Conflict

How do you handle it?

            “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalms 139:23

            When we are meet with conflict of any kind, do we pray this prayer? Or take the attitude, I know I’m right, so I’ll fight to prove it!

            I feel I’m going out on a limb here, because I have watched too many conflicts in churches and family, and I’m not trying to stir the pot, so to speak but ask individually, “What does God require of me?” and as I challenge myself, I pray you will be challenged as well.

How many of you have seen the movie War Room? (raises your hand). Powerful message, was it not? Miss Clare challenged Elizabeth to do her fighting in prayer. Why was that you think?

One thing stood out to me, and it is this: We often think we are right and because we are SO right, in our human nature, we fight for it, cause “We’re right and they’re wrong and we have to have it our way and will fight until we do” and often at all costs! The cost of our marriage, our family relationships, our friendships, and our church family.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me…”

This is the statement of humility.

David was a man after God’s own heart. We all know he wasn’t perfect and he made some horrendous mistakes, so why did God call him a man after His own heart?

Because he allowed God to correct him, and he didn’t take the argument that he was right in what he was doing.

Challenge #1 Seek God in prayer about the conflict.

Challenge #2 Do your fighting in prayer not with the offender

Challenge #3 Let God deal with the offender

Challenge #4 Repent and make things right if God convicts you of being in the wrong.

These are things that come right out of the War Room movie….. as well as the Bible!!!

We all know the fruits of the spirit. So well in fact that we take them for granted. “The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace…. Yadyadyad”

Ok, let’s read a bit of Galatians 5:13-26 “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.

16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness (lustfulness),

20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith,

23 Meekness, Temperance: against such there is no law.

24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.”

            God’s word is pretty clear. Walk in the Spirit and if we walk in the Spirit there will be no room for the things of the flesh. One of the ways we can walk in the Spirit, is to do our fighting in prayer.

            Because the real enemy is Satan.

            Not our spouse.

            Not our family.

            Not our friend.

            Not our church family.

            We must walk in the Spirit, seeking God in everything, and allowing Him to work, instead of taking matters into our own hands!

            Did you get that?

            Allowing Him to work, instead of taking matters into our own hands.

            When we see the enemy for who he is and what he’s doing, it helps us keep things in perspective. Satan is out to destroy. We as Christians should not! If the fight is going to destroy relationships and family, is it really worth it??

            The first fruit of the Spirit is love.

            1 Corinthians 13: 1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not Love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not Love, it profiteth me nothing.

4 Love suffereth long, and is kind; Love envieth not; Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

8 Love never faileth....

13 And now abideth faith, hope, Love, these three; but the greatest of these is Love.

If we're not doing it in love... it's worth nothing. 

If we're not doing it in love....it will destroy!

There are many, many verses in the Bible on conflict. I could list them all, but I think I’ll stop here.

I challenge myself and you, my fellow Christian, please follow scripture when you are faced with conflicts. Cover it in prayer and be ready to make it right if God prompts you to do so.

Your sister in Christ

S.L. Kliever

Craft for March

This month it's felt clothes for Calico Critters.... cause every little girl likes to change the clothes on her toys!

 this is a simple pattern. two holes on the either side for the arms and the two smaller ones in the back for the tail to go through. I also hot glued on Velcro to hold it shut in the back. 

3 1/2 in width and about 1 1/2 for the length. As you can see, we folded down the collar, but you can also cut that off, giving a neck line.

 Making a vest. If you already have one, it's best to use it as a pattern.

 it's about 2 1/2 in wide. the dots are where the arm holes need to be. carefully cut out two circles around the dots.

 this is one of the nicest dresses you can make. you need ribbon and your hot glue gun as well as Velcro.

 Using a dress as a pattern is the best way to go. it's about 3 1/2 in wide. the length depends on if you are making it for an adult critter or a child. for a child you want about 1 in length. adult is 1 1/4

 hot glue on your ribbon straps and Velcro

 and add a bow or button on the front.

 Here we make a dress for mama doggy from an old baby mitten. These are easy to find in second hand stores, because hardly anyone uses them on their babies and lots of outfits come with cute mittens.

you want to put her in there to measure the length.

 knitted fabric is easy to work with, cause it doesn't fray easy.

 figure out where the arm holes are to go and carefully cut

 I used the bottom to make a purse with some embroidery thread.

