The Battle for Purity

The Battle for Purity

July 31st, 2012

Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal,“The Lord knows those who are His,”and,"Everyone who names the name of the Lord is
to abstain from wickedness.”

(2nd Timothy 2:19)

One of Paul's major messages to his young disciple Timothy was to
strive for purity in every area of his life. Compromise and impurity were
not to be glossed over; they were to be vigorously opposed.

In today's culture, there are all kinds of "temptations" which cause us to conflict with purity. Our hearts, and minds no longer stay pure. Whether we are at the store, on a walk, or else where, there are temptations everywhere.

1st Peter 5:8-9, "Be sober-minded: be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world."

So, what do I mean when I say, "Purity"? Well, lots of different things...whatever tempts you specifically. It could be, watching a movie when no one's looking, or eating a specific food when you know that you're not suppose to have it, or it could be much more than that!!! So, how do we stay pure? The Bible says in Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise,
dwell on these things."

So, let's think on these things, because we have a battle on our hands!!! But with this battle, God will ALWAYS provide a way of escape...

"No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."

(1st Corinthians 10:13)

Chocolate, Traditions, and Birthday's!!!

So, this was the week of my 20th birthday, (on July 27th) and my brother's 4th birthday. (on July 26th) so, we just decided to celebrate them on the same day. Because I'm older and Elijah doesn't really care, we had my famous cake....Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Frosting, and Chocolate chips in the chocolate cake...ALL CHOCOLATE!!! Ah...that's the life! : )
Here are some pictures...before I continue.

(not sure if you can see well or not, but Elijah got a coon skin cap for his birthday. When he opened it, he said, "It's Hair!", but as a joke my dad told him, "no it's a dead animal." This is the face Elijah made... it was hilarious!!!)

For our birthday's, we have a tradition in our family. It's called, "The Birthday Blessing". It's when our dad that night of our birthday sits down with us and talks to us about our weaknesses/strengths, things we did accomplish or would like to accomplish, and what our life will look like the next year. After word's, he'll pray for us.
So, last night was my turn!

After my dad prayed for me, I went in bed and did my Bible Study, but after doing my Bible Study for a while, I realized how blessed I really was! I have a dad who actually cares for me and my future. Many people believe that because we're homeschooled or go to a certain church, or dress a certain way, that my dad is over protective of me...which is so NOT true! Yes, he is protective of me, but not over-protective. My parents let me make my own decisions, and make up my own mind. Now...they do give me advice on what I should or shouldn't do, and I can choose to take it or not. But, in today's culture, many people don't have fathers that care or that are even there for them. My dad's been there through everything that I ever went through, and I would say that our relationship is closer now then ever before!!! I pray that it keeps growing that way!!! So...I would publically like to thank my dad, for always being there for me, and for nurturing me up in the way I should go! Yes, mom, I appreciate you just as much! Thank you both for the love and forgivness you show me time and time again!!!

A Little Fun

I know I don't usually post something like this, but here's a for fun video my dad showed us a few days ago. I thought I'd show ya'll! Hope you like it! It's by the "Piano Guys", and it's called, "What makes you beautiful"...according to my brother the lyrics itself (Lyrics are not in this song, just the music) talks about how a woman's hair is what makes her beautiful...which is true (although that's only part of what makes a woman beautiful...the other part is being Godly, serving the Lord, praying, reading and studying the Bible, and so much more!!! Please look at Proverbs 31 and Titus 2 for more reference) according to the Bible. I haven't actually read the lyrics, but I love how the Piano Guys play it! Enjoy!!!

What else could go wrong?

Our Trip back from Texas was quite an experience. The night before we left, our A/C went out...in the middle of Texas. So, you guessed it; windows rolled down the entire way to Colorado. There was never a break. So, we couldn't listen to any of our audio that we saved. The first gas station we stopped at, we put the car into reverse, and...our transmission went out. Thankfully, we told our family and friends about it, they all prayed for us, and we made it safely to our house without another problem.

My cousins wedding was wonderful!!! The only bad part was that all the brides maids and one bride groom got sick with some virus that night and the next day. The Bride didn't show a sign of sickness though, so no one suspected it.

My time with my family/cousins/Aunt's/Uncle's/Grandparents was wonderful! I have never seen so many people happy.

On Friday morning we found out about the shooting that happened in Aurora Colorado, and found out that our friends the "Lane's" had a friend who was seriously wounded and that the Doctor's were doing a surgery on her brain. Thankfully, Petra is doing wonderful! And to think that I was at Petra's graduation...wow!

so, that is our trip...we arrived on Sunday night all very hot and tired. Our family reaunion was wonderful, and we talked, played, and sang. I have posted some pictures of where the wedding was and a few others...

Texas

We leave tomorrow morning to go to Texas for my cousins wedding, and my grandparents 50Th wedding anniversary.
So, the hustle and bustle begins of...getting ready for the trip. We've got packing to do, shopping to do, filling up the gas tank before we leave, getting all the snacks/water bottles together within reach of the people in the back seat, (that would be my younger brother and I) and getting together all the audio that we can listen to, and because it's a road trip, we can play the "Game Boy color and advance" on the trip...which I'm liking less and less.

Yesterday, I took my very good friends, "Abigail, and Aubrey" to the Park Meadows Mall to shop and look around. I wasn't exactly looking at the time, and by the time we got out of there it was already 3:30! I still had dinner to make, Lettuce to get, and my brother to pick up! Yikes!!! But it all ended up working out.

So today, Joy has a writing class to do, I have half my Piano students for today, and then I'm going to get my hair done after dinner, plus we need to go to the store yet again for some last minute stuff. So...chaos strikes again!!!

