Striving to Encourage

Love without Dissimulation

2012-01-23T10:29:00.001-05:00

Let love be without dissimulation.

Abhor that which is evil;

cleave to that which is good.

Romans 12:9

Let LOVE be without DISSIMULATION.

DISSIMULATION, n. L., to make like;like. The act of dissembling; a hiding under a false appearance; afeigning; false pretension; hypocrisy. Dissimulation may be simply concealmentof the opinions, sentiments or purpose; but it includes also the assuming of afalse or counterfeit appearance which conceals the real opinions or purpose.Dissimulation among statesmen is sometimes regarded as a necessary vice, or asno vice at all.

~fromWebsters Dictionary

So basically, if we break thisdefinition apart, dissimulation is hypocrisy. It is hiding something, or undersomething false.

Don’tbe a hypocrite… in other words… love. Don’t love conditionally… that’shypocritical… love no matter what…

Jesusdidn’t love conditionally. He loved us so much that he actually died for us… Hedidn’t stop loving his disciples when they betrayed/deserted him.

So… if you are gonna love, do itright… don’t not love people because they are different from you, or becausethey have done something wrong…

Does the Lord really have our hearts?

2012-01-19T21:15:00.004-05:00

He answered andsaid unto them,

Well hath Esaiasprophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written,

This peoplehonoureth me with their lips,

but their heart isfar from me.

Mark 7:6

Do we just say what God wants to hear? Or do we really meanit in our hearts? Is what comes out what is really in our heart?

We may be able to fake living for God, but not for long.Eventually whether or not God holds our heart will become very apparent. Havewe been hypocrites? Or have we really been serious?

God knows. He really does.

We say the right things, but do we mean them? We do theright things, but do we mean it? Are we living our lives to please God, or toplease others?

Are we more worried about what the people around us think?Or what God thinks?

Does Jesus hold our hearts? If he does, what others thinkWILL NOT matter. Pleasing others won’t be our priority.

Does HE really, truly hold our hearts? Are we willing to doWHATEVER he asks of us? Or are we only willing to do it if it is in our comfortzone?
Do we leave our options open, or do we “give God certain limits”?

I once heard astory of a man who was called to be a missionary to Africa, I believe. He wasmarried with 3 little boys. When they got over to Africa, his wife started toworry about the deadly snakes. In fact, she became so inconsolable, that hedecided to return to the States. So, they came back, and moved into a mobilehome somewhere down south, in the middle of nowhere.

One day 2 of hislittle boys were playing under their mobile home, and discovered a rattlesnakenest. They did not realize the danger they were in until they were bitten. Theman got his 2 little boys to their vehicle and rushed them to the hospital. Hisyoungest son was playing in thedriveway, and as he backed up, he unknowingly ran him over{killing him}. Hiswife was watching everything from the house, and rushed out to get her youngestson… As she was carrying him back into the house, she had a heart attack anddied.

The other 2 boys diedeither on the way, or at the hospital.

That day, this manlost his whole family… Why? Because God asked him to go someplace, and hedisobeyed, because he was worried about his safety…He didn’t want to stepoutside his comfort zone, even though God wanted him there. In the end he lost2 of his sons to the same thing he had come home for….Probably if he had stayedthere, everyone would have been fine, because Africa was where God wanted himto be.

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthyof me:

and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is notworthy of me. Matthew 10:37

Does God hold your heart? If he does, then doing Hiswill/serving Him will be the focus of our life. Does something else hold yourheart, like friends, guys{or girls, if you are a guy}, books, movies, internet?It will be easy to tell, because these other things will be the most importantto you.

God should be the focus of our life, and he won’t be unlessyou give him your heart…

All things work together...

2012-01-02T15:46:00.002-05:00

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,

tothem who are the called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

I have heard some people take this verse and try to use itto get their way. They may not be doing what God wants them to, but they are aChristian, and they go to church, so they think that God should make everythingwork for them.

It wont work out if you aren’t living in Gods will.

Sometimes we think that we know what Gods will is, but do wereally? If we are really open to what Gods will is, and really in his will,then HE will work things out the way HE wants!

The Virgins and the Bridegroom

2011-12-18T16:44:00.002-05:00

Matthew 25:1-10 Thenshall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took theirlamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

The ten virgins are 10people… The bridegroom is Jesus… The virgins are waiting for Christ’s return…

And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

Five of them were wiseand received the gift of Salvation... the foolish were unsaved…

They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oilwith them:

They hadn’t receivedChrist into their hearts…

But the wise took oilin their vessels with their lamps.

The oil is likeSalvation. The wise realized that they needed Christ’s gift of eternalSalvation, and accepted it...

While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

No one knows when the Lordwill return… We should not let that keep us from serving the Lord RIGHT now. Wemust live for the LORD now, later it will be to late.

And at midnight therewas a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

Christ is returning.

Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.

All of us need work…was always need work… we need to trim ourselves… trim what is excess, whatdoesn’t belong…

And the foolish saidunto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

The foolish wereunprepared…

But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be notenough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy foryourselves.

You can’t get saved,or make decisions for anyone else… Everyone MUST make their own decision.

And while they wentto buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to themarriage: and the door was shut.

If we aren’t savedbefore Christ returns, there will NOT be time when HE comes back!

Chastisement?

2011-12-09T08:14:00.000-05:00

Chastisement is hard. I seem to have ahabit of getting into more than my share of trouble, so I know exactly how hard it can get.

Chastisement can be as simple as yourparents giving you a reminder. Or it can be as big as God having to deal withyou.

I’ve been both places. I’ve had my parentsdiscipline me until they were almost ready to give up.

God had to deal with me when I wouldn’tlisten to my parents…

It wasn’t fun. I was sick for almost 3years straight. He also “took away” pretty much all of my friends.

But it was what I deserved, and it was whatit took to get my life back on track.

Hebrews 12:5-8, says

And ye have forgotten the exhortation whichspeaketh unto you as unto children,

My son, despisenot thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked ofhim:

For whomthe Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgethevery son whom he receiveth.

If ye endure chastening, God dealeth withyou as with sons;

for what son is he whom the fatherchasteneth not?

But if yebe without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

Now no chastening for the present seemeth tobe joyous, but grievous:

nevertheless afterward it yieldeth thepeaceable fruit of righteousness

unto them which are exercised thereby.

Chastisement from the LORD means that we are really children ofGod. At times I have doubted my salvation. I would think “how could I have beensaved and done that?”

Then God showed me these verses. A light bulb came on.

So that’swhy I’ve been sick.

I’m glad that I was chastened! It means that I really was saved!

*Please do notmisunderstand me. I DO NOT thinkthat everyone who is sick is being chastised… Sometimes God uses sickness forother reasons: to help people grow, or perhaps to help someone else to getsaved. Sickness was just what God used for me.

Pray for your Government leaders!

2011-12-06T08:12:00.000-05:00

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions,

andgiving of thanks, be made for all men;

For kings,and for all that are in authority;

that we may lead a quiet and peaceable lifein all godliness and honesty.

1 Timothy 2:1-2

In the United States, our government is leading our countryinto debt, and ultimately into bondage. We do not have good leaders in ourgovernment. There are a few who we “thought” were good, but we have seen inrecent days that even they have not fulfilled their “promises”.

We need to pray for these men{and women}. Sometimes we wantto get mad at them, but you know what? God put them there. God allowed them tobe elected, and that’s who is supposed to be there right now. True, it probablyisn’t Gods perfect will, but its what happened.

Pray for our leaders. It is they who will decide which wayour country goes.

peoplephobe?

2011-12-03T20:12:00.001-05:00

People: Humans.

Phobe: to fear

In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do untome.

Psalms 56:11

The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?

Psalms 118:6

Many times I have found myself wondering what a certainperson thinks about me doing something. At times I have went out of my way tomake sure I didn’t “offend” people.

Then I realized it doesn’t matter one bit what other peoplethink. It really only matters what God thinks of us.

Don’t be a people pleaser! God is who we should “fear”!

Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truthwith all your heart:

for consider how great things he hath donefor you.

1 Samuel 12:24

Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD,and depart from evil.

Proverbs 3:7

Be a Servant

2011-11-24T21:09:00.001-05:00

this post was inspiredby the book Being a Girl who Serves:How to find your life by giving it away by Shannon Kubiak Primicerio. {please note that I don't agree with everything on these links, or everything in the book!}

Being a servant means being willing to die to self.

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Getthee behind me, Satan: for it is written,

Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Luke4:8

So we should live to serve Jesus Christ, every single momentof our lives.

And he said to them all, If any man willcome after me,

lethim deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Luke 9:23

Living for Jesus means denying everything we want. It meansgiving up our rights. It means putting others first.

Serving means giving up EVERYTHING!

Thy Youth

2011-11-23T14:43:00.001-05:00

Letno man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity,in spirit, in faith, in purity.

Till I come, give attendance to reading, toexhortation, to doctrine.

Neglect not the gift that is in thee, whichwas given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.

Meditateupon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thyprofiting may appear to all.

Takeheed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself,and them that hear thee.

1 Timothy 4:12-16

1. “Let no man despise thy youth”

Most teenagers are immature. All they do is sit around athome watching movies, playing videogames, and surfing the internet. They arelazy, disrespectful, and totally unprepared for life.

Don’t give people a reason to despise you when you are ateenager. Christian young people should use their teen years to grow, not toplay around. People admire teenagers who work hard, open the door, say “yesma’am”, “yes sir”, because it is a rarity.

Don’t act like the “normal” teenager that people dislike!

2. “be thou an example”

Did you know people watch us? Non-Christians{even liberalChristians} watch us. The way we act could influence them in a good way or abad way.

Younger children watch us. Do you want them to follow abad example or a good one?

I know that I don’t want anyone to make my same mistakes.I try to set a good example, and if I make a mistake, I try to go back to thosewho were watching, and say I was wrong.

We need to be examples in many things

~ in word,

Are the words you use, words that you want others to use?

~ in conversation,

Are the things you talk about things you want others totalk about?

~in charity,

Are you kind? Do you treat people the way you want to betreated?

~in spirit,

Are you the same person inside and out? Do you doanything with your whole heart? Do you do it for the LORD or for man?

~ in faith,

Are you trusting only in the LORD? Are you an example ofthe kind of Christian God wants us to be?

~ in purity

Are you giving the appearance of evil?

3. How do we know what kind of example to set? {“giveattendance”}

~Read the Bible.{“to reading”}

~Exhort others. {“to exhortation”}

~Become firm inyour beliefs. {“to doctrine”}

So, I leave you with this…

“Meditate upon the

Second Chances?

2011-11-21T21:23:00.001-05:00

Did you know that Jesus forgave murderers?

And when they were come to the place, which iscalled Calvary, there they crucified him,

and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and theother on the left.

Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

Luke23:33-34

He did!

Did you know that Jesus forgave a thief?

And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying,

If thou beChrist, save thyself and us.

But the otheranswering rebuked him, saying,

Dost not thoufear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?

And we indeedjustly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds:

but this manhath done nothing amiss.

And he said unto Jesus,

Lord, remember me when thou comest into thykingdom.

And Jesus said unto him,

Verily I sayunto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

Luke 23:39-43

In Matthew 27:38 we see that these malefactors were beingpunished for thievery.

Then were theretwo thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and anotheron the left.

{Matthew 27:38}

To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

{Luke 23:39-43}

{The only way for the man to be with Jesus in heaven was forJesus to forgive his sins…}

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?

Be not deceived: neither fornicators, noridolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves withmankind,

Nor thieves, nor covetous, nordrunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

And such were some of you:

but yeare washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified

in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by theSpirit of our God.

Did you realize that no matter what the sin… God forgives? Godgives us another chance… every single little time.

When we ask for it, we are forgiven. There are no if’s. nobut’s. no and’s.

Go in the LORD!

2011-11-08T19:02:00.002-05:00

I will go in the strengthof the LordGOD:

I will make mention of thy righteousness,

even of thineonly.

Psalm 71:16

Not that we are sufficientof ourselves

to think any thing as of ourselves;

but our sufficiencyis of God;

2 Corinthians 3:5

My Best Friend

2011-11-01T20:34:00.002-04:00

~He lives in a place called Heaven…

~He lived here on Earth for only 33years…

~I have yet to meet HIM face toface…

~He lives in my heart…

~I talk to HIM all the time… {in fact if He were any of my earthly friends, theywould tell me to shut up!}

~He has been there for me.

Evenwhen I tried to ignore HIM…

Evenwhen I was mean to HIM…

Evenwhen I didn’t deserve it…

WhenI didn’t have any other friends…

Whenit seemed like everyone else hated me…

~He wrote a whole entire Book ofletters to me… {the BIBLE}

~He knows everything about me, andHe still loves me… {unlike many other of my so-called-friends}

~He knows what I’m thinking… {infact, HE knows what I am going to think BEFORE I think it!}

~He doesn't fail me!

HIS NAME IS JESUS!

He can be your friend too!

Lessons from King Josiah

2011-10-20T09:24:00.001-04:00

I heard a reallyreally good message in church last week. I took some notes, and I thought Iwould share them with you. You can listen to the original message over HERE!

