FINDING GLORY Wednesday

Thank you for joining us here to explore God’s ways as it relates to growing, thriving and experiencing Him through adversity. Please do more than just read. Share your perspectives! We desperately want "FINDING GLORY Wednesdays" to be a conversation among fellow sojourners rather than a one-way delivery of ideas and information from us. God is doing big things through the intersections of your life with others.

Today’s scripture and discussion question are:

"Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. You may say to yourself, 'My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.' But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today." DEUTERONOMY 8:2-3 and 17-18

Memories play an important role in shaping our vision for the future. Throughout scripture, God commands us to focus our thoughts on good things (Philippians 4:8), continually renew our minds on the truth (Romans 12:2), and remember his promises and faithfulness (Joshua 4:21-24). How does remembering experiences of God's presence and faithfulness in your life affect your attitude, choices and behavior?

If you are part of a past or current Finding Glory Group, please give us your feedback about what is going well, what could be better, and how God is working. Your comments help us develop and improve future resources. Write us at larry@walkrightin.org or lisa@walkrightin.org.

For more information about Finding Glory Groups, visit http://www.findingglory.com/findingglorygrou.html.

Today's reflections are copyrighted excerpts taken from Finding Glory in the Thorns: Group Discussion Guide.

Sweet Sixteen Again

Our daughter, Erin, turned 16 years old yesterday and celebrated in style — from chocolate chip scones for breakfast to s’mores at a bonfire with friends after a musical rehearsal in the evening. Since she’s a musical theatre lover and is playing the lead for the first time in a show opening in less than two weeks, she’s already having the summer of her life. The only thing that could make it better at this point is if she passes her driver’s test on the first try today.

As parents, Larry and I have tried to help our kids catch God’s vision for who they are and what His best is for their lives while nurturing the personal hopes and dreams that they develop. We are so thankful Erin is arriving at 16 with wild dreams about her future, full of giftedness and potential to achieve them, but also with a mature willingness to yield to God’s best for her. She seems to have a healthy anticipation about the future because she trusts God.

Sometimes I need to be more confident about all the possibilities for my own future. As we get older, we can be tempted to believe that it’s getting too late for our dreams or we look back with regret about lost opportunities. We see our baggage. We think we have a more “realistic” (aka mature) appreciation of our limitations and we tend to be more conservative in our plans. We think, “Oh, to be sixteen again!”

Our heavenly Father sees things very differently. Like the parent of a young child, He finds it easy to see the great potential within us and the bright future ahead. He has a vision for our possibilities that we cannot even fathom. No one in the Bible was ever too old for big dreams! Throughout history, God makes a point of encouraging His children often about their future:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and future.” Jeremiah 29:11

“My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:2-3

We would all do well to embrace our future with the anticipation of child and the vision of our Divine Parent.

LORD, help us catch Your vision for our possibilities. Remind us that it’s never too late for You to do something beautiful and amazing. Every day with You brings with it the sweetness of feeling like we’re sixteen again because Your love, grace, wisdom and power never run out. AMEN

It's "Marriage Prayer Friday!"

Whether you are praying for your own marriage or standing in the gap for a friend, thank you for joining us in seeking the Lord for growth, refreshment, renewal, healing, and even restoration!

A prayer for your own marriage—

EVER-WISE GOD, You say that two are better than one and that a cord of three strands cannot be broken. Please strengthen me and my husband/wife as a team and bind us together more firmly in relationship with You. Help us to see the benefits of clinging to You both individually and together so that we are hungry for the kind intimacy and strength that most fully satisfies us and brings great glory to You. Gracious Lord, forgive me for defending my individuality/ideas/needs instead of celebrating the partnership I have in marriage. Open my eyes (and my spouse's eyes too) to see the beauty in what already exists in our relationship as well as the opportunities to grow. Thank You, Jesus, that You never leave me alone with my dreams and efforts to grow in marriage. Seeing my marriage heal, grow and thrive causes You great delight so I can count on You to advocate before the Throne of the King on behalf of my relationship with my spouse. I pray in the name and power of Your blood, Jesus. AMEN

