Faith's focus is God, not an outcome. When you have enough faith to turn to Him, no matter the state of your feelings, then you have enough faith. Tell Him about your weak and wobbly faith. Only He can remedy it. Trying to chase doubt from your heart is a useless exercise. Just don't let your enemy convince you that you cannot come to the Father until all your doubts have been erased and you can bring Him perfect faith. That is the subtle lie that is the root of the argument, "You don't have enough faith." Do you see what that reasoning suggests? It means that your faith is your work. If only 'you' can come up with enough faith to trade in for God's favors, then you can determine the outcome. Then, when everything turns out as you thought it should, you can take a bow. After all, you had enough faith. But when things take a direction you did not anticipate, then hang your head in shame. You failed. You did not have enough faith. Don't have faith in faith, have faith in God!
'Fueled by Faith' by Jennifer Kennedy Dean
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Women of Prayer
In one year, Christianity lost three holy women of faith, Agnes Sanford, Corrie ten Boom and Catherine Marshall – as well as countless others whose names are unknown but who nevertheless did the work of God in this world. These are the women who knew what it meant to experience the presence of the unseen, who spent hours on their knees, who wept over the wounds of the world. For them, prayer was a second language. Who will take their place?
Frankly, there are very few candidates from our generation of women – those of us who have lavished hours in front of the television set, in the shopping plazas, in self-indulgence, in not developing a disciplined spiritual life.
Unless – unless, we begin to grow up spiritually. Unless we become convinced that we are the generation of Christian adults ultimately responsible for the spiritual condition of our nation. We must understand that there are increasingly few in that generation ahead of us left to pray over this world. We are coming of age. But are we coming to terms with our lack of spiritual depth and ability?
It is we who must learn the meaning of forbearing.
It is we who must develop the disciplines of spiritual perseverance, not shrinking back from growth but doing the will of God, having faith and keeping our souls.
It is we who must become women of faith and prayer and obedience and service.
It is we who must set a spiritual standard for the next generation.
It is time for us all to grow up.
‘Women of Prayer’ by Karen Burton Mains,
found in the ‘Women’s Devotional Bible’ pg. 1377
Frankly, there are very few candidates from our generation of women – those of us who have lavished hours in front of the television set, in the shopping plazas, in self-indulgence, in not developing a disciplined spiritual life.
Unless – unless, we begin to grow up spiritually. Unless we become convinced that we are the generation of Christian adults ultimately responsible for the spiritual condition of our nation. We must understand that there are increasingly few in that generation ahead of us left to pray over this world. We are coming of age. But are we coming to terms with our lack of spiritual depth and ability?
It is we who must learn the meaning of forbearing.
It is we who must develop the disciplines of spiritual perseverance, not shrinking back from growth but doing the will of God, having faith and keeping our souls.
It is we who must become women of faith and prayer and obedience and service.
It is we who must set a spiritual standard for the next generation.
It is time for us all to grow up.
‘Women of Prayer’ by Karen Burton Mains,
found in the ‘Women’s Devotional Bible’ pg. 1377
Friday, September 10, 2010
Teens and the Internet
Ephesians 5:8 "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:"
Don't be in the dark about how much time your kids are spending on the Internet, what they are looking at, who they are connecting with, and what they are sharing with the whole world (remember it's the 'world wide web'). Parents be aware!!! Check out these statistics via 'Norton Online Family,' www.onlinefamily.norton.com:
Kids spend an average of 40 hrs. a month online.
63% of teens surveyed admit they know how to hide what they do online from their parents.
52% of teens have shared personal information online - including private photos and/or physical descriptions of themselves - with someone they don't know.
22% of teen girls say they have sent or posted nude or semi-nude pictures or videos of themselves online.
32% of teens surveyed said they'd been bullied, threatened or otherwise harassed online. Yet less than half of those teens reported it to their parents or another adult.
32% of teens clear the browser history to hide what they do online from their parents.
Don't be in the dark about how much time your kids are spending on the Internet, what they are looking at, who they are connecting with, and what they are sharing with the whole world (remember it's the 'world wide web'). Parents be aware!!! Check out these statistics via 'Norton Online Family,' www.onlinefamily.norton.com:
Kids spend an average of 40 hrs. a month online.