2 Chronicles 34:1-3

Josiah was eight years oldwhen he began to reign,

and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.

And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD,

and walked in the ways of David his father,

and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.

For in the eighth year ofhis reign, while he was yet young,

he began to seek after the Godof David his father:

and in the twelfth year hebegan to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places,

and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.

Even though Josiah was only 8years old when he became king, he did what was right, and served GOD. How many8 years olds do we know who would do the same?

When he was only 16 {hewas 8 when he began to rule, and now it’s the 8^th year of his reign;8+8=16} he began to seek after God. He began to study and find out whatGod wanted him to do.

Josiah may not have had the word of God. We will see later that someone finds a copy of it, but his response tothe discovery kind of implicates that he may have never read it, or perhaps didnot have a complete copy.

Instead, he followed what he knew was right… He knew that his “father” David had followed and served the LORD, so hepatterned his ways after David’s.

When he was 20{the 12^thyear of his reign} he began to put what he had learned into practice, bydestroying the evil idols and high places.

Why did he begin acting on what he knew was right when he was20? Why didn’t he just put it into practice right away?

Numbers14:28-30

Sayunto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD,

asye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:

Yourcarcases shall fall in this wilderness;

andallthat were numbered of you, according to your whole number,

from twentyyears old and upward, which have murmured against me,

Doubtlessye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwelltherein,

saveCaleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

At age 20 we become accountableto God for the choices we make. We are responsible for making our owndecisions. We are then considered adults, and should not rely on anyone else tomake our life changing decisions. It is our responsibility.

Not only did Josiah tear down theidols and high places, but he also started re-building the temple of GOD. Hereplaced the bad with good.

While they were working on rebuilding the temple, the menfind a book of the law.

2 Chronicles34:14-19

And when theybrought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD,

Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law ofthe LORD given by Moses.

And Hilkiahanswered and said to Shaphan the scribe,

I have found the book of the law in the houseof the LORD.

And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.

And Shaphancarried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying,

All that wascommitted to thy servants, they do it.

And they havegathered together the money that was found in the house of the LORD,

and have deliveredit into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen.

Then Shaphan thescribe told the king, saying,

Hilkiahthe priest hath given me a book.

And Shaphan read it before the king.

And it came topass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent hisclothes.

Because of Josiah’s reaction, I think it is safe to say thathe probably was not familiar with this book. Probably Josiah did not have acopy of all of the previous written books. Since he knew about David, and Davidserving the Lord, we can assume that he had some of the BOOK, or some sort ofrecord.

When Shaphan read the Book to Josiah, he realized that thepeople have not been serving the LORD. He realized that he needed to work evenharder to lead the people back to GOD!

*Be active right now by seeking theLORD. Even if you are only 8 you can be learning God’s word, so that when youare 16 you can stand up for what is right, and when you are 20 you can step outand make a difference!

Be Courteous

2011-10-13T16:51:00.004-04:00

Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another,

love as brethren, be pitiful, becourteous:

1 Peter 3:8

And be ye kind one to another,tenderhearted, forgiving one another,

even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Ephesians 4:32

We are to be kind, and courteous one to another at alltimes… this means, even if someone doesn’t believe like you do… do not let yourzeal for what {you think} is right, overpower being kind when you point it out…

You don’t pour salt in an open wound… you don’t be so boldthat you hurt people. Even if what they are doing is wrong, if you salt them,you will disinterest them in the things of God…

Someone I know{I won’t even give them the benefit of callingthem a friend}, recently told me that I had to stop doing something that intheir opinion was wrong… they were extremely rude… {for some reason they prettymuch do not like me… unless I have a baby or something they want…} they didn’tgive any reason{um… yeah… so I just have to stop…}. Even though they didn’t saywhy, I know enough about them to know what they are trying to do… And believeme, if I went back and asked, I will guarantee you they couldn’t give me averse about why they believe it was wrong…

I on the other hand, can give you a verse that supports whatI was doing… If they’d ask, and listen to reason, I would show them… but no,they won’t because they are afraid of being proven wrong…

So anyways… not only did they not give me a reason, moreimportantly they were extremely rude… {and Ill admit, I was so surprised thatthey could be that rude, that my response was a little bit short… at least Ididn’t yell at em, like me wanted to…} This isn’t the first time they were rude, in fact for them, it is a regularoccurrence… and they call themselvesChristians. But they just brush aside the rude part and say its okay, because I“wont listen” to them and they have to point out my “sin”.

And these people call themselves my “friends”. I will notcall them my friends because I do not want to be around them any more than Ihave to… they say “you are who you are around” and there is no way that I wannabe like them. Not in a million years… no. way.

So… my point? When you are pointing out someone else’s “sin”or something that you think is wrong…

First of all, be nice. Be kind. Be courteous.

Second. Be able to prove yourself. If you cant- shut. Up.

Third. Listen to their side… they might just be able to makea point!

Think about it…

God really cares!

2011-09-23T17:14:00.000-04:00

But the very hairs of you head are all numbered.

Fear not therefore:

ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Luke 12:6,7

Some people think that God isn’t concerned about them. Theythink that God is so big, HE probably wont want to deal with their littleproblems… How wrong!

If GOD made it HIS business to know how many hairs you have,then he certainly cares everything else!

God cares about everything… big, medium and little.EVERYTHING!

Just some thoughts...

2011-09-17T20:46:00.001-04:00

For with God

nothing shall be impossible.

Luke1:37

There are NO if,but, and, or’s… Nothing shall be impossible!

However. Manytimes when things don’t go their way people claim that this isn’t true. It isalways true, because God is holy. So, if its true, then why don’t we always getwhat we want? Because a lot of times what we want isn’t what is in Godswill. If we are saved, then serving Godshould be important to us. When we serve God, what He wants is whats mostimportant. We will want what He wants. And what He wants is never impossible.

2011-09-07T14:05:00.000-04:00

“Confess your faults one to another,

and pray one for another,

that ye may be healed.”

James 5:16a

I am not a perfect person. In fact, I am far from beingperfect. I have many faults. Tons of them to be honest with you.

There have been many times that I have tried to notpublicize my sin. I mean, its between me and God, right? But it always seemsthat no matter what I do, everyone eventually finds out. Nice. Or not so nice.

So. I was contemplating on some things and saw this verse. Iguess it hit home. Whenever people hear about things I have done theyautomatically add that to my “bad list”. Yes, I have a “bad list”. And justabout everyone who I don’t want to know, knows about my “bad list”.

Ironic, huh?

So, after reading this verse, I decided to not hide thingsany more. I was worried about one particular situation at the time. I wasstarting to become quite good friends with a young lady, and I knew that sooneror later someone would try to get her to think bad of me, and they would use mywell-known “list of wrong-doings”. Infact, I figured someone had already tried it.

So… one day I told her. I had been rebellious when I waslike 10-14. She was surprised.(which told me that, thankfully I was the firstone to tell her about this.) I told her why I was telling her. And guess what?It didn’t make one bit of difference to her. In fact, I think it made somethings easier to talk to her about. Because she knew who I was.

So. Don’t hide things from your friends. I speak fromexperience, and it is harder to have them find out from someone else, who heardfrom someone else, who was told by someone else, who was supposedly around whensomeone else said something. So, be honest with them. They are there{usually}to help you.

The Deception of Pride

2011-09-06T15:22:00.001-04:00

The pride of thine heart hath deceive thee…

Obadiah 1:3

The crown of pride… shall be trodden under feet:

Isaiah 28:3

Lately I have really been working on my own problem with
pride… It has been very hard, but I finally realized that this was one of my
big problems…

As I have been working on this, I’ve had the opportunity to
look around me, and see that this is no longer a problem that can be ignored…
This isn’t just a problem in my own life… It’s a huge problem everywhere in the
“Conservative Christian” circle… somehow we have fallen into the mindset that
we are better than others…

Why?

We think we are better
because we are more spiritual… When we see someone who doesn’t have the
same high standards as we do, we jump to condemn them…

Just because someone doesn’t dress like we do doesn’t mean
that they aren’t saved… I know many people who I know are Christians, but don’t
dress like me…

Just because someone listens to non-Christian music doesn’t
mean they aren’t saved…

Just because someone uses a different Bible version doesn’t
mean they cant be saved…

Just because they go to a liberal church doesn’t mean they
cant be saved…

Many times I believe that these people are actually more
spiritual than we are… Why? Because we get so big in ourselves because we say are
“so totally sold out for God”. Are we really? I mean God died for them too… He
didn’t just die for those who are “conservative”… people who don’t have as high
standards can get saved and go to heaven too, you know!

We should know better than to be prideful… If we really
think that we are as spiritual as we say we are, then we should know that pride
is an abomination to God.

Pride is wrong, and that is where we are getting away from
being spiritual… Our pride is turning people away from growing in Christ…

I personally know someone who was otherwise open to our
views of the Bible, and other things, but when they were basically told they
couldn’t be saved because they wore pants, it turned them off… I know this
person is saved! I see the fruit everytime I see them…

Because of our pride, we are turning people away from God!

I will be the first to admit that I have a problem with
pride… I used to look down on people who didn’t believe as we do… I was wrong…
I don’t know how I ever got to be so prideful, but honestly, I believe that I
was just following the examples of those around me… I was totally surrounded by
it, so why was it wrong? Everyone was prideful, so wasn’t it okay?

NOPE. It wasn’t okay. It isn’t ok. It doesn’t matter that
EVERYONE else has pride… IT. IS. WRONG. VERY. WRONG.

The What-if's

2011-08-21T20:41:00.001-04:00

*This was written last Saturday, but Blogger was not working that day, so I couldnt't post...

For the past year and 7 months, I have had to force myself
not to think about “what if’s”, but today that kind of changed.

Today we were stopped in a back-up in town. This weekend was
the annual festival, so there was tons and tons of traffic. {It took one of our
friends almost 20 minutes to get across town (less than 5 miles)…!}

The car in front of us stopped, so we did too(umm… yeah.),
although it was one of those “dad, look out” slam on the brakes moments… (It
wasn’t really that bad!) But the guy behind us… was a totally different story!
Like close call. really. close. call. Then my dad turned on his 4-way flashers.

I looked out my window{I was behind the drivers seat…} about
2 seconds later to see something about 2 inches{literally!} away from my
window. And the van like moved, except we were stopped.

The pick-up truck behind us could not stop because it was
pulling a gooseneck trailer with approximately 6 or more tons of pellets on it.
Plus it was pouring down rain. {Like no could see out windows pouring down
rain.} So he miraculously somehow got over in the turn lane. Somehow. How, none
of us know. I mean.

Gabby said she almost screamed because she noticed the guy
wasn’t stopping. I guess she said the trailer wasn’t getting over as fast as
the truck had, so she thought for sure he was gonna hit us somehow.

I believe that somehow our guardian angels squeezed
themselves between our car and that trailer. Somehow the mirror on our van was
just low enough that it went below the bed of the trailer. Or maybe God picked
up the trailer, or pushed the mirror down.

The guy couldn’t stop until he was 3 car lengths past us.
When we drove by them the girl in the passenger seat looked like she was so
freaked out that she was going to be sick.

What if that guy hadn’t stopped? What if he had noticed just
a fraction of a second later that we
were stopped? What if his reflexes had been a fraction of a second slower? What
if he had been going slightly faster?

There would be 9 {or more} people either {probably} dead or
seriously {critically} injured. That trailer was so heavy that it would have
squished that truck, and our van, and possibly the vehicle in front of us, into
an accordion.

If that guy had hit
us today, tonight I would either be in heaven, or in the hospital fighting for
my life. And so would everyone else in our vehicle and the other vehicles.

So it got me thinking. I mean, I know I’m saved. I’m not
really afraid to die. I know that if I died right now I would go to heaven.
But, am I ready to face God? If I stood before HIM today, would I be able to
present him with crowns, or would all of my “crowns” be in ashes?

Have I really been living my life like I should have? Have I
put God first? Have I lived my life like I am going to die today?

The answer is no. I am still a sinner. Every day I do
something I shouldn’t have, say something without thinking, think without
praying…

I don’t always put God first. Sometimes I just want my own
way. I want things right now. I want things that aren’t always good for me.

Before I would force myself not to think about the “what
if’s”, I would think about things that could have happened…

Like-

How would it be
different if Skylar had lived? She would be over a year old now. She would
be learning how to walk, eating “big people food”, maybe learning her first
words. There would be a car seat in the van, a crib in our room, toys all over
the house, and baby clothes in the laundry.

But when I start thinking about all those things, I want it
to have happened… But it didn’t. It wont ever be that way because Skylar is
with Jesus. All I have are memories of how tiny she was. I have a memory of the
10 seconds I got to hold her tiny cold body. I remember the memorial service
where everyone was touched in some way. I remember her little tiny white casket.
The tiny hole at the cemetery. The headstone that is still in our laundry room
that a friend was able to help us get.

But I am who I am today partially because of Skylar. Her
death helped me to grown in ways that I wouldn’t have otherwise grown.

