Growing In Grace Online » February 2008

February 2008

admin — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 09:49:00 +0000

From the Editor’s Desk

Our writers and I are excited to introduce to you our first issue of Growing in Grace Magazine. The Lord burdened the hearts of myself and Mrs. Dixon to begin a conservative publication that would inspire young ladies to live their lives to please the Lord in their proper Biblical role. Our writers all have a desire to learn and ‘grow in grace’ right alongside the rest of you. Please join us in prayer as we seek God’s wisdom and leading as we put our fingers to the keyboard to bring you what He has placed on our hearts.

We bring you experiences that God has brought us through and it is our desire to show you the grace that God has bestowed upon us, in order to encourage you in your relationship with Him as well. Our lives are not without error, yet God lovingly and sometimes firmly keeps us in line with His Word and the God given authorities in our lives, in order to present ourselves a living sacrifice for His glory. We pray that God will use this publication to inspire and encourage all of you as we are “Growing in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. 2 Peter 3:18.

Editor-in-Chief
Growing in Grace Magazine

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Have you ever thought about contributing to Growing in Grace Magazine? Do you have a gift for writing and a desire to please the Saviour in what you write? Come read this very special announcement about how YOU might be a part of our team.

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If You Are Real, Show Me

admin — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 08:23:00 +0000

There once was a little girl who had a good life. She had a warm safe home, loving parents, food a plenty, trinkets and toys to occupy her days, and lovely clothes to wear. All her needs were fully and completely satisfied, but there was something amiss in her life, a void which could not be filled.

So, as the little girl grew in stature she began to try and fill that empty hole with all the enticements and foolery that the world had to offer. These vain attempts to satisfy an unexplainable yearning in her heart only proved to create greater turmoil and strife. Fear became her friend and constant companion.

The now young lady felt very lonely and began looking for love. The problem was that she looked in the most inappropriate places. No matter how hard she tried, all the cravings and desires of her soul could not be satisfied. Instead, more pain and emptiness was heaped upon her depraved heart. She yearned for approval and lost herself in pleasing others. She was completely lost.

While utterly alone and devastated by all the trappings of the world and people therein, she met a nice man who seemed different from all the others. He exuded love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, qualities that she desperately wanted to acquire, but thus far had been elusive.

The nice man so generously taught her about the One through whom these things could be found…to be found…oh how she longed to be found!

As a grown woman, one who had shared the company of many a book, she picked up a new Book…the Book which was spoken of when she married the nice man who was full of the fruit she wanted to taste. She cried out to the Author of the Book, “If You are real, show me.” Her eyes fell onto a page which read. “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

Suddenly, her cheeks were wet and her heart was flooded with hope she had never felt before. Her life was soon filled with joy unspeakable. The Prince of Peace, named Jesus, filled her new heart and the barren places of her soul. Fallow ground was broken and like a seed planted in fertile soil, faith sprung up along with the other sweet fruits of the precious Spirit. Fear was cast down and instead of pleasing people, she began to please Him who died in her place.

And so the story continues. It is being lived out by me, Angie. This restored life perseveres, growing in grace and nurturing a new generation of children who God so generously bestowed in our care. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

GGM is giving this lovely Angel charm to one special reader, USA only please, when you blog about this article and bring the link back to us here. Simply paste the link into your post below. Be sure youleave a link where you or your mom can be contacted.

Each month we will share a salvation story from one of our authors. We would like for you to participate and share the day your relationship began with Jesus. If you’d like to submit your salvation story, contact our Editor today and let her know.

The Faith Factor

admin — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:09:00 +0000

Have you ever wanted to share your faith with a friend or loved one? I sometimes have gotten nervous when trying to explain salvation to another person.

In the upcoming weeks and months we’ll be learning fun and creative ways to share your faith with others, but before we go any further it is very important that you know that you have a personal relationship with Jesus yourself. Sisterlisa wrote this delicious message that she entitled, “The M&M Gospel” Be sure to read to the end, for there is a giveaway in this message! If you have a fun way to share your faith with others and would like to have it published with GGM, please contact our Editor for further details.

As I was sitting on the swing at the park one sunny afternoon, my friend walked up and asked me to hold out my hand. Unsure of what she was going to do, I resisted. “It’s ok, I have something for you,” she said. I slowly put out my hand and I saw a brown bag dump into my hand and several colorful candies tumbled into my palm. They were small candy coated chocolates called, M&M’s.

There’s so much I would like to tell you about M&M’s and something in particular that their company may not even know about. First of all, America’s favorite little candies have a history behind the sweetening craze. We all like to hear the story about how we came into this world and their story is so much fun! Another interesting tid bit of information is that in 2004 the M&M’s lost their color for a while causing all the M&M’s to be Black and White!

Once you’ve read the history of the M&M, you can now become one! Now don’t get too wild and crazy, but be sure to have a lot of fun! Now that you have created yourself into a virtual M&M, you can now customize your own bag of M&M’s. Be sure to get your parents permission before ordering, but just for fun you can play with their interactive M&M creator. They’re especially fun for sending out a unique message to a loved one. (Min. ordering is 4 bags at $11.99 per bag.) They’re a bit pricey, but could prove to be a valuable way to show someone how much you care.

Next comes the part I’ve been hungering to tell you! The M&M’s tell a wonderful story by their colors!

The Dark Chocolate M&M: There’s a darkness in this world that we all battle from day to day. This battle is the war between our flesh and our spirit and that entity we fight with is called sin. Sin is a dark nature within us that we cannot escape on our own. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Dark chocolate is bittersweet and sin has it’s pleasure for a season, but is not profitable for our relationship with Jesus. In fact, we cannot get to heaven on our own, because of sin.

The Yellow M&M: The yellow M&M reminds me of Heaven for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that the streets of heaven are made of pure gold. The second reason is that the Son of God sits at the right hand of the Father and loves us very much! Jesus wants us to be in Heaven with all His heart, but sin is not allowed in Heaven. God has always known that we sin, but makes Him sad because He knows sin cannot enter His heavenly home. Then Jesus raised his hands and said, “I’ll go Father. I’ll go to earth and teach the people how they CAN know for sure they can get to heaven to be with you.” The Father and Son both know that there is a payment for sin and that payment must be fulfilled. Someone must pay that sin debt, but it has to be someone that has never sinned. That’s when Jesus came to earth in the form of a man and lived a perfect life.

The Red M&M: After Jesus was grown and had begun his ministry here on earth, He knew the time was nearing that the sin debt would need to be paid for. Many people did not believe that He is the Son of God, as a matter of fact, they thought He was lying to them when He told them that “Whosoever believeth in me shall not perish, but have everlasting life and that no man cometh unto the father but by me.” The people did not believe him and the penalty was death. Jesus knew this was going to be his fate one morning, but he willingly went forward, recalling His words to the Father, that He would volunteer to pay the sin debt so that all mankind could be in heaven one day. Jesus was lead to Calvary, after being beaten so severely that people could not even tell that he was a man. On the cross of Calvary that day, Jesus stretched out his arms and died for you and for me. His shed blood was the sacrifice needed for our sins to be forgiven.

The White M&M: Yes there IS a white M&M, it’s just not in the classic bag you see in stores today, but rather through the customized option on their site and in some candy stores throughout America’s malls. The White M&M brings me great joy, for it is the white that indicates the washing of our sins. Jesus’s blood washed us white as snow, so that our sin is not seen by the Father anymore. It’s the proof that we are forgiven for our sin nature and our ticket to enter the pearly gates of Heaven.

One thing I could never understand is that the old motto of the M&M’s candies is, “They melt in your mouth, not in your hand.” Yet, my M&M’s always left a smudge of chocolate on my hands. My mom could always tell if I had gotten into the M&M bags. Although we are forgiven by the Father, we still sin each and every day. After all, we’re not perfect and we will always make mistakes. When we sin it does leave it’s mark on us, whether it be through the tone of our voice, the expressions on our faces, and even the images within our own minds. That daily sin will not cause us to lose our home in heaven, but it will cause us to have a difficult time communicating with the Savoir. His Holy Spirit resides in the hearts of all those who have trusted in His death as the payment for their sin. The Holy Spirit wants to talk to us every day and express God’s love and mercy to us through various ways. When we live in sin, making no effort to communicate with the Father, it makes it difficult for us to hear Him speaking to us.

The Green M&M: It’s very important to keep your hands clean. Anytime that chocolate smudges onto your hands, wash it off right away. We do this by GOing to the Lord and confessing our sin and apologizing to God right away. If we go any length of time without saying we’re sorry for our daily mistakes, it leaves chocolate fingerprints on everything we touch.

If you have never believed in the Lord with your heart and you’d like to today, just tell Him. Just talk to God like you would talk to a friend or your mom. Tell Him you believe He is real and that He died for you. Admit you aren’t perfect and that you know you can’t get to heaven on your own because of your sin. Trust that He will say yes, because His very own Word, the Bible says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Once you have believed in Him with your heart and have communicated to Him that you want him to save you from sin and let you in heaven, He will ALWAYS be with you! You will still make mistakes every day, but God has forgiven you. Just remember the Green M&M telling you to GO to the Father and say you’re sorry when you do make mistakes. His love and mercy is never ending!

Now for the giveaway! We are giving away 5 customized packs of Salvation M&M’s accompanied by mini versions of this lesson for one reader to share with 5 people she knows needs to hear the gospel message. She will also receive this lesson printed in full color on classic white cardstock, perfect for framing.

Simply blog about this article and let us know you’ve shared The M&M Gospel message LINK with your readers and you’ll be entered for this drawing! Our winner will be announced February 15th!

The M&M Gospel Lesson was written by Sisterlisa through the guidance of the Sweet Holy Spirit. All rights belong to Him, but if you’d like to download the free pdf file here, to remember it for your Faith Sharing opportunities, you may do so. Any print version of The M&M Gospel message or digital reproduction should credit the Holy Spirit and Growing in Grace Magazine.