Something to pray for a friend's marriage—

EVER-WISE GOD, You say that two are better than one and that a cord of three strands cannot be broken. Please strengthen my married friends as teams and bind them together more firmly in relationship with You. Help them to see the benefits of clinging to You both individually and together so that they are hungry for the kind intimacy and strength that most fully satisfies them and brings great glory to You. Gracious Lord, forgive my friends for defending their individuality/ideas/needs when they can be celebrating the partnerships they have in marriage. Open their eyes to see the beauty in what already exists in their relationship as well as the opportunities they have to grow. Thank You, Jesus, that You never leave any of us alone with our dreams and efforts to grow. Seeing marriages heal, grow and thrive causes You great delight so I can count on You to advocate before the Throne of the King on behalf of my friends and their marriages. I pray in the name and power of Your blood, Jesus. AMEN

FINDING GLORY Wednesday

It’s been a great blessing for us to hear about new Finding Glory Groups using the Finding Glory in the Thorns: Group Discussion Guide in Bible studies this summer and to see God increasingly at work through communities around the world! Thank you for your faithfulness in seeking the heart of God in your own life and being willing to share that with others. We always love to hear from current and past readers who want to continue growing and be encouraged in Christ and Bible-saturated relationships.

Today’s scriptures and discussion questions are:

"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." JAMES 1:12

"Resist (the devil), standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." 1 PETER 5:9-10

Many of us are waiting on God for something — answers, healing, rest, help, the transformation of our grief into joy, etc. Sometimes God's healing work looks different than we expect it to. In what obvious or even not-so-obvious ways might God be doing works of healing in your situation?

Is there a Bible verse(s) that encourages you when you are discouraged about your life situation (doubtful, fearful, confused or hopeless)?

For more information about Finding Glory Groups, visit http://www.findingglory.com/findingglorygrou.html.

Today's reflections are copyrighted excerpts taken from Finding Glory in the Thorns: Group Discussion Guide.

Just Another Way to Get To Know Us!

Dream On!

I’ve been thinking a lot about dreams lately—not the kind you have at night but the kind you have when you’re imagining the future. I have dreams for our daughter Alex who just graduated from high school and for Erin who is at a worship conference this week developing her songwriting gifts. I dream about the day researchers translate the cure for Angelman Syndrome from mice in a lab to humans on the street so that Carly and others will be fully healed. I dream about a time when Larry is employed in a job that deeply satisfies him.

As a teenager, I dreamed about being a writer. When Larry and I started writing our first book together, we dreamed that God might use the challenges and blessings we’d been experiencing for some good. Especially on the very tough days, it would comfort us to know God values us and our suffering and that He would make it worthwhile. We began to catch a vision to minister encouragement to people so they would grow in their relationship with Christ and discover the adventure of life even in the midst of their own challenges. That dream started becoming reality when Walk Right In Ministries was born in 2008.

God does amazing things with dreams! Larry and I keep discovering that when our dreams rise up out of vision that God plants in us, when we make plans according to the passions He stirs up, when we walk decisively towards our goals energized by the Holy Spirit, when we hold onto our own hopes loosely and yield to God’s way of unfolding the plan, and when we trust in the Almighty God to shock us with His loving, powerful and sovereign ways, life is truly a grand adventure.

This week, another layer of the dream is unfolding. Walk Right In Ministries is launching an all-new interactive website which expands the ways our team is supporting people around the world who are facing challenges. It’s jam-packed with resources and ways to connect with others who want to grow and thrive even when life gets very difficult.

Here are just a few of the things you can explore at www.walkrightin.org:

• FREE downloadable tools on topics like marriage, disability, connecting in community
• Links to a growing library of resources and organizations helping people thrive
• Finding Glory resources store
• Descriptions of workshops and resources offered by Larry and Lisa Jamieson
• Blog featuring practical tools and insights along with engaging conversation
• …and much, much more!

