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This week we are going to talk about good stewardship. Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with an encouraging word for your day. It sounds like my theme this month should be giving God our best! We do need to maintain and take care of what is entrusted to us. With summer quickly slipping away, let’s get shaped up in all ways! Here is your daily eword!

This week we are talking about Good stewardship in the home, and how we can live of life that demonstrates not only good stewardship principles, but thankfulness to God for the abundance that we do have. We hear about it all the time, how we should drive greener cars, live in greener homes, how we should reduce, reuse, and recycle, and all of those things are great. Along with making our lives more green, I think the best thing about good stewardship in the home is it simplifies our life. When we have less stuff cluttering up our world, we can concentrate better, we spend less time looking for stuff, and we can enjoy the blessings that God has given us when they are well cared for. So for those of you who have it all together in this area…..bless you! For those of us who are working at it, congratulations. It is a big step in the right direction. For those of you who aren’t convinced that your life would be better through good stewardship, I hope this week’s encouraging words will push you toward being convinced!

I think the biggest issue with doing anything new is getting started! We usually have 2 big pushes for decluttering at our house, and it is the end of summer and the week between Christmas and New Years. With a large household and lots of activities, and animals, and many differing hobbies, you can just imagine the amount of stuff one family can accumulate. The big day when it all starts usually is the messiest. When you take everything out and begin the process, thing aren’t so pretty. It gets a whole lot worse before it gets better. What is really funny is that as I am writing this, we are going through clothes to recycle at our church’s clothing swap. The hallway where the laundry room is has a menagerie of clothing ready to be packed up and taken away. The drawers are all getting reorganized, and closets are considerably less full. It is a great feeling. But starting the process and even deciding on a time each year, or even monthly to find things to give away, is pivotal in making it a lifestyle.

So my encouragement for you is, whether it is your home, your physical body, your spiritual life, or even your garden that you are trying to maintain, get started! Make the first step, and then begin the process that can be a wonderful change for your entire life, our planet and even benefit lots of others who are less blessed than you. Be encouraged today, you can start now!

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Recently, I talked about having a prayer partner, and today’s idea is similar, but a little bit different. As a woman of God, I believe that there is someone I should be learning from, and someone I should be teaching. The world calls it having a mentor, and then being a mentor. I think God would call it being a Christian! It is a great way to keep one hand up to learn, and one hand out to teach. It is good to be teachable and open to learning, and continually being taught, and on the other hand, teaching someone else what you are learning. This is such a great way to keep the learning cycle alive. The teacher is the one who usually learns the most in the class, so after learning something, keep it fresh by teaching it to someone else. The great thing about the learning and then teaching is that it is such a God idea. In II Corinthians 1:3, the Bible says that the same comfort we have received we can give to someone else. Paul tells us to follow Him like he follows Christ. Each of these can be personalized in a Bible Study setting. Your life is a great example of the grace of God, and you can demonstrate His grace to someone else by sharing your story. God’s plan for your life is to be a vessel that makes a difference in this world. What a great opportunity to invest in someone else’s life. This is your year for spiritual growth……let’s commit to know God more intimately through the wonderful tools we have available. Make this your time to become your best self for God!

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Intro:
Hi, this is Dorette with your eword for kids today. I hope you kids are having a fun summer and growing! I hope you are encouraged today to live your best life for God. He has a wonderful plan for your life. Here is your dailyeword for kids today!

Eword for Kidz
I hope are excited about growing up. I heard one little kid say just recently that he didn’t want to grow up. He loves being a kid! I loved hearing that, because the Bible tells us that we should always have a childlike heart. That doesn’t mean we act childishly. It means that we are childlike in how we believe, and how we process the Word of God. If God’s Word says it, we should just believe it….that’s what kids are so good at doing. Each year that goes by means we are getting older, but along with getting older, we should be growing up spiritually. That means that we use the tools God has given us to know and love Him more. Some of those great tools are learning to walk by faith, planting the seed of God’s Word in our heart, caring for the soil of our heart, being a part of a great group of kids who learn about God together, whether in Children’s Church, a small group, or maybe a girls or boys club like Royal Rangers and Missionettes. It is also a good idea and a great tool to have someone that you pray with. It might be your mom or your dad, but it could be your Sunday School teacher, or maybe you have a group of kids or a good friend at school that you pray for. Your sister or brother can be a great prayer partner. These are all great ways to grow up in God. The scripture in Luke 2:40 said that Jesus grew and became strong, filled with wisdom and the favor of God was on Him. That was from the time He was a very young child. So if we want the same for you….and I do, I hope you will use all the tools that God has given you to grow and become strong, filled with wisdom with the favor of God all over you!

