One Simple Truth About Modesty

     "Dressing immodestly is like rolling around in manure. Yes, you'll get attention, but only from pigs." Ah, the issue of modesty. It's the subject of every girl's cabin devotional at Bible camp, and it's discussed in young ladies' Sunday School at least once a year. Wouldn't it just be great if God gave us a specific modesty hand book in the Bible? One that, in detail, let us know what was and wasn't okay for us to wear. There's no step-by-step guide that tells us that skirts have to go to the shin or that sleeves have to go to the elbows, or that anything less of a turtle neck is debauchery. (If that was the case, I think I would just stick to wearing a potato sack everywhere I went.) The thing is, modesty is more than just a hemline. It's an interior decision not to wear anything that would attract vulgar or unnecessary comments or thoughts, because of love for the One who created you. I think that there are many good verses that talk about how we should be presenting ourselves, but there is one verse that really does give us a standard, not only for modesty, but for the way that we should be living in general, and it's found in Micah 6:8. He has shown you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of thee? But to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.
     To do justly is talking about a heart that can discern right from wrong. A person who is walking in the Spirit will have that heart of discernment. If we look in the mirror and see a little too much of what shouldn't be seen, we should have the desire to change because we should want to be following the Holy Spirit's guiding. We know from other places in scripture (Romans 12) that our bodies are a living sacrifice unto God and we should use them and all that can flow through them to bring Him honor and glory. Say you had a job as a lawyer and you had a client meeting. Would you show up barefoot, in sweatpants and a cut off tie-dye shirt? No. That would not be representing your law firm nor your skills as a lawyer, and that would probably make the client doubt your abilities to perform. It's the same thing in our Christian life. We are Christ's earthly ambassadors, and the world is our client. We need to be representing Him in what we do as well as what we wear. 
     To love mercy means that we should be showing God's love and mercy to other people. If we know who someone struggles with lust but dress immodestly anyways to provoke them, that is wrong. We should be abstaining from all appearances of evil, so if it seems like our clothing is purposely pushing the limits, it's better off wearing something that covers a bit more. It's not about covering the body to hide it in shame, but revealing your dignity. 
     With modesty comes humility. A lot of girls in today's culture dress in pants too tight, skirts too short, and shirts too low, for the sole purpose of getting guys to look. Should they look? No. But will they? Most probably would. Pride and immodesty go hand in hand. If you're living humbly, you would strive to live a modest life. Not only in dress, but in conduct as well. Dressing immodestly isn't giving guys permission to look, but it isn't restricting them either. We need to be respecting the