Staff -founder / president Melissa Pearce
-copy editor Laurie Hamby
-contributing writers Jamie Clawson Katie Cline Pastor Chuck Hamby Maureen Kurp Melissa Pearce Ronald Pearce Mary Beth Pecora
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We are two months away from shepherding our second conference at EHM. Our mission at EHM is to equip and empower women with the Word of God so they can walk in their God-given destiny. God desires for you to know who you are in Christ Jesus. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17. We are no longer defined by our past sins or what people may try to say about us. It is Christ Jesus who defines who we are! We just need to realize truth. However, I don’t believe that Ignite is just a theme for EHM’s conference. I believe it is an infusion that God is looking to cultivate within the hearts of His people. God is on the move. He is pursuing His creation to enter into a relationship with Him. For some, this will be a new concept. For others, the longings of your heart to go even deeper with Him will be satisfied. The word ignite means to set something on fire or to cause to burn. It also means to give life or energy to someone or something. God wants our hearts to be a blaze for Him. He wants our hearts to be filled with His love, grace, holiness and truth. Jeremiah 31:33 “’This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.’” God desires for His truth and love to inhabit our hearts; living our lives for Him. His love towards us will be received as truth, and in return, we will reciprocate His love back to Him and to others around us. How I pray God ignites your hearts with His holy fire; setting your hearts ablaze for Him and Him alone. ~In Him Melissa Pearce Founder/President Enduring Hope Ministries
It is usually the fear of the unknown.
When
That is another word we have a hard time
a heart is faced with change, we will do one of
embracing.
Trusting opens our hearts to
two things; we will either resist it or we will
risk.
embrace it.
There is always risk involved when we trust
When a heart is faced with change, God
because we are placing our hope in that one
desires for us to rest completely in Him.
person, believing he/she will fulfill his/her
Resting completely in God requires trust.
commitment.
He longs for
me: ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you
us to realize we rest securely in His hands.
as this potter does? ’ declares the LORD.
This, however, doesn’t mean we will escape
‘Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you
hard times and difficulties.
in my hand, O house of Israel.’”
God desires for us to trust Him.
It does mean that
when we trust Him, we rest assured knowing God, Who is the Creator of all things, is our He will work all things out for His glory and Potter.
He holds each of His masterpieces
our good. securely within His hands, forming and A heart will only trust another when he/she
developing them to become what He had
knows the character of the one the trust is
intended them to be.
placed in.
God desires for us to know His
placed on the potter ’ s wheel, we too are
character.
He is love (1 John 4:8b). The
placed there.
Just as the clay is
As we sit on the wheel of life,
love He has towards us and for us is beyond
we can rest assured God never removes His
our
hands from us.
human
comprehension.
God
Romans 8: 28: “ And we
demonstrated His love by sending His One
know that in all things God works for the good
and Only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, for us.
of those who love him, who have been called
Love is not just a mere feeling - but an action.
according to his purpose. ”
Why is this so important within our lives?
God will use all things within our lives for our
Life has difficult seasons and in those times
good.
It is very clear;
of unexpected loss or hardship, we question Once the clay is ready to be set, it goes into God’s love towards us.
Yet, He wants us to the kiln, enduring much heat and fire.
The
realize we rest securely within His hands like purpose of the firing is to remove the physical clay within a potter’s hands. and chemical water so that the piece can be Jeremiah 18:1-6: “This is the word that came
glazed
to Jeremiah from the LORD: ‘Go down to the
breaking.i
potter ’ s house, and there I will give you my
impurities that could impact the end result of
message. ’ So I went down to the potter ’ s
the masterpiece.
without
returning
to
mud
and
The fire is to bring forth the
house, and I saw him working at the wheel. We too will endure hardships, and it will seem But what the potter was shaping from the clay like we are passing through a fire too was marred in his hands; so the potter formed unbearable to take, BUT GOD!
This is
it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best where our reassurance of being His must to him.
Then the word of the LORD came to
come into effect.
If we do not capitalize on
the love He has for us, we will crumble.
We
and self-control to be at the core of who we are.
must recognize that even in the depths of our Ephesians 2:10:
“ For we are God ’ s
hardship, God never takes His eyes off of us. workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do God, who is good, doesn’t cause bad and
good works, which God prepared in advance
destruction within our lives.
for us to do.”
against His character.
