Staff

-founder / president

Melissa Pearce

-copy editor

Laurie Hamby

-contributing writers

Jamie Clawson

Katie Cline

Pastor Chuck Hamby

Maureen Kurp

Melissa Pearce

Ronald Pearce

Mary Beth Pecora

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We are two months away from shepherding our second conference at EHM. Our mission at

EHM is to equip and empower women with the Word of God so they can walk in their God-given

destiny. God desires for you to know who you are in Christ Jesus. “Therefore, if anyone is in

Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17. We

are no longer defined by our past sins or what people may try to say about us. It is Christ

Jesus who defines who we are! We just need to realize truth.

However, I don’t believe that Ignite is just a theme for EHM’s conference. I believe it is an

infusion that God is looking to cultivate within the hearts of His people. God is on the move.

He is pursuing His creation to enter into a relationship with Him. For some, this will be a new

concept. For others, the longings of your heart to go even deeper with Him will be satisfied.

The word ignite means to set something on fire or to cause to burn. It also means to give life or

energy to someone or something. God wants our hearts to be a blaze for Him. He wants our

hearts to be filled with His love, grace, holiness and truth.

Jeremiah 31:33 “’This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,’

declares the LORD. ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their

God, and they will be my people.’”

God desires for His truth and love to inhabit our hearts; living our lives for Him. His love

towards us will be received as truth, and in return, we will reciprocate His love back to Him and

to others around us.

How I pray God ignites your hearts with His holy fire; setting your hearts ablaze for Him and Him

alone.

~In Him

Melissa Pearce

Founder/President

Enduring Hope Ministries

It is usually the fear of the unknown. When

a heart is faced with change, we will do one of

two things; we will either resist it or we will

embrace it.

When a heart is faced with change, God

desires for us to rest completely in Him.

Resting completely in God requires trust.

That is another word we have a hard time

embracing. Trusting opens our hearts to

risk.

There is always risk involved when we trust

because we are placing our hope in that one

person, believing he/she will fulfill his/her

commitment.

God desires for us to trust Him. He longs for

us to realize we rest securely in His hands.

This, however, doesn’t mean we will escape

hard times and difficulties. It does mean that

when we trust Him, we rest assured knowing

He will work all things out for His glory and

our good.

A heart will only trust another when he/she

knows the character of the one the trust is

placed in. God desires for us to know His

character. He is love (1 John 4:8b). The

love He has towards us and for us is beyond

our human comprehension. God

demonstrated His love by sending His One

and Only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, for us.

Love is not just a mere feeling - but an action.

Why is this so important within our lives?

Life has difficult seasons and in those times

of unexpected loss or hardship, we question

God’s love towards us. Yet, He wants us to

realize we rest securely within His hands like

clay within a potter’s hands.

Jeremiah 18:1-6: “This is the word that came

to Jeremiah from the LORD: ‘Go down to the

potter ’ s house, and there I will give you my

message. ’ So I went down to the potter ’ s

house, and I saw him working at the wheel.

But what the potter was shaping from the clay

was marred in his hands; so the potter formed

it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best

to him. Then the word of the LORD came to

me: ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you

as this potter does? ’ declares the LORD.

‘Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you

in my hand, O house of Israel.’”

God, Who is the Creator of all things, is our

Potter. He holds each of His masterpieces

securely within His hands, forming and

developing them to become what He had

intended them to be. Just as the clay is

placed on the potter ’ s wheel, we too are

placed there. As we sit on the wheel of life,

we can rest assured God never removes His

hands from us. Romans 8: 28: “ And we

know that in all things God works for the good

of those who love him, who have been called

according to his purpose. ” It is very clear;

God will use all things within our lives for our

good.

Once the clay is ready to be set, it goes into

the kiln, enduring much heat and fire. The

purpose of the firing is to remove the physical

and chemical water so that the piece can be

glazed without returning to mud and

breaking.

i

The fire is to bring forth the

impurities that could impact the end result of

the masterpiece.

We too will endure hardships, and it will seem

like we are passing through a fire too

unbearable to take, BUT GOD! This is

where our reassurance of being His must

come into effect. If we do not capitalize on

the love He has for us, we will crumble. We

must recognize that even in the depths of our

hardship, God never takes His eyes off of us.

God, who is good, doesn’t cause bad and

destruction within our lives. This would go

against His character. He is not the God of

death, but the Author of Life. He came so

we could have life in Him. Many today have

very skewed thinking about God. I believe

He is looking to dismantle the falsehood

about Him and replace it with His truth.

