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Reflections on the Beatitudes
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In Truth, It's All About the Baby
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SGBLit
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.” —Numbers 6:24-26, NIV
SGBLit Mission Statement:
The mission of SGBLit is to be involved in ongoing activities that bring honor and praise to God our Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit by living a Kingdom life in the natural world.
Our central mission is to write and share encouragement to read, study, and enjoy God’s word, the Bible, and to find a closer walk with God through both Biblical historical fiction and non-fiction for adults and children.
SGBLit, Inc.
(Shirley, Gail, Billie Literature)
Established 2022
See Blog (on top right) for More About the Formation of SGB Lit
About the books!
New Book
Reflections on the Beatitudes
Gleaned from My Time as a Missionary and a Student of God's Word
This Bible Study is a deeply personal collection of poems, reflections, and insights that I have gathered over years of studying the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5. Each chapter is shaped by my own journey of faith and my experiences as a missionary. Through definitions, commentary, prayers, and prompts for reflection, I strive to connect the teachings of Jesus to everyday life and spiritual growth. My hope is that these pages will encourage and guide you, just as they have helped me to better understand and live out the words of Jesus in my daily walk.
The Beatitudes are for all followers of Jesus, and thus the questions are geared toward ages from teens to senior adults. The questions are designed to provoke personal quiet-time thought and discussion among groups of all ages.
Excerpt: Reflections
Chapter 2
THE POOR IN SPIRIT
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3 hat does it mean to be "poor in spirit?" To be poor in anything does not seem to be something we would or should seek after. However, in this verse, it seems that Jesus is talking about one's own spiritual poverty. It means that we need to recognize our spiritual state. We are spiritually lost if we do not recognize our need and hunger after God. We must humbly recognize that we are poor in spirit and seek after God. Lord, Help Me To See Myself As You Do! Lord, help me to see myself as you do, Poor in spirit and broken all through. Keep me ever humble and seeking for you, Keep me ever searching to be more like you. W 16 Some days, I forget that I was so lost Before your Holy, Righteous Son paid my cost. I begin to think I can succeed on my own, But end that day with a mighty groan. Keep me poor in spirit, knowing it's true, "I can do all things" only through you! It's by your power, by your saving love, That one day, I'll see your heaven above. Many of the religious leaders in Jesus' day were proud and haughty. They felt they were better than the people they should have been serving and often looked down on them. As Jesus taught His followers, He wanted them to understand that, in order to serve and lead others to God, they must recognize and admit their own spiritual brokenness. They must remain "poor in spirit," so that they would not become proud and haughty, and so that they would continue to seek after God at all times.
Ponder
Today, do you recognize your own spiritual poverty?
Do you recognize that apart from Jesus, we remain lost?
Do you thank God for His precious Son and confess your sins and shortcomings?
Confess your spiritual poverty to God and thank Him for His provision for joining Him in heaven one day.
Teen/Young Adult Focus
Have you ever judged others for being “full of themselves,” having a “big head,” but you now realize you are the one who is “too full” or “big headed” in some way? What can you do to work on these attitudes in your own life?
The danger in becoming too full of ourselves is that we may "lean on our own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV) and mess up by using our own words or actions instead of the ones God wants us to use in an assignment to lead another toward Jesus Christ. Have you ever had this experience and realized only afterward that your plan failed because God wasn't in it? What happened?
And, have you gone back to try again after talking to God and waiting to hear how He wants you to go about it?
Solomon, in Proverbs 3:1-8, gives advice on how to 'wait on and hear from' God and on the promises God gives if you do these things. Look up these verses and list some practical steps you can take every day to begin this adventure with God (and on the promises God gives if you do these things).
Our Very First Book
In Truth, It's all about the Baby
We ask you, the reader, to imagine you were there when Jesus was born. What might you have felt, seen or heard? The stories take you to the birth of Jesus, and you get to watch as the events unfold in the lives of individuals who were there--the shepherds, the innkeeper, and others. This book is a work of fiction. My sister calls it Biblical historical fiction. This version is written for adults; we are working on a children's version! For now, we "read" it to little ones by "telling" the stories through the pictures. Once we are ready to roll out the adaptation, we will send out an email notice. You can subscribe below.
The Part I stories are about people from the Bible. The characters are developed from my imagination and woven into the original scripture stories. These characters became real to me and seemed to mostly write their own tales. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them. And even though some of the stories are a bit difficult to hear, there is always hope when one finds Jesus.
The companion stories in Part II are about animal characters and are titled “Dutimus,” “Sozo’s Tale,” “Bemacheval,” “Dutimus and the Baby Boy, Jesus,” and “Naba.” These come from the imagination of my sister, Billie Stultz, and go along with Part I. I believe these stories are a fun telling of animal’s tales about the birth of Jesus. After all, all of nature has it in it to praise God.