We know first-hand what it means to thrive while facing adversity. We were enjoying successful careers and renewal after a storm in our marriage when our third daughter, Carly, was born with severe disabilities and later diagnosed with Angelman Syndrome. Support from our church and community helped us in both practical and spiritual ways. Our experiences inspired the establishment of Walk Right In Ministries to help bring individuals, couples and families into healthier, deeper and more satisfying experiences of life, community and God.

Verses like these continue to spur on our hopes and dreams for Walk Right In Ministries:

It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. PSALM 119:71

He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him. PSALM 126:6

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. PSALM 145:18

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. PSALM 147:5

Now, the Walk Right In Ministries team dreams that this new website will extend the breadth and depth of God’s work to thousands more people. We hope and pray that individuals and families — particularly those facing challenges such as disability, chronic health conditions and other life-altering circumstances — will find the new site immediately helpful.

Please take this opportunity to leave feedback, request prayer or register to share in the ministry. Please pass the word. And please pray for the ministry and those it touches.

Thank you for dreaming big dreams and praying bold prayers with us!

It's "Marriage Prayer Friday!"

Some marriages are facing great obstacles today. Thank you for standing with us right now in a moment of prayer for your own marriage and/or the marriage(s) of someone you know.

A prayer for your own marriage—

SOVEREIGN KING, my husband/wife and I are confronting great challenges. I am reminded today that there is indescribable power in Your Word. Jesus used it victoriously when confronted with temptation from the devil himself and will use it again one day to conquer the world. All I need, Lord, is the Word of God soaked up in my life in the context of a relationship with You. Please forgive me for trying to use other things in an effort to overcome obstacles. I confess that I have tried to use things like money, food, shopping, hobbies, manipulation, meanness, and even brute willpower to make me feel strong. Thank you for the reminder that You, through Your Word, are enough. Thank you that Your Word is alive, active and useful. It is sharper than any two-edged sword and promises to penetrate even to the point of dividing soul and spirit (Heb 4:12). Help me never to forget that Your Word provides all I need for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that I am thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16). Please increase my hunger and discipline for staying steeped in Your Word so that I am deeply familiar with it, empowered by it, comforted by it, and fruitful in it. Please cause my saturation with You through the Bible to spill out into my marriage most of all. Thank you for changing my heart, oh God, and renewing a steadfast spirit within me. I'm grateful to pray these things in Jesus' name. AMEN

Something to pray for a friend's marriage—

SOVEREIGN KING, I know of at least one marriage among my family or friends that is confronting great challenges. I am grateful today that there is indescribable power in Your Word. Jesus used it victoriously when confronted with temptation from the devil himself and will use it again one day to conquer the world. All that my friends need, Lord, is the Word of God soaked up into their lives within the context of a relationship with You. Please forgive each of us for trying to use other things in an effort to overcome obstacles. I, like my friends, have tried to use things like money, food, shopping, hobbies, manipulation, meanness, and even brute willpower to make me feel strong. Please remind my friends that You, through Your Word, are enough. Show me how to graciously encourage my friends of that truth! Thank you that Your Word is alive, active and useful. It is sharper than any two-edged sword and promises to penetrate even to the point of dividing soul and spirit (Heb 4:12). Help me and my friends never to forget that Your Word provides all we need for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that I am thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16). Please increase our hunger and discipline for staying steeped in Your Word so that we are deeply familiar with it, empowered by it, comforted by it, and fruitful in it. Please cause our saturation with You through the Bible to spill out into our relationships — our marriages most of all. Thank you for being the changer of hearts, oh God, and for renewing a steadfast spirit within us. I'm grateful to pray these things in Jesus' name. AMEN

FINDING GLORY Wednesday

This new online community format allows us to come together and share what is going on in our lives so that we might be encouraged by one another, learn from one another and pray for one another. Questions from the 7-week Bible Study curriculum Finding Glory in the Thorns: Group Discussion Guide serve as a starting point for our conversations. However, everyone is encouraged to get involved in this discussion whether you have read any of the Finding Glory resources or not.

