Pursuit of God 10 years later.

Time is flying, if you can believe it, I started to write in this blog about 10 years ago or so, and looking back, I was reading my old post about pursuing God which is still powerful to me today. God is so good. He is everlasting, He is never changing. Even now as I write these words about our amazing God, tears well up in my eyes, because He has done so much, so much in my life in these 10 years. The only thing that remains the same is the goodness of God, of constant ache for Him, a constant need of Him, because He is the one who remains faithful and forgiving, and loving and never changes. God is everything in our life, from our marriage, to our children, to the weather, to our house that He provides, to the food we eat, and the health we have, everything is through Him alone, we are nothing without Him.

As I look back, I realize how much God has helped me, how much He carried me through all the pregnancies, through childbirth, through babies, and into teenagers. Now my 22 month old is a sassy 11 year old, and I have 3 more children after her. Having 6 children is still unbelievable to me. Wow. Really? Yes, they are all mine, and I wont change it for the world. Even having my 2 last babies, later in life, I am already 41, but I have a 5 month old, I still feel such love for the little babies, such blessings from their little kisses and hugs. God is good. He has blessed me extremely, He is faithful.

In conclusion I want to point out that it is not me who is pursuing God, but God is the one who is pursuing me un relentlessly, every time I forget and go side tracking, He guides me back, back to Himself. God is good. Did I already mention that? He is.

Happy marriage is made by God.

Marriage is a long road to happiness. It can start with many hurdles and obstacles, but eventually it spreads to greener pastures of enjoyment and contentment.  Life is unpredictable and when we fall in love with this specific person, it is good if both of you have the same values, same morals, and same religious background. Life has too many issues as is, without having more issues with the basics of marriage. 

I was lucky to have fallen in love with a guy who was raised in a similar religion as I, and with same out look on life, like me. Looking back, I am grateful for this and acknowledge that God was very much in my life and took care of me, when I was young and lacked wisdom. 

On my 18th birthday I prayed to God to give me a gift. He did, I met my future husband then. What drew me to him was that he was so serious about life and about relationships, he was 4 years older, and to an 18 year old that is incredible. The guys I knew were flirtatious and not serious to have a relationship. 

We got married when I was 21, and we started our marriage with a clean slate of trust and love. God was good to us, now 20 years later, I am amazed at His provision in our life. His constant care for us, and our love that grew with the years. 

If you are still single and are looking for your other half, remember to include God in your love life, He is the one who can write a beautiful love story that can last through all the obstacles, through all the problems and issues of marriage.

How to stay sane in a crazy world we live in right now.

We all know how crazy life gets sometimes, but lately, especially in 2020, it's been very stressful and scary at times. Knowing that life gets hectic, and very unpredictable we need to have a stable foundation in our life to stay strong no matter what happens. 

Jesus is that foundation. He is our strong hold, he is our saneness, He is our light when it's dark around. He is our everything. I love it, that I can turn to Him in any situation, in any need, with any question. He is my answer. 

He can be your answer too. He can be your guiding Light, and  your loving Friend. Come to Him, and just asking Him to help you in any situation. I know He will come through for you. He loves you, that's why. 

Do not be afraid.

In our current situation, with corona virus on the loose and politics running wild, we can easily be scared what the future can hold for us. Our life is unpredictable, people get more upset with everything that they are unable to control, like the quarantine, losing their job, not having enough money to pay the bills, with bad health, and soaring prices on everything that them may need to buy. I have some great news for you, there is an amazing insurance policy that everyone can have, and it is free to us. It will not only protect your family, your health, your car, your house, but also it can give you a future.

Our future is set in Jesus, He is our path, our Life, our Light, He will guide us and protect us. He is our Truth and He will set you free. He is love everlasting and He is the one that gives us our future. No matter what happens, we will overcome with Jesus. He is our Lord and Savior.

If you don't know Him personally, you should just ask Him to come to your house, and fill it with peace. He will do that, and much more than what we ask Him for.

Is watching tv good for you?

