Plugged into the Power

Plugged into the Power

Plugged into the Power was our first session at the women's conference, it was taught by April Goestch. (Blue words will be her notes, pink will be mine)

This message probably impacted me the most. Her question to everyone was: 

"What is Victorious Christian Living?"

1) KNOW WHO YOU ARE -- YOUR OLD NATURE IS DEAD (Romans 6:6)

  

A. The old man was crucified with Christ. Your past has no hold on you anymore, Christ is in you and has made you new!  

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now life in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

 B. Even if you don't feel dead, you still are. Your feelings always scream louder then the truth and they tend to drown out the truth from your mind. 

-Sometimes it's hard for Christians to believe that their old nature is dead and gone, and if you stay chained to that you will never live victoriously. 

-The Bible doesn't say that the pleasure of sin goes away, it's just now against your new nature. 

-Don't ever allow your feelings to drown out the truth of the God's Word!

Romans 6:9 "Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him." 

2) KNOW HOW GOD SEES YOU -- AS FULLY ACCEPTED THROUGH THE BLOOD

-Satan tries to convince us that every time God looks down at us He's frowning because of how much we've failed throughout the day.  But that is so far from the truth! When God looks at us He doesn't see US, He sees Christ and HIS BLOOD SHED FOR US. 

-It's not up to you to make yourself acceptable to God, you'd never be able to do that. Christ already did that for us when He died on the cross for us, wasn't He enough?! 

-The Blood of Jesus was not meant for us to see or feel, it was solely meant to satisfy God. 

3) KNOW YOUR MOTIVATION TO LIVE -- BECAUSE OF CHRIST'S DEATH, YOU HAVE HIS LIFE  (Romans 6:8)

-The Blood of Jesus was not just meant for salvation, but also to give us complete, direct, unrestricted access to God. Nothing we can ever do will make us better or worse, we come before God through the Blood regardless of how our day has been. 

-Hebrews 9:1-14 

-Boldly approach the throne, because you have a High Priest (Jesus) who has provided a way for you! 

4) KNOW THE REASON FOR THE FRUSTRATION -- SATAN WILL DO EVERYTHING HE CAN TO GIVE YOU A FALSE IDENTITY 

A. Don't believe the LIES of Satan. (Romans 6:11 "Likewise reckon [continually conclude] ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord") 

-Just like a hypnotist, Satan will try to convince you of every lie in the book. 

-Satan can't take your salvation away, you can never lose it, so he does the next best thing: he confuses us and makes us doubt our identity. 

-The song "I'm just a sinner saved by grace" can be a dangerous thought if taken too seriously, because when we are saved we share CHRIST'S identity...why are we downplaying the magnitude of how He has changed us??  

-Do you ever look at a butterfly and think: "Wow! What an awesome, converted, used-to-be-ugly, worm!"??? NO. You just see a butterfly. So why do Christians believe Satan's lies and look at ourselves that way? YOU'RE NOT A WORM ANYMORE, DON'T ACT LIKE ONE! BE A BUTTERFLY! 

 

B. Don't give POWER to the flesh. (Romans 6:12-14)

-Ephesians 5:1-8

-WE have the CHOICE to yield ourselves to Christ or to Satan. Which will we choose? 

-Always ask yourself, "what's true, and what's feelings?"

5) KNOW YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE -- YOU ARE A FRUIT HANGER; NOT A FRUIT PRODUCER (John 15:1-5)

A. Follow the PATTERN of Christ--Total dependency on God

-John 5:36 "But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me."

-John 12:49 "For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 

B. Love Him because He first loved you

-Love leads to Dependency which leads to Obedience.

-1John 4:10 "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

-1John 4:19 "We love Him, because He first loved us"

C. Constantly ABIDE in the vine

-John 15:5 "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing."

-It's only the branches job to HOLD the fruit, that's it, nothing more. It's Jesus' job to bear the fruit. 

One final thought:

There's a story of a boy in a room, he's got headphones on and is clapping and tapping to the music he's listening to. Then (as a test) a deaf boy is added to the room... He sees the boy clapping and tapping and figures that that is just what is done in this room and so he starts clapping and tapping too. However, since the deaf boy can't hear the music, he eventually tires and stops clapping and tapping. 

This is how it applies to us:

Apart from a heart motivated by the Spirit to live right, we're going to stop "clapping and tapping" to the "music." So seek the Spirit's guidance in your life, don't ever allow yourself to get to the point where you can't "hear the music" because that's when weariness sets in, and then we fall away from God. Instead, keep close to Him, read your Bible, pray, spend time in worship, all these things will keep you motivated; keep you going.  

