Jill Spurgeon’s Blog

John 15:5
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Truth-You can’t do anything right unless you are in Christ Jesus!

God is good, He gave us His only Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins, each and every one of them. Jesus said he is the vine and you and I are branches that have been grafted into Him by trusting the fact that He walked this earth, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, was resurrected and now sits are the right hand of God the Father. If you believe this and confess it with your mouth, you are a part of the greatest vine in eternity! You are a branch that extends out from Jesus and you receive life giving direction from that main vine that keeps your branch growing, strengthing and producing fruit! If you do not have Jesus then you are not a part of this vine! If you have doubts, sit with a trusted Christian friend, a pastor and have them pray with you.

Truth-I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

Blessings, Peace and Love,
Jill Spurgeon-LaForm

I am a good person! How many times have you heard this comment? I have
said it and heard it many times. Unfortunately when I say it or hear it
from someone else it is usually in the context of whether of not I or
someone else is Heaven bound!

Can I be frank with you all? Being good does not get you into Heaven!

Isaiah 64:6
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous
acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the
wind our sins sweep us away.

Romans 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

You see, all of us have sinned and we have fallen short, any good we
think we do or have done is really like a dirty nasty rags to the Lord!
But does this mean that we are able to go on sinning? No it doesn’t,
although we are not sinless, if you are a true believer you will Sin
Less! Are you sensitive to the sin in your life? Do you feel the
conviction of the Lord when you sin? If you do, take heart for the Lord
corrects those whom He loves.

Job 5:17
“Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline
of the Almighty.

If you do not feel the conviction of God on your sin then maybe you
should sit with a trusted Christian friend, Pastor or other clergy and
discuss your salvation. Read what John says in I John 1:5-10 The
Message translation

This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on
to you: God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in
him.
If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to
stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our
teeth-we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God
himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one
another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our
sin.

If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A
claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our
sins-make a clean breast of them-he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to
himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we
claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God-make a liar
out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.

Blessings!

Jill Spurgeon-LaForm

Foundation, a term we use frequently but what does it mean to our faith?

 Webster’s Dictionary defines Foundation as: A body or ground upon which something is built up or over laid An underlying base or support; especially : the whole masonry substructure of a building

 Looking at some key scriptures regarding foundation pretty much has the same meaning but refers to Jesus Christ as being our foundation.

Matthew 7:24-27 (Jesus Speaking) 24″Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them intopractice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The raincame down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against thathouse; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them intopractice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The raincame down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against thathouse, and it fell with a great crash.” For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, whichis Jesus Christ.1 Corinthians 3:10-12 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with thisinscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone whoconfesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”2 Timothy 2:18-20

 If you are from Texas, especially around here, you know how much our ground shifts and creates foundation problems for our homes! It is shaky, uneven ground that swells with the rain and shrinks with the heat causing our homes to shift continually. Some folks even place what we call a soaker hose around the outside parameter of their home to keep the ground moist and stable hoping it will keep their homes from shifting. As you are thinking of this, do you place a soaker hose (Wordof God) to keep your spiritual foundation intact? Are you on shaky,uneven ground? You are if you do not water your spirit! Jesus is the rock of your salvation and the rock on which to build yours and your families foundation, without Him, your home will shift and shake and eventually be destroyed. If you have begun your foundation, keep building! If not, begin to build today by making the right choices and reading your Bible. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid thefoundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house butcould not shake it, because it was well built.Luke 6:47-49

Thought for the day…It takes less than 1 hour to read 1/2 the books of the Bible and only 15 minutes to read 26 of them! What are you waiting for?

Blessings,Jill

1 Peter 3

Wives and Husbands

 ¹Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, ²when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. ³Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. ⁴Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. ⁵For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, ⁶like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

 ⁷Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

New International Version….what is this saying to you?

To sum it up…Wives submit to your husbands leadership of the family…Husbands love your wives as Christ love the church and gave up His life for her.  Husbands…if you truly love your wife as Christ loved the church, you will consider her above yourself in all decisions and in all things.  Wives if your husbands do this and is truly looking out for you and your needs, how easy would it be to fall under his leadership?  Husbands if you do not take your leadership responsibly and seriously…your prayers will be hindered..not answered…WOW!  Wives even if your husband is not good a leading,  you must still serve as God has called you to serve in your marriage so that you may sway your husbands…WOW!

Blessings!

Interfaith Ministers?  What does that mean?  Do you really want to have one perform your ceremony?  Webster defines interfaith as “involving persons of different religious faiths”.  Now you might say to yourselves that simply means Baptist, Methodist, Luthern etc.. but it doesnt.  It means Islamic, Buddist, Hindu or any other world religion.  If you are not a Christian this may be fine for you and your ceremony; however, if you are a Christian you need to be aware of just who is performing your ceremony that you want blessed by God our creator and Jesus Christ our Savior.  I am a Christian Chaplain/Minister and have followed the Lord for 20 years+.  I believe that with God as the center of your relationship you and your spouse will surely succeed.  I also happen to believe that without Him you will miss out on many blessings for yourself and your new family.  If you are looking for a Christian to perform your ceremony and to bless it then seek a Christian Minister for your wedding day.  I hope I can be of further service.

Blessings,

Jill

My husband and I were married this past December.  We were married in Cleburne and arranged for our reception to be at the Lemon Sisters Cafe in downtown Cleburne.  I was amazed at the great job they did with our catering, cake and we were even allowed to bring our own wine and champagne.  If you are local, check them out, if you are not, check out other “Cafe’s or Deli’s” in your area.  They are very reasonable and adaptable!

Hi!

If you are planning an outdoor wedding, make sure you have a back up indoor facility within walking distance of your wedding.  50% of the outdoor weddings I have performed were rained on and some violently. Although outdoor weddings are beautiful, the weather is unpredictable and maybe you do not need this added worry while planning other parts of your wedding!  In any event I am sure you have the perfect place picked out for your big day.  Let me know your thoughts and any ideas you may have for planning an outdoor wedding!