A Modest Woman

Deut. 22:5
Matt. 5:28
Romans 12:2
Romans 14:13
Romans 15:1-2
1 Cor. 10:31
Eph. 5:3-4
1 Thess. 4:4-7
1 Tim. 2:9-10
James 1:14-15

"...'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'" John 3:3b

"And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness." Rom. 6:18

This is the Christian life. This is what sets us apart from the world. A person can call themselves a Christian, they can go to church, say all the right things, read their Bible every day (even have it memorized word for word from cover to cover), have all the right answers and still not be a true follower of Jesus Christ. Christianity at its very core is a life lived, "forsaking all others" to follow Christ.

Since we now live only for Christ and no longer for ourselves we only have to worry about what Christ wants of us rather than what the world wants. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments." If we are truly His disciples we will obey his commandments:

Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matt. 22:37-40

...If we don't we are nothing. We are not Christs and have no reason to live.

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." 1. Cor. 13:1-3

When Christ said to love our neighbor as ourselves He meant those of the opposite gender as well. He never said, "love your female neighbor" or "love your male neighbor", He said "love your neighbor". Period. That means everyone. If you truly love someone, you will want what is best for them.

"But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Matt. 5:28

So if a man lusts (to lust means to have to have an intense sexual desire) for a woman, he has committed adultery with her in his heart.

"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, (emphasis added) nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God." 1 Cor. 6:9

I think we would all agree that it is not in anyone's best interests to go to Hell (the only other option aside from the kingdom of God). It would not be loving to help someone along on that path. And yet, millions of Christian women do that very thing every day.

I have known men, old and young, who have struggled with pornography addiction. Even those who have conquered it years ago are still affected by the past and have to guard against it, often more than they would have otherwise. These men are not the exception by any means.

As a woman, I do not fully understand it when someone tells me that men are visually oriented. In general, women are stimulated by touch and men by sight. Girls, let's tap into our imaginations and see if we can catch a glimpse of what our men go through every day.

You're at a party/get-together/thinga-ma-bob with your friends, male and female. You walk in the door and a Josh Groban lookalike walks up to you, encircles your waist with his arm, (not in a creepy way, in a nice way that makes you feel loved and protected) and tells you you're beautiful. He leads you into the room and every guy stands up and each one greets you in a similar manner. One gently touches your arm in that way that says, "you're special" and another, with a charming grin, grabs you around the waist swinging you up several feet in the air (you know like they do in the movies). Keep in mind every one of these guys is terribly good looking,clean-cut, great with kids, good Christian, you name it they've got it. These are top quality guys and you're.....what ARE you doing right about now? You've just been surrounded by great guys, every single one making you feel like a princess, every one seeming to offer you something more than friendship. Most of us know the feeling. When your mind is intoxicated with his smile, your ears are full of his voice, you long to feel his arms around you guarding from all danger....and the thoughts won't leave no matter what you tell yourself.

Ok, now that we've got that thought in our minds let look at the guy's point of view. Every young woman that he runs into is dressed in such a way as to excite his passions and make him long for more. A guy is affected by sight the way we are affected by touch. He walks into church on Sunday and every woman he runs into is a walking invitation. In order to obey Christ's command not to lust (and thereby commit adultery) he has to constantly focus on keeping his thoughts pure instead of being able to relax and enjoy talking to you without feeling like he's being hunted. Some of them, by the power of Christ, are able to resist, but many succumb to being constantly attacked by their female friends they cave in. They stop trying. When they stop trying they usually go further and fall into outright sin (pornography, the act of adultery, etc.).

"Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way." Romans 14:13

Merging

I'm merging my blog www.ladyabigailsfinishingschool.blogspot.com with this one so that I can automatically import all my posts to Facebook. Plus, this way readers that were not aware that I have another blog before can (hopefully) enjoy those posts as well. :)

My description of the blog and what I've studying:

Finishing school is usually defined as a private school that emphasizes training in cultural and social activities, but it has also been used to describe colleges with the purpose of preparing young women for marriage. This is the definition I am using.
For fun, learning and, more importantly, to encourage other young ladies I have decided to write a special blog sharing what I'm learning, my thoughts, opinions and questions.
My wonderful mother has put together a course including subjects such as health, money, family, marriage, etc. So as not to bore you (and myself) with details about healthy eating, paying bills, budgets, etc. the main subject that I will be focusing on here is Polished Cornerstones, (inspired by Psalm 144) a Bible study course designed for women of all ages. (You can buy it from a friend of mine here.)
So grab a cup of your favorite beverage (I personally prefer hot cocoa with a little coffee mixed in, but I'll be drinking tea...it's healthier), curl up in your comfy computer chair and enjoy!

