Why I am NOT celebrating International Women's Day in 2017

Now don't freak out by the title. I have a perfectly good explanation for it. I think it is a good celebration, but not this year.

The International Women's Day is a fight/stance for equality. Well..that is where this has gotten out of hand. 

"After the 19th Amendment affirming women's right to vote was ratified in 1920, suffragist leader Alice Paul introduced the ERA in 1923 as the next step in bringing "equal justice under law" to all citizens. In 1972, the ERA was finally passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification." 

Women gained equal right years and years ago. The reason why they are fighting for it now? Stupidity, anger, dissatisfaction, protesting against the government, and the list goes on. To me, those are some terrible reasons to be creating such a huge riot. Women have the same equal rights as men, and are now even gaining more to this day. I believe women now have the upper hand and I hate that. Women are avoiding shopping, not showing up to work, skipping their daily duties just to show what a day without women would be. 

The modern day women is butchy, loud, lacks in manners and sophistication, arrogance, thinking they are better than men, and so on. 

"Thinking they are better than men..."  Well that contradicts everything they so-called stand for.

If they are fighting for equality, then why are they portraying themselves to be better than men? Wouldn't that be considered inequality? 

Don't take this the wrong way. As a woman, these are my personal concerns on what womanhood has become this day and age. It honestly frightens me to think where it could end up. I'M NOT HATING ON THE HOLIDAY ITSELF, BUT I DON'T LIKE WHAT IT HAS BECOME THIS DAY AND AGE.

Think of the brothers, sons, fathers, uncles, grandfathers, boyfriends, and all the men out there. Do you want them to think they are less than women? Have you considered that maybe they are hurting from this? Women are too busy thinking of how they can empower themselves, instead of thinking how they can help MEN and women both. 

Please if you think this is getting out of hand, do something and stand up and fight with me for the right kind of womanhood. 

Oblivious to the Obvious

 

Our society is so oblivious to the obvious. We need to change that. We need to open their eyes up and show them the truth. The truth that there is a God, the truth that everyone is born the gender they are supposed to be, because God makes NO mistakes. The truth that every baby is a precious gift of life. They need to follow the blueprint that God gave us in the beginning of the book of Genesis. Go read it. Titus 2 clearly stats how women and men are supposed to act. So, why don't they? Well, our world is run by ungodly minds, who try to please people, not God. What happened to 'In God we trust'? Where did it go? I'll tell you. The people of this nation threw it in the gutter. They stomped all over it, and wiped it from their minds. They ARE OBLIVIOUS TO THE OBVIOUS. And now Target has gone with them. Parents are banning their teens from going to states that disagree with the ways of the world. How ridiculous? People are filling the minds of young kids with lies, and confusing them of what their gender is. That leads to suicide. That is child abuse. So what are we Christians doing about this? Are we hiding away in our homes, afraid of shinning light in this dark place? Are we cowards who cringe in the corners of places, too scared to open our mouths to what's true, right, noble just? What ever happened to putting on the full armor of God and fighting to good fight? We need to get off our butts, and start living out God's plan for our lives. We need to show this world who the REAL leader is! People are DYING AND GOING TO HELL all the time!! Are we even trying to share our faith with them, or do we care about the eternity of others. If you want to SHINE YOUR LIGHT in this dark, chaotic, death trap, then stand up with me and put your battle clothes on because we are going to STAND UP FOR CHRIST!

Serve Him Only

There are many ways Christ can and will change your life. He wants you to love Him and serve Him and accept Him as your Lord. But when you do, you must surrender EVERYTHING to Him. He deserves every bit of our attention, and our self. He created us, so we should live in a way that pleases Him. We need to “Offer our bodies as living sacrifices” because Christ sacrificed so much for us. We need to serve Him because He is our Master. We should love Him with our whole heart because He loves us with His whole heart. Being a Christian is not easy at all. But it is SO worth it, because we know that when we die, we will live with our wonderful Master. But that is not the only reason why it is worth it. I have seen many people who claim ‘I don’t need God’ and ‘I can take care of myself’ then their life falls apart. It’s proof that we will never have a good life without God in it. He cares for all our needs and gives us all the love in the world.  It’s worth it because serving ourselves is a huge waste of time. Why would we want to serve our unsatisfied, complaining, selves when we can serve a loving, caring, and powerful, Lord Jesus. “We cannot serve two masters” as my pastor said Sunday. Do you want to serve God, or yourself?

