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The Bible says, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: |
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1 Timothy 2:8-10 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. In the garden of Eden, after Adam & Eve's sin, they realized their nakedness and they made fig leaf aprons for themselves. When the Lord found them, there they were, their shame on full display. The Lord then killed an animal and made coats of skins and covered them. The world says, "If you got it, you may as well flaunt it." But, the Lord says, "COVER YOURSELVES!!!" These fleshly bodies are NOTHING to be proud of that we should walk around with them on display. They are our shame!!! The plunging necklines, the shrinking hemline, and the clinging fabrics that the world wears today have no business on the child of God. People have so immersed themselves in the world with its ideas of beauty and fashion that we can't even go to church anymore for a reprieve. Even in the church, a person who is trying to remain modest has to almost sit with their heads down to keep from seeing something that ought not to be seen in public! We have splits up to there and necklines down to there and push up bras that make things do things they should NEVER do!! Why??? Why do we value the approval of man so much that we ignore the word of God so blatantly on this matter? What's more important to you, the approval of a lustful, fallen man whose righteousness is as filthy rags before the Lord or the blessed approval of the Lord God Almighty??? Which do you aim to edify with your manner of dress: flesh or spirit? Galatians 5:19 says this: "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness," so the opposite, or works of the spirit, would be chastity, purity, and modesty. The only way to gain this spirit of modesty is to turn away from this world with its idols of fleshly beauty and sexuality, turn off the TV with its shows that romanticize a life of sinful fulfilling of fleshly desires, and run to the Lord. Embrace His holiness, immerse yourself in His holy word. Stop believing the lies of Satan that let you rationalize the word of God to the point that you can say certain passages aren't applicable for today and the lies that tell you that if a person looks at you with lust, then it's their own sin. We ARE responsible for the sins of others when we cause them to stumble. Remember, it was Bathsheba's son that was taken, too, not just David's. Stop obeying the flesh, people, we know the end of that road if we know the Lord!!! Start heeding the word of God! If Satan can instill a grain of doubt in us over one word of scripture, we will never know the peace that comes from obeying the Lord. Our flesh is enmity with God, we cannot serve two masters. When you got up this morning and you chose your clothes for the day, which master did you choose to serve? I hope it was the right one. If not, I pray that the Lord would instill in you a desire to serve Him in everything you do and say, that He would give you that spirit of modesty and purity, and that He would allow you to use your body only to please the one He gives to you in marriage. May this word go forth and be used to bring honor and glory to the Lord God Almighty! God bless and Agape, Annie
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Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes unto the Father except by me." John 14:6 |
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Please remember my youngest brother, Michael, in your prayers. He is 27 years old, has 3 kids, and is looking at 15 years of prison time on meth charges. He says that the Lord has taken away his desire for drugs since he's been in jail. He has thanked us for our prayers and even requested prayers for another inmate who is 26 and is facing 30 years of prison time on similar charges. Michael even wrote a poem entitled "My Prayers" and sent it to my mama. In the poem, he's asking the Lord to forgive him and to take away his desire for the wicked life. Oh, I know how easy it is to be repentant when you're faced with consequences like these men are, that's why it's so very important that we remember them in our prayers, keep their names lifted up, stand in agreement for their salvation and deliverance. It breaks my heart to see the way the devil is destroying us. Young men and women here at home are being torn apart by the drugs and alcohol and gangs and illicit sexual relationships. Then, we have so many men and women overseas fighting in a war that nobody believes in anymore, coming home with so much trauma, so many horrible memories that threaten to overcome their sanity and their decency at any moment. Families, marriages, homes are being ripped to shreds, our children are falling through the cracks, how can it continue? How can we continue to deny the existence of a Lord who loves us and a devil who seeks to steal, kill, and destroy. The answers are so painfully obvious. When will our nation WAKE UP??? Father, I know that You can save our lost, You can heal our sick, You can bring our prodigal sons home. I know that Your hand is not shortened that You cannot save and Your ear is not heavy that You cannot hear. I know that when we humble ourselves and pray and seek Your face and turn from our wicked ways, that You will hear from heaven and will forgive our sins and heal our land. Help us, Father, to submit ourselves to Your will. Help us to get ourselves out of the way that You might be able to move in a mighty way. Take away the spirits of addiction, lust, murder, and greed that have beset our nation. Replace them, Lord, with spirits of truth, and love, and righteousness that we might be able to turn away from our sins, repent, and trust in You as Lord and Savior. Rise up our youth, O Lord, write Your word upon their hearts, keep Your law upon their lips, that there might come in our day a spiritual revolution like never before. Be with the leaders of our nation, Father, guide and direct them to make wise decisions that Your will might be done in this land. Help us Lord to seek honor and glory for You only, help us to humble ourselves that You might be exalted on earth as in heaven. Take away the veil of pride that keeps people from receiving Your truth into their hearts. Grant them faith and repentance that they might be saved and delivered from their sins. Your word says that You will seek that which was lost, bring again that which was driven away, bind up that which was broken, and strengthen that which was sick, and we know that You are faithful to keep Your promises. Hear us, O Lord, if we have found any favor in your sight, grant us our hearts' desires. We love You and praise Your holy name, that sweet name of Jesus, blessed Savior, Amen |
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I wrote this on November 2, 2006 and posted it to MySpace Blog.
