Being on one's guard

Sure we ladies know what modesty means. It is "dressing to exude the kind of dignity, grace, and true feminine beauty that will captivate a (true Christian) man's heart - without using sex appeal to do it." I pointed out "true, Christian" men, unless you want to captivate the wrong crowd.

It is all a matter of choice. And most of the time, women lower their standards and their guard to follow the world, because that's where all the men are heading to. But are we really built for that? Won't we find ourselves wondering, "there's gotta be more to life than this", down the road?

Thinking about honoring Jesus Christ and our future husband do help us consider what to wear everyday. "We must remember that our bodies are not our own (1 Cor.6:19-20). It is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and we cannot just assume that it is our right to do what we want with it. Our body is to be spent for the glory of our King, not for the selfless pleasure of lustful men or to gratify our own selfish desire to be found attractive to the opposite sex." [Leslie Ludy, Mar/Apr 2011]

"Modesty simply means guarding how much of your body is being exposed: you don't have to hide behind long, tent-like robes, but be on guard as not to allow another guy to have the privilege of looking at (or touching) what was meant for your husband alone."  

Modesty also challenges the men around us to treat us with true respect, instead of seeing us as (cheap) sex objects. Let's help these men turn their eyes toward Jesus, and not to us, ladies.

Lastly, the Proverbs 31 woman "does her husband good and not harm, all the days of her life," not just after she is married.

This goes to (single) Christian men as well: Being a Christian man does not only mean he can memorize Scripture after Scripture. Christian action must also be seen in all areas of his life: he considers his wife's (or future wife's) feelings in his actions toward girls. He doesn't act towards women unaware of his actions' results (or impact), but he guards his own heart, thoughts, and emotions, not playing with temptation and foolishly thinking it cannot harm him.

..and my portion...

How many times has the word "portion" appeared in the Bible?

Hmm i actually don't know..But the most familiar verse we can all recall is what Psalm 73:26 says:

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

When i first ran into the word 'portion', i didn't quite grasp it fully..And that's how it went for a long time.

Until I read and chewed on this..

My Portion - "He is mine."

My Portion, Someone who has chosen to give Himself to me. Yes, He is mine.

He is mine. My Portion. Who i have. The Treasure i own. My Most Valuable ever. I don't have a lot. Maybe i don't have anything. But there is Someone that i do have - my Portion. "He is mine."

Did i say it enough?

The realization is so beautiful, i think my tongue can't say it all! I want to say more, but my tongue says only one thing, over and over: I do have a Portion! HE is mine, as I am HIS!

May you meditate on this truth as well. You have a Portion. Your treasure. Your all. Jesus is yours!

Lord, You leave us speechless in awe. My heart can hardly contain it..

Crowns that need laying down

I can’t believe how the Lord speaks to us in ways we couldn’t see coming. Months ago, I was singing this classic (which im sure many of you know) as I was preparing for my devotional.

We fall down, we lay our crowns

At the feet of Jesus

The greatness of mercy and love

At the feet of Jesus..

We cry, Holy, holy, holy

Is the Lamb.

I had very little understanding of “crowns.” I used to think they were money and fame and the applause of the world. I was quick to think that “crowns” are what the royalty of Europe lay down when they finally give their life to Jesus.

It was a little of an aha moment when I found myself asking the Lord what other things define a CROWN, and He gently pointed out things I have never perceived in my little mind before.

If crowns were merely money and fame, we would gladly say we have nothing to do with them. But we also have “other crowns” that we find hard to lay down.

Pride, when we don’t release forgiveness to someone. We dwell on the fact that they did us wrong, and we rightfully have the right to be hurt, and well, give the cold shoulder. We say, let me nurture my pain, Lord. I just can’t forget what they did, im sure You understand that. I’ll forgive when im ready.

Little did we know that this shiny crown of drama separates us from His presence, because we are so intent on nurturing our aches and live a life of self-pity, instead of telling the enemy (satan) boldly that we were bought at a Price – Jesus -  and we don’t live a life he can trample on anytime he likes.

And how about “a little recognition”? There is nothing wrong with wanting some self-promotion, is there? Well..What is the motive of our heart?

Bringing God all the glory (without wanting anything for ourselves) and wanting some of it (without even realizing it), really don’t work together. We can never promote the Lord if we do it by making ourselves look good.

Do we sensationalize petty things once we see a “ground” to be hurt? We do have the option to pray about it and leave it in His hands, yet we choose to make a big deal out of our own understanding. Many times I have been through this, but if we only pause and allow God to make us see things in HIS OWN PERSPECTIVE, it puts our own thoughts and the enemy that feeds them, to shame.

