Sunday, May 31, 2015

A Step in the Write Direction--June 1, 2015--Count It All Joy

A Step in the Write Direction

June 1, 2015

Update: Interesting weekend. Went to our district assembly Saturday where our granddaughter renewed her minister’s license. So proud of her. They’ll be moving June 10 to take a church in a small town near Dallas….Enjoyed a good sermon this morning (see notes below), then had breakfast with my son…Have a doctor’s appointment with an orthopedic surgeon at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning (Monday) to see what’s wrong with my right shoulder. Praying that it isn’t a rotator cuff as I have my ticket to go to my brother’s near Nashville June 22, then on to teach at the Kentucky Christian Writer’s Conference June 26-27. Don’t know if I can do that if I need surgery.

Thought for the Day: “In spiritual warfare, Satan likes to wave his gun at you from a lot of angles. But your victory is rooted in the truth that Christ removed the bullets. The gun is empty” (Dr. Tony Evans, Prayers for Victory in Spiritual Warfare, Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2015, p. 37).

Song for Today:
My heart is sometimes heavy, but He comes with sweet relief;
He folds me to His bosom when I droop with blighting grief.
I love the Christ, who all my burdens in His body bore.
Each day He grows still sweeter than He was the day before.
            “Still Sweeter Every Day,” W.C. Morris

Laugh for Today:                              Doctor Funnies

"Doctor, Doctor! I feel like a pair of curtains!" "Well, pull yourself together."
"Doctor, Doctor! My little boy has just swallowed a roll of film!"  "Hmm...Let's hope nothing develops."
"Doctor, Doctor! I feel like a deck of cards!"  "I'll deal with you in a minute."
"Doctor, Doctor! My son has swallowed my pen, what should I do?"  "Use a pencil till I get there." (Gospel Greats newsletter, May 19, 2015).

Writer’s Tips: This week I’m sharing notes from Sunday’s sermon by Nazarene evangelist Norman Moore on having joy in trials. It was so uplifting and encouraging to me, I want to pass it on. (This can help you as a writer too!)

“Life isn’t fair. Sometimes it shows up on our front porch like a package that we didn’t order…. God doesn’t initiate trials; He permits them.”

James 1:2: “Consider it all joy…” Word “consider” means deliberate, not accidental. We choose pure joy. We choose our attitude. Can’t control what happens to us, but we can control our response to it. We whine to our bored listeners who are waiting for us to finish so they can tell us how bad they have it.”

“Pure joy.” He likes Florida orange juice—100% pure, no foreign elements, not from concentrate. Pure is “mature and complete.”

“Romans 8:16. We’re joint heirs with Christ. We share in His sufferings so we can also share in His glory.”

v. 18 – again “consider.” Our sufferings can’t be compared to the glory that will be revealed.”

1 Peter 5:6-7: “Cast all your anxieties on Him for He cares for you.” GOOD: He was in an elevator, holding a heavy Samsonite suitcase in one hand and an attaché case in the other. He finally put them down and they went up with the elevator. It had the power to take them up. God said to him, “This is what it means to cast your cares upon Me. I have the power to take them when you give them to Me.”

He likes old cars, and he likes to see the before-and-after pictures when they have been restored: the dents smoothed out, flat tires pumped up, upholstery cleaned. Through our trials and suffering, Christ restores us. He smoothes out our dents, pumps up our flat tires, and cleans us from top to bottom, front to back. “After you have suffered awhile, He will make you perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.”

***
I hope some of this encourages you as it did me. His main point was to have joy in our sufferings. I told him afterwards about losing my husband, and said, “I have peace, but I’m not sure I’m to the ‘joy’ part yet.” But I know happiness depends on situations, and we have joy in spite of our situation.

***
 Have a good week spreading the
gospel through the printed page.

Donna Clark Goodrich

·          100-Plus Motivational Moments for Writers and Speakers – half-price $5, $2.69 s&h (This is free if you purchase 5 other books.)
·           A Step in the Write Direction—the Complete How-to Guide for Christian Writers—on sale for half-price--$12.50, $3.17 s&h
·          A Step in the Write Direction—Student Edition with assignments throughout—on sale for half-price $10, $2.69 s&h
·          The Freedom of Letting Go (new one coming out will have discussion questions; can be used in S.S. class or small group); original copies without questions now on sale for half-price--$7.50, $2.69 s&h
·          Healing in God’s Time (story of Dave Clark, composer of 25 songs that have gone to #1 on the charts); was $15; now $10, $2.69 s&h
·          The Little Book of Big Laughs--105 purse/pocket-size book of clean jokes--$5; up to 4 for same s&h—$2.69
·          Preparing Your Heart for Christmas (31 Advent Devotions) half-price—$5
·          Michigan and Ohio Cookbooks; half-price $5 each, plus s&h (depending on number ordered)





No comments:

Post a Comment