Ask those who know me and they'll tell you, I'm not the same person I was 10 years ago, 5 years ago, or even 1 year ago. God has really been dealing with me. God saved my soul when I was only 13 years old. Several things happened that got me away from the church (aka Satan attacked me due to my being snatched from his grasp). I was surrounded by not very wholesome people during my teenage years. I became quite promiscuous, probably partly due to the sexual abuse I had endured as a child, and started using drugs to fill the void in my life. I had no idea where my life was headed and didn't care. I did finish school but I didn't attend my senior prom or even my high school graduation. I picked my diploma up at the school a couple of weeks after classes let out. That summer was my bottom. I had moved in with a guy that I cared nothing about shortly before school let out. When I decided to go back home was when I started realizing the party/sex/drug life was not for me. I started dating another guy, a nice wholesome guy, who I really did care about. He would have been able to straighten me up if only I hadn't messed things up by getting high with some other friends and sleeping with another guy. I knew there was more to life but I started thinking there was no way out for me. I felt like I would never be able to do things right. God, however, had something else in mind. On August 31, 1997, I was coming home from a party, very drunk, and I wrecked my car. When I came to, I tried to start the car and when it didn't do anything, I opened the door and glass fell all over me from the window. That's when I realized what had happened and I remember hoping that I hadn't hurt someone else. I didn't know at the time that I was hurt. I started walking back to my "boyfriend's" house, which was 3 or 4 miles away. I don't know what I was thinking. Walking along, I hadn't got far from my car when I felt something on my face. I reached up and wiped my face and brought my hand away full of blood. I started screaming and crying and started running down the road. A lady stuck her head out the door and asked if she could call an ambulance for me. I said that would be great and I sat down on the side of the road. A man came along with a cell phone and asked if I needed to call someone. I wanted my mom and dad so bad but it took what seemed like forever for me to remember their phone number. I finally did remember and Daddy said when he heard the phone ring, he started getting dressed because he already knew what had happened. I wasn't hurt bad, by the grace of God alone. I still have trouble with my neck getting out of place and I have one little scar on my upper lip that most people probably never notice, but I do. Oh, by the way, it was a one-vehicle accident, so no one else was hurt, also by the grace of God. I was in the hospital over night and most of the next day but my "boyfriend" never even called. He was afraid he would be arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. What a guy!! He did call a couple days later and I am such an idiot, I went back out with him. But not for long, I was already changing and I didn't even realize it yet. I didn't want to drink or smoke weed with them anymore and he would get so mad at me and say I wasn't any fun anymore. He finally stopped calling for a couple of weeks. During the next two weeks, my husband met me at my dad's business and wanted to get to know me. He knew I was friends with a girl down the road and he had her aggravate the fire out of me to come to her house and meet him. On Thursday of the second week, my "boyfriend" called and apologized, talking about how he wouldn't blame me if I never spoke to him again but if I wanted to go out tomorrow, give him a call. Yeah right!!! I went to the neighbor's. I wanted to get as far away from that telephone as I could. I didn't even care if Bucky showed up that night or not, as long as I didn't go out with the other guy again. Bucky and I got married 7 months later. We have had our ups and downs. We've almost split up a time or two but God keeps allowing us to work things out. I can't say that I have been completely faithful to God the entire time we've been together because I haven't. You see, I still didn't want to admit that I couldn't live my life on my own and make things work. My faith and belief would be tried and tested time & again before I got to where I am now. Many tears have been shed and many times I've asked, "Why me?" before I realized when I forget about me, is when God truly blesses! I know that God is fighting for me and I can't do anything on my own because God created us to serve him and be dependent on him. God freed me from my last addiction, cigarettes, two months ago (edited Jan. 30, 2007 to say, 5 months now!!!!) Hallelujah! I like coffee but I can take it or leave it. I am beginning to like eating a whole lot more. I just pray that God won't allow me to let that become a problem that will get in the way of me serving Him. I completely depend on God for all of my needs and I want to do whatever it takes to