How would it be
different if the two other miscarriages hadn’t happened? {In reality, I am
really the oldest of 7 children.} There would be 2 other siblings. One of them
would be 11 or 12. The other would be 5, going on 6.

What if I hadn’t been
rebellious when I was younger? I probably would be rebellious right now, or
in the near future. I thank God that I learned my lesson then, and not now, or
later when it would be too late. At least I learned my lessons the easiest of
the hard ways. But, I was rebellious, and that’s what I have to live with. Even
though some people involved haven’t forgiven me, and still remind me of it as
often as they can, I have God’s forgiveness, and that is all I need. {It is
nice to have my parents trust again though!}

Sometimes thinking about the “what if’s” can be a good
thing, but then again you don’t want to be all melancholy… so pray before you
think about the “what if’s”, and if it discourages you, DON’T think about them!

Peer Pressure...

2011-08-14T16:51:00.002-04:00

A lot of people live other peoples lives because of peer
pressure. They wear other peoples clothes… drive other peoples cars… live in
other peoples houses because it’s the thing to do…
Everyone likes to be liked. At least everyone I know that is
in their right mind. To be liked in todays culture we must dress like our
friends… in all the new fads. We must drive the car that others decide is
ideal. We must live in fancy houses that other people ooh and ahh about…

A few years ago I was just like this… my friends wore
certain things, so I did too. My “best friend” {at the time} wore mostly dark
clothing… dark browns and greens, navy blue etc. So that is what I wore, even
though the colors made{still do} me look horrible. I talked their talk, did
their thing… played their game… lived their life by trying to please them,
instead of living my own life…

When I got right with God, I finally realized that it isn’t
important to change your life around to comply with the guidelines that others
set for us. In fact, many times its just plain wrong. We need to live our lives
solely and completely for God.

God made me the way I am. I can’t change that, even if I
want to, and seriously try. It doesn’t work that way. God made you the person
you are. He didn’t make me you, or you me. He made me- Me. I am who I am.

I am very girly, but at the same time definitely a country
girl. I love my nail polish, shopping, clothes, pink, etc. But I am not afraid
of hard, dirty work. {In fact I enjoy it!} However, I am not all one, like some
people think you have to be.

I am a very outspoken person. Many time that gets me into
trouble, because I don’t think before I speak, but when I do think before I
speak, my outspokenness can be useful. I am not the type of person to hide what
I am thinking. I will speak out if something is wrong. {Well, I’m still working
on speaking out to my peers… that is hard, right?}

At times my friends{so called} have told me that things I
like, and do are wrong… In the past I would have just listened because I was so
worried about them liking me. Not anymore. If they say something is wrong{they
usually go at it with “the BIBLE says”…} then they need to prove it to me, and
not twist SCRIPTURE… Unless they can prove it to me{usually they don’t even
try, cause they can’t…} I don’t worry about it.

GOD is the one I am worried about… Is what I say, what I do,
what I wear, what I look at, what I listen to, pleasing to HIM? Does it glorify
HIM? If Christ were to walk into the room right now, would HE be pleased with
me? This is what I ask myself now, not “Oh, what would so-and-so think about
“blank”?”. Nope, no more of that for me.

I’m gonna be
myself, but more importantly, I’m gonna let GOD tell me who I am!

Grandma’s Pumpkin Brownie Things…

2011-08-12T12:08:00.000-04:00

Ingredients
1-15 oz. can of pumpkin
1 box of brownie mix(or chocolate cake mix)

Directions
Mix together ingredients… Cook for approximately 15 minutes longer than the box instructs for the regular recipe, checking often…
Allow to cool before topping with whip topping, and/or chocolate candy!

Yummy!

God is always with me...

2011-07-20T15:47:00.003-04:00

And He that sent me is with me:

{God will be with me where ever He sends me!}

the Father hath not left me alone;

{God isn't gonna desert me like many people have...}

for I do always those things that please Him.

{at least I try to...}

John 8:29

* Everything in {brackets} is my own thoughts... =D

Thoughts on Matthew 5:44

2011-07-14T14:32:00.003-04:00

But I say unto you,

Love your enemies,

bless them that curse you,

do good to them that hate you,

and pray for them which despitefully use you,

and persecute you;

Has anyone ever been mean to you because you tried to do right?

Ever been called names because you are different

Ever been hated because... I mean just because...

Ever been used?

Ever had lies told about you? Like HORRIBLE lies?

Well, God wants us to forgive them, and not just forgive... He wants us to love them in return! Treat them like they never did anything...

Its hard sometimes. I know. {been there. done that. yeah. lots of times.} But we have to do it, and God gives us the grace to do it!

Digging Deep

2011-06-17T16:21:00.003-04:00

So, yeah, another random title! :D But really once you read it, I think you will get my meaning!

For the past several months I have had a lot of struggles. Things have been hard for me, but really I brought some of it on myself...

I finally realized that I was selling myself short because I was not taking enough time to read my Bible. I was reading it, sure. Actually I would just listen to it while I worked on something else.

I don't have enough time to just sit there and read it. I would argue with myself.

Then one day I was sitting on my bed, feeling really dejected, and discouraged. I knew I had to do something different.

So, I picked up a Bible study book that I had bought several months before, and started reading! I devoured a 172 page book in about 3 hours! And this time I was NOT skim reading. After I had read it I had a lot more determination.
Since then, I have really focused on putting GOD first. I will admit that I haven't done perfectly. But, God has really blessed me with a hunger to know more.

My Bible, Journal, and a Devotional Book.

Every morning, I try to get up and read my Bible first thing. I start by reading a chapter in Proverbs(like if its the 15th, I'll read chapter 15...). Then I read 1 or more sections of the book From My Heart to Yours By Glorianne K. Gibbs. For each day there is a verse, then thoughts on the verse.

So, I started to write down each verse, and my own thoughts on the verse. That way it really makes me think about it...

What is God's Will for my Life?

2011-06-17T16:18:00.001-04:00

What is Gods will for my life?

This is a question that I have really been pondering recently. I am 16; I am finishing 10th grade. In just 2 years I will ~LORDwilling~ be graduating. After that I’m not sure what the Lord wants me to do, yet.

Is it Gods will for me to go to college? If it is, should I just go to the local community college, or Bible College? Should I go to the Bible College that’s only in another state, or the one that’s on the opposite end of the country? What should I go for? Should I go to be a teacher, or for business or something else?

I don’t know the answer to any of these questions, but I need to find out. But I still need to be open to what GOD wants for me, not what I want…

In my Bible reading I just finished up the book of Deuteronomy. The children of Israel had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years because they did not accept Gods perfect plan. They tried to make a decision based on their own emotions, and they messed up the plan. I don’t want to do that!

“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred,
and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great;
and thou shalt be a blessing:
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
Genesis 12:1

Abraham and Sarah were asked to leave EVERYTHING… They had absolutely no clue where they were going. They went where God commanded them to. They were constantly on the move, but they always went when God told them too. Because of that God made a great nation of them.

God told Noah;
“Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. Genesis 6:14

God asked Noah to do something that to human thinking just did not make sense! I mean if I asked you to build a fireproof airplane, because the world was going to blow up… would you do it? No, because that’s crazy!

Sometimes, too often really, we think “You know what? God isn’t going to ask me to do anything that takes me outside of my comfort zone. He’ll give me something easy, or He will back up the plan I already have.”

That isn’t true. It is our job to be open to whatever God has planned for us. It is our job to find out, search the Scriptures, to find out what His plan for us is… Some of us are called to serve God right at home… others are called to the mission field, government, or somewhere else in our country…

What is Gods plan for you? God plan for me right now is to serve God at home… where my parents are. If I don’t do Gods immediate plan, how will I fulfill the role that he has for me later in life? Gods plan for me in the immediate future include continuing to work on my character, learning how to relate to people better, serving my church through my violin, helping out in our printing ministry, and just being an encouragement to people. These are just a few, but I need to be faithful in the little things before I am assigned to big things!

2011-05-19T15:08:00.007-04:00

Yellow for May! I tried to post like a week ago but i forgot my Mp3 player. AGAIN!

This rose is made out of wood.

Dont know why i took that one.....

This is a nekclace, if you cant tell.

Beads.........again!

She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.

Proverbs 31:19

and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Matthew 7:2b

Even though its a dandylion, its still pretty.

Oh ME of Little Faith

2011-04-25T16:00:00.000-04:00

“And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?”
Matthew 8:26

Lately I have found myself becoming discouraged way too often… I find myself questioning things that I shouldn’t.

Things are really busy around here, and many things are getting pushed aside for higher priorities… We are behind on school… instruments have been neglected for lack of time… among other things.

This morning I took my dad to school. (We only have 1 vehicle, and we needed it at home.) I was kind of discouraged, because I woke up at 6:30 with really bad cough, and a headache. On the way home I was listening to a c.d. when all of a sudden I realized that one of my friends drives to work on some of the same roads that I was taking home.
It was definitely a rather random thought, but I thought it would be kinda cool if I passed him. It sounds silly, and maybe it is, but… whatever. So anyways I was almost ready to turn onto our road, and I still hadn’t seen him. I was thinking “Yeah, I guess I didn’t really think that I would see him… oh well…” And just then he drove by… I think that God was laughing at me… Maybe? He was probably like “Really Hannah… Yeah right I don’t care about those little things. Yeah right, look at what I just did…”

I was ashamed of myself. God really started convicting me. If he could make just that little thing that didn’t even matter(it was actually kind of silly…) happen, then he would take care of everything else too.

Green Fun

2011-04-18T15:15:00.007-04:00

Hannah and I have talked about doing a color month of pictures. Why green? Don't know. It was the first color that came to mind. Anyway, here are some of my choices. I had planned on putting verses with some of them but I, in my haste, forgot to put the document on my Mp3 player. Oh well!

Hannahs rose plant decided to bloom last Monday, my birthday!

One of my birthday cards. Green seemed to be a popular b-day card color this year.

Maybe next time I should write down things I need to do!

Life is "like a vapor " use your time wisely!

Beads! Fun, fun, fun!

This project is now finished. It is a baby blanket.

One of the buildings in "Fort Timberland", a fort built with Licoln Logs.

Mount Graylock, Massachussetts

Again Mount Graylock, Massachussetts.

Whatsoever things...

2011-04-05T13:48:00.002-04:00

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Philippians 4:8

Since I was really little I have had very bad nightmares... A lot of times it was after I watched something rather gruesome or violent(like CSI!). I prayed and prayed about this but nothing seemed to change. Until this past summer I had not seen anything that bothered me for at least 2 years. So I was having the same nightmares of things I had seen 2 years previously.

Finally I was getting desperate... I mean who wants to wake up every other night crying? I'd cry myself to sleep... I wouldn't go into my bedroom at night without the light turned on, and for a while the light was at the otherside of the room. I was really frieked out!

Then one day my big brother mentioned that when he was desperate he finally decided to fast... ironically a few weeks later one of my friends mentioned that I should try it... So I did. And guess what?

I haven't had a nightmare for 2-almost 3- weeks! Praise the Lord!

Another thing that I have been doing is taking the above verse to heart. When I start to think of something bad I force myself to think of a Bible verse, or I start singing a song... God has been good, and I am especially thankful for my family and friends that encouraged me to do something about my problem, even if they didn't realize they were!

{Sunrise}

2011-03-14T14:31:00.001-04:00

One of the blessings of living in the country!

A little bit about me {Gabrielle}

2011-02-28T14:31:00.000-05:00

Recently, I was talking to a close friend and he pointed out the fact that I probably needed to learn to type. Right now I am making the attempt. If you are wondering why I haven’t been posting, this is the reason.

This school year I am working my way through 10th grade school curriculum with my sister and brother. The lord has blessed us with the ability to use video materials from Abeka Academy. For this years schooling I have been working through Bible Doctrines, Biology, English class containing Grammer and composition IV, vocabulary, spelling, and poetry IV, and world literature, Algebra II, World History, and Spanish I. My favorite classes this year would be World History and Algebra II in that order. Mr. Duby, World History teacher, makes history interesting and I like algebra because I like solving problems.

Around the New Year, our pastor preached about evaluating our lives to see what needs changing and
setting goals for the new year. This message really helped me evaluate my own life and point out things that needed fixing. I used to hate school and work. When pastor preached that message, I realized that both of those things are good and to hate them is a sin. I still have some problems but the LORD has helped me to overcome my dislike of these things. When pastor preached that message, I also realized that I was not making enough time for GOD. I was neglecting to read the BIBLE every day and to spend time in prayer. I hope this will help someone who reads it to evaluate their life and see what needs to be changed.

Psalms 19:14
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Psalms 150:6
Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Philippians 2:14
Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

Sisters

2011-02-19T10:18:00.001-05:00

At the Wellend Canal in Canada

We LUV maple sugar candy!!

{Music}

2011-02-15T15:37:00.002-05:00

For the past couple of days I have really enjoyed getting my violin out and playing with my brother!

I can finally play 5 flats!!
One of my favorite songs!

I got a vest for valentines day(from my parents!).

P.S. Drivers training is going good.

