Lanterns......Lights........ACTION!

As women of truth, THE Truth, we are light to the world.  Matthew 5:14 says, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden." This means that wherever we go, God's love and His light shine on anything and anyone who is in our circle of influence.  Many times when God's light exposes sin and darkness in the world we live in, we find it tempting to "join in" instead of standing firm as the lantern housing the Great Light source who is our Heavenly Father's Holy Spirit.  I hope that makes sense.  What if we really saw ourselves as vessels of light to the nations?

For those of us who desire to be a vessel of light....of God's love and truth; let us not be shocked when some of our friends turn from us for a short time and hide with other folks whose light isn't shining so brightly.  (This is NOT directed at anyone of the folks I know. It is just a thought that God has placed on my heart to share.)  Exposed sin and darkness in us is never a good feeling. Without Christ's help....without Christ's great mercy and grace, we cannot stand the sight of our sin nature being illuminated before the Great God.  No one likes to see their sin illuminated. Let us be women of compassion and grace and strength.  Colossians 3:12-17 is where I receive sound instruction on that point. I will copy those verses at the end of this blog post. Let us be women of God who stand firm.  As we are a light to the world, a lantern holding the light of Christ,....shining to our friends, foes and those we do not know,.... let us understand our purpose.  When God's light in us exposes sin in ourselves and in others, may we choose (every time) to honor God in those moments showing mercy and grace and love that only comes from God.

When the light of God in me clearly seems to illuminate darkness in a friend, it's tempting to just "turn out the light" in me and "fit in with the crowd" so as to not create a wave of discomfort in their hearts.  My personality is to try whatever I can to make people happy and find joy in life. So when God's light reveals yucky sin in my circle of influence and I see that person/ those persons treading backward away from me and our friendship because of the awkward exposure, I sometimes just want to stop shining God's light in order to stop the pain they feel.  But God keeps pressing in on me to not stop shining His light/His love/His truth because in the exposure of our sin is the great chance to admit/confess our sin to each other and God and find healing......find hope....find reconciliation with our Maker.  God knows it is awkward and tough for us to deal with our sin. He knows sin binds us up and keeps us from coming close to Him.  But God tells us many times in His Word to love one another. His Love helps us to confess our sin, our rebellion and find salvation, and fellowship.  God's love that He wants us to share with all those we meet is so powerful that if we personally choose to keep it hidden in our hearts and not shine it, someone else will shine it and get the blessing instead. As it says in the Bible, God's love never fails.

Personally, I would rather struggle through missing my friends when they step away from the light........rather struggle through getting treated poorly by co-workers and bosses because of the light that I carry than miss the blessing of being a vessel of God's light to the world.
I am so grateful our Lord Jesus lives within His people so that all we need to do is surrender to Him and allow Him to shine through us. Like a lantern. We house the light that is started in us by the Heavenly Father.
WOMEN OF TRUTH, RISE AND SHINE YOUR LIGHT TO THE WORLD.  Amen.

Colossians 3:12-17
"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.  And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.  And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

The Return

JESUS.  His name alone is power, grace, freedom, redemption, hope, truth, life, wisdom, strength, peace, righteous, and holy. I need to meditate on Jesus and the basic truths of His majesty and might and His Name which the Bible says is above every name. I need to return the focus of my heart to the Lord Jesus.
Here are some verses that I found in my Study Bible's concordance about the Lord's name.
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Proverbs 18:10--"The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe."
Isaiah 42:8--"I am the LORD, that is my name;..."
Joel 2:32--"And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the LORD shall be saved." 
Malachi 1:11--"For from the rising of the sun to it's setting my name will be great among the nations..." 
John 20:31--"but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."
Acts 4:12--"And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." 
Philippians 2:9--"Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name," 
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JESUS. The person---our God in the flesh. The Bible says He is our Prince of Peace, our High Priest, our Emmanuel--God With Us.
This weekend, I need to return the focus of my mind to the knowledge and understanding of who my Lord Jesus IS as much as meditate on the power even just in His name.  I want to remember and profess to my heart today, that my LORD Jesus isn't weak in any way and will never be defeated or overcome because He holds the whole world in His hands. He is the Righteous One, our Redeemer and even my friend. He is so much more, but I will continue with my thoughts as best as I can.