I'm still not all the way packed, my brother's won't get packed until tonight or tomorrow morning. My mom packs the younger kids bags, so that's for the most part, done! Now the hard part? Getting it all together!

I started realizing, that this is how we are with God sometimes. We are in so much of a hurry most days, that we just want to read the Bible to get it over with. We don't care to sit down and study it. Last night, I had finished reading a book, and I thought to myself, "Why don't I do my Bible study?" So I did! For an hour in a half!!! For me, I felt refreshed/rejuvenated! So the next time we are in a hurry, settle down and realize what's really important in our life...even in the chaos!

You are my all in all!!!

A few days ago, I had a song called, "All in all" stuck in my head. The lyrics are...

You are my strength when I am weak
You are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all
Seeking You as a precious jewel
Lord, to give up I'd be a fool
You are my all in all

Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name
Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/d/dennis_jernigan/you_are_my_all_in_all.html ]
Taking my sin, my cross, my shame
Rising again I bless Your name
You are my all in all
When I fall down You pick me up
When I am dry You fill my cup
You are my all in all

Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name
Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name

Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name
Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name

...after singing this song over and over again, I couldn't stop playing it on the Piano and Violin, but my point?...simply this...HE is our all in all! He is our strength, our treasure, and when we fall down time and time again, HE is always there to pick us up. I can't tell you how many times I was desperate, and in need of help, that God was always there to wipe away my tears.
So let's give him the glory!

Regrets, Correction, and Peace

Have you ever had regrets before? Of course you have! All of us have at one time or another. Yesterday I regretted that I didn't help my mom more. She was so stressed, and I knew it...then why is it I just walked away regretting it later? Because I was selfish! I was thinking about what I wanted to do at that point in time, not about how stressed my mom was. Looking back at it, I realized the mistake I had made, and I apologized!

Have you ever had a point in time when you were corrected by your parents, or even your own siblings? What do you do when that happens? Do you yell back and try to justify your sin? Or do you own up to it, and admit that your wrong? There are so many times that we, (yes even I) don't take that correction right. There was a time in my life, when I thought it meant that I was a failure...and so I went about doing my work, thinking that I was a failure. I didn't think I could do anything right...but I was wrong!!! I know that God puts people in our lives to correct us, help us, cry with us, and mold us. Correction is all part of molding us. If we were never corrected for something we did wrong...we would never learn!

After you're corrected, do you go about doing your work with a different attitude? Are you angry? Upset? Worried? Stressed? Or happy, Peaceful, and Joyful?
Ultimately, let God be your Peace! But let your parents, siblings, and friends Correct you, you never know, you just may regret if you don't listen.

1. Jeremiah 5:3,
   But they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to repent.
   
   
2. Jeremiah 7:28,
   You shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the LORD their God or accept correction;...
   
   
   Jeremiah 17:23,
3. Yet they did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks in order not to listen or takecorrection.

Happy 4th of July!!!

I hope all of you have a wonderful 4th of July celebrating our freedom!!!
I thought it would be appropriate to share with you the last verse of the Star Spangled Banner and a video by Twila Paris called, "What did he die for?"

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Compromised By Deceit

COMPROMISED BY DECEIT

…but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. James 1:14-15

One of the touristic highlights of visiting China is to walk on the Great Wall. Six thousand kilometers of wall with ten thousand strategically placed towers stretch across the north of China, reportedly the only man-made object observable from space. Construction of various sections began back in 770 B.C. when rival feudal kingdoms built walls around their territories to keep out invading nomadic tribes from the north. These were eventually joined into one wall. The wall averages eight to ten meters in height and five meters wide.

When you walk on the wall, two history lessons make the visit somewhat somber. First, the wall was built at great cost. Prisoners of war, convicts, soldiers, civilians and farmers provided the labor. Some estimates say “millions died for this cause”. Their bodies were buried in the very foundations of the wall or used to make up its thickness. You walk on top of a cemetery.

The second lesson is that the wall was reportedly breached by Mongol soldiers disguised as peasants pretending to be gathering firewood and leaving behind pieces of fruit when they left the area. The guards decided to go out and retrieve the tempting fruit. This was repeated over time. Eventually the guards were compromised and overpowered and the Mongol army streamed through that tower thereby breaching the Great Wall. So after all the effort to build such an amazing structure for protection, it was rendered useless through simple deceit.

One of Satan’s favorite tactics against believers is deceit. Here’s an example from China. Brother Chen arrived one spring day in 1996 at a small rural Chinese house church group. Some said he was “sent straight from God.” He said so too. He said he had known Wang Ming Dao and he spoke with a loud booming voice. His large eyes held their attention closely, and his whole body shook with vigor at the points he was making. The believers were just so impressed with the way he talked. He quoted lots of Scripture and wove it into a thrilling story.

After a few months, he began to talk about heaven being a city of gold, and that to enter that city they would have to demonstrate that they had given Jesus their gold in their lifetime. Brother Chen said, “Jesus needs your gold to build your mansion in heaven and the more gold you give him now, the bigger your mansion will be.”

Because they were poor, the idea of having a golden mansion in the afterlife was very tempting. They handed over all they owned: family heirlooms, money, some expensive textiles from a distant ancestor. One in the group even gave his motorcycle.

After all the “gold” had been collected, Brother Chen said he had to go and “open the gate Heaven for them.” He left, on the donated motorcycle. He took most of their
savings and he hasn’t been back.

RESPONSE: Be aware today of Satan’s subtle tactics of deceit and intimidation.

PRAYER: Pray for new house church believers in China who are easily deceived
by false prophets.

Standing Strong Through The Storm (SSTS)

A daily devotional message by SSTS author Paul Estabrooks

© 2011 Open Doors International. Used by permission