Transformation

There’s a high possibility that you looked at the title and thought,

“What in the world is this post going to be all about?!”

I am talking about when we fully become the person God created us to be.

Take for example a butterfly. When the beautiful butterfly hatched did it look the same as it does now? No, it was a small larva, and after a while it transformed into that beautiful butterfly.

Just like a butterfly, we all have a time when we grow and prepare to become the women God created us to be!

During out time as a “larva” we need to stay focused on the plan God has for us and continue to grow, so that one day we will no longer be that “larva” but we will become a beautiful butterfly.

There will be a time of waiting, we will not be a “larva or a butterfly. During that time God will slowly be changing us. Just like the cocoon stage of a butterfly’s life, we have that transformation stage.

Don’t be discouraged if you haven’t transformed yet. “Don’t worry, God’s timing for you is different.” In your own time you will become the person God the creator of the universe created YOU to be.

Quote by Jan Karon; in her book, “The Trellis and the Seed.”

By: Guest Writer, Maria Louise
romans15v13.blogspot.com

Being Unashamed of the Gospel

Sorry that I haven't gotten around to posting on here in a while.  It was a crazy summer for me, but God did a lot of work in my heart.  I will hopefully get around to posting some of that stuff on here soon.  For now, I wanted to share with you an article by Leslie Ludy that I read recently.  I hope you enjoy it!

BEING UNASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL

I will never forget the moment when, as a young married couple, my husband and I were faced with an extremely socially awkward situation.  We were visiting friends we hadn’t seen in several years, and someone suggested that we all watch their family’s favorite movie.  But as soon as the opening scene began, Eric and I knew it wasn’t the kind of movie we should be watching.  Within the first five minutes, we were totally uncomfortable, stealing sideways glances at each other and silently trying to figure out what we should do.  We knew that to suddenly get up and walk out of the room (or ask our hosts to turn the movie off) would likely cause our friends to be offended.  But to stay and subject ourselves to an hour and a half of profanity and perversion would be dishonoring to God.  And yet, we just couldn’t seem to bring ourselves to take the uncomfortable step of getting up and walking out of that living room, so we stayed put.

Later that night, we reflected together about the situation, feeling slimed and frustrated.  Why hadn’t we taken a stronger stand?  Why hadn’t we been willing to risk our reputation for the sake of God’s glory and the protection of our own consciences?

After prayer and reflection, we realized that it really all came down to fear.  Fear of what they would think of us if we lived out our convictions in front of them.  Fear that our friends would mock or criticize our “unreasonable” Christian standards.  We had placed our “fear of man” above our fear of God. 

Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.”   We had allowed the fear of man to bring a snare into our souls.  We had approached the entire situation with an attitude of fear instead of faith, and as a result we missed a valuable opportunity to demonstrate God’s nature to our friends, and to protect the purity of our hearts and minds in the process.

When you spend time around people who don’t understand or support your personal convictions, it can be tempting to believe that you must look for subtle ways to compromise your standards or conceal your true beliefs in order to avoid being mocked or criticized.  But as a set-apart young woman, you must ask God for the courage to be different, even when it’s uncomfortable.  As Leonard Ravenhill wrote, “He [or she] who fears God, fears no man.”

The most important principle for living set-apart among ungodly friends is putting your relationship with Christ first—always.  When we try to protect our popularity by dishonoring Jesus, we accomplish nothing other than to impede our own soul and hinder our intimacy with Christ.  Not to mention that when we compromise, we can’t truly point others to Jesus Christ.  Our participation in their ungodly activities only helps justify the ungodly choices they are making, instead of bringing them to a place of conviction and grief over their sin.  But when we consistently live out uncompromising Truth with gentleness, humility, and respect, we can set the stage for God to do a mighty work of grace in our friends’ lives.

Show by your life and example that you are unashamed of the Gospel of Christ.  Your friends may not always appreciate it, but God will honor you as you choose to honor Him (see 1 Samuel 2:30).  And your uncompromising stand for Truth may be the very tool that God uses to eventually draw their hearts to Him.

http://setapartgirl.com/leslie-ludy/blog/09-17-14/being-unashamed-gospel