Women Get Real: Staying Pure In A Tainted World

Queen Esther. What do you think of when you read that name? What do you think of when you read the word Purim. Do you know it's significance?  It's a special time of year.  A time to remember a majestic story, a story of the deliverance.  Purim has to do with the story of Queen Esther of the Persian Empire, the deliverance of the Jewish people from annihilation. In the Bible, there is the book of Esther that tells the whole story.  Real briefly I will say, Esther was a Jewish girl who became the queen of Persia. She is described as one who was set apart, different from the other women who were in contest to win the affections/the heart of the king.

Esther's great integrity, her purity, her honesty, her grace, her strength, her passion for honoring her God (the one true God) far above herself and her own desires is a GREAT example we need to look into more deeply on our own personal time.  And since it's getting to be that time of year when millions of people around the world take time out to remember Purim, it reminds to me to bring up a topic that relates. Staying pure in a tainted world. If you are able, take about ten minutes or less to read the story of Esther in the Old Testament of the Bible. It is a very powerful story.

Some of you might say, 'yeah, well, I'm gonna check out of reading this post. It's not something I can relate too. I'm already not pure and already tainted. What's the point, Becky?'  There is SO much of a point, dear friend.  Each day, God brings us NEW MERCIES........a second chance to be....to exist for His glory and not our own.

Lamentations 3:22-25
"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your [God's] faithfulness.
"The LORD is my portion", says my soul, 
"therefore I will hope in him."

We need to confess whatever sin keeps blocking us from living for Jesus--for God's glory and His renown, repent (turn away from sin and turn to Christ) and keep living lives that are pure, just, and set apart---it so happens that Jesus Christ is all three of those things. So, think of it as walking toward Him in surrender and worship of His supremacy, His forgiveness, His sacrifice, His unchanging character, His redeeming power.  Oh, and by the way, I am saying all this to myself, too.

Here are some thoughts I have about attitudes we women get on occasion that are counter to the lifestyle of a woman living for the fame and glory of Christ...and NONE of these thoughts are in response to anyone I know, they are in response to my own mistakes in the past and in the present and my personal tendencies for the future...I am just speaking in general terms about how our attitudes as women can get off from being honoring to Christ.

So, just because we married women are married does not mean we can "check out of" the pursuit of being sexually pure in mind and body.  Just because you single women are single doesn't mean that you can watch whatever raunchy television show/movie you want because you have no husband to see you doing it.  Just because you teenage women are teenagers doesn't mean you should "check out of" being pure in our minds because you're "allowed to dream big about what's to come" or because you're "not harming anyone with your thought life".  Just because you grand-mom women are grand-mom's doesn't mean that you should give up purity in your speech and your story telling and in your story-listening because you say you "deserve" to be whoever you want, whenever you want "after all you've been through and after all you've done for others".

Sounds harsh, but somebody's gotta "bring it". I'm not even close to being the first to "bring it". Check this out.   Romans 6  (The Message) a paraphrase version of this chapter in the Bible.  It speaks in our language.  To read it online, just 'copy and paste' this link:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%206&version=MSG

If you'd like to read it in the English Standard Version (ESV), which is an actual translation of the Greek, use this link below.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%206&version=ESV

God's Word speaks to us constantly. In so many different places in God's Word it tell us we women who love Christ Jesus as Lord need to always make Him our Lord; day in, day out.  We need to make Christ Lord inside our minds, in our speech, in our stories, in our television watching, in our magazine buying/reading, in our time with friends, in our time with our spouse, in our time alone in our rooms, in our time out for a walk/run, in our time at work, in our time in the car, in our time at the store.

 In the chapter we just read of Romans 6, God's Word tells us we are not to think that we "have arrived" at some point in our journey on this earth that we can now do whatever we want because Jesus saved us and we now have heaven to look forward to. We are not to think that believing in Jesus as Lord is our "fire insurance"....our safety from hell. We ARE to live each day joyfully celebrating being brought from darkness--slavery to sin, to life a life that is abundant--forgiven, hope-filled, a promised citizenship in heaven---being the daughters of God, the heavenly Father.

