What are we doing?

As I prepare to speak to young girls today, I grabbed a few of my books and my notes from previous talks. I read over the pages and found that I am still so amazed and comforted by the message of purity and modesty. In my amazement, I suddenly felt alone. Not that I don't have pure or modest friends, most of mine are. But who is talking about it? What are we doing? We, as "older women" (Titus 2), have this awesome gift of knowing the importance of purity and modesty and we wear it so well! But how many of our peers know about this awesome thing we posses?

So I ask this question of my friends and other women of purity and modesty: What are we doing?

I am not saying that we all have to be speakers. But, we all have a voice in some way. Do our friends know why we dress the way we do? Have we shared the beautiful purpose of sex with those close to us? If this message is so amazing and it obvious impacts us enough to take it on, isn't it amazing enough to share?

I believe Purity and Modesty go hand in hand with Salvation. That's what I'll be focusing on today with the girls. As I have shared in previous posts, purity goes with salvation. It's accessible to everyone. And it's only through Jesus' purity that we can even pursue this precious gift.

I'll say again, as this is my theme, purity is not the absence of something....it's a mindset. Purity is fully accessible to every believer no matter their circumstances or age. Married, single, old, young, virgin or not. Every believer has access to it. Jesus is purity. Let me say that again, Jesus is purity. If you want to know what purity looks like, study Jesus.

What visual comes to mine when you think of Purity?
My visual is crystal water you can see through with nothing in it and nothing disturbing it (and I'm thirsty for it!). Purity is something that hasn't gotten messed around with. It's a clean undefiled state. Jesus said over and over while He was here and through His disciples letters that His goal was for us to be righteous. To the point where no one could say anything bad about us. Does that sound pure? Yeah it does.

The problem today is that we live in a world of the "past". We remember everything, and most of the time we feel enslaved to it. Isaiah 43:18-19 says "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!" 
Jesus is in the business of "new things". That's why He died on the cross, and that's why He rose again. To show us that He took our punishment, the enslavement to our pasts...and He showed us that we can rise again.

But all of this perspective means nothing if you aren't going to seek God. He is the one who makes us pure, He is the one who got rid of our past, and He is the one who makes us new.

The world is full of people who keep things to themselves, not encouragement to be better people is really flowing. We give nice pictures and feelings, but no one is sharing true stories of making the "new" happen.

That's where you come in.

People need to know about redemption stories.
People need to know about other people pursuing purity through Jesus.
People need to know there are people out there really caring about people enough to dress differently than a magazine cover. (and we look super cute doing it!)

You don't have to be up on stage to open your mouth. But no one can force the air to come out. It's up to you.

Idea's:

• Talk about modesty when you go clothes shopping with friends
• Talk about modesty when you walk around the mall
• Talk about modesty with guy friends, ask them what they think

• Talk about purity to your parents and what it means to them
• Talk about purity to your best friend and maybe even have some prayer time if either of you feel enslaved to the past
• Talk about purity with your husband, yes you, you're reading this..it's for you too...ask your husband what he thinks about purity and if Jesus is purity, how can you two be reflecting that (remember it's a mindset, not the absence of something)

Encouragement that gives COURAGE

What's that word in the middle of encouragement?? Courage.

Sometimes we face things in life, that can be as small as an attitude, and we need courage to face, approach and change those things.

Joshua 1: 5-9 "5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Right now, in this time of my life...with courtship being a current event, speaking and writing in my future, marriage in my future and the struggle to stay with the road of purity currently...I need courage. Courage to not only make changes, but to stick to my heart’s desire. Nothing has changed, only the pressure is getting more consistent. I have always needed courage, but we don't train for the same kind of tests in life, we train for harder ones we know are bound to come. Right now I am training and fighting at the same time. The fruit that is beginning to make an appearance is well worth it. New lessons, new things I'm leaning about myself, new ways to be a better person in this world, and new love I am tapping into. The fruit is coming. It isn't long now. 

