October Favorites - To Encourage your Walk of Faith

Thank you for visiting my Monthly Favorites Feature.  Here are my favorites for the month of October!

Focus on the Family App

As a new believer, with young children, I would listen to Focus on the Family every morning at 8 a.m.  It was the perfect way to start my day.  Not only did it help me to focus on my family, but to begin my day hearing testimonies that encouraged my daily walk of obedience.  I recently discovered that Focus on the Family has an app which can be downloaded off of Itunes.

The creator of the app, Brushfire, shares the following description:

  "The Focus on the Family iPhone app is the best way for Parents and Married Couples to find support and encouragement on the go as they seek to live out the vital roles that God has called them to. The app equips and educates users to grow in their marriages and raise godly children. It even includes some of your favorite exclusive kids' content from Focus on the Family like Adventures in Odyssey (AIO), Jelly Telly and Clubhouse. A great way to encourage your friends during the potentially stressful holidays, send the app as a gift today!

Features:

+ Get the latest Focus on the Family headlines and breaking news for parents and couples

+ Play interactive games to spice up your family dinner table and date nights

+ Let your children play with your phone, while knowing they are engaging with spiritually uplifting content

+ Share tips and words of encouragement with your spouse and on Facebook and Twitter

+ Listen to Adventures in Odyssey (AIO) episodes

+ Watch Jelly Telly on your phone

+ Get craft and activity ideas from Clubhouse and Clubhouse Jr."

An interesting side note, the Lord used a particular episode of Adventures in Odyssey to be one of the first tugs on my husband's heart toward the calling of Pastor...  :-)

Conversation Starters - Make Every Day Count App

This is another Focus on the Family app that I have recently discovered.

Description:

"Tired of having the same conversation with your kids? Try the Make Every Day Count app. Filled with conversation starters for parents and kids, this Focus on the Family product is designed to strengthen family talk time with a fun and easy way to communicate with kids.

Whether your kid is in elementary school or attending college, any parent can use Make Every Day Count for ideas on how to engage in conversation and build relationships.

Personalize the app by creating profiles for everyone in your family and filter questions by gender or age, allowing for complete control of the content you see.

Conversation topics include:
-Activities
-Character
-Dating
-Enemies
-Entertainment
-Faith
-Family
-Friends
-Money
-And More"

This would have been a wonderful app to have back when I was homeschooling my children.  :-)  It's not always easy to talk to our children.  The Make Every Day Count app is a wonderful resource to help parents engage with their children.

The Autobiography of George Muller
George Mueller

Early in my Christian walk, I was blessed to attend a church that had an extensive library of books chronicling the great men and women of faith.  A book that profoundly changed my prayer life was The Autobiography of George Muller.  I share about how the Lord used this book to enrich my prayer life in my post called Prayer and a Piano which you can read here.

Amazon shares the following intro for the Autobiography of George Muller:

"What can be accomplished in an ordinary man who trusts in an extraordinary God? George Muller discovered the endless possibilities! These excerpts from his diary allow Muller to tell his own story. Join him on his journey from a life of sin and rebellion to his glorious conversion. Share his struggles and triumphs as he establishes orphan homes to care for thousands of English children, depending on God's response to his prayer of faith to supply all things. Muller's unwavering, childlike dependence upon his heavenly Father will inspire you to confidently trust the God of the impossible in every area of your life."

How to Ascertain the Will of God
George Muller

George Muller's rich prayer life was in large part due to how He approached the throne of Grace to find the will of God.

The following mission statements by George Muller showcase how he sought to Glorify God in all that he did.

“The orphan houses exist to display that God can be trusted and to encourage believers to take him at his word.”

“The first and primary object of the Institute was…that God might be magnified by the fact that the orphans under my care were, and are, provided with all they need only by prayer and faith, without anyone being asked by me or my fellow-laborers, whereby it might be seen that God is faithful still and hears prayer still.”

He shares the following insights for ascertaining the will of God:

"1.—I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Nine-tenths of the trouble with people is just here. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are overcome when our hearts are ready to do the Lord's Will, whatever it may be. When one is truly in this state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will is.

2.—Having done this, I do not leave the result to feeling or simple impression. If so, I make myself liable to great delusions.

3.—I seek the Will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word, I lay myself open to great delusions also. If the Holy Ghost guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them.

4.—Next I take into account providential circumstances. These often plainly indicate God's Will in connection with His Word and Spirit.

5.—I ask God in prayer to reveal His Will to me aright.

6.—Thus, through prayer to God, the study of the Word, and reflection, I come to a deliberate judgment according to the best of my ability and knowledge, and if my mind is thus at peace, and continues so after two or three more petitions, I proceed accordingly. In trivial matters, and in transactions involving most important issues, I have found this method always effective."

from Answers to Prayer from George Müller's Narratives compiled by A. E. C. Brooks. Chicago.: Moody Press, ca. 1897.

I used to keep George Muller's six points on discerning the will of God in my Bible, but unfortunately, I had lost the list.  With the possibility of a big life change decision on the horizon, I sought to find this information again.  I am so happy I did!  There is so much wisdom to be gained from George Muller's thoughts on how to ascertain the will of God.

L'Abri
Edith Schaeffer

I LOVED this book!  I read it to my children when we homeschooled many years ago.  I was recently reminded of the book again and want to re-read it.   To see the Schaeffer's faith and obedience, and God's hand and His provision play out for the Schaeffer's encouraged my walk of faith.

Amazon shares the following intro:

"In 1955 an American family moved into a chalet on the side of a steep Swiss alp. They did not know exactly why God had brought them there, what He wanted them to do, or even where the money to live on would come from. But He began opening doors, and people with questions about life's meaning began finding the way to their home.

Edith Schaeffer, wife of Dr. Francis Schaeffer, tells the remarkable story of how God led them step by step, as that one small chalet grew into a whole community. It took the name L'Abri (French for shelter). Day by day, God faithfully provided for their family, and eventually for the entire community."


I hope this offering of favorites will be a blessing to you.  :-)

Blessed to be a blessing

Blessed to live Your love

Blessed to share with others every blessing from above.

A stanza from a song written for St. John's Lutheran School in Napa, California to be their theme song for the 2001-2002 school year.  

If you missed last week's daily features, you can visit them below.  :-)

Tuesday Thoughts - October 20, 2015

Wednesday Worship - October 21, 2015

Thanksgiving Thursday - October 22, 2015

Feature Friday - October 23, 2015

Scripture Saturday - October 24, 2015

You might find me on these link-ups:
Grace & Truth Link-up, Woman to Woman Ministries,  Growing in Grace Link-up, 3DLessonsLif4e, Livefree Thursday,Everyday Jesus, SDG Gathering, Inspire Me Monday Titus 2 Tuesday, A Wise Women Builds Her Home, A Look at the Book,  Sunday Stillness, The Weekend Brew, Spiritual Sundays, Soul Survival,  Give Me Grace, A Little R&R, Testimony Tuesday, Women with Intention Wednesdays, Still Saturday, Good Morning Mondays, Tell His Story, Faith & Fellowship Blog Hop, Motivate and Rejuvenate Mondays, Be Salty, Monday's Musings, The Art of Home-Making Monday, Tuesday Talk, Waiting on Wednesday,Dance with Jesus,Looking Up Link-Up, Reflect His Love and Glory Friend Sharpens Friend Link-Up, Words of Comfort Link-up, Wholehearted Wednesdays. Tell it to Me Tuesday, Faithful at Home Fridays, So Much At Home Link-Up, Faith 'N Friends,