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I hope you are putting some of the great tools for growing spiritually in place in your life. So far this week we’ve talked about growing in faith, continual planting the Word in our lives for continual harvest, the importance of nurturing your soil, and yesterday was about being a part of a small group where you get to study the Bible. Today we’re going to talk about having a prayer partner. My main prayer partner is my workout buddy too, so we get to not only get to exercise together, we get to grow together spiritually. It really “works out(!)” wonderfully! We meet 3-4 times a week, so not too much escapes the other. We know about family, children, parents, work issues, you name it, we have prayed for it. Because we have a similar bent – teaching and encouraging – we often pray for each other in dealing with some of the situations we encounter. It is a great meeting of the minds, and two minds really do better than one. When you put the mind of Christ in the mix, it is even better! It is great to have someone to learn from, someone to dialog together with and then know that she will go to God on my behalf when she prays for me. If you don’t have a prayer partner, I would highly recommend it. Sometimes your spouse may be a great partner in prayer. Why not ask them? Sometimes in your group of friends you will feel a heart connection with one who will specifically pray for you and you for them. Some precautions: the only time a prayer partner should be of the opposite sex is when they are your spouse or in some cases your sibling. (I often ask my brother to pray for me, and he does the same with me) So in most cases, it is important to connect in prayer with someone of the same sex. It is a very good guideline to keep. I encourage you if you don’t have a prayer partner already, to ask God to help you find one. Prayer partners can help you grow up spiritually, and now is a great time to commit to find ways to develop our spiritual life.

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We are continuing to talk about growing spiritually this week. One of the best ways I know of for systematic growth is to be a part of a small group. Bible Study or some kind of accountability group is a great dynamic for growth. Not only do you study together as a group, you get to help each other grow. Ladies Bible Study has been a great joy in my life. I love leading them and being a part of them. I always feel like I learn the most as the teacher, and I feel blessed to be able to lead others in a deeper walk with God. If you want a deeper walk with God, and have never been a part of a small group Bible Study, you will find this is a great tool for growth. I love it that we have so many great options for different Bible studies each semester at our church. The gamut runs from couples Bible Studies, to Parenting Bible Studies, Overcomers Studies, Men’s accountability groups, to the great ladies Bible Studies we have to offer. We have terrific leaders who are committed to teach Bible Principles to help people grow. Our goal is changed lives. We know there are people who are hurting, not only outside the walls of the church, but often within them. We want to minister healing and wholeness. Because everyone has some sort of baggage in their life, we have the opportunity through Bible Study to learn to walk free from the past, and then be a vessel through which God can help minister to someone else today. Long term, we want our spiritual growth to make us better harvesters in growing the kingdom of God. The dynamics of Bible Study are three fold. There is Bible Study, which is getting the Word in your life. Secondly, there is fellowship, which helps us be compassionate, caring, and empathetic and lets us share how God has ministered to us, or share where we need to be ministered to. Thirdly, there is prayer. When we pray for one another in a small group setting, we know that we are cared for in a safe environment, and that those we are committed to, will commit to pray for you. What a wonderful feeling. I know there have been times in my life when I really needed prayer, and I knew because of the seed I had sown in prayer for others, and the fact that I had a group of ladies who loved me and were lifting me up in prayer, that I was covered. Whatever was so desperate at the moment would be taken care of because of the covering of prayer over my life. I encourage you, to get involved in Bible Study. Now is a great time to find one that helps you grow spiritually.