 

Gentleman, please!

This is just going to be a quick little thought provoking post about something that's been on my mind lately. 

GENTLEMAN. 

What is a gentleman? By dictionary definition a gentleman is someone who is: civilized, educated, sensitive, or well-mannered: "He behaved like a true gentleman."

And of course, all over the internet lately you see things like this: 

"Real Men" ... "Gentlemen" ... In my mind they're the same thing, just different ways of putting it. But that is besides the point. The point I'm trying to make is this: A lot of women out there are complaining these days about how "there's no gentleman left!" And I'm sure the gentlemen that DO exist are probably wondering why they seem to be invisible. 

I don't think women realize the power they have in encouraging men to be more gentleman like, and so my question is this: are we ladies ALLOWING guys to be gentleman anymore? I think the answer, for the most part, is no. 

Women have a decent amount of influence on most men. The reason guys don't hold doors or bags or offer jackets anymore is because us women try to act like we're too tough for that, and we get all offended when they offer to take care of us and treat us as the precious jewels that we are. And then we turn right around and complain when a guy isn't treating us right. Tell me how that adds up to making sense? Because to me, it really doesn't! 

Ladies: it's as simple as body language...and maybe even a sweet joke...to encourage a man to act more like a gentleman. When you're walking with a guy and you get to a door, don't just bust through it! Stand there and wait, usually they will get the hint. And if not there's multiple ways of nicely saying that you're waiting for him to get the door for you. I'm not as big on the car doors thing, so I don't have a hint for you on that, but I'm sure there is a nice way to encourage that as well. Remember: honey catches more bees then vinegar.... Or something like that. Principle being this: if your nice a guy will want to treat you well.

There's also a Biblical reference for this, Proverbs 31 describes a good woman. If you go verse by verse and pull out her characteristics you will find that one of them is graciousness. Graciousness, by definition, is being courteous. Being courteous is "having or showing good manners, politeness." So if women were more polite to men, wouldn't they be polite back? I think the answer is yes. 

SO. My challenge to you is this: be conscious of how you act around the guys in your life, young and old. Try to encourage them to treat you in a more "gentlemanly" manner, and then come back here and let me know if it works! And keep in mind, this isn't just some haughty-taughty thing for women to get treated like queens or whatever, encouraging the guys around you to be gentleman and to respect women is helping men too! Men need to act like men, they need to be protectors and providers because that's how God made them, and I believe those characteristics should includes all women to a degree. 

So much for quick! I just keep going, haha. I think this is an okay place to end this for now, though. Let me know what you think about this topic, leave a comment! 

 

West Coast Baptist Women's Conference 2013

This past weekend, Rebekah Koontz and I went to the West Coast Baptist Women's Conference 2013 in Lancaster, CA. What an experience! The theme was "Make overs" and from the decorating to the little handouts to the messages, all of it was very well done and definitely a blessing in SO many ways! I was skeptical at first because I had no idea what to expect (this was my first conference), and I had been attacked in every way possible the morning we were supposed to leave. I LITERALLY arrived "battered, bruised, and worn" (my somewhat graphic picture of that is at the bottom... use caution in viewing). But God was faithful to speak to my heart through every message and I left beyond blessed, I have a lot of things to mull over the next few weeks, and they're going to inspire some blogs. Hold on to your hard hats! This post is just going to be my pictures from the trip, hope you enjoy them! 

These first 2 pictures are the doors of the hotel's elevator...I just love these, they're too cute!   

This was our view while driving to & through Lancaster

 These 2 pictures are a couple of the little handouts we got, AWW!

 This is the main sanctuary, it seats around 3000 I believe.

 This was the church's choir room decorated for a dessert night, how cute are these paint bucket inspired center pieces?!

 Rebekah and I found the pool & jacuzzi in the hotel and took some well deserved relaxing time! (I apologize for my indecent exposure...I should have just had Rebekah take my picture but as you can see, she was already soaking wet by the time I whipped out the phone for pictures.)

 

 These next 3 pictures were the view from our third-floor hotel room at sunrise, beautiful!

 

 

 This was the stage, and in this picture they're doing a game, they had some cute games!

This was during worship. I couldn't resist taking a picture of this song because just before going to the conference, one of the ladies who used to go to West Coast's college was telling Rebekah & I a story about how some of the college girls twisted this song to something like: "Lord, prepare me, a man to marry..." I don't remember the rest, but you can imagine. Rebekah & I couldn't stop laughing... Probably just cause we're those "forever alone" girls. Don't judge! 

