Ministry Event Update!

Well, we are almost a week past our first event as a ministry and one that will become an annual event! The title was Life Out Loud which we had women from various backgrounds share their testimonies. After we gave our testimonies from the stage there were even women in the audience who felt led to share as well! It was a great success and happened exactly as God intended. Lives were touched, bonds were formed, and honesty-gut wrenching honesty of how far God has brought us was relayed in a perfect revelation.

We had many women register for our quarterly newsletters and any other pertinent sporadic emails we may send (which you can too), we had ample amounts of prayer requests that we keep records of and have dedicated prayer warriors to pray faithfully on the growing list.

We have already begun the process of planning our next event which will tentatively be in March 2015! More to come on that.

The point of this post was just to share the amazing power that God has and how no matter what we may plan, everything goes according to His will.

Miranda Embry

Prayer to Reach the Lost and Hurt

Heavenly Father, I want to come to you now in a time of need.

There are so many people in this world that are hurt and dying, lost without you.

Lord, I pray that you will use me to shine a bright light into the darkness that they are trapped in.

I pray that by your Holy Spirit I will be a vessel to be used for you glory.

Oh gracious God, it is my deepest and most sincere desire to see you all of the days of my life!

I daily choose to surrender myself to you even when I fall short.

I know that no matter what you are there to catch me and pick me up.

I thank you so much for loving me and teaching me to love myself.

It is only because of you that I have joy and peace.

Even in the midst of trials and tribulations, your Word comforts me and my prayers affirm me.

Lord, use me to minister to the world and help me to reach the lost, to teach your children, and to strengthen the kingdom of heaven.

I love you with all of me.

Miranda Embry

(we do not own the rights to this photo)

Devotional: I can do it, I think?

One of my favorite powerhouse verses: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13.

To me this verse opens up a world of possibility; but with that world of possibility comes the need to use good old common sense. Am I taking this verse to say “when I jump off this roof I can fly” because Phil. 4:13 says I can, or “I can swim underwater without the need for oxygen because Jesus will strengthen me?” No, that would be ridiculous. Now granted, if jumping off of a roof and swimming underwater with no oxygen could in some way bring God glory, then perhaps this would be an applicable assumption.

The point I am making with this verse is we can absolutely do all things through Christ who gives us the strength as long as what we are doing is for His glory. This may seem like a “duh” kind of statement, but think about it. How many people have an idea of something they want to do and clinch onto this verse and it doesn’t pan out the way they had envisioned? Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever wanted something so bad and said “I can do it because this verse tells me I can” only to realize that you can’t? I have been in this situation many times…

Once I took the time to study and pray on God’s word (not merely picking and choosing certain verses) and began asking for God to grant me wisdom to understand the spiritual principles in them, I was able to see this scripture with new eyes. Indeed Christ will give me the strength to do as long as it is in His will and for the good of His kingdom. He isn’t going to strengthen us to do something that would not be in line with what He has planned. It goes along with a statement on prayer I have heard many times: God answers prayers with “no,” “not now,” and “yes.”

We need to take it back to the reference Paul was making here in Philippians, he was speaking to the strength that comes from Jesus to continue sharing the gospel; whether with no food, plenty of food, jail, etc. His true contentment regardless of circumstance came because he was doing what Jesus commanded him to do. Further on down in verse 19 it says: “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”

We may not always get what we want, but we will get what we need. The Word promises those who are in relationship with Jesus that He will meet our needs. The Word also promises us that He will be our strength. Over and over again throughout the bible we are taught that our strength comes from above. If something doesn’t pan out the way you wanted or you don’t feel like you received the strength you prayed for and assumed you were promised, stop and ask yourself if it would be for His glory. It may be as simple as “no” or “not now.”

Miranda Embry

Created by: Miranda Embry

Ministry Mission

What is our mission here at TRWM?

Empowering, Encouraging, and Evangelizing Women through the Love of Jesus Christ!

We are here to serve you and to be vessels for our Father in Heaven!

Devotional on Seeking Him

I love the bible…

When the storm hits hard I am reminded about the disciples in the boat and Jesus asking where there faith is. Such a powerful story to help when things are seemingly overpowering.

Today in the midst of my very painful struggle I am seeking Him, not for what He will do for me, but for what I can do for Him. This is trust in Him to me. To keep going no matter how things impact me in the walk that I have been called to walk.

I truly believe that ALL things work together for His good. I truly believe that as long as I keep Jesus first in my life and seek Him for Him and not of selfish ambition then He will always be gloried. It is important to me to praise, worship, seek, and follow Him out of the desire to do it for Him and not for what I will get out of it.