Personally speaking, I went through a season

with God early on in my walk with Him. I had

a false perception about Him. I thought

God was punishing me for my past sins when

I got diagnosed with MS. I did not recognize

the Father’s love that He had towards me. I

also did not realize the true meaning of the

Cross and the truth behind the works of the

Cross.

Just as the potter uses the kiln to remove the

impurities that could impact the development

of His masterpiece, God will use the

hardships of our lives to remove the dross

that is impacting our walk with Him and His

Kingdom plan. He wants us to be imitators

of His Son, Jesus. He wants us to display

the fruit of the Spirit to those around us. He

wants His love, joy, peace, patience,

kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness

and self-control to be at the core of who we

are.

Ephesians 2:10: “ For we are God ’ s

workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do

good works, which God prepared in advance

for us to do.”

Each of us is God ’ s workmanship! No

matter where we are in the Potter’s process,

we can seize one truth – He loves us!

When we rest securely in His love, we

embrace change knowing no matter what

comes our way, the Potter is in control and

will bring about His end result.

Written By:

~Melissa Pearce

Founder/President

Enduring Hope Ministries

__________

Photography by:

Abigail LaFleur-Shaffer

wildcornersoftheworld.wordpress.com

“As Jesus and the disciples continued on their

way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain

village where a woman named Martha

welcomed him into her home. Her sister,

Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what

he taught. But Martha was distracted by the

big dinner she was preparing. She came to

Jesus and said, ‘Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to

you that my sister just sits here while I do all

the work? Tell her to come and help me.’

But the Lord said to her, ‘My dear Martha, you

are worried and upset over all these details!

There is only one thing worth being

concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and

it will not be taken away from her’” (Luke

10:38-42, NLT).

Do you feel the pressure to always do more?

To be at every meeting? Host another

event? To bring an extra appetizer or

dessert? Is your house clean enough? Are

your kids well-behaved? Are you making a

good impression at work? What do people

think of you?

These can be the things that plague us as

women in our current American culture – a

culture that says productivity equals

worthiness. While these things themselves

are not innately bad, being consumed by

them draws us away from our First Love.

So I ask you this: What are you concerned

about? Getting one more load of laundry

done? Emptying the dishwasher? Running

to the store ? Catching up on emails and

phone calls? God knows you have things to

accomplish each day, but He has given you

adequate time to complete them. Jesus said

to Martha, “There is only one thing worth

being concerned about.” That is time

with Him. And He tells us that it will be time

well spent; and what we gain from that time

with Him “will not be taken away from [us].”

Try out these S.I .M.P.L.E. Tips:

1. Take a “Time Out!” Kids dread them; parents need them. Start with five minutes and a

solitary place. Sit still before the Lord.

2. The key is “quiet!” It is hard for us to be quiet. We want to do more and say

more…constantly. Practice being still. God just loves to be with you.

3. Keep your Bible, a journal, and a devotional in your solitary place. Read a verse or

chapter, or a page from your devotional. Write down any thoughts you may have about

what you read.

4. When your mind starts to race, give yourself grace. This is not about perfection; it’s

about being with the Lover of your soul!

5. Talk to Him. He longs to hear your voice.

God loves you, and He’s on your side! Take a seat and enjoy time with the One who knows you

best.

Written By:

Jamie Clawson

In one sentence, Paul tells the church of Ephesus that he prays that they’ll grasp

the fullness of God’s love, yet also recognizes that God’s love is beyond what we

can fathom. Despite the impossibility of completely comprehending His love,

Paul knew how life-changing it would be if we tried to understand and receive it.

Ephesians 3:17b-19 says, “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in

love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide

and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that

surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of

God.”

God’s love is wide enough to cover this earth and the vastness of our sin.

God’s love is long enough to span from “in the beginning” until the end of time.

God’s love is high enough to lessen our pride and nurture our dreams.

God’s love is deep enough to meet us when we’re in the pit and to heal those

wounds that we’ve buried within us.

God’s love is all of that and more! No wonder Paul prayed that the Ephesians

would get it! If we accept His love – truly receive it – we walk through this life

differently. We walk with our heads held high, not in pride but in confidence.

We see the hope that His love brings us in the dark times, encouraging us to

keep moving forward. We share this amazing love with others because we

wouldn’t dare keep it to ourselves.

