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Whenever tragedies happen, there are always lots of questions. Very often, many answers people try to give are very unbiblical, and totally unlike God’s character. God doesn’t need more flowers in his garden, or is trying to make more angels. Those thoughts sound sweet, but are not Biblical at all. It is good when we look at any tragic situation, to keep in mind that God’s character never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Heb 13:8)

We live in a fallen world, and it is the devil who comes to steal kill and destroy. (John 10:10) When we see destruction we know the devil is its author. Jesus is the one who comes to give life abundantly. God’s character is revealed in Jesus who went about doing good! In the midst of any tragedy, God can still turn situations around for His glory. What the devil planned for evil, God can turn around for good. (Romans 8:28) Joseph was a great example of this when he told his brothers in Gen 50:20 that what they did to harm him, God turned around so that Joseph could bless them. Keep looking for the ways that God is moving and turning each situation around.

What do you do when everything in your whole world changes? When something out of the blue, totally unexpected takes you off guard, or shatters your world, how do most people react? Very often, life goes on auto-pilot for a while. The hurting ones just keep breathing, and keep putting one foot in front of the other, trying to just survive. They need love and support from their friends and loved ones. They need their hope renewed. This can happen as people continue calling to see how they are, and keep showing up with long after the funeral or memorial service is over. The firsts they will experience through the next year will be terribly hard. They need friends who loves to talk about the one they lost.

As a community of believers and as friends and family in this tragic situation, I pray that we will continue to love on this precious family, as they navigate a whole new way of living. They will need our love and generosity through the hard days they will face in the future.

When days that we face seem harder than hard
What else can we do but keep trusting the Lord?
He holds tightly to us and He comforts our heart
When our world has crumbled and broken apart
To stand in His presence and love Him through our pain
He brings hope to the hurting and brings new life again.
May 19, 2016

There are times in life when words are hard to find. Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with your dailyeword. It happened to many of us when we heard that Ryan Franklin, a beloved husband, father, son, brother, fire fighter, teacher, coach, mentor, friend, was tragically killed. When tragedy happens in a community, it saddens everyone. Because his family is well rooted in the Christian community of the Magic Valley, so many churches are affected by his passing. Having known his wife Amie since she was a teenager, it is personal for our family as well. Our hearts grieve for her, her parents, her sweet children, and Ryan’s family as well. This week, I will talk about ways to cope when tragedy happens. Here is your dailyeword.

What should we do when tragedy happens? What do you say when you don’t know what to say? How can you comfort someone who is hurting so deeply? There are no easy answers to any of these questions.

I have found these 3 things that help me in times like these:

1) Run Quickly to the arms of Jesus – Jesus tells us to come to him when we are hurting, when we are tired, and when burdens are heavy. (Matthew 11:28) His arms are open wide to love and comfort us, and He loves us through people who are in our circle of believers.

2) Worship Passionately – Nothing stills the heart like worshipping God through song.
There are so many wonderful worship songs that bring peace in the midst of turmoil. My favorites include “Still”, by Hillsong Worship, “Lord I Need You”, Chris Tomlin, “Trust in You”, by Lauren Daigle, and even hymns like “Great is Thy Faithfulness”, or “The Solid Rock”.

3) Love Deeply – Hold on tight to the ones you love. Give hugs liberally, kiss your spouse and kids daily. Make a choice to settle arguments quickly, and to forgive swiftly. Use your words and actions to let those you love, really know that you love them. Say the words “I love you” often. Life is fragile and things can change in an instant.

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 talked about these topics:
Growing in faith
Continual Planting for continual harvest
Nurturing your soil
Be a part of a small group – Bible Study – 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 to 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!

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 who learn about God together, whether in a small group, or maybe an accountability group of a bible study. 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, your sister or brother or a friend can be a great prayer partner. These are all great ways to grow up in God. The scripture I talked about a couple of weeks ago 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, 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!

Yesterday 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 year – your year to become your best self for God!

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 2-4 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 – we both do counseling, as well as teaching and encouraging – we often pray for each other in dealing with some of the heavy 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.

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. Aren’t we supposed to think BIG, not small? 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 gamet 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.

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.

Hi This is Dorette Schaal and welcome to your dailyeword. This week, we are going to be focusing on steps or principles for spiritual growth. Physical health is important, but spiritual health is even more important. 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 encouraging word for today.

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!