Follow-Up from Sarah Hayne’s Session at the
Joyful Daughters Conference

What Are You Thinking?

by Mrs. Sarah Haynes

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” (II Corinthians 10:3-5)

Every day, countless thoughts pass through our minds. It has been said that thoughts are like a steering wheel. You would be surprised at the sins you will land in if you don’t pay attention to the steering wheel!

The principle of sowing and reaping is true in our thought-life. If we sow thoughts that are pleasing to the Lord, then we will reap a life that is pleasing to Him as well.

The enemy’s desire is to conquer and control your thought life, and then make it a citadel from which he can war against God. But, when God saved you, He gave you the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16).

We are constantly facing a battle of the mind. We must wage this war with the sword of God’s Word. Temptations and lies are ever at our mind’s door.

If you are not thinking something right, you are probably thinking something wrong!

Lie	Truth
I am alone	Hebrews 13:5
I am worth more if…	Zephaniah 3:17
God is holding out on me	Romans 8:28
God should fix my problems	2 Corinthians 12:9
I have my rights	Galatians 2:20, Romans 12:1-2
My security is found in __________	Isaiah 40:8, John 6:27
I’m worried about my future	John 6:25
I should not have to live with unfulfilled longings	Colossians 3:2
I can’t control emotions	Proverbs 16:32
I am a loser	Romans 8:1

Put OFF Lies 
& 
Put ON God’s Truth!
Be a faithful steward of your mind!

So what are our weapons in this warfare?

• Be in the Word so that when a sinful thought enters our mind (a temptation), we will be able to recognize it for what it is and know what course to take.
• Memorize the Word. If we are aware of a certain area of constant temptation (worry, lust, anger, etc.), we need to study and memorize key passages that deal with those issues.
• Meditate on the Lord and His Word.
• Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Matt. 26:41)

 

Session Follow up: Practical Application

Take a minute right now and evaluate how your thought life has been this past week. What have most of your thoughts been centered around? Is it God’s truth and His Word – or something else?

You will find it very helpful to take a week long fast/break from social media, books, or anything else that may be a distraction or even temptation for your thought life. During this week, set aside more time to spend with the Lord and immerse your mind in His truth.

Memorize the suggested verses below and study Philippians 4:8 in depth. What exactly does it mean when it says think on things that are pure, lovely, virtuous, true? And how can this apply to you personally?

As you study this passage, you will learn to more quickly recognize a thought that is not in accordance with God’s will for you. When you recognize a sinful thought, then take it captive immediately!

Then turn your mind to things above!

“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:1-3)

Scriptures to Ponder and Memorize

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8)

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” (II Corinthians 10:3-5)

Personal Evaluative Questions

• What fills the majority of my thoughts? Social media, a friend, an event, a temptation, etc.?
• Is there something I am doing or listening to that is feeding fleshly or impure thoughts in my mind?
• Did I spend time with the Lord today in His Word?
• Have I noticed a particular time of the day – or month, or year – that I struggle more with maintaining pure thoughts? How can I prepare myself for this time of weakness? Are there Scriptures I can memorize to be ready for the battle?
• Am I guarding my eyes and what I am putting into my mind?
• Have I asked the Lord to help me guard my mind, that my life would be pleasing to Him?

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7)

Did you miss it?

Audio recordings of the conference sessions are now available!

Join us this month in seeking the Lord!

by Sarah L. Bryant

Dear Sisters,

Last week, at KBR’s Joyful Daughters Conference, it was such a blessing to meet many of you and to seek the Lord during our time together! I was blessed by each of you who attended. From the fellowship with like-minded believers, to the many sessions by young ladies and Titus 2 mothers — I was challenged in my walk with the Lord!

There was so much wisdom shared in the sessions during the two days together — I have been trying to review what speakers shared to help it soak into my heart. I thought that to help us all digest what we heard, we could review main points from the sessions, in the next couple weeks on KBR’s forum. For those of you who were not able to attend the Joyful Daughters conference in person, this will also give you an opportunity to glean with us.

