit also convicts.

In Lesson 6 is a section titled “What’s In a Name?” that directs the reader to find Scripture verses that describe the Name of God, such as, “Our Father who is in Heaven, Hallowed be Your Name,” and “the Name of the Lord is holy,” and “Your Name, O Lord, endures forever.” And that most scary verse, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes his name in vain” (Exodus 20:7). Yes, God’s Spirit uses his Word to shine the light of truth on our hearts, and habits.

“I am trying very hard to change the way I talk. God really convicted me even though I never thought about it until it was pointed out in the study, that saying ‘Oh my God,’ unless I’m praying of course, is wrong!”

I know Patsy will change her habit of using God’s name as an exclamation, because she deeply loves and is committed to Jesus. Thank the Lord! He is using this Bible study in all the women’s lives, mine included, because this Bible study steeps us in God’s Word and challenges us to act on it! The Word of God is living, powerful, and eternal. God’s Spirit is our Teacher; I just have to facilitate!

I’ve taken each woman out individually for coffee or lunch to create an opportunity to get to know them better. It has been so much fun! Each woman is unique and her story is unique. And as I listen, I can detect the hand of God in each of their lives.

These women bless me by their love for the same Lord I love. They bless me for their hard work to study the Bible each week and come prepared to share what God is teaching them. They bless me for their desire to live worthy of him who died to purchase their salvation.

In a few weeks, we will conclude our 10 lesson Brokenness to Beauty Bible Study. That will not be the end though. I’ve had confirmation from God to establish a women’s discipleship group and with the interest expressed by several of the women in the Bible study to be in it, we will flow seamlessly into the
“Growing in Grace Women’s Discipleship Group” in the following weeks.

By God’s grace, we will continue together to “grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” 2 Peter 3:18.

Please pray with us. Our desire is to be disciples of Jesus who live worthy of him!

For more information about my book Brokenness to Beauty and its companion study, Brokenness to Beauty Bible Study, please contact me at Jacqueline@jacquelinegwallace.com Or visit my website at http://JacquelineGWallace.com/books.

Do you have children in your life? My children are now grown but I have grandchildren. I’m always thinking of ways to gently impact my grands for the Lord, adding to the teaching and guidance of their parents. Kids are amazing, taking in so much information around them every day. There is more of that external influence on them today than when I was a child, and much of it we don’t want them to know. I’ll bet you’ve noticed that too. Well, I’ve discovered a source of good information for those young minds and I want to share it with you.

Recently, I was introduced to a children’s devotional written by fellow blogger and author, Susanne Maynes. A few years ago I reviewed her devotional book Unleashing Your Courageous Compassion, a 40-day devotional especially for women who work in life-affirming ministries such as pregnancy centers.

Now Susanne has written and published a 40-day devotional workbook geared for children ages 8-12 years. Releasing Your Brave Love: Helping Kids to Change Their World builds from the ground up to do just what the title says: help kids to change their world. But first, they must understand why they and their world need changing. Here is life-influencing information we want our children to have!

Susanne Maynes, like a master builder, starts her devotional for children at the foundation level: God created you in his Image. Every person has worth and value because of that. Humans are a unique creation of God and Susanne slowly builds the walls of biblical truth, using Scripture, one brick of truth at a time in each of her daily two-page lessons.

Susanne starts with the foundational truths and as she builds on them she works her way to the crucial matter of children putting God’s truth into action in their lives. She brings up numerous everyday examples where a child can enact God’s way to bring change to his or her world. Knowing truth doesn’t help us or others if it isn’t acted upon and the author gently leads the way to the practical application of God’s word.

Susanne enhances the learning process by asking thoughtful questions creating teaching points parents can expand upon as they discuss the issues with their child. In this devotional, parents have been given a tool to use as they disciple their child. Since discipling our children is a tremendous responsibility for every parent, each tool is an asset!

There is much to appreciate and applaud in Susanne Maynes’ devotional for children, Releasing Your Brave Love. I highly recommend it for parents of children ages 8-12 years. I purchased one for my 8-year-old granddaughter and look forward to her working through it with her parents or even us, her grandparents.

Releasing Your Brave Love may be purchased online here. I encourage you to take a look at Releasing Your Brave Love for your 8-12 year old child, relative, or friend.

Wednesday, January 30th, is the day I’ve been counting down to for the past several weeks! This is the day my new book, Brokenness to Beauty Bible Study: Going Deeper to the Source of Transforming Your Brokenness to Beauty is ready to be introduced to the world.

Though Brokenness to Beauty Bible Study has been for sale online for about a month, I waited for this month to advertise it because December is an extra busy month for most of us (remember Christmas?).

One reviewer said of the Brokenness to Beauty Bible Study, “This ten week Bible study starts with a review of our own personal journey and helps each see how God is moving us onto a deeper relationship with Him ” (C.Reinoehl).

Another wrote these words about the Bible study, “She partners scripture to her teaching throughout the lessons and shares how the love and hope of Jesus brings healing to our broken and hurting places. Her validation of our stories and the truth of the healing power of Jesus, makes this a powerful Bible study” (Lynn Donovan, Author of Winning Him Without Words and Not Alone).

If you’d like to take a look at the Brokenness to Beauty Bible Study, you can go here to read more from inside the book or here to my website where I offer the paperback version of Brokenness to Beauty Bible Study and my book, Brokenness to Beauty for sale at discounted prices.

If you are an ebook reader, whether Kindle or Nook or another ebook form, you can get either one of my books in digital form for only 99 cents each at major online retailers.

Why is it important to introduce this Bible study to the world? I wrote it with the prayer that God will use it in people’s lives to help grow them stronger in Christ. One friend emailed me and said, “Jacque, you have hit a home run with that Bible study! … Writing a book is no mean feat, but writing a deep, life-changing Bible study to go with it is monumental!”

Life change. That’s what Bible study is all about. It is what we all need and should experience as we put into practice what we study in the Bible. This is my prayer and goal for the Brokenness to Beauty Bible Study, life change because Christians are growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as a result of using the study.

Will you help me achieve this goal? Pick up your copies of Brokenness to Beauty and Brokenness to Beauty Bible Study today. Start a Bible study with your friends!