God does NOT tempt us or entice us to evil

I wanted to address this subject with scripture and make this short.

James 1:13,14-- No one undergoing a trial should say, "I am being tempted by God."  For God is not tempted by evil, and He Himself doesn't tempt anyone.  But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by he own evil desires.

Believers please know that God would not tempt us to do evil or entice us to sin that is of the enemy, satan.
But God will provide an escape for you when you are tempted:

1 Corinthians 10:13 .....God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it.

If you are struggling with something that has a hold on you and your are tempted, that is not of God that is of the enemy.  Remember He wants you to be set free from sin.  But when we are struggling with an area in our lives, God already knows what you are going through and will always provide an escape out of it we of course have to choose to listen to Him.  We still have a choice of whether we will listen to Him or ignore Him.  If you continue to ignore Him when is trying to tell you something, then you get yourself into trouble.  Remember many times, God warns many times about things that we should not do.  He always knows what's best for us.

I hope this encourages you.

Denise

When you lose a loved one.....

When you lose a loved one,  we tend to question ourselves one way or another on what we could have, should have done that day, beating ourselves up over what happen.  Can I tell you that you can't change what happened?  And can I tell you that I think it's okay to question the Lord on "how did this happen?" "why did this happen?"  "how can I get past this?" We all have these questions when we lose someone.  Is it okay to be angry at God as to why something happened?  Personally I think it's okay but,  do not stay angry at Him because if you stay angry at Him, overtime you will become bitter eventually turn your back on Him.  Instead of being angry at Him, spend time with Him because (talk to Him and tell Him what's on your heart) He is the one that comforts us in these most trying times and He will continue to uphold you in the palm of His hand. He loves us.  Be surrounded as often as you can by family and friends.

Remember that God knows what it's like to lose a loved one because He sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins (but rose the 3rd day).  He loves us and we can't blame Him for what happens in our lives.  Life is a cycle, we are born then we die.  When we will die nobody knows.  Our circumstances will either bring us closer or away from God.  I couldn't imagine my life without him....If it wasn't for Him and His Holy Spirit,  I don't know how I would have kept my sanity at the time when I lost my dad 4 1/2 years ago and my mom over 3 years ago.

Ask God to comfort you during hard times and He will.  No doubt.

I will be praying for you.

Denise

Marriage Builder: Summary tips for the ART OF LISTENING

I hope everyone is well.  I wanted to post a summary of tips for the art of listening which has to do with quality conversation.  These tips are from the book, "The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman.

1. Maintain eye contact when you spouse is talking.  That keeps your mind from wandering and lets your spouse know that he/she has your full attention.
2. Don't listen to your spouse and do something at the same time.  Remember, quality time requires you undivided attention.  If you are doing something and not able to turn away from it immediately, be truthful and tell your spouse.  Ask them to give you ten minutes or so to finish up with what you are doing, most spouses will respect that request.
3. Listen for feelings.  You should ask yourself, "What emotion is my spouse experiencing?"  When you think you have the answer, confirm it by saying something like, " It sounds like to me you are feeling disappointed because I forgot to __________."  When you do this, give a chance to clarify.
4. Observe body language.  Clenched fists, trembling hands, tears, furrowed brows, and eye movement can give you clues as to how they may be feeling.  When you see any of these body language, ask for clarification of what they are feeling.
5. Refuse to interrupt.  Research has shown that the average person listens for only seventeen seconds before interrupting and interjecting his/her own ideas.  Remember your goal is discover your spouse's thoughts and feelings not to defend yourself and set them straight. It is to understand them.

God Bless and continue to pray for your marriage!

Denise

Here are some books on marriage.  Be encouraged.

   

If you like to shop online visit my other blogsite Denise's online shopping stores

Marriage Builder: The five love languages part 2 of 5

Quality Time  


The second love language I want to talk about is "Quality Time".  Most of us ladies love that have that quality time with our spouses.  What is quality time?  Quality time is when you give your undivided attention to someone else and that doesn't mean sitting on the couch and watching T.V. together.  It means looking at each other while talking ( not gazing elsewhere when talking to each other)  when you are having dinner or taking a walk together without distractions.

Today I will talk about "Togetherness" which is one of the parts of quality time.  Togetherness has to do with focused attention, which means when we are doing something together, we are giving our full attention to the other person.  Talking to your spouse and watching T.V., cooking, or doing something else at the same time, shows that our spouse doesn't have our full attention.  But when you are doing something together like playing a game together, if it is genuine quality time, the focus is that you are spending time together and not on the game.  When the focus is spending time together not on the activity itself you're involving yourselves on an emotional level.