How God changes our lives.

Personal reasons: I am able to find hope in dark times, comfort in scary situations, and  true joy.

Biblical reasons: When you become a Christian, you will have eternal life when you die. We have the power through the Holy Spirit to overcome hard times and to fight temptations.

The changes that take place after accepting Christ as  Lord and Savior.

1. We have a hope even in dark times because we know that Christ will get us through them.
2. We have the Holy Spirit to guide us and enable us to decipher right from wrong.
3. We are no longer afraid of death because we know our eternity rests in God’s loving hands.
4. We can pray to Him and ask Him and confess to Him all things.
5. Lifestyles and other activities that “Used to be okay” with us are now disturbing and we feel the need to pray for the people who do those things.
6. We have a heart that cares for the lost ones because of the love Christ gave us.
7. We feel the peace of God in good and bad times.

Jesus Is Love

This morning my siblings were arguing so I decided to read them this verse. 

1 Corinthians 13:4-8
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keep no record of wrongs: Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." 

Then I thought," This is basically describing Jesus." So then I figured if I replace the word 'Love' with 'Jesus', then maybe they would actually listen to the verse and want to obey it. since Jesus is love, I did and here it is.
"Jesus is patient, He is kind. Jesus does not envy, He does not boast, Jesus is not proud. He does not dishonor other, Jesus is not self-seeking, He is not easily angered, He keeps no record of wrongs: Jesus does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Jesus never fails!" 

After I did that, it gave the verse a whole new perspective for my siblings and me.We can read it and think,"This is Jesus. How can I be like Him today?"
Then we can read the list of what Jesus(love) is and strive to be like Him.

I thought I'd just share that little idea with you all. Hope you enjoyed it!

Just a Random

So I was listening to Pandora and a song by Paul Cardall came on. It is called "Sacred Nature". It reminded me of the song "Your Great Name" so I decided to look up the lyrics to that song.
I never realized how amazing they were so I am going to share them with you.

"Your Great Name"

[Verse 1:]
Lost are saved find their way at the sound of your great name
All condemned feel no shame at the sound of your great name
Every fear has no place at the sound of your great name
The enemy—he has to leave at the sound of your great name

[Chorus:]
Jesus,
Worthy is the Lamb
That was slain for us,
Son of God and Man
You are high and lifted up and all the world will praise your great name

[Verse 2:]
All the weak find their strength at the sound of your great name
Hungry souls receive grace at the sound of your great name
The fatherless—they find their rest at the sound of your great name
The sick are healed and the dead are raised at the sound of your great name

[Chorus:]
Jesus,
Worthy is the Lamb
That was slain for us,
Son of God and Man
You are high and lifted up and all the world will praise your great name, your great name

[Bridge:]
Redeemer, My Healer,Lord Almighty
My Savior, Defender, You are My King

[Chorus:]
Jesus,
The name of Jesus,
You are high and lifted up and all the world will praise your great name
Jesus,
Worthy is the Lamb
That was slain for us,
Son of God and Man
You are high and lifted up and all the world will praise your great name, your great name, your great name

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

Strength and Patience

(I had another panic attack last night. It was really bad. Please pray that God will relieve me from them and that another one won't happen.)



________________________________________________________________________________________

Isiah 40: 31
"but those who wait in the LORD will renew  their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

What a great reminder of how being paient pays off. God will strengthen us when we wait.
pa·tient

ˈpāSHənt/

adjective

1. 1.

   able to accept or tolerate delays, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.

   synonyms:

   forbearing, uncomplaining

2. 
   