 I made coats for the young pups, and forgot to take enough pictures of how I did it.

basically you need to measure how much felt you need to wrap around the critter.

Length doesn't matter so much. you can have a long coat or a short.

 I used hook and eyes and hot glued them on to close their coats. you can also use Velcro

The hoods are about the same size (width) of strip as the coat, but you then sew up the back and then stick to the collar of the coat. Very simple coat actually. The beads are just decorative.

 overalls for papa beaver

 measure first... most likely it will be 3 1/2 in width. I found 3 1/4  was a little too narrow.

 mark the middle where you'll cut the crotch

 when you attach the straps to the back, and sew up the crotch, that holds it together.

 I found that the felt straps are too thin and breakable... they stretch and come apart. so I would actually recommend no straps and hot glue on narrow elastic. it holds better!!!

Milestone!

We've reached over 3000 views!!!! thank you friends and family!

Prayer and a Battle Plan

My hubby and I just watched War Room. (Yes I would endorse it fully. 5 stars all the way. Please watch it!)

It was inspiring and encouraging for us for two reasons.

1.      We have already learned some of the principles shared

2.      It inspired us to fight in prayer more, and to not give up

Probably the most inspiring scene in the movie for me was, when Elizabeth finds out that her husband is seeing another woman, and in tears, Elizabeth surrenders everything to God and then with boldness walks through her house and commands the enemy in “Jesus Christ” name to get out!

The verse Elizabeth read in that scene was James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

When we are faced with problems, weather they are relationships within marriage or family, extended family, or boyfriend girlfriend etc… we usually see the other person as the enemy and we know we are right and they are wrong and we want to fight them and fix the problem. But we forget they are not the enemy. Satan is!

As Ms. Clare told Elizabeth, (in my own words) we need to submit to God, get self off the throne, repent if we’ve messed up, get self totally out of the way, do our fighting in prayer, and let God do our fixing/fighting for us.

(Does it ever occur to us that the Lord brings people into our lives for a reason? That maybe we were meant to help one another in prayer? Not fight or walk away from them?)

When Mr. J and I were going together before we were even engaged, Mr. J lived with a headache for 2 ½ years! Doctors didn’t know what the matter was, they would only give pain meds. He sought help from many different medical people, and none had any answers for him. He had a chronic headache and he had to live with it, period. But God wasn’t finished with him.

One day we were sitting on the couch in the basement of our friend’s home, when Mr. J turned to me and with tears asked, “are you sure you want to marry a sick man?” My response was, “yes,” because God had brought us together, so why would I walk away from him when he needed someone to go through all this with him? I knew it might not be easy, I even worried that I may be a young widow, but I knew God had put us together and I was going to trust Him to see us through this.  Shortly after that, Mr. J sought the elders of the church to pray for him. They did what is written in James 5:14 prayed for him and anointed him with oil. Soon after this we were led to a spiritual counselor who began to teach us spiritual warfare like in the War Room movie. It took several sessions with this counselor before we had the breakthrough. With tears streaming down his face, Mr. J renounced the areas in his life where Satan had ground, and commanded them (the oppressing spirits) in Jesus Christ name to get out, and when he did this, the headache lifted for the first time in 2 ½ years!! *

Thank you Jesus! Hallelujah!

So you can imagine my excitement over the scene in the movie. The tools they are giving people; showing them how they can have freedom in their own lives and how to spiritually fight!

The movie has also inspired me to pray harder… or should I say, create a battle plan for the areas I feel led to pray in. It’s so easy to just give up on things, especially people we feel a need to pray for. We can’t see God working so we give up praying. But we can’t see what God sees; we can’t see what is happening under the surface.

I do not have a War Room closet, our house is too small for that, but I do have a prayer journal in which I have names and prayer requests and areas in our home that need prayer. I also feel a burden to intercede on others behalf’s and I think the movie touched on that too.

There are some people who I pray for that I would love to shack some sense into, and yet that is not what we are to do, we are only to pray for them, and let God to the shaking. I was challenged by the movie to pray for their walk with God, not so much the `problem’ they have or are causing. Because if they’re walk with God is right, the Holy Spirit will do the convicting and they will get their problems straightened out.

So here are a few things I pray for individually.

            -That they would know Christ as their personal saviour.

-That their relationship with God would grow.

            -That they would submit to God and take self off the throne

            -That the Lord would teach them how to resist the devil

            -That they would have a hunger for God’s Word.

