Sunday, January 30, 2011

Before You Meet Prince Charming

I have been praying very hard for the past few months that God would give me wisdom and understanding in the way I should be helping Iris become the godly young woman that God wants her to be, so I found this book and the title "Before You Meet Prince Charming" LOOKED VERY INTERESTING, I ordered the book and we started reading it together, (love doing that with her), I found it to be exactly what I was seeking to teach her printed in the pages of this wonderful book in a very realistic, interesting, and funny way and the best thing in this book is that it mentions HORSES, so for Iris it became interesting!
There is so much in this book, it is loaded with great stories, insights and verses that are just right for her age and the season of life she is in.
Today we read about the topic of dating, the book listed 6 dangers of dating, oh that was good!!
besides it has so much about courtship too(God's way to find your future spouse)
I believe every young woman need and should read this book over and over so she can learn God's way is better than the world way and that God is able to bring couples together in marriages.
So do I believe in arranged marriages?
YES I DO, God is able to arrange marriages for the individuals that obey HIS WORD and wait patiently on HIM.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

What is God's primary purpose for marriage?

What is God's primary purpose for marriage?



Understanding God's purpose for marriage is of the utmost importance, because to marry and miss it is to enter into a life full of frustration and disappointment -- setting the stage for great marital unrest. Most of us tend to marry with very romanticized ideas of what marriage is going to be. With great excitement we anticipate the relationship that will finally meet our romantic and emotional needs. God's primary intention for marriage however, is not what most of us imagine it to be. He has not designed marriage as a place where we can finally try to get our needs met. He has created it as something much better -- something far more grand than that. God intends to use marriage to accomplish a very important goal -- one that is His primary goal for all Christians. God's primary purpose for marriage is to use it to help shape us into the image of His Son. If we miss out on this we are doomed to a life of anxiety and frustration.

Yes, marriage is God's arrangement for lifetime companionship and the arena for our sexual expression, but like with all that He has created, God uses marriage to direct us towards Himself. The challenges offered in marriage He capitalizes on to help shape and mold us into the image of Jesus. To evaluate our personal success in a marriage we must not then look to see if our needs are being met, but we must ask ourselves, "Am I demonstrating the image and character of Jesus Christ?." We determine our success by how much we are becoming like Christ -- loving and honoring our spouse according to the specific roles God has laid out for us in the Scriptures. Far wiser than us, God knows that as we grow into the image of Jesus our greatest needs are met.

Sadly, most of us have been under that false notion that God means for our mate to meet all of our romantic and emotional needs. We marry, fully intending to have our spouse be all that we ever wanted in a mate. Shortly after the wedding though, we begin to think that our new partner has a lot of changing to do. In fact, it appears they are far from being able to fully meet our needs. Instead of being fully committed to our idea of what a marriage is all about, they entered in with their own ideas of what marriage is to be -- along with their own list of needs they expect us to meet.




The most successful marriages

A study of marriage in history reveals that long-lasting marriages are generally those which are more "role" oriented than "romance" oriented. That is, those Christian couples who marry with a clear understanding of their biblical roles, and have as their primary purpose to carry them out, are generally happier in marriage than those who marry in order to get their needs met. Considering that 20th century America places such emphasis on building marriages on the right romantic "chemistry," it should be no surprise that many are easily disappointed in their marriages. What we have come to believe to be right romantic "chemistry" is actually nothing more than "self-centered" love. Most people are romantically drawn to those who gratify them, so marry with expectations of being fulfilled by their mate. That type of love is not true selfless love, but is self-centered, basing its attraction on personal gratification. It says, "I love you for what you do for me. I am drawn to you for how you make me feel. I know I am in love with you, because I need you so much." Needing someone is not evidence of a selfless, giving love for them -- contrarily, it is evidence that you want them for the emotional fulfillment you will receive from them. It is a reasonable estimate to suggest that 98% of all Christian marriages today are based on this dangerous form of self-serving love. Is it a surprise that so many are unhappy in marriage?