Shirley Farley
In Truth,
It's All About The Baby
Excerpt: Part I
The Good Shepherd,
I Saw the Angels
Contents Include
The Bible Story Characters' Tales
The Bible Story Animals' Tales
About SGBLit
This corporation was established in 2022 by three sisters. The name and logo is taken from our names Shirley, Gail and Billie and from Literature, our product. This novel, In Truth, It’s All About the Baby, is our first publication.
Thank you for checking out our website. We also invite you to visit our Facebook page at SGBLit Books – Shirley Farley. Both are still currently works in progress! These platforms will contain information on ordering books as well as plans for future projects such as audio and electronic versions, children's books and additional thematic Biblical historical fiction.
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26 NIV).
The old Shepherd sat near the fire, grief etched on his weathered face. His grandsons sat nearby, not knowing what to say or how to comfort him. The sheep were all lying nearby at peace and protected for the night. These were good shepherds and they knew how to keep their sheep safe.
The younger shepherds watched tears roll down their grandfather’s face. They were shocked, dismayed. Shepherds were known for being stoic, hiding their hurts and disappointments well. After all, they were among the most looked down upon of their people. They were considered dirty, poor, uneducated, and men who were good for nothing other than to guard someone’s sheep. They had learned from an early age to hide their feelings, even from each other.
Yet, here was their grandfather, leader of their clan, crying openly. They were frightened by it and wanted to ask why, yet were not sure that they wanted to know.
Then, as they watched, the Grandfather’s face changed. It seemed to take on a glow, and a look of awe replaced the tears.
Now they were really shaken. Grandfather was old, in his sixties. Very old for a man at that time, and yet just yesterday, he had seemed to be as strong and healthy as any of them. Was he losing his mind; was he dying? What should they do?
Finally, one of the grandsons spoke up and asked, “Grandfather, are you ok?”
The old shepherd sat for a few moments without answering and then said, “Yes, my grandsons. I have a story to tell you.” . . .
Excerpt: Part II
Dutimus
The Great Brouhaha
. . . Dutimus was looking forward to a quiet night and some well-deserved rest for himself and his small band of sheep herding dogs . . .
It was a good life but not a life anyone would have expected from his rough beginnings with the herd. The grandfather shepherd found him several seasons back as he wandered a bit too close to the flock in search of food.
The young Dutimus had been
in the caravan of a king traveling through to a distant land and
somehow became separated from his master. Lonely and afraid, the shepherd’s kind eyes lured him in that night, and Dutimus had been with him ever since.
The shepherd came to love Dutimus and trained him to become, quite possibly, the best sheep-working dog in the entire world. The night of the great brouhaha, as Dutimus called it, became almost too much for even him to manage.
It started with the brightest night sky Dutimus had ever seen. It was that one point of light, a star the shepherd called it. The sky was so well lit that he would not need to worry about any predatory animals sneaking into the flock. He felt his eyes getting heavy after he turned the reigns over to Liam, and then he heard it begin.
It was a brouhaha that began with sounds from the sky. It was not the normal booming sounds that came
with rain showers or the sound of birds swooping over, but a sweet and thunderous sound, something like the little shepherds when they stroked the box of strings or put the river reed to their mouth. Only this sound filled the whole sky, and it was beautiful. Every sheep turned in unison to face the things made of light that hung in the sky. He decided they were new birds, with wings holding them in the air and songs coming from them.
Kingdom Laborer, TN
One of the cardinal rules of biblical interpretation is “What did the passage mean to those to whom it was originally written?”. Your book does a wonderful job of adding some flesh to the contextual bones. It is, at the same time, true to the scripture and incorporates a special dose of spiritual imagination, which is a gift from the Father.
Thank you for sending me a copy. I am going to order one for my grandson.
M. Miller
Wolf Ridge Farmhouse Market LLC
Finished your book! It is beautiful!!! So thankful to be part of this book's journey!!
~~~
Wolf Ridge is sponsoring sale of our book in their local shop.
Check out their website:
wolfridgefarmhousemarket.com
They ship products!
A fav is the new "reading pocket pillow," of course--it's all about books and reading.
Sparta Expositer Article
From the imaginative minds of sisters Shirley Farley and Billie Stultz comes a fresh new work bringing to life the days, people and animals who surrounded the birth of Jesus the Christ.
In Truth, It's All About the Baby is a delightful read and a heartfelt journey through the old, old story.
Reader Reviews
Sparta Expositer Article
February 24, 2023
by Calista
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