Search Results

An Everlasting Love

In Jeremiah 31:3, God says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love."

Get that?

It has already been happening. "I have loved you," He says.

You! Specifically, personally, uniquely you. (And me.)

Before we knew Him, with all our failings included, the Infinite Father God of All Creation looked down through time and said, "That girl, right there. I love her." Or "That guy, right there. I love him."

Amen.

Filed Under: Monday Meditations Tagged With: God's love, Jeremiah

God’s Words

By Paula

Also, do not take to heart everything people say… (Eccl. 7:21)

But it's hard not to.

However, God's words are the ones that count and He said "I have loved you with an everlasting love…" Jeremiah 31:3

and "You did not choose Me, but I chose you…" (John 15:16).

Loved eternally.

Chosen.

What can you say to that?

(This is an encore post.)

Filed Under: Monday Meditations Tagged With: Ecclesiastes, Jeremiah, John

STT: Revealing God

By Paula

Sunbeams

The ultimate purpose of Bible study is to deepen our relationship with the God who reveals Himself in its pages. He promises us 'And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.' (Jeremiah 29:13) It will increase our wonder and our worship of our God 'who called you out of darkness into His glorious light'. (1 Peter 2:9)

So with each passage, each you study, ask yourself what it reveals about God or His ways. In the two quick examples I cited, we find out that God encourages us to seek Him and promises to honor every sincere search. He wants us to know Him. Ponder that for a moment or two. God… wants me to know Him… challenges me to… How could I refuse an invitation like that? How could I slack off on Bible study when God is effectively asking me to sit down with Him?

That phrase from 1 Peter 2 gives us the gospel. God called us. He didn't move us Himself. He called and we had to respond, but when we did, everything changed as much as it could possibly change. From darkness into light, and not just any light, His glorious light! God wants us to join Him in that light, so He calls us. How could you not love a God like that?

Of course, it's always a good idea to makes notes about all these observations in your notebook.

What have your recent studies revealed about God?

(This is an encore post.)

Filed Under: Study Tip Tuesday Tagged With: 1 Peter, Bible study, Jeremiah

GP: Julie Carobini

By Paula

Just in time for warm weather, I have the wonderful Julie Carobini here to talk about her latest seaside novel from the Otter Bay series, Fade to Blue

Tell us a little about yourself and your background.

Sure! I write seaside stories filled with faith, flip flops, and waves of grace. My family and I make our home on California’s central coast, and I’ve written five novels plus hundreds of published articles on everything from parenting, to team building in the workplace, to Christian surf dudes on a mission.

How did you become interested in writing?

My father wrote magazine articles on the side, including interviews with entertainers such as Fred Astaire and Fred MacMurray. Always loved that! I too became an article writer almost twenty years ago, but I always yearned to create fiction. I wrote two novels that did not sell, but as they say, third time’s a charm, and my debut novel, Chocolate Beach, released in 2007 (re-released with recipes in 2011 as an eBook). By that time, I had a renewed faith in God as well as a redefined focus on the kinds of stories he was leading me to write.

What compelled you to write a book on this subject?

Ever since the inception of the Otter Bay Novels with Sweet Waters, I’ve wanted to set a book with the famed Hearst Castle as its backdrop. So much intrigue and mystery about that real castle on the hill and its eccentric, yet astute owner. Of course, novels are more than their location. So after writing the 2^nd of these stand-alone novels, A Shore Thing, even I longed to know what happened next for the big-hearted, single mom from that story. Fade to Blue satisfies that curiosity …

What is the main theme or point that you want readers to understand from reading your book? Are there any other themes present in the book?

Writing this story was much like holding a seashell, constantly turning it over in my hand. Though they’re often tossed into the sea with nary a glance, seashells are intricately beautiful—even when broken. The more I examined the shattered life of Suz—the heroine of Fade to Blue—the more beauty I found. Only the One who restores our souls can make that happen.

5. Are there some specific lessons you hope readers will learn and apply to their lives after reading your book?

I hope readers get lost in the story and the beautiful setting, that they revel in God’s creation as much as I did while writing it. I also hope they experience the Good Shepherd’s gentle leading (Psalm 23), and fall in the love with the concepts of forgiveness, sacrifice, and grace—as much as they do the breathtaking locale.

6. What makes your book different than any other books similar to yours that are in circulation today?

Although I’ve been compared to some amazing writers—something that humbles me—I also know that God made each one of us uniquely. I knew you even before you were conceived. Jeremiah 1:4-5. One unique aspect of my books is the focus on God’s creation of the sea and everything in it. My characters have loved dolphins, sea lions, otters—even giant, glowing sea anemones. But they take that admiration a step further by drawing closer to the God who made such beauty.

7. How does the book intertwine with God’s call on your life and how you are currently serving Him?

This story reminds me not to dwell on the past, but to prayerfully, joyfully—and ‘hope’fully— move forward. Such lessons there! Suz Mitchell made mistakes in her past—so have I—yet healing brokenness and restoring souls is God’s business. Praise him for that!

Do you have a favorite Scripture verse?

I have more than one favorite, but this one’s been spinning in my mind again lately: Psalm 19:14 NIV, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

9. When you are not writing, what do you like to do? Do you have any hobbies?

I love to comb the beach, to jog the sand with Charlie the Dog, and take coffee breaks with my husband—so adore that man!

10. As we close, is there anything else you would like to add?

Just that I hope people reading this are encouraged to follow their heart’s desires with the Good Shepherd as their guide. God took all the lows and highs in my life and created something new with them. Although I’d always wanted to write, I had no inkling that I’d be writing beach- themed novels one day. I just kept praying and writing and seeking until an idea popped into my head. I followed that idea, and now find myself talking about my fifth novel filled with ‘waves of grace.’ Be encouraged!

Fade to Blue

Julie Carobini writes seaside novels filled with faith, flip-flops, and waves of grace. Other books in her acclaimed Otter Bay series include Sweet Waters and A Shore Thing. She has also written articles for Decision and Focus on the Family magazines, and received awards from the National League of American Pen Women. Julie and her husband Dan have three children and live on California's central coast.

Pick up Fade to Blue and Julie's other novels at Amazon, Barnes&Noble or CBD

Filed Under: Guests Tagged With: Chocolate Beach, Fade to Blue, Julie Carobini, writing

STT: Daniel’s Example

By Paula

Last week, we looked at Ezra's example of progressing Bible study. Today, we'll see what Daniel can teach us.

He says in Daniel 9:2 "In the first year of [Darius'] reign I, Daniel, understood … the word of the Lord through Jeremiah."

A super short reading, but there's a great model even in those few words. So what can we draw from this?

Never stop studying. There are always new insights to be gained.

By this time, Daniel was around 85 years old, having lived in Babylon for the last 70 of those years. And finally, after years of reading, studying, fasting and praying, God made a specific portion of the word come into clear focus for him.

Keep studying what you think you know.

No doubt, Daniel had read Jeremiah over and over and over in the course of his life. However, his diligence was rewarded.

God's word can help put your situation in perspective.

Jeremiah's writing helped Daniel see the Babylonian captivity as part of God's larger plan for dealing with the nation of Israel. He could see a purpose behind the difficult years in Babylon and a hope for the future.

Finally- did you see not only did Daniel keep notes about his study, but he shared what he learned? Just sayin'