The disciples of Jesus, the guys that walked with him, ate with him, found shelter with him, listened to him speak to masses of people throughout the lands of Israel, saw him transfigured into His glorious heavenly self on a mountain and saw him heal folks and raise people up from the dead....among these men, one--the apostle John wrote this:

1 John 1:1-10 ESV

 "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— ²  the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— ³  that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. ⁴ And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

⁵  This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. ⁶  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷ 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 cleanses us from all sin. ⁸  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."

God's Word gives us what we need so that we know Christ and thus know the Heavenly Father.  We Christians, many times, think that being "saved" is all we need to be. But it is a life transformation when we are saved. And our new life causes each of us to want to know the One who gave us a new life.  We want to show gratitude by having a life of grateful hearts for His deliverance and devotion to knowing His Word. If we are truly rescued from darkness (as spoke about in the book of Colossians) and brought into marvelous light, we will be changed forever.  Christ in us forever. We must live showing we are changed.  To bring us to the center of this, we can start with JESUS....even His name is powerful enough to bring us back to center.  Thinking upon His name, saying His name in reverence and humility brings us back to center.....a life and mind focused on our Maker and His divine good news.


This evening...this weekend, I just wanted to see Jesus and know Him more deeply than the day before. I confess, I haven't sat still and done this in several days. It is much needed each day and I haven't done that recently. However, God is still here waiting for me to meet with Him.  He never walks away and gives up on me....or anyone for that matter.  I began reading in the Gospel of John. I encourage you to do something of the same in your own pursuit of Christ.

I am going to share with you the parts of the book of John (of just the first 3 chapters) that I read yesterday and today to reconnect me with my Savior and Lord.  I will copy the verses and parts of verses I journaled about this weekend; first using the English Standard Version of the Holy Bible and then, for another view of it, I will copy the same series of verses using The Message which is a paraphrase of the Holy Bible.  Be blessed as you read along with me the Good News.
Speaking of my Lord Jesus Christ...
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John 1:10-14

^"10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. ¹² But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." -ESV

John 1:9-14 The Message

" ^9-13The Life-Light was the real thing: 

      Every person entering Life
      he brings into Light.
   He was in the world,
      the world was there through him,
      and yet the world didn't even notice.
   He came to his own people,
      but they didn't want him.
   But whoever did want him,
      who believed he was who he claimed
      and would do what he said,
   He made to be their true selves,
      their child-of-God selves.
   These are the God-begotten,
      not blood-begotten,
      not flesh-begotten,
      not sex-begotten.

 ¹⁴The Word became flesh and blood,
      and moved into the neighborhood.
   We saw the glory with our own eyes,
      the one-of-a-kind glory,
      like Father, like Son,
   Generous inside and out,
      true from start to finish."

John 1:29-31 ESV (speaking about John the Baptist's encounter with Christ)

"²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³² And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. ³³ I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

John 1:29-31 The Message

"^29-31The very next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and yelled out, "Here he is, God's Passover Lamb! He forgives the sins of the world! This is the man I've been talking about, 'the One who comes after me but is really ahead of me.' I knew nothing about who he was—only this: that my task has been to get Israel ready to recognize him as the God-Revealer. That is why I came here baptizing with water, giving you a good bath and scrubbing sins from your life so you can get a fresh start with God."

John 3:1-8 ESV

"Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.² This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” ³ Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

John 3:1-8 The Message

"^1-2 There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews. Late one night he visited Jesus and said, "Rabbi, we all know you're a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren't in on it."

 ³Jesus said, "You're absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it's not possible to see what I'm pointing to—to God's kingdom."

⁴"How can anyone," said Nicodemus, "be born who has already been born and grown up? You can't re-enter your mother's womb and be born again. What are you saying with this 'born-from-above' talk?"
 ^5-6Jesus said, "You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the 'wind-hovering-over-the-water' creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it's not possible to enter God's kingdom. When you look at a baby, it's just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can't see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit.
 ^7-8"So don't be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be 'born from above'—out of this world, so to speak. You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it's headed next. That's the way it is with everyone 'born from above' by the wind of God, the Spirit of God."
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My thoughts journaled this weekend:

Jesus came to us clothed in skin, His Majesty veiled for a short time, to teach us His Father's will---that we all come to know Him our Savior, our Messiah, our Life---our Bread of Life...our "necessity of life", our only Hope of redemption from the wages of sin, which is death (Romans 6:23).  Jesus came to show us He IS the way--the only way to redemption, to only way to eternal LIFE which is in the presence of our Creator and mighty God, the Heavenly Father.  He knew we needed Him to come in our human shell to show us the Way----to show us Himself.

