I became pregnant shortly after I was married, and while my husband and I made enough money to live, we didn’t make enough to support ourselves and a child. He had just joined another person as a business owner, and I became their secretary. Our lack of money and baby necessities caused us to worry throughout my entire pregnancy. To top things off, about six weeks before the baby was due, we discovered several dishonest things my husband’s partner had been doing, and we both immediately packed our things and left, which put us both out of a job.

We were about to have a baby, we did not have jobs, and we didn’t have any baby items except a few outfits, a green blanket, and some rubber duckies that had been given to us by family members. We were worried sick. And then …

The baby shower at my church had been planned for months, and it just happened to fall about two weeks after we left our business. I walked into that baby shower with practically nothing, and I was astonished at the amount of gifts that were piled on the tables, overflowing to beneath the tables, beside the tables, and in front of the tables. The room was packed with women, and every seat was taken. My mother was beside me and said something along the lines of, “Oh, wow, Davonne, I think you’re being taken care of.” That day I received a bassinet, crib, car seat, stroller, sleepers, diapers, bath stuff, changing table, dresser, and everything else I could possibly need for a newborn. Word had gotten around about our business, and instead of getting the normal cutesy outfits people tend to give as baby shower gifts, the women had gone in together to give us larger items we weren’t able to afford. I walked into that shower with nothing, and left with everything.

As with this instance, the women at my church pull together in time of need, no matter who the person is, and they give what needs to be given. But most of all, they give what we all need most––a glimpse of the love of Christ in human form. Thank you, God, for women like these, who truly make the world a better place. I wouldn’t be who I am without them.

– Davonne Parks

“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Joshua 1:8 emphasis added).

Until just a few months ago, I could count the number of times I had read my Bible in the past several years on one hand. Sure, I had read it when I needed to look something up or when I was doing a group Bible study. But even then, I would cram that week-long Bible study lesson into the couple days before our meeting. The saddest thing is that if someone had asked me what the most important book in the world is, I would have said, without having to think for a second, the Bible. So why was I spending so little time reading something I had such easy access to? “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God” (I Corinthians 2:12).

School has started and most of us are already covered in assignments and activities. We know that they are important and that they have to be done. Studying God’s Word is so much more important for our lives, but it often doesn’t get done. Why? Because no one is forcing us to do it. How could I leave the most important book in the world on the shelf to collect dust? Or worse yet, not even remember where I left it.

And that’s when I was challenged. The woman in my Wednesday night ladies’ class didn’t even know she was challenging me. She simply shared that, with the exception of a few times, she had read her Bible daily for almost 20 years. She said that she started doing it when she had little children. She would read first thing in the morning before they woke up. She said that with all the life going on the rest of the day, it was so important to her to give God the very first part of her day. Having two little boys of my own, I was amazed at how she could find the time. But I was also convicted that I needed to make that time for myself and God. Not because anyone was forcing me or checking up on me, but because I needed it in my life. How could I not desire to spend time with my Creator and Savior?! Why would I pass up that opportunity? So that I could do something as non-eternal as watching HGTV or reading a book?

And so, I made a commitment that I would start first thing in the morning the next day. And I did. I will admit, it definitely took some discipline at first. Not only would I have to get up a little earlier, but I’d have to go to bed a little earlier so that my mind would be fresh the next morning. I know that some of you are not morning people, and that you’d like to read your Bible at night. Although I think that spending time in God’s Word is important regardless the time of day, there is something so wonderful about being with Him at the beginning of my day. And somehow, if I don’t spend the first part of my day with Him, the day is suddenly gone and I’m too tired to focus on any time with Him.

Like I said, it takes discipline. But I knew that if I disciplined myself to do it, it would become a desire. And it is. I love spending time with God and His Word. I know that it is one of the most important things I can do. And so I challenge you to discipline yourself to study the Bible––you will soon desire it! Even spending just 15 minutes a day can be so refreshing and rewarding. “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple” (Psalm 19:7). It should be easy enough to make that much time in our schedules. It is a sad thing if we can’t even make 15 minutes to spend with God in the 24-hour day that God Himself created.

Look at your schedule, re-prioritize your activities if need be, and make Bible study a discipline that you will soon desire!

“Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long….I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word. I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path” (Psalm 119:97–104)

“I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word“ (Psalm 119:16 emphasis added).