Photography from Gabrielle

2011-01-24T16:03:00.002-05:00

And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:12

{The Three Gifts}

2011-01-15T11:08:00.002-05:00

Matthew 2:1-11
(1)Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod
the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

(2)Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen
his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

(3)When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and
all Jerusalem with him.

(4)And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the
people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

(5)And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is
written by the prophet,

(6)And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among
the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall
rule my people Israel.

(7)Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of
them diligently what time the star appeared.

(8)And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently
for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again,
that I may come and worship him also.

(9)When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star,
which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood
over where the young child was.

(10)When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

(11)And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child
with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they
had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and
frankincense, and myrrh.

1. The gift of gold.

~gold is very precious, and therefore not commonly found. It is often
used to make crowns for Kings.

You will notice that in verse 2, King is capitalized. (King of the
Jews) In verse 3 king is lowecase. (Herod the king)
The wise men realized that Jesus is the King of kings, and Herod is
just an earthly king.

2. The gift of frankincense.

~frankincense was used in the Old Testament as incense (a sweet savor
unto the LORD). In the New Testament the prayers of the saints are
referred to as a sweet savor.

The wise men worshipped Jesus, recognizing HIM as God in the flesh.

3. The gift of myrrh.

~myrrh was often used in the embalming process.

The wise men acknowledged that Christ had to die. He would die for the world!

So. The wise men brought 3 gifts ~ money, prayers, and in a way their
lives. What have you given to Christ? Have you acknowledged him as
King, and given Him your life? If you've "given Him your life" have
you given him your time? Have you acknowledged that He is really
there, that He is your creator? Have you given money to His work? Or
have you robbed Him of tithes and offerings?

*One of my brothers preached a short message, on this topic, at one of
the care center services a couple weeks ago. I thought it would be
encouraging so I jotted down some main points, and added a couple
thoughts of my own.

Happy New Year!!

2011-01-01T16:56:00.004-05:00

So share your smile with someone that doesn't have one.

Its not wrong...because God made you the way you are!

Love from

Hannah and Gabrielle

God gave us FREEDOM, don't abuse it!

2010-09-27T07:55:00.000-04:00

Psalm 22:1-31

2010-09-24T21:16:00.001-04:00

{To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David.}

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? {Matt. 27:46} why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. {Matt. 27:45}

But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.

They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. { Matt. 27:39-43}

But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.

I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.

Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.

Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. {John 20:24-29}

I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.

They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. {Matt. 27:35}

But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.

Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.

Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.

I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.

For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.

My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.

The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.

All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

For the kingdom is the LORD'S: and he is the governor among the nations.

All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.

A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.

They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

Are YOU letting the devil have a foothold in YOUR life?

2010-06-16T10:33:00.003-04:00

listen to these messages to find out!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

These messages have been very thought provoking for me!

Messages are from libertygospeltracts.com

Know Your Hymns =P

2009-07-29T17:42:00.002-04:00

>>Dentist's Hymn....................Crown Him with Many Crowns
>>Weatherman's Hymn..........There Shall Be Showers of Blessings
>>Contractor's Hymn..............The Church's One Foundation
>>Tailor's Hymn.......................Holy, Holy, Holy
>>Golfer's Hymn......................There's a Green Hill Far Away
>>Politician's Hymn................Standing on the Promises
>>Optometrist's Hymn............Open My Eyes That I Might See
>>IRS Agent's Hymn................I Surrender All
>>Gossip's Hymn........................Pass It On
>>Electrician's Hymn...............Send The Light
>>Shopper's Hymn...................Sweet Bye and Bye
>>Realtor's Hymn.....................I've Got a Mansion, Just Over the Hilltop
>>Massage Therapists Hymn....He Touched Me
>>Doctor's Hymn......................The Great Physician
>>
>>And for those who speed on the highway - a few hymns:
>>
>>45 mph........................................God Will Take Care of You
>>65 mph........................................Nearer My God To Thee
>>85 mph........................................This World Is Not My Home
>>95 mph........................................Lord, I'm Coming Home
>>100 mph......................................Precious Memories
>>
>>Give me a sense of humor, Lord
>>Give me the grace to see a joke,
>>To get some humor out of life,
>>And pass it on to other folk.

Four Life Changing Messages.

2009-07-28T21:30:00.004-04:00

In the past few days the LORD has really been speaking to me. Using particularly these 4 messages;

Sunday School July 26th By Bro. DeVall

"Laws" By Brother DeVall

"Gods Enablement and Barefooted Leadership." By Bro. DeVall

Bro. DeVall works in the prisons down south, and his testimony is awesome. The last message really spoke to me about what I could and should be doing. As he was preaching God laid several things on my heart, and LORDwilling I will be acting upon my convictions. I am praying about starting a study with a friend. This next school year will be her first year homeschooling(she went to a Christian school), and I would like to start spending more time with her, and encouraging her.

This message is also about getting rid of your pride. I am ashamed to say that I need to do this! By "taking your shoes off" you are giving your pride up!

*Just a side note. I was not in the area when this was being discussed, but after church on Sunday I was told that someone noticed that we young ladies/ little girls had our shoes off(we were playing and running and flip flops don't go!) and jokingly told Bro. DeVall that we were taking his message seriously. =P I hope and pray that we really were!!

The Last one is one we purchased From S.M. Davis out in Illinois. It is called

"The Sin of Silence"

This message really spoke to me since I often have a problem with not speaking out. I reccomend all of these messages to someone who is really open to what God wants!!

My beliefs

2009-07-18T13:51:00.002-04:00

I gave you all an update yesterday so I thought I would post this.

*I believe God created the Earth in six days, and rested on the seventh day.
* I believe the Bible is the inerrant, inspired Word of God. I believe the King James Bible is the only true Bible for the English-speaking people, and that all modern versions are counterfeit.
* I believe Jesus Christ is the only way to get to heaven.
* I believe Jesus was born of a virgin and is the Christ, the son of God.
* I believe Jesus died for our sins at Calvary, and that he can wash them away and make us a new person.
* I believe Jesus Christ was beaten, crucified, and rose again in three days.
* I believe in the Trinity.
* I believe you must repent of your sins and be born again to get to heaven.
* I believe in unconditional eternal security. If you don’t show fruit, you were never saved.
* I believe each human being has free will and may choose to follow or not follow God, obey or not obey God.
* I believe in believer's baptism which is a picture of dying to sin, and becoming washed in the blood of the land.
* Christians are to be separate from the world, and not to be a friend of it or love it, because if we we love the world we are then an enemy of God. (1 John 2:16-17, John 15:18-20, James 4:4)
* I believe feminism is of Satan and is the opposite of God's will.
* I believe that Christian women(and men!) are to dress modestly.
* I believe that women are to wear skirts/dresses only and that men are to wear pants only. If a man wears the womans clothes (dresses/skirts) or a woman the mans (pants) they are an abomination unto God. (Deuteronomy 22:5)
* I believe women are to have long hair, it is a glory to them, but men are to keep theirs cut short. (1 Corinthians 11:14-15)
* I believe that all married women are to be keepers at home (homemakers) and I believe that the young ladies are to be trained to be homemakers. (Titus 2:5)
* I believe in betrothal instead of courtship or dating.
* I do not believe in sending Christian children to public school but I believe in homeschooling them.
* I believe that families are to let God control the amount of children they have.
* I believe that Christians are to listen to Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs. Any music that is not that caters to the flesh, and is wrong!

Prayer for the House of Rep – June 10, 2009

2009-07-12T15:15:00.001-04:00

Read more about it HERE!!
Praise God that someone is not ashamed to Stand up and say the truth!!

Our gracious Heavenly Father, we come before You today because we have nowhere else to go. For You are the true and living God. You are the Maker of Heaven and Earth. You are the sustainer of man and all that we are or ever will be. You are the only real HOPE for our nation and our commonwealth. We come before You in this grand hall, before the important and the powerful, in complete humility and brokenness because Your holiness consumes our failings, reveals our iniquities and lays bare all of our unrighteousness.

We come to ask Your forgiveness and seek Your help and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that's exactly what we've done. We have ignored Your spiritual compass and have tried to guide our paths with our own values, desires and indulgences.

§ We confess that we have mocked the absolute truth of Your Word and called it relativism.

§ We have worshipped other gods, failing to acknowledge You alone and called it multi-culturalism.

§ We have exploited the poor and naïve; and called it the lottery.

§ We have made excuses for the law breaker and called it tolerance.

§ We have demeaned the law keepers and called it politically correct.

§ We have neglected our neighbor and called it self-preservation.

§ We have rewarded laziness, irresponsibility and called it welfare.

§ We have killed our unborn and called it a choice.

§ We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

§ We have neglected to discipline our children and called it releasing their creativity.

§ We have abused power, been party to back room dealing and even hoped for our colleagues down fall and called it political savvy.

§ We have squandered our resources and paid back favors with taxpayer’s funds and called it a stimulus.

§ We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

Search us O God and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.
Guide and bless these men and women, who have been sent here by the people of Pennsylvania, and who Your Holy Word calls, ordained ministers of peace, to govern this great commonwealth.

Grant them your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of your will. May they choose today to be servants of You, Almighty God, and then prosper their steps for their obedience. May we live in reverent fear of your greatness in comparison to our insignificance.

I ask it, in the name of your son, our living savior and Master, Jesus the Christ. Amen.

America Legalizes Slavery Again

2009-07-11T17:41:00.002-04:00

Listen to this Message

Young

2009-07-06T12:44:00.000-04:00

Today…
July 6th, 2009

Outside my window…
Sunny and cloudy. At times its dark, but sometimes its nice and sunny! :P

I am thinking…
Of all the wonderful things God provides!

I am thankful for…
Friends who understand!

I am wearing…
Jean skirt, blue Mexico t-shirt.

I am reading…
1Kings, Proverbs, (KJB);

I am creating…
A post at the moment! :P

One of my favorite things…
sweet cherries! They are sooo good! We went and picked 18lb this morning. We *might* go again tomorrow.

For education this week…
Whatever I find. I will probably be reading through the new History books we got for 10th and 11th grade!

A keeper at home skill I am using/learning…
Fitting everything in!

A spiritual lesson I'm learning...
Patience!

A godly character trait I plan to work on…
Charity... suffereth long, is kind, envieth not, vaunteth not itself,
isn't puffed up, behaveth not unseemly, seeketh not her own,
is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity,
rejoiceth in truth, beareth all things, believeth all things,
hopeth all things, endureth all things, and never faileth!

Scripture I am memorizing…
Reviewing James Chapters 1-2 and beginning 3.

I am praying for…
The lady who has cancer.
Family that isn’t living right.
My great grandma. She is 86, and her heart only works 20%. They told her she probably will not live more than a year, but possibly only a month.
A friend who just got saved.
A friend who is only 21 or so, and has a lot of health problems.

For the rest of the week…
??? Sewing, hopefully, church, working in the house, editing pictures, park ministry on Friday, 4-H Fair ???,

The Generic Preacher

2009-07-04T18:58:00.003-04:00

Bond

The most important thing to me,
Is how accepted, I can be.
The truth of God, matters not:
Look at all the friends, I've got.

My friends accept me socially,
This lost world, speaks well of me.
If I should stand for truth today;
All my friends would go away.

I am a man of cloth, you see;
A friend to all, I must be.
To be accepted by the youth;
I must water down the truth.

Leave your Bible on the table;
So I can spin another fable.
Now I can say, that all is well;
And can teach, there is no hell.

Our music leans to rock and roll;
It's hard today to reach a soul.
In this way, we reach the teens;
For the end, justifies the means.

So stand not back, and criticize;
Me for telling, all those lies.
Success comes not, from God's wonders;
But is measured, by our numbers.

Sadly this poem is too true of our "pastors today". They are letting America go down hill, because they will not stand up against the sin of our land!

I am ashamed of the way our country is heading. I am ashamed to be called an American if I will be associated with what our country is now.

I am Proud of my countries heritage. I am proud of what it is founded on. I am proud of the men who have fought so bravely to allow this freedom to be passed on.

THANK YOU to all of you soldiers who have fought for freedom!!

God Bless the Christians who are willing to stand up for HIM!!

The Great Flood

2009-07-03T17:57:00.001-04:00

Bond

In the days before the flood;
Men were sinful, shedding blood.
At Noah's preaching, they did frown;
Not believing, they could drown.

One hundred years, came and went.
But those men, would not repent.
To God's word, they would not harken;
So the skies began to darken.

When eight people got on board;
The door was shut, by the Lord.
Men outside, began to cry;
It was time, for them to die.

