Petals from the Basket

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Just Because He Can!

First of all, let me apologize for the mid-afternoon e-mail the subscriber lists received yesterday! I did some “updates” on Monday night, and I must have signaled the services to send out a “new” post—even though they were both from mid-April! Hmm…maybe we were all just supposed to be reminded to continue to pray for the city of Boston and to have revived hearts!

I’m simply going to re-share one of the “share-ables” with you today, along with this brief update and a quick reminder to download your sample chapter of the 14-lesson Bible study, The ABCs of T2:3, here and submit your honest feedback here.

It’s been an exciting week for me. I never thought, when starting PEP Writing Services a year ago this month, that I would literally call some of my family members today and say, “You know that prayer we’ve been praying: where we ask the Lord to provide a lot of work for me? Well…don’t stop praying, but could you please put that part of it on pause?” My gracious heavenly Father has provided an abundance of work for me right now—just because He can—and I am grateful beyond the ability to fully express it!

Therefore, this “share-able” picture I did to go along with a very short post a few months ago (which you can re-read here) seemed appropriate to end with today! God is good—in slow weeks and in busy weeks!

 

 

By Petals from the Basket | May 8, 2013 | Bible Reading, Family, Friends, Life Changes |

FREE Sample Chapter!

The ABCs of T2:3 integrates twenty-six names, attributes, and character qualities of God with the thirteen principles found in Titus 2:3-5. (In other words, “Praise Walk” + Titus 2 = new Bible study!) Starting today, I’m providing a free sample chapter of the book (Chapter 2) in exchange for your feedback.

I won’t go on and on with the background and explanations about the book. My prayer is that you will read this study and learn more about our amazing God—even in this single chapter.

 

1) The PDF download has fill-in-the-blank formatting that you can fill in online—from any computer!

—When you click on the picture below, the PDF will appear in a new tab. There will be six little icons in the lower right corner. Select the one that looks like a “disk” to save the file on your computer for later use or start reading the chapter on your computer. You can fill in the blanks by typing in your answers. (Keep reading for more important information regarding this step.)

—When you open the file from your computer, you might see one “glitch” I’m working on: the purple bar that appears at the top of the screen. (If you don’t see it, don’t look for it!) If it does appear, ignore the wording in the box. Simply click the picture of the “piece of paper” on the far left side of that bar, and it will go away.

—Once you fill in a blank, you may tab to the next blank in the lesson. However, that will take you past the text in between.

—As with any fill-in-the-blank program, sometimes you have to double click in the box to gain permission to start typing.

 

2) When you are done filling in the blanks, you can save your copy and/or print a copy.

To save:

—Click “File” in the upper-left-hand corner.

—Select “Save as.”

—Select “PDF.” (You can come back and continue to fill in the blanks at a later time.)

—You will then be asked where you want to file the copy and what you want to name it. That part is up to you!

To print:

—Click “File” in the upper-left-hand corner.

—Select “Print.”

—Follow your computer’s/printer’s standard steps for printing a document.

 

3) Once you have completed reading the chapter, please return to this website and click on the FEEDBACK Survey tab under the logo for this blog to leave your feedback. (The chapter is divided into five days’ worth of study; feel free to read it all at once or divide it out over several days.)

—Please only take the survey if/after you have read the chapter.

—Please complete your survey no later than May 15th. The sample chapter will continue to be available, but the survey will be closed at that time.

 Please click the photo of the book for your FREE sample chapter!

 

Please remember to return to the “FEEDBACK Survey” Page 

by May 15th with your valuable feedback!

(see “FEEDBACK” tab under blog logo)

By Petals from the Basket | May 3, 2013 | Bible Reading, Books, Ebooks, Events, God-and-I-Time |

What Was I Thinking?

Well, tomorrow is the day I’m throwing caution to the wind and making a sample chapter of my revised Bible study book available for free download here on Petals from the Basket. Can I be honest with you? There were many, many, many times this week when I suddenly thought: “I’m a total idiot for doing this!” Seriously. I considered hiding under the bed last night, but I think we all know that’s not gonna happen!

What was my problem? After all, this is not some world-famous, international blog with 147,000 followers (I saw one of those blogs yesterday) who will be dropping everything they’re doing to read approximately twelve pages of thoughts, including lots of “fill-in-able” blanks! Yet, the evil ick can take the simplest things and literally try to paralyze me (you too?) with fear: fear of what is, fear of what is not, the what-ifs, the coulda-shoulda-wouldas, and most importantly, the “you’re not” thoughts!

To give you a real-life glimpse into what I mean, I’m going to share the honest thoughts that I’ve had off and on since about 3:00 Tuesday afternoon:

“You’re not Nancy Leigh DeMoss—besides, you heard her announce last week that she plans to write a book on Titus 2 in the near future; so…why bother?”

“You’re not married. You know it’s gonna come up that women don’t want advice from some single woman on how to love their husbands.”

“You’re not perfect in your walk with Christ, so who are you to share thoughts on the principles from Titus 2—let alone on the names and attributes of God?”

“What if they all think it’s lame—and tell you so?”

“You ‘shoulda’ not posted in advance that you were doing this, and then you wouldn’t be in such a dither!”

Wait! I’m in a dither? That’s the one that stopped me dead in my tracks. This is sooo not about me. At least, it’s not supposed to be. But that’s exactly what the evil ick did: he made it about me. No wonder I was in a dither. On my own, I’ve got nothing to share, and I’ve got no reason to be heard.