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As we look at ways to grow spiritually, we know that our faith needs to be active and growing. Another thing we need to grow spiritually is to be planting continually for continual harvest. It is important that we keep planting the Word in our life, by hearing it preached, by reading it, by studying it, and by listening to it on CD. There are so many ways to hear the Word. If we want a continual harvest, we need to keep on planting! I’m sure everyone has gone through a dry season in their spiritual walk before. One thing that I have found is instead of hearing less of the Word during dry times, it is actually a time that you need more. If we want to harvest year round, we need to keep planting year round. Your spirit is thirsty for the Word. God’s stamp in your life, your DNA, your spiritual makeup is a Faith Person. He made you in His image, and He is a faith God. The real you on the inside feeds on and is nourished by the Word. We know that Jesus was the Word made flesh, so more of Him in your life only does a body good! Not only do we need more of Him, we need to keep the cares of life, distractions and anything that keeps us from receiving the word out of our life. That is how we nurture our soil.
The Word goes into soil, and we determine what kind of soil we are. We definitely want to be good soil, free of weeds, free of thorns, and deep and rich. Good soil (that’s who you are), hears the Word, accepts it and produces a healthy crop. That’s what we want to be. Jesus said this is the Secret of the Kingdom. The law of the Farm, or the principle of sowing and reaping, that is the secret. Keep planting to keep reaping. God’s secret has been given to us. Let’s fill our lives with the Word, and grow by leaps and bounds this year.

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This week as we focus on spiritual growth, we will address a different avenue of growth each day. Today we are going to talk about growing in faith. I can remember one time when our church was believing for property that we really wanted, and were asking God to help us find a way to get it, and it looked totally impossible. We really wanted a 60 acre parcel that is directly across from our current building and in the natural it looked like the seller would just take the top bidder and the sky was the limit for some of the investors who wanted the property. God put that particular property in our heart, but it looked impossible. It seems like Jesus constantly reminded His followers that although many things are impossible with man, all things are possible with God. It is a common thread throughout the Bible.
Is there anything to hard for the Lord? (Gen 18:14)
I am the Lord, is there anything too hard for me? (Jeremiah 32:27)
The Lord does what brings pleasure to Him (Psalm 135:6)
Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37)
With men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Mark 10:27
So what seems impossible for you to overcome in your life? Are there relationship issues, money issues, habits, health issues or any other negative circumstance that seem overwhelming to you? What are you believing God for? What are you expecting God to do for you? Do you believe that God can make impossible situations turn around? I love the great faith story in Matthew chapter 8 when the centurion is commended for having the greatest faith in all of Israel. He told Jesus just speak the word and my servant will be healed. Jesus said to the centurion, as you have believed, let it be done for you…..and his servant was healed. That’s great faith. To keep growing we, as believers, can never get stagnant. Let’s keep pressing for God’s best, even when naturally there seems to be no possible way. Praise God, we did get the property that we wanted, and the money was there for it all. Is there anything to hard for the Lord? Nothing is impossible with HIM. We always want our faith to be growing….let’s keep believing! That’s what believers do!

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Hi! This is Dorette Schaal and welcome to Encouraging Word. This week, we are going to be focusing on steps or principles for spiritual growth. During this season of the year, much emphasis is put on the physical body, but an inward emphasis on growth is even more essential. Let’s get healthy, go for or maintain our proper weight, determine to exercise, but even more important, let’s grow spiritually. Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart, the part of us that is eternal. This week we’ll talk about ways to grow in God. So here is your dailyeword.

Monday
There are more self help books available now than ever. You can buy a book on just about any area of your life that you want to improve. It you want more organization, better health, better decorating ideas, better anything, you can find a book on it. I have read a lot of them, and sometimes it can be information overload! The book I want to concentrate on most is the BIBLE! My most earnest desire is to know God better. Twenty four hours a day, 7 days a week, I want my heart to be set on knowing and loving God. There is a great scripture in Jeremiah, chapter 24 verse 7 that says just that…..I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord, they will be my people and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart. Sounds like a great thing to be doing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! So let’s look at how we can grow in God.