How easy is it for us to be paitent? For me, not very. Well, here are three verses that tells us ways to be patient and wait on God's timing.

1. 
   
2. 
   

James 1:19-20

"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, (2) because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires." 

James 5:7-9

"Be paiten, then brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming. See how the farner waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. (8) You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. (9) Don't grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The judge is standing at the door!" 

2 Peter 3:9(ESV)

"The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentace." 

strength

streNG(k)TH/

noun

1. 1.

   the quality or state of being strong, in particular.

We can only be strong through the power of Christ. 

Here are three verses on strength. 

Philippians 4:13

"I can do all things through Him who gives me strength."                (Him as in Christ)

1 Corinthians 16:13

"Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong." 

Psalm 118: 14

"The LORD is my strength and my defense; He has become my salvations." 

I hope these will help,

Emma. 

(All of the verses are NIV unless I put this ex. (ESV))

Just a reminder

Praise to God for a Living Hope

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Fighting Unbelief

Hebrews 3:12-13
"See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful heart, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called "Today," so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness."

Recently, God has been testing me by allowing to devil to send me untrue, negative, lies. It scared the daylights out of me. But, even though I am still struggling, I can go to the Word and find peace through that and praying. God will speak to me through His word, and reassure me that I will over come this through Him.

I know that post of my posts are about trails. Well, that's because I have MANY of them. And the Christian life is FULL of TRIALS. If we didn't have trials, how would we persevere and grow stronger as a believer? We wouldn't know the power of God or His love for us. Let us praise Him even in deep water.
Oceans by Hillsong is a great reminder of how He gets us through trials and tribulations.

 

1 Peter 5:10
"And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast."

My new trial is unbelief. I asked God why it was that, and I am not sure. Maybe He is testing me to see if I remain strong in my belief in Him. If any of you have struggled with this, PLEASE COMMENT. I would love to hear all of the passages that got you through it. Pray for me also.

Suffering For Being a Christian

1 Peter 4:12-19

“Dear Friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. (13) But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings for Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed. (14) If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. (15) If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. (16) However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. (17) For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (18) And. “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

(19) So, then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.”

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As Christians, it is normal for us to suffer. It will even feel like we are standing on burning coals and a shower of fire pouring upon us. Trust me, I know. But rejoice, because we are suffering as Christ did. “We will be overjoyed when His glory is revealed.” Let us be insulted, bashed, crushed, driven to the worst; let us crumble, break down, and be beaten. But let us also be brought up again and given greater strength in Christ when we call upon His loving name. God will renew our strength when we use it all. But when He gives it to you, praise Him. Praise Him for never leaving us or giving up on us. Even though we fail Him everyday, His love for us is still greater.

Keep Your Heads Up

On Monday night, I went to a revival meeting at Park Hill Baptist. It was about praying for a revival for different things. It was really emotional in a good way. :) I had a good cry.

Here is something that we can all do. They did it at the meeting, and it really helped.

• First, before you pray for ANYTHING, confess the sins that you committed that day to God and ask for forgiveness. Then forgive anyone you need to forgive. 
• Close your eyes and draw a mental circle around you. Pray for a spiritual revival in your personal life. 
• Draw a mental circle around your church, and pray for a spiritual revival. 
• Do the same for the city and state that you were born in. 
• Last, but certainly not least, do one for our nation. 

Our nation is suffering. But when I think about that, this same verse always comes into my mind and gives me hope. 

Jeremiah 29:11-14

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD,"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and i will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD,"and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD,"and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile." 

The LORD promises us hope, a future, and deliverance. As bad as our world is, God's plans for it is a MILLION times better. Even though it seems like the world will NEVER get better, God promised to listen to our prayers, and be found by us, and deliver His people. 

Always remember this quote: (This is my version of it) 

“Everything will usually get worse before it gets better, but when it does get better...remember  who God is, and praise Him for it. The devil will bring you down, but God will help you up. Things will get hard, dangerous, scary, though, and bad. But life is good because God is good."