holy.

"even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy & blameless before him." [Ephesians 1:4]

"I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called." [Ephesians 4:1]

"..put on your new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness & holiness." [Ephesians 4:24]

"whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked." [1 John 2:6]

"No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, & he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, & who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother." [1 John 3:9-10]

"Do not sweep my soul away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men, in whose hands are evil devices, & whose right hands are full of bribes." [Psalm 26:9-10]

This is the will of God, that you should be holy: you must abstain from fornication; each one of you must learn to gain mastery over your body, to honor it as holy, not giving way to lust like the pagans who are ignorant of God; & no man must do his brother wrong in this matter, or invade his rights, because, as we told you before with all emphasis, the Lord punishes all such offenses. for God called us to HOLINESS, not to impurity. anyone therefore who openly disregards these rules is disobeying, not man, but God who bestows upon you his Holy Spirit. - Elisabeth Elliot, Passion & Purity.

children.

I know that not everyone in this world shares my opinions or my views on life, God, politics, football [go Steelers!], theology, or ministry, just to name a few. I don't expect everyone I meet to respond to situations in the same manner as I would & understand my reasoning behind them either. We live in a fallen world, a good friend recently reminded me. & boy, do we!

I meet with a small group of girls once a week at my church as part of my job, & I absolutely love it. These girls not only challenge me in my faith, they not only seek advice from me & ask me questions, but they also teach me as well.

My heart has been breaking for these girls recently. Although I don't know what it is like for them to continually seek after the Lord & stand up for Him in a public high school, I do know what it's like to stand up for Him in a fallen world.

A world where nobody around you understands His grace & love.. the free gift that He offers to eternity.. the hope & peace that we can find in Him.. & most importantly, the relationship that we have with Him- where He not only listens, but speaks in return.

God cares for us so much. & not just for "us" as Christians, but for us as His creation. The world. All of us. Christian & athiest, muslim & buddhist. He cares for all of us.

Even the orphan children in India of whose faces I remember daily, God loves. These pictures bring back those feelings of joy & compassion as I had the opportunity to minister to them in India last year. Their smiling faces amidst their physical poverty help with inspiring me to find joy amidst our spiritual poverty here in America.

But as a follower of God, as a believer in Jesus Christ, we can be encouraged by this statement:

Little children, you are from God & have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. [1 John 4:4]

We may not be understood because of the way we live our life, or worship God, or because of our political values. We may be misapprehended because of what football team we are faithful to, what our theological views are, or because of how we do ministry. Whatever the case, we can be encouraged to know that our opponents have been overcome by God.

We live in a fallen world, but Christ has overcome it when he overcame the grave.

If Christ lives in us, then we know that this same power lives in us.

Therefore with this power, we can overcome the world!

the house.

Psalm 23. The most well-known Psalm in the Bible, in my opinion. Most often used at funerals & grave sites. We know it, see it often, have it memorized. I have to admit that I even let these words become commonplace in my life at times. Reading it again today encouraged me, especially the last verse:

Surely goodness & mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, & I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

I want goodness & mercy to be with me all the days of my life! How was David [the author of this Psalm] so sure? How do I assure myself that this is true for me too? Through researching this question, I discovered that my answer can be found by simply inverting this verse.

If I dwell in the house of the Lord forever, goodness & mercy will follow me.

Goodness & mercy will follow me as I dwell with God.

Jesus tells us in John 14:2-3 that he prepares a place for us in his Father's house because it has many rooms.

2 Corinthians 5:1 tells us that God has made a house for us with his own hands.

1 Timothy 3:15 refers to the house as "the household of God, which is the church of the living God"

The house of the Lord can be found both eternally, as well as earthly.

God has prepared a place for us in eternity with Him upon our salvation. Meanwhile, his kingdom is here with his people on earth. We, the church, believers, are the household of God. As we dwell with each other & dwell in His Word & deed, we will find His goodness & mercy.

steps.