Gun Control

2009-07-01T15:43:00.003-04:00

1. An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.
2. A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.
3.Colt: The original point and click interface.
4. Gun control is not about guns; it's about control.
5. If guns are outlawed, can we use swords?
6. If guns cause crime, then pencils cause misspelled words.
7. Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.
8. If you don't know your rights, you don't have any.
9. Those who trade liberty for security have neither.
10. The United States Constitution (c) 1791. All Rights Reserved.
11. What part of 'shall not be infringed' do you not understand?
12. The Second Amendment is in place in case the politicians ignore the others.
13. 64,999,987 firearms owners killed no one yesterday.
14. Guns only have two enemies; rust and politicians.
15. Know guns, know peace, know safety. No guns, no peace, no safety.
16. You don't shoot to kill; you shoot to stay alive.
17. 911: Government sponsored Dial-a-Prayer.
18. Assault is a behavior, not a device.
19. Criminals love gun control; it makes their jobs safer.
20. If guns cause crime, then matches cause arson.
21. Only a government that is afraid of its citizens tries to control them.
22. You have only the rights you are willing to fight for.
23. Enforce the gun control laws we ALREADY have; don't make more.
24. When you remove the people's right to bear arms, you create slaves.
25. The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.

I found this posted at Hannah's Blog

The Modern Church

2009-06-30T18:17:00.002-04:00

Bond

The flock refuses now to hear,
From the pulpit, Godly teaching.
They tell God's man to scratch the ear,
And to water down the preaching.

They went in debt, built a church;
Took their mind off God that day,
Told the preacher, "settle down"
If you expect, this debt to pay.

Now the flock has things their way:
They hear not, the things of old.
The preacher, now, has no say;
The truth, no longer, can be told.

Does Jesus Care?

2009-06-25T14:35:00.001-04:00

Does Jesus care when my heart is pained
Too deeply for mirth or song,
As the burdens press, and the cares distress
And the way grows weary and long?

Refrain

Oh yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.

Does Jesus care when my way is dark
With a nameless dread and fear?
As the daylight fades into deep night shades,
Does He care enough to be near?

Refrain

Does Jesus care when I’ve tried and failed
To resist some temptation strong;
When for my deep grief there is no relief,
Though my tears flow all the night long?

Refrain

Does Jesus care when I’ve said “goodbye”
To the dearest on earth to me,
And my sad heart aches till it nearly breaks,
Is it aught to Him? Does He see?

Refrain

This song is one of my favorite. I have had many chances to realize the truth that Jesus really cares! Even when it seems like others don't!

God Bless!

And Can it Be?

2009-06-21T14:54:00.000-04:00

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

’Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Still the small inward voice I hear,
That whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near,
That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!

Well, my afternoon today is kinda empty. Yes, I know there is lots I could be doing, but when it feels like its a hundred degrees, and you are dripping sweat, in your church clothes, you want as LITTLE movement as possible!! It looks as if we are in for yet another storm. One of the lovely assets of living in the great North! :P Not!

I just found out about a new photo site! Our Pastor is now selling his verse photos, great for decorating your house! Visit it HERE! We have a few of them, and they are beautiful! Such a treasure!

Well, I'm off to finish my list of things to do on the computer before my brother kicks me off! Just kidding, he would never do that, though I probably deserve it sometimes!

An Encouraging verse!

2009-06-09T18:12:00.001-04:00

This is one of my absolute favorite verses! Right now I have been using it a lot, because a lot of people in our church are going through hard times.

I took the picture last summer, it is actually fencing, if you can't tell:P Maybe I shouldn't tell all my secrets! Right?

Another big blessing. Last week my brother odered a computer program, and we got it in the mail yesterdaty, well guess what came with it?? Photoshop!!!!!!!!! We had no clue, but I was/am soooo excited!

On another note, I probably won't be posting until Saturday night or Sunday. Tomorrow we are going to the funeral for my friends grandfather, then my parents will be going to a meeting that is an hour away. We will~LORDwilling~ be visiting another church near there, then we kids are going to my grandma's for the weekend.

Have a Wonderful week!

God Calls Sodomites Dogs. Why??

2009-06-08T20:58:00.000-04:00

Read the tract HERE!!

A Boy Singing to his little sister.....

2009-05-14T09:08:00.001-04:00

This was so cute, I just had to share it. It was actually an email, but it works here!

You are My Sunshine, My only Sunshine'

(Be prepared to get watery eyes!)

Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling. They found out that the new baby was going be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sang to his sister in mommy's tummy. He was building a bond of love with his little sister before he even met her.

The pregnancy progressed normally for Karen, an active member of the Panther Creek United Methodist Church in Morristown , Tennessee. In time, the labor pains came. Soon it was every five minutes, every three, every minute. But serious complications arose during delivery and Karen found herself in hours of labor.

Would a C-section be required? Finally, after a long struggle, Michael's little sister was born. But she was in very serious condition. With a siren howling in the night, the ambulance rushed the infant to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee. The days inched by. The little girl got worse. The pediatrician had to tell the parents there is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst. Karen and her husband contacted a local cemetery about a burial plot.

They had fixed up a special room in their house for their new baby but now they found themselves having to plan for a funeral. Michael, however, kept begging his parents to let him see his sister. I want to sing to her, he kept saying.

Week two in intensive care looked as if a funeral would come before the week was over.
Michael kept nagging about singing to his sister, but kids are never allowed in Intensive Care. Karen decided to take Michael whether they liked it or not.

If he didn't see his sister right then, he may never see her alive. She dressed him in an oversized scrub suit and marched him into ICU. He looked like a walking laundry basket.
The head nurse recognized him as a child and bellowed, 'Get that kid out of here now. No children are allowed.' The mother rose up strong in Karen, and the usually mild-mannered lady glared steel-eyed right into the head nurse's face, her lips a firm line. 'He is not leaving until he sings to his sister' she stated.

Then Karen towed Michael to his sister's bedside. He gazed at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. After a moment, he began to sing. In the pure-hearted voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sang:

'You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,

you make me happy when skies are gray.'
Instantly the baby girl seemed to respond.
The pulse rate began to calm down and become steady.

'Keep on singing, Michael,' encouraged Karen with tears in her eyes.

'You never know, dear, how much I love you,
please don't take my sunshine away.'

As Michael sang to his sister, the baby's ragged, strained breathing became as smooth as a kitten's purr.

'Keep on singing, sweetheart.'

'The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping,

I dreamed I held you in my arms'

Michael's little sister began to relax as rest,
healing rest, seemed to sweep over her.

'Keep on singing, Michael.'

Tears had now conquered the face of the bossy head nurse.

Karen glowed.

'You are my sunshine, my only sunshine..
Please don't take my sunshine away.'

The next day...the very next day the little girl was well enough to go home.

Woman's Day Magazine called it The Miracle of a Brother's Song.

The medical staff just called it a miracle.

Karen called it a miracle of God's love.

NEVER GIVE UP ON THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE.

LOVE IS SO INCREDIBLY POWERFUL.

Life is good.

Have a Wonderful Day!

Just send this to (4) people and see what happens.

Do not break this, please There is no cost, but lots of rewards.

In God We Trust!

'The evidence of God's presence far outweighs the proof of His absence.'

Just a Quote

2009-04-17T12:16:00.001-04:00

He who does nothing renders himself

incapable of doing anything;
but while we are executing any work,
we are preparing and qualifying ourselves,
to undertake another.
-William Hazlitt

This quote was in my math book today, and having nothing else to post about, I thought it would fit! I needed to read this, I am continually having to remind myself to WORK! Keep moving, don't be lazy!
I pray you all have a WONDERFUL day!
God Bless!

Hoppy Easter! Sorry its a little late!

2009-04-13T19:26:00.001-04:00

A lady opened her refrigerator

and saw a rabbit sitting on one of the shelves.

"What are you doing in there?"

she asked.

The rabbit replied:

"This is a Westinghouse, isn't it?",

to which the lady replied

"Yes."

"Well," the rabbit said,

"I'm westing."

Have a Wonderful Easter.

Happy Easter! HE IS RISEN!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-12T14:28:00.001-04:00

We are home now! We got in last night. Thank you all for praying for me, I am doing much better, I can BREATHE!!! I am taking natural things for digestion, and they have been helping a lot! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!
Hope You all have a WONDERFUL day!

Easter Fun Facts

2009-03-31T19:38:00.001-04:00

I realize this is about last year(2008), but it is still very interesting!

Author Unknown.}

Do you realize how early Easter is this year and
why? IT\'S MARCH 23RD! As you may or may not know, Easter is
always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the
Spring Equinox (which is March 20).
This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that
Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it
moves around in date on our Roman based calendar.

Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier
(March 22) but that is pretty rare. Here's the interesting
info. This year (2008) is the earliest Easter any of us will
ever see for the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly
of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old
or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a
day earlier!

HERE ARE THE FACTS:

1) The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will
be the year 2160 (152 years from now).

2) The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're
95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for
that!).

3) The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will
be in the year 2285 (277 years from now).

4) The last time it was on March 22 was 1818.

_SO, NO ONE ALIVE TODAY HAS__,__ OR WILL EVER SEE IT ANY
EARLIER THAN THIS YEAR! AND, BY THE WAY, THE LATEST DATE
THAT EASTER CAN FALL IS APRIL 25TH. THE LAST TIME THAT
OCCURRED WAS 1943 AND IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN IN 2038, SO IT IS
MORE COMMON FOR A LATE RATHER THAN AN EARLY EASTER DATE._
_HAPPY EASTER!!_

Ambassador of.........What?

2009-03-24T12:59:00.002-04:00

I just read this, and it is very good!

From The Destiny of One

Ambassador of… What?

By Sarah H.

“Have you met Tracy?” Rachel asked one of the five girls standing in a little huddle in the fellowship hall.

“Tracy who?” Karen asked

“Tracy Smith,” Rachel replied.

“I think I have,” Hannah responded. “Isn’t she the one that is always wearing the really low cut dresses?”

“That’s the one,” Rachel responded.

“Oh, so she was the girl sitting in front of me who couldn’t keep her hands off her boyfriend. Didn’t that girl hear the pastor’s sermon on purity last week?” Karen asked, shaking her head.

“Well, she does go to public school,” Emily said with a knowing tone. Emily looked over at Bethany, who remained silent with her arms crossed.

“Public school is ruining that girl,” Karen agreed. “Did you see her this morning? She had on so much make-up I don’t think you could see her face.” This brought giggling from all the girls; all that is, except Bethany, who sat just listening.

“I sat behind her two weeks ago, and she kept talking through the whole service. She has a horrible mouth. Well, she didn’t say that many bad words, but she was disrespectful to her mom and she was criticizing every one,” Hannah said.

“Oh, I know it,” Rachel said with a nod. “My mom says that she is a manipulator and can get her mom to do anything.”

“Maybe her mom needs to learn who is in control,” Emily interjected. “Why, if Tracy were my child she would be leaning a few of life’s hard lessons right now.”

“That girl needs to be out of the public school system and in her home or she will end up getting her self in jail or something,” Karen remarked.

“I don’t think Tracy would …” Bethany started to say but was interrupted.

“And to think that she signed that pledge of abstinence a year ago,” Rachel said shaking her head.

“It is sad, but she is running her life,” Hannah said. All the other girls agreed, and there was a pause for a moment.

“Excuse me, girls, but whose ambassadors are we?” Bethany asked, and four sets of eyes turned to her with questioning looks. “I mean, listen to yourselves! You are all going on and on about how bad Tracy is and what she needs to do, but not one of you is even close to fixing the problem.”

Hannah, Rachel, Emily and Karen looked blankly at Bethany. Bethany sighed.

“It would seem from this conversation that Tracy’s crime is that her parents have not chosen to home school her and that her greatest issue in life is that she has chosen to date. But is that her real issue? The four of you are so busy looking at her make up, low cut dresses, and her boy friend that not one of you sees the real problem.

“Rachel, whose ambassador are you? Or for what? Homeschooling? What about you, Hannah? Are you now the official advocate for modesty? How about you, Emily? Are you now part of the purity police force? And you, Karen, when did you begin to listen to what was going on behind you instead of the sermon?

“Really, you girls you ought to be ashamed. Whose ambassador are we supposed to be? Homeschooling’s? Courtship’s? “Respect’s? Well, I don’t know about you, but I am not an ambassador for homeschooling, courtship, honoring your parents, or even the pastor. I am not even the advocate of abstinence, prayer in schools, modesty, or any of the other things that you have mentioned. I am an ambassador for my lord Jesus Christ, and nothing else, I hope.

“You guys, Tracy has issues, I know. But you are talking about masking symptoms of a disease, not finding a way to cure it. Tracy’s problem is not that she is going to public school, or that she is dating, nor even that she is wearing revealing clothes. Tracy’s problem, Tracy’s disease is that she doesn’t have God.

“Which one of you has tried to be her friend? Which one of you has tried to love her and show her the way to God? Until you lead her to the point were she is broken at the feet of the cross, nothing will change Tracy. It isn’t that homeschooling isn’t a good thing. It’s not even that I wouldn’t like to see her stop dating and start having godly relationships. Rather, it’s that until you give her God it won’t make any difference.

“We have been sent to this earth to bring salt and light to a world that desperately needs it. We have been called to live radically different lives to be a witness to a country that is going downhill. But if we start preaching step sixteen before we have even said anything about step one, they are going to be confused and not listen to us any more.

“Have we forgotten that we are the privileged few? Not many kids are raised in radical churches and radical homes. We have been given much but we must remember that to whom much is given, much is expected. God did bless us with believing, homeschooling parents, not so that we would walk around with a holier-then-thou attitude. He gave it to us so that we could be his lights in a dark room.

