This past summer, I was reading through God's Word—His Love Letter to us—with the Sweeter Than Honey Bible reading plan. On August 30th, I came to 1 Kings chapter 8, and Solomon's prayer of dedication. His prayer of dedication is not only over the Temple he built for the Lord but also over the Lord's people who would use this new Temple.

This prayer of dedication is so beautiful to read!

I especially love reading the “then hear in Heaven” verses! Seven times in Solomon's prayer of dedication he says those words, "then hear in Heaven."

​I feel as if Solomon's prayer of dedication, over the Temple and the children of Israel, could also be a prayer of dedication over us and the new year. Let's read it today!

From the Old Testament to the New, the eternality of God's Word is clearly proclaimed: 

Job tells us, “I have treasured the Words of His mouth more than my portion of food” (Job 23:12). 

Isaiah reminds us that, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God endures forever” (Isaiah 40:8). 

And Matthew records Jesus saying, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will never pass away” (Matthew 24:35).

God's Word is like an eternal Love Letter to us!

​Have you ever received a love letter, friend? Did you read it? Did you read it just once, or did you read it over and over again? A Love Letter is a treasure when you love the One who sent it!

I love Christmas! Don’t you? There is so much to celebrate, and it’s just a great time to be with family and friends. People are so much more open to the Gospel at Christmas too. Even secular singers take the time to sing about the baby Jesus and the events of the Christmas story. It is one of the only times of the year when people don’t seem reluctant to speak about Jesus. For this and many other reasons, I really do enjoy Christmas. 
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On that first Christmas, there was a very unlikely audience to the initial proclamation of Jesus’ birth. The response of this audience produced some of the first missionaries to tell the Good News of Jesus’ birth! Go back with me to that familiar, but ever so amazing part of the Christmas story in Luke 2, when the angels came to this unlikely audience on a Judean hillside outside the village of Bethlehem.

From the Old Testament to the New, the eternality of God's Word is clearly proclaimed: 

Job tells us, “I have treasured the Words of His mouth more than my portion of food” (Job 23:12). 

Isaiah reminds us that, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God endures forever” (Isaiah 40:8). 

And Matthew records Jesus saying, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will never pass away” (Matthew 24:35).

God's Word is like an eternal Love Letter to us!

​Have you ever received a love letter, friend? Did you read it? Did you read it just once, or did you read it over and over again? A Love Letter is a treasure when you love the One who sent it!

Have you ever struggled with the assurance of your salvation? I haven't, but many do. For a long time my husband doubted until we went to see our pastor. He wisely directed us to a few of the passages below.

You may even ask yourself, "Is it normal for Christians to have doubts about their salvation?"

If you've struggled with doubt, or are currently struggling with it, before you do anything else, you simply must know that going through these seasons—the ones that can wreck your faith about God and your salvation—is normal. And they are not only normal, but necessary.

Doubts can be the growing pains of our faith.

If you are struggling today, or know someone who is, meditate on these 14 passages of Scripture. They will strengthen your faith!

​I just want to share this exciting news with you so you can begin thinking and praying about it. I shared this with the girls in the Sweeter Than Honey Fall Zoom get-together. We talked about how we can all encourage our unsaved and searching-for-truth friends to journey through the Gospel of John with us for 7 days leading up to Christmas December 17-23.

Please be praying about these opportunities!

There is a FREE DOWNLOAD, available below and over in the Sweeter Than Honey Facebook group, for anyone who does not have a copy of Sweeter Than Honey.

I think December is the best time of year to share the Gospel, and 7 days in the Gospel of John is a great pathway to a relationship with Jesus Christ!

This fall, while reading through the Bible with the Sweeter Than Honey Bible reading plan, on September 1, I came to the passage in 1 Kings where we read of the succession of King Rehoboam and the Kingdom of Israel being split into two separate kingdoms—the Kingdom of Israel to the north, containing the cities of Shechem and Samaria; and the Kingdom of Judah to the south, containing the city of Jerusalem and the Temple.

​When Jeroboam and the people of Israel came to King Rehoboam about how hard his father, King Solomon, made them work under his reign and that if he would lighten their load they would serve him, Rehoboam told the people to go away for three days and come back. He needed some time to think and consult a few people. During those three days, Rehoboam went to the old men who had served with his father and asked them how he should answer.