This would go
He is not the God of Each of us is God ’ s workmanship!
death, but the Author of Life.
No
He came so matter where we are in the Potter’s process,
we could have life in Him.
Many today have we can seize one truth –
very skewed thinking about God.
He loves us!
I believe When we rest securely in His love, we
He is looking to dismantle the falsehood embrace change knowing no matter what about Him and replace it with His truth. comes our way, the Potter is in control and Personally speaking, I went through a season will bring about His end result. with God early on in my walk with Him.
I had Written By:
a false perception about Him.
I thought ~Melissa Pearce
God was punishing me for my past sins when Founder/President I got diagnosed with MS.
I did not recognize Enduring Hope Ministries
the Father’s love that He had towards me.
I __________
also did not realize the true meaning of the Photography by:
Cross and the truth behind the works of the Abigail LaFleur-Shaffer Cross. wildcornersoftheworld.wordpress.com
Just as the potter uses the kiln to remove the impurities that could impact the development of His masterpiece,
God will use the
hardships of our lives to remove the dross that is impacting our walk with Him and His Kingdom plan.
He wants us to be imitators
of His Son, Jesus.
He wants us to display
the fruit of the Spirit to those around us. wants
His
love,
joy,
peace,
He
patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness
“As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.’ But the Lord said to her, ‘My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her’” (Luke 10:38-42, NLT). Do you feel the pressure to always do more? To be at every meeting? Host another event? To bring an extra appetizer or dessert? Is your house clean enough? Are your kids well-behaved? Are you making a
good impression at work? What do people think of you? These can be the things that plague us as women in our current American culture – a culture that says productivity equals worthiness. While these things themselves are not innately bad, being consumed by them draws us away from our First Love. So I ask you this: What are you concerned about? Getting one more load of laundry done? Emptying the dishwasher? Running to the store ? Catching up on emails and phone calls? God knows you have things to accomplish each day, but He has given you adequate time to complete them. Jesus said to Martha, “There is only one thing worth being concerned about.” That is time with Him. And He tells us that it will be time well spent; and what we gain from that time with Him “will not be taken away from [us].”
Try out these S.I .M .P .L.E. Tips: 1. Take a “Time Out!” Kids dread them; parents need them. Start with five minutes and a solitary place. Sit still before the Lord. 2. The key is “quiet!” It is hard for us to be quiet. We want to do more and say more…constantly. Practice being still. God just loves to be with you. 3. Keep your Bible, a journal, and a devotional in your solitary place. Read a verse or chapter, or a page from your devotional. Write down any thoughts you may have about what you read. 4. When your mind starts to race, give yourself grace. This is not about perfection; it’s about being with the Lover of your soul! 5. Talk to Him. He longs to hear your voice. God loves you, and He’s on your side! best. Written By: Jamie Clawson
Take a seat and enjoy time with the One who knows you
In one sentence, Paul tells the church of Ephesus that he prays that they’ll grasp the fullness of God’s love, yet also recognizes that God’s love is beyond what we can fathom. Despite the impossibility of completely comprehending His love, Paul knew how life-changing it would be if we tried to understand and receive it. Ephesians 3:17b-19 says, “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” God’s love is wide enough to cover this earth and the vastness of our sin. God’s love is long enough to span from “in the beginning” until the end of time. God’s love is high enough to lessen our pride and nurture our dreams. God’s love is deep enough to meet us when we’re in the pit and to heal those wounds that we’ve buried within us. God’s love is all of that and more! No wonder Paul prayed that the Ephesians would get it! If we accept His love – truly receive it – we walk through this life differently. We walk with our heads held high, not in pride but in confidence. We see the hope that His love brings us in the dark times, encouraging us to keep moving forward. We share this amazing love with others because we wouldn’t dare keep it to ourselves. Just like Paul, I pray that you’ll receive, be filled with, and remain rooted and established in God’s love. Once you’ve allowed God’s love to fill you, I pray that you’ll then share it with others. Continue trying to grasp His unfathomable love; it changes everything. In Him, Katie Cline Generation Hope katie@enduringhopeministries.com
February is the month we celebrate the feast
In his letter to the church before his death, he
of St. Valentine. There were at least two
sought to … "remind them of God's love and
Valentines who were martyred in the first
to
three centuries of the church. Valentine of
Christians."
encourage
them
to
remain
faithful
Terni, (the one that has the celebration on With this beautiful history of St. Valentine, it is February
fourteenth,
the
day
of
his difficult transitioning to our modern age where
martyrdom), was a priest near Rome in the love is the most abused word in modern third century.
