Iron Rose Sister Ministries

How many New Years Resolutions have you accomplished on your own? Not many, I’m sure.

Not only were we created to be in relationship, we were designed to accomplish many things together—as a church, as a family, and as friends.

The sheer number of “one another” verses in the New Testament is overwhelming.

As you look to the New Year, take a moment to share the Common Threads with a Christian sister. Let’s live out the verse to “spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Heb 10:24).

Yesterday was IRSM’s fourth Prayer-a-thon. People from all over the world joined us in lifting up prayers of thanksgiving and requests before God on behalf of the ministry.

I am humbled to be part of such a powerful group of prayer warriors. God is good.

If you look at the schedule of those who prayed, you will see a diversity of cities and support all across the Americas and across the world!

And that is the power of prayer! It is global, timeless, and far-reaching.

God is global, timeless, and far-reaching. And to be in communication with our heavenly Father does not depend on location, schedule, or distance. Each of those things is irrelevant to our omnipotent Creator.

As we are wrapping up our month of focus on Prayer this week, I would like to invite you to participate in the Common Threads.

The Common Threads represent the three parts of the Iron Rose Sister Ministries logo, and are a way to make any lesson personal and practical while offering the opportunity to pray over one another. The Common Threads are also a tool by which you can grow in your spiritual friendships as Iron Rose Sisters – to be that iron sharpening iron as we encourage and inspire each other to be as beautiful as a rose in spite of a few thorns.

I encourage you to share these Common Threads with someone else and offer each other the opportunity to pray over these things together.

Springing off of yesterday’s reflection, I invite you to share what’s really going on under the surface with a Christian sister. You can both have an honest moment in which you take off the masks and join together in prayer and support for one another.

The Common Threads are a great tool to facilitate that conversation and prayer time—with God and with a Christian sister. 

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” I’m not sure where or when I first heard that expression, but I know I was very young.

But what is the difference between success and failure? Isn’t failure merely a step on the road toward doing things better the next time?

A baby does not run a marathon immediately after exiting the womb. She falls down many times while learning to walk and later, to run.
An entrepreneur does not create a successful business without making a few rookie mistakes along the way.

Life is filled with failures. We are not going to do everything perfectly.

And these failures can feel like thorns that we wish could be removed. We focus on the negative aspects of those failures instead of recognizing the value they bring to our growth in our walk with God.

I am not talking about failure in the sense of continuous sin that we should repent from and allow God’s transformation to remove from our lives.

Rather, failure is a mistake along the way. We were walking in the light, but we tripped up or stumbled. Our best effort wasn’t quite good enough. We would’ve done it better if...

Yet, the thorns of failure can be a blessing. Just as thorns protect the rose and a part of its growth process, our blessed thorns of failure can protect us from pride and other sins that entice us.

I invite you to consider four blessings from the thorns of failure:

1. Failure makes us compassionate.
Guess what? No one else gets it all right either! We all have different gifts, talents, interests, and passions. It is okay to not be good at everything. We value other people’s contributions when we recognize their strengths and our weaknesses. We more easily forgive when we realize all we have been forgiven (Matt. 18).

2. Failure helps us learn.
Alfred asked master Bruce, also known as Batman, “Why do we fall?” The answer: “So that we can learn to get up again.”
Onesimus experienced this when Paul recommended him to his former owners after having been useless to them previously (Philemon). Onesimus had learned from his mistakes and grew, as a person, a servant, and a Christian.

3. Failure is only one chapter in the book of life.
“One should not judge the book of someone’s life by the chapter just walked into.”
God is a God of forgiveness and redemption. He does not treat us as our sins deserve. And He does not look at us through the lens of our failures, but rather through the redeeming blood of His Son. Our identity is not that of sinners, but as redeemed children of the Father. Yes, Peter betrayed Jesus, but that was not what defined him, because...

4. God is bigger than any failure.
The book of Genesis (or really the entire Bible) can aptly be subtitled “God specializes in working through failures.” He is best glorified through our shortcomings, our inabilities, and our missteps. He longs for us to ask for help in our weakness, for then it is His strength we rely on (2 Cor. 12:9).

Today, as we close out the month looking at our #walkwithGod, I encourage you to take a moment to thank Him for the blessed thorns of failure. And also, to take time to share in the Common Threads with a Christian sister, an Iron Rose Sister. Even if the failure you wish to remove is a sin, don’t let it define you. God is the God of second chances... Just ask Paul.

In every relationship, we have the opportunity to be transformed—for better or worse. Obviously, our relationship with God transforms us, but the relationships we have with our sisters in Christ also transform us. And the best combination of these transformations? Prayer: communication with God in fellowship with others.

I invite you to this double transformation and support through the Common Threads, as we complete this month’s focus on Transformation.

In every relationship, we have the opportunity to be transformed—for better or worse. Obviously, our relationship with God transforms us, but the relationships we have with our sisters in Christ also transform us. And the best combination of these transformations? Prayer: communication with God in fellowship with others.
I invite you to this double transformation and support through the Common Threads, as we complete this month’s focus on Transformation.

All month, we have focused on the topic of wisdom. And yesterday, we spent some time in personal reflection on the area in which we most want to apply God’s wisdom in our lives.

Today, we want to follow that same pattern, but in the context of community. Using the Common Threads, how can you put some of the wisdom we have discussed this month into practice? But don’t forget to share this with an Iron Rose Sister who can join with you in prayer and accountability—serving as iron sharpening iron, encouraging you as a beautiful rose in spite of a few thorns.