Over the last few months, I have continued to hear the words “count it all joy” at different points. A dear friend told me once that if you continue to hear the same thing over and over- get still and listen because God could be showing you something.

This scripture, while beautifully written, is one of the hardest to say when we are going through all the different pains of life.  It often seems like, in these moments, that the ‘charlie brown rain cloud’ shows up and begins to storm like never before. And even though we desperately want the clouds to part and the sun to come out, these are the times when we need to buckle down and take refuge…because this storm isn’t moving out anytime soon.

 So how do we count it all joy? How do we find peace in some of the hardest points in life? How do we settle our souls?

I believe we will find these answers when we begin to look at the warriors of our past. The people of scripture that walked through hell and back and counted it all joy! I can’t help but think of the man who wrote this beautiful phrase and suffered so much while praising God- Paul. He was in prison. He was persecuted in so many ways. He suffered greatly but he STILL CHOSE JOY!

Oh dear friend, maybe you are in this moment…struggling to raise your head above water and just take one breath. I encourage you to not lose hope. The storm may not be ending soon and you may be here for a bit but God has promised that He will provide. Paul reminds us, through his personal experiences of hardship, that we need our Father. We need brothers & sisters in Christ. We need the prayers of the believers to be lifted up on our behalf. And we must place our hope in God because He will yet deliver us! And even if it doesn’t look like what WE wanted, we can choose to say “I count it all joy” because we trust His process.

“...but in God who raises the dead, who rescued us from so great a danger of death, and will rescue us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, if you also join in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons in our behalf for the favor granted to us through the prayers of many.” - 2 Corinthians 1:8-11

Chris McClarney had this to say about the song-

"One night at church, I began spontaneously singing this line during worship: “All things work together for my good. You make all things work together for my good.” For more than an hour it continued. Not so much because I felt God needed to hear it repeated, but because I needed to convince myself that no matter what my circumstances might be right now, however big or small, and no matter how unresponsive He might seem, God is still in control. In fact, He will work everything out for my good. There is something very effective about proclaiming truth out loud until you believe what you’re saying. I couldn’t escape the lyric, and eventually I thought it prudent enough to craft the myriad of connected internal convictions into an actual song.

I had a friend going through a tough time and I remember I told him about the passage from Romans 8:28 that says “all things work together for good,” and I realized that I needed to hear those words for myself. I needed to decide if I really believed those words. That’s what led to the writing the song “Your Love Never Fails."

By: Hannah Pitts

As believers, we are covered by God's love through our salvation by the bloodshed of Jesus. I came from a divorced home, a sent off teenager, a drug addict and homeless or "couch hopping" 6 months after graduation, put all my love and trust in the wrong relationships, and even conceived a child out of wedlock. And still struggle with anxiety and depression.

I grew up learning about God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit. But never truly experienced Him for myself in my own faith. When I became pregnant with my daughter I knew it wasn't about me anymore and I truly gave my life to Jesus. I surrendered it all. And I have had several moments of refinement.

This Bible verse means so much to me as it gives opposite extremes of things and I have lived in opposite extremes. Even after salvation. From loving life to wanting to take my own. An amazing marriage but have had stumbling stones of heart aching hardships. I love being a mother but have also had postpartum depression and wanted to end my life because I didn't love it all. I have been financially blessed and have also had no money to make it the end of the week until payday. But the tribulations of this world can not and will not separate me from the love of God. God showed us how much He loves us by sending His only Son to pay the ultimate price on the cross so that we may be with Him in heaven. All we have to do is surrender, believe, and have faith. NOTHING can take your salvation away.

God's love is forever and all powerful, stronger than any form of love we will ever experience in this earth and in our borrowed time here. His love is everlasting through it all. And nothing can pluck us out of His hand.

"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."-  Romans 8:38-39

By: Amanda Underwood

We as Christians believe that when Christ's eyes opened in the tomb and air filled His lungs again, He conquered death once and for all for anyone who puts their faith and hope in Him. It's that simple. You can put your faith in Jesus and find the exchange in hope and life in Jesus. What a beautiful undeserved gift of grace!