Men and women are different in their unique expressions of self-centered love for each other. A woman frequently marries looking for fulfillment in her relationship with her husband. Her husband, on the other hand, marries looking for fulfillment outside the marriage in his job or in a hobby. In a normal marriage we find a wife trying to get her needs met in her husband and a husband wanting his wife to be with him while he gets his needs met outside the home. Wives tend to want relationship. Husbands tend to want companionship. God, knowing this, puts these two together with the intent that overcoming their differences will help make them more like His Son. He wants neither one to try to get their "needs" met in the other. He put them in the relationship to learn to be givers not takers. God knows that that is our greatest inner need.

One problem in understanding the truth of this is that the wife's needs do sound more noble than her husband's, since she puts so much emphasis on the relationship. Yet God has not called us to commit to a relationship (or even to get anything out of a relationship). He has called us to commit to a person. There is a big difference between a loving a person and loving a relationship. A genuine loving commitment to a person requires selflessness -- your goal being to give and get nothing back (1 Cor 13:5). Loving a relationship, on the other hand, feeds selfishness, because it is committing yourself to something you will benefit from. It is an investment in yourself. Impatience, anger, and frustration will flourish in a relationship where the relationship itself is valued more than the other person it involves. Giving to get is never consistently satisfying.

If we are ever to find joy in our marriage we must never lose sight of God's goal for us -- complete selflessness. For only in that kind of submission to God is there joy. Only when we are truly submitting to God and honoring our mate the way He has commanded will we find fulfillment. As the designer of the marriage relationship He knows that our obedience will fulfill far deeper needs in us than any we thought we had. For with that obedience not only do we have the peace that comes from knowing we are right with God, but our spouse thrives on the character of Jesus reflected in our actions and they become a better partner -- making the marriage a more pleasant place to be.

We can learn something about this from the account of Adam and Eve. They were two individuals who thought they knew what their needs were and what it would take to make them happy. Their desires though, when achieved, brought little more than a sweet taste in their mouths. They settled for less, and in doing so, alienated themselves from God and brought a great deal of pain to following generations. What a price to pay for such fleeting happiness! Had they abided by God's perfect plans they would have been able to enjoy real fulfillment.

Like Adam and Eve many of us think that it is possible to achieve happiness by doing that which is appealing to the flesh. We are tempted to believe that if only we can get our spouse to pay the right kind of attention to us or to stop "hassling" us we will be happy. Because that is not God's way though, we can be sure that no matter what we obtain we will never be satisfied. It will be a never-ending, highly stressful search.




Marital difficulties make us more like Jesus.

Those who welcome the difficulties of marriage, become more like Jesus. Those who bail out of marriage, or quietly wish theirs would end, miss the spiritual benefits of enduring trials. Learning to endure trials makes one more holy. Jesus himself was made perfect (mature or complete) through his suffering. Consider:

In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Hebrews 2:10



Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered Hebrews 5:8


Through trials believers are shaped into the image of Christ.

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:3-5



This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God.'" Zech 13:9



In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire -- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:6-7



Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4



Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. 1 Pet 4:1



" Endure hardship as discipline; . . . God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness, . . . it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:7,10,11

God's primary goal for His people is for them to be conformed into the image of Christ. He therefore uses difficulties and challenges to refine our character and strengthen our faith. Without discipline and challenge an athlete never grows stronger or more skilled. Without testing through suffering, a Christian will never grow strong in Christ. Growth, both natural and spiritual, comes only through challenge.

Following Christ means the laying aside of our plans and goals and the adoption of God's. Therefore, if we share God's goal, and wish to become like Christ, then we will can rejoice when we encounter the opportunities for growth afforded by suffering. Having a joyful response however, requires that we actually do share Christ's goals for our life. If we are pursuing a trouble-free, happy marriage we will avoid and resist opportunities for suffering, but if we share God's values and crave godliness, we will genuinely find joy in our difficulties.