I want to encourage you…belief in Him in the midst of storms and focus on Him first and foremost in life is the way to true joy and peace.
Love in Christ

Miranda Embry

Devotional on Joyful Working

I am sure most of you are familiar with the references in the bible where we are to work as through we are working for the Lord in whatever we do; but have you ever really thought about what that looks like? What that means? How it applies to your own life? These were things I had overlooked or not allowed myself to take in the full scope of meaning. So I began to ask myself; where do I work?

1. My paid job
2. At home as a mom, wife, cook, maid, etc.

It has been easy to relate this working to my job, do my best, present myself as a witness for Christ, be appreciative and thankful that I am employed, and the list goes on. But I never thought about my second job in this respect. So here are 4 verses, all linked to working for the Lord that when I read them that “ah-ha” moment hit about my at home duties!

Colossians 3:17

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

Colossians 3:23

Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

Ephesians 6:7

Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

Proverbs 31:27

She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness.

Reality hit. Working as though for the Lord includes scrubbing toilets, doing dishes, folding laundry, scooping dog poop, changing diapers, cooking dinner…. Do I act the way these verses say I should as a Christian? NO! I grumble, whine, and complain…I procrastinate, avoid, and even get resentful at times. What a hard pill to swallow right!? How will ever be able to do the chores I dislike the most without the fleshy negativity? How can I have enthusiasm in all this? The answer is simple and found in yet another verse: Philippians 4:13 “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

Are you struggling with enthusiasm in your paid job, home job, or any other task or duty in your life? We all do; it’s part of our fleshy, selfish nature. We can work on this by first recognizing it, then repenting and praying about it, and last by changing it. This begrudging attitude is a heart condition. As with any other measures of the heart, Jesus can and will work through us if we allow Him to. I still do not like cleaning toilets, but it is much better for me to remain positive and joyful than sour and bitter. When I focus on the good, it makes the bad a lot less noticeable.

Miranda Embry

The Awakening

I wanted to share an essay I wrote a while back that is soon to be published in a quarterly journal through Thought Collection Publishing. A combination of testimony and philosophy, growth and encouragement; this is a portion of my story. I am sharing this in hopes to reach someone that may be going through what I went through and to show them that there is nothing impossible with God! I hope you enjoy it. 

Introduction

How could I ever begin to describe the wonder of all that has transpired? How would it be possible to put into words the intensity of revelation that took the fragments of a worshiper turned junkie turned seeker into a whole? In short, the catalyst of true living can be summed up in one word, God; who took my brokenness and transformed it into a peace that is like no other.

The Loss

My Christian faith began when I was 15 years old and was very intense. I witnessed, I taught, I led a music ministry that had Christian hardcore bands play shows and reach the world; I was happy. Then tragedy hit. My faith was shaken, more so, my faith was demolished. I was shattered. I was broken and my once revered foundation was nowhere to be found. I turned to heavy drug use and promiscuity in an attempt to fill the void left from the refusal of allowing God to remain in my heart. I grew dark and detached. For years I tried to kill myself with more and more drugs only to grow a stronger and stronger tolerance… I was a thief and I was a pathetic excuse of a human being. After finally giving up the fight I sought help and gained sobriety in November of 2005. This is this is the result of circumstance where I began to seek.

The Search

For the past 9 years I have been on a mission of self-discovery. I have asked question upon question in attempt to find answers to the meaning of existence, to find out who I was and what I am here for, to find out what life is about and why it is worth living. All of my questions have been in vain. None of the answers I have discovered have resulted in anything but more questions and more detachment. I have studied various religions, many philosophies, scientific hypotheses…always looking for the real answer…yet the answer was never found. Underlying this search was always the internal tug for my heart to return back to my roots in Christianity and every time I began to entertain the faith I ran like hell. With each notion of entertainment there was a call to responsibility that I was unwilling to accept. This tug never left, through all of my searching and amidst all of my questions, the internal current of what once was continually beckoned my return. As a final act of attempted disillusion I once more made a bold declaration of my refusal to believe in Christ and again tried separating myself from the God of my youth. “I DON’T BELIEVE IN YOU!” This attempt was the end of the seeker.

