Tag: Greek word study

How to Have a Grace-full Thanksgiving

Published by Leslie Newman Powerful Bible Verses 4 comments
Is discouragement leaving you looking for a grateful heart? Even in difficult times there is a way to be genuinely thankful.

Thankfulness can be such a powerful thing, but sometimes it’s hard to come by. Discouragement and the trials of life can leave us wondering how in the world we can find any sincere way to be thankful in the midst of the difficulties we are experiencing. But as ironic as it seems, being thankful is powerful and can bring relief during hard times.

As humans, we are only able to see things from a very small perspective. God, however, sees from above which gives Him a grand view. Our little perspective makes it difficult to find those moments of hope when times are hard.  And unfortunately, we have an enemy who does everything he can to turn our focus to all the wrong places.

But because of Jesus in us, we can overcome the wrong perspectives and find the hidden treasures God has for us. We can reach down into the power of a thankful heart.

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Grace and Peace for Your New Year

Published by Leslie Newman Claiming Scriptures, Hope 14 comments
How could our new year be different if we understood the fullness of God’s grace and peace? His kind of grace changes everything! Find out more by clicking through!

Grace to you and peace be multiplied. This greeting from the apostle Peter just leaps out to me on this New Year’s Day. It’s such a good verse for new beginnings and hope for the new year, isn’t it? It’s full and rich just as it is, but if we look into the Greek root words we’ll find even more!

Did you know that the word grace in this verse comes from the Greek word xáris? This kind of grace refers  how God is always leaning toward us freely giving Himself away to us because He wants to be with us.

The word peace comes from the Greek word eirḗnē, and it means “wholeness.” It refers to all the essential parts being joined together. Peace is God’s gift of wholeness.

The word multiplied comes from the Greek word plēthýnō, and it means made full to maximum potential.

How would our new year be different if…

Click below to read more! Find out what we’ll be doing this year at Journey to Imperfect!

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5 Days to a Thankful Heart

Published by Leslie Newman Word Study 6 comments
Spend 5 days in this easy study of Bible verses about thanksgiving. Come away with deep insights and a thankful heart!

Words. We hear them, we speak them, we read them. From the time we are tiny babies just starting to talk, words are part of who we are. From a very young age, we seek to know and understand the world around us through our developing language. Knowing the meanings of the words we speak and read is necessary in order to understand the world around us and interact with it.

It’s no different with the Bible. Word meanings are very important!

The Bible was first written in Hebrew and Greek. Translations are not perfect because languages are so different. The meanings of words can vary and change over time. The English words that we read in our modern translations can represent two or more different words in the original languages, so sometimes the meaning of one English word doesn’t quite do justice to the complexity of the concept implied in the original languages. This is why it’s a great idea to do a Biblical word study!

Word study can seem very intimidating, but fortunately, we have so many resources for solid Biblical research and understanding right at our fingertips. There are places online that you can go to find concordances and lexicons in order to do a deeper study of God’s word. You do not have to be an expert at languages to gain some deep insight into what God is speaking through His word!

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5 Action Steps to Carry You Through a Misunderstanding

Published by Leslie Newman Blog Posts, Relationships 21 comments

Misunderstandings. We all have them at one time or another. We just can’t make it through life without facing hurt feelings, harsh words, and misunderstandings within a relationship. Sometimes we receive it; sometimes we dish it out. When these kinds of things happen, our relationship feels fragile. We may stand there stunned, wondering how in the world we could be in the middle of such a misunderstanding. Or we may feel convicted, knowing it was our fault when our own bad attitudes and words created the situation in which we find ourselves.

And at this point, we have a choice.

We can avoid the situation, hide our hurts, cover up the misunderstanding, and even deny our need to seek forgiveness. Or we can be seekers – seekers of His grace both for ourselves and for pouring out to the other person. We all know the right choice, but it’s the hardest one, isn’t it? How can we move forward and turn those hurts and misunderstandings into a deeper relationship?

We can find some amazing answers in Colossians 3:12. Friends, I have read this verse many times. I have prayed it for the past few weeks since this post. I know others of you have prayed these verses right along with me. But what I didn’t realize is what we were really praying when we claimed and prayed this verse over our relationships!

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A Grace Just for You

Published by Leslie Newman Identity 12 comments
When discouragement strikes, remember God’s grace. It’s a gift created with you in mind. It’s just enough at just the right time. Find out more here!

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Ephesians 4:7 (NKJV)

It had been a rough day. I was tired, the house was dirty, and I needed to figure out what to fix for supper. My two little children were still very young and dependent on me, and I felt like I didn’t have what it took to be a good mother to them. I was upset about other things that have since left my memory and the whirlwind of discouraging thoughts I was having felt like more than I could handle.

Have you ever had a day like that? When discouragement strikes, remember God’s grace. It’s a gift created with you in mind. It’s just enough at just the right time. Find out more here!

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How to Strengthen Your Prayer Life Through Grace

Published by Leslie Newman Prayer 39 comments
Are you putting too much pressure on yourself? Remember GRACE and receive it to bring strength into your prayer life. His strength is made perfect in our weakness!