Sometimes in the christian life I can get caught up wondering if I'm on the right path; if the Lord is pleased with me; or what in the world God is doing through a certain circumstance. I often forget that God has it all under control. If I knew what was going on in God's world I probably wouldn't even begin to comprehend it all anyway.

A man's steps are from the Lord; how then can man understand his way? - Psalm 20:24

I shouldn't mull over trying to understand what God is doing in my life. If I am following God, then I will not usually understand the path He is taking me on. This is part of trusting God & having confidence in Him.

new.

hey guys, just an update: so, i know i haven't written in a few months now! so much has been going on & my mind has been so jumbled that i haven't been able to focus on one thing long enough to even know where to begin! i've given my blog a new look; a new theme; a new title; for a new beginning. i'm going to focus on the little things that God is doing in my life, as opposed to trying to write lengthy insightful entries every time. i'm going to strive to write daily, & hope that you will follow me as i embark on this journey.. again. please comment on my posts.. i want to be encouraged in my writing & hear from my friends & family as much as possible. it makes writing worthwhile when i know it is being read. i also love feedback; it helps me grow, both as a writer & also as a person. so here goes nothing.. hope you enjoy!

Godliness #2

Continuing in 1 Timothy 2:9-11 - "Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty & self-control, not with braided hair & gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness--with good works. Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness."

Paul mentions women with "respectable apparel," "modesty & self-control," "good works," & quietness, when he speaks here in regards to "women who profess godliness." Oh, how I want to be a woman who professes godliness!

One will never know if Paul is writing out his own personal yearnings for a godly woman here or if these are indeed God's holy standards for the female gender. Regardless of this conflict, one thing I do know is that even for those who argue this as being simply Paul's opinion, I would take his views on the subject very highly anyway considering the nature of the man that he was - a man of wisdom & dignity!

I have been pondering these verses for weeks, trying to extract some practical wisdom from them, but all that I have been able to find are the flaws that shine clearly from my own heart & my own life. These verses do nothing but convict me & urge me to strive to be a more godly woman. I want to seek after godliness, therefore I must urge myself to continue to seek after the One who exemplifies these godly character traits that I strive to imitate. Focusing on each individual trait of what I feel a Godly woman should possess is not the key to being like Christ. One can only imitate the person in which they study carefully & know well. Therefore, we must strive to find our motivation & identity in Christ alone.

Godliness #1

It's been a while since I've last posted something on this here blog, but it's not because I haven't been learning anything. The fact is, I've been gaining an enormous amount of wisdom these past few months, so much, that I've hardly had time to think or even breathe, let alone spend the time to type out a full-length page concerning it all. Fortunately, I finally have room to breathe & actually collect my thoughts concerning the lesson I have been learning recently! I hope you are thrilled to read these words!

These lessons I have been learning have been partially extracted from my readings in First Timothy. Recent happenings in my life have also contributed to these, mostly involving a few personal struggles & broken relationships.

Since I have moved here to Reston to come on staff at RBC, I have seen & met many examples of a Godly man, much like I believe Paul was after his conversion. Whenever Paul gives advice about godliness to those he writes to in his letters, I always strive to extract this wisdom from Scripture. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2 about Godly men & women, & what they should strive to exemplify. He says in verse 8 that "in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands." I see it so much in this place: men of valor praying for their brothers & sisters in Christ. Where was that in college? Where was that among the halls of my Christian University?

And the dilemma even continues into the kids lives that I minister to on a daily basis who come from such broken homes - where are these men in the household? Where are these fathers & brothers?

This dilemma has caused me to realize that this kind of man is the one I want leading my future household. This is the kind of man that I want to raise up in my own family & that I'd like to see my future daughters come to marry someday. This is the kind of man that I hope the youth in our youth group are learning from & growing up to be, even if they don't have one modeled in their home.

If you are a man, this is the type of man that I hope you will strive to become.