Words in Due Season

By Women of Grace Writers

The Women of Grace Writers were challenged to select a specific word to pray about and concentrate on for an entire year. That inspiration came in part as a result of reading “One Perfect Word” by reknown author Debbie McComber. Accordingly, the writers’ desire is that this collection of Words in Due Season will help to bring awareness of : God’s love through all the seasons of life, the profound power of prayer, the importance of renewed relationships, and the knowledge that God will never leave you alone.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Oct 14, 2019
• ISBN: 9781973669593

Women of Grace Writers

The Women of Grace Writers have previously authored five books since organizing in 2008. They are now a nonprofit corporation of multicultural Christian women who write all-occasion cards, devotional books, novels, and evangelistic plays and poetry. Profits, over operating expenses, are donated at the end of each year to a selected organization whose goal is to serve the needs of other women.

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 Women of Grace Writers.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Group Photograph by Lynn Roehsler, Cochise County, AZ

Individual photograph submitted by author and used by permission.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-6958-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-6960-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-6959-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019909831

WestBow Press rev. date: 10/11/2019

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from The Voice™. Copyright © 2012 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (AMP) are taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked (AMPC) are taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (TLB) are taken from The Living Bible copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB),

Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,

1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by

permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations are from Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Contents

Dedication

Preface

DEVOTIONS

Section 1: Peace — Sonya Andres

1. The Absence of Peace

2. Open Altar

3. Jealous

4. Holy Bumps

5. Who Wants to Prune You? —Wannetta Wagner

6. Beautifully Written

7. It’s Just an Intersection

8. From Pacemaker to Peacemaker

9. Peace in the Battle —David Ross Sherman

10. Where Are You Planted?

11. The Peace of God —Diane Johnson

12. Be All You Can Be

13. Fencing

14. The Lighthouse

Section 2: Overwhelmed — Carmen Mosher

1. End-Of-The-Month Food

2. Faith

3. For Such A Time As This

4. I’m So Sorry, Mrs. Mosher

5. The Empty Freezer

6. The Great Composer

7. When You Come to The End of Yourself

8. Blinded by The Light

9. Boy, Oh Boy

10. Burn, Baby Burn

11. Dream Weaver

12. I’m Not Letting Go

13. Overshadowed

14. Strength In Hiding

Section 3: Encouragement — Millie Wasden

1. Cinderella Girl

2. The Quest

3. First Baby Step

4. Needy Me

5. In the Pit

6. God Uses Us Anyway

7. Black Legs

8. Listening to God

9. Encouraged

10. Answered Prayer

11. Surviving Abuse —Kristine Richardson

12. Joy In Your Circumstances

13. God’s Protection

14. Showing Forth God’s Power

Section 4: Quiet — Juanita Adamson

1. Adoption Day

2. Quiet Joy

3. Don’t Steal My Quiet!

4. Wet Kiss

5. Quiet—Terry Hunt Crowley

6. Quiet the Mind

7. Quiet Nature

8. Impossible to Keep Quiet

9. Quiet Is—Cynthia Beckwith

10. Weaned

11. Quietly Waiting —Rosemary Raptis

12. Study To Be Quiet

13. Smile

14. Addiction

Section 5: Music — Paula J. Domianus

1. Freedom

2. The B - I - B - L – E

3. In The Garden

4. Let’s Celebrate

5. Power

6. A Father’s Love

7. My Hero

8. Heavenly Mission

9. Sing Praises to His Greatness —Rev. Rebecca J. Fiedler

10. A Matter Of Minutes

11. Quest

12. The Little Chatterbox

13. In Her Room

14. Follow Me

Section 6: Watch — Phyllis Andrews

1. Watch

2. Final Approach Into Tucson

3. Watch the Pot

4. In the Fulness Of Time

5. What Is Man?

6. Beauty Marks

7. Can You Come Help Us?

8. For Heaven’s Sake

9. Guard Your Heart

10. Not on My Watch

11. God Has Forgotten Me? —Alan Reed

12. Watch Your Mouth

13. P.I.P.

14. I See You

Section 7: Understanding — Karen Furukawa

1. Nuggets of Understanding

2. Perspective

3. To the Very End

4. A Soft Power

5. Tree-Of-Life Words —Sharon Rustia

6. Remnant

7. Willing to Dig?

8. In Good Standing

9. See

10. The Right Hand of God

11. Mary Understood Differently —Pat Olson

12. May His Face Shine Upon You

13. Our Enemy

14. Change

Section 8: Found — Audrey Rierson

1. The Absence of Sound

2. Great Artisan

3. Perfectly Planned

4. Possible or Impossible?

5. Christmas Box

6. God’s Covenant

7. The Wonderful Pacifier

8. Food for The Soul

9. Arizona Sunset

10. Best Gift Ever

11. A Life Well Lived

12. Divine Commitment

13. The Prayer Diet

14. What Would You Do?

Section 9: Endurance — Catherine Ricks Urbalejo

1. That Thing (Plugged Up)

2. Enduring the Fiery Furnace

3. Patient Endurance

4. Cloud of Witnesses

5. Hold Firm

6. Row, Row, Your Boat

7. The Key

8. Enduring Discipline

9. Angles and Tangles

10. Trust and Obey

11. Poisonous Fangs

12. Armageddon Within

13. Ultimate Endurance – Our Role Model

14. Words in Due Season

Women of Grace Writers

Contributing Authors

End Notes

Dedication

IMAGE3PictureofNaomi.jpg

IN LOVING MEMORY OF NAOMI Elaine LINDSEY

September 22, 1980 – October 10, 2017

Naomi was taken from this earthly realm too soon. There was so much more she desired to do, so many more who she wanted to impact with the love of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Naomi was a worshipper, pure and simple. She would enter the presence of Jesus with a pure, childlike abandon, face and arms lifted to heaven with smile and song upon her lips. Like most of us, Naomi was no stranger to struggles. But it was through those struggles that she drew into closer intimacy with her One True Love. She had learned to lean upon the Master in every way. The struggles constant and the pain real, and yet, Naomi’s faith in her Savior remained stable, and her joy was always evident.

