December 13 – Habakkuk 3:1-19 Joy. The little book of Habakkuk is a favorite of mine. Habakkuk has questions. God seems to be letting the bad guys win, and he just doesn’t get it. Instead of running away from God in a fit of pique at God’s choices, Habakkuk runs toward Him with his anger, sorrow and frustrations. And then he waits for answers. He doesn’t stomp away because God doesn’t answer immediately. Habakkuk has helped me in my times of questioning. He’s my go-to example. The search reaches a beautiful crescendo and ending in the passage we read this morning. God answered. He told Habakkuk that the day would indeed come when God would restore justice and righteousness. There would be punishment for the […] Read more »

We love gifting you with online studies! It's what we do - encourage women to "take time to know God better and love Him more and more." So, if you can't gift us back with a donation that is quite okay. But if you could, even $5 a student would be a HUGE blessing. Just sayin' - here's the link if you feel so led: https://sweetselah.org/donations/ Thanks. Read more »

December 12 – Nehemiah 8:1-12  Joy.  Boy oh boy this passage humbles me. The people stood for hours listening to the reading of God’s Word in this passage. They took it to heart and wept as they heard it. They yearned to hear from God and valued it more than their own comfort. Their hunger and thirst at this moment for God’s truths was great. Can you imagine that great square with all the people eagerly listening? They were finally back in their homeland after years and years of captivity. Most of them standing there had been born in captivity and had only heard of Jerusalem until they were allowed to return home. They were free to hear the words of God proclaimed on a […] Read more »

WEEK THREE -  JOY “The third candle symbolizes JOY and is called the “Shepherd’s Candle.” To the shepherd’s great joy, the angels announced that Jesus came for humble, unimportant people like them, too.” (Crosswalk.com) December 11 – Psalm 65 Joy. Let’s talk about the difference between joy and that feeling of happiness that comes and goes in such fickle fashion. Google Dictionary defines happy this way: “feeling or showing pleasure or contentment” Feeling happy is quite lovely, isn’t it? However, life situations, hormones, temperament, and choices can all affect how happy we feel at times. Life has its ups and downs and sadness is an inevitable part of life. So, what about the Christian attribute of joy? Is it basically just feeling pleasure or contentment […] Read more »

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December 10 – Hebrews 11:1-16  Faith. We are ending this week on the study of the Christian attribute of faith right where we began. Hebrews 11:6 defines faith for us, but the whole chapter is full of examples of faith. If you have time, go back and read the full chapter. Note how not everyone who believed saw the fulfillment of promises in this life on earth, yet they died confident that there’s a world beyond this one, and all will be made right someday. Oh, in these dark winter days leading toward Christmas, let’s hold on to faith that Jesus truly is the Light of the World and there will come a time when the darkness will be totally defeated by the Light! My […] Read more »

December 9 – Luke 1:35-55  Faith. We moved to the New Testament today and to one of the most beautiful songs of praise ever composed by an incredibly faith-filled woman, Mary the mother of Jesus. Her simple statement “May it be to me as you have said” contains so much humility and trust, doesn’t it? God said it and ordained it so she received it and not only accepted it but rejoiced in the honor bestowed upon her. This honor came at great personal cost to her reputation at the beginning of Jesus’ life and to her heart on the day of His crucifixion. How often I protest and complain when things don’t go as I wish! Mary’s entire life was upended and she simply, […] Read more »

December 8 – 1 Samuel 17:32-50  Faith. Today, still following faithful people, we got to take a peek at David, who was born and raised in Bethlehem and whose great-grandmother was our Ruth. We saw him in his most famous role. A kid who was confident that God was bigger than any giant and walked on out with his slingshot to prove it to the chagrin of the Israelite army that had trembled in fear of said giant for weeks and weeks. David’s faith was honed in obscure sheep pastures as he tended his father’s flocks. He saw God help him protect the sheep from lions and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that nothing was too difficult for God. And down went that […] Read more »

December 7 – Ruth 2:1-13  Faith. If ever there was a woman of extraordinary faith, Ruth would be that woman. Born in Moab with no clue who the God of Israel was, she married an Israelite and took his faith as her own so fully that even after her husband died, leaving her childless, she loved his God so much she left her home and followed her poverty-stricken mother-in-law back to Israel. She faithfully worked the fields to feed herself and the grieving mother of her dead husband. And Ruth’s amazing faithfulness was noted in that small town of Bethlehem so that even a rich landowner, Boaz, had heard of her and been impressed. Of course, they end up getting married and it’s just one […] Read more »