Oh Your grace so free
Washes over me
You have made me new
Now life begins with You
It's Your endless love
Pouring down on us

By: Kim Farr

"And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself take up his cross daily and follow Me"

• How do we apply this today? 
• What is Jesus telling us?
• What is Jesus requiring of us? 

First Jesus doesn't require from us anything that,
1.  He hasn't done or already gone through Himself.
2. He knows we can do it.

He is talking to all of us and if we want to come after Him, He tells us we must, not should, but MUST deny ourselves (our-self). So what does that mean to deny ourselves? Deny selfishness,  self-centered, self-focused. We live in a world today where the enemy has used this to get our focus off Jesus and on ourselves. How do you say? A world where instant gratification, selfishness, selfies, self-centeredness, worshipping self is rampant. The enemy will do everything to get us away from God. So Jesus is telling us that we must deny ourself.

Then Jesus goes on to say, to take up our cross daily and follow Me. What does that mean?

We are saying what Jesus prayed in the garden, "Father not My will, but Your will be done." Lk.22:42
"For I have come down from heaven,  not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." Jn. 6:38

That is submitting totally to the Father's will. He also tells us to do it daily! And follow Him.
 Let me just say this is not easy to do, I personally  desire to do this, but it's not easy and to be honest I fail. I can say that I can see the growth. And I get encouraged. I was reading and Holy Spirit spoke to me through a devotional and a Bible study I'm in. He said, I know you will make mistakes.  And My plan has already allowed for them. I understand and know I no longer see your sins. In fact, I have removed them from  you. (Ps.103:2-3,v.12) So think of them no more, for to do that defuses My strength and power within you. And I have many things for you to do in My name and strength. Praise Me and as you do, realize what I have done for you.

When Jesus told Nathanael, I saw you under the fig tree. It was like Jesus spoke to me and said, "I see you" such peace came over me. He see you! He sees everything we are going through.
HE SEES YOU!

By: Amanda Underwood

As we have been studying songs on Wednesday night, it was only fitting to share this great song to go along with our memory verse for July- Luke 9:23

"It means that we lay down our own agendas and hopes and dreams, and faithfully obey day by day. It's a daily dying to self—the crucifying of our own petty and self-centered desires so that we might more clearly reflect Christ to the people around us. In the end, it's not about bravado and bold statements. It's about simple, ongoing obedience to the words of our Lord. To say 'I will follow' is really not so different from saying 'Help me every hour to die to my own desires, Jesus, so that you can live more fully through me.'"- Chris Tomlin

By: Amanda Underwood

"For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him."- John 3:17

There are moments in my life where I can look back and remember not knowing for sure that I was ‘saved’.  I didn’t understand what exactly I needed to do in order to gain God’s acceptance into Heaven.  There was so much religious upbringing that I was around that very much influenced my thoughts. The whole process of doing good to gain God’s approval and making sure I was forgiven of my sins was almost crippling to my young soul.  

Thankfully, as I got older, my beautiful Savior began to really show me WHO HE WAS!  I was still doubting and worrying about where I stood with Him. But as I continued to walk outside the box of religion, I discovered that Jesus was the exact opposite of everything I had grown up thinking.  I began to really see scripture for what it meant- that God created me to walk in communion with Him. But sin came with Adam & Eve. And since that moment, this world has been so difficult and life gets super hard. Not because our Father doesn’t care but because He created the perfect place and we made the choice to destroy it.

And this is where we pick up from last month’s memory verse. We saw the love of God in John 3:16 when Jesus tells Nicodemus that His Father sent Him to bring salvation to all that choose to believe. And through this there is eternal life in Him! But hang on…it gets better. This month, we are looking at verse 17. Jesus didn’t come to judge but to rescue us. Is that not the most amazing thing ever?

Now, that doesn’t give us a reason to continue in sin just because we have the grace of God through Jesus. It is a call to bring us out of the old and become something new. And that process isn’t always easy and scripture tells us this.  But it is the absolute most amazing decision we could ever make. For some, it is a call out of an addiction that has us wrapped up so tight that we can’t breathe. For others, due to life’s upbringing or horrible circumstances, we must walk opposite of what our heart and mind tell us. No matter what cards you have been dealt, God is calling all of us to surrender. And He is doing this because He doesn’t want to see ANYONE perish but rather be rescued through His wonderful Son, Jesus Christ.

