It's Hard to Have a Mouse-free House: But With God All Things Are Possible - Softcover

Stewart, Mary Ellen

9780984491605: It's Hard to Have a Mouse-free House: But With God All Things Are Possible

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0984491600 ISBN 13: 9780984491605

Publisher: Christian Small Pub Assoc, 2010

As Christians, we sometimes feel overwhelmed and discouraged about the various problems in our lives. Instead of trusting God the way we should, we often wind up berating ourselves and despairing over our failures. The Old Testament tells us about the rights we have inherited as children and heirs to His kingdom. However, we are living in a world where Satan’s goal is to keep us from realizing our full potential and what is rightfully ours. In 1983, at a women's fellowship meeting, I presented the message the Holy Spirit had given me regarding the ten areas of discipline: worldliness, words, thoughts, pride, fear, unforgiveness, finances, health, prayer, and perseverance. Shortly after teaching that lesson, the Holy Spirit led me into a three-year study of the disciplines to facilitate my own spiritual growth. He showed me that: � worldliness, negative words, and negative thoughts are things that come against us; � pride, fear, and unforgiveness are negative emotions that come against us. When Satan keeps us in a negative mode, he can affect our finances, health, and prayer life. The good news is that God has given us a tool to help us overcome physical and spiritual battles: perseverance. Several years later when I was feeling overwhelmed and discouraged about various problems in my own life, I heard a message from the Lord: "It’s hard to have a mouse-free house. But with God all things are possible." He was reminding me of how a little mouse had sneaked in and violated my house for three weeks when I was away on a trip. As I meditated on the "mouse-free house" concept, I remembered the lessons the Holy Spirit had taught me regarding the ten areas of discipline. God was showing me that Satan violates our spiritual houses the way a mouse violates our physical houses. It was then I realized the Lord was compelling me to put His ten disciplines into a book for instruction and meditation. The ten disciplines are divided into four sections. They show us how to fight Satan’s barrage of tricks and traps that his forces use against us. They will help us develop and maintain a spiritual "mouse-free" house. PART 1: Negative Things That Come Against Us � The negative things that come against us are worldliness, words, and thoughts. Worldliness is anything that keeps us from fellowshipping with God. The section on worldliness defines the covenants that God made to help mankind fight spiritual and physical battles. God never breaks a covenant and His Word does not return void. However, through worldliness, negative words, and negative thoughts we get into unbelief and lose God’s blessings. PART 2: Negative Emotions That Come Against Us � All negative emotions stem from pride, fear, and unforgiveness. Pride originates from Satan, and it wears many faces. It stimulates selfish ambitions and leads to moral decay. It causes us to glorify ourselves instead of God. Fear violates our faith. Satan uses all aspects of fear to keep us doubting our ability to succeed in what we are attempting. Forgiveness is contingent upon an act of the will. Do we choose to forgive and forget? Or do we choose to let an offense stay alive in our spirit, wrestle with it from time to time, and allow old wounds to keep festering? PART 3: Battlefields of Life � The daily battles of life affect our finances, health and prayer. God’s Word teaches us how to have our finances blessed instead of cursed. He listed the blessings we would receive if we obeyed His commandments, and the financial curses that would follow if His commandments were not obeyed. Good health can be maintained by adhering to God’s wisdom and discipline. The body is a homestead given to us by God. The length of our life and our happiness on earth will be determined by the wisdom we use in the upkeep of our temporary home. Prayer is an open line to God’s throne. It helps us deal with the stresses of life. We use it to praise Him, seek His counsel, and enjoy a personal relationship with Him. PART 4: Perseverance: God’s Tool for Overcoming � Perseverance is the key to living in God’s disciplines. It is a steady heartbeat of faith. Not the kind of faith that is tossed about like the waves of the sea. All of God’s disciplines require that we polish up the tool of perseverance. This tool is necessary whether we are attempting a small feat or a large one. "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8). As we continue to practice these ten disciplines, we will develop the ability to walk in love. This will enable us to receive the happiness, health, and prosperity that God has wanted for us from the beginning of creation.

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About the Author:

Mary Ellen Stewart’s ultimate goal is to see more of God's people enjoy an intimate relationship with Him so that they can live happier, healthier, and more prosperous lives. Through prayer, study, and help from the Holy Spirit, she makes it her life's work to support God's desire to see His people walk in His 10 disciplines outlined in this book. Mary Ellen was born in Drumwright, Oklahoma, on July 23, 1926. Her family moved to Missouri when she was eleven. She married her husband Norman while they were both in college at Missouri State University in Springfield. Norman became a civil engineer for the United States Coast Guard. His tours of duty took them many places, including Alaska and Greece. Norman retired after thirty years of military service, and they made their home in St. Louis, Missouri. Mary Ellen’s activities included helping charitable organizations, teaching Sunday school, and raising four children. She finished her degree in secondary education when her first two children were small. She taught home-bound students in St. Louis County for several years. Norman’s death in 1988 ended their marriage of thirty-nine years. On a mission trip to Israel and Egypt, Mary Ellen met her second husband, Andrew Stewart, a retired businessman whose forty-three year marriage ended with the death of his wife, Ila. Mary Ellen and Andy now make their home in Chino Hills, California. They have gone to China, Russia, and Africa on mission trips. In 1994, they traveled by bus with Andy’s fellow glider veterans and their wives across Europe from Germany to England, revisiting countries the 82nd Airborne Division helped liberate during World War II. It was a time of sadness and healing for the veterans as they shared war memories. It’s Hard to Have a Mouse-free House: But with God all things are possible is a culmination of the many ways the Lord has impacted Mary Ellen’s life with counsel from the Holy Spirit. God’s passion to see His people walk in His disciplines has become her passion. She hopes to see more of God’s people enjoy an intimate relationship with Him before He calls her home. "Even so, come, Lord, Jesus!" (Revelation 22:20)

Review:

"Many thanks for remembering us with this book! It contains an immense amount of information on page after page. It is obvious that the author indeed, used every one of the 27 years (since 1983) to compile this book! It certainly was not written in a single setting or during just a few months, but give evidence of having been compiled, page by page, draft by draft, with great intensity and effort during the years it was being prepared. It is so thorough and comprehensive, so well-thought through, and balanced, reflecting considerable maturity, alongside excellent readership and composition. It reads very logically and easy to follow. Despite the variety of topics it covers, everything seems to connect and "hang together" in a remarkable way. The book’s content and coverage introduces the reader to the remarkable personage your mother-in-law is, and the great Lord and Savior whom she loves, worships and serves. What a blessing she doubtless has been to many, and now will be to even more, thru the pages of this book." The Rev. Dr. Dennis A. Kastens - Pastor Peace Lutheran Church

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