I was talking to God this morning about what I have going on and what He wants me to do about it. He gave me a simple task to message someone on Facebook and that turned into looking at Christian Video's on YouTube by Jefferson Bethke which further inspired me to update my YouTube and Google+ account. Then, in an answer to my prayer God sent a friendly encouragement for me to get my name out there to the homeschool and church community. This Homeschool and church community that God has orchestrated in my life is crazy. People who have no connections in my life have connections to other people in my life and in my past. It's like God is making a Networking community just for me! Anyway...after being inspired and encouraged God took me to His Word for a little bit, and He started speaking words of encouragement to me during this time of trying to stay on the path...

1 Corinthians 10:12-13 "12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."

James 1: 2-18 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

9 Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. 10 But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created."

2 Peter 1: 3-11 "3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

God has prepared me for this very time. He has given me everything I need to get out of temptation and I will be stronger through the struggle as long as I keep my focus.

If you are facing a time of temptation, no matter what it looks like...God has given you the ability and opportunity to get out of it. It may not go away, but by persevering you'll be stronger than you were before. 

Take courage. You aren't that far gone. God is in the business of forgiveness and restoration. 

(If this encouraged you today, be sure to share it below. Share comments as you are inspired to.)

Love - quick truths for a better perspective

I wanted to take some time to write a quick post about "love" seeing as we are in the weekend of Valentine's Day. I don't know if this is a holiday you celebrate, or what. But that is not the point.
I have this blog as a tool for communicating the things God puts on my heart to people from wherever. It is a great opportunity and I am blessed by today's technology to be able to do this.

I have been through a lot in my short life dealing with love. I say dealing with because with emotional love it is something to be dealt with. It gets you and just attacks, and sometimes it's bite makes you a little loopy to the realities of life. I know this because I have been bitten by the emotional love bug. It feels great at first. Like with my first emotional relationship, I was 18 and I was so infatuated with a guy. It was definitely infatuation because I had no truth behind my feelings. Him and I barely talked about anything but our feelings. To this day, I don't even know what we talked about for hours. Seems like such a waste of time now. I thought I would die if I didn't love him. Then he moved and the relationship abruptly ended. I was completely emotional for months! A good way to know how you view something is how you respond when you loose it. I was complete emotionally enslaved to this love bug. Now I realize that the love I thought I had for him, had nothing to do with him, it had everything to do with me and my fantasy of who I made him to be in my head. I was infatuated with a dream. And I was completely set on marrying that dream.

It is so important for us human beings to have the right perspective on things. We are surrounded by deceptions, dreams and fantasies all of the time. The TV is full of lies and all it is doing is feeding our curiosity. Hmmm, I probably sound like someone who doesn't watch TV....well, I'm not, I actually watch TV a lot. But I can say, from someone who does watch it a lot, it is very hard to keep the right perspective while filling my mind with lies.

But how do we keep the right perspective and still be living "in" the world. I don't really know exactly. But all I can go off of is what God's Word says. Taking captive our thoughts to make them obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). Not putting ourselves in temptation. Not leaning on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). Filling our hearts with things that are true and live giving. What does that mean for you? Is God convicting you to turn off the TV? Is Facebook a place of fantasy for you?

Some people sadly see the Word of God or God Himself as some ruler that makes everyone bow down to Him while asking them live up to unreal standards. Sadly, they have gotten this idea from man's own mouth. The moment we tried to take over God's show we messed it up. We are humans full of flaws, and that's okay, but we shouldn't be pretending to be God. Using His Word as a tool and guideline for our lives is what we need to be focused on. Not using Him for our own gain. It will never work, He is God and we aren't.

My goal with this blog is to spur people on to seek God out for themselves. I share my experiences and what God says to me, and I pose questions which hopefully spur you on to seek God out and live fully for Him. My inspirations mean nothing if you, the reader, aren't taking it deeper.

