Note From Christine         Thank you for visiting Daughters of Promise.  I love this ministry and pinch myself that I get to lead it.  Just over 10 years ago, I reached a point where my heart had died.  I lost my passion and for 3 years, I was reborn through the power of the Word and the Spirit.  This ministry is one of the results.      I grew up in a home that failed to give instruction.  You were expected to know how to do adult things without any preparation.  Going to school for the first time, visiting the doctor, settling a conflict within a messy relationship, all these were confronted without any guidance.  You did the best you could and lived life with a sense of deep inadequacy.      Once I became God's child, I got a new parent.  He is not an absent parent either.  His instruction, through Scripture, is inclusive to all of life.  Everytime you and I interact with His Word, it's as if He's whispering in our ear, "Do this."  "Don't do that!"  "Remember what I told you about that situation!"  Every time I have the privilege of teaching the Bible to a few or to many, I dream of the many ways His instruction will become their treasure.  This reality is what gets my adrenalin pumping.       Your visit to Daughters of Promise is meant to wet your appetite.  Whatever you read here that pulls at your heart is a shadow of what happens live.  I pray you will seriously consider attending one of our live events or ask God about sponsoring your own.  Take advantage, in the meantime, of the website.  You can listen to music, read articles, sign up for my daily devotional and visit my blog where all past devotionals are archived.  God willing though, I'll see you on the road!  There's nothing like sharing person to person.      Yours because He is infinitely gracious, Christine

A HOSTILE AUDIENCE    After we had already suffered and been mistreated in Phillipi, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition.  I Thess. 2:2      Remember how you felt the last time you felt you needed to say some things you knew would not be well received?  I do.  I didn't sleep for many nights prior to speaking up.    It's difficult enough when it's a stranger.  Let it be a family member or a friend and the anxiety spikes because the risks are so high.  There is the possibility of rejection as well as the pain of knowing you are about to cause someone to be hurt by your words.  No wonder we are prone to self-protect and hide our true feelings.  We'd rather live in internal conflict than speak up and live with the painful consequences.  How painful, and often irreparable, those consequences can be.   If I follow Jesus, then I follow Him into controversy.  He spoke the truth when it was popular and was bold to speak His Father's words even when it cost Him His life.  At one point, Jesus said that He came to bring a sword, not peace.  In other words, truth is often divisive.       Paul had the credibility to speak to the believers in Thessalonica about any issue because He brought the message of Christ to them at great personal peril.  Think of how seriously you would take someone's words if they risked their life to deliver them to you.  Paul said, "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain."  He proved it when he was beheaded under Nero's rule, in 60 A.D.  Knowing this, I Thessalonians will never read the same to me again.       Jesus, every word You spoke counted; even when it cut across the grain of your public and private worlds.  Help me when it cuts into my audience, both public and personal.  Amen  ----------------------------------------  Would you like to receive our devotionals via email?  If so, click here to sign up!  ----------------------------------------  Read previous devotionals by visiting Christine's Blog.  http://www.christinewyrtzen.com