He was known to have language.
Valentine gladly offered his life
performed wedding ceremonies for soldiers because of his love for Jesus and the people of the Roman army. This was very much he served. Today love is used for anything against the law and most likely one of the from an attraction to ethnic food, i.e. “ I just charges for which he was martyred. love Mexican food…” to our deepest feelings It is said that during his imprisonment, the
for another.
daughter of his jailer was healed of blindness.
word love into a confusing gibberish of
In his final letter to the young girl, he wrote
meaninglessness.
the first valentine, signing it, “your Valentine.”
Our culture has rendered the
Consider this. First, and foremost, love is a
The other passage is Galatians 5:22-23, But
choice, not an emotion.
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
evoked,
not
Emotions are
commanded;
yet
Jesus
patience,
kindness,
goodness,
23
commanded us to love one another just like He loved us.
In John 13:34-35 we read, “A
faithfulness,
gentleness,
self-control;
against such things there is no law.
new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you,
There are two things to notice here; the words
that you also love one another. By this all
is and fruit are both singular. That means they
men will know that you
are
disciples,
My if
you
have love for one another.”
If love is a choice, then it is possible. It is not easy, but it is possible. If love
refer to one thing,
I f love is a choice, then it is possible. I t is not easy, but it is possible. I f love depends on us, it w ill not be possible.
depends on us, it will not be possible.
yet there are nine things
listed.
Perhaps
there
is
only one fruit and the other eight on the list are merely descriptions of the first – love.
These qualities do Our ability to properly
not just appear in us right after we become
love comes on our surrendering our wills and
Christ followers. They are called fruit; it takes
our lives over to the care of God.
time for fruit to grow. Our daily walk with God – listening to Him by reading the Bible
There are two passages that lay a foundation and talking to Him during the day (prayer) is for what real love is.
In his letter to the what causes the love to grow.
Corinthians, Paul writes about love.
Love brings
Among with it a number of important and beautiful
other things, he tells us that love survives things. Love is simply the Fruit of the Holy faith and hope. Why is that? Long after faith Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, this kind of love becomes a reality and what we hope for has cannot grow. been seen, we will always have love.
Long
after hope is fulfilled In the presence of God,
Joy could be called the disposition of love.
love will still be the essential element of our
is different than happiness. Happiness is
lives.
often circumstantial
Love will last forever!
or
situational.
It
When
things are wonderful, we are happy.
But
when sickness, financial stress or job troubles come, our happiness goes by the wayside. Joy is the result of love being our choice. St. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13: Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. This joy is settled in confidence.
Love is a
decision; as long as I decide to follow my Lord, I will love. I don ’ t have to worry about what anyone says about me.
I can rejoice in
truth; that Spirit- grown love will support me to bear all things.
The Spirit- grown love will
have faith to call those things that are not as though they were (Romans 4:17).
I don ’ t
have to worry about anything but my
when we decide that we are not God. We
commitment to Jesus Christ to follow Him.
cannot control the whole neighborhood.
Nothing man can do will affect my joy.
fact, if we were honest, we would say it ’ s
In
pretty hard to control ourselves. Peace can be said to be love ’ s character. love
Love is patient. Patience is love under
is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love
pressure. Paul will tell us that in 1 Corinthians
does not brag and is not arrogant, does not
13:4. In the original language the word was
act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is
mak-roth-oo-meh'-o; to be long spirited, that
not provoked, does not take into account a
is,
wrong suffered.
(subjectively) patient: —bear (suffer) long, be
Again, in 1 Corinthians 13, we see that
Love is peaceful because it
(objectively)
have
forbearing
(long)
patience,
or
is always content to let others make their own
longsuffering,
be
choices and leave the results up to God. I am
patient, patiently and leniently endure. When
not responsible for what they choose to do; I
patience has run out, love steps in.
am responsible to love them whatever Love is kind.