May we continue to remember what John 3:17 tells us. Jesus didn’t come to condemn us but save us. And now, we must take this good news and tell others. We can do this by loving them right where they are while we are  living out the gospel of Christ. I can assure you that this will speak louder and stronger than any religious rhetoric that they are already seeing everywhere they turn. When we do this, we will be able to continue the ministry that Jesus intended for us- to love God, love His people and serve both.

John 3:16 has always been a popular and memorized verse in scripture. But it is SO much more than that. It is a powerful statement that is placed perfectly in the midst of a beautiful story between Jesus and Nicodemus talking about being born again.

For those of you who have kept up with The Chosen series, you will know this very popular scene. But if you haven't, the creators of this show did a wonderful job displaying what this conversation may have looked like that night.

Do understand that this story is being retold and may have some added things to help share the message. It is simply a tool to help us better understand what Jesus was saying to Nicodemus about salvation. For more information about the actual account, read John 3:1-21

By: Heather Eaker

In my study and reflection of our memory verse for this month, the Lord revealed to me some important takeaways from this one verse. The obvious thing in this verse is that we must go through Jesus to get to God. But, how can we reach others to share this amazing message of Jesus Christ and the salvation He has for everyone who will just believe in Him? The Lord put this on my heart to share with you all this month.

    Sometimes, in our flesh, we don't want to communicate the truth because there is something we want to gloss over. As followers of Christ, we need to ask ourselves if we are communicating truth and living it out with integrity of what we know to be true. If we would honestly live out the truth everyday, non-believers would see the fruit from it and this would open the door for us to share the Gospel of Jesus and help them to also come to eternal life in Him!

Enjoy this wonderful song that we do that is beautiful example of our scripture this month!

"Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me."- John 14:6

By: Amanda Underwood

Growing up in a Christian home, I was taught so many things. There were lessons upon lessons about what not to do. I  was taught about God at an early age and quickly became familiar with this being that 'ruled' over me. At the age of 6-7, I said a prayer to a God that I didn't know but I did feel happy that I had done this 'good' thing for myself and was saved from hell.

Fast forward 10 years and I am a lonely and depressed teen wondering why I was alive. I had many moments walking the halls of our high school questioning why I had to live. And even though I didn't always want to live, I was so very fearful of death. I was fearful of losing my parents (that started when I was a young child) and I was extremely fearful of my own death. Little did I know that God would deliver me from this and so much more!

As I got married and continued in my walk with the Lord, I was involved in church and ministry. Bruce and I were actively working with our youth and in other areas. There were still so many times that I questioned my salvation. Why was I still doing so many wrong things? How was I still saved? Maybe I wasn't. My fear of hell and death continued.  

Around the age of 24, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. This journey was not an easy one for me. Over the next 5 years, I would find myself clinging to whatever I could in order to bring relief to the scare that my felt. It wasn't until she passed in 2009 that I truly began to understand who God was. There was a moment that I sat on my bed crying and thinking that my life might actually end because of the pain. I had never felt a hurt like that in my heart before. Over the next few weeks and months, I struggled constantly. I cried at the drop of a hat and just couldn't recover from this trauma I had experienced. Everything to the sound of the machines indicating she was passing to the smell of hand sanitizer that I had used for 2 weeks when she was at the hospital for the last time.

Now, remember...I was still wondering who God was and trying to believe that He was real. One day, I recall praying and wanting to ask my heavenly Father to remove a memory that I just couldn't shake. I was so scared to pray this prayer. I was afraid I would lose all my memories of my sweet mom, my best friend.  I finally got the courage to lay this memory down and ask God to deliver me from it. I am not sure how long it took but I just remember a moment when I could not go back to that day in the ICU room, where I saw my mom taking her last breaths. Even now, in writing this, I can't go back there. And for that, I am grateful.