 Have you tasted the sweetness of God's grace?  When you sing Amazing Grace at church or funerals or along with your favorite country singer while their music video plays on cable, do you realize what you are singing?  Do you know the amazing-ness of God's grace?  Because we have tasted the most amazing grace and freedom by receiving Christ's forgiveness and salvation, we should know our life isn't ours to live on our own anymore. Purity should be a priority. Our mind isn't our own anymore. It is for the glory of our Risen Lord that we put things into our minds, that we read what we read, that we share/tell what we share, that we dream what we dream.  As a gift, a daily gift, to our Lord Christ....our KING, purity in mind, heart, body and soul should be priority and something to be pursued with great passion.  

Christ is worthy of all praise, even when the praise comes in the form of pure mind, a pure heart and pure actions toward others.   JESUS SAVES US and no one else can do that for us.  He saves us from the inside out.  As a way of showing gratitude, living for him and like him is a great place to start.....from the inside out.

Not Settlin'

It is interesting how I'm still learning about "not settling" for less than the best....less than God's best for me and my family.  I guess I thought I could have had that figured out by now. I'm 32 and proud of it, but I'm still having to remember daily that the Almighty One, the Only Great God loves me (and you, for that matter) to death. Read the Gospel books of the Bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) if you are wondering what I mean by that. www.biblegateway.com

Throughout my life as a youth and now as an adult, I have had to focus on this topic of not settling in different ways.  At one season of my life, I was not going to settle for any grade in school less than an A.  In my friendships throughout high school and college, I didn't just go around confiding in anybody. I was careful with who I confided in and who I shared my heart with.  I didn't settle for just any "friend", but I looked (and found) friends of good character, who were trustworthy and faithful people. And in college, I was really wanting to be the best I could be in all areas of my life. I didn't want to settle for a mediocre approach to my studies, but I studied with passion. I didn't want to settle for mediocrity in my hopes of a relationship with a guy. I wanted to be the best gal I could be for THE guy that was supposed to marry me. I am SURE I did not always live out this idea of not settlin' for less than the best. However, mostly, my trust in God's guidance turned out to bless me because I ended up dating God-fearing guys whose character was in line with the kind of person I'd marry. And of the two guys I actually dated in college, the second one I married! But the topic of not settling for less than ________ isn't finished.

After marriage (or whatever it is you have just successfully finished not settling for less than), we all face more chapters of challenges; to settle or not to settle, practically on a daily basis.  haha!  Now, as a wife, I am still faced with a decision: to settle or not settle for the best that God has in store for me and my family.  Lots of options in the form of questions come to my mind.

Will I settle for a mediocre life or allow it to be extraordinary because I live for others (for God's glory) and not just for myself?  Will I settle for an existence as a typical mom, or will I rise and not settle for normalcy, but be a mother of great integrity, consistency, trustworthy-ness, creativity, and....well...frankly LIFE?  Will I settle for a knowledge of the Almighty God that anyone can get their minds filled with (just knowledge to be attained), OR will I press into knowing God, revering His majesty, listening to God's guidance through His Word and His Holy Spirit? Will I settle for a lifestyle of mediocre acts of kindness to those around me such as giving the leftovers of what good things/blessings/kindnesses I can do for others?  Will I NOT settle for less than giving the very best of my time, my resources, my attention, etc. to others; my husband, my son, my family and my friends? Will I chose to go above and beyond the norm to bless them? WELL, I have every reason to be my best, look for the best in others, give my best, wait for the best because my God has gone above and beyond everything to rescue me (all of us) from darkness, to change my eternal destiny (and God can for you too) from forever away from God's presence (hell) to forever in God's presence (heaven) by sending His Son Jesus Christ to this earth to be the only way to God the Father, to live a sinless life, to die on a cross in my place---for our sins and then to raise from the dead---conquering sin and death.