The conference’s opening session focused on the importance of seeking the Lord NOW – in our youth. I would like to share some of the main points that I gave in this session, with some practical thoughts on how to incorporate them.

Seeking the Lord—a Life-Changing Relationship

by Sarah L. Bryant

“Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God.”
(1 Chronicles 22:19)

What is most important to you in this whole world? What is your deepest desire?

Is it knowing the Lord and walking with Him?

Seeking the Lord is the most important thing we can do. This relationship with our heavenly Father will bear fruit for the rest of our lives and throughout eternity!

If we love Jesus…seeking and knowing Him will be a delight, not a chore!

When we realize all that Jesus Christ has done for us in salvation, then our deepest desire will become to know Him better. And as we seek Him, we are transformed day by day into His glorious image. I love 2 Corinthians 3:18—

“We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

So, practically, what are some ways that we can be seeking the Lord God? How can we be striving to know Him better?

In this session, we shared five ways to seek the Lord…

• Spend time with Him daily (Psalm 119:2)
• Memorize His Word (Psalm 119:11)
• Surround yourself with His Word (Deut.11:18,20)
• Meditate on Him & His works (Psalm 77:12)
• Talk with the Lord in prayer (Heb. 4:16)
• Honor His special day (Isaiah 58:13,14)

I would like to share some practical ideas for how to apply a few of these points this next month!

Start a Bible study with your mom and sister(s)

Pick one specific topic to study in God’s Word this new month. If your mom and/or sisters would like to join you, that is all the better!

Here are some sample things you could look up or study….

• An attribute of God
• God’s commands to believers in a certain book of the Bible
• Justification / sanctification / predestination, etc.
• Proverbs’ wisdom concerning a wise tongue, a godly woman, training children, etc.

I recently did a study in the book of I John of the marks of a true Christian. This is what I found: a Christian….

• Walks in the Light/Truth I John 1:7
• Recognizes her sins I John 1:8
• Confesses her sins I John 1:9
• Keeps God’s commands I John 3:24
• Loves one another I John 3:10,14
• Loves NOT the world I John 2:15

KBR is actually hosting a “Seek the Lord” challenge this month (April) – this would be the perfect time to join us as we study God’s Word together!

Memorize Scripture with a friend

Did you make a new friend at the conference? Ask her to be your accountability partner and memorize a Bible chapter with you this summer. Call each other every few weeks to recite what you have memorized. A great passage to begin with is Psalm 1 or 25.

Be creative – surround yourself with God’s Word

How many Bible verses do you have visible in your bedroom? Write out some verses that the Lord has used to encourage you and hang them on your wall or mirror! Be creative about putting God’s precious Word before you all day long.

Invest time in prayer

How much time do you currently devote to praying each day? This is one of the most powerful parts of your spiritual life. Strive to develop a habit of praying at least five minutes a day—starting tonight.

It may be hard to begin with, but  as the days go by and you discipline your mind to prayer, you will begin to DELIGHT in this time with Jesus!

“No man [or woman] is greater than his prayer life… We have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers, few pray-ers; many singers, few clingers; lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, little passion; many interferers, few intercessors; many writers, but few fighters. Failing here, we fail everywhere.” – Leonard Ravenhill

In closing, let’s remember…

We must cultivate our walk with the Lord! It will not just happen! We must be committed to seeking Jesus — but we will NEVER regret ONE moment spent with Him!

And the exciting thing is that the more we know God, the more we will love Him!

I truly have found that the more I learn about my dear Heavenly Father every day—the more my heart grows to love Him. He is so worthy of my every praise and adoration and worship, just because He is SO GOOD!

So, my dear friends, I invite you to join me in seeking Jesus each day. Will you make knowing Jesus your greatest goal and deepest desire?

In one year from now, your life will bear the fruit of your walk with Jesus. Start planting spiritual seeds today!

“For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.” (Psalm 107:9)

Grateful for the privilege of seeking Him together,
Sarah Lee Bryant

Did you miss it?