By Lisa Grimenstein

This column is for readers to write about something good someone has done for them, whether it’s God’s blessings or another person’s. I want to tell you about what the Pierce My Heart volunteer staff has done. Volunteers on staff range from fifteen to eighty years old, and include men and women (but mainly women). The women are students, wives, mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, active church members, and workers in and out of their homes. The men are husbands, fathers, preachers, and teachers who work long hours at their jobs. This volunteer staff, above everything else, loves God and has come together with one united goal––to spread the Word of God to as many people as possible, with direct efforts to reach young women across the nation, and someday, the world.

These people are not paid; they take the time out of their schedules for free to create and maintain the magazine. Nothing you see on this website is there by accident; everyone has worked so hard to get the magazine to where it is now, and people continue to work to improve the magazine. Pierce My Heart has been a labor of love from the volunteers who long to share Christ’s love with others in order to help spread the gospel to all the earth (Mark 16:15).

Thank you, volunteers at Pierce My Heart! The magazine wouldn’t exist at this level without each of you! Keep up the great work, continue to live faithfully, and when the end comes you will be greatly rewarded (2 Thessalonians 2:14).

– Davonne Parks

School has begun. You might be starting college, high school, or middle school. You will be meeting new people and making new friends. Will they know you are a Christian? Will they know by your example, by the words you speak, and by your character?

According to Dictionary.com, character is “the sum of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person…” Examples of these traits are “moral or ethical quality, honesty, courage, integrity, favorable reputation, a good name and respect from others.”

Those qualities sound exactly like how God wants us to be and to live, as in Titus 2:7-8: “In all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.”

Doesn’t that sound like moral or ethical quality, honesty, courage, integrity, good reputation, a good name, and respect from others? Girls, if you behave in such a way that no one can say anything bad about you, the person who might tell a lie about you can only be “put to shame,” as God tells us. Because you are living the life God commands you to live, they will know that you did not deserve the unkindness they spoke of you.

Sometimes it is difficult to be the only person, or one of the few, who won’t go along with your friends’ wrongdoings. First Peter 4:16 says, “Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this manner.” Have you considered that others might feel as you do, but just don’t have the courage that you have to stand up for what is right? Perhaps they need you to lead the way.

I’m not talking about being “weird” with your convictions. You don’t need to shout “Praise the Lord!” or “beat people over the head,” so to speak, with your beliefs. But you can share God by your example and having the character traits that God would be proud of. Matthew 6:5 says, “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. . . .” They were praying to be noticed, yet they were not living as God told them to live. They were hypocritical. They wanted people to think they were living righteously, when indeed the only thing that made people think they were godly, is that they were praying so loudly that people noticed them. On the outside, the hypocrites looked like “perfect Christians” but in the inside, their hearts were prideful and sinful. Their private lives were not godly at all.

We are to be the “light of the world,” as God tell us in Matthew 5:14: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.” We will accomplish that by having the character within us that God desires. Colossians 3:12–17 says, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts. . . .”

To love like God loves and to let His peace rule in our hearts means that God must be on our minds constantly. He can’t be there only part of the time, because that is when we become spiritually weak, and Satan is ready and waiting to fill up the empty space in our hearts and lives where God should be. We should instead choose to allow the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts so there is no room for Satan’s temptation. James 4:7 says, “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

We begin to sin more when we stop meditating on God regularly. Have you ever noticed that it is hard to pray when you are intentionally sinning? God and sin cannot live in the same place. We are usually ashamed or embarrassed to approach God when we know we are sinning. Doesn’t Satan make sin so appealing that we don’t always want to stop the sin?

When our hearts are fully repentant of our wrongdoing, then we can humbly bow before our Father in Heaven with a sincere and remorseful heart. Keep God close to your heart and let Him be constantly alive within you so that there is no room for Satan to dwell there!

Pray to God when you are weak. If you have a good friend whom you trust, confess your weakness to her and ask her to pray with you. Galations 6:2 says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” There is power in prayer. Find friends who want you to be in Heaven someday, instead of friends who will tempt you to sin.

Be an example to others so that by your character you can help lead them to Christ. We will be held accountable someday for everything we do and say, according to Matthew 16:27, “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds” (emphasis added). So strive diligently to be an example of good deeds and to be pure in doctrine. Let whatever you say be beyond reproach so that no one can say anything bad about you. Live your life so there is no doubt about who, and whose, you are, and they will know.

Let us pray:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Please help me to have the strength and the courage to stand up for You and for what is right. Please forgive me when I sin. Help me to always fill my heart and life with You, Lord, so that there’s no room for Satan to enter my life. Help me to live my life so that others know I am a Christian. Help me to be the example You want me to be. Thank You for Jesus and for Your love and forgiveness.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

By: Carol Gartman