Author: Shaunelius Sterns

I have been married to my wonderful husband for 21 years now. I am a Christian, poet, singer, songwriter, and artist. I have five beautiful children. I enjoy writing and reading my Bible. I also love to pray for others. I love nature and being outside on sunny days. I love spending time with my family and watching shows that makes me laugh.

Devotional: Loving Your Family

Loving Your Family

The word family can carry a lot of different meanings, depending on who you ask. But, the command to love your family comes straight from God.

In the Old Testament, the command to honor your father and mother was included in the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses for the people of Israel:

Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
Exodus 20:12 NIV

As Paul, the author of Ephesians, is teaching the church in Ephesus about the implications of following Jesus, he repeats this command from the Ten Commandments. Paul knew that if we are to follow Jesus then we need to learn to love everybody, even those who are closest to us—and especially our own family.

Now, everybody grows up in different family circumstances. Some are born into nuclear families, some are raised in situations of brokenness, and others are welcomed into adoptive families. Regardless of how or where we grew up, God calls us to love those who raised us.

That may be a hard thing to do. Sometimes a family member seems like our greatest enemy because of how they’ve hurt us. But even in that, Jesus encourages us to love our enemies and pray for them.

While learning to love those who are closest to us may be one of the most difficult things we do, it is also one of the most life-changing. It increases our capacity to see and love others, as well as honor God with our life. Consider how you can take steps today to better love those God has placed in your life.

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The College of Health Care Professions: CHCP

I cannot wait to start my classes. I am so excited to start college. This has been my life long dream, my goal I set for myself when I was five years old. I took a step of faith and God blessed me. I am so glad I did. Glory to God. I can’t wait to see where this journey will take me.

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Overcoming Fears: Fear and Doubt

Fear and doubt are emotions that are part of being human. However, giving in to fear and doubt is not. Allow those feelings to appear, but move forward with your dreams.

From the Motivation app: https://motivation.app/download

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One Day At A Time: Motivation

Appreciate where you are in your journey and have faith that you’ll reach your destination, even if you had hoped to be further.

From the Motivation app: https://motivation.app/download

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Look Inside Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary

Today we are looking at Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary, which is a word study dictionary covering the entire Bible.

Here are three tips for using Mounce’s Dictionary in our app to enrich your personal Bible study!

ONE: RESOURCE GUIDE

We talk about the Resource Guide all the time because it is incredibly helpful when studying the Bible in our app. Have you ever been reading a passage of scripture and had a question about a person, place, or topic? Now you can get answers without even leaving the passage.

Open your favorite Bible translation in the main window. I’ve picked out the ESV! Then, tap the split window handle and drag it to a width or height that you prefer. As you scroll through the Bible text, the Resource Guide keeps up with you and searches through all the books in your library for related content. If you scroll down through the Resource Guide results, you will see the section headings “People,” “Places,” and “Topics.”

Tap on the person, place, or topic that you want to learn more about. I chose the topic “Fellowship” because my church is currently working through Acts. Scripture tells us that the early church what devoted to fellowship…but what does that mean?

You’ll see that Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary has the words “Article to Fellowship” underneath the book cover. Tap on the book cover and the app will take you directly to the article. You can scroll and read the entire article without having to leave your Bible text! I was able to follow along as we read this passage in church, while also gaining deeper insights. It’s honestly so convenient.

If there are scripture references in the article that you would like to read, tap the verse and it will appear in a pop-up window. You can also tap the top right hand corner of the pop-up window to change which window you read the scripture in—main or split! It looks like this:

TWO: LOOKUP FEATURES

Maybe you aren’t sure where to find a certain topic in God’s Word, but you want to know more! You can search any topic in our Lookup feature and resources like Mounce’s Dictionary will show up, ready to give you the information you’re looking for. Here’s how:

For iPhone or iPad users, open the Resource Guide in the split window. Then tap the gear icon, followed by the “lookup” option in iOS. You can type “Fellowship” and tap “search”. This will bring up Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary article on Fellowship as we’ve seen before.

If you like reading your Bible “full screen”, try the integrated look-up feature. Tap and hold a word in the Bible text and an option menu bar will pop up. From here you get an array of option—one of them being Lookup!

If you tap the “Lookup” button you’ll get “hits” from your resources on just that specific word. Like before, just tap the book cover and you can read the article in the pop-up window, or choose to open it in the Main or Split window.

THREE: INTEGRATES WITH STRONG’S TAGGED BIBLES

If you have a Bible tagged with Strong’s, Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary is a great addition to your library. Since I have the English Standard Version (ESV) with Strong’s, I pulled it up in my main window and tapped “fellowship”. This brings up the Strong’s article and definition for koinonia.

From there I tapped “look up koinonia.” This brought up Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary that I can tap and read the article on koinonia in a window of my choosing.

Buy Now!

Ready to use what you have learned in your studies?

Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary

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Reflective Gratitude Journal Prompts Why Did You Start Gratitude Journaling?

Reflective Gratitude Journal Prompts
Why did you start gratitude journaling? Express gratitude to yourself for taking this step.
What is one part of your life that you won’t trade for anything?
Which activity do you enjoy doing the most?
What is a lesson in your life that has helped you?
When did someone smile or laugh because of you? How did that make you feel?
Who is the person in your life that you’ll call in an emergency?
What is something that was hard to do but you did it anyway?
Write about a time you were grateful for something a loved one did for you.
Write a thank-you note to yourself.
Pick a random photo, and write about why you’re grateful for that memory.
Write about a person who helped you through a tough situation.
Look around you and find something that you can feel grateful for, no matter how small.
What is something that always gives you happiness?
How does practicing gratitude impact your thoughts?
Express gratitude for how you’ve grown and developed through the years.
What is something that you are looking forward to in your life?
Remember a time when someone listened to you and empathized with you as you needed them to.
Appreciate yourself for building the habit of gratitude to live a happier life.
Take a moment to appreciate a fond memory that always brings a smile to your face.
Express gratitude for the time you achieved a goal with your willingness and effort.
How have you supported people throughout your life? Remember a time when you helped someone in need.
What is something that you turn to when you need comfort?
Take a deep breath and feel grateful to be who you are, right where you are.
What is a special memory from your childhood?
Write and share a Letter of Gratitude to someone who has been your well-wisher.
What is one thing that you do for yourself that enriches your health?
Reflect through the week and write about moments that made you happy.
What are the steps that you have taken through the years that made you a better version of yourself?
Write about someone who has mentored you and taught you important lessons.
Choose 3 people to say thanks today. Write about why you are thankful to them.
Write about something valuable that you learned this week.
Describe a family tradition that you are most grateful for.
Who is a teacher or mentor that has made an impact on your life, and how did they help you?
Write about someone you’ve never met but who has enriched your life in some way.
What part of your life has changed for the better over the past year?
Describe the last time someone helped you solve a problem at work or personal tasks.
What is your favorite part of your daily routine?
What are some great words that you read recently?
What is your favorite holiday, and why do you love it?
What is your favorite TV show, and why do you love it?
Write about a recent obstacle you faced and how you overcame it.
Write about someone who makes your life better.
👉

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