I am forever grateful from the deepest part of my soul for His life here on earth some two thousand years ago. I am grateful for His light in our darkness to lead us to the Father as we are just sheep in great need of a shepherd and are completely lost without His guidance, protection and provision.
And I proclaim again:
Jesus is life.  Jesus is peace.  Jesus came, died in our place/paid for our sin-debt, rose from the grave, defeating the grip of death and sits victorious at the right hand of the Heavenly Father.
God's Word tells us Jesus is what we need. Jesus' name is what we should speak into our hearts, into our minds each day. He is our necessity.  His time here on earth was to show us the way to our necessity (my pastor spoke last week about this....Christ being our necessity of life).  And now, as a believer in Christ Jesus, His Spirit, His blessed Presence stays with me...and you who believe...even as He sits as King of kings on His throne in Heaven.  I am so grateful my Jesus not only made a way for me to have redemption and salvation from my sin, but He made a way for me and all believers to have His presence forever with us so that we do not walk through this life alone.....no matter how many friends we have or do not have.  Jesus-the Victor is the best of friends, the best of companions, the best of champions, the best of leaders and the God of all gods.  I am His and He is mine. And Jesus is coming back to earth for His people. Are you ready?

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I'm Surrounded...

If I do not focus on the reality of God's greatness, His Sovereignty, His goodness, His lovingkindness, His salvation, His freedom, His hope, His message,...I get mentally bombarded by so many worries and fears.  As the Lord has called me to invest His Love and His Word into the lives of college women.....any women for that matter, I get continuous thoughts of "what if...", especially when I am not centering my thoughts and my daily routine around the reality of Christ---of His redemption story---of His Sovereignty and His calling on my life.

When my mind is unguarded, I get bombarded with thoughts like, "What if I didn't do this ministry full time and started up my own business?" Or "What if I didn't do ministry and just stayed at home with my son all day?"  Or "What if I just stopped doing ministry for a time to pursue a career that would bring in lots of needed financial help to my family; knocking out the debts we have and giving us the chance to start ministering to college kids again some other day in the future?" Or "What if we (my husband and I) stayed in Oklahoma and didn't go to Pennsylvania to be collegiate ministers?" "What if I became a well known florist or song-writer/singer or a respected and sought after teacher?"

OH MY GOODNESS!!  These questions bombard me almost daily.  And each time they do, if I'm not grounded in the TRUTH that God, the Almighty Lord of all, has called me to minister here in Pennsylvania, I get beat down by the "what ifs" to the point of extreme frustration and stress.  It's not that I believe thinking what if questions are bad, it's just frustrating to me when I allow those type of questions to dominate my thoughts. Being a business owner, a stay at home mom, a debt-free family, a minister in Oklahoma are not bad things or unworthy things to me AT ALL; they are great things.   I just struggle because many times, these questions about these occupations or positions get in the way of my focus to be the best at my and my husband's current calling to collegiate ministry at West Chester University. My husband and I firmly believe the Almighty God has called us and is calling our hearts (even still) to be in Pennsylvania and be his workers in ministry to the people we meet...more specifically to the people at West Chester University.

So, it is up to me to decide daily what I am going to allow myself to be surrounded by.  Will I hide myself in the Most High God's protection and strength?  Or Will I surround myself with the reality of the great expenses of where we live? Or Will I hide myself in the fears of "missing out" on something "great"?  Will I hide myself in the pursuit of success......the kind of success that is only for my gain?  Only God knows.  NO MATTER WHAT, everyday I am surrounded....

Surrounded by God's love, whether I like it or not.
Surrounded by God's forgiveness, though I do not deserve it.
Surrounded by amazing friends and people of God who love me in spite of my crazy self.

Be Real About Your Life Often, But First...

So many days I want to post something on this blog, but I stop because it is SUPER tempting to vent and God helps me see this blog is NOT the place for it. I mean, seriously, I began this blog with the specific intent of talking about how women need to be real with each other and themselves. It is such a serious topic, yet it doesn't mean that I think women should get real about everything in their lives to anyone and everyone.  There is discernment and discretion involved in the getting real stuff that I'm speaking to. And there should be grace.

