Lessons From the Book of Daniel

Today at my church, we just finished a sermon series on the book of Daniel.  (You can watch the whole sermon series online at http://www.efccl.org/sermons/ )

Personally, I felt like God really used this sermon series at a very specific time in my life.  Throughout the book, I saw God's hand on Daniel, and the kings, and the nations.  Everything that happened, whether good or bad, was orchestrated by God and was under His control.  God is full of sovereignty.  I found that a very comforting thought, and God has reminded me of His sovereignty during though times.

That was my personal lesson from the book of Daniel, but our pastor (Pastor Jay Childs) drew three final conclusions from this book that I wanted to share with you.

1.  If you want to have hope in life, you have to have a big view of God.

Is your God huge and awesome?  Can He do anything, or can He only do the small stuff?  Throughout all of scripture, God reveals himself to be an unfathomable God.  Your hope for the future will only be as big as you see God.  The bigger you see Him, the more hope you will have.  "God is large and in charge!"  (Pastor Jay Childs)

2.  If you want to be saved, reconciled to God, and escape His wrath, then you have to accept His (free) gift of salvation.

Salvation only comes through this:  "believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved."  (Acts 16:31)  Nothing but asking Jesus to come into your life to be your Lord and savior will save you, reconcile you to God, or help you to escape His wrath.  Good works alone are not enough to get you into heaven.  (If you have questions about this, you can email us at sistersinchrist.girlz@gmail.com you can also check out this link.  It might help answer some of your questions.  http://www.efccl.org/beliefs/ )

3.  If you want God's blessing on your life, you have to be a person who takes obedience seriously.

God values obedience.  If you read the Old Testament, you see that when the Israelites did not obey His commands, God punished them.  When people in the Bible obeyed, they were blessed.  Sometimes, obedience comes with an earthly cost.  Take Daniel for example.  He continued to pray to his God (because God had commanded it) even though King Darius had said that anyone who prayed to another man or god besides himself would be thrown into the den of lions.  (Daniel 6)  Daniel was thrown into the den of lions (earthly cost) but God saved him.  At the end of the chapter, King Darius decrees that everyone should worship the God of Daniel.  (A blessing for Daniel, and brings glory to God)  No matter the situation, make sure that what you are doing is in accordance with the word of God.

How big is your God?  Have you accepted God's gift of salvation?  Are you living in faithful obedience to God?  I hope that these lessons from the book of Daniel (and the rest of the Bible) will challenge you to be a person who lives for God each and every day.

What is God Teaching You?

Is there something that God has been teaching you lately?  What is it?  Is there a particular lesson that He seems to be trying to teach you?  Is He trying to impress on you a certain point or teaching?

What is my point with all of these questions?

Here's the point.  We need to be open to what God is teaching us in our lives right now.  For me personally, God has been teaching me quite a lot lately.  I don't always enjoy the lessons that I am learning, and sometimes I would much rather skip over them...  If I skip over all of the lessons that He has for me, I will also miss out on some of the blessings He has for me.  There is a benefit to God teaching you, though.  Duh, you are learning something new, but I believe that God reveals himself to us in new and different ways when He is trying to get our attention.  Even though God seems to have some hard lessons for me to learn these days, I have never felt more on fire for Him or seen His Word come to life in the ways that it is for me now.

When we are open to God's teaching and leading in our lives, then He will give us new insight into His Word and His character.  What are you learning right now?  Are you open to the teaching that God has for you?

If you would like to share what God is teaching you (we would love to hear it) you can email us at sistersinchrist.girlz@gmail.com    

HANDLING THE "WHAT IFS"

Many of us have been plagued by fretful “what if” scenarios throughout our lives.  What if I never get married?  What if my friends reject me?  What if I fail at work or school? What if I have financially difficulties?  What if I face persecution?  And the list goes on and on.

As we trust in God’s protection, we can rest confidently in the fact that the enemy cannot “have his way” with us. (see Luke 10:19 and James 4:7). Yet this doesn’t mean that God will never us to face difficulties, or that we as Christian women won’t walk through “trials of many kinds”. (See James 1:2 and Luke 2:35).

So how can we keep those “what ifs” from ruling our thoughts and emotions, turning us into fretting, paranoid, worry-warts? How do we know we’ll be able to handle difficult circumstances if and when they come?  

 In her book The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom shares a story from her childhood when she told her father about her fear of facing hardship and suffering.

“Corrie,” he began gently. “When you and I go to Amsterdam, when do I give you your ticket?” 

“Why, just before we get on the train,” she replied.

“Exactly. And our wise Father in heaven knows when we're going to need things, too. Don't run out ahead of him, Corrie. [When the time comes for you to suffer], you will look into your heart and find the strength you need – just in time.”