The dream my sister saw a few years ago. The first time I read this I got goosebumps, and it happened the second time around as well. If you have a tv in your house, please watch this. 

......I'd like to share my dream that I saw years ago. Back then, I had just one child. We had bought a small TV, and without realizing it, have become quite involved in it, watching it every evening, or whenever we had a moment free. Our daughter would sit with us, and watch with us whatever we were watching.

Then I started talking with my husband, I didn't think it was good that we were so involved with TV, and watching it often, and especially our daughter watching with us. We were loosing good quality time together as a family, and with God. My husband agreed with me, but didn't really do anything about it.

Every day I was getting more distressed about it, and prayed to God to help us deal with this.

One morning, I got up to help my husband get ready for work, and after he left, I went back to bed. And I saw a dream, or a vision, as some people say.

In my house, I see a man. He was horrid to look at. He was short, and had shaggy dirty clothes on him, he stood sort of bent- like an old man. He had dirty matted hair that hung to his shoulders. His face was scary, he had colorless eyes that kept twitching back and forth, and he had froth coming out of his mouth.

And instead of walking- he jumped- hopped from one place to another.

I got very upset and distressed seeing him in MY house, and opened the door, and made him leave.

He came back into the house THROUGH the walls, and no matter how much times I kept putting him outside , he kept coming back.

I was even more upset, because I couldn't get him to stay out.

Then I saw an even scarier picture. I saw the devil- for I knew by then that thats what he was- I saw him sitting on the floor, and in front of him sat my daughter, watching him, and beside her sat my future children, I saw their souls, and they were all sitting there in front of him, and he was feeding them each with a spoon. 

Monastery in the city.

Monastery (plural: monasteries) denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace(s) of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone. ~~~ Wikipedia.

My house is a monastery. It has rooms for prayer, rooms for communion, a chapel for reading the bible and worshiping God. A monastery is usually in a remote location, close to nature, far from the city and noise. My monastery is in the middle of a large, noisy city. Monks go into a monastery to separate themselves from this world, to be with nature, with themselves and God. While I don't believe in separating myself from the world, like from people, or moving into a remote location, but I do believe that we need to separate ourselves from how the world may act, look, or think.

..they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. ~~~ Luke 8:14

Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ~~~ James 4:4



Lets not listen to what the world listens.Lets not talk like the world talks.
Lets not read what the world reads.
Lets not look like the world looks, or like what the world admires.
Lets not think like the world thinks.
Lets not act like the world acts, in marriage, with children or life.
Lets not teach our kids what the world teaches. Lets teach about kindness, about love, about charity, about family, about children, about God, about prayer, about holiness and purity.
Lets not be like the world, lets make our house a monastery for the Lord, where we can pray, sing, worship and invite others to join in.

The power of positive thinking.

I went to the library the other day to get the book I ordered earlier last week. As soon as I was notified that it arrived, I rushed to get it... Its called The power of positive thinking. I started to read it last night, and so far, I find it pretty interesting. Its based on a Christian way of thinking, which I love, and it has a lot of interesting ideas. Here are some just from the first chapter.
1. Believe in yourself. Read & repeat the words from Philippians 4:13~~

"I can do all things through him who strengthens me."
2. The greatest secret for eliminating deep and profound self-doubt, is to fill your mind to overflowing with faith. Develop a tremendous faith in God and that will give you a humble yet soundly realistic faith in yourself.
3. The acquiring of dynamic faith is accomplished by lots of prayer, by reading and absorbing the Bible, and by practicing its faith techniques.
4. Ordinary problems could be met by ordinary prayers, but when 'big problems' come along, we need to pray deep prayers. To get anywhere with faith, you need to learn to pray big prayers, for God rates us according to the size of our prayers, for scriptures say, "According to your faith be it unto you". (Matthew 9:29)

Those were just some of the points that I found interesting. A lot of us have self doubt, which sometimes hurts our chances at true happiness and freedom. I hope you will find for your self the many points he shows us in his book, and you don't even have to buy the book, just order it from the library. :)

Where is it?