Authentic Mexican Flautas

A Mexican friend of ours taught us how to make these simple and delicious flautas and they instantly became a favorite around our house!

You'll need:

Corn tortillas
Beef or shredded chicken
Oil
(I used about 40 tortillas and 1.5 lb of meat for this meal for 11 people.)

Cook tortillas in oil just until hot. The idea is to make them flexible and keep them from falling apart when you roll them.

Put about a tbs. of meat on each tortilla, roll and fry in oil until browned on each side.



Top with guacamole and sour cream. Enjoy!

One Year Ago

Dear Ginny,

It's hard to imagine that it has been a whole year since you went to be with Jesus. Life has gone almost as before, but there is still a gaping hole in this family that only you can fill. I planted pansies in my garden this fall. I thought of your mom and you when I went to clean out the leaves Friday morning. Sometimes I wonder what might have been. I wonder what you would have been like today. I wonder who you would have married, what children you would have had. You would have loved the kitten we got. I wish I could have had the chance to tell you about how my life was changed a few weeks ago. I wonder if you would have been effected by it as well.

Even though it has been so long, your friends and family still write notes to you on Facebook. We all miss you. We look forward to the day when we will meet you in heaven. I wonder if you'll still have that Southern drawl? Have fun walking with Jesus. Lucky girl, you get to know what He looks like!

Love your cuz,
Abbie

You Must Be Born Again

I have experienced "revival" before. Once during an altar call after one of Keith Daniel's sermons I was one of the group of people lining the stage. Today I have no idea what the sermon was even about. If "revival" doesn't last is it even real? I don't think so. I went to Family Camp last weekend determined not to join the crowd headed down that aisle unless I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that it would last and that I was not just having yet another emotional experience that would be forgotten a week later. I went hoping to have my life changed for real this time and I left even more different than I had hoped.

The first evening's sermon might perhaps have moved me to go forward if it had not been for my decision not to do so unless I felt God pulling me, which I did not. It was an excellent sermon with Ps. 101:2b as the main text. Mr. Daniel leaned forward, tapped on the pulpit and said, "'I will walk within my house with a perfect heart'.....that I might not cause my husband to fall!"

I tucked this away as I usually do such things that I know I'll need later and made a mental note to prepare now. I would never have done it. Not really. I had good intentions, but very little motivation.

When he told how his older brother's faith lead him to Christ I took notice.
"'I will walk within my house with a perfect heart'...that my brother might not go to Hell."
This was a concept I have known for a long time and resolved to take to heart multiple times before, but never really did. I didn't this time either. I hid it away as well, determined to try again to influence my brother the way Mr. Daniel's brother did him. I think that nothing would have come of it had not God intervened.

Friday evening, for the second time in my life, (perhaps someday I'll write about the Vietnamese woman I met once) I saw what a life sold out to Jesus Christ looks like in real life. I'm sure that of all the godly, Christian people I have met in my life I had seen it before, but rarely does the average Christian of my acquaintance live with a giant bubble of Christ's love pouring out to touch every person they meet. Four young men from Texas, street preachers traveling wherever God leads them to go, attended Family Camp as well. I could tell right off that these men were different. It seemed like nearly every other sentence they uttered was a quote from the Bible. All they really wanted was to talk about Jesus everywhere they go. Normally I would have thought they were just a few more pharisaical Christians spouting God's Word to make themselves look and feel spiritual, but not this time. These guys are for real!

Mr. Daniel asked one of them to pray after the evening meeting. I think you can tell a lot about someone by the way they pray. I like to call Jake the "Crescendo Preacher". When he prays or preaches he starts out fairly mild and calm (relatively) but by the end his words are spilling forth with a passion and fervor not often seen in anyone under 40 years old and rare even then. As he prayed I knew that this preacher, only 2 years my senior, had something that I had tasted, but never partook of fully and I was highly interested.