A “crown”, the crown the song is singing about, is anything, anything at all, that refuses to accept the Lord’s strength and grace, makes us act upon our will or takes matters in our own hands, hampers humility to flow from us, and feeds upon the need of the flesh to look good and feel good, instead of decreasing so that HE will increase.

What other crowns can we add to the list?

Having realized the other meaning of our crowns, im sure the Lord is gently tugging at our hearts to surrender fully everything that doesn’t make us in tune with His Spirit. Life is heavy with excess baggage, so they say. And remember, the LORD is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. (Psalm 145:8, NLT). It is His heart to change us from glory to glory, and what better time there is than now.

"Holding Pattern"

(a Passion and Purity excerpt)

STEADFASTNESS, that is holding on;

PATIENCE, that is holding back;

EXPECTANCY, that is holding the face up;

OBEDIENCE, that is holding one's self in readiness to go or do;

LISTENING, that is holding quiet and still to hear.

Sincerity.

Matthew 12:36

For we are accountable. 

_______________________________________________

The purging process

I watched a somewhat rerun of The LOTR two weeks ago (sorry, downtime in the office). I’m not much a fan of orcs spewing something out when they talk (especially when im eating haha) but well, its LOTR and who hasn’t watched it? I guess I just love valiant characters. 

Something about what Gandalf said struck me though, when Frodo said he wished none of it had happened. ["It is not for us to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."]

Have you ever found yourself wishing hard – because that was the only thing left to do – that something had not happened to you? Is that circumstance too heavy that it just holds you back from getting up on your feet?

There are many things in our life that we wished we could have re-written, happenings that we cannot understand why God has allowed us to go through.

But it is not for us to decide. All we have to decide is whether we let the circumstances make us waste away, or submit ourselves wholly to Him, and humbly take His provision of strength and grace.

AW Tozer couldn’t have put it any better: "When I understand that everything happening to me is to make me more Christ-like, it solves a great deal of anxiety."

And it did. It took a long time, but the Lord has enabled me to release my anxiety and all the whys in His hand. Becoming more Christ-like is a life-long process. Yet there is no fragrant perfume without the purging of a flower. And God is faithful to complete the work He has started in us! (Phil. 1:6)  

I take comfort in the fact that He is God. He’s got the universe in His hand, and He’s got my world (and your world) as well. He is the God who calls each star by name (Psalm 147:4), and even the very hairs on our head are all numbered (Luke 12:7, NLT). Simply breath-taking! And when we begin to realize this, we can smile at the future with reckless abandon. (Im still in the process, too.)

My prayer for you is that you find God through and through, feel His hug through your darkest times, bask in His peace when all things are looking messy (on the outside), and just find your heart’s treasure in Him, regardless of any circumstances. One thing the enemy can never take away is your testimony of how great your God is.  

Bless!

Missing out on God's adventure?

God has a much-higher calling upon your life than spending all your time and energy trying to snag Mr. Right.

Will you miss out on the great adventure of letting God script your own love story, because you want to seek it yourself? 

Will you not want a romance that is a beautiful, God-scripted love story - completely free of human strategy and manipulation?  

Here's one of my favorite quotes by Leslie Ludy:

"Remember that there are many Christ-built warrior poet men out there who are praying and hoping for a set-apart young woman – one who is not following after the trends of the culture, one who is not wallowing around in discontentment or on the prowl for a guy. Nothing would thrill a true warrior-poet’s heart more than to know that his future bride was spilling her life out for the sake of the Gospel. Do you want to find a godly guy? Focus on pouring your life out for Jesus Christ, and leave the rest to Him. God has not called us to build our lives around the pursuit of our own selfish desires, but to be poured-out sacrifices for His kingdom."

And until I can fulfill this - by His grace - will i ever be happy. I know i will enjoy more His earthly love 
story, when I have fully enjoyed the King Himself.

 ♥♥

The applause of the world

He does not call us to

be noticed and applauded

by the world.

He calls us to decrease,

more and more,

that He might increase within us.

In God's kingdom, recognition and honor are not sought for and strived after, but given by God alone. How else would we ever get famous enough to wow the crowds with our talents and then "give all the glory to God"?

We are called to be a Christian. And the Christian life is not about self-promotion; it is about self-denial (here's a Haitian story).

[Leslie Ludy, Sept.-Oct 2011]