These questions continue:  Will I settle for a mediocre attitude toward marital romance and just let the television bring all the romantic ideas into our relationship? Or will I seek to be a woman of noble character and bring a kind, warm, creative and loving attitude into my marriage each day regardless of how my husband feels, acts or responds to me that day----and doing this all because I am aware of Christ's sacrificial love for me and his people?

Now, I need to look for stories in the Bible that bring to light this topic of not settling.  I want God's Word to back me up on this thought.  So, I guess that is gonna be my next post on this blog. If you want to help me find examples of people in the Bible who didn't settle for second best in some area of their life, but waited for God's ultimate best for them, please feel free to share on here in the comment section.

WOMAN OF TRUTH! LET US BE TRUE IN OUR LOVE.

Blessings to you, dear woman of Truth.  I am working through a thought currently, but I did want to say that today in the U.S. folks are celebrating Valentine's Day. It gets a little crazy with all the red hearts, excessive flowers, love songs on the radio, romantic comedy movies and love stories on the television and countless commercials on the television advertising products with the strong influence of love, romance and intimacy. I'm not too excited about the craziness, but it is here and I live surrounded by it's influence. So, I am needing to be daily renewed in my thinking. And the Almighty God is the One to help me be renewed in my mind and heart.  His Word helps so much with that.

Lately, I have been thinking strongly about how we focus so much on things that don't last very long.  We don't look long term into things as often as we look at quick fixes, temporary satisfaction.  If we do look in the long term things, they are usually stressful things.  So many times, we forget about the long term....positive long term things in this life.  God is loving us long term.  We get all of the short term blessings throughout each day ONLY because God is loving us long term.  Every good and perfect gift is from God.
James 1:17
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."

So, this is just a loving reminder this Valentine's Day to look for ways God is loving you today.  Acknowledge them out loud to others around you and in your heart.  Keep your eyes wide open for signs of how much God loves mankind. Let us love Him deeply today and everyday because He is and has and will always be loving us long term.......on the good days and the bad days.

When I find free time this afternoon, I will be posting another blog on this thought.  Stay tuned. haha!!  Blessings to you!!

Love, 

Becky

Not Helpful To Others When I'm Distracted With Me

It's Friday and the weather is beautiful! Thanks be to God!  Although the weather is great and my family is happy and doing well, I am still distracted by some things....

Let me be a little transparent here:
1) I'm heavy hearted today for some of my friends who are having some difficult times this week with loss of friends, loss of relationships, great needs of financial help and great needs for guidance/wisdom.
2) I am throwing a slight pity party for myself for not having family nearby to go visit---or to let my son go and play with his cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.
3) And I am feeling bummed that I haven't worked harder to promote my MARY KAY COSMETICS independent beauty consulting business this month.  And I truly believe it is a fantastic business that has the potential to enrich women's lives in much more than just beauty products and skin care.  It is so important to me to encourage and support the women I meet.  So, to not work on my independent beauty consultation business this month, makes me feel like I have let others down or hindered other women from getting a blessing.  You may think this sounds crazy, but it's what's going on in my head right now.  And since this blog is about being a woman of truth, I'm gonna be THAT GIRL.  haha!!

The solution to these three current frustrations is pretty basic.  I need to spend time in God's Word more today and each day. I need to make it one of the first things I do each day.  I need to talk to the God of Heaven about these distractions and ask Him how to help me. God's Holy Spirit is ready and willing to help me move forward, pray for my struggling/suffering friends more diligently, stop being pitiful (haha!) and help me have the motivation to work on my consulting business with the level I can handle for this time in my life.  Christ can fix everything.  I just need to spend time with Him and allow Him to do a great work in me.

I am so relieved to know that God is always near and always available.  :-)

A Month of Stories

Just wanted to invite you ladies to share your story....your true love story on this blog.  More specific, I want some of you to write up a brief version of your story of coming to faith in Christ Jesus.  Each one of us has a different journey and the story of how our journey began is powerful and so encouraging to others.  I would like us to work together on this.  Would you e-mail me your brief version of your Jesus story at:  bjhooray@yahoo.com?