As a missionary and a minister's wife, I have a bunch of things that I think about each day, including a bunch of complaints, disagreements, negative opinions and re-actions which should not be shared with anyone....except on occasion my husband and at all times--my Savior Jesus.  It's a lonely life, sometimes, being a missionary (not trying to get a pity party started, just stating fact). Because we desire to honor our LORD as missionaries, we can't go "dishing" out information we hear. We have to keep many of our thoughts to ourselves and our God. Well, I guess we always can go around sharing things that should be kept private, but we may not have the position of ministry leader for much longer.....at least one that people will willingly follow......and we probably won't have very many friends either. ha! Gossip isn't something a God-fearing person needs to have in the daily routine; not because a human said so, but because God says so.

I find, as a woman who is extraverted--a verbal thinker, I feel it is almost a necessity to get my feelings/thoughts/opinions/stories out verbally just so that they do not get bottled up inside to a point of causing mental stress of great proportion. haha!  And I find, in my job/ministry, keeping things confidential isn't really the issue that's stressful.  For me the issue tends to be more about the reality of not "fitting in" with the crowd--the world I live in--and they are just saying whatever...whenever. It is such a temptation to be one in the crowd....to go with the flow of things....to blend in to the chaos of this world. Somedays I get so weary of living the life of the fish swimming the opposite direction of the current and all the other "fishes". Swimming the other direction, against a strong current is never easy and it takes persistence and strength to keep up the pace to fight the current. Sometimes, I'm not so sure I have the strength or gumption to fight the current of the rest of the world's rhythm of life.

Again, I say, this past paragraph is not written to get some sort of pity from you. I am just being real.  Being real is allowing others to see that you are like them, that you bleed, you have heart-ache, you hunger and thirst, you crave, you hope, you sometimes despair, that you criticize, that you repent, that you surrender, that you bind yourself up, that you fear, that you rejoice, that you love and dream like everyone else.  Being real with people who don't believe in the God is just as powerful if not more.
Being real with someone who doesn't believe in Christ as Savior yet is powerful in a God-powerful kind of way...most effectively when we let others see (as we share our stories and share just how we are feeling) that we are regular people, but we are forgiven and "made new" people. I may act selfishly sometimes, but I know the great God whose love brings me back into a humble attitude before His Majesty.

Life is hard. God knows that. He knows it is hard for us because we humans who believe in Jesus battle a sin nature until His Son Jesus returns to restore the world to it's perfect state. We humans who don't believe in Jesus' salvation yet, have a hard life even more because God's Spirit doesn't live within the mind and heart to fill the emptiness that is there.

Let's get real, being women of truth at all times, but being women of truth with discernment, discretion, compassion, grace, hope and love.

Building the Team--A Prayer Request

Dear friends,

As you might already know, my husband and I are both full-time ministers to the college students at West Chester University of Pennsylvania.  We are devoted to sharing the love of God and the message of Jesus Christ to the students of West Chester, PA and beyond.  It has been a privilege to encourage, support, motivate, challenge and share the Good News of Christ to college students these past eight years---first at Penn State University and for the past 5 years at West Chester University. 

What you might not know is that our income is completely from financial support team members; whether that be one-time, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly or annual financial gifts.  The team members consists of individuals, organizations and churches...and even bible study groups.  There is no set rate of expected monetary gift.  Each team member has decided what the LORD wants them to give.  All financial gifts go through the Mission Service Corps office at North American Mission Board and every penny is then sent to us.  We live trusting in our Lord to provide for our every need through the givings of our friends, family and even strangers.  Our Lord has always met our needs and we believe He will continue to do so as we choose to serve Him wherever we are.

This summer, we are looking to share the opportunity to many more people---to share how they can become financial and prayer support team members of our ministry to the students and staff of West Chester University of PA.  These past two years, we have not been fully funded and are living on about 60% of the budget needed to live in this part of the country.  Our goal is to get our support level to the 100% mark by the end of this summer. If you are curious how much more we would need to be able to live in this area of West Chester, PA, it will be about $1300 more a month. 

My husband Brodie and I would like to ask you to pray and ask God if He is calling you to partner with us and join our support team.  God knows who He wants on our team and we don't so we just open this opportunity up to anyone the Lord leads us to.  I have been feeling a tug on my heart for several months now to write this post, but have been nervous to bring this up on my blog. However, here I am writing this to you and I will leave the results in God's care....in His leading.  Please pray about this and let me know via e-mail if you are even interested.

