The Lifeworks Group, Inc.

By Chris Hammond Proverbs 31:1.   King Solomon opens the chapter by recalling instructions that were given to him at a younger age by his mother.   These verses are meant not for women to follow but rather for young men who are dating and looking to find a wife.   It is an older woman’s reflection and advice given to her son on the type of woman that is good to marry well before he becomes King. Proverbs 31:2.   The close relationship between Solomon and his mother is seen in these passages as she identifies him as her dearly loved son whom she devoted to God.   This further indicates that the name “Lemuel” is not a real name but rather one that is a familiar name only known to Solomon and his parents. Proverbs 31:3.   Bathsheba’s opening plea is simple, “do not waste your strength on women,   on those who ruin kings”.   Solomon’s time, energy and effort have been sorely misplaced and she is begging him to choose a differe...

  By Chris Hammond Bathsheba’s Background.   She was the daughter of Eliam (2 Samuel 11:3) who was one of David’s thirty mighty men (2 Samuel 23:34) and she was married to Uriah the Hittite (2 Samuel 11:3), a commander in David’s army.   However close her husband and father were to David, she was not known to David by sight as he had to ask who she was (2 Samuel 11:3). David’s Betrayal.   Despite the loyalty Eliam and Uriah had shown to David in his army, David does not return the same level of loyalty and instead requests that Bathsheba be sent to him while her husband was out at war, fighting for Israel.   At this time, David had already acquired several wives and concubines so he was not at loss for attention, rather his lust for Bathsheba took over and he committed adultery (2 Samuel 11:2-4). Bathsheba’s pregnancy.   Bathsheba becomes pregnant and all David’s attempts cover-up their sin fail, so he has Uriah killed (2 Samuel...

  By Chris Hammond Proverbs 31 has been touted as the picture perfect ideal woman with many women trying to accomplish all that is contained in in these verses.   It is held up in churches and especially Christian women’s organizations as an example to follow, a woman to become, and instructions on how to be the perfect wife.   But these verses offer so much more the just the ideal.   They are instead reflections of deep remorse, overwhelming regret, and sadness over what could have been.   So few have actually taken time to break down the verses and understand the context in which these verses are written.   By looking at the lives of the people surrounding the verse and their life experiences, the verses come alive and invite you too to reflect on the many lessons learned about your own life.   For once you have fully understood the context of the verses, than the true meaning of the verses becomes clearer and more powerful. The Boo...

By Chris Hammond, MS, IMH She was beautiful, intelligent, successful, witty, and cunning but at 29 years old, she committed suicide.  How could someone who had so much going for herself, who seemed to love and live life to the fullest, who had such a strong faith in God, and who gave so completely to her friends and work commit the ultimate act in selfishness?  No one would ever describe her as selfish; even those who did not like her respected her ability to give selfishly to others.  Yet she chose the defining moment in her life to be a selfish act and knowingly wrote about it in her last letter.  Worse yet, her death also meant an immediate death for her unborn child turning her suicide into a homicide.  For those whom she left behind it imprinted a scar so deep that despite all efforts to conceal it, it remains a permanent reminder of the fragility of life. There are some moments in your life that you can recall every last detail as if it were...

By Dwight Bain Do you remember the classic pop song that included the lyric - “Look at all the lonely people.” I sure do, especially since it perfectly described how I felt during a dark time in high school. I felt completely lost and lonely… literally like no one cared. Those negative emotions didn’t stop with loneliness… no, they kept sliding into more sadness and even pity. It was a deep hole, but thankfully my parents saw me sliding away and made an appointment for me to talk with my youth pastor, Dave Hurd. Brother Dave, as I knew him, helped me see beyond my loneliness and almost 40 years later I’m still grateful. God used his life to challenge me to climb out of that dark place and now I want to share with you the insight he gave me so long ago. My hope is that this truth would help you and those you love to not spend one more day feeling lost and lonely. Picture being in a pastor’s office to hear these words of wisdom that were life-changing for me. ...

By: Matt W. Sandford, LMHC What is self care? Self care means attending to your self – increasing and/or maintaining your personal emotional well being. An objection to self care that I’ve heard people say is that it seems self indulgent. This objection is commonly rooted in the Christian understanding that our calling is to serve and focus on others. There are, in fact, scriptures that seem at first to be in support of this viewpoint. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be serve d, but to serve , and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4  not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” Phil 2:3-4 There are actually plenty of passages we could reference to support this idea. But I want to consider a few other passages to help us to gain balance as to the intention of the passages on serving. “Whatever y...

By Chris Hammond, M.S. Ever wonder what the Bible says about sex?   It is filled with plenty of practical information about our daily lives including advice on love, money, wisdom, relationships, and work but what about sex?   Surprisingly, there are many verses about the matter and even an entire book called Song of Solomon written about it.   Yet not much is discussed in Christian circles about how God views sex.   There is much discussion about how other people view sex (just look at the titles of magazines at your grocery store), but few if any discuss how God views it. So after looking over many verses, it all comes down to a couple of basic ideas and here are the top sexual no-no’s in alphabetical order. Adultery is sex with someone who is not your spouse.   This commandment was given by God through the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:14.   Jesus expanded the definition in Matt. 5:28 to include someone who looks at another ...

By Chris Hammond, MS, IMH Writers, who write best, write from their perspective on life.   If you have experienced something traumatic such as the death of a child, been involved in a war or survived a natural disaster and you write about it, then chances are your writing will reflect the deeper and often mixed feelings of the event.   You readers are then more drawn into your writing because you wrote from what you knew.   Equally significant is taking some time to understand the background of an author before you read their work so the intended meaning becomes clearer. One such author is the James, the writer of the Book of James in the New Testament.   So before you sit down to read this very practical and short Book on Christian living, consider the following information. 1.        James (James 1:1) identifies himself as a slave of both God and Jesus Christ acknowledging both belief and devotion to Jesus. 2. ...