Fretting and worrying about “what ifs” shows a lack of trust in our God.  We envision all the possible trials we might face, but fail to look at them through a heavenly lens and remember the grace, strength, and victory that God offers for every challenge we must walk through. We must remember that God gives us the grace we need for specific trials right when we need it, and not before.  

Rather than worrying about what might happen in the future, we can rest securely in the knowledge that: 

1.) God can turn anything the enemy means for evil into good in our lives (see Gen 50:20 and Romans 8:28).

2.) He will not allow us to walk through trials we are not able to handle (see 1 Cor 10:13).

3.) Even when we walk through difficult circumstances, we can triumph through every challenge when we put our hope in Him (see Psalm 25:3).

Worrying about “what ifs” is not only dangerous to our spiritual lives, but it also distracts us from “being all there” for the calling God has placed upon our life today.  Elisabeth Elliot wrote, 

Worry is refusing the given.  Today’s care, not tomorrow’s, is the responsibility given to us, apportioned in the wisdom of God.  Often we neglect the thing assigned for the moment because we are preoccupied with something that is not our business just now.  How easy it is to give only half our attention to someone who needs us – friend, husband, or little child – because the other half is focused on a future worry.

Whenever you are tempted to dwell on fearful “what if” scenarios, take a moment to deliberately fill your mind with Truth.   A great way to start applying this principle is by memorizing some of the Psalms. (Some of my favorites on this subject are Psalm 27, 34, 37, 46, 91, and 112.) Whenever you are faced with the temptation to fear, those words of Truth can become vital weapons with which you chase away foreboding, anxious thoughts. The more you consistently fill your mind with Truth, the scarcer the enemy’s lies will become.  

Another great principle is to pray for someone whenever fearful thoughts attempt to enter your mind.  Praying for someone else takes your focus off yourself and your own fears, and turns you outward instead of inward.

When we truly know our God and believe Him to be exactly as His Word says He is, we have no reason to let fearful thoughts overtake our minds, because we know that in every situation, no matter how difficult, He will show Himself faithful.

This post is taken from Leslie Ludy's blog, on Set Apart Girl.  http://setapartgirl.com/leslie-ludy/blog  

Purity Rings - What They Mean

If you are like me, you may have noticed a lot of teenage girls wearing rings.  A lot of times it is just a fashion statement, but for some it means a whole lot more.

A few months ago my parents gave me a purity ring.  Some of you may have seen other girls with these on, and some of you may have one.  If you don't already have one, you may be wondering what the big deal is with these purity rings, and if they have special meaning to those of us who have one.  Hopefully I can answer most, if not all, of your questions by telling you about my own purity ring.

If you don't already know this, I am a fairly emotional person.  I like to let my heart lead instead of my head.  I also have very strong convictions about certain things.  Since this is part of my personality, my purity ring represents my commitment to emotional purity.  Yes, it reminds me that I am committed to physical purity for my whole life, but the emotional aspect if the most important for me.  What do I mean by emotional purity?  I am not to give myself away in any relationship by the things I say or do.  This means that I have to proceed cautiously and prayerfully in order to keep my emotions in check while I explore what God's plan is for me.

When I was given my ring, my parents used a triangle to illustrate the way that I should build a relationship.  In this triangle, they guy and the girl are drawing closer to each other because of their mutual faith in God.  He is what draws them together and ultimately someday will sustain your marriage.  When you are in a relationship, you will need to take your heart out of the matter for a while and evaluate (with your head) whether or not the other person in the relationship is helping you to grow closer to God.  If not, then proceed with caution.  You may need to consider ending the relationship.  This is the second thing that I think of when I look at my purity ring.

My purity ring has a verse on it.  It says Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord, "plans for prosperity and not for harm.  Plans to give you a future and a hope."  This is the third thing that my purity ring reminds me of.  I am reminded that God is in control and that He knows better than I ever could what is best for me.  He loves me more than anyone else and will never do anything to hurt me.  My God is AWESOME!!!

I hope that this answers some of your questions about purity rings.  Don't hesitate to ask me what it means to me.  I would love to share with you.
If you have any questions, please email me.  sistersinchrist.girlz@gmail.com

  

Pride vs. True Humility

"True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less."
                                                                                -C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

So often, we think the exact opposite of this statement.  We feel like tearing ourselves up and making ourselves out to be less than we think we are is true humility.  We go to great lengths to tell ourselves that we aren't very good at what we do, we aren't very pretty, or we are just downright not very good people.  All the while we know that all of the statements that we have just made about ourselves are not true at all.  But, we think that by tearing ourselves up constantly like this, we are showing true humility.  I hate to break the news to you, but this is actually a form of pride.

Look up at that quote again.  "True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less."  What do we learn from this quote?  Even though we feel like we are being extremely humble by putting ourselves down all the time, we are actually being extremely prideful by thinking constantly of ourselves.  It doesn't matter if the thoughts are good or bad, it only matters the amount of time that we spend concentrating on ourselves instead of others.