            -That their eyes would be open to the truth.

            -That they would be free from bondage from the enemy in Jesus Christ name

            -That they would walk in the Spirit and put on the Fruits of the Spirit in their lives.

No, I do not have it all together! Some days I forget to pray. But I hope and pray that as I share things, and am open about what the Lord has led us through or taught us, that it will help someone who reads this.

*It is important to note that not all sickness is cause of spiritual oppression. Like Job some can be for testing or to build our faith. We must always examine ourselves and ask for the Lord to show us.

S.L. Kliever

Craft for February

More doll house furnishings! Cause who doesn't like dollhouses!


Here's a few of my favorites... a home made Calico Critter piano ...

 and some home made plates from buttons!

to start off, I searched on line (Pinterest) for doll house plates that I could print off. 

There were all sorts of kinds, some really nice ones too, but I choice Minnie Mouse, because these are for my daughter's doll house. I printed them off (I only had black and white ink, but these would be great in color!!) cut them out and Mod Podged them on to the buttons with a paint brush and let dry.

 (these should not be given to toddlers!!! they end up in the mouth!)

 Curtains for the doll house!

Started out by making my curtain rods.

 I wanted something simple, so I found some lace, hot glued it on to my sticks in ruffles and wala!

 I then hot glued them above the windows.

 to make a simple book, I used some scrap cloth I had lying around, and small cardboard, hot glued the cloth around the cardboard, leaving room in the middle for the paper. I then folded some paper and glued it in.

 Now for my favorite! the Piano 

I started with a medium size stick, cut off the rounded ends and added my piano keys

(somehow they didn't come out perfect! would recommend using a ruler!)

 I then began to construct my piano. I would recommend finding a box the right size if possible. I didn't have one on hand, so I made my own.

 I created wood sides. if I had a box, I would have covered the box in wood.

 then added the keyboard and other pieces of wood to make it look like a piano. I kind of made it up as I went a long.

 I also added `foot peddles' and feet.
This is the finished product.

 and in the back is a hidden book shelf or storage. I could have closed it in, but I felt it was wasted space.

 Happy Crafting


S.L. Kliever

Sweet Sour Milk Biscuits

I had some good farm milk going sour on me, but instead of dumping it, I did some baking.


Sweet Sour Milk Biscuits
Preheat oven to 400 F

2 C Whole Wheat Flour
2 1/2 t  Baking Powder
1/2 t  Salt
5 T  Butter
3/4 C  Sour Milk
3 T Honey

Mix all your dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut in butter till tiny lumps, then chill in fridge for 10 min. Add milk and honey and mix.
Roll out dough on floured surface, and cut into biscuits. Bake 10-12 min. on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Additions:
-For making Raisin Biscuits, all 1 Cup of raising and 1 t Vanilla to your milk and honey mix before adding to flour.

-for the Biscuit Jam Roll, add 1 t Vanilla to the milk and honey mix before adding to flour. Roll out on floured surface and spread Apricot (or jam of your choice) on 3/4 of the dough, leaving a strip on one side. Sprinkle with Cinnamon. Roll dough towards the strip of dough with no jam. Use the dough strip to pinch your roll closed. Biscuit Jam Roll may take 12-15 min to bake.
 

Craft for the month of January

The craft for the month of January .... more doll house furniture!!

come take a look!

One of the easiest pieces of furniture to make was this table and benches. 

Just plain popsicle sticks for the top, 

held together with cross ones underneath and then wooden blocks of beads for the feet.

To make a kitchen counter with shelves, I began with a tea box which I cut in half.

 I saved two of these small plastic containers from plum sauces for the sinks. 

Cutting out my holes, I placed the sinks in.

 I wanted it enclosed, so I cut out another piece of cardboard and glued it on the bottom.

I covered it in fabric, hot glued it in place.

 next I made my sides, back and shelve, from popsicle wood...

and glued it on to my counter

 with my craft knife I cut open the sink... and trimmed it up...

 then added my shelve...

 I printed off a stove top and front and mod podged it on... 

cover my whole counter top and front with the glue

 I made a second one from the other half of the tea box, 

following the same steps as above except with a smaller shelf and wooden bead feet.

 the last thing I did was to cut open my oven doors.

 the oven door that opens from the top works better than the side opening one.

The side opening one gets stuck inside.

happy crafting!

(more to come next month)
                                                                                                                                               S.L.Kliever