Some folks will ask us what is a common amount given by one individual to our ministry on a monthly basis.  The common amount per family is $50/ month.  However, there are some who give more and some who give less----and that amount is and will always be completely up to them and God.  ALL of the giving we receive is a great blessing and helps us to continue ministering in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

We have a new way for people to join our team, it is a direct website address to our account at North American Mission Board.  

You may enter that website directly from this link: http://bit.ly/M1Evd3

A simple e-mail to me is also just fine.  I will be able to give you the information you need.

My e-mail address is:  bjhooray@yahoo.com

Thank you so much for reading this and praying about joining our ministry's financial support team!!  And as always, we are greatly appreciative of folks to commit to being on our prayer support team. Please let us know that desire as well via e-mail.

Grateful,

Becky Smith

Associate director of CrossSeekers Campus Ministry   www.crossseekerswcu.com

Let Them See You LIVE

What are we waiting for?  Time to pass? A better job to come along?  "I Do"s to be shared at our wedding? Our kids to grow up and move out? More understanding of God to spontaneously pop into our minds?

Are we waiting for a better time to really live?  Are we thinking that when we get our lives in "order", then we'll get serious about knowing the God who created us?  Are we thinking that being a spouse or girlfriend is enough stress right now that we can't add on another level of getting serious with our spiritual lives simultaneously? Sometimes I get caught in these thoughts. However, I know that the time to really live the life God has given me is now....same with you.

Dear friends, women of truth, let us let the people in our lives see us LIVE. Let them see us live for a higher purpose than ourselves and our own agenda.  Let them see us live for truth in the public places and in the comforts of home.  Let them see us live fully for the One who gives us a life to live out loud in the first place.  Let the people in our world SEE us live......not just exist.  Let each breath we take be for the purpose of honoring the Great God who loves us unconditionally and sacrificially. Let us live.....have a heart beat for being women of peace in our communities.  Let us live....pursuing knowledge as a way to bless others around us and live for God's great purpose more effectively.  Let us live....show kindness and understanding and deep God-powered love to our spouses and our children.

This is a huge exhortation to me and you in honor of my dear friend/sister in Christ---Karen M. who is battling cancer and who is (from what I've been told) is close to meeting our LORD face to face. All of her family and friends are waiting to see what God's will is going to be for her in this--her battle with cancer. We know God has even brought people back from the grave. We know nothing is impossible for God. We just wait and continue in gratitude to our God for allowing us to know Karen and be blessed by her sweet spirit, wise words and loving service to so many lives.

Karen has always inspired me (like so many other dear women I have the privilege to know--including my fantastic mother) to LIVE life and not just exist. Karen lives life to the full.  Encouraging everyone around her; strengthening them with her God-driven counsel and hope-filled words and giving of her talents and gifts selflessly.  I pray everyday that God wouldn't take her to heaven so soon. I am selfish and I want her to stay here on this earth and continue to glorify God with her life here; to share His amazing love with many more people till a very old age.  But God's will is so much higher than our human will.

So, I pray for you and me, dear friends, that we let our light shine!  If you feel your light is burnt out.....go get the Word of God--read it and start the fire again.  Let's go!  Let's really LIVE!

COLOSSIANS 1:3-18 (The Message----a paraphrase version)
 ^3-5Our prayers for you are always spilling over into thanksgivings. We can't quit thanking God our Father and Jesus our Messiah for you! We keep getting reports on your steady faith in Christ, our Jesus, and the love you continuously extend to all Christians. The lines of purpose in your lives never grow slack, tightly tied as they are to your future in heaven, kept taut by hope.

 ^5-8The Message is as true among you today as when you first heard it. It doesn't diminish or weaken over time. It's the same all over the world. The Message bears fruit and gets larger and stronger, just as it has in you. From the very first day you heard and recognized the truth of what God is doing, you've been hungry for more. It's as vigorous in you now as when you learned it from our friend and close associate Epaphras. He is one reliable worker for Christ! I could always depend on him. He's the one who told us how thoroughly love had been worked into your lives by the Spirit.

 ^9-12Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven't stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you'll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.

 ^13-14God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He's set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating.

 ^15-18We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.

Blood Relatives: Sisters By The Blood

Ephesians 1:7

English Standard Version (ESV)

⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,according to the riches of his grace,

Colossians 1:20

English Standard Version (ESV)

²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven,making peace by the blood of his cross.

1 John 1:7

English Standard Version (ESV)

⁷ 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 cleanses us from all sin.