please Him. Our preacher says that the greatest thing you can do to please God is to have faith. Man, do I ever!!!! I have faith that when we truly do the best we can to please God and to be obedient to Him that He will keep His promises to us. I know that He never promised that life serving him would be easy, it won't. But He did promise to take care of our needs and to love us and give us peace. He has promised to be our companion, a friend that sticks closer than a brother. If God is for me, who can be against me? Praise the Lord!!! I hope everyone reading this has a personal relationship with Christ. If you don't, I pray that God will convict your heart soon before it's too late for you! If you need help praying for the forgiveness of your sins, check out this website: www.backtothebible.org/meetjesus/ |
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Pray for Boldness
We pray for the sick, we pray for the children, we pray for the lost. All needful prayers, but rarely do we hear a request for our own relationships with Christ, for our own walk with the Lord. I would like to ask all of you to pray for me that the Lord would fill me with the boldness of the Lion of Judah. Boldness that so many American Christians today are so sadly lacking. Boldness that allows believers in Nigeria, Cambodia, Pakistan, Vietnam, China, and other persecuted countries to stand before a firing squad and say, "I am so afraid, but I cannot deny my Jesus, I will not deny my Lord!" What changes the Lord would make in our lives, our homes, our church, our families if we could only attain such boldness. That boldness that could take me beyond my pitiful walk of today and take me to the place where I can walk in such close fellowship with Jesus Christ that I can know the desires of my heart will be granted because they are His desires as well. What miracles we could see occur before our very eyes if we could be so bold! I believe that the Lord is coming back and I believe it will be soon. I believe that He is raising up His army even now, I believe that His chosen people are undergoing the refining fires today to prepare them for what is to come. I believe that we should be expecting great miracles in our lives and our families. I believe that we should be looking for the amazing power of the Holy Ghost to anoint His people once again, just as in the upper room in the book of Acts. I believe that if we are to be in the Lord’s army, we must be filled with this boldness, we must be prepared to put on the full armor of God, we must be ready to fight, not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers of darkness. We must be ready to say, in the words of Paul, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain!" and in the words of John, "Even so, come Lord Jesus!" |
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I wrote this to read at our baptism! It was such a good service! Praise the Lord!!! Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty!!! Amen!!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bucky and I have chosen to be baptized today in order to keep the commands of the Lord spoken by Peter in Acts 2:38 saying, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." As we feel that neither of us had a truly repentant heart when we were baptized before, we believe that the Lord has put it upon our hearts to be baptized again. With this action, we are committing our lives and dedicating our marriage to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We vow to strive to keep this commitment, through the working of the Holy Ghost in our hearts, until our last breath. We vow to henceforth bring up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, training them up in the way they should go so when they are old, they will not depart from it. We vow to keep fellowship with other believers and to teach the Gospel to all who have ears to hear. We vow to use the gifts and talents and resources that the Lord will bless us with to further advance the coming kingdom of Christ. We vow to use our tongues only to edify the body of Christ. We vow to study to show ourselves approved unto God, workmen that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. We know that all things come together for the good of those who love Christ, and we know that if we love Him, we will keep His commands. We love Him because He first loved us. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The lives which we now live in the flesh, we live by the faith of the son of God, who loved us, and gave Himself for us. No returning in us you'll find, we're too near our heavenly home where we'll abide. Praise the Lord, we are REDEEMED!!! |
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Blessed Redeemer
'Father, forgive them!' thus did he pray, E'en while his life-blood flowed fast away; Praying for sinners while in such woe- No one but Jesus ever loved so. Blessed Redeemer! Precious Redeemer! Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree; Wounded and bleeding, for sinners pleading- Blind and unheeding-dying for me!