So what does all this have to do with our scripture for the month of March? 2 Timothy 3:16 tells me that every bit of scripture is used to live this life. Let me break it down so you can follow where I am going:

• All Scripture is inspired by God- This just shows me that this 'book', that has so much stuff in it, is not just words but the voice of God. In my moments of questioning His existence...this verse reflects that He is very much real! 
• All Scripture if beneficial- To be a benefit from something means to gain from it. I have read a lot of scripture and have been challenged just recently to read all of it. There has never been anything I have discovered that would hurt me or cause me pain. So not only is God real, but He is helpful. He is a gain to my life! 
• For teaching, rebuking, correction & training- There was so much I had not learned about my Savior because of the religious world that I had grown up in. In my moments of wondering who He really was, He continued to show me through scripture. Many verses (like Psalms 23, Proverbs 3:5-6, 2 Samuel 22:17-22, Galatians 6:17) became my bookmarked places in the Bible as I tried to overcome my fears and my search for who God was. It wasn't all fun. Many times, He let me fall on my face and go through the mud of life only to be right there when I was at the bottom of the pit looking up. 
• In righteousness- What could I say about these two words? The first thing that comes to my mind is God's character. It is righteous. It is holy. And it cannot against itself. This proves that if He is real then He will do what He says. 

At a youth conference years ago, I heard the speaker talk about a conversation with a believer of Christ and an atheist. The believer said, "If you are right and there is no God...then when you die, that's it. But if you were wrong and there was a God-  YOU WILL KNOW!" I am choosing and will choose forever to believe in my God. I will choose to call out His name and proclaim Him above all other things! I know that I will fail but I now know that because Jesus was nailed to the cross for my sins, He will always be faithful even with I am faithless. Even when I mess up and feel like I have done too much. May we be challenged by this verse and so many others to not only dig a little deeper in His word but learn it, memorize it, and live in it!

This scripture is personal, In it, as a believer,  I am making a promise and an assurance to God . It is a believer’s verse of scripture. I say this because the Word is given to us by God, it is inspired by Him and is living. As believers we must consume every ounce of it because it is God speaking to us. And to a world of unbelievers, it is just words on paper. It is given to believers as an instruction guide on how to live a Godly life, one God intended for us to have with Him since the beginning of creation.

God never wanted us to just read it, not react to it and then apply it to our daily lives. If we are truly seeking answers from it , He will give us the understanding we are seeking from every verse. Now that I have read the word and have received the meaning from it that was meant for me, I must hide it in my heart so Satan ,our enemy, can’t take it from me. And he will try to with some type of circumstance, event or hurtful words used by the ones we love out of emotional upheaval. And I can bring them out of my heart when the timing is right to help someone in need of a word of encouragement, spiritual guidance,  and assurance of God’s love for them and that he may receive the glory in it.

“That I might not sin against” part of this verse is important. It can apply to both new believers and mature believers; neither is out of the reach of our adversary Satan , he is the master at making a mountain out of a molehill. He will never be satisfied with us having that one- on- one relationship with God on a minute- by - minute basis. God throughout history has kept a remnant of faithful believers who have done just what this verse tells us to do so that His word will be everlasting . No worldly possession will ever be as prized ,as the word of God is to a faithful believer.

So now that I have really processed what this verse is saying while still listening to the Lord on this subject....a light bulb came on in the middle of the night. “Thy word “ kept resounding to me !!!  So I put Jesus in place of Thy word. Jesus is hidden in mine heart, so that I may not sin against you. But after all Jesus was just God’s love for us in human form. In reality we can say it like this also. I have hid God’s love for me in my heart so that I do not sin against you.

Isn’t it interesting how God can use the most simple things in life to remind us of how to live for Him?  This was never more true for me than when some dear friends shared a story about a bucket of water.  Imagine this container being filled with liquids to the point of running over. But instead of turning the water off so that you can use what’s in the bucket, you just let it keep going. For most, this doesn’t make much sense and almost seems wasteful.

Now, let’s look at it from a spiritual standpoint. As my friends explained the story, they began to talk about how if we are continuously using the water in the bucket, eventually it will go empty. But if we keep the water running in it, then there is never a point where we will see the bottom dry. From a realistic view, that seems almost ignorant. But, in the kingdom of God, it is so important that we are being filled non-stop so that we are constantly able to give. Case & point….our verse for the month.