But then came two words I have come to love—“But God”—in response to each of my fears, as in:

“But God can work through your book to reach someone that might not read another author’s book (which will undoubtedly be very different from your book) or who might need to study this passage sooner!”

“But God has instructed you to teach from His Word—not from your opinion. You use the same Bible married women use, so what’s the question here? Truth is truth—no matter who’s teaching it.”

“But God sent His only Son—Who is perfect—and He’s the One you’re pointing to in your writing!”

“But God can use even your lame attempts at praise to bring praise!”

“But God is faithful.” Period.

So, tomorrow, I invite you to return to Petals from the Basket and download a free sample chapter of my newly revised book, The ABCs of T2:3.  To God be the glory!

_____________________

Thank you for reading “What Was I Thinking?”
Do you have a favorite “But God” phrase or verse from the Bible
that you’d be willing to encourage others (and me!) with?
If so, please leave a comment!
 
_________________
 
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By Petals from the Basket | May 2, 2013 | Bible Reading, Books, Ebooks, Events, God-and-I-Time, Ideas, Life Changes |

A Sermon in Shoes

The two-week pile of shoes (before church)

I can hear my friends and I singing loudly in “junior church” as though it were only last week—instead of many years ago now: “Do you know, O Christian, you’re a sermon in shoes? Do you know, O Christian, you’re a sermon in shoes? Jesus counts upon you to spread the Gospel news, so walk it and talk it—a sermon in shoes!”

Today, my church concluded our annual “Soles for Jesus” shoe drive. (Read more about “Soles for Jesus” here.) It was overwhelming and also humbling to look at this giant pile of shoes and realize all that it represents. Thousands of pairs of shoes will be given away in Africa as a means of spreading the Gospel and sharing the love of Christ to those who need not just a pair of shoes but, more importantly, the salvation God offers to them!

But as I looked at this growing pile over the last few weeks and throughout the morning, I was the one receiving some much needed seeds of truth:

* God didn’t expect me to individually give that entire pile of shoes. He asked me to do my part and give what He led me to give. Some gave one pair; some gave many pairs. Some gave gently used shoes; some bought brand new shoes to donate. Some will donate and pray; some will go to Africa and help distribute shoes and the Gospel.

“Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.” (Romans 12:4-8, NLT)

* Just as in the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan, we cannot see a physical need and simply walk away. Nor can we only say, “Oh, that person needs to hear the Gospel,” while seeing another need that they have. By meeting the one need, the meeting of the other need will become more readily accepted. We are commanded: “love your neighbor as yourself,” and in this story, the one to whom we are to show mercy is our neighbor.

“In reply Jesus said: ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had mercy on him.’ Jesus told him, ‘Go and do likewise.’” (John 10:30-37, NIV)

* We must be grateful. One of the “traditions” we do at church on the last Sunday of the “Soles for Jesus” drive is to come to church barefoot that day—even the preacher does it! But because it was a little chilly today, I wore some old flip flops while walking from my car to the parking lot and then put them in my purse until it was time to leave again. As I put them back on, I realized again how truly blessed I am. I had options that the soon-to-be-recipients of these shoes don’t have: (1) I got to choose which pair(s) of shoes to donate. (2) I got to go through a wide assortment of shoes and decide which pair to wear to and from the car. (3) I got to put on shoes when my “temporary” state of being barefoot was no longer convenient. I went to my car in a spirit of gratitude and a renewed responsibility to be a good steward of the blessings that God has given to me.

“…From everyone who has been given much, much will be required….” (Luke 12:48, NASB)

Lord, let my life be a “sermon in shoes!”

The three-week pile of shoes (after church)

________________

Thank you for reading “A Sermon in Shoes.”
Take time at the start of this new week to reflect on the
blessings God has entrusted to you and take a 
spiritual inventory of how well you’re using them for His glory.
 
 

By Petals from the Basket | April 28, 2013 | Bible Reading, Events, Ideas |

Sweet, Sweet Saturday

Sunshine! Long-awaited, greatly treasured sunshine! That’s what we’re enjoying in the Milwaukee area today, and it has energized me to great lengths! My to-do list has many items on it, so I’ll keep this brief.

Laundry, washing the bedroom the dining area windows, writing thank you notes, dusting the living room, and other items are on that to-do list I just mentioned. However, I decided that I needed to add one more item: “Take time to enjoy this sweet, sweet Saturday!” (True story.) It’s easy to feel guilty for stopping to savor the beauty of a day or embracing the joy of a moment when there is much to be done; however, I know that my soul, spirit, and mind will be refreshed by this “scheduled pause” later today.

It’s a great day to “be still and know” that He is: the Amazing, Beautiful Savior who Comforts and Delivers me; He’s the Everlasting, Faithful, Grace-giving, Holy, Infinite Jesus! As my King, Lord, and Master, He is Near, Omniscient, and Powerful, giving me Quietness in my soul. He Restores me and Strengthens me with His Truth and Uprightness. He is the Vine that provides Wisdom and eXcellence, because He is the same Yesterday, today, and forever, and because He is zealous for me!

So, enjoy a few moments in His presence today—and remember one more thing:

By Petals from the Basket | April 27, 2013 | Bible Reading, Events, God-and-I-Time, Ideas |