Avis B. Christiansen |
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My mama has had a very hard life. Her mama didn't want kids when she was born so she went to live with her grandparents. She thought her aunts and uncles were her brothers and sisters. When she was 9, her mother decided she needed some help with the other 2 girls she had and her alcoholic husband, so she went and got her. When she was 12, she started trying to run away from home. She was put in an all girl detention facility in Danville, KY. I think she wound up running away from there, too. At 13, the court system signed for her to marry an 18 year old. She got pregnant with me, not by her husband, but by another much older man. I'm really not sure what she was doing with him in the first place. The only thing I can figure is that she was searching for a father figure, someone to take care of her, the way that a daddy should. Her daddy never was around. She had never even heard someone name her daddy until her mama died. I'm still not sure that guy is her father, either, but she still wants to cling to something. Anyway, to make a long story short, Mama surprised me by showing up for church this morning. She came to the altar in the middle of choir singing. I don't know if she rededicated her life to the Lord or if she was just talking with Him. I know that she has done alot of wrong to herself and to others, but I know that the Lord can clean her up and make her whole. She just has to trust in Him and obey Him. Please pray for her that she will continue to be convicted and that she will finally give her whole heart to the Father who truly loves her. |
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I wrote this on January 22, 2008 and posted it to MySpace Blog. Please read and pray. My husband is doing great. He's really been anointed. He's been learning songs and singing at church. The Lord has given me a few songs, I write them and Bucky sings them. We're really having a great time serving the Lord. Bucky's brother-in-laws, however, didn't get any staying power and his sisters aren't doing very well, either. So, remember them. Thanks! "Most of you know, I've been praying for my husband for a long time now. We have had a lot of problems but God had promised me that he would be redeemed. I got so discouraged sometimes, seeing the way that he was acting, knowing that the Lord had so much better things planned for him. |
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I am striving to be a woman after God's own heart. The Lord has done so much in my life. I am so glad He called me out of the darkness, granted me the gift of faith and repentance and allowed me to be saved! I was saved at 12 years old, although I allowed life to lead me along the wrong path for several years. Then, when I got pregnant with Dusty, I started coming back home. It's been a long journey and I know it's not over. But, our gracious Lord will show me the way. My husband was just recently saved on January 20, 2008, the Sunday after his daddy's funeral. Let me tell ya, that man is saved to the uttermost!!! He had Holy Ghost power coming out his ears for days!!! It was an awesome experience. He was headed down a road of alcoholism and the Lord just reached down and took it away. He says he's not had a craving for a single drink of beer since that day! Oh, the thought has crossed his mind, I know, but the Lord is with him now, enabling him to endure temptation. It's so good to be able to go to church and worship as a family now. We read a little bit of scripture every morning and pray together before we go our separate ways. It feels so good to know that my husband is praying for me, ya know what I mean? It's like, that's the sign of true love, when your mate is willing to call upon the Father on your behalf, trusting Him to keep you safe in His loving arms. We have four children, 3 girls of my husband's from a previous marriage who live with their mother, and Dusty, our 5 year old son. The girls have been a great inspiration to me over the years. They have remained strong in the Lord, even though neither of their parents were standing beside them. They attend a Pentecostal church along with alot of their mother's family and, although I don't believe everything they do, the Lord has used them to convict me of modesty. Obeying the Lord in this conviction has drawn me so much closer to Him. I'm so grateful for that still, small voice speaking to my heart and I'm so grateful that the Lord has removed that veil of pride that kept me from listening and acknowledging my need for Him. The girls are homeschooled and my conviction to homeschool Dusty came shortly after he was born. I have done alot of research and spent alot of time gathering materials. There have been times, when our finances were really tight, that my husband and I have thought it would be easier if I worked. It never works out, though, and now we agree that I'm where the Lord wants me to be, at home, taking care of the home and our children, and helping him with his business. This last year, I have started babysitting in my home and that works out pretty well for us, even though I don't have any children right now. I have also recently started cleaning house once every two weeks for a family we go to church with and I am going to be tutoring a 9 year old boy in reading when school lets out for summer. So, the Lord is a very abundant provider when we choose to do His will! We live on a small piece of ground out in the country. We are currently living in a single wide mobile home. We do hope to one day be able to build a modest home. I'm a bit skeptical, however, due to the rising prices of everything. But, I know the Lord will provide. We have 2 horses, 3 dogs, 2 cats, 4 kittens, and a rabbit for the time being. That is subject to change at any given time, as we are all prone to dragging animals home with us from time to time! We have a garden every year, which is very needful to meet the needs of our family. It is also good for keeping our eyes on the provisions of God, and needless to say, very educational for a curious child! Well, I guess that's enough about us. I hope to get to know some of the rest of you homeschool bloggers soon! God bless and Agape, Annie
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