Today’s scriptures and discussion questions are:

"I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant will also be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. No my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour?' No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!" JOHN 12:24-28

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I lve in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." GALATIANS 2:20

Sometimes the daily logistics, pressing needs, the desire to care for someone, and even our passions consume our lives. How do you prevent these things from consuming the very nature of who you are?

How do these Bible verses influence your answer?

For more information about Finding Glory Groups, visit http://www.findingglory.com/findingglorygrou.html.

Today's reflections are copyrighted excerpts taken from Finding Glory in the Thorns: Group Discussion Guide.

Restoring Order

I’m writing this morning with my tongue tucked slightly in my cheek. Since our family is beginning this week in recovery mode after a large graduation party, commencement ceremony and hosting out-of-town family, I have housecleaning on my mind. So just to keep things simple, I thought it might be funny to find a Bible verse on housecleaning. I figured there’d also be a lesson in it for me — and there was.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean." MATTHEW 23:25-26

Um. Ouch? These verses challenge me to stay balanced today when I could easily focus entirely on party clean-up. There is plenty to tidy up and re-wash from the patio to the kitchen and I am certainly one to gain great calm when there is a sense of order around my home. Unfortunately, it’s tempting for me to get caught up chasing inner peace through the state of my external environment while, for a few days at least, neglecting the inner exercises that will cleanse, nourish and calm my soul.

Once again, God has nudged me towards a shift in priorities — making the inner work foremost and the external things secondary. I’ll make it a point first thing this morning to sit on the deck for a little while reading my Bible and prayer-writing in my journal. Whatever I have to do to keep Carly busy while I “clean the inside of the cup and dish,” I’ll do it! That’s the best way I can start a conversation with God that will continue throughout the day as I make my way from room to room, job to job, and joy to deeper joy.

The events of a glorious weekend celebrating with family and friends will be even sweeter in my memories because my restoration process was from the inside out.

Thank You once again, Jesus, for making something fun very practical. AMEN

It's "Marriage Prayer Friday!"

Whether you are praying for your own marriage or standing in the gap for a friend, thank you for joining us in seeking the Lord for growth, refreshment, renewal, healing, and even restoration!

A prayer for your own marriage—

GENTLE JESUS, my spouse has heartaches that you intimately understand. I confess that sometimes I am so absorbed in my own thoughts, needs, feelings and perspectives that I forget to consider his/hers. At other times, I desperately want to better understand my husband/wife's heart, but it is hard to get there. Open doors of understanding between us, dear Jesus. Today I pray that you will soothe my spouse's sorrows and temptations. Show me how to extend encouragement and tender touches in the moments and ways that matter to him/her. Help me to be an instrument of Your peace, love and comfort to the one I love.

Thank you, Lord God, for feeling our heartaches even more than we do.

Thank you that we never carry a burden alone. In Your name I pray. AMEN

Something to pray for a friend's marriage—

GENTLE JESUS, my married friends have heartaches that you intimately understand. I confess that sometimes I am so absorbed in my own thoughts, needs, feelings and perspectives that I forget to consider theirs. At other times, I wish I better understood their needs so that I could be of more support to them. Help me, Jesus. Help them! Open doors of understanding between them. Today I pray that you will soothe my friends' sorrows and temptations. Show them, as a couple, how to extend encouragement and tender touches to each other in moments and ways that are deeply personal and meaningful. Help each of them to be an instrument of Your peace, love and comfort within their marriage.

Thank you, Lord God, for feeling my friends heartaches even more than they do.

Please remind them that they never carry any burden alone. In Your name I pray. AMEN

FINDING GLORY Wednesday

Finding Glory Wednesdays are a way for us to grow and be encouraged together within an online community — especially when experiencing challenges such as chronic illness, job transition, disability, strained marriage/relationship, grief, and so on. Christ-centered conversation and interaction are critical to the success of this online community concept so please join us. It will be very exciting to see and hear what God is doing!

Discussion here is based on scripture and questions from the Finding Glory in the Thorns: Group Discussion Guide but you do not need to have read the book or participated in a Finding Glory Group to share in the conversation. Please invite your friends to join the discussion too!

Today’s scriptures and discussion question are:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. " MATTHEW 11:28

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, 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." EPHESIANS 3:14-19

What do you crave relief from in your life right now? What do these scriptures tell us about how to experience rest and strengthening?

For more information about Finding Glory Groups, visit http://www.findingglory.com/findingglorygrou.html.

Today's reflections are copyrighted excerpts taken from Finding Glory in the Thorns: Group Discussion Guide.

Small Group Dynamics Gives Shout Out: Intriguing Curriculum for Those Facing Disability

Larry and I appreciate this endorsement of the Finding Glory Group curriculum mentioned by a blogger yesterday!

Small Group Dynamics: Shout Out: Intriguing Curriculum for Those Facing Disability

Out of Nowhere

I had something in mind to post about this week but preparations for our daughter’s graduation have kept our attention on all of the typical hoopla one might associate with such an occasion. To say there is excitement at our house would be an understatement.

Life, however, is often full of contrasts. Even as we are caught up in the fun and joy of this special time, Larry and I are also praying over some weighty concerns about his job search and the toll life’s challenges have taken on us economically. Ultimately, it is this mixture of emotions that caused me to shift topics for my post today.

For many reasons, I would really rather not write about our tough times. However, for several years now, Larry and I have sensed a challenge from God to live transparently and authentically to the extent that something about our experiences may be of encouragement to you. So, despite feeling vulnerable, I will press on.

At some point in time, most of us have faced a situation that felt empty of potential. Have you ever felt like you were at the end of a rope or like your options were running out? For many people these days, being stretched to a limit has been about finances. For others, it’s been about health or disability issues. Sometimes it’s about relationships. I spent some time with a friend tonight who believes her marriage is over. There seems to be nothing left to restore. In one way or another, many of us understand the kind of discouragement that comes when you believe you have come to your wits’ end.

I am so grateful that I do NOT face that kind of discouragement today. There are several reasons for my confidence and one reason near the top of the list is that I have a most incredible husband. Above all else, he loves Jesus and spends every day spilling out God’s love onto our family. I am grateful beyond words for this man who remains God’s greatest gift to me and to our kids.

But at the very core of my confidence is knowing that, from the very beginning of time, God has been in the business of creating awesome and beautiful things out of nothing at all.

This is one of my favorite verses reflecting the power, authority and creativity of God.

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. HEBREWS 11:3

It is no cliché or comfy song lyric to say, “God will make a way where there seems to be no way.” It is in His power, authority and creativity to do anything and everything He wants to do. And He needs nothing to work with. Furthermore, everything God does will be done for His own glory — which also means it will be done for our good.

Do you feel like your problem is too great to be solved or too far beyond fixing? Do you feel unworthy of God’s attentions or affections?

Jesus loves you. God is able. He can be entirely trusted.

So let's wait on the Lord together — anticipating His goodness from the edge of our seats. Something special is coming, even if it's coming out of nowhere!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. EPHESIANS 3:20-21

It's "Marriage Prayer Friday!"

Kids all around us are finishing up another school year. They are celebrating accomplishments, friendships, fun experiences and their hopes for the next thing. As you pause for these few moments with us today to pray for your marriage or for the marriage(s) of someone you care about, let's ask the Lord to bring that same spirit of gratitude and expectancy into marriages.