Pictures of KBR’s Joyful Daughters Conference are now online. We will be posting notes from sessions in coming weeks on this forum—stay tuned!

Join us this month in seeking the Lord:

This Month’s Desktop Wallpaper:

Current Issue of KBR Magazine:

by Andrea Nymeyer

What do you associate with the word ‘habit’? Do you tend to think of leaving clothes all over the floor, unnecessary throat clearing, or door slamming?

It is true that all of these things are habits, but they are not the only kind of habits. While our minds seem to make a negative association with the word, habits can be positive too. By definition a habit is:

“A disposition or condition of the mind or body acquired by custom or a frequent repetition of the same act.”
(Webster’s 1828 dictionary)

So you see, a habit is simply something we have done so often that we are conditioned to do it without thinking.

We all have these things we automatically think of as our own personal ‘bad habits’? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to change these things to good things? Bad habits don’t have to stay “bad”; we can not only defeat them, but change them to good habits. The earlier we can develop good habits, the better we will make life for ourselves and for those around us. Here are some of the habits we can start to develop today.

1. Learn to clean up. Our Daddy is in the janitorial business, so some evenings, we play “janitorial company” by working together to clean much of the house. As we’ve grown older, this makes for great memories. We must get in the habit of picking things up. When you walk through a disorderly room, try to grab a few stray things and put them where they belong. If the couch pillows are on the floor, it only takes a second to toss them back in their place. Once you do this often enough you will find your hands straitening items before your brain registers the fact that they need to be straightened. This will be a great blessing to your family now and in the future.
2. Get up when it is time to get up. This is one that I have to rejuvenate in myself every so often, but is surprisingly easy to develop. After a few consecutive mornings of getting up at a consistent time, it becomes easier to solidify the habit. One of my sisters had trouble with a shortage of time in her day. She started to get up an hour earlier, and is loving it. She was surprised with the fact that she now awakens a few moments before her alarm clock rings. Instill this in yourself now, and when you are a Mother with no one to rouse you each morning, you will be so glad you developed this habit.
3. Think of God and speak His name. Get in the habit of speaking of the goodness of God and thanking Him audibly. Seeing the beauty in His creation, His protection, and His answers to prayer are just a few of the opportunities we have to praise Him. In order to see His hand, we must already be aware of Him. Keep the Lord in mind whatever you are doing, and you will see the His hand more readily. When you are thinking of God’s goodness it’s pretty hard to be a grouch! Joyful people are the most attractive people – the type of folks who seem ageless.

These are just a few habits we can be developing now. I challenge you to begin today to implement one of these ideas, or think of one on your own. There are so many good habits for us to implement as we strive to grow into sweet Christian ladies.

Remember that habits don’t have to be bad. They can be a wonderful foundation for your life.

–By Andrea Nymeyer:
a homeschool graduate who loves cooking, violin, writing, children, and reading with her family.

This Month’s Desktop Wallpaper:

KBR’s Joyful Daughters Conference, March 20-21, 2015:

Ten-Year Anniversary Issue of KBR Magazine:

Dear Sisters,

Do you make new year resolutions? I love the fresh start of a new year and the opportunity it gives to step back, evaluate my spiritual life, and make goals for the new year. I have been asking myself lately, “Am I seeking Jesus without distractions?”

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”
[Hebrews 12:1]

The phrase, “let us lay aside every weight,” has been on my heart. What unnecessary “weights” are in my day-to-day life and tasks? This is an important question to ponder!

As saints of God, we have been delivered from our former sinful ways (Colossians 1:13-14), and set aside by God to be holy and sanctified for His purposes. Hebrews 12:2 commands us to run this race “looking unto Jesus,” as we talked about last month.

The concept of “looking to Jesus” inherently means that we are turning our head away from other things. Isaac Ambrose writes,

“The act in the original [text] is very emphatic–aphronontes eis. It signifies an averting or drawing off the eye from one object to another. There are two expressions, apo and eis: the one signifies a turning off the eye from all other objects, the other a fast fixing of the eye upon such an object. So it is both a looking off and a looking on. On what? Looking unto Jesus.”

