Vineyard Women

God has reminded me several times through my life at the importance of having several scriptures engrained in my heart.

Words that will lift me up out of wrong thinking.

Words that help me feel brave when I need it most.

Words that keep me centered on Gods Love and His truth about who not only I am but also who He is.

Do you have a scripture that you go to? I have a dozen memorized that have become my favorites and because I highlight in my bible when one particularly strikes me I am always gathering more.

I really believe this is the best tool as Christians that we can obtain. It is a personal tool, meant for us to use and feel safe in the Fathers Arms. A way for us to understand His heart for us.

Here are some of my favorite passages about the Power of Words

Psalm 19:14

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Romans 12:14

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

Ephesians 6:17

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

Philippians 4:6-7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I find writing these down and posting one or 2 around the house where I am bound to see it at least once a day is a really easy way to have it saturate my mind! Time to put a few new ones up!

Thank you for letting me share my heart!

Blessings!

Rebecca Turrigiano

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Have you ever had those moments when God’s love surprises you and it takes your breath away? Well, that is what happened at our second annual Esther’s Closet Event. It is an outreach that provides prom dresses for girls in our community who could not otherwise afford them. We target schools, group homes, youth organizations, the VC Food Bank and our church members. The event was fabulous and God did so many beautiful and remarkable things in the lives of many.

The day before the outreach I was busy with all the set up and preparations, I wanted to get balloons but I ran out of time and made the decision to forgo the balloons. However on the morning of the event, our photographer, Pricilla, asked if we had balloons. Susie one of our volunteers said she would be happy to run to the store and pick up some balloons. Did you know God uses balloons?!

While at the store, Susie began to tell the young girl who was helping her about Esther’s Closet. The girl expressed how she wished she could come but had to work until 3 pm. Susie said no problem, asked her size, color preference and shoe size!!! Later Susie returned with a beautiful dress, shoes, jewelry! The store manager, who shared in the excitement, allowed the young girl to take 15 minutes with Susie. The teen was amazed that Susie had actually come back. The dress fit perfectly! She began to cry telling how just the night before her mom had told her she could not afford a dress for this year’s prom!!

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart for my holy purpose.” Jeremiah 1:5a

God knows us and He knows the people around us. God puts ”balloon moments” in our days for His holy purpose, both for us and others. The beauty of this knowledge allows us to rest in His ability to work through the circumstances we face, the people we meet and the daily moments that the Holy Spirit whispers gently to us.

Take a moment today and reflect on God’s work in your life and the “balloon moments” He has allowed to cross your path. As you do, it is my prayer that God’s great love will surprise you.

As always this is from my heart to yours,

DaNetta

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This New Year many of us have decided to venture out to be a healthier person. I too made some goals for myself to lose weight, exercise more, and eat healthier. As you may have found, this is so much easier said than done. I knew what my desired outcomes were, but I had no idea how to get there. Until one morning, I received quite a revelation that started me on a journey to make some real changes.

On this particular morning at the gym, while sitting at one of the workout machines, I caught an unpleasant glimpse of myself in the mirror. I really didn’t like what I saw. I had been in denial about the 15 pounds I had gained over the last year (in addition to my pregnancy weight), but now it was staring me right in the face. As I sat there looking at myself, I called out to the Lord in frustration, “God, do you know how long and hard I’m going to have to work to get this weight off!  Once I get it off, please Lord, don’t let me gain it back!” Then the Holy Spirit simply responded, “So are you ready now to give it all up?” What? I knew that in order to meet my goals I was going to have to modify my eating habits, but what exactly did he mean by all? Surely he wasn’t talking about my morning Mocha… was he?

As I examined myself, I realized that my eating choices were not only unhealthy, but had become my source of pleasure, comfort, and fulfillment. I made them an idol in my heart before God. If I was really going to make some permanent changes, it had to start with repentance and surrender. I was also going to have to give my diet over to God and retrain my body how to eat well again.

Many of us struggle with different kinds of addictions or unhealthy habits. We adopt the belief that we need these things in our lives in order to survive, holding them as an idol. This keeps us from truly surrendering them to God. Only by complete surrender, will God then break the power that these things have over us.

Psalm 44:5-7
⁵ Through you we push back our enemies;
through your name we trample our foes.
⁶ I put no trust in my bow,
my sword does not bring me victory;
⁷ but you give us victory over our enemies,
you put our adversaries to shame.

I encourage you this year to start a journey in trusting God in areas that you feel defeated. There are countless testimonials both in the bible and out, of those who have put their hope in God and weren’t disappointed. Together, I hope that we do not just let others experience God’s faithfulness, but that we enter this voyage to discover it for ourselves.

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This year I’ve been reading Acts in a Bible study.  An interesting point was brought to my attention in chapter 21.  Paul was on a missionary journey and had stopped in Caesarea.  A prophet named Agabus confirmed that trouble and suffering were awaiting Paul at Jerusalem, which is where he was headed.

The people Paul was meeting with were greatly distressed.  Luke writes, “When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.  Then Paul answered, ‘Why are you weeping and breaking my heart?  I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’ When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, ‘The Lord’s will be done.’”  Acts 21:12-14

During our discussion of this passage, the point was brought up that Paul was so moved by his friends’ sadness and begging him not to go that it was causing his resolve to obey the Lord to weaken.  This brings us to an important self-examination.  Is someone doing this to you and tempting you to disobey God’s missionary call or appointed task?  Or, on the flip-side, are you the distracting voice to someone else?

Yes, change is hard.  Yes, relationships are valuable and we deeply love our brothers and sisters in Christ.  But let us beware that we do not let others keep us from where God wants us to go.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be responsible for doing that to someone else, either.

As tough as it may be, when God calls our loved ones to something that may take them away from us because they feel led to move to another place or begin a difficult missionary calling, let us deny ourselves and encourage them to obey God’s calling.  Also, when we feel called, let us follow Paul’s example of obedience even when it’s extremely difficult.  There may be suffering on this end, but we must remember God will bring blessing through the suffering.  He alone can give us the strength to do what we are called to do.

Melissa

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