I will let you be the guest blogger for my site that day.

This is the month of Valentine's and stories of love.  Let's fill this blog this month with stories of how we came to accept the unchanging, unconditional, forever available love of Christ.

WILL YOU JOIN ME IN SHARING YOUR STORY??  If you need to be anonymous, then send it through to me asking to be anonymous......OR just send it in the form of a comment on this blog post as an anonymous writer. I will then copy and paste it as a singular blog post.

WOMEN OF TRUTH!  GOD LOVES YOU!  I LOVE YOU!  Let us shine God's love this month.....and every month.  I am looking forward to hearing your stories.  Please take the time to share.

Birthday Memories

This weekend I will celebrate my 32nd birthday. Each year, on the week of my birthday, I think about my life and all the major points that I can recall. I have done this deep reminiscing each year---during the week of my birthday---since the year I turned eleven years old.  The year I turned eleven years old was special. On Easter Sunday of my tenth year, I came to faith in Christ Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Although I had a family who all believed in Jesus, I had not yet (until that Easter Sunday) fully surrendered my heart and mind to making Christ King of my life.  God was always an important part of my little life of ten years, but I clearly remember not wanting God to be "in charge or in control" of my destiny.

As a nine year old, I remember many nights, kneeling beside my bed (like my parents had encouraged me to do, so as to pray to God and thank Him for the day and for His blessings) and I would recite a basic prayer to the God that my family knew personally.  I didn't really know what to feel. I felt a struggle in my heart. Many nights, I would recite the basic prayer (with real gratitude in my heart---grateful that there was someone always there to watch over me and my family) and then, after a bit of a pause, I would speak....quite frankly...to God; the One God my parents believed (and still do) to be the Heavenly Father who sent His only begotten Son Jesus to earth to die in my place and save me from my sins.  I would say something like, "God, I know the Bible says believing in Jesus, your Son, is the only way to go to heaven when we die. But I don't want to surrender tonight. I want to be in control. And I think if I believe in Jesus as my Savior, I'll never get to do anything fun and all of my dreams and desires I have for when I grow up will have to be thrown out if I surrender my life to your Son. I don't want to give up control. So, Jesus may be the only way to heaven, but I'm not going to believe in him tonight."

After such prayer, I would usually lie awake in my bed for a couple of hours so concerned if I was wrong and fell asleep and if I died in my sleep that I would not see heaven or God for an eternity. I was so conflicted. I didn't want an invisible God to be in control of me. But I didn't want to spend eternity in total separation from Him. I believed God existed, but I didn't like that there was only one way to get to Him.  I was (still am) so stubborn.

As a little girl who still didn't believe in Jesus as Lord, I desired to be a girl who did good things and treat people with kindness. However my desire to do good didn't necessarily help me achieve the doing of good things. Being good on a continual basis isn't possible without a supernatural power helping us simply because we are selfish beings.  Well, God is so awesome that He doesn't leave us in our selfish state. Since I acknowledged Him as God and spoke to Him about my lack of desire to believe in Christ, it still kept the lines of communication between us open. God was still working on my heart.....and I was letting Him, whether I knew it or not.

So, on my birthday each year since I turned eleven years, I reflect on the change that was made in me.  I went from caterpillar to butterfly. God saved me that Easter Sunday night in Midwest City, Oklahoma in 1990 when I confessed God's sovereignty over everything; when I believed in His Son Jesus Christ the King of my life--- of my heart.