“Tracy does not need to hear a sermon from you on how to dress; she needs to know that there is a white robe waiting for her in heaven if she will believe in Jesus. She doesn’t need us to tell her about how she is being brainwashed in school; she needs us to tell her that there is a God willing to wash her sins away and make them white as snow. She doesn’t need to be told that her love life is wrong; she needs to be told that there is a God that loves her and will fill the emptiness that is obviously in her heart.

“We will have many Tracys in our lives, girls, and they need us to be ambassadors from God to them. In order for us to do that, though, we have to deicide whose ambassador we are. I am my Lord and Savior’s, for even though I have never been ‘as bad as most,’ I killed Jesus with my sins, and he spilled his blood for me as much as he did for the murderer and the adulteress. It will be hard, I know. I don’t like Tracy and girls like her, but Christ spilled his blood for them, and he wants her to know that. Can I despise one to whom God extends his love?

“Let us decide today, girls, for whom or for what we are ambassadors.”

Would you like to share this with your readers? You my copy this to your blog as long as it still has my name on it and a link back to my blog.

Why did Jesus Fold the Napkin?

2009-03-21T14:37:00.000-04:00

The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which
was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown
aside like the grave clothes.

The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin
was neatly folded, and was placed separate from the grave clothes.

Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary
Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone
had been rolled away from the entrance.

She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the
one whom Jesus loved. She said,
"They have taken the Lord's body out of the
tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!"

Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The
other disciple outran Peter and got there first
He stopped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there,
but he didn't go in.

Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed
the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered
Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side.

Was that important? Absolutely!

Is it really significant? Yes!

In order to understand the significance of the folded
napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew
tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the
Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition.

When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he
made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it.

The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant
would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating,
and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master
was finished.

Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the
table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad
up that napkin and toss it onto the table.

The servant would then know to clear the table.. For in
those days, the wadded napkin meant, 'I'm done'.

But if the master got up from the table, and folded his
napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would
not dare touch the table, because..........

The folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back!"

He is Coming Back!

Cell phone vs. Bible

2009-03-21T08:55:00.001-04:00

This is a forwarded e-mail we got, but I thought it was very interesting! :P I try to carry my Bible with me all the time!

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated it like we could ' t live without it?

What if we gave it to Kids as gifts?

What if we used it when we traveled?

What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is something to make you go....hmm...where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cell phone, we don ' t have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill.

Makes you stop and think, where are my priorities? And no dropped calls!

An award

2009-03-18T17:54:00.000-04:00

I was awarded by Laney Thank You so much!

I will award;

Miss Jocelyn

Anna

Alexandra

Miss Serenity

Brittany

I've been awarded!

2009-02-24T13:55:00.000-05:00

Thank you Laney for awarding me! It has been a blessing to "meet" you, and I hope we will become good friends!

I will award;

Brittany

Miss Serenity

Jessica

Ally

Anna

Hope ya'all have a wonderful day!

The Lessons of History

2009-02-21T14:37:00.001-05:00

The Lessons of History: What have we learned in 2000 years?

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt
should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and
controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome
become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public
assistance."

Cicero - 55 BC

Evidently nothing.

Who Likes Coffee?

2009-02-18T13:16:00.001-05:00

I noticed my poll was closed today, so I decided to give my answer. I HATE coffee! I like the smell, but NOT the taste!
I guess I will tell you why I did the poll. A few years ago around Christmas time I was standing outside talking with 2 of my friends, and my brother(no, miraculously for MI it wasn't cold, in fact, we weren't wearing coats even!). Some how we got onto the subject of coffee. Well, my brother, and one of my friends like coffee, and the other one and I don't. At the time I was 12, and he was 15, so we added our ages together, and the other 2 added their ages together, 27 and 29. So then, because my friend and I wanted to win, we started adding our familys ages in too. My dad doesn't like coffee, but his does, my mom likes coffee, and so on. Well, no matter who we added, there was always another person for the other side:P
Anyways, that is why I did it! Just for fun.

Our Mission Trip

2009-02-12T16:37:00.001-05:00

Lately I have been thinking a lot about a missions trip I went on with my family a few years ago. We went to Mexico. I have been amazed as I realize how the LORD put all the details together. I’ve been wanting to write it all down to remember. I did keep a journal while we were there, but since we moved I have been unable to find it. So I decided it would make an interesting post here.

About 6 years ago my grandpa married a lady from Columbia. She wasn’t(and still isn’t) fluent in English. So my mom started teaching us kids Spanish. She had worked at Taco Bell years before, so she had learned a little then.

About a year later we switched churches. We had been going to a liberal sit-back type of church, and we started attending a good, independent, fundamental, Baptist Church. Now don’t pay attention to the denomination, because we aren’t like other churches with that name. We just follow the BIBLE. Anyways we had not had much to do with Missions in our former church, but this church was different. It was all about Missions. At the time they had about 8 missionaries, and Pastor was always in contact with them, sending on their emails to the rest of the church.

His son was a Missionary to Mexico, and since we were trying to learn Spanish, my parents had a real burden for Spanish-speaking people. About a year later we started discussing the possibility of visiting the Missionary family. But most people went for a couple weeks. We discussed going for a week, since we had never met them before.

Then the LORD allowed us to meet them when they came home for a short furlough for CHIRSTmas. It was like the LORD was saying “Hurry up, Go! Just GO!!!!!!!!!!!”

My dad has the whole summer off since he is a teacher, so we started planning the trip. As were looking at plane tickets, and talking to others who had been down to visit them, we were going “this is so expensive its not worth only going for a week or two.” So we went for 4. We had a wonderful time. I will re-tell it as best as I can remember.

My Grandpa lives in MA, so we visited him like we normally did each summer, and flew out from Boston. We had like 8 suitcases. One for each of us 5, and the rest were full of stuff for the missionaries.

We stayed in a hotel in Boston so we could be at the airport on time without staying up all night. That night was filled with excitement and anticipation. As we were double checking our suitcases that night, we discovered that my brother had brought along a stuffed animal dog that he had had for years. It was disgustingly dirty, since he had played with it outside, and my parents had told him not to bring it with us. Well he wasn’t trying to. He thought he would be able to leave it in the car, but he forgot that we were renting it for that day only. It was very special to him, so we finally said he could take it, as long as he kept it in a plastic bag while it was in his suitcase.

We set 5 alarms for the next morning. We set the cell-phone, the alarm on the clock, 2 watches and we had them call our room at 3:30am. I woke up to none of them, and they let me sleep for another half hour.

We made it to the airport on time, and we eventually boarded our plane. It was the first time any of us kids had flown. Thankfully I didn’t get sick!

We were met at the airport by the entire family(they had 5 children at the time and she was expecting another.) We had a great 3 hour ride to the church where we stayed, then back to their house.

One of the weeks we were there we had a day camp for the children who went to church. One day we went to the Pyramids. That was awesome. It was scarey being up soooo high, but it was fun- except for the fact that I tripped and skinned my knee.

It was sweltering hot that day, and noone had thought to bring any water, so by the time we got to the last one, we were all crawling along, dying of thirst! Then Jeremy, the missionary, went and got a box of water bottles. Each of us were allotted half of a bottle. That half was hard not to exceed!

One day we went to a zoo. It was fun, but we only got to see part of it that day because there were so many of us.

The following week we went to a childrens museum in Mexico City(after the camp ended). I was sick on the way there, and on the way home, though.(car-sick, and everything that comes with that! Ugh!) We returned to the Zoo, this time seeing what we didn’t get to see before, and riding paddle boats in a big pond.

The whole long trip ended too quickly for all of us, and before we were ready it was time to head home. We ate Dominoes pizza at the air port, but it was VERY different. There was absolutely NO Tomato Sauce on any of it. Imagine that! Pizza without sauce! Nevertheless, it was a ton better than some of the native food we had eaten. :P

We flew back into Boston, but our plane landed at 12am. We were met by my Grandpa who had brought our van. He parked in a parking ramp that was about 2 inches taller than our van(it was a TALL turtle top van). My dad was shocked that we didn’t hit the top.

On the way home I slept on the floor of the van because all of our stuff was on the seats.

And that is all the details I can remember by myself. I Praise the LORD I had the chance to go on this trip. It has been a great blessing and reminder that I could have been born in some other country where they don’t have everything as well as we do in the US. I am also greatly burdened now about Missions. I may not ever be a missionary somewhere, but I can give money, and time that will be a great encouragement.

Another Comic! :P

2009-02-08T16:43:00.000-05:00

Ha! Ha! Whew, I am glad its not that cold here!
By the way most of our snow is all melted! (Yipee!) It is very warm, It feels like Spring! It is so nice to be able to get out in the fresh air!

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."
2 Corinthians 12:9-10

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."
1 Corinthians 15:58

My first Award!

2009-02-03T15:44:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Miss Serenity I have now been awarded! She is such a sweet young lady! I have just recently gotten to "know" her, and she has been a great blessing to me!

I am awarding;

Alexandra ~ I met just recently in cyberspace.

Jessica
~ I just recently found her blog.
Brittany
~I found her blog about a year ago.
Anna
~ I found her blog recently
Kevin and Anna
~ Missionary friends. I am close friends with Kevins sister.
Kristy
~ A friend from earth:P

Some of you(that I awarded) may not know me very well, but your blogs have been such a blessing to me! It seems like I've met you, we all have so much in common.

“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

Modesty, Femininity, and the Bible

2009-01-16T14:23:00.001-05:00

As I have watched many blogs I have noticed that many of them encourage Young Ladies to wear modest, and feminine clothing. But they say to do it to be feminine, to feel feminine. They give no Biblical reasoning, though, so what reason should we do it other than to feel good?

Deuteronomy 22:5 (KJV) says,

“The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are an abomination unto the LORD thy God.”

I am not sure why they don’t base it on the Bible, but I know I dress modestly because the Bible says to, not just to feel good. It does feel good to dress femininely, but because I know it is what is right, and it is right based on the Bible.

If a man is daring enough now days to wear a dress in public, people grimace and say “What a shame.” Or (this is me!!) “Gross.”(actually this is also getting unpopular to hear) That is getting out of hand today too; the sodomites are becoming more and more open and popular. Well that is another subject that I will try to LORD-willing hit on some other time.

So a man wears a woman’s garment and it is considered an abomination, but women regularly wear men’s clothing (pants are a mans garment!) and it is not considered bad or wrong. Why not? Our society is getting run down and wicked. Noone wants anything to do with God, or what is pure and right.

A woman who wears a long, full, modest skirt is looked upon as a stuck-up religious fanatic, and a man who does is totally gross (this isn’t even what most people think now). But a man who wears pants is normal, and a woman who wears pants is just normal? I don’t think so!

I have been called many things by others, even family members, they think we are legalistic; we take the BIBLE to seriously! Excuse me, but what exactly is the BIBLE for?

The BIBLE says

“For the word of God[The BIBLE] is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow and is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Hebrews 4:12(KJV)

It is to lead us in the path that God has for us. To lead us in the way HE wants us to go. If the BIBLE says something, then we need to obey it. It is our guidebook, and we need to follow the whole thing, not just part of it.

I may be called a religious fanatic-I’m not – I only do what I think and believe is right. I may be called a legalist- I’m not- I [try to] do EXACTLY what the BIBLE says.

“And what concord hath CHRIST with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with and infidel?

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and they shall be my people.

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.”

2 Corinthians 6:15-17

We as Christians need to be separated from the world and follow the LORD, not the worldly fashions and styles of the infidels(non Christians in the world today). We need to look different- because we are different. Most “Christians” of today aren’t any different than the world. If you ask the average person if they are a Christian, they will most likely say “Yes, of course.” But you would not be able to tell that by just looking at them!

I have compiled a list of standards I use for dress. If you don’t dress this way- it doesn’t mean you are not a Christian, It only means your standards are different. There are not any set standards in the Bible for dress. We use these standards to veer away from lust, as well as stay feminine. You can be immodest (attracting the eyes/lust of men) in a skirt, just like you can be immodest in pants. But what does the BIBLE say?

“The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, for all that do so are an abomination unto the LORD thy God.” (Deuteronomy 22:5, KJV)

So we don’t wear pants, because that would be an abomination the LORD. But we need to dress modestly as well, as it is an abomination to the LORD to attract lust.

*NOTE: Boys proceed at your own risk with caution!!*

This is the standards I use to know whether something is modest or not. You will not find anywhere in the BIBLE a set of rules or standards, that is something that you will be held accountable for, someday before God.

I will start with skirts, as that seems to be one of the biggest problems.

1. Is it long enough?

It must be long enough to drape 3 inches over your knee when sitting down. If you cross your legs, it is best that it will still drape 3 inches below the knees with your legs crossed

2. Is it to tight?

8inch ease, on one side, at the thighs. To measure this; hold the material in your hand and twist it around your hand- you should be able to turn your hand totally around(without stretching the material) and the material should wrap around your WHOLE hand.