So, if putting myself down all the time is not true humility, then what is?  True humility comes when we are seeking the best for others and putting them before ourselves.  Once we start concentrating our time on others, then we will not only have less time to think about ourselves, but we will also be practicing humility.  Once you do this, be careful that you do not begin to pride yourself on your humility, or all of your hard work towards it will go out the window.  Humility will take a lot of persistent hard work, and that work will continue all throughout your lifetime.

Philippians 2:3-4
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.  Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of the others.

(This post was inspired by a few comments my pastor [Jay Childs] made in his sermon yesterday.)

What is True Love?

Well, Valentines Day is back and along with it come some questions.  What is true love?  Will I ever find someone that loves me?  How do I know if I love someone?  There are more, but I would like to address the first one - what is true love?

Most teenagers today would probably interpret it as a boyfriend/girlfriend that really loves them and gives them gifts and fulfills all of their desires.  So, if this is true love, am I losing out on something by not being involved in a dating relationship?  Absolutely not!  If we subscribe to the world's definition of true love, then we should all go "shopping" for a date immediately!

Fortunately, as Christians, we have a better definition of true love.  This example is found in Jesus on the cross.  John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son (Jesus) that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."  You might be asking, "What is the big deal?  He died on a cross--end of story."  No, not end of story.  To really understand this, we need to back up a little.  Jesus came to earth as a baby when He could have stayed in heaven as God.  He came here to die.  But this is where it gets amazing.  Jesus was a perfect sinless man.  Romans 3:23 tells us that if you sin (something we all do) you deserve to die.  So since Jesus was sinless, why did He have to die?  Because of love.  (Yes, we are finally getting back to our original topic.)  Jesus loved us (the whole world--a bunch of lousy sinners) so much, that He was willing to come to the earth and die for our sins!  Not only did He die for the sins of all of those around Him, but the sins of the whole world--now and forevermore.

I hope now when you wonder what true love is, you will remember what Jesus did for you on the cross, and the true love that He showed to us.  There is more to the story of Jesus (a lot more) but there isn't time for me to write all of that here.  Please contact me at sistersinchrist.girlz@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Happy Valentines Day!  

Two Lessons God Taught Me This Year...

This past summer/winter, God has been teaching me about patience and His sovereignty.

It began this summer when I didn't get scheduled to work the first week of Camp Agape (day camp where I work in the summers).  When I looked at the schedule, I was really surprised and really disappointed.  I felt that if I didn't get to work right at the beginning of the summer, I wouldn't get to know the kids well, and I would not build the same kind of relationships with them that I was sure the other counselors would have.

After I got over my initial disappointment, I began looking around to see what I could get done in my week off.  That week, I was able to finish some overdue schoolwork, and I also learned that sometimes God's timing isn't the same as mine.  I was able to build really great relationships with the kids and staff during the weeks that I worked, and overall, I felt like God had taught me a lot through the many experiences I had while working at that camp.

Well, that was one of the lessons from the summer...

Some of you know that I play the violin quite seriously.  In November of last year, I had been practicing about 2 hours a day, and I was progressing quickly on my instrument and really enjoying it.  I had auditioned into the highest ensemble at my youth orchestra program, and I was having the time of my life with my music and all of the new things that I was learning.

Performing with an orchestra in early November

Until...

A few days after Thanksgiving, I suddenly had a sharp pain in my hand/wrist while I was playing.  I stopped practicing for that day, and came back to it the next day.  The pain continued--in fact, it got worse.  Almost my whole lower arm (elbow to hand) hurt when I played.  It was at that point that I realized that I probably had tendonitis.  (Tendonitis is when the tendons in your arm become inflamed.  It is usually caused by tension.  In my case, the tension is in my violin playing.)  The next day, we contacted my violin teacher to tell her what was going on and that I wouldn't be able to come to my lesson the next day.  To make a long story short...  It has been about two and a half months since I got tendonitis, and I still have it.  It is really frustrating for me, especially when I realize how much it is holding me back in my violin playing.

You are probably wondering why I wrote this long story about how I got tendonitis when this post is supposed to be about the lessons that God has been teaching me this year.  Well, here is how it relates.

I still haven't figured out why God would let this happen to me, and I am not sure I ever will, but
I am learning to be content with that fact.  Ultimately, I am learning about God's sovereignty.  At my church the last several weeks, our pastor has been speaking a lot about God's sovereignty.  That really spoke to me.  Even thought I struggle with the "why," I know that He is always in control, and that His plan is what is best for me.  Now, I am learning to lean on Him when it gets hard to keep going.

I hope that you have been encouraged by the things that I have learned this past year, and I would love to hear how God has been working in your life!  God bless you!