NAOMI’S LIFE IS TRULY A WORD IN DUE SEASON.

It is a word that assures us of how much God’s love continually surrounds us,

even as we struggle with the complexities of life.

Therefore, we dedicate this collection of writings to her memory in hopes that we all might be inspired by her example of joy through trials. It is our prayer that through these humble compositions we all might pursue the Savior with passionate abandon as Naomi did -- confident that heaven and the presence of Jesus will be worth it all.

See you soon, Naomi!

Preface

"A man has joy by the answer of his mouth,

And a word spoken in due season, how good it is!"

Proverbs 15:23 (NKJV)

63126.png

Peace

58253.png

Peace by the world is defined by human wisdom. It is broken just like the symbol used internationally for peace and has been called the broken cross. I lived by the world’s definition of peace for many years.

Peace by God’s definition is unbroken and is here for eternity. The symbol for God’s peace is the cross that His Son Jesus died on. Today I choose to live in the freedom of God’s peace; it is the ultimate gift. He has given me.

God gave me the word peace to write about two years ago. Honestly, I didn’t know why until now. A few months ago, a friend asked me why my word was peace. My answer was that I had too many little-broken pieces of life still in my heart. God took a thread and cross stitched the brokenness together with HIS peace that surpasses ALL understanding.

"Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." Ephesians 4:3 (NIV)

Do you need God’s peace to dwell in your heart? I pray that the Holy Spirit will help you feel God’s peace in the first section of our book.

Shalom

The Absence of Peace

58270.png

"Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give peace to you

as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid."

John 14:27 (NIV)

Divine Will ¹ was a movie filmed in Punkyville, Kentucky. Will Blessing caused lots of trouble in the city, so Dave, his uncle, decided to accept a job in this small town. Life there had always been out of the ordinary. Dave, a former rock star, would now be the church’s new choir director. The choir begins to thrive with Dave’s able leadership and Will as a singer with them.

Besides singing, Will had another divine gift and mysteriously began to change the town. Punkyville becomes a town of music and miracles intertwined with faith and love. Will’s mother had always told him he had a divine gift.

The people Will Blessing touched would instantly be filled with God’s peace. You could see light energy (Holy Spirit) in his hand as he touched someone’s hand. That person began to desire what Will had, Jesus. The acting wasn’t good. The movie was lame, and after 20 minutes, I reached to shut it off. However, something stopped me, and I watched the entire movie before going to bed. At 2 a.m. the next morning, I woke up thinking about the movie. I walked out to the living room feeling restless; God whispered a word to me—Peace.

You will fill yourself with My Word and touch my people with peace! I was so excited! Yes, I can see myself doing that! Off to bed, I went and halfway down the hall I believe God spoke, there is an absence of peace in your heart. Remember your circumstances in the last year sometimes you had My Peace. You held some situations on your heart without me. A trial for you filled your mind with overwhelming anxiety. Your circumstances do not matter, and My Peace always needs to dwell in your soul.

My feelings about the movie are not crucial because God acted mysteriously once again. I will keep P (Pursuing) E (Everlasting) A (Amazing) C (Christlike) E (Endeavors). God is the Prince of Peace. His Divine Will for us is always to be at peace. HIS peace that surpasses all understanding.

—Sonya Andres

Open Altar

58270.png

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him,

so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Romans 15:13 (NIV)

The Calvary First Assembly of God in Stockton, CA, has an Open Altar policy. During worship by the leading of the Holy Spirit, you can move freely to the altar for praising and prayer. One Sunday morning, as I was worshipping God, my heart starts beating faster. For me, this was a sign from God to go up front to the altar. As I moved forward, God led me to believe there was a woman in our midst, who had a heavy heart. Raising my hands and worshipping, I cried out to God in supplication for this person. I expected that this lady would come to the altar and pray with me. Much to my surprise when the worship music ended, no one came. On the way back to my seat, I started to question God, and then I saw a lady weeping profusely. I sat down by her and wrapped my arms around her. She repeated several times, I should of went to the altar, I should of went to the altar. God wanted me to go. When I shared with her that it was okay and that God still loved her, it brought some peace into her heart. The kicker that gave her total peace was when I assured her that next Sunday if God wanted her to go to the altar, we would go together.

Can you guess what happened next Sunday? God led us to the altar. Her prayer request was about her daughter. The Holy Spirit encouraged me to have her pray for herself. My hands took her hands and lifted them high unto the Lord.

You don’t need a physical altar to worship God. After reading this devotion, lift your hands and praise God right where you are! Let God open your heart by altering it! His altar is always open!

—Sonya Andres

Jealous

58270.png

"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge

of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)

One morning