Just like Paul, I pray that you’ll receive, be filled with, and remain rooted and

established in God’s love. Once you’ve allowed God’s love to fill you, I pray that

you’ll then share it with others. Continue trying to grasp His unfathomable love;

it changes everything.

In Him,

Katie Cline

Generation Hope

katie@enduringhopeministries.com

February is the month we celebrate the feast

of St. Valentine. There were at least two

Valentines who were martyred in the first

three centuries of the church. Valentine of

Terni, (the one that has the celebration on

February fourteenth, the day of his

martyrdom), was a priest near Rome in the

third century. He was known to have

performed wedding ceremonies for soldiers

of the Roman army. This was very much

against the law and most likely one of the

charges for which he was martyred.

It is said that during his imprisonment, the

daughter of his jailer was healed of blindness.

In his final letter to the young girl, he wrote

the first valentine, signing it, “your Valentine.”

In his letter to the church before his death, he

sought to … "remind them of God's love and

to encourage them to remain faithful

Christians."

With this beautiful history of St. Valentine, it is

difficult transitioning to our modern age where

love is the most abused word in modern

language. Valentine gladly offered his life

because of his love for Jesus and the people

he served. Today love is used for anything

from an attraction to ethnic food, i.e. “ I just

love Mexican food…” to our deepest feelings

for another. Our culture has rendered the

word love into a confusing gibberish of

meaninglessness.

Consider this. First, and foremost, love is a

choice, not an emotion. Emotions are

evoked, not commanded; yet Jesus

commanded us to love one another just like

He loved us. In John 13:34-35 we read, “A

new commandment I give to you, that you

love one another, even as I have loved you,

that you also love one another. By this all

men will know that

you are My

disciples, if you

have love for one

another.”

If love is a choice,

then it is possible.

It is not easy, but it

is possible. If love

depends on us, it

will not be possible. Our ability to properly

love comes on our surrendering our wills and

our lives over to the care of God.

There are two passages that lay a foundation

for what real love is. In his letter to the

Corinthians, Paul writes about love. Among

other things, he tells us that love survives

faith and hope. Why is that? Long after faith

becomes a reality and what we hope for has

been seen, we will always have love. Long

after hope is fulfilled In the presence of God,

love will still be the essential element of our

lives. Love will last forever!

The other passage is Galatians 5:22-23, But

the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,

patience, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness,

23

gentleness, self-control;

against such things there is no law.

There are two things to notice here; the words

is and fruit are both singular. That means they

refer to one thing,

yet there are nine

things listed.

Perhaps there is

only one fruit and

the other eight on

the list are merely

descriptions of the

first – love.

These qualities do

not just appear in us right after we become

Christ followers. They are called fruit; it takes

time for fruit to grow. Our daily walk with

God – listening to Him by reading the Bible

and talking to Him during the day (prayer) is

what causes the love to grow. Love brings

with it a number of important and beautiful

things. Love is simply the Fruit of the Holy

Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, this kind of love

cannot grow.

Joy could be called the disposition of love. It

is different than happiness. Happiness is

often circumstantial or situational. When

I f love is a choice,

then it is possible.

I t is not easy, but it

is possible. I f love

depends on us, it

w ill not be possible.

things are wonderful, we are happy. But

when sickness, financial stress or job troubles

come, our happiness goes by the wayside.

Joy is the result of love being our choice. St.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13: Love does

not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices

with the truth; bears all things, believes all

things, hopes all things, endures all things.

This joy is settled in confidence. Love is a

decision; as long as I decide to follow my

Lord, I will love. I don ’ t have to worry about

what anyone says about me. I can rejoice in

truth; that Spirit- grown love will support me to

bear all things. The Spirit- grown love will

have faith to call those things that are not as

though they were (Romans 4:17). I don ’ t

have to worry about anything but my

commitment to Jesus Christ to follow Him.

Nothing man can do will affect my joy.

Peace can be said to be love ’ s character.

Again, in 1 Corinthians 13, we see that love

is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love

does not brag and is not arrogant, does not

act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is

not provoked, does not take into account a

wrong suffered. Love is peaceful because it

is always content to let others make their own

choices and leave the results up to God. I am

not responsible for what they choose to do; I

am responsible to love them whatever

decision they make. I do not have to approve;

I have to love. It takes so much stress off

when we decide that we are not God. We

cannot control the whole neighborhood. In

fact, if we were honest, we would say it ’ s

pretty hard to control ourselves.

