These 21 Years!

Today marks a really really special day!! It is a very exciting time in the life of me, a time of great change and upcoming transitions. I have such mixed emotions on a day like today, but it is so very encouraging to know that being a Daughter of the King means so much more for me then being part of the religious background I was brought up in. It means that no matter what tomorrow, or next week, or the next coming months, or years may bring my destiny and future is secure because my Heavenly Father is sovereignly in control of EVERYTHING. On this special day I was reflecting back on all the things that life has thrown at me in the past 21 years of life and I am so humbled and amazed. Life has been full of its ups and downs, friends and family that have stuck by my side when it would have been easier and more desirable to just run away. I have endured the struggles of countless years of schooling that at the time was not a blessing but on the other side of completion most definitely are. Now I am at the 3-4 month mark of starting a lifelong career (all by the age of 21), thank you Lord!!! I have gone through the typical falling in love, make ups , and evidently break ups, but through it all the fingerprints of Christ's gracious sanctification work can be seen. 

On this day I have also been thinking about the fact of losing my best friend, roommate, accountability partner, and precious sister in a few short days. Whitney Canty will walk down the aisle and commit herself to Colby Trim for the rest of their lives together on this earth. I have had the honor and privilege to be there when this relationship first started and see it blossom and grow into the marriage relationship that will take place on Saturday. I could not be more happy for my sister as this has been a day that we have both prayed for and spend late nights talking and dreaming about for years now. I cant believe it's already here. While life for me will strange drastically I am so excited to re focus my life in a sense and commit myself completely to finishing hair school, getting my first real time jobs, travel, and hoepfully move out of the house!! :) I cannot wait for all that God has for me in this next year of life and have full confidence that My Father who has been ever faithful till now will continue to be ever faithful still. 

What To Do!!! Knowing the Will of God!

The best sermon I have ever heard on the topic of the will of God!! Voddie Bauchum is one of my absolute favorite preachers ever! ENJOY!

Modern Spirituality and Your Mind

Successful Prayer

Here is a series of articles that I found on prayer from John McArthur's blog. I always welcome any wisdom or pointers on the subject of prayer since this is an area of my life that I am continuously striving to improve and be more effective at.

Steps To Successful Prayer PT 1  

Steps To Successful Prayer PT 2

Steps To Successful Prayer PT 3

Steps To Successful Prayer PT 4

Steps To Successful Prayer PT 5

Steps To Successful Prayer PT 6

Perfect Love!

This past weekend my Aunt and her family came to visit , to attend my graduation and celebrate my moms birthday. Included in my graduation card my Aunt included this article that she had in her journal. Someone in her life passed this little article on to her when she needed it most in college. I am soo blessed by my family and humbled by the love, support, and faith that they continue to have in me. Over the past three years as I have been in and out of relationships I have learned so much and come to understand the truth of what the article below is talking about. My one desire is that Christ be first and foremost in my heart above ALL else and that I would seek my complete joy, happiness, satisfaction and worth in Him ALONE!!

Everyone longs to give themselves completely to someone, to have a deep relationship with another, to be loved thoroughly and exclusively. But God to a Christian says, "No, not until your satisfied with being loved by Me, giving yourself totally and unreservedly to me, and have an intensely personal and unique relationship that I have planned for you. You will never be united with another until you are united with me, exclusive of any other desires or longings. 

I want you to stop planning, stop wishing, and allow Me to bring it to you. Just keep watching me, expecting the satisfaction that I am Keep listening and learning the things I tell you. You just wait that is all. Don't be anxious, don't worry. Don't look around at all the things other people have gotten. Don't look at the things that you want, just keep looking off and away up to Me or you will miss what I want to show you. 

And when you are ready, Il surprise you with a love far more wonderful than any you could dream. You see, until you are ready, and the one I have for you is ready( I am working at this moment to have both of you ready at the same time), until you are both satisfied exclusively with Me and the life I have prepared for you, you wont be able to experience the love that exemplifies your relationship with Me and is thus the perfect love. And dear one, I want you to have this perfect and wonderful love. I want you to see in a fresh picture of your relationship with Me, and enjoy materially and completely the everlasting union of beauty. 

Know that I love you utterly, believe it, and be satisfied.

I strongly feel that this is a prayer that needs to be passed to every young single girl. I believe it is something that every young girl desires , longs for and and wants for there life. Everyone of us young singles needs to be reminded of GOd's greateer plan. That He loves us and only wants what is absolutely best for His little girls.

The Importance Of Discipleship Part 2

Ladies and Gentlemen here is the second part to the article I posted on the blog yesterday! Enjoy! 

Answers to Questions on The Blessings of Discipleship

Yesterday I blogged about the blessings of discipleship. It is God's design that women mentor women and help one another to grow and change in Christ-likeness. As sometimes happens, that post hit a nerve and I got several comments and questions like, "What if no one thinks I have anything valuable to teach them?" and "What if no one will listen to me?" I will do what I can to answer them today.

As I said yesterday, every women is "an older woman" to someone. True, the Titus 2 passage is intended for older, mature women to be the models for the younger based on life experience and knowledge but I maintain that every woman brings something to the table of discussion in life. We are all in the process of growth and change.