Where is joy hiding? What makes us happy? What causes us to feel content and peaceful, what truly brings that happy joyful feeling into our heart and being? Is it the material, external things like having a family, having a house, having a car? Or maybe happiness comes from the weather? If it’s sunny we are happier, if rainy we are sad? I was trying to catch the ever changing rainbow of happiness, to find the elusive joy in my life, and trying to figure out what truly is making me happy, content, and joyful. Can we truly be joyful every day, or is it day to day experience, very dependable on the things we have and experience? It is truly an interesting question. When I was young, I kept thinking that as soon as I left my parent’s house I would be happy. Then as soon as I marry I would be happy, as soon as I have kids, as soon as we move out of this apartment, as soon as I stop working. … I looked and looked and could not find the happiness in the everyday, could not make myself be truly joyful. Yes, I surely had moments of peace and happiness, but it all came and went, then I felt the gray, blue web of depression, of sadness coming over me, I felt discontentment, upset at people or things in my life, just looking for someone or something to blame my unhappiness on. What is going on? Why am I feeling this? Did I somehow miss the train of joyfulness, and now the winds of uncertainty and change will constantly carry me into the unknown future?

Then I had a glimpse of golden sunny joy. It was right there inside me, it was simmering with laughter, sunlight, and love. Wow, where did this come from? And I realized that having all the things I craved to have is not the source of true joy, when inside of my soul and heart was an empty feeling. I had to have Jesus the source of all joy living inside of me to truly feel the unsurpassed happiness, that didn’t go away with the everyday problems, circumstances or pain. When I started to experience the joy of having Jesus inside of me, living and guiding me, I truly felt happy. I truly felt complete. I stopped looking at things that surround me, or things that I still want, or wishing that things have changed for better, I started to experience the true light of God’s love. He is the only one who can change our outlook on life, and make it all for the better, even when the roof in my house is leaking, and water drips into my bedroom…J

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

The reason why.

Sometimes life is hard. Sometimes something happens that overturns your boat, hold on... there is hope.

My life was pretty easy sailing for a few years, with little waves here and there, that I complained some, of the little things that happen, the little nuisances of life. But when the big tsunami wave came, and covered me wholly, then I felt my way up through the murky waters, trying hard not to drown, trying hard to keep afloat… that's when I really started to understand how smooth and nice my life was before the big wave hit me. I started to realize that everything before was nothing compared to this storm. That’s when I realized that I am being tested by higher powers.

I started to wonder, why this is happening to me, did I do something or say something that I am being punished for? Is it a punishment from God? I keep thinking about it, looking through my life to determine if there is something in it, that does not bring glory to God. I just keep wondering.

Then it comes to me as I cry before God. God loves me so much, he wants to be closer to me, that’s why this is happening, through pain, tears, and hardship our faith is renewed, like a seed that is in the ground we sprout to the sky, lift up our eyes and hands to Him, like petals in the rain. For He is the only one who can help, heal, or hear our cry. After the storm calmed down, I felt stronger, I felt more able to stand, I felt that I could be something for God even though at the moment when I felt the weakest He was the one who carried me,and when I felt most vulnerable, unsure, I relied more on God.

Maybe that was the main reason. A reason to grow more.

Resolutions and a worry free life.

Do you believe in making New Year Resolutions? Some people I know are making long list of all the things they want to accomplish this new year. While others are telling me that resolutions are a waste of time, and that they don't really work. I agree, of course they don't work if you wait for the resolutions to happen to you, but if you work on your resolutions every day, they do tend to happen, and you get things accomplished. I believe in making happy, good for me resolutions. I don't make resolutions that I don't want to do, or things I don't really care about, I make resolutions that will nourish my soul, that will make me a happier person.

Resolution is:

a resolve or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something.

 

So what are your new year resolutions? Do you believe in making some? And if you did make some, are you still following them, 16 days into January?