 

 On Saturday, they had a main morning service, three multiple choice services where you could choose which lesson you wanted to attend, and then another main closing service. These were the classes Rebekah and I took together... I'll go into more detail in my next blogs.

 

 

 This was just a pretty fountain on the grounds of the church that I decided to snap a picture of...Funny story, it's in between two "tunnels" that connect one building to another (you see the door in the background?) Well, I decided to cut across rather then walk around...that yonder door? Was locked. Rebekah and I shared a moment of terror thinking we were locked in as we rushed back the way we came, and were greatly relieved to find that door hadn't shut all the way when we had walked through it. Thank God! We were free! Haha.

  

These were the very beautifully designed sections of the stage!

LUNCH TIME! How cute are these lunch pails?!

 

 

Of course, Rebekah and I HAD to stop at at least ONE thrift store... It's in our blood. The door boasted signs promising 25 cent treasures (marked with a green tag). Excited Rebekah and I set out searching and searching.... I don't think we ever found a green tag. But Rebekah found some photo worthy items (which will probably be posted on her blog soon)

  

Every good conference has good singers! This first picture was a ladies trio, they were really good! And below them was a men's quartet, they were really good too!

 And last, but not least, the picture of my head wound... 

Gnarly, ain't it?!

The story behind that: Mom and I were doing last minute shopping before taking off for the conference, and I was not paying attention (standing around texting) and she went to close the trunk thinking I had walked away...My head caught the corner of the trunk. BUT! At least I can say it's just another battle scar that didn't hold me down! I've been injured in stupid ways all my life, since before I was a year old, this wasn't anything new! Haha. 

Oh, Heart

Oh, Heart...

The dreams you contain are so precious, don't lower your standards in times of lonliness. I know you dream of what you had and wish that it had turned out another way. And I know you dream of future things that seem so far out of reach. I know you see others with what you wish you had, and even others who don't understand that what they have is so special and you long for it too. But in this time of solitude you have a lot of learning to do!

Be patient young Heart, the day will come! Be steadfast dear Heart, for that day will be more then you had ever dreamed possible! The Lord doesn't take away without reason, and He knows you better then you know yourself, He can surpass the dreams you cling to if you're just patient enough to wait and to trust.

Oh, Heart....

How I know you long to be cherished, how I know it's over-due. If loving God with all that we are fulfills us, I know it would be simpler to do if we could be physically held by Him. Contentment would overflow and nothing else would be needed. But since it can't be, I know you long for a good, strong pair of arms to hold you...  Maybe you more then most because of what was lacking in your early life... But God is faithful, lean on Him! Don't turn your thoughts toward flattery and your emotions toward unsure things. Heart, what you contain is precious, don't spread it here and there in hoping, keep yourself contained; controlled, so that you have all of you to give when the time is right.

Jesus, friend of sinners.

I know.

My last post was pretty dark and bitter... But I think I'm going to leave it up just as a reminder that we all go through dark times, and that there IS hope for tomorrow.

Today is yesterday's tomorrow, and Jesus has been pouring His hope into my heart all day. The whole morning at church was a blessing, I hadn't been to the alter in awhile (proof I was trying to creep control of my life back into my hands), so this morning my knees hit that alter and surrendered once again my life into Jesus' more the caple hands.

Not two hours later, I got a call from PetSmart saying that everyone had been asking for me to come back to work there (aww) and that since I'm known by everyone I can skip the interview process and just pick up my drug test paper tomorrow morning. (The first step in getting hired.)

PRAISE GOD!

Pastor taught this morning on how to be godly, Christian employees... Sounds like God is preparing me for something.

I can't even describe how I feel right now... No matter how desparate I can get to feeling, Jesus is always there whispering "lean on me, I can carry you through and bless you more then you're expecting."

Wow.

Just... WOW.

I will definitely be more thoughtful before I go slumping into a depression again. If I had just prayed, read my Bible, or actually listened to the worship music playing in my car last night, I highly doubt I would have sunk so far within myself.

Yes we all have pains in this life, but they should not consume us. And God is faithful to renew us each morning if we just seek Him. I'm honestly blown away.

Pain

I want you to imagine something.

I want you to imagine a cut, a deep cut. Got it? Good...

Cuts scab over, and so does this one. But you, you're a little neurotic and when you have a scab you tend to pick at it. Picking at it hurts but you do it anyway. Soon the scab is gone and you skin is stinging and raw and probably bleeding again.