John 3:16 is a favorite to quote in the Christian community. It talks about God loving us so much that He came down as a man with the purpose of dying for our sins. It holds the bigger image of why Jesus came. But God was already loving us from day 1. All throughout the Old Testament we see God's love for us in the form of warnings. Yes there are lots of rules in the Old Testament, but they are not separate from the messages in the New Testament. We as a society see love as something that makes us feel good and requires us to give the same back to the person. But that isn't love. Love is in itself a personal choice. God chooses to love us, and He chooses to overlook our sins and give us eternity. He chose to have a plan for our redemption the moment we started sinning after creation. And he chooses to love people who do not believe in Him. He is a God with the full ability to kill someone in a moment, but even with all the people spitting in His face and pleading with Him to play show and tell, He chooses to love them and not kill them. God doesn't rely on emotions. He is too truthful and concerned to love us with something fleeting. Yet, we respond to Him in emotions?? Hmmm...and He still loves us. (I am so glad He is God and no human being is!)
The Old Testament's purpose was to lay out the perfect life of a person who loved the Lord. And in addition, it's purpose was to prove that we weren't perfect and therefore we couldn't live up to the standard. This was so that we would realize we needed help, we needed a Savior.

Now, this is how I see God's Word. I don't try to chop it up and put my own understanding on it as if I'm little miss scholar and can somehow figure out God. I know I can't. I am a simple girl who just loves God. And I take Him and His Word at it's meaning. So this is how I see the Word of God. I do believe the way I see His Word as truthful and can be tested with scripture. But don't live off of my perception of God's Word, go study it for yourself.

The Old Testament has to be a part of our personal study especially when we are looking at Christ, because God laid out the red carpet for Christ with the Old Testament. 1) With sin started in Genesis 2) With the rebellion of the Israelite's 3) With us not being able to be righteous on our own. We realized our need for Jesus because of the Old Testament. And now with Jesus, we can look at the Old Testament as a friend. As a guidance. The sacrifices are paid for by the blood of Jesus, and now through Him we can be righteous. We still have a flesh, and sin, and the world which is full of those deceptions and fantasies. But we can get better because we have a great Savior, and a guide book that is 52 books long. There's so much in it!

So what does this all mean in "love"?
Where is your love coming from?
It should be from the perspective of God's love being consistent and true and beneficial. It should be from knowing no matter what the ruler of the universe who has been there all along, throughout all of history has made a way for you to be a righteous person. His Word has been given to you for a purpose, so that you could rely on it. This world is full of immediate satisfaction. We are a world of having to see and touch everything. God understands that. So He sent His Words down to us and through much work of people who loved God before us we have it in the form of a book, accessible to almost everyone!
Love is not about us. It's about God. He created it. He's the One who uses it properly. He is the One who teaches it to us. He's the reason we are on earth. And the sooner we see that and love it out....others will learn to love with a proper perspective too. We won't fix the world, Jesus will always be needed, but we as individuals can be a better representation of God's love and stop trying to be God.

Don't take my word for it....go study...
:)

Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)

"Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)

"You call me out upon the waters The great unknown where feet may fail And there I find You in the mystery In oceans deep My faith will stand And I will call upon Your name And keep my eyes above the waves When oceans rise My soul will rest in Your embrace For I am Yours and You are mine Your grace abounds in deepest waters Your sovereign hand Will be my guide Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me You've never failed and You won't start now So I will call upon Your name And keep my eyes above the waves When oceans rise My soul will rest in Your embrace For I am Yours and You are mine Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders Let me walk upon the waters Wherever You would call me Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander And my faith will be made stronger In the presence of my Savior[x6] I will call upon Your Name Keep my eyes above the waves My soul will rest in Your embrace I am Yours and You are mine"

This song is one of those favorites spreading across churches like wild fire. But I'm curious if anyone is really hearing it? Really singing it? Really living it?

I asked this question of myself as I played this song for the 5th time in a week. Was I really asking this of God? Was my heart singing this? Not my emotional heart, but my CORE. The heart of my being that pumps life into my veins. Was this song screaming from my veins? Was I completely surrendered to the message it communicated? At the time, the answer was no.

