Nita Hammersmith - Lessons to Live by

L essons to Live By

CrossLink Publishing

www.crosslinkpublishing.com

C opyright, 2011 Nita Hammersmith

A ll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except for brief quotations in reviews, without the written permission of the author.

P rinted in the United States of America. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law.

I SBN 978-1-63357-049-8

A ll scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

W hen Richard and I were first married he gave me a picture of a beautiful rainbow. Underneath the rainbow was a wonderful poem written by Amanda Bradley. The poem was entitled: Always Have a Dream. In the last paragraph the words ...Forget about the plans that didnt seem to work out right but dont forget to always have a dream, are the words that have kept me pursuing my dream of encouraging others through my writing. Thank you, Richard for the poem that has made such an important difference in my life.

I have experienced many trials writing this book, but I have been encouraged by my husband Richard and a host of friends to keep going. I would like to thank my brother Kerry Denson for reminding me to go for my dream and his constant encouragement telling me my writing is worth the effort.

I would like to thank Sandra Humphrey, editor of Christian Woman Magazine for giving me the opportunity to write my first article. I would like to thank Katrina Newby editor of Sisterhood Newsletter and Dawn Reed editor of Christian Mirror Webzine Magazine for allowing me to be on the staff of their newsletter and magazine respectively. I want to thank Richard Hammersmith, Lori Deitch, and Alwanda Carothers for all the time they have spent proofing my manuscript, for their constant encouragement, and for their prayers. They all have been such a blessing to me taking the time and energy to spur me on to love and good deeds. Thank you all.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

I nstead of having a book that covers one subject to tedium, this book was written to give guiding principles on many of the subjects that we are concerned with in our walk with God. Lessons to live by, was written to help women to further their appreciation and study of Gods word. Each chapter begins with an article or a narrative to a situation. Read the story and then discuss it in class. What was wrong in the story? How does what is wrong with the story fit your life? Do you have similar difficulties? How have you coped with the problems in the past? Did your coping techniques work for you? How can this event help you?

The questions in each chapter are set up to provoke thought. I encourage you to answer those questions as honestly as you can. Extra note lines are provided within the chapters to facilitate note taking as you study. The lessons have answers to the questions posed, but some of the answers are there to provoke thought that will bring out of you other answers and questions that come up during your course of study.

This book is prepared to simplify group and personal study. Most books give all the answers which, though helpful in achieving the response the author intends, it does not facilitate self-study. In this book, scriptures are provided, but you must go to them and read them to get the full benefit of the topic. Use the scriptures and take the time to research each chapter for more depth thereby allowing Gods word to speak to you. In all my studies God has taken me to the point of growth I am in at the time. So, when you review years later you will find new insight.

Write down the new scriptures you obtain as you study and you will find that you have created more of a wonderful guide for yourself.

Each chapter has at least one devotional and a prayer devotional intended to stir thought and give answers to some of the questions that have always concerned you and perhaps other things that come to your mind.

This book was written to use for group, private study, or as a guide for teaching a womans Bible study. For those of you who teach, it is advisable to purchase a copy for each of the students in your class. The students will want to keep a record of the things they have studied and have the book available to study the scriptures in the devotional before coming to class. It is also possible to use this book as a journal. You will find that your group discussions will have more depth and quality when the students are able to study before coming to class.

Sometimes, when we are searching for answers to questions about our lives, we need to look for the answers from someone who has experienced the same struggle. Although the Bible is full of stories of women who have suffered from the same things we suffer today, we tend to have a problem going to the Bible for answers. I am speaking from my own experiences when I say we tend to think that God has not put the things we suffer from in His Holy book. Therefore, we do not look in the Bible for answers to our problems. We look to people when the answers are personally our own. Our walk with God is one on one and though we can find others who fit in the same mold there will always be something in that mold, that is different from our mold. We are all uniquely different, which elucidates the brilliance of God.

We need to understand that God is our Father and wants us to have everything we need to stay in a saved relationship with Him. Finding answers to our questions is the only genuine way to finding out the true nature of our relationship with God.

The way in which we handle our problems shows us how much we are growing in our relationship with God. Do we depend on him, or are we trying to do it ourselves? Do we pray enough? Do we emulate Christ? Do we take advantage of the answers that are found in the Bible? Do we say that it will not work? How do we know it will not work unless we try?

Our Bible gives us many examples that will answer our questions. Along with our Bible lessons there will be other examples given of women in todays era that will shed some light on our circumstances. Ultimately, it depends on what we do with the answers that will make the difference in our lives.

What I am suggesting is we need to dig deep into our souls and be truthful with ourselves. Most of us are not willing to tell the whole truth. We like to spice things up, so we dont run the risk of feeling the disapproval of others as they learn that our life has been anything but perfect. Rejection is hard to accept.

Do we watch talk shows and soap operas? The people that tell their stories sometimes tell our stories. We would much rather, listen to someone else bare his or her soul than to bear our own because we want to avoid being uncomfortable. Being uncomfortable is a struggle we need to benefit from these lessons. Remember the saying, No pain, and no gain? We may have to suffer some pain, as we look inward at ourselves.

Introspection is good, because it helps us to grow. Women sometimes suffer tremendous pain trying to figure out what to do in troublesome times. We can really make things worse trying to fix the things that go wrong in our lives when all we really need to do is allow God to handle our problems.

Let us spend a little time looking at the consequences of the choices we make. Let us look at how we should accept our mistakes. Most importantly, let us look at how to move on to the life that God would have us to live.