Very soon after going to bed that night I was surprised to find that what had been a barely noticeable sore throat the day before literally turned into a terrible cold in a matter of minutes. I couldn't sleep because I couldn't breath very well and that bed wasn't overly comfortable anyway. As I lay there almost choking I had the thought impressed upon my heart that this was my last night to live. I've learned over the past several years to take such things seriously when it's as real and strong as it was that night. I'd had such "hunches" before and most of them were true.

I wasn't afraid to die then. I've been a Christian for over 9 years and not a fake one either. But I wasn't taking any chances. As these thoughts were running through my head I began to feel that something more was going on around me than a head cold and a strange impression. I looked around the room at the shadows of the furniture jumping out like the monsters under a child's bed. I'd had moments when the darkness struck fear into my imaginative mind for just a moment, but this was different. This was real.

As I peered into the shadows I saw nothing, but rather felt that a battle was going on in that room. A battle over which my life was the prize. I was determined that I would do everything in my power to see that the right side prevailed.

I grabbed my notebook and went to curl up on the couch where I could turn on a light to write. I didn't really think I would die that night, (whoever heard of dying of a cold?) but if I did I wanted to leave behind some last words for my family.

As I wrote I could sense the battle continuing before me. The thought of dying that night did not frighten me, but I did not want to go. I was ready, but oh, I could have been so much more ready! I thought of the crowds of lost people the street preachers I had met minister to. I remembered the love of God that I had seen in their eyes and I remembered times in the past when I too had longed to cry out to this dying world that there is a God who loves as no man can love. I prayed asking God for a second chance to make up the time I had lost and to use my life to bring as many lives as I can to Him.

As I finished my letter the battle seemed to subside. I had written what I needed to write, I had re-dedicated my life to Christ forever this time and I was ready for whatever happened next. At last I slept and awoke the following morning tired and still sick, but alive. Alive as the world would say, but I would have to say that I did indeed die that night.
"...knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him...." Romans 6:6-8

I go on to fight the good fight, to finish the race, to keep the faith (2 Tim. 4:7). But the battle is not over yet. It was easy for Satan to throw me off course before. Now I feel him unleashing such an attack that I have not experienced since I was 11 years old and perhaps not even then. I lost then, but I will conquer this time for "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:13).

Pink House Cinnamon Rolls

Dough:
3 c. warm water
1/2 c. honey
1/2 c. oil
1/2 tbs. salt
2 tbs. teast
8-9 c. whole wheat flour (we grind our own using a Kitchen Mill so it is especially find and light)

Filling:
2 1/2 sticks butter, softened
3 c. brown sugar
Cinnamon

Frosting:
1 stick butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
3-5 c. powdered sugar

Dough:
Combine water, honey, oil, salt and 3 c. of flour in a bowl or Bosch mixer. Stir well. Stir in yeast and let sit for 10 minutes. Gradually add more flour until dough can be kneaded by hand or pulls away from the sides of the mixer. Knead for 10 minutes. Add more flour as you knead to keep from sticking. Divide dough into three lumps. (At this point the dough can be rolled out and rolled back up into 3 loaves of bread. Cook at 350 for 30 minutes.) Roll each lump out into a rectangle about 1/4" thick.

Filling: Spread 1/3 of the butter all over the dough with your hands. Sprinkle with 1 c. brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll the dough up into a log and cut in 1" thick slices. Repeat with each lump of dough.
Place side by side in a greased pan. Let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes or until about double.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Cream butter, cream cheese and vanilla. Add sugar and mix well.

Spread frosting on rolls straight out of the oven and enjoy!

Makes about 5 dozen

In the past I have let these rise in the fridge overnight and baked them the next morning, but I do not remember for sure how well it worked.

My New Laptop

A friend of mine got me a laptop for my birthday! (For those of you who don't know, I returned the one I was given several months ago to the previous owner who ended up needing it more than I did.) So now I have I have a new one and not only that, but it's a MAC! :)

2 sugahert graphic card
17 sugabites of ram
sugar crystal display
500 sugar bits of memory