A little time passes and another scab appears. You pick it off again. And again. And again... Then finally the skin becomes tough and heals but in the scabs place is a scar, a permanent scar that will never go away. Scars are ugly. What do we do with ugly things? Hide them. On goes the makeup; on goes the mask. The scar isn't gone, it will never be gone. But at least no one knows it's there.

In time even you forget the scar, hiding it is habit and the pain behind it is long gone. But the effects of that long ago pain still lurk in the corners of your mind, toying with your emotions. Suddenly hiding a scar isn't enough. Suddenly nothing is good enough. Weight, height, looks, feelings, thoughts, words, none of it is good enough and it all needs to be covered up. But covering it all up takes time, effort, energy.... And after awhile weariness sets in. What's the point in hiding? What's the person behind the mask become?

Who knows. You don't even know. You're so entangled in a world of pains felt over and over until you made yourself tough enough to ignore them. But the pains are still there. And no matter how you seek peace, no matter how you seek solice, you cannot find it... You know the One who heals all pain and takes away all sorrow. You love that One desperately. And yet... You still long for physical arms to hold you; for a physical voice to sing away your fears and promise you the sun will shine again. All around you are others who have what you seek, it seems so easy to find what you yourself are longing for but seem so unable to attain. Why. Why?

Pain is a monster. It swallows you alive and chokes you to death. But how do you define a pain for which there are no words? You can't.

BUT.

There is only hope.

There is always hope.

You just have to be willing to seek it, and when you find it: willing to accept it.

Lord, send your hope to me. Heal this aching heart and set me free. Make me a new creation in you. I want the freedom to make a change, I don't want to stay chained to the past anymore. Save me. Save me.

Prince Charming?

Prince Charming? Hmm...

 

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." - Proverbs 31:30

That verse could just as easily be said:

"Charm is deceptive, and good looks are fleeting;
    but a MAN who fears the Lord is to be praised."

 

So. Let's be real. What is with the whole Prince Charming dream? Why do so many girls dream of a being a damsel in distress, totally unhappy with her life, just waiting around for a Prince Charming to come riding in on a white horse and whisk her away to a life of sudden happiness? I'll admit I was one of those girls, but recently I've started to question that "dream." 

Don't get me wrong,

I DO dream of marriage and 

"happily ever after..." 

But that doesn't mean that a woman's

life should be spent waiting around,

nah,

let's be honest:

WASTED 

pining away after something that

is so far away from reality it's crazy.

 

"Prince Charming" doesn't even sound very promising. 

 

The Bible says that charm is deceptive, so why are girls/women dreaming of being deceived?? It doesn't even make sense. As far as I know, a woman wants a man who is mature, self-sufficient, strong and caring, a protector/defender, a provider, a best friend, their other half. Not some pretty little boy who says all the right words but then can't follow through. We never get to hear what REALLY happens after Prince Charming and the Damsel get married...OH, SURE...They tell you they lived "happily ever after" but I don't think that's true. I'm sure they had their fair share of problems along the 50+ years they spent together. 

 

But I'm heading into a different subject, so let's get back on track...

 

LADIES,

We already have a Prince who has rescued us! JESUS! He came to die to save our souls and win our hearts. I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty dang romantic, and I think that's a love we should seek after above anything else. Show me ONE fairytale with a better storyline then THAT. I'm betting you can't. 

 

So if we have a real Prince, who isn't trying to deceive us with charm, who has rescued us and is waiting for us to seek him out and return his love, that should change things quite a bit. No longer would we have to sit around the house pining away. We would have all that we needed, we would be fulfilled, and would have the freedom to stop day dreaming and go out and make a difference in the world. This world of ours needs a lot of help, and yes, one extra pair of hands definitely does make a difference! And yes, each pair of hands has a special gift that no other pair of hands does! Don't get caught in the lies of the world, don't allow yourself to believe you're worthless or not good enough or whatever it is, because if you were then would the God who made the universe send His Son to save you? ...Probably not... So that alone should show how much value you hold. 

 

Can we all agree that "Prince Charming" is yes, a nice story, but it's just that: a story? I think we should leave those stories in our childhoods and move on to a more realistic dream of a man. (Though, I wouldn't mind keeping the white horse...don't judge me...) Let's seek out the real Prince, let us return the love He has shown us, let us find our fulfillment in Him. Jesus is the only real source of fulfillment, so put the fairytales down and pick up a Bible and begin a new chapter. It's beyond worth it. I promise. 

 

~Daughter Of The King~