 

My new years resolutions are:

1. To grow in faith, by keeping a thankfulness journal and keeping track of lessons God is teaching me.

2. To live more like Christ, which is to be more gentle, more loving, more forgiving, and more understanding of other people around me.

3. To seek Gods will for my life. What does God want me to accomplish this year? What does He want me to do?

4. To worry less, and trust God more. To learn with each problem, with each gray cloud in my life to see a ray of sunshine, and to learn that God provides for me.

 

I don't make resolutions to get thinner, to eat less sweets, to love my husband better, to not be grouchy, to spend quality time with my children, to read them more books, to spend some time outside- and less time inside, to have a cleaner house, to organize more, to spend less money, to be kind to all people.... no I don't make those kind of resolutions, because those things are just everyday things that I strive to do anyway. I don't count them as resolutions. I count them as my everyday life necessities. If I don't happen to accomplish something, I don't stress about it. Nothing in this life is worth stressing about. Nothing except what will affect our eternal life. If something does affect how or where my eternity will be spent, then I would try to change it and if it affects where my children will spend eternity. We cant really predict how our children will live their life, and if they will be saved. But as long as I parent my children to my best ability, pray for them, and trust God to lead them to his kingdom, then everything should be fine.

 

There are so many stress triggers in life, we tend to worry so much. Finances, health, mortgage, work, marriage, children. It all spins into one big circle of constant worry. By learning to give your worry to God this year and for Him to carry all the stress for you, and to take care of it for you is a huge step to take. We usually try to fix the problems ourselves. We try a lot of different options to solve it, sometimes after many tries we finally give up, and not knowing what else to do, we turn to God. Wont it be much easier if we learn to come to God as soon as we see the problem emerging on the horizon? People say that its easy to say that when you are not in the middle of a problem. I agree with those people its much easier to say it when I am not surrounded by unknown fear, gasping breath, and the darkness around my heart and soul. The only beauty in suffering is that when we go through the valley of tears we have a choice to grow, or a choice to fall apart, and die (mentally). We either choose to hold on to the strong hand of God, or we walk alone, relying on our own meek strength.

 

 ¹ Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace

 with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.

And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings,

because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope.

⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love

 has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit,

who has been given to us. ~~ Romans 5

 

I have everything I need in Him.