I hope you enjoyed reading this and would like your input.  The next blog will be the 2nd part of "quality time", which will be "Quality Conversation"

This blog is based on the book, "The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts" by Gary Chapman.  His book goes into much more detail you should buy it!!

Remember you marriage is important, God created it so work on it!!

Love you guys!

Denise

Other great books on marriage you should buy:














For Christian Financial Books go here .
If like art, visit my website: Denise Hall Fine Art

Marriage Builder: The five love languages part 1 of 5

     I wanted to briefly share with you the  five languages of love.  We all could use some insight on how we can please our spouses, just know that the love language you have, may not be the same as your spouse's.  So let's see, what are the five love languages?  Let's start with part 1,

Words of Affirmation 

Words of affirmation are verbal compliments, or words of appreciation and they  can be very powerful.

1.  Use encouraging words:  the word encourage, means to inspire not discourage or tear down.

2.  Use kind words.  Love is kind.  We communicate love verbally by using kind words.  This usually has to do with the way we speak.  We may be saying one thing but our tone means another.  We tend to interpret what our spouse is saying by their tone not words.

3.  Last but not least, use humble words:  Love makes requests, not demands.  Don't treat your spouse like a child.

The next love language I will write about will be "Quality time"  So stay tuned.

Denise

This information was obtained from, "The Five Love Languages of Love"  by Gary Chapman.



Other books by Gary Chapman:       

God's gift for you!

As some of may know,  I am a great artist (he! he!), and I just wanted to share with you the gift that God has given me.  I'm going a different route this time by using this blogger website ( usually I use my other main website to blog) so that it wouldn't always have to be about art, but about whatever I want.  You see, 10 years ago I never would have thought myself as being an artist but God had other plans.   I told Him with this gift, I want to bring Him glory.
    Ladies and gentlemen, if God has given you a gift, use it!  He has given it to you for a reason.  If you don't quite know what your gift is, ask Him and He will one way or another reveal them to you.  Maybe there is something you are really good at and people always comment how good you are.  If family keeps telling you things like, "you are really good at this or that", and they rant and rave about it all time, start thinking that maybe that's my gift.  You never know what God has for you.  Sometimes it can be the most uncommon thing.
     Last but not least,  when people compliment you about what you do just simply say, "Thank You!"   Be CONFIDENT because whatever gift that God has given you it is for His glory and He can take you places you couldn't imagine.  Amen!

Denise

Here are some pics of my artwork:

"Colorful leaves on red" 16x20 Acrylic

"Poppies in a field" 8x10 Oil

"Hallway of peace"

To see more of my artwork go to: http://denisehallart.com

The Confident Woman Devotional: 365 Daily Inspirations

A few CD's I love to listen to while painting:  

     

Getting encouraged!!

Hello, my name is Denise and usually when I write, I write about art.  Well today I wanted to write about something else that would just be encouraging to people in all walks of life.  Lately I've been reading some books by Christian author:  Karen Kingsbury .   She is just one of the  many women who have been used of God to encourage and inspire readers with the phenomenal stories written about different walks of life.
     The "Redemption" series by Karen Kingsbury (Co-author Gary Smiley) has shown me how God can turn  impossible situations into something that gives glory to Him.  You will find that nothing is impossible with God, I mean nothing!  It reminded me that when you or a loved one is going through a bad situation that prayer is important and always know that God is working behind the scenes.
     I want to encourage wives to not give up on your marriages and continue to pray for your husbands on a daily basis.  God know whats going on and He just wants you to trust him.
     Parents don't give up on your children,  continue praying for them know that what God has done for others he will do for you.  Reading her books encouraged me to keep trusting God for what you've been praying for and when discouraging things happen we don't always know why but knowing that God is with us through every step of the way,  we will pass through the storm.
     Karen Kingsbury's "Redemption" series consist of 5 books:  "Redemption", "Remember", "Return", "Rejoice", and "Reunion".  I thought the last one was the most powerful to me because it reminded me of my own mother.  You have to read them in order.  You just have to read them, they are sooooo good!   I have started on the second series: "Firstborn"  So far so good!

God Bless you all!!

To buy her books you can go to: Redemption series by Karen Kingsbury on Amazon
                    

To see my artwork go to: http://denisehallart.com