January 22nd, 2012 / No Comments » / by Pam
Go to www.butterflybiblestudies.wordpress.com for Butterfly Bible Studies updates, and a place where you can download my free Bible Studies, and other printables, in pdf format.
Don’t Worry! this Butterfly Bible Studies site will still be hanging around ~ for a little while longer…
July 18th, 2011 / No Comments » / by Pam
This is in answer to a question asked, pertaining to BE~Attitudes vs Emotions (Day 1). My reader asked, you said that the conditions of the heart were mentioned 765 times in the Bible. How did you find those. Were they all found as “conditions of the heart” from a concordance or did you use several words to find the reference?
My Answer: I actually got this number from a Tim LaHaye book several years ago. If you will go to universitybible.org, you will find that the number they use for how many times the condition of the heart is mentioned is 726. As you read through God’s Word, write down every instance that the Heart is mentioned. You will find that “Our Hearts Condition” is key to following Christ. God Bless! Pam
May 26th, 2011 / No Comments » / by Pam
Day 2 ~ The Best Makeover Gift I Can Give Myself and My Relationships,
Are Shades Of Pink And Purple
Attitude Determines The Colors Of My Life
I’ll bet you thought I chose a pink and purple makeover because these are my favorite colors. I really do like these colors, but that’s not why I chose them. Pink is a very positive color. It can be calming and warm. Shades of purple are often associated with spirituality, truth and vision. An added bonus is that God creates some gorgeous flowers with these colors. I’m sure there are color experts who could give me the negative aspects of pink and purple, but my attitude is this~about that. I am choosing to grasp a calming, warm, spiritually fit, full of truth and vision, kind of attitude.
Attitude Checkup
Attitude: a term used to describe our inward disposition, feeling, perspective or outlook; it is also a term used in aviation to describe an aircraft’s horizontal relationship with the earth or landing runway. If the aircraft is not aligned properly with the ground it is about to land on, there could be a crash.
We could look at our attitudes as our feeling, our inner disposition or perspective, towards people or circumstances. If we are not aligned properly with the person or circumstance we are about to come into contact with, there could be a crash. Have you ever had a crash because of your attitude?
What is it that affects our attitudes? A few of the most obvious reasons are stress, lack of restful sleep, our mood or emotions, dealing with difficult people, trying to function in difficult situations, lack of confidence, sadness or grief. A couple of huge ”attitude affectors” for women are comparing ourselves to other women and the lives or ministries (and on and on) of other women, and a term I refuse to use~self esteem. I prefer (instead of self-esteem) to use the term(s), my attitude toward myself, in light of finding my worth in Christ and how much Christ is worth to me. I’m sure you can add to this list. My point is that there are many things that affect our attitudes.
The great news is that our attitudes can be managed. It is a choice we make, and we are not in this alone. We have a heavenly Father who has given us His Holy Spirit to help us in our choice to manage our attitudes. As Paul reminded Timothy, “God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). When I exhibit a poor attitude it is my lack of self discipline because I have momentarily taken my focus off of the spirit of power, of love and of self discipline. I say momentarily because I know I serve a God that is constantly there to remind me. The longer I serve Him, the quicker I hear Him speak.
Makeover Tip #2 ~I will ask The Lord each night before I fall asleep to remind me that His Holy Spirit, living within me, is powerful enough to color my attitude in shades of pink and purple~calm and warm, spiritually fit, full of His truth and vision~so that I might wake in the morning ready for life and whatever it holds for me.
May 23rd, 2011 / No Comments » / by Pam
Day 1 ~ Fragments of Life 
Only one life, ’twill soon be past ~ Only what’s done for Christ will last
And when I am dying, how happy I’ll be ~ If the lamp of my life has been burned out for Thee ~ Author Unknown
For the next few days, or weeks I will be writing my devotional. It’s not a do over of my life, because that would imply wiping out a great part of all that I am. It’s not a matter of re-prioritizing my life, because I know where my priorities lie. My priorities lie in my relationships ~ with my Creator, with my husband, with my children, with my grand-babes, with my family, my friends and with those I come into contact with from day to day. My devotional will be a makeover, an overall treatment intended to change something if necessary, and improve what has already been created within me. My devotional will become an expression of Love and Commitment to my relationships.
Yesterday, here in Missouri, we experienced the most devastating tornado in our history. Many lives have been diminished to piles of rubble. Many have lost loved ones. Many are in need of a place to sleep, clothing to wear, food to eat and medical help. One of the buildings torn apart, by the tornado, was a hospital. Many of us, within a 60 mile radius of the devastated area, have found debris from the homes, schools, hospital and other structures that were demolished by the tornado, in our yards. That debris includes xrays and medical records, photos, and other personal items. One friend found pages from a Bible in her yard.
One of the pieces of debris I found in our yard was a piece of foam board insulation. When I picked it up I immediately thought, “this is a fragment of someones life ~ it is a piece of a person’s, a families life“. That life was intact yesterday morning, and was reduced to a fragment last night. Perhaps the fragment I found is the only thing left of this family. Our lives are a series of fragments, many pieces, acquired and put together throughout the time we are to live here on this earth. That which we put together, assemble, can be gone in a matter of minutes. Our earthly lives can be over in a matter of seconds. As I looked closer at the fragment of foam board insulation I noticed the markings on it. Notice, in the picture below, what looks like crosses. I know that the markings were probably not meant to be crosses. Still, they are a powerful word picture for me. This fragment and those markings bring to my mind these truths.
James asks this question, in James 4:14, “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” NIV Translation. The Message Bible Translation says, “You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing“.
I believe that Jesus gives me very clear direction as to what should be of importance in my life. He said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37
And,
Jesus said, “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself” and “Love One Another As I Have Loved You.” Matthew 22:39 & John 13:34
Loving God with all my heart, soul and mind, loving my neighbor as myself and loving another as Jesus loves me “Requires Relationship”. Jesus said, “These are the Greatest Things”!
Makeover Tip #1 ~ Re-Affirming That My Priorities, truly, Lie In My Relationships
May 20th, 2011 / No Comments » / by Pam
My Makeover ~ In Shades of Pink and Purple
…Inspired by this season of my life!
…Because I don’t want to miss a sweet thing 
about this season of my life! A Devotional and Guide For Our Seasons of Life! ~I love it when the Lord places my focus~
No matter what season of life you are in ~ You won’t want to miss a sweet thing about it either!
Through My Lord’s Eyes
Lord, Is That Light In Your Eyes Really Me?
…of the Lord’s forgiveness, the value of His Worth to me, re-shaped into something of value for Him, learning to evaluate my every move for His Purpose and Plan by using a great tool ~ Our “How To Evaluate Your Relationships” handout (My Hubby, Ed, and I use this when we are teaching and talking with singles. And, it’s a great tool to use in our decision making process.)