Revelation 1:5

English Standard Version (ESV)

⁵ and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.   To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood

Hebrews 9:22

English Standard Version (ESV)

²² Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
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AWKWARD THOUGHTS by Me

As I begin my post, if you are a man reading my blog today, you need to know, as if it wasn't already made clear in my blog's web address, that this post is for women.  I am speaking to women since I am one.  This post is about a deep thought I have been having for many years now and it needs to be expressed, not because it is going to be fun or entertaining. It is just a reality women face that I believe gets overlooked or avoided in the Christian community. That being said, I will begin.

As an artist of some sort, I have wondered about why certain emotions are depicted in specific colors or color combinations. The colors of the rainbow are used in art to calm, to inspire, to awaken, evoke, and to clarify/cleanse. And I have been thinking of something since we had our holiday of St. Valentine's Day this year here in the United States. I have been thinking about why love, affection, intimacy, brotherly/sisterly love, kindness, God's love for mankind and things of the love category are depicted, remembered, characterized in the color red. The color red historically represents the heart. The heart can refer to, as you already know, the actual organ that pumps blood or the emotional/spiritual heart that expresses passion, love or sacrifice.  This is all what I call a "no duh!" thought.  But then my thoughts go further with the color red.

Love is represented as red because of a heart's job of pumping blood.....which is red. This is a thing we know. HA! Hang in there with me, I'm getting to my point. Then my mind wanders further. God's love is depicted in the sending of His only Son Jesus Christ to die on a cross, shedding His blood to save the people of the world from their sins.....to reconcile the people to Himself when they come to belief in His Son as the only way to God.  And here's the part I'm getting to...

As women, we experience a monthly encounter with blood.  Somehow we make it through that time of the month without thinking too deeply on what's happening.  However, regardless of how inappropriate this topic might seem to be heading, I hope you will track with me for a few minutes.

Can it be that God in His deep and abiding love for us allows us to experience this uncomfortable, unclean, awkward, humbling time of the month just to remind us of His deep love for us-----the sending His only Son Jesus to die on a cross (a gruesome death), shedding his blood.....to die in our place in order to give us new life?

Many of us, if not all of us women on this planet, do not enjoy/look forward to the time of the month when we have "our cycle".  It's no fun, ever.  Can it be that God allows us to experience it so that we can draw closer to Jesus Christ, embracing the truth of the story that has forever changed history and has forever changed us (those who have believed Jesus Christ is the Son of God, as Savior of the world)?  Can it be that we experience this whole "having a cycle" business because God knows we will be VERY equipped to better grasp the idea of Christ's blood washing us clean of our sins?

Must I go further?  Do you realize God deeply loves you??  Do you and I understand that even in that time of the month that is SO painful, uncomfortable, humbling,......let's just say it----gross, that God is trying to show his daughters that His Son Jesus paid for all of our debts by the shedding of His own blood on a cross?  Do you and I understand that while we often ask during that time of the month, "Why God??  Why do you have us experience this awfulness each month??", God is looking down on us with SO MUCH LOVE longing for us to get the good message---that even His perfect and holy Son Jesus asked His Father why as He hung on a cross?  Do you and I see God's love for us during that yucky time of the month because we are reminded of the power of God raising Christ from the dead, seating the Lord Jesus at His right hand in heaven? During that time, do you and I have a fresh understanding that the truth of Christ wins, that Christ is the victor---in all battles and wars because of his death on the cross and because of His resurrection from the dead?  Maybe God is giving us women a deep privilege through this monthly aggravation called a period so that we will better understand the shedding of Christ's blood and it's cleansing power SO AS TO GO AND SHARE THIS AMAZING MESSAGE OF GRACE AND REDEMPTION WITH THOSE IN OUR WORLD.

Ultimately, what keeps coming back to my mind when I think about why we women have to experience that monthly process is: God's love for us.  He loves us so much that He wants to monthly (and also daily through the reading of His Word) remind us the power of Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

So, I must stop typing. I feel as if I have said this TOO many different ways.  But I hope you are alerted to a new perspective on something that has been "plaguing" the women of this earth since the very first woman.  It's seems that the Good News of Christ was found even in the first Eve's monthly cycle and she didn't even know it. haha!

AM I CRAZY?!  TALK TO ME ABOUT THIS IF YOU THINK I AM!

Blessings to you all. Thanks for reading this.