"I have treasured Your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against You."- Psalms 119:11.  Think for a moment about what we hold dear to our heart. These things are people and/or items that we put the most protection around. We openly commit to loving our spouse till ‘death do us part’. We give up our lives to raise our children. We put our money in banks where it is secure. All these things are good but what is God really wanting us to treasure?

So let’s go back to the bucket. It is super easy in this sinful and distracted world to put everything else in our lives (the bucket). But God has called us to fill it with His Word and His Word alone. By doing this, we are able to give freely of His amazing grace and love while still being filled up. If we make the decision to stop the water (our personal time with our Lord), then eventually, the bucket (our life) will grow dry and there won’t even be a drop to survive on.  Thankfully, God reminds us, through this beautiful scripture, that if we treasure His Word, we can strive to not sin against Him. It doesn’t mean that we won’t mess up because that is just a given when you have a sin condition. But it does mean that we can live a life free of being dry & parched if we keep the bucket full all the time.

So be challenged today to think about what you are filling your life up with. Is it the Word of God that will continue to keep you full or is it the things of this life that are only temporary and definitely won’t last?

Here is our second verse to memorize.   More to come soon as we dive deeper into this scripture!

"I have treasured Your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against You." Psalms 119:11

Flying into Atlanta, with a short window to catch my connecting flight that was already delayed, I was a bit concerned. As the plane was on its final descent, the airline steward announced the terminal and the gate the plane would deboard. My concern changed into worry as I did not want to miss my next flight. It was at that moment I decided to stop worrying. My Father knew I had a plane to catch and I knew I could ask Him for anything. I then prayed that He would change the terminal and the gate closer to my connecting flight. Finally, I thanked Him knowing whether I caught my connection or not He would take care of me. Soon after we landed, the steward announced that the terminal and the gate had changed. It was now leaving from the same terminal my connecting flight was and I only had to walk down two gates.

Faith as small as a mustard seed can move a mountain. Using this principle, we can apply it to our memory verse "for nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:37).  There is no limit to faith except which man has placed. Whether we can admit it or not our faith is often found lacking.  When faith is lacking, the belief that nothing is impossible with God makes us believe that this applies to everyone else but us. The Bible tells us that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” and that faith is not found in the wisdom of man but in the power of God. Increasing our mustard seed faith and to truly experience that "Nothing is impossible with God," we can focus on these five different things.

1. We have to have intentional-courage to believe the love He has for us.
(John 3:16; Hebrews 11:6; James 1:2-8)
2. It takes effort and strength from the Holy Spirit to believe God's truth over the lies the enemy whispers in our ears.
(John 10:10)
3. We have to prioritize God's preferences over our own and not forget all the great things He has already done for us.
(Matthew 6:33)
4. We have to radically commit to our faith/belief even when our world is falling apart and we feel alone.
(Colossians 3:17; Proverbs 3:5)
5. We have to stand on the absolute truth of the word of God, even when others' opinions or the current climate states we are wrong. (Hebrews 4:12; 1 Corinthians 16:13)

As we grow closer to God our faith increases, as our faith increases our faith is strengthened, and as our faith is strengthened we begin to believe the realization that "nothing is impossible with God”. (Luke 1:37).

Scripture References:
Matthew 17:20
Matthew 14:28-31
John 20:24-29
Mark 9:21-24
Matthew 28:16-17
Romans 10:17
1 Corinthians 2:5

Growing up in a world that was all about religion, this verse was one of the many that got misused and misinterpreted.  For some, it was a scripture that people would cling to as a ‘quick fix’ to whatever negative situation was in their life or the life of their loved ones.

Thankfully, God has really opened my eyes to see what His Word is saying. Now when I read this verse, I see that it means that He has ALL authority in Heaven and on earth.  Everything that happens passes through Him first. That, to me, is so very comforting and encouraging when the world around us seems to be spiraling out of control.

As far as the context of this scripture, Mary had just found out that she would be carrying the Son of God. In her moment of humanity, she questioned how she could be pregnant as a virgin. The angel of the Lord quickly  reminded her that nothing was impossible with God!

“For nothing will be impossible with God” - Luke 1:37

Check out this amazing song that speaks about the power of our great God!
There's Nothing That Our God Can't Do