I give thanks to my God always for you
because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge-- even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you-- so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,  God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
 ~~~1 Cor 1:4-9

We have grace of God through Jesus.
We are enriched in every way in Jesus, in speech and in all knowlege.
We are not lacking in any spiritual gift in Jesus.
He will sustain us to the end.
God is faithful. He never changes. I am so glad.
A wonderful post I read at http://www.aholyexperience.com/2010/12/why-you-really-are-going-to-get-through/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HolyExperience+%28Holy+Experience%29

Rom 15:13
 

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

The pursuit of God.

Thanksgiving has come and gone, with leftovers of turkey, mashed potatoes and appetizers stored in the fridge. The blessing of getting together with family and friends has turned out to be a great success, with much laughter, loud discussions, and children screams, as they run around, bellies full of turkey, chocolate and sweets. Everything turned out very nice, if you dont count the slightly burnt turkey, the spilled juice over the childrens table, or the garbage can overflowing with many plastic dishes, and leftovers spilling on the kitchen floor. (Not counting a 22 month old clinging to me, wanting to be held and carried as I carried dishes and hot tea to the table.)

Lately I have been wondering on how to serve God, how to seek Him in my everyday life. It seems like when I have to work, and do my daily duties, I seem to forget that God exists, I concentrate on my daily task at hand and forget that an amazing God is close by my side. I forget to seek Him in my every day life, and only when I am at church on my knees that I realize how the week has passed in so much confusion, so much bussiness and hardly any seeking after God at all. I feel drained and tired by the end of the week, I feel like I am missing God so badly, I havent experienced Him all week with the bussiness of everyday life. It makes me sad that the big portion of the week has passed by and it seems like it is all such a waste of time.

I have been reading this interesting book and wanted to share a little bit of it with you. Its called 'The pursuit of God, by A.W. Tozer,' here is what I read this morning:

'We can meet this successfully only by the exercise of an aggressive faith. We must offer all our acts to God and believe that He accepts them. Then hold firmly to that position and keep insisting  that every act of every hour of the day and night be included in that transaction. Keep reminding God in our times of private prayer that we mean every act for His glory; then supplement those times by a thousand thought-prayers as we go about the job of living. Let us practice the fine art of making every work a priestly ministration. Let us believe that God is in all our simple deeds and learn to find Him there.'

That really openened my eyes to the amazing chance at living our everyday life for the glory of God, isnt it a wonderful opportunity to include Him and bring more praise to His holy name?

The season of bearing fruits.

I am seeking everywhere for the fruits of the Spirit. I seek inside me, I seek around me, I seek it in others, I seek for this is the season. As we planted the seeds in the spring time, we watered, we waited and in the fall we collected a beautiful harvest of beautiful firm fruits: apples, pears, plums, grapes.... Just like we collect the harvest in the fall season, that's how we can gather the harvest of our soul if we live in the spirit of God....our body is compared to a tree bearing fruit.

Col 1:10

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Gal 5:23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Gal 5:24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Gal 5:25

I want my tree to bear fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control.... that would be a truly rich harvest. God would be most pleased. Yes, I know that we are saved by grace, but being saved now, we should be like a good healthy tree that will bear lots of fruits. Lets look together now, into our heart, our soul and see what is growing on our lips- words of kindness and patience? What are we full off, gentleness and self control?  I am just hoping its nothing like the book of Galatians states in the below verses.

Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, Gal 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, Gal 5:21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Lets live not according to our sinful flesh, but lets live according to the Gods spirit. May God bless you as you walk in Him.

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

Sorry, but we dont eat pork.

I was raised in a family where my mother, my grandparents did not eat pork, due to belief that we should follow everything that God specified in the bible. Growing up I was not really sure what to believe, until I married and started to read the bible for myself. Having a strong wish in pleasing God, striving to be godly and holy in His eyes led me into an interesting bible journey.  I know that we don't get saved through works alone. Jesus has died on the cross for every sinner, He died for us instead and now in believing in Jesus, I am saved. But being saved from the sinful life, is not a sure way to a heavenly kingdom, we need to lead a godly, holy life, with our strong faith in Jesus.

1Pe 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.By his wounds you have been healed.

Jas 4:4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.


Ok to eat pork from the bible point of view?

The above link is from a wonderful writer who explained in a much better way than me about what the law of God is all about. :)

I am reading this interesting book that I recommend for all to read. Finding rest in this hectic world. 

Its called Sabbath, restoring the sacred rhythm of rest by Wayne Muller.

"We equate choice with freedom, but they are not the same. If we exercise our choice to covet or to steal or to live without rest, we will soon feel trapped and unhappy. We equate choice with nourishment, but a dozen different soft drinks, potato chips, and candy bars provide no vitamin C, iron, protein, beta carotene-or any significant nutrition at all. Regardless of how many choices we pile one upon the other, it is still a big, fat, empty meal. Freedom of choice can be as painful as it is precious."

So lets try to read the bible in its amazing wisdom, pray for God to give you guidance in what you should follow and how He wants you to lead your life.

Will you choose light or darkness?

Don’t let darkness blind you. I always thought that too much light can blind someone, but apparently darkness will do that to you as well. And then we don’t know where we are going, or what we are doing, and what is the purpose of life. We are blind to everything, to the beauty all around us, to the sin that lives in us, to the people that live around us, we only think about ourselves. Which makes our world narrow and confusing. Nothing can flourish in the darkness, not flowers, not birds. Everything needs light to function properly. To live we need the sun, the warmth, the healing power of God. I was wondering what if we are partly in the light and partly in the darkness, can we function like that? Well I don’t know… but I am sure God does know. And I sure hope we are not deceiving ourselves.

God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.


Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.

Focus on Gods truth.

I was reading a post about how hard it is for girls and teenagers in this time and age, and this post really bring everything to light from http://visionarydaughters.com/  It teaches even me, and I am far from being a teenager, but the simple wisdom of Gods truth never fades and never changes. So mostly this is for myself to remind me to not focus on myself and my problems, but to see a larger picture.

• Stop focusing on yourself.

• Look to the big picture

• Stay focused on the goal

• View their situation as an opportunity, not an excuse

• Be grateful for what the Lord has given you.

• Embrace hardship, trials and hard work

• Don’t Become Bitter and Compromise. God did not fail you.

We may not be responsible for our circumstances, but we are responsible for how we use them, and we are responsible for our attitudes

There are principles in Scripture that suggest that we should be distinctively feminine, honoring parents and authorities, trying to serve God within a home-and-family context, preparing for wifehood and motherhood, praying for a God-honoring marriage and a godly husband with whom to build a better future for your daughters, building up men, and seeking after a useful education. Simply living with your biological parents or doing homemakey things, however, doth not a biblical daughter make. You can discourage your family, dishonor your parents, serve no one but yourself, run men down, waste time, neglect the needy, cultivate personal uselessness, and prepare yourself for a wretched marriage, while living self-righteously at home baking muffins in a feminine apron you made all by yourself.

But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto children’s children; to such as keep His covenant, and to those that remember His commandments to do them. (Psalm 103:17,18)

• Don’t Judge Others and Assume that They are Judging You.

If you have been given a challenging situation, and are using it in faith, perseverance and integrity, you will be pleasing to God, and have the respect of His saints.

Don’t Break the 10th Commandment

Thou shalt not covet they neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.” (Exodus 20:17)

Eat the Rich, P.J. O’Rourke writes, “A liking for fairness is not that noble a sentiment. Fairness doesn’t rank with charity, love, duty, or self-sacrifice. And there’s always a tinge of self-seeking in making sure that things are fair.”

Here’s the other lesson the 10th commandment teaches. The tenth commandment is not about squelching desires and aspirations for a better life. It’s not telling us that it’s wrong to desire houses, livestock, wives, husbands, beauty, success, skills, gifts, or any of the other things that the Bible tells us are good things Gnostic or self-righteous pietism. The message of the 10th commandment is this: Don’t begrudge others the fruits of God’s blessing and their hard work – get out there and work towards those for yourself.

Coveting can consume our thoughts and eventually our life. If we give in to it, it will:

• Kill our gratitude

• Kill our incentive to work for what we desire

• Kill our ability to rejoice in other people’s good

• Kill our love for God, who clearly is ‘not fair’

In the same way that God designed all of creation in its undeniable perfection and beauty, He handcrafted each person’s situation with exquisite precision. He chose the exact parents, position, and opportunities that would best fulfill His purposes for your life and bring Him glory.

This does not mean that there won’t be trials and tests, not even for the seemingly “more fortunate.” We are all tested. “The LORD is in His holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven: His eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. The LORD trieth the righteous…” (Psalm 11:4,5) The very trials He gives us are signs of His love for us in the advantages they ultimately produce.