Many want to avoid the challenge of marriage, because they mistakenly believe that God’s ultimate goal for them is "happiness." They perhaps, made a decision to follow Christ originally because someone told them that if they added Christ to their life he would make things “go better.” They came to Christ for “happiness.” They married to be "happy." They were defrauded. God desires for his people joy, not happiness.

Joy comes from trust in God's love and sovereignty -- it is an inner peace not connected to circumstance (Phil 4:4-9). Happiness is nothing more than feelings of well-being based on happenstance -- it is conditioned completely on what happens or how things go. Like Christ, who was called the "Man of Sorrows" (Isaiah 53:3), those Christians in God's will, find themselves in many unpleasant and unhappy hardships, even in a challenging or difficult marriage. They will however, have great joy if they trust God is in control of the trial, that He is using it to strengthen their faith, and that He will not give them more than they can handle.

Those Christians who forsake their wedding vows and abandon their mates, often justify their action by declaring that God wants them to be happy, and separation is the only thing which will bring them happiness. The error of this type of thinking should be obvious. God wants for us not happiness, but the joy which results from godliness. We grow in godliness by selflessly loving others in the midst of adversity. Leaving an unhappy marriage only shows we didn't allow the trial to drive us to Christ.

Thinking we understand God's plan, some of us also sell ourselves short. We may grasp the need to stick with our marriage, so we do just that. We hang in there. We may even feel we are doing well to handle our mate's disagreeableness, but the truth is that God has not called us to simply "hang in there" or tolerate our husband or wife. The command is not, "Husbands tolerate your wife as Christ tolerates the Church." God's goal is not for us to put up with our mate, but for us to be uncompromisingly devoted to them, seeking to get back nothing in return. There is a world of difference between toleration and commitment -- the one is self-protective and the other is self-sacrificing. One makes us a self-concerned, cautious observer and the other a devoted participant.




What about those for whom it does not work?

There are those who believe that they have tried it God's way and yet feel it did not work. That would, of course, be impossible. If something God designed hasn't worked for us, the problem lies in our approach not with God's design. God is perfect and nothing He does or creates is flawed. In fact, his plans for marriage are not simply OK -- they are wonderful and incredibly brilliant! As we whole-heartedly submit ourselves to God and comply with His master-plan we can be sure our lives will be blessed. If we rest in His perfection and wisdom we can know that obedience to Him will bear good fruit. If we have not found fulfillment in "trying" it God's way, we need to realize that we weren't doing it right. It could very well be that we were hindered in succeeding, because we were doing something to give the devil a foothold in our life. We most probably have been the source of our own failure.

The fact is, we must obey God not because we want to make our spouse change, or because the trial will go away, but because God has spoken. The very fact we make the statement, "I tried that and it didn't work," indicates that we didn't obey God with a pure heart -- our motives were self-serving -- we were obeying in order to get a result. As followers of Jesus, we don't give obedience to God a "try," or follow biblical principles so that we will be blessed -- we obey Christ because He is the Lord.



May all who read these words be willing to trust God and do what is right. Amen!




Addendum

Lest the reader think that God has no interest in romance, it is important to remember that God was the original inventor of romantic love, and in fact, devoted the entire book of Song of Solomon to the subject. (Many even construe that book to be a metaphor of Christ's love for the Church.) Let none be confused -- God does desire his people to enjoy romance in marriage. However, those who enter into marriage with the intention of finding perfect romantic fulfillment, have entered it with self-centered motives and will therefore find great disappointment. The best romantic love is fostered in a marriage in which both partners have served one another selflessly. Their love has grown, because they have been won by the other's devotion. May we all foster great romantic love in our marriages by our selfless service to our mates.





For the source please click HERE.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

I just recieved this in an e-mail and I am trying to spread it every way I can so I posted it here too, it makes so much sence to me. hope you spread it too.