This week we will talk about these topics:
Growing in faith
Continual Planting for continual harvest
Nurturing your soil
Be a part of a small group – Bible Study – providing accountability –
Having a prayer partner
Having a mentor – and being a mentor – Keeping one hand up to learn, and one hand out to teach.

Honestly we could spend a whole week on each topic, but we will briefly overview them each day this week. To keep growing we can never get stagnant. We always want our faith to be growing….let’s keep believing! That’s what believers do! Next it is important that we keep planting the Word in our life, by hearing it preached, by reading it, by studying it, by listening to it on CD, there are so many ways to hear the Word. If we want a continual harvest, we need to keep on planting! The Word goes into soil, and we determine what kind of soil we are. We definitely want to be good soil, free of weeds, free of thorns, and deep and rich. Good soil, hears the Word, accepts it and produces a healthy crop. That’s what we want t be. Another great tool for growing is to be a part of a small group, for accountability and Bible Study. One way I have personally grown tremendously is having a prayer partner…someone to learn from, to dialog together and to stay connected in prayer. Lastly, we will talk about continually being taught, and then teaching someone else what you are learning. Keeping the learning cycle alive. The teacher is the one who usually learns the most in the class, so after learning something, keep it fresh by teaching it to someone else. This is your year for spiritual growth……let’s commit be know God more intimately through the wonderful tools we have available. Make this year – your year to become your best self for God!

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How committed are you to finishing your race strong? When we determine to do whatever it takes, we will accomplish what we set out to do. After a sermon series called Frame of Mind that my husband preached on fighting the good fight of faith with the right frame of mind, I wrote this poem.
FRAME OF MIND
In the great fight of life, we more than overcome
With our eyes on the Savior, we will fight until we’ve won
Whatever comes against us, we know Someone is within
To make this fight a good fight, to be a fight we win
In the great race of life, we’re commited to the end
With our eye on the finish, we won’t break and we won’t bend
In this great life of faith, we’ll be faithful, strong and sure
We’ll keep our eyes on Jesus and we’ll live a life that’s pure
We’ll be keepers of the faith, we’ll guard what’s true, what’s right
We’ll represent God well, living upright, day and night
We have this frame of mind, that also was in Christ
He willing laid down, both his will and his Life
He’s received His prize, now we stand, and fight, and run
Looking unto Jesus, we’ll complete what we’ve begun!

Be encouraged today to run the race, fight the good fight of faith and finish strong!

Intro:
Hey kids, it is Dorette Schaal with an encouraging word for kids today. I love the Olympics, and now is the time! Are you going for the gold in your life? Are you doing your best? Today I encourage you, to give God your best always. Here is your encouraging word for kids today.

Eword for Kids
Saturday
I hope your summer is going great and you are having a really great time, enjoying the outdoors, and getting stronger physically everyday. Good fitness starts right now. The good habits you establish as a kid give you a better chance of including fitness in your life for your entire life. So have you been outdoors, playing, shooting hoops, kicking a soccer ball, running around, playing football, playing baseball, going swimming or playing volleyball? Why not take time to get outside everyday and do something that makes you more fit! This summer the Olympics will be happening in London. You know the athletes that made it to the Olympics have practiced hard. Those athletes have trained their very best and are believing for excellence in their sport. They have learned that perseverance is necessary to fulfill their dreams of greatness, so that they can be and do all that God has for them. I hope you know that too! I hope you go for God’s best in your life.
GOING FOR GOLD
We are running our race
With the goal in our sight
We’re mighty Young Champs
Serving God, day and night
We are aiming real high
We are making a goal
With our eye on the prize
We are GOING FOR GOLD!
I hope that you know God’s dreams for you are Olympic size (that means really big)! He has a good plan for your life, to give you a future and a hope. Are you preparing for greatness? It is important not only to be strong on the outside, but to be even stronger inside, knowing that God’s power is working in you! Make it your goal, to GO FOR GOLD!