3. Why is it still to tight, even though I have enough ease?

You should be careful to stay away from fabrics that stick to you, I realize sometimes the material will stick because of static, but that is not what I mean. There are sleezy fabrics that no matter how full of a skirt you make out of it, you can still see every line of your body.

Now I shall address shirts.

Button-up “dress shirts”(blouses)

1. Is it long enough? Does the shirt “stay down”(cover your belly) when I lift my arms above my head? If it doesn’t; don’t wear it, or wear a t-shirt under it.

2. Does the neck come high enough? This question is very hard to answer. I normally wear my top button un-buttoned, but if it comes more than an inch below my collar bone, I will wear a t-shirt under it.

3. Are the buttons to far apart? If you stand in front of the mirror, can you see between the buttons to what is underneath? This can be fixed by a t-shirt, but it is probably to small, unless the buttons are really far apart.

4. Can you see the lines of your ahem- “undershirt”? If you can it is probably too tight.

5. Can you see its outline? Especially if you are not wearing white underneath, it is easy to see more. Make sure the color is not visible!

This I think covers most of my standards. If you have any questions, please contact me and I will clarify.

Once again, this is not found in Gods word, these standards are how the Lord has convicted me to dress. I will not be held accountable, before God, for the way you dress, you will, so I ask you to Pray and consult the BIBLE, and the LORD will show you the way to go.

Just some of my interesting thoughts. :P

2009-01-15T13:49:00.000-05:00

Which way are YOU turning?
A few days ago I was thinking about what I had read on another blog recently. And as I was thinking my sister brought up the fact that in 9 months I can learn how to drive. When she mentioned this suddenly I was turning to the right, off of my Blogger Dashboard, and heading to Miss Serenity’s Blog, thinking about a post I had just read on her blog.
Then I backtracked to my “Blogs I Follow”, and went straight ahead to pay a visit to Miss Jocelyn at A Pondering Heart. Then I was turning left to drop a note to my dear friend Kristy at Misty Kristy Designs.
I thought it was kind of funny how I put the two things together. Now when I am on my blog I think about which way I am turning.

Just a funny happening.

A few months ago a few men in our church sent their papers in to get approved to visit a jail, so they could start a jail ministry. A few days later a lady called our church, and talked to our Pastor. She was wondering if there was a mess up because three of the men’s middle names were “F”. Just “F”. So she thought there was something wrong. Upon asking around it was found that all three men held the same middle name. “F”. Just plain old “F”.

Low Expectations

2009-01-13T15:20:00.001-05:00

As I have been out and about recently I have been surprised to find out just HOW low the expectations of the world really are. I knew that it was getting bad, but I didn’t realize just How bad.

A few months ago, my mom and I went into town to get groceries and things we needed. Well I was starting to not feel well, and my back was really hurting me, so I just wanted to hurry and get out of the store.

Well we were finished, we thought we were anyways, but then my mom remembered a couple more things we needed to get, so I asked her if I could go up and get in line. She said I could, so I did.

At our grocery store we have self-checkouts, so I went to one of those, because they seem to go faster. Anyways, I was watching the lady in front of me. She had a lot of stuff(I can’t say anything else, b/c we had more! :P)

Well she wasn’t putting it in bags as she went, she was just ringing it all up, but it was backing up, so stuff was staying on the roller, and making it so she couldn’t ring stuff up.

So I went up to her and asked if I could bag her stuff for her. She was so shocked, she just stood there looking at me. Then she said “well, ah, you can… but, you don’t have to.” I said “Oh no, its ok, I’ll help you!” So I bagged her stuff for her. She would not stop saying things like “you’re wonderful” and such. And she wouldn’t stop thanking me, she couldn’t comprehend why I WANTED to help her.

I didn’t see how what I did was so great. I was just helping someone who needed help. Since I didn’t have a tract with me at the time, I started praying that the Lord would allow me to see her again, so I could give her one.

The following week we were in the store again, and I saw her, a couple lanes over. I got a tract from my dad and gave it to her. She was very receptive of it. I didn’t help her though b/c we only had a couple things, it was late, and I knew my dad wanted to get home.

Well we had a problem, and he had to go to the customer service desk. It was the perfect opportunity. I went over there and helped her again. She kept insisting that she had to pay me for helping her. Well I refused it. I was just helping someone as Jesus would have done.

As I was finishing up one of the workers came over to help her with something, and as she left she thanked me.

What was I doing differently than anyone else? I didn’t see it then, but I realize now. It didn’t happen often that a girl just went up to someone and offered to help them. Why not? Most of the kids I see in the store are messing around, acting dumb, talking on their cellphones.

Parents think that kids my age should have no work all play. Kids don’t WANT to work. That is b/c their parents don’t MAKE them work.

I like to work. It makes it so I don’t get bored. Sometimes I have more fun when I am working than I do when I am just sitting around. I’ll admit, I don’t ALWAYS WANT to work, sometimes I don’t do it with the right heart. But I don’t detest work, like most kids.

My dad is a teacher, and in his school, the kids have to get a 70, to pass a quiz or a test, and to be allowed to go on field trips, and do certain things. Think about it, a 70. I am not kidding you!

To pass one of my tests I have to get at least an 90, without having to do a lot of extra studying! My parents(not to mention me) would be sick if I got just a 70! Even if my mom let me pass with a 70, I’d be so ashamed!

What are these kids doing in school? A few years ago my dad had me and my siblings do some of the questions on the MEAP tests. Just to see what we could do, he had us try some questions from a few grades ahead of us. I was in 5^th grade at the time and I was able to easily do the 7^th grade math, so could my siblings who were in 4^th grade.

What is up? Why are those kids so dumb? I mean, why can 4^th grade homeschoolers do the 7^th grade MATH MEAP test? We have just lost all common sense anymore!

Lets help raise these expectations. I have heard a lot about the Harris boys book

“Do Hard Things.” I would love to get my hands on a copy of it, but at the moment, that probably won’t happen. But I can Do Hard Things myself.

Who will join me? Lets work together and do this. If you see someone who could use the help, HELP. If you have chores you are expected to do, Do Them, then ask what else you can do! When you are out in public, Hold the door open for the people behind you. Let elderly people go before you(boys let girls go first!).

If you are asked to do something, do it cheerfully, with a smile. Do it heartily, do it quickly, and to the best of your ability.

If you have any other suggestions about Hard things we can do to show others that Christians don’t have the low expectations of the world, please leave a comment, also please share what Hard thing you did, and what were the reactions of others.

Merry CHRISTmas!!

2008-12-24T14:17:00.000-05:00

Praying you all have a wonderful day celebrating our LORDS birth!

This is the snow on our window, from blowing so hard. You can't see it well, but it is layered.

A CHRISTmas blessing. This was a few days ago, but it is close!
This is the first load of snow we got on Friday.

Keep God First!!

What Child is This?

2008-12-13T03:45:00.000-05:00

This is my favorite CHRISTmas hymn.

What Child is this who, laid to rest
On Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh,
Come peasant, king to own Him;
The King of kings salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
Raise, raise a song on high,
The virgin sings her lullaby.
Joy, joy for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

O Sacred Head Now Wounded

2008-12-11T03:36:00.000-05:00

Today's hymn, "O Sacred Head Now Wounded," is so old that historians are not sure to whom to attribute the writing. Most people believe that an monk abbot by the name of Bernard (1091-1153) of Clairvaux, France was the man who put it together. It was first found in the Latin and the words can be found in a medieval poem which had seven parts. Each part of the poem would address a certain part of Christ's body, (feet, knees, hands, side, breast, heart and face.) These words were from the 7th part and was first entitled, "To the Suffering Face of Jesus Christ." Years later it was translated into English by James Alexander, and the music was written by a German composer during the Renaissance period. There are some people who do not care for hymns like this one which are written in a minor key and sound so sad. But read the words carefully; the message to us is very powerful.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded with thorns Thy only crown,
How art Thou pale with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn!
How does that visage languish which once was bright as morn!

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered was all for sinner's gain:
Mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior! 'Tis I deserve Thy place;
Lord on me with Thy favor, vauch-safe to me Thy grace.

What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest Friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever! and, should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Edersheim, "The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah"

From Schaefer Family Hymn Histories

Alas, and Did My Saviour Bleed

2008-12-09T03:30:00.000-05:00

In November, 1850, thirty year old Fanny Crosby had been attending numerous revival meeting and had answered the altar call, hoping to find peace for her soul. But on the 20th of the month, the audience began to sing “Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed,” a hymn written by Isaac Watts in 1707. It was when they sang the words, “Here, Lord I give myself away - ‘tis all that I can do,” that Fanny realized that all she needed was to yield herself. She said: “I surrendered myself to the Saviour, and my very soul flooded with celestial light. I sprang to my feet, shouting ‘Hallelujah.’”

Isaac Watts said of his hymn writing, “I have made no pretence to be a poet. But to the Lamb that was slain, and now lives, I have addressed many a song, to be sung by the penitent and believing heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alas! and did my Saviour bleed, and did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?

Was it for crimes that I had done He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown! and love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide, and shut His glories in,
When Christ, the Mighty maker, died for man, the creature’s sins.

Thy body slain, sweet Jesus, Thine - and bathed in its own blood -
While the firm mark of Wrath Divine His soul in anguish stood.

Thus might I hide my blushing face while his dear Cross appears;
Dissolved my heart in thankfulness, and melt mine eyes to tears.

But drops of grief can ne’er repay the debt of love I woe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away- ‘til all that I can do.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Schaefer Family Hymn Histories

I Must Tell Jesus

2008-12-07T15:43:00.000-05:00

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Elisha Hoffman loved the Lord and chose to show it by working to help people whom others would call the “down and out”. One day he was visiting a woman who was in great pain and very discouraged. Hoffman reminded the woman that she needed to tell Jesus about her problems. She had completely forgotten this simple truth and started repeating the words, “Yes, I must tell Jesus.” On his way home those words rang in his ears and would not go away. He promptly wrote the words and the tune to the hymn, “I Must Tell Jesus.” In it, he expressed that we not only need to go to Jesus about our physical needs but also concerning the worldly temptations that allure us each day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I must tell Jesus all of my trials; I cannot bear these burdens alone;
In my distress He kindly will help me; He ever loves and cares for His own.

I must tell Jesus all of my troubles; He is a kind, compassionate Friend;
If I but ask Him, He will deliver, make of my troubles quickly an end.

Tempted and tried I need a real Savior, one who can help my burdens to bear;
I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus; He all my cares and sorrows will share.

O how the world to evil allures me! O how my heart is tempted to sin!
I must tell Jesus, and He will help me over the world the victory to win.

I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus!
I cannot bear my burdens alone;
I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus!
Jesus can help me, Jesus alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is one of my favorite hymns. It has such pretty music.

What are some of you alls favorite hymns? Do you have a favorite CHRISTmas hymn?

A Thanksgiving Blessing

2008-11-28T18:16:00.000-05:00

This morning we got up at 6 and headed down to GR. We didn't get there early, because we didn't know for sure that we were going until my dad woke up.

We first went to JoAnns. They had flannel on sale, and we have LOTS of projects we wanted to get material for. So we stood in line for 2 to 3 hours (my dad and brother did anyway) to get it cut. It wasn't that bad though. Dad dropped us off and went to the bank(I wonder why!!:P). The line was already so long. We got all the material we could carry(there were no more carts) then we went back and got in line while my sister waited for a cart. When my dad got there we left him to wait in line and went back for more material!!:P We got a bunch!!

While they were waiting in line my mom and I were looking at different things. Recently I saw a Crictut but I didn't know what it was. It was just REALLY EXPENSIVE!! Anyways, I'm running out of time, and my hands are frozen(we are trying not to have the heat on so much), so to make a long story short(I'll tell the whole thing later!) the LORD allowed me to get one.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!(I did, My dad shot a deer, I'll write about it later.)

Isaiah 65:24 HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!

2008-11-26T16:06:00.001-05:00

~ This was a "to forward" email that you may have recieved, its to good to just sit in my inbox though!~

All we have to do is "BELIEVE" enjoy!
Isaiah 65:24 "Before they call, I will answer"
~This story was written by a doctor who worked in South Africa~
One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do, she died leaving us with a tiny premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive, as we had no incubator (we had no electricity to run an incubator).
We also had no special feeding facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in.
Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst (rubber perishes easily in tropical climates). "And it is our last hot water bottle!" she exclaimed As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways.
"All right," I said, "put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm."
The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle, and that the baby could so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died.
During prayer time, one ten-year old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children.. "Please, God" she prayed, "send us a water bottle. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon."
While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, "And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?"
As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say,"Amen". I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything, the Bible says so. But there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator! Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door
By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on the veranda, was a large twenty-two pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children.
Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored. Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - that would make a batch of buns for the weekend Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the.....could it really be? I grasped it and pulled it out - yes, a brand-new, rubber hot water bottle. I cried. I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could. Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, "If God has sent the bottle, He must h ave sent the dolly too!"
Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted!
Looking up at me, she asked: "Can I go over with you and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?"
That parcel had been on the way for five whole months. Packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child - five month s before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it "that afternoon."
"Before they call, I will answer" (Isaiah 65:2 4) This awesome prayer takes less than a minute. When you receive this, say the prayer, that's all you have to do. No strings attached . Just send it on to whomever you want - but do send it on. Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards.
Let's continue praying for one another Father, I ask you to bless my friends reading this right now. I am asking You to minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them Your peace and mercy. Where there is self doubting, release a renewed confidence to work through them. Where there is spiritual stagnation, I ask You to renew them by revealing Your nearness, and by drawing them into greater intimacy with You. Where there is fear, reveal Your love, and release to them Your courage. Bless their finances, give them greater vision, and raise up leaders and friends to support and encourage them. Give each of them discernment to recognize the evil forces around them, and reveal to them the power they have in You to defeat it. I ask you to do these things in Jesus' name.
P.S. Passing this on to anyone you consider a friend will bless you both. Passing this on to one not considered a friend is something Christ would do.
"Do not ask the Lord to guide your footsteps if you're not willing to move your feet.Subject: Fw: FW: Isaiah 65:24 HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!

