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There have probably been times in your life when you could say that your joy was full. Jesus is interested in this being your normal state of affairs. “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (John 15:9–11). “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and…you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8). In this collection of short meditations, Heather Torosyan explores the theme of joy in Scripture and discusses how it applies to our daily lives. This is not an academic treatise, but a study meant to encourage the reader—that you also may be filled with inexpressible, overflowing joy. -
Hope is a promise of God. Anxiety is a lie of Satan. When we are anxious, we become immobilized. We cannot make decisions; we cannot get things done; we cannot sleep. What can we do to be free from this constant worry? “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isa. 41:10). “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt. 6:31–33). “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:7). In this booklet, Jim Wilson teaches you how to trust God and be free from anxiety every day. God knows our needs, God is faithful, and He cares for you. -
Are you looking to strengthen your prayer life? Do you want to get into the habit of praying daily but don’t know where to start? Join Heather Torosyan as she walks through the prayers of Scripture with this 40-day prayer journal. At the end of each day’s reading, Heather offers a suggested prayer and leaves space for you to write in your own prayers. I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth. (Psalm 57:9-11 NIV) -
Africa was their home. Could they ever go back? Physical weakness coupled with civil unrest in the Ivory Coast had extended a six-month furlough to several years and threatened to derail the Leidenfrosts’ plans to return to their beloved Africa and continue mission work with the Bakwé people. But now they were finally going home to their village…or so they thought. “On top of all this, a subtle grief over the loss of Africa continued to grip my heart. In my dismal state, I felt the clouds part and God’s presence come down to touch His child. God saw the pain, the loneliness, the need, and was telling me that I was not forgotten. It was too easy to focus on my troubles. I needed to remember that His love is stronger, more real, than the pain I was suffering at that moment. Was I going to focus on His love, or on the pain?” Join Lisa Leidenfrost as she walks through trial after trial and learns to keep her eyes on God, whom she finds by her side through it all. This book is especially recommended for anyone experiencing a long-term health challenge or other hardship with an uncertain outcome. -
How should Christians react when the culture around them is disintegrating and drifting towards chaos? Should we hunker down, praying and waiting for relief - consoled by God's ultimate control and authority? Or is our calling and commission to respond instead with hopeful vigour and positivity to these unfamiliar testing times? This book calls us to the latter option. There is hope; this is Christ's world; all authority has been given to Him. He is King of kinds and He is bringing all things under His control. And we are His instruments, His hands and feet - so there is work for us to do. This books sets out the grounds for this hope, explains our role in bringing it about, and, above all, tells us how we must begin - by preaching the kingdom. -
In this sequel to At the Edge of the Village , Lisa Leidenfrost describes life in her village in Côte d' Ivoire. Although there are exciting stories about the local witch doctor and escaping from a civil war, life as a missionary is often surprisingly normal. Family life need not be crowded out by frenetic translation schedules and fundraising furloughs. Whether it’s the humorous cultural differences in hospitality or courtship, or the kids’ adventures with driver ants, snakes, bees, a bushbaby, or a parrot, From the Village to the Ends of the Earth shows what it is like to raise a family while building the kingdom of God in Africa. -
What is it like being a missionary in Africa? Danger, joy, love, and lots of laughter.
A missionary's life is not just danger, hard work, and culture shock, interspersed with moments of high joys and deep sorrows. In this book consisting of both narrative and letters to her church, Lisa Leidenfrost shows that it also consists of the small, daily things, the quotidian experience which makes life at the edge of a village as familiar as life in America. This book features the ordinary and extraordinary, the solemn and playful, the mundane and exotic—all coming together to create a down-to-earth portrait of the Gospel at work in a family and a society .From the Book:
"Step into our world, a place of laughter and tears, trials and hopes, events captured and stories told. They are stories of life, lived out on the mission field in Africa where the hand of God is ever present in every situation. They are stories of daily events, of cultural experiences recounted, of friends loved and lost, and of trials surmounted. They are stories of bothersome situations turned to laughter as God gives us the ability to find humor in various hardships—a humor that has kept us sane over all these years. They are mostly stories of the familiar things in life, the little things that lend spice to our daily experience. Not all of missionary life is extraordinary or bizarre. Most of it is just normal, common events that unfold one day into another. And because God is good, there is a beauty in living, a purpose beyond our own mere existence that can make even the smallest things we do burst with life and meaning, laughter and delight. Too often these small, commonplace things go unnoticed unless they are caught and brought to life in words, words which become a lens that can, even if for a single moment, bring this ever-present beauty into focus." -
Join J.C. Ryle as he explains the benefits of reading (and rereading) the Bible, and find inspiration for your daily devotions in this classic work. Do you read the Bible? “I’m not a Christian, so what’s the point?” “I read it once – why do I need to read it again?” Why should you read the Bible? For eighteen centuries it has been studied and prayed over by millions of Christians and explained and preached by thousands of ministers. It meets the hearts and minds and consciences of Christians in the twenty-first century as fully as it did when it was first completed. It is still the first book which fits children’s minds when they begin to learn religion, and the last to which the old man clings as he leaves the world. It is the book for every heart, because God who alone knows all hearts dictated it. The Bible alone explains the state of things that we see in the world around us. There are many things on earth which a natural man cannot explain. The amazing inequality of conditions, the poverty and distress, the oppression and persecution, the failures of politicians and legislators, the constant existence of uncured evils and abuses—all these things are often puzzling. We see it, but do not understand. But the Bible makes it all clear. Do you read the Bible? Come and read the book whose teaching “turned the world upside down.” Come read the Bible. -
The thoughts you have when you’re depressed come from the devil. The good news for you is that the devil is a liar. Do you feel weighed down all the time? Perhaps, although you are a Christian and know you’re going to heaven, your spiritual life seems mediocre at best. You know the Bible says to rejoice always, and you’d like to be living joyfully, but you just don’t know how. In this sequel to How to Be Free from Bitterness, Jim Wilson returns to talk about how to deal with (and get rid of) depression, feelings of guilt, and problems with self-esteem. Many Christians feel like they are enslaved to these sins, like there is no way out. But this is not true. The truth is that Christ has freed us from the penalty of sin and the power of sin. If you are a Christian, you are already free. Depression, guilt, low self-esteem—whatever your problem is, it can be put to death. “And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32).