The Awakening

The tugs grew stronger and stronger after my outright verbal denial and aggression towards God. Was this due to my decision of denial? It was as if my soul screamed even louder after my refusal to believe. I found myself unconsciously praying “God please, God help, God what should I do…” I decided my kids needed to be in church to benefit them, even if I don’t believe, it would be good for them; so we began going to church. I found myself less and less reading the words of my favorite philosophers, and instead opening a bible. All of these events were happening and I was unaware at the time that they were all connected. I would open the Word in an attempt to scoff or fuel my choice of unbelief, but instead it made me question whether or not I actually did believe.

On an average ordinary day, a day of no importance while I was lying in bed waiting to go to sleep, it happened. I had a spiritual experience with the living, breathing, invisible God and essentially a “come to Jesus” moment. This overwhelming, unavoidable presence of power enveloped me where I laid and while I was curled up in the fetal position I wept. I wept tears of sorrow, of shame and guilt; I wept tears of joy, of laughter, of peace and comfort. It was as if 15 years of pent up regression was released in that moment and I could finally breathe again. This is a moment in my life that I will never forget, that I will never shake, that I can never deny or write off as anything other than a flagrant move of the Holy Spirit capturing my heart into the love and relationship of Jesus Christ. It was then that I realized that it was no coincidence that I could not die from the enormous amounts of drugs I ingested. It was my testimony.

The Present

There are still many questions that I have regarding biblical issues that once warranted my excuses to deny my faith, however I have made the decision to take my focus off of them and onto the relationship and love that comes through walking with God. I focus on the real life experience and applications that the Word of God has imparted into my heart and on the radical changes that are taking place in my life and are evident in reality. I am a renewed person, I am a whole person, I am a child of the most high God and will never look back other than to share the testimony of how the Lord broke me and molded me into the spiritual warrior I am today. I am changed. I am happy. I have learned that my happiness is not found in philosophical concepts or a scientific hypotheses, but true happiness comes from faith and trust in a savior that will never leave nor forsake me, no matter how many times I turned my back on Him in the past. The words in this writing are nowhere close to defining the awakening that took this worshiper turned junkie turned seeker into a whole, but it’s my best attempt at it.

Miranda Embry

Bible Study on Adultery

Are you committing adultery? Your first response will likely be: “of course not, I have never been unfaithful to my spouse,” or if you are single perhaps “nope not me I am not married.” Either way, whatever your response it doesn’t really matter. I am speaking on a different kind of adultery- spiritual adultery.

We are considered the bride of Christ. He is to be first and foremost in our lives; above our spouse, above our kids, above our jobs and our worries…is He first in your life or are you putting something else first? Whatever we put before God is an idol; it becomes in essence a God. The first and foremost in our lives is what we cling to, rely on, and pursue most intently. If this is not God, then you are not being faithful.

What does the Word say?

Exodus 20:3 (NLT) “You must not have any other god but me.”

Exodus 34:14 (GWT) “Never worship any other god, because the LORD is a God who does not tolerate rivals. In fact, he is known for not tolerating rivals.”

Matthew 22:37 (NLT) “Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.”

Think about what Jesus said in Matthew for a moment. If there are people or things that you have placed before God, then you cannot adhere to the most important command we are given. It is impossible! To love God first in our lives means we have to rely on Him, we have to die to ourselves daily, we have to crucify our cares and our sin to follow Jesus. What is the predominance of your thought? You can quickly tell if God is first based on this alone. Do you think more about your spouse, your kids, yourself…or do you think more about your relationship with Jesus and ministering to others?

No one is perfect, we all know that. But the point of being a Christian is to try daily to be Christlike. Jesus is our example. If we are avidly seeking His will above all else, and we are faithful in our marriage to Him, the rest of our lives will fall into place!

Proverbs 3:5-6 (HCSB) “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding;
⁶ think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.”

Search your hearts today, as I have to do every day. Who or what is first in your life? If it isn’t God then repent, ask for help, and commit to living for Him. He will guide you and take care of the rest of your life, put your trust in Him and experience freedom. He must be our first love!

Miranda Embry

Devotional: Well Done Good and Faithful, Daughter…

The more I grow in my walk with God, the more I press in, the stronger my desire is to hear this. When I stand before God I want to know that I have done as much as I could to minister to the world, to love others and to live for Jesus. The parable Jesus gives about this (Matthew 25:14-28) hits home in so many ways.

You don’t have to be a minister or counselor to be serving the Lord. We are given many gifts to use in the kingdom of God and everyone is capable of utilizing them for His glory. These are the gifts given when we are brought into His family through salvation, adorned by the spirit of God and given to each to be used for growth! It is never too late to do more for Jesus.