Grace has always seemed like a gentle thing to me. A soft something that settles down in the heart unnoticed at first, but there, nevertheless. And we feel it’s peace. The thing is, I’m not good at grace. I might be good at giving grace to others, but when it comes to receiving it for myself, that’s a whole different story.

I think we all probably struggle with being harder on ourselves than we are on others, but for some of us, it is magnified, especially if we struggle with perfectionism.

If you struggle with perfectionism one of the things that you may be doing is putting entirely too much pressure on yourself. It’s a vicious cycle because perfectionism tells you that you are never good enough. And that’s the total opposite of what grace says.

Grace would tell you that you are enough, because of Who God is. He created you and He loves you. All of you. Just the way you are.

If you listen to perfectionism and the voice inside your head that says you are not good enough, you are in for a rough journey. It’s a path that leaves no room for receiving God’s grace.

Satan doesn’t mind us traveling this road though, and this is because he wants us discouraged and defeated in all areas of our lives.

He especially wants to defeat us in our prayer lives. Prayer is where the battles are fought and won. And Satan is always the looser. This means that he will do everything he can to discourage us and keep us from praying. Often, these discouragements will come through negative thought processes.

One of these negative thought patterns involves the tendency to be way too hard on ourselves which creates a whole lot of unnecessary pressure in our lives.

Think about the things we say to ourselves sometimes. We would probably never say these things about other people, but we might constantly repeat them to ourselves.

• “I skipped my prayer time today. God will be disappointed in me.”
• “My prayers seem too simple. I’m not really smart enough.”
• “I don’t really understand the Bible. Who am I to be talking to God?”
• “My life is so chaotic. I’m a mess. God wants someone who has it more together.”
• “I’ve done some pretty bad things. There’s no way God can accept me because of the things I’ve done.

This list could go on and on, couldn’t it?

But there is an answer for this. Read to find out more! {FREE PRINTABLE!}

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Build A Better Prayer Life (By Avoiding This Perfectionism Pitfall)

Published by Leslie Newman Blog Posts, Prayer 32 comments
There is Someone who can do a better job building our prayer life than we can. Avoid this perfectionism pitfall in your prayer life! Read to find out more!

For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. (Hebrews 3:4, NKJV)

Prayer is a little like building a house. It takes a plan, a whole lot of time and effort, the right tools and a master builder.

Now if there’s anything a perfectionist likes, it’s a good plan, right? We like the tools, and we are willing to put in the time and effort. As a matter of fact, we are driven in many ways (and not all of them are healthy ways). We want to be efficient, and we focus on that end result, often at the expense of the process it takes to get there. These are all things we need to keep an eye on in our day to day life situations.

But we also have to watch out for these things in our prayer lives, because if we are not careful, we’ll focus so much on the plan that we’ll forget who the builder is.

Join me today as we talk more about prayer and a common perfectionism pitfall.

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Unlock the Power of Praise in Your Prayer Life!

Published by Leslie Newman Prayer 32 comments
Have you ever felt like something was missing from your prayer life? It could be praise and worship. Read to learn more about unlocking the power of praise in your prayer life! {FREE PRINTABLES!}

Have you ever felt like something was missing from your prayer life? I have. I was praying for others, asking for forgiveness, and being thankful, but it seemed like something just wasn’t quite right.

After some searching, I discovered that praise was a missing aspect in my prayer life. When I began adding in praise to my prayer time, an amazing thing happened. I began to have an entirely different focus that really impacted my thought processes for the better.

Praising God is a perspective-changer. There’s no doubt about it!

There are many ways to praise God which are as various and unique as the individuality He has created in all of us. But no matter how we do it, we’ll find that at the core of praising God is recognizing and thinking about His character. When we do this, some very important things begin to happen.

Praise invites His presence.
Praise forces us to take our eyes off ourselves.
Praise helps us understand who God is.
Understanding His character gives us hope helps bring peace.
When we understand Who God is, we find our true identity.
Praise makes the enemy flee!

Last week we studied 2 Peter 1:3 which tells us that God gives us everything we need to live a godly life. He equips us in all areas, including our prayer lives!

If we take a look at what follows (2 Peter 1:4) we gain another valuable insight about prayer. Click below to discover more! {FREE PRINTABLES TOO!}

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When Being Still is Uncomfortable, A Different Perspective

Published by Leslie Newman Quiet Time 27 comments
When Being Still is Uncomfortable, A Different Perspective

I sat there on my back porch. It was quiet and soft and misty on a peaceful morning in the country. But I was so uncomfortable. I was fidgety and distracted, thinking of all the things I needed to do that day. I couldn’t believe I was having such a hard time being still after all this time.

I had made a commitment this particular week. Each day I was going to work on consistently spending a few minutes in complete stillness and quiet, away from all distractions, just being with God. Although I was consistently studying His word and praying, I found that being completely still before Him was very difficult for me. If you struggle with stillness, too, click to read more. We’ll talk about busyness, being still, and renewal of the mind.

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