Love is patient. Patience is love under

pressure. Paul will tell us that in 1 Corinthians

13:4. In the original language the word was

mak-roth-oo-meh'-o; to be long spirited, that

is, (objectively) forbearing or

(subjectively) patient:—bear (suffer) long, be

longsuffering, have (long) patience, be

patient, patiently and leniently endure. When

patience has run out, love steps in.

Love is kind. Kindness is the temperament

of love. Love acts benevolently or literally in

“goodwill.” This kindness is not an act; it is a

sincere attitude of goodwill to all. Kindness is

the nature of love. It is the communication of

God’s love even to those who dislike us.

Goodness is the core of love. The Spirit-born

fruit is saturated with goodness. The word

also means moral excellence or usefulness.

Goodness is not the trait of the fruit bearer; it

is the core.

Faith is love ’s motivator. It is love ’s moral

conviction, the absolute dependence on

Christ Jesus for salvation. Love is also

faithful.

The Spirit-grown love is gentle. The main

characteristic of Jesus was His gentleness.

He had time for children, the sick, the weak,

and the disenfranchised.

The self-control of love is the attitude toward

itself. Persons of self-control do not want to

disgrace themselves, their families, etc.

In our celebration of the death of St Valentine,

let us allow the Holy Spirit to grow in us the

“real thing;” that is – the agape love that is

grown in us by God’s Holy Spirit.

Written by:

Pastor Chuck Hamby

As we begin this month, February, let’s take

the time to remember those we love and to

express that love to each person in a special

way. Perhaps it will be a dinner

engagement or a box of chocolates that we

indulge in. Whatever it is, we ‘remember’

the ones we love.

While pondering and asking the Lord what He

wants us to ‘remember’, my thoughts took me

back to ‘remembering’ the Greatest

Commandment that we, as believers, have

been given. I recalled that commandment

has two parts, and the Holy Spirit reminded

me of this scripture, as the Pharisees were

testing Jesus with this question, asking,

“ Teacher, which is the greatest

commandment in the Law?” Jesus then

replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your

heart and with all your soul and with all your

mind. This is the first and greatest

commandment. And the second is like it:

“Love your neighbor as yourself. All the

Law and the Prophets hang on these two

commandments” (Mt. 22: 36-40).

As I sat meditating on this scripture, I noticed

that the love that Jesus was asking for from

us was all of us – all of our heart, all of our

soul, and all of our mind. This deep love

that He requires is from all of us, indicating

every part of us. Then if we live our lives as

this, every commandment, stems from this.

This is why it’s the first and greatest! This is

why love is the most excellent way…it’s

actually the only way…because He is ‘The

Way.’ ‘The Truth’ and ‘The Life.’

As we ask the Lord to help us love others as

ourselves…it really begins with our ‘First

love’…It has often been said that “One never

forgets their ‘first love.’” Scripture tells us

that “ We love because He first loved us”

(1 John 4: 9).

Is Jesus Christ our first love? As we “first

love” Him, that love will enable us to love our

neighbor because when we are in a ‘love

relationship’ with Jesus, that love poured out

in us will be then be poured out through us, to

others.

As believers, all of our deeds, hard work, and

perseverance are measured by our love –

first love for the Lord. For when He

addressed the Church in Ephesus, He clearly

saw all of their deeds and hard labor, yet He

said, “…I hold this against you: You have

forsaken your first love” (Rev. 2: 4). May

that never happen with us!

In Summary: It is only that pure Agape love

which is poured out to us through the Holy

Spirit, that can enable us “to love,” because

He first loved us. As we forsake everything

that is first in our lives, and place Him first -

our First Love, Jesus Christ - then and only

then will we be able to carry out the first and

second commandment…For these two were

always meant to be together!

Simply put, if we love the Lord with all of us,

or with every fiber of our being, we will love

others too. His love flows from us, for it was

never meant to be contained or withheld.

Loving Him and loving others was never

intended to be separated…For the entire law

hangs on this! This love even activates the

spiritual gifts! Everything we do should

reflect this love - His love - which is

unconditional, unselfish, not proud, not

self-seeking, and keeps no record of wrongs.

For if we “ …Give all we possess to the poor

and surrender our body to the flames, but

have not love, we gain nothing” (1 Cor. 13:3).

Let’s make it our goal, to ‘gain love’…by

nurturing that love relationship, by spending

time with Him. For if we gain love, His love,

we have gained everything!

In the Precious Love of the Lord,

~Mary Beth Pecora