Kindness is the temperament
decision they make. I do not have to approve; of love. I have to love.
It takes so much stress off
Love acts benevolently or literally in
“goodwill.” This kindness is not an act; it is a
The Spirit-grown love is gentle. The main
sincere attitude of goodwill to all. Kindness is
characteristic of Jesus was His gentleness.
the nature of love. It is the communication of
He had time for children, the sick, the weak,
God’s love even to those who dislike us.
and the disenfranchised.
Goodness is the core of love. The Spirit-born
The self-control of love is the attitude toward
fruit is saturated with goodness. The word
itself.
also means moral excellence or usefulness.
disgrace themselves, their families, etc.
Persons of self-control do not want to
Goodness is not the trait of the fruit bearer; it In our celebration of the death of St Valentine, is the core. let us allow the Holy Spirit to grow in us the Faith is love ’ s motivator.
It is love ’ s moral
conviction, the absolute dependence on Christ Jesus for salvation.
“real thing;” that is – the agape love that is grown in us by God’s Holy Spirit.
Love is also Written by:
faithful. Pastor Chuck Hamby
As we begin this month, February, let’s take
Law and the Prophets hang on these two
the time to remember those we love and to
commandments” (Mt. 22: 36-40).
express that love to each person in a special way.
Perhaps
it
will
be
a
dinner
engagement or a box of chocolates that we indulge in.
Whatever it is, we ‘remember’
the ones we love.
As I sat meditating on this scripture, I noticed that the love that Jesus was asking for from us was all of us – all
of our heart, all of our
soul, and all of our mind.
This deep love
that He requires is from all of us, indicating
While pondering and asking the Lord what He
every part of us.
wants us to ‘remember’, my thoughts took me
this, every commandment, stems from this.
back
This is why it’s the first and greatest!
to
‘remembering’
the
Greatest
Then if we live our lives as
This is
Commandment that we, as believers, have
why love is the most excellent way…it’s
been given.
actually the only way…because He is ‘The
I recalled that commandment
has two parts, and the Holy Spirit reminded me of this scripture, as the Pharisees were testing Jesus with this question, asking, “ Teacher,
which
is
the
commandment in the Law?”
greatest Jesus then
replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This
is
the
first
and
Way.’ ‘The Truth’ and ‘The Life.’ As we ask the Lord to help us love others as ourselves…it really begins with our ‘First love’…It has often been said that “One never forgets their ‘first love.’”
Scripture tells us
that “ We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4: 9).
greatest Is Jesus Christ our first love?
commandment.
As we “first
And the second is like it: love” Him, that love will enable us to love our
“Love your neighbor as yourself. All the
neighbor because when we are in a ‘love
never meant to be contained or withheld.
relationship’ with Jesus, that love poured out
Loving Him and loving others was never
in us will be then be poured out through us, to
intended to be separated…For the entire law
others.
hangs on this!
This love even activates the
spiritual gifts!
Everything we do should
As believers, all of our deeds, hard work, and perseverance are measured by our love – first love for the Lord.
For when He
addressed the Church in Ephesus, He clearly saw all of their deeds and hard labor, yet He said, “…I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love” (Rev. 2: 4).
May
that never happen with us! In Summary:
It is only that pure Agape love
which is poured out to us through the Holy Spirit, that can enable us “to love,” because He first loved us.
As we forsake everything
that is first in our lives, and place Him first our First Love, Jesus Christ - then and only then will we be able to carry out the first and second commandment…For these two were always meant to be together! Simply put, if we love the Lord with all of us, or with every fiber of our being, we will love others too.
His love flows from us, for it was
reflect this love - His love - which is unconditional,
unselfish,
not
proud,
not
self-seeking, and keeps no record of wrongs. For if we “ …Give all we possess to the poor and surrender our body to the flames, but have not love, we gain nothing” (1 Cor. 13:3). Let’s make it our goal, to ‘gain love’…by nurturing that love relationship, by spending time with Him. For if we gain love, His love, we have gained everything! In the Precious Love of the Lord, ~Mary Beth Pecora