One Light Bulb at a Time
A physics teacher in high school, once told the students that while one grasshopper on the railroad tracks wouldn't slow a train very much, a billion of them would. With that thought in mind, read the following, obviously written by a good American...

Good idea.... one light bulb at a time...

Check this out. I can verify this because I was in Lowes the other day for some reason and just for the heck of it I was looking at the hose attachments... They were all made in China . The next day I was in Ace Hardware and just for the heck of it I checked the hose attachments there.. They were made in USA . Start looking...

In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else - even their job ... So, after reading this email, I think this lady is on the right track. Let's get behind her!

My grandson likes Hershey's candy. I noticed, though, that it is marked made in Mexico now. I do not buy it any more.

My favorite toothpaste Colgate is made in Mexico .... now I have switched to Crest. You have to read the labels on everything...

This past weekend I was at Kroger... I needed 60 W light bulbs and Bounce dryer sheets. I was in the light bulb aisle, and right next to the GE brand I normally buy was an off-brand labeled, "Everyday Value." I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats - they were the same except for the price...
The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that GE was made in MEXICO and the Everyday Value brand was made in - get ready for this - the USA in a company in Cleveland , Ohio .

So throw out the myth that you cannot find products you use every day that are made right here...

So on to another aisle - Bounce Dryer Sheets.... yep, you guessed it, Bounce cost more money and is made in Canada ... The Everyday Value brand was less money and MADE IN THE USA! I did laundry yesterday and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce Free I have been using for years and at almost half the price!

My challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in the USA - the job you save may be your own or your neighbors!

If you accept the challenge, pass this on to others in your address book so we can all start buying American, one light bulb at a time! Stop buying from overseas companies!

(We should have awakened a decade ago...)

Let's get with the program and help our fellow Americans keep their jobs and create more jobs here in the USA.

I passed this on... will you???????

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

New Aditions To Our Little Farm


Rabbits

Some friends had a couple of them but after a few months they multiplied and they had to give some away so we were on there list to give to since we have the space and time to take them in, what my friend did know was that we have no objection to eating rabbit meat but even though I told her that she still did not mind and brought them to our farm so now we have dogs, puppies, cats, goats, soon to kid, horse, pot belly pig, chickens and rabbits.

We have been learning how to butcher and dress a rabbit, it looks really easy and from what I have heard the meat is really good too, in fact I might had some at my aunts house way back when I was little girl because they had lots of them and they used to butcher and eat them all the time.

Monday, January 17, 2011

A Halleluiah Sunday

Last Sunday was such a wonderful day I have to write what the LORD did for us, and all the blessings he brought our way, I just have to sit here and brag about HIM.
We made it to church in perfect timing with all the food prepared for the fellowship time, singing was absolutely wonderful!!!!!!!!!!! and we do sing ALL the stanzas in the hymns which blesses my heart, (I LOVE SINGING OUR BELOVED OLD FASHION HYMNS) then came the preaching and Oh LORD, DID WE NEED IT!!!!!!!! especially me, I turned to my daughter Iris and she turned her face to me many times in shock and AWE of what we were hearing, God's Word was being brought to us in such a simple and understandable way that we kept looking at each other thinking wow... we never heard this before and we really needed to hear it. When we got home we all had a prayer meeting, got on our knees and prayed asking and begging the LORD for help, wisdom and guidance.
God is so good, he knew there are sins that we all have ignored, overlooked or even did not know about, he used the Preacher to bring them up and helped us to see and start dealing with them.
After the preaching there was lots of food and fellowship, I took one of the middle eastern dish there it is called Kubba lots of people liked it and i was gone very fast. The fellowship was sweet just talking of God's goodness, kindness and mercies toward us.
Iris is having a blast making new friends and is back to playing the Piano for the Nursing home ministry and she is loving it, besides many young ladies there take lessons at the church and play in the orchestra, so they encouraged her to bring her Violin and and start practicing and playing with them, and Nellie is loving having lots and lots of girls older and younger than her around playing there.
I love those (Hallujah days) they just give us a small taste of what is going to be like in Heaven, I can't wait!!!!! even so come LORD JESUS.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

1St Sunday Of 2011...