That being said, I thought I would say that if you desire to be that "older woman" then your personal life really must reflect that Christ is living and active within you. There has to be evidence that you have been regenerated and are endeavoring to live your life- both in publicand in private- in a manner that glorifies God. I am not speaking of perfection, I am speaking of demonstrable evidence of heart change that overflows into your life.

For example, if you are going to be exhorting younger women to be subject to their own husbands (Titus 2:4) are you willingly under the authority of yours? You see, many women are quick to give counsel they do not take themselves and in such cases the Word of God has been shamed. Too many women justify and rationalize rebellion against a submissive spirit in marriage because they have decided their husband is not worthy of respect or being followed. They will not place themselves under his authority in the home or with the children because they don't care for his leadership style. Other's see this kind of hypocrisy and it may be a reason it seems no one will listen.

Another issue that is crippling our women and filtering into our homes is the source of our information or counsel. I am grieved at the number of women who take their counsel from the latest television guru spouting the most recent psychological theory about raising children, womanhood, or marriage.  If you wish to be a godly woman and give godly counsel, then you must believe that the Bible is the authoritative source for wisdom and for how to address and solve the problems in life (1 Cor 10:13; 2 Tim 3:16)! Dr. (fill in the blank) on your favorite morning news program is not going to fill your head with biblical wisdom and if that is the primary place you go for "truth" than there is little for you to offer God's people on that topic.

Live by biblical principles. Shape your life one area at a time around what the Word of God has to say. It would be overwhelming to do this all at once, you will have to begin slowly and take one issue at a time. For me, the first (and most formidable) was sinful anger. Many years ago now I spent days researching God's perspective on anger, read and memorized Bible verses and passages, made notes and note cards of them and kept God's truth before my eyes at all times. I prayed and asked the help of the Holy Spirit to remind me to respond righteously and submitted myself to His authority in my life. I trained myself to respond rightly over time. I had successes and many failures, but by God's grace I overcame and can now use this experience- this training in righteousness- to minister to other women.

I do not think that the circumstances of a person's life or their past automatically brand them as someone whose counsel should be avoided. We only have to look at Paul and Peter for examples. You would think that Paul as a persecutor of Christians would be the last person to be talking about faith in Jesus! Yet God took him and broke his heart and made him a mighty mouthpiece of our faith!  And Peter, the cowardly man who abandoned Christ on the night of His arrest only weeks later spoke boldly about Christ in spite of threats and intimidation from those same men he feared on the night Jesus was betrayed!

God graciously gives us hope in men like these...He shows us over and over again that there is no person He cannot touch and change for His use. He begins the process, guides us through growth and change by His Word and His Spirit and expects us to live life for His glory.

The Inportance of Discipleship

This is a really good article I read this morning on a woman counseling blog I follow. It was a great reminder of how important and truly what a blessing discipleship and mentor ship with those older and wiser woman in the church. It also really convicted me to pursue training and grow in this area of my walk so that I can lead,encourage and mentor other younger woman in my life.

The Blessings of Discipleship 

As women of God we are called on to love and serve one another. As women who are also Biblical Counselors/Disciplers our calling is higher (greater accountability) and more intense because of the issues we help women deal with biblically. All Christian women are to be Titus 2 women. We are to teach women younger than ourselves to have sound doctrine, be reverent as we conduct ourselves at home and in public, keep our tongues from gossip, remain sober of mind, teach what is good, teach those who have husbands and children to love them, to keep our homes clean and safe, warm and welcoming, and to submit to the leadership of our husband.  Paul says that in doing these things the Word of God will be honored. None of those things on the list are easy to do, especially when there are so few examples around us.  I think so little happens in relational discipleship because of the time crunch of daily life and the lack of investment in other people. I am not sure if it is due to a lack of desire, selfishness, or because older women think they are not capable or equipped to be Titus 2 women. I am not sure it is a choice- ya gotta invest. Christian woman, if you are well taught and understand the things of God you are to invest yourself in the life of another woman, maybe two! Biblical Discipleship is all about investing in the life of someone coming up through the ranks. Someone who is following in your footsteps in life. Investing yourself does not happen with a touch and go relationship, it happens in the trenches of relationship. You must be willing to build rapport with her, spend time with her, listen to her, teach her, train her, and even rebuke her when she needs it (2 Tim 3:16).  Investing yourself in another woman is costly. I promise you it won't be easy and it won't always be convenient. But it will be well worth it. You will have to set boundaries to keep time in your life for your personal spiritual growth and for your husband and family and once those are established you should find your relationship with her time well spent. I have seen the blessings of investing my time and energies in several women throughout my adult years.  Some of them were women I would not have chosen, but God knew better who would be a good investment of time and wisdom. These women will grow to be like daughters to you, maybe even extensions of your family. They will see the "real you" for better or for worse, which is all the greater reason to be sure that you can say as Paul did, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ." (1 Cor. 11:1).  Your spiritual life will deepen, and you will grow and change in ways you never imagined as you study and learn to teach her. There are so many rewards involved in such relationships, for both you and for the one you take under your wing.  Begin to pray today about who the Lord would have you to disciple!