On my eleventh birthday, I was so grateful to have Jesus Christ in me, God with me, to save me from my sinful ways and help me when I turn from Him distracted by this world and my selfishness. My birthday has been so precious ever since. I am a new creation! My birth on this earth was just the first birth. God's Son Jesus gave me the only way to be born again. My spirit is made new because of Christ. Although I still struggle with things, attitudes and thoughts that were not honoring to God, I am aware that God was and still is the One I could and still can go to with all of my hang-ups and questions. There in God's presence I can be made clean again.  (Matthew 8:1-4)  Now I live life differently because I know that God knew my past, my struggles, my mistakes and still loved me SO much to send His Son Jesus to earth to save me.

Happy Bithday to me!  Jesus Christ is the best gift anyone can ever get.  He is free for the taking.  If you haven't received the gift of salvation yet.  Today is that day.  Open the gift. Cherish it.

"Oh, how I love Jesus.  Oh, how I love Jesus.  Oh, how I love Jesus, because He first loved me."

It Starts in the Heart

So I have been thinking much about the power of our words in the lives of others.  However, it is always good to look even deeper. Instead of focusing so much on what I say, I should be focusing on my heart's attitude.  If I focus on the heart's attitude toward God and toward this world, the issue with watching what I say takes care of itself.

God allowed this concept to be played out in so many parts of his creation.  When plants take in nutrients at the roots, they grow strong and healthy above ground.  When animals stay nourished, they have the energy they need for each day, living the way God intended them to live.  When we allow truth and positive thoughts to fill our minds and hearts, we are helping our spirit and attitude to be one that is pleasing to God and helpful to others around us.  I was asked once, "What happens when you squeeze an orange?" I responded, "Orange juice will come out."  That's exactly it. What we are made of at our core is what will spill out when trials and attacks of the Enemy press in on us.

We women who already know Jesus as our Lord and Savior are, as the Word of God says, a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).  We are ones who have left the old life (the caterpillar life) and have been made completely new (the butterfly life) by the Almighty God through His Son Jesus Christ. So if we are made new, when the stresses and trials of life press in on us, we SHOULD exhibit the characteristics of our new identity; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control which are all products of knowing Christ as Savior; the "fruit of the Spirit". (Galatians 5:22)

I am going to end with the first chapter of the book of James and the second chapter of the book of Ephesians in the New Testament of God's Word. It is so insightful and challenging to me. Both books, James and Ephesians, remind us of our new identity in Christ. They remind us that our tongue (our speech) is influenced by the condition of our hearts. Let us read it together and allow it to change us........today.  Sisters, don't let this wait for another day.  Butterflies can not return to the caterpillar stage. Let us embrace our new identity and honor God for His great work in our little lives.

James 1


Greeting

 ¹ James, a servant^[a] of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

   To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:

   Greetings.

Testing of Your Faith

 ² Count it all joy, my brothers,^[b] when you meet trials of various kinds, ³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

 ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

 ⁹ Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, ¹⁰ and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass^[c] he will pass away. ¹¹ For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

 ¹² Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴ But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵ Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

 ¹⁶ Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. ¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.^[d] 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Hearing and Doing the Word

 ¹⁹ Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak,slow to anger; ²⁰ for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. ²¹Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

 ²² But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. ²⁴ For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. ²⁵ But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

 ²⁶ If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. ²⁷ Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Ephesians 2

By Grace Through Faith

 ¹ And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³ among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body^[a] and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.^[b] 4 But^[c] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been savedthrough faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

One in Christ

 ¹¹ Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— ¹² remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, ¹⁶ and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.   ¹⁷ And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.¹⁸ For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,^[d] but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. ²² In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by^[e] the Spirit.

THANKS FOR READING!   

Women of truth, rise and shine your light!  Embrace your new identity in Christ! 

p.s.-  Are you still in caterpillar stage?  Are you ready to receive Christ as your Savior and be changed from the old life to the new?  Take a moment and admit your great need of a Savior.  Speak to God, confess your sin to Him and ask for His forgiveness. God is ready and willing to forgive all of your sins.  His Son has already paid the price for your sin against the Holy God.  If you are ready, accept His forgiveness and believe in Christ Jesus as the Son of God and the source of your salvation and eternal life. 

Romans 10:9-11 says, "...because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, 'Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.'"