A prayer for your own marriage—

HEAVENLY FATHER, it is hard for me to imagine that You delight in me but Your Word says that you love me like a father loves a child, like an eagle cares for her young and like a groom delights in his bride. I need You to help me recall the ways I delighted in my spouse early in our relationship. Give me courage right now to slow down and remember the sense of anticipation we shared about what our future could be like together. Please cause those good memories to spill out into the current state of our relationship so that we experience new levels of peace, love and joy. Help us to be insightful and intentional about creating new good memories. Help us to have reasonable expectations and plenty of grace for

each other

while having high expectations of You. You are able to do more with our marriage than we could ever ask or imagine. Thank you for giving us a hope and future. Help us to put past hurts and habits behind us and give each of us a teachable spirit so that we can keep learning new and better ways to live by Your Spirit within us. Please cause my marriage to be something you delight in, Lord God! Thank you that I can pray these things in the power of Jesus' name because of His shed blood. AMEN

Something to pray for a friend's marriage—

HEAVENLY FATHER, it is hard for me to imagine that You delight in me but Your Word says that you love me like a father loves a child, like an eagle cares for her young and like a groom delights in his bride. Prompt my married friends to recall the ways they delighted in each other when their relationship was young. Give them courage to slow down and remember the sense of anticipation they shared about their future. Cause those good memories to spill out into the current state of their relationship so that they experience new levels of peace, love and joy. Help them to be insightful and intentional about creating new good memories. Help them to have reasonable expectations and plenty of grace for

each other

while having high expectations of You. You are able to do more with these marriages I am praying for than I could ever ask or imagine. Thank you that each of these marriages on my heart can have a hope and future. Help my friends to put past hurts and habits behind them and give each of them a teachable spirit so that they can keep learning new and better ways to live by Your Spirit within them. Please cause these marriages to be something you delight in, Lord God! Thank you that I can pray these things in the power of Jesus' name because of His shed blood. AMEN

FINDING GLORY Wednesday — New Community Opportunity

Starting today, we will be posting one scripture and discussion question every Wednesday from the 7-week study resource titled Finding Glory in the Thorns: Group Discussion Guide. People around the world are learning what it means to experience God in adversity and share that within their communities facilitated by Finding Glory resources. Whether or not you’re already a reader of these resources, we hope you’ll help us get the ball rolling on this online expansion of the Finding Glory Group ministry.

Many people reading and commenting here will be current and past participants in Finding Glory Groups. They will have used the 7-week curriculum Finding Glory in the Thorns: Group Discussion Guide in a support group, book club, adult education class or small group. Others joining the conversation may have read the original book Finding Glory in the Thorns and want to explore more deeply what God has been teaching them. However, anyone is free to get involved and we hope many will! God does powerful and beautiful things through the intersections of our lives.

Here are today’s scripture and discussion question:

“The Lord told Joshua…’Give these instructions to the priests who are carrying the Ark of the Covenant: When you reach the banks of the Jordan River, take a few steps into the river and stop.’ The priests will be carrying the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. When their feet touch the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will pile up there in one heap. Now it was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, the water began piling up in a town upstream called Adam…until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the city of Jericho.” JOSHUA 3:7-8, 13 and 3:15-16

In what way might God be challenging you, as He did Joshua, to take a step of faith? What assures you that taking that step would be God’s way to go?

For more information about Finding Glory Groups, visit http://www.findingglory.com/findingglorygrou.html.

Listen to what others are saying about their experiences in a Finding Glory Group:

“I was scared to relive heartbreaking memories but (the discussion) did the opposite…affirmed that Jesus has a purpose for my journey.”

“I am learning how to glorify God, not my problems.”

“Our Sunday School class started (a Finding Glory Group) because things from your experiences sparked a commonality…willingness to dig deep and have courage to share makes the experience richer for everyone.”

“Your question opened up some important conversation in our group about the need to recognize those who are hurting and need hope. Our group facilitator reminded us that even people within the church have struggles but may appear to have it all together on Sunday morning. We need to invest in each other’s lives.”