All we have to do is "BELIEVE" enjoy!

My favorite Baby names

2008-11-22T08:08:00.002-05:00

Miss Serinity over at Femininty in a Feminist world posted about her favorite baby names and asked others to do it as well. So here are mine.

1. Elizabeth
2. Felisha Jane
3. John
4. Japheth
5. Caleb
6. Jessica
7. Jana
8. Joshua
9. Kathleen
10. Benjamin

These aren't all ones that I would name my children, but they are ones I like to put in my stories:P
Serinity, I am sorry I didn't put this up sooner, my brother is in the hospital, so I haven't had the time!

2008-11-21T13:17:00.001-05:00

THE OLD PATHS I liked the old paths, when
Moms were at home.
Dads were at work.
Brothers went into the army,
And sisters got married BEFORE having children! Crime did not pay;
Hard work did;
And people knew the difference. Moms could cook;
Dads would work;
Children would behave. Husbands were loving;
Wives were supportive;
And children were polite. Women wore the jewelry;
And men wore the pants.
Women looked like ladies;
Men looked like gentlemen;
And children looked decent. People loved the truth,
And hated a lie;
They came to church to get IN,
Not to get OUT! Hymns sounded Godly;
Sermons sounded helpful;
Rejoicing sounded normal;
And crying sounded sincere. Cursing was wicked;
Drinking was evil;
And divorce was almost unthinkable The flag was honored;
America was beautiful;
And God was welcome! We read the Bible in public;
Prayed in school;
And preached from house to house.

To be called an American was worth dying for;
To be called a Christian was worth living for;
To be called a traitor was a shame! Sex was a personal word.
Homosexual was an unheard of word,
And abortion was an illegal word. Preachers preached because they had a message;
And Christians rejoiced because they had the
VICTORY!
Preachers preached from the King James Bible;
Singers sang from the heart;
And sinners turned to the Lord to be SAVED! A new birth meant a new life;
Salvation meant a changed life;
Following Christ was our reasonable service;Being a preacher meant you proclaimed
the Word of God;
Being a deacon meant you would serve the Lord;
Being a Christian meant you would live for Jesus;
And being a sinner meant someone was praying for you! Laws were based on the Bible;
Homes read the Bible;
And churches taught the Bible. Preachers were more interested in
new converts than new clothes and new cars.

God was worshiped;
Christ was exalted;
And the Holy Spirit was respected. Church was where you found Christians on the Lord's Day,
Rather than in the garden, on the creek bank,
on the golf course, or being entertained somewhere else. I STILL LIKE THE OLD PATHS THE BEST!!AMEN and AMEN!!!!!!"The Old Paths" was written by a retired minister who lives in Tennessee.

My Mother was Never Born

2008-11-20T14:59:00.000-05:00

by Natalie Marie Nyquist
The petite teenage girl looked too delicate to withstand the merciless onslaught of reporter’s questions. Yet her chin was held high as she stepped onto the makeshift platform and stood before the microphone. The crowd quieted as they saw her approach. Like a wave on the ocean, silence spread until the entire room’s attention was focused on the lone speaker.
She was very pretty, with luxurious waist-length brown hair that curled as it fell over her shoulders. Her startling green eyes were filled with a pain and grief so deep that it seemed to pierce the heart of everyone who looked at her. Yet shining through the suffering was a magnetic light of hope that seemed incongruous to the words she must speak. Smoothing a hand down her flowered jumper, she gathered her breath and leaned into the microphone.
“Hello. Thank you all for coming today. It is my hope,” her voice caught, and she had to take a slow, deep breath before continuing. “My hope and prayer is that you will honor my request to represent my story accurately and fully—or not at all.”
“My name is Mara Christina Taylor. I am seventeen, and a senior at Oak Park High school on the east side of the city. Last year my life was completely turned upside-down when my father finally answered the question I’d been asking—who was my birth mother? You see, I had been told about how my mom was infertile, and how for years she and my dad longed for children. Dad said that finally they found a doctor to help them. That was not the whole story. The truth is, they heard of a scientist—I’m not sure who and would rather not know— here in Scotland…” Mara bit her lip as she struggled to say the difficult words. “A scientist who worked with aborted fetuses.
“I guess this is common—I had never heard anything like it, and the very idea was disgusting to me. But my dad said that they were desperate for a way for my mom to conceive, and so they went to him. The guy told them that he was experimenting with harvesting organs from the babies. It was a huge secret because that was illegal at the time.” Mara shuddered, and a tear ran down her cheek.
“I am here today because it is time that the world knew my secret. The evil that has been committed must not be allowed to stay hidden under the veil of ignorance for another day. Even as I speak more horrific experiments and testing continue. I can’t stop it all—only God can do that—but I can tell you what I know, and hopefully someone out there who reads what you write, or sees my picture and hears my story will be moved to assist me in taking action against these atrocities.”
“This scientist had a living baby girl which they aborted from a young teenage prostitute. They proceeded to take the eggs from that baby and implant them into my mother. She carried me to term and then my parents had their baby.” Mara paused to lock eyes with a handful of reporters near the front. “And I knew nothing about this until I was sixteen. I had always wondered why I looked nothing like either of my parents.”
“But no one can ever say that I looked like my mother. Because no one ever saw my mother. She was brutally murdered before she ever had a chance to breath air, or feel the sun on her face. Quite frankly, my real mother was never born.” Mara’s voice grew more impassioned as she continued.
“No one can ever tell me that abortion doesn’t kill children. If it’s just a blob of tissue, then tell me, how am I here? How can a…” she choked on her tears. With a shaky intake of breath Mara raised her head again and forced herself to continue. Her pain-filled voice rang out across the room, now as silent as a tomb. “How can a mass of non-living tissue, an inconvenience like a tumor, have a child? Don’t you see how utterly foolish that is? Each fetus aborted is a complete, living person just as worthy of life as you or me.
“My mother was the human from whose egg I was conceived, though I grew in another woman’s body. One woman who thought she could never have children was able to carry me and give birth. That is a good thing. But it’s never good when it is at the cost of another human life. My mother was killed and her ovaries harvested so that someone else, someone more… ‘deserving’ of life, could have a child.”
She paused for a long moment, her gaze sweeping the room. “Tell me, do two wrongs make a right? Just because a girl was pregnant and did not want to be—does that make her a victim? Does that give her the right to choose to kill another? Does abortion make everything ‘all better’?”
“Most people would say so. It’s their quick and easy answer. But it leads to a lifetime of guilt and regret. This is why I am going to do whatever I can to make others aware of the truth of abortion, and the truth about the research being done with fetuses. It’s disgusting, it’s perverted, and it’s wrong. No one has the right to decide whether another person dies. God says that He alone holds the keys of life and death. Those scientists are trying to play god—and they are doing a lousy job at it!”
Mara stopped, her whole body trembling. “The experimental fetuses they used in the project to conceive me were all named Mara 1, Mara 2, etc. My parents named me after the project, since it was so successful.” Her voice mocked the words.
“I do not know how many babies were butchered before eggs were successfully implanted in my mom, but I do know it was at least several dozen. If the picture that brings to your mind does not scare you—does not make you long for an end to this sin—then not much will.”
She looked down at her hands, folding and unfolding them slowly. “I did not meet Jesus Christ until a few months ago. Before I knew Him as my Lord I was involved in a lot of things I shouldn’t have been. As a result, I am now pregnant.” She eyed her protruding belly ruefully. “I suppose you could already tell that. But what you don’t know is the news I received last week at my check-up. It seems that there is…a problem with my baby. My doctor says that she has Down’s Syndrome, and maybe some other defects. Do you know what she suggested I do about it? I’ll give you three guesses and the first two don’t count. She said it would be best for the baby if I ‘terminated the pregnancy.’”
For long moments Mara let that news sink in; then she leaned forward and whispered her final words to the world. “Never. No one will kill my baby. My baby shall live.”

Note from the Author: While the above story is fictional, the situation is all too real. We would like for such horrors to be only the result of an over-active imagination in some bizarre science fiction movie, but the fact is that these atrocities are being committed around the world today.
Now you know the facts—what are you going to do about it? May I suggest that writing letters to your senators and congressmen is a much more effective method of making a real impact than adding your name to some silly email forward. But we can do more. The truth is out there if we are willing to search for it. Let’s find the real facts on this critical issue of life of the unborn. It is one of the biggest issues today, if not the most important. The novel that led to this article was written by Randy Alcorn, entitled Deadline. He also has an excellent non-fiction title called Pro-life Answers to Pro-choice Questions, which I highly recommend.
Want to do something about these horrors? Volunteer at a crisis pregnancy center, learn more about the facts, but most of all, pray. Our world is corrupt but our God is holy. He is the Rock of sureness in a perverse and uncertain world.

Abortion would be all about a woman’s choice...IF there wasn’t another human being involved with his/her very existence hinging on that woman’s choice. That’s a huge “if,” and what comes after it nullifies what comes before.
-Aaron Wilkinson

Quotes from Randy Alcorn:
If abortion doesn’t kill children, why would someone be personally opposed to it? If it does kill children, why would someone defend another’s right to do it? The position of being personally against abortion but favoring another’s right to abortion is therefore self-contradictory and morally baffling. It’s like saying—exactly like saying—we’re personally against child abuse, but we defend our neighbor’s right to abuse his child if that is his choice.

“Unwanted” describes not a condition of the childbut an attitude of adults.

If children are viewed as expendable before birth,they will be viewed as expendable after birth.

Even if someone believes people are no better than animals,why would they abhor the killing of young animals,while advocating the killing of young children?

Though the chances of a woman’s safe abortion are now greater, the number of suffering women is also greater because of the huge increase in abortions.

Abortion assures that 650,000 females aborted each year do not have control over their bodies.

Visit Randy Alcorn’s website at www.epm.org for more information

Welcome!

2008-11-20T14:51:00.000-05:00

Hello! Welcome to my blog. I started this blog because I want to encourage other Young Ladies to serve their Master. I will be posting things here, but it will not be anything personal, and if it is, then I am going to change names or use nick names. Thanks for stopping by, I pray that you will be encouraged by your visit!

Striving to Encourage

Love without Dissimulation

Does the Lord really have our hearts?

All things work together...

The Virgins and the Bridegroom

Chastisement?

Pray for your Government leaders!

peoplephobe?

Be a Servant

Thy Youth

Second Chances?

Go in the LORD!

My Best Friend

Lessons from King Josiah

Be Courteous

God really cares!

Just some thoughts...

The Deception of Pride

The What-if's

Peer Pressure...

Grandma’s Pumpkin Brownie Things…

God is always with me...

Thoughts on Matthew 5:44

Digging Deep

What is God's Will for my Life?

Oh ME of Little Faith

Green Fun

Whatsoever things...

{Sunrise}

A little bit about me {Gabrielle}

*Sisters*

{Music}

Photography from Gabrielle

{The Three Gifts}

Happy New Year!!

God gave us FREEDOM, don't abuse it!

Psalm 22:1-31

Are YOU letting the devil have a foothold in YOUR life?

Know Your Hymns =P

Four Life Changing Messages.

My beliefs

Prayer for the House of Rep – June 10, 2009

America Legalizes Slavery Again

Young

The Generic Preacher

The Great Flood

Gun Control

The Modern Church

Does Jesus Care?

And Can it Be?

An Encouraging verse!

God Calls Sodomites Dogs. Why??

A Boy Singing to his little sister.....

Just a Quote

Hoppy Easter! Sorry its a little late!

Happy Easter! HE IS RISEN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Easter Fun Facts

Ambassador of.........What?

Why did Jesus Fold the Napkin?

Cell phone vs. Bible

An award

I've been awarded!

The Lessons of History

Who Likes Coffee?

Our Mission Trip

Another Comic! :P

My first Award!

Modesty, Femininity, and the Bible

Just some of my interesting thoughts. :P

Low Expectations

Merry CHRISTmas!!

What Child is This?

O Sacred Head Now Wounded

Alas, and Did My Saviour Bleed

I Must Tell Jesus

A Thanksgiving Blessing

Isaiah 65:24 HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!

My favorite Baby names

My Mother was Never Born

Welcome!

Sisters