It was my hope and prayer to be in a good church first Sunday of this year 2011 to worship, listen to good preaching and be with other believers, so with absolutely no serious planning or searching God worked it out for us to land in a very nice small church where we had great preaching and after that we went and played in the snow and had great rest of that Sunday.
The preaching was so good that we walked out of there and still doing some of the stuff the Pastor preached about, even our 5 year old Nellie was listining and discussed some of the points he preached about, it was almost like a divine appointment and God made sure we would be there to hear what that pastor was preaching about.
That Sunday morning started out with some challenges and many attacks from the Devil to stop us from even being in church but at the end we all knew it was God's will that we ended up in that church with out even having any directions or phone number with us.
So if you wonder dear reader if God knows the desire of our hearts and what we long for as children Born Again into HIS family, I can say with great assurance that yes HE knows and cares more than we can ever know.

1Pet 5:7
7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

The Blessing of Children, Abigail Miller



This is to all the monthers who have many children and get fustrated now and then, As for me I have two big blessings God has given me and I certainly don't have as many challanges as a mother with more than two children . Please listen and enjoy, may this song be a blessing for you today!

Abigail Miller - How Deep the Father's Love

My One And Only New Years Resolution

My one and only New Years Resolution is:
love the Lord my God with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my mind, and to love my neighbor as myself.
I have made many many resolutions over the years and worked very hard in making them happen and a lot of them did but some did not, now looking back, I can remember the thrill and happiness that I experienced but did not last but for a while, then things happened and life went on... and the excitement of it went away, there was sometimes a sense of defeat and weakness that I felt when things did not go the way I wanted them to go so I can bring those resolutions to happen but now I can see why!
Well I am learning that every day that I am a live is really and truly a gift from THE ALMIGHTY GOD, MY ABBA FATHER, WHO IS FULL OF LOVE, MERCY, GRACE, AND COMPASSION, my breath is an extension of that first breath He breathed in Adam and my heart beats are ordered by HIM, so the only reason I am alive is because HE chooses to keep me here.
This is why I feel that this is the only resolution I am willing to make and do all I can to keep it,
because my FATHER THE GOD ALMIGHTY IS THE ONLY ONE that I want to please.
I am not sure what kind of experience I will have to go through, what kind of stuff I will have to give up, what kind of adjustment in my schedule and changes I am going to make but most importantly how much of myself I will have to deny on daily basis to really give my FATHER the #1 place in my life this year and the years to come if HE chooses for me to live.
I realize that it will not be an easy resolution to do and keep and it will take lots of prayers and dependence on GOD to work in my sin filled heart and do the changes nessecery in order for me to obey and do HIS will and not mine, but I really want to do it with all my might.
If you are a Born Again Christian and love God please pray for me.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

2010 BLESSINGS

I will count and number our blessing for the past year so I can come back to them and read and not forget GOD'S goodness and mercies toward our family,

1. God kept us all healthy together growing in the knowledge and love for our LORD.
2. We have our KING JAMES BIBLE freely to behold, love and read.
3. We had the freedom to congregate and worship our LORD anywhere we wanted.
4. We had opportunities to lead many people to the Lord Jesus Christ.
5. Have our paid off home to live in, a little farm full of animals to care for and enjoy.
5. Had Safety in our paid off cars that ran great all year long.
6. Had great food, clothes, and all what our hearts desired.
7. David had a job for the full year and provided for us.
8. Went on many trips, had great memories visiting with relatives and old Friends.
9. Met many new people in our community and made new friends.
10. had fruits on our very young trees and veggies from our garden.
there are so many more I can list here but the most precious thing to me is the goodness and mercies of our great and ALMIGHTY GOD that followed us through out the past year, all glory honor and power be unto HIM now and forever.
As Psalm 23:6a says
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life