There are many complexities associated with ministering to another person. Where does a helper begin? What’s important to notice? Is there an overall ministry strategy that’s beneficial? Saints, Sufferers, and Sinners by author and counselor Michael R. Emlet outlines a model of one-another ministry based on how God sees and loves his people. Emlet helps readers use Scripture to find foundational categories for understanding and approaching one another, which serve as guideposts for wise care. Filled with everyday illustrations as well as counseling examples, Emlet demonstrates what it looks like to approach fellow believers simultaneously as saints, sufferers, and sinners. As part of CCEF's Helping the Helper series, this guide for ministry provides an overall framework for wisely helping any person, balancing all three aspects of our experience as Christians.
"In this short but powerful devotional book, author and pastor Paul Tautges shares the comfort and peace of Christ in fifty brief readings, helping those who are grieving find encouragement and healing. Get to know the Man of Sorrows, who is well-acquainted with grief and sadness, and sit in the healing balm of God's Word"--
Have you ever felt emotionally wrung out from an ongoing trial? Though suffering often leaves us feeling isolated, God invites us into the community of the Trinity and offers us many companions in Scripture. Journey in these pages with Wendy Alsup through her story of suffering, and more importantly, with the God who walks with us in the wilderness.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER What do you do when God’s timing seems questionable, his lack of intervention hurtful, and his promises doubtful? Lysa TerKeurst unveils her heart amid shattering circumstances, inviting you to live assured when life doesn't turn out like you expected. Life often looks so very different than we hoped or expected. Some events may simply catch us off guard for a season, but others shatter us completely. We feel disappointed and disillusioned at best and overwhelmed and hopeless at worst. We quietly start to wonder about the reality of God’s goodness and why he allows us to suffer and experience grief and loss. Lysa TerKeurst understands this deeply. But after many tears, godly counseling, and prayerful seeking, she's also discovered that our disappointments can be the divine appointments our souls need to radically encounter God. In It's Not Supposed to Be This Way, Lysa invites us into her own journey of faith and, with grit, vulnerability, and honest humor, helps us to: Stop being pulled into the anxiety of disappointment by discovering how to better process unmet expectations and other painful situations. Train ourselves to recognize the three strategies of the enemy, so we can stand strong and persevere through unsettling relationships and uncertain outcomes. Discover the secret of being steadfast and not panicking when God actually does give us more than we can handle. Shift our suspicion that God is cruel or unfair to the biblical assurance that God is protecting and preparing us. Know how to encourage a friend and help her navigate hard realities with real help from God's truth, the Bible. Look for additional biblically based resources and devotionals from Lysa: Good Boundaries and Goodbyes Forgiving What You Can't Forget Uninvited You're Going to Make It Embraced Seeing Beautiful Again
Enjoy having 90 daily devotions to find hope in crisis using Scripture, prayer, and practical applications. Start your journey to hope and healing today. A diagnosis. Death of a loved one. A layoff. A broken relationship. Life changes in a nanosecond when storms sweep in, often without warning. With minds barely able to think clearly, we often set our Bible aside. However, in reality, that’s when we need its comfort and strength most. This devotional is written for those longing for hope, but are lacking the ability to focus on a lengthy Scripture passage. Enjoy having a devotional that will help you:Tap into inner strength and wisdom with short reflectionsMake the best of your day without shame or guilt, using encouragement from God’s WordFind comfort in routine in meeting with the Lord dailyEasy-to-Use Format for Even the Busiest People This Christian book contains 90 devotions. Each day’s entry follows a simple pattern:Key VersePause (short devotion)Ponder (application question or action step)Pray (short prayer)Relevant quoteKey Benefits Whether this is for you, a loved one, a friend at church, neighbor, or coworker, this book is for those who are in crisis. Crisis looks different for everyone. For some, it means facing the fallout of betrayal or divorce. For others, it means a cancer diagnosis, the death of a loved one, experiencing job loss or home foreclosure, or watching an adult child make choices that carry lifelong consequences. Some would say that hitting a relationship roadblock with a friend or family member constitutes crisis, while others would say it’s losing their family pet. Regardless, their greatest need is hope. They need reassurance that God’s love will never let them go, His presence will never leave them, and His strength will carry them through. Finding Hope in Crisis addresses these needs as follows:Its overall message directs their minds to God’s character and promises. These bite-sized bits of truth will feed their soul and give them the strength and encouragement needed for that day.Its devotions are short enough to read and keep their focus even when their minds are on overload.Its relevant quotes reinforce the day’s teaching to help them remember that particular truth.
A handy reference tool to help counselors, pastors, and individuals with specific personal needs find scriptural guidance for resolving problems. Revised and expanded.
One week after Wendy Blight’s college graduation, she walked into her apartment to find a masked man holding a knife and waiting for her at the top of the stairs. The man spent an hour physically and sexually assaulting Wendy, leaving her changed forever. After this terrifying experience, she lived for years cocooned in a prison of fear, despair, and hopelessness. Finally, after years of searching and believing she had nowhere else to turn, she fell on her knees before God and poured out her tears, anger, and questions to Him. Wendy’s story is one of transformation from trauma to rebirth through the power of the Word of God. Through Hidden Joy in a Dark Corner, the reader will experience hope and the encouragement necessary to press forward to healing and restoration.
A Journey to Healing After Emotional Abuse is a holistic journey of healing of the mind, body and soul for women who have previously suffered emotional abuse. Coming from a Christian perspective, the book helps the reader set healthy boundaries with her former abuser, and learn to take care of herself. It helps her examine any abuse from her childhood, and, if necessary, assists her in seeking counseling. It gives her pointers for winning custody of her children in family court, then it gently walks with her as she strengthens her relationship with God, while helping her on her path to forgiveness. Finally, the book helps the reader explore whether she is ready for a new relationship and marriage. If not, it encourages her to strive for contentment as a single woman who brings glory to God. If so, it guides her through the steps to finding a godly man who will cherish her as a daughter of the King.
This paradigm-shifting book helps believers understand the process of being transformed by God's grace and truth, and challenges them to be a part of the process of discipleship in the lives of their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Counseling One Another biblically presents and defends every believer's responsibility to work toward God's goal of conforming us to the image of His Son-a goal reached through the targeted form of intensive discipleship most often referred to as counseling. All Christians will find Counseling One Another useful as they make progress in the life of sanctification and as they discuss issues with their friends, children, spouses, and fellow believers, providing them with a biblical framework for life and one-another ministry in the body of Christ.