Here are 2 passages about gifts of the Spirit:

Romans 12:6-8 (NLT)

6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

1 Corinthians 12:7-11 (NLT)

7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

I want to challenge you all today…are you doing enough for the Lord? When you stand before Him is this the message He will say to you? Pray and ask Him to reveal the gifts He has given you and get busy! If you want freedom, true freedom in Christ you need to be active in the body. There is nothing more rewarding than serving Him. There is no greater joy then knowing you are trying to live like Jesus.

Miranda Embry

Bible Study: Pitfall of Distraction

In the age we are living in it seems there is nothing but distraction. Our focus changes from one thing to the next to the next, never fully resting for a period of time. This is a huge issue in the church today. Satan uses distraction to get our focus off of Jesus and on to anything else that comes along. When I think about what distraction really is, to me it is a spiritual malady, a demonic influence to cause separation from our walk with God.

Every night when I am saying my prayers, random thought after thought pops up and off my mind goes on bunny trails… I have to constantly repent, rebuke, and resume my praying. Truth be told, distraction comes easier than intent focus on God. It takes work to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. It goes against our flesh to focus.

Definitions of distraction:

1. a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else
2. extreme agitation of the mind or emotions

What does the bible say about distraction?

Proverbs 4:25-27 (NLT)

25 Look straight ahead,

and fix your eyes on what lies before you.

26 Mark out a straight path for your feet;

stay on the safe path.

27 Don’t get sidetracked;

keep your feet from following evil.

Luke 10:38-42 (NLT)

38 As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. 40 But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”

1 Corinthians 7:35 (NLT)

35 I am saying this for your benefit, not to place restrictions on you. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few distractions as possible.

Each of these verses offers powerful insight into the pitfall of distraction. In Proverbs we are warned not to get sidetracked from walking with God which will lead to evil. In Luke we are shown that when we focus on the details of life too much we miss the focus of who is life, Jesus. In 1 Corinthians we are told that when we are given ample amount of instructions it is not to hurt us, but to help us fix our eyes on serving the Lord.

We are a society that is so consumed with what’s next that it is virtually impossible to stay in today. Our minds are trained to move so quickly, taking in only partial information, and focusing on an end rather than the means to the end. As Christians it is our duty to slow down and truly walk with Jesus. Our focus should be on serving Him and reaching the hurt and dying world. Our prayer life and bible studies shouldn’t be a hurried time where we block a few minutes to devote to God; we need to make our devotion to Him first and slot out time for everything else afterwards.

I have noticed this in my daily life just how easy it is to focus on the bills, the work, the TV shows; everything that could take me away from doing what it is I am called to do in the Lord. I am called to prayer, to reading and meditating on His word, to serving and loving others, to share the message of Jesus; if I am focusing on the distractions of life, how can I do these things? Another verse that I have to cling to when I find myself in the pitfall of distraction: Matthew 6:33 (NLT)- “33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Worry, stress, doubt, etc. etc….these are all signs not only of distraction, but of lacking trust in the Lord. We are called to trust Him, Proverbs 3:5 (NLT) clearly relays this message: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.” Trust is another principle we are called to do, when we do not trust in Him that is sin!

This is all well and fine, but how to we break the influence and trap of distraction so that we can put our focus and trust in God?

REPENT OF DISTRACTION, REBUKE THE DEVIL, READ THE WORD, PRAY INTENTIONALLY, GET OUT OF YOURSELF AND HELP SOMEONE, SACRIFICE YOUR SELFISHNESS!

1. Romans 12:1 (NLT) “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.”

2. Luke 9:23 (NLT) “Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.”

3. Luke 12:30 (NLT) “These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs.”

4. Matthew 10:38-39 (MSG) “If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.”

5. James 4:7 (NLT) “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

6. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (AMP) “14 If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.”

7. 2 Corinthians 4:5 (NLV) “5 We do not preach about ourselves. We preach Christ Jesus the Lord. We are your servants because of Jesus.”

8. Joshua 1:8 (NLT) “8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”

All of the answers to this question, and any other question can be found in the word of God. It is our instruction manual, our tangible guide on earth to lead us in righteousness; it is a visible manifestation of our invisible God. I challenge you today to look at your life and take an honest self-appraisal. Where are the areas of distraction that need to be surrendered to God? What areas are hindering you from freedom in Jesus? Pray and ask God to reveal these shortcomings. Rebuke the devil and stand firm in the word of God. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you strength to overcome distraction. It will likely not be an instantaneous change, but when our fallacy is brought to light it begins the healing process and revelation to avoid falling in the trap again.

Miranda Embry