After some time I realized I liked the idea of the song. I liked the pretty picture is painted of a life fully devoted to God, but I wasn't living that life. 

I didn't have trust without borders. At the time I questioned my trust just because my boyfriend didn't have a better paying job.

I didn't say "let me walk upon the waters WHEREVER you would call me". I was telling God I would only go as far as still having money in my savings. I would only go as far as only getting recognized for my service at church. I told Him I would only go as far as my Dad not losing his job. I told Him. I told God. 

I didn't want Him to take me deeper than my feet could ever wander. That scared me. I couldn't control the waters under there. I wasn't in control under there. Deeper? Wouldn't that mean I'd be drowning?? If I go deeper than I can wander, that means I can't wander. Don't I deserve the freedom to decide if I want to wander or not??? 

Then, it hit me...

AND MY FAITH WILL BE MADE STRONGER, IN THE PRESENCE OF MY SAVIOR

I remembered what it was like to be in the "presence of my Savior"....I ran there once...once when I was completely broken...once when my heart craved letting go in my Savior's arms. Once, when I wasn't distracted. Once, when He was the love of my life. Once, when I didn't care what happened to me, as long as I had Him, I could do anything. Once, when I almost lost my Dad. Once, when I had to be strong for my Mom. Once, when the love of my life saw fit to give me what I didn't dare ask for...my Dad's life. Once, when I didn't pray for Dad to be healed. Once, when I didn't ask God to make him live. Once, when my trust in God did not lean on my own understanding...it leaned on God...the God above this earth....above the things we count as important. God was calling me out on the waters again, to make my faith stronger. 

I write this blog post from the Ocean. Resting in His embrace. For I am His, and, a wonderful thing I can't wrap my head around...He is mine. He's stretching out my boarders of trust, He's pulling me deeper into His Ocean farther than my feet can even think of wandering. He's calling me out upon the waters.

I don't know who else feels the depth of this song with their core like I do now. I know what it's like to feel it with emotions, and I know what it's like to feel it with my core. They are very different. Emotions don't change us, they just add to what’s already there. But when something speaks to your core, and pumps through your veins...it changes you. It VISUALLY LITERALLY changes you!!! A change other people can SEE. It forces you to follow God, abandoning EVERYTHING you have for the sake of the Lord's calling. I don't care who you are, but if you are the same person as yesterday, you are not allowing God to speak to your CORE. You are only allowing Him to speak to your emotions just enough to make you feel good and maybe even prompt you to say hi to someone at the grocery store. But you are not allowing Him to speak to your CORE if you are going to the same grocery store and buying the same food (figuratively). God changes us drastically in every single little thing we do when we let Him into our CORE. When we are willing to abandon every logical thought for His sake.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love God, who have been calling according to His purpose" Romans 8:28

God has good things. Abandoning logic does not mean what you do won't be logical. Instead, it will be even more logical because it will come from God, the creator of logic and order.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight" Proverbs 3:5-6

Leaning on our own understanding does not work with trusting God...

"For though we live in the world we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Take captive your emotions...your thoughts....are you really truly obeying the Lord? How do you know? What does God ask His children to do? READ THE WORD AND FIND OUT. If you read the Word already....READ IT AGAIN! AND AGAIN! AND AGAIN! Don't ever stop testing your thoughts to make sure they are agreeing with God's Word. You are never ever "safe" enough to not be taking every thought captive. King David himself was a "man after Gods own heart" and he even stumbled horribly. You lie to yourself if you think you are JUST FINE. "Just fine" people are under the deception of the enemy without even knowing it.

The message of this song...is SO deep and loud. But is your heart, the core of your being...tuned into the right frequency? Get it off the emotional frequency! And surrender everything to the Lord. He's calling you upon the waters. Do you hear Him? Are you ready to go deeper than your feet can ever wander? Where your trust is without boarders? Are you ready to make your faith stronger?

Call upon His Name, keep your eyes above the waves, no matter where He calls you...