63% of teens surveyed admit they know how to hide what they do online from their parents.
52% of teens have shared personal information online - including private photos and/or physical descriptions of themselves - with someone they don't know.
22% of teen girls say they have sent or posted nude or semi-nude pictures or videos of themselves online.
32% of teens surveyed said they'd been bullied, threatened or otherwise harassed online. Yet less than half of those teens reported it to their parents or another adult.
32% of teens clear the browser history to hide what they do online from their parents.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Discipline
"Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. It is the accumulative weight of our disciplines and our judgments that leads us to either fortune or failure." —Jim Rohn
Monday, September 6, 2010
Girls Gone Wise in a world gone wild
...the average woman will expose herself to 3,596 hours of mass media this year. That's seven full months of exposure! ... What's more, no one is forcing the mass media down her throat. She willingly indulges.
The ingestion of mass media starts at a very young age and continues year after year throughout a woman's life. If your daily intake of TV, Internet, radio, and women's magazines is about 'average,' by the time you are sixty-five, you will have spent forty solid years of all-day-every-day time sitting under the tutelage of worldly wisdom. Do you think you could possibly remain uninfluenced by its counsel.
The problem with popular media is that they constantly lie about the nature of truth, goodness, and beauty. They offer counterfeit versions of what womanhood, male-female relationships, romance, sexuality, marriage, and family are all about. They lie to a woman about who she is, what gives her significance, what she should do to be successful, and where she should spend her time and money. Mass media typically portray sin as natural and harmless. The things God calls the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are the very things they uphold as highly desired (1 John 2:16). They twist truth. They call evil good and good evil, put darkness for light and light for darkness, put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter (Isaiah 5:20). They promote sin and mock godliness. I understand that not all media are bad. Some media are extremely good and do provide godly counsel. But few women exercise the necessary discernment and restraint to ensure that the media they expose themselves to are godly and not ungodly.
Where a woman gets 'counsel' on how to live is a point of contrast between a Girl-Gone-Wild and a Girl-Gone-Wise. A Wild Woman gets her instruction form the world. A Wise Woman gets it from the Word. A Girl-Gone-Wise does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, stand in the path of sinners, or sit under the instruction of those who scoff at God. Instead, she delights in the Lord's instruction, and constantly meditates on His counsel. "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night" (Psalm 1:1-2).
'Girls Gone Wise in a world gone wild' by Mary A. Kassain
The ingestion of mass media starts at a very young age and continues year after year throughout a woman's life. If your daily intake of TV, Internet, radio, and women's magazines is about 'average,' by the time you are sixty-five, you will have spent forty solid years of all-day-every-day time sitting under the tutelage of worldly wisdom. Do you think you could possibly remain uninfluenced by its counsel.
The problem with popular media is that they constantly lie about the nature of truth, goodness, and beauty. They offer counterfeit versions of what womanhood, male-female relationships, romance, sexuality, marriage, and family are all about. They lie to a woman about who she is, what gives her significance, what she should do to be successful, and where she should spend her time and money. Mass media typically portray sin as natural and harmless. The things God calls the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are the very things they uphold as highly desired (1 John 2:16). They twist truth. They call evil good and good evil, put darkness for light and light for darkness, put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter (Isaiah 5:20). They promote sin and mock godliness. I understand that not all media are bad. Some media are extremely good and do provide godly counsel. But few women exercise the necessary discernment and restraint to ensure that the media they expose themselves to are godly and not ungodly.
Where a woman gets 'counsel' on how to live is a point of contrast between a Girl-Gone-Wild and a Girl-Gone-Wise. A Wild Woman gets her instruction form the world. A Wise Woman gets it from the Word. A Girl-Gone-Wise does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, stand in the path of sinners, or sit under the instruction of those who scoff at God. Instead, she delights in the Lord's instruction, and constantly meditates on His counsel. "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night" (Psalm 1:1-2).
'Girls Gone Wise in a world gone wild' by Mary A. Kassain
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