After all, we’re not the only one struggling. All over the world women are being thrown out (and worse), wives are being abandoned, widows are being neglected, and another generation of daughters is being raised by women who married in desperation to escape an unhappy situation – perpetuating the cycle. Those who have had more personal experience with these kinds of problems will know better how to help. They will know better how to raise their sons to be responsible leaders and protectors. They will know better how to raise their daughters to be strong and full of faith. As women face their situations by re-hauling their attitudes and actions, in faith, they prepare themselves to be warriors in the work of re-hauling a broken nation.

We can’t promise anything – but God does promise some things to women in difficult situations. In His loving mercy, He promises that He will be “a Father to the fatherless, and a Judge of the widows” (Psalm 68:5). He promises that He makes “all things work together for good to them that love God, and to them who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). He promises that if we “seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness… all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt. 6:33). And He promises that if we “do not be weary in well doing,” “in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Gal. 6:9)

Amazing promises for sure. Our God is an amazing God.

Separation is painful.

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
"I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."


"Therefore come out from them

and be separate, says the Lord.

Touch no unclean thing,

and I will receive you."

"I will be a Father to you,

and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." 1 Cor. 6:14-16
 
Such strong words. Such amazing promises! It's hard to separate ourselves from this world and all the sinful things this world is offering us. All the glitter and jazz. I was thinking about this and was discussing with my husband how hard it is to know if someone is a Christian or not. For instance if I am in public, will someone know right off that I am different, that I am a Christian? One day I was passing by a lady in a doctors office, and saw that she was reading a Bible.... Wow! That’s really one of the ways we can know that she loves the Lord, if we see someone reading or praying or just portraying that light and goodness. Its an amazing sight... I am sure God loves it too.

I may be wrong, but maybe the way we do things that’s what separates us from people who don’t believe in God?

1. Going to church as often as we can.

2. Reading the bible as our book of choice. Our living bread and water.

3. Praying constantly, speaking of God.

4. Portraying the words of God all around us.

5. Dressing modestly.

6. Speaking wisely, avoiding gossip, and lies.

7. Being filled with Gods peace and love, which means we wont get easily angered.

8. Forgiving others and not repaying in evil.

9. Knowing that we are not perfect but striving to be like Jesus.

I am sure there are a lot of other characteristics of being a Christian that I forgot, and maybe some of these things you may not agree with, but God will ask me and you personally to account for how you believed in your own heart, if your conscience is not clean, seek yourself and find guidance in the bible.

I love reading this website…http://visionarydaughters.com/ there is so much guidance in there for young girls, and for older women. You may like it too…:)

May God bless you and keep you in His guidance and strenght.

A favorite saying.

Life without Christ is like a brook without water; a cloud without rain; a well which mocks the traveler; a tree twice dead, plucked up by the root; a sky without a sun; a night without a star. O Christian, we must have Christ! Do see to it that every day when you wake you give a fresh savor of Christ upon you by contemplating his person. Live all the day, trying as much to submerge in Him, to season your hearts with him, and then at night, lie down with him upon your tongue.

Christmas week.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the goverment will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. {Isaiah 9:6}

Christmas is like 5 days away...wow, it sure is going fast. This is the Christmas week. The holiday starts today at our house. We had friends come in for breakfast, we went to see the Children’s Christmas museum, where different churches made little scenes from the bible period, around when Jesus was born. Girls really enjoyed it, especially the little 'angels'. I think they wished they were dressed like that.

There were roman soldiers... here is one with my oldest.

There were the wise men, the shepherds and also there were a lot of animals, goats, sheep, and rabbits. I guess when Jesus was born there were a lot of animals around him.

A lot of pictures didn’t turn out as well as I hoped, but some still will capture the memories for my girls. My girls said that they saw a 'real' Jesus, laying in 'real Mary's' arms. It sure is interesting to explain to them that its not real, but that Jesus was born long ago, but now this is just what people are dressed as Mary and Joseph, soldiers, and shepherds. That now we need to let Jesus be born in our hearts so He can live there and then we will be able to live with Him forever. It is a wonderful privilege for us to know that when we give our hearts to Jesus, we are going to be with him in heaven, and that nothing in this life can compare to what awaits us there.... I love it.

A gift of love.

Because of His boundless love,  
He became what we are
in order that
He might make us
what He is.
(Saint Irenaeus)

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. {John 3:16}

Be glad. Be joyful. Be happy for a great Gift is coming to you! Its not a gift you can see or touch or unwrap. Its far more precious. Its the indescribable sense of awe and wonder that comes when the celebration of Christ's birth reminds us once more that long ago God gave his only son to us in a form of a newborn baby.
How astonishing that is! And now we feel the amazement and gratitude in the knowledge that if we let it, Jesus can make a permanent home in our hearts, filling us with a deep and abiding love.