So in this verse, we are commanded to looking away from something in order to look to Jesus. What are we to look away from? Sinful things and from distractions. Sin is usually easily identifiable, but distractions can be a bit more of a challenge to recognize in our lives. These things in themselves may be innocent and harmless, but they can hinder us from walking harmoniously with the Lord throughout every day. The are “weights” that slow us down spiritually.

As wife and mother Susannah Wesley wrote,

“Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off the desire for spiritual things..that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself.”

What about you, my friend? As you enter a new year, will you stop and evaluate your own life? Is there anything doubtful in your life, that is not encouraging you in your focus on Jesus?

Distractions can come in countless forms, and they are all different for each one of us. Think through the moments of your day…the things you read, listen to, ponder, meditate on, talk about, watch, say—does anything come to mind that does not exactly point you to the Lord? If you are not really sure if there may be distractions in your life, why not make a sticky note on your desk to remind you to consciously take a look at what is going in and coming out of your life throughout the day. Constantly evaluate what might need to be eliminated to help you run this race more smoothly. It may be something that might be “ok,” but needs to be replaced with something “best.”

Some common distractions could be…

• Culture
• Social media
• Beauty/fashion
• Music
• Fiction books
• Friendships that are not centered on the Lord
• Clothing
• Day dreams
• Foolishness/jokes
• Electronics
• Money
• Success/appearances
• Dreaming of having a spouse or children
• Texting
• Hobbies
• Personal goals
• …and there are hundreds more!

Even good things can become distractions, if we let ourselves begin to focus on that “good thing” as the means of becoming holy. Be honest with yourself and see what is in your life that is hindering you from looking to what is Best...

And, what would that be?

We look away from distractions in order to look to Someone of infinite value—the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. One of my favorite verses is 2 Corinthians 3:18:

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

The idea presented here is that as we look to Jesus, the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15), we are slowly transformed into His image. As our thoughts and minds are more and more turned from vain distractions and pointed toward Jesus, He imprints Himself on our lives.

We have 24 hours in a day. How much of that time are we spending “looking unto Jesus”? Is it only 30 minutes? A whole hour? These are good places to begin with in our personal time with the Lord (devotions), but we are to be wholly His. He made us. He owns us. We need to “mix” Him into everything we do and say and think. We must be molded around Him.

“The mind assimilates itself to what it thinks much upon; grows more worldly by thinking on worldly things, and more spiritual by thinking on spiritual things.” -John Berridge

The undeniable fact is that we will become like the thing upon which we focus. So if we are gazing to Jesus, we will take on His likeness. And as believers, I hope that is our hearts’ desire and goal.

So, as you enter this brand new year will you take a look at your heart and life? Write a list of things that tend to attract your attention and take your eyes temporarily from Jesus. Bring these areas before the Lord in humility, praying that He would help you fix your eyes upon Him and transform you as you gaze into His lovely face. Prayerfully evaluate how you can eliminate these distractions, so that you can focus your fullest attention on the Lord this year.

Sisters, we are only given one life. Don’t waste your life on frivolous things in this life. It is not worth it! Pledge yourself to Jesus, for He is the only thing worth seeking. Only one life, and it will soon be past. We will be in eternity forevermore reaping the seeds we planted on earth. Will it have been in looking to Christ and living for Him? I encourage you to commit yourself to Him anew and walk hand in hand with Him in 2015. Together, let us press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling we have in Christ Jesus!

“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
[I Peter 1:13]

Thankful for Jesus,

“Comrades…we are here to live holy, loving, lowly lives. We cannot do this unless we walk very, very close to our Lord Jesus. Anything that would hinder us from the closest walk that is possible to us, ’til we see Him face to face, is not for us.”
-Amy Carmichael 

This Month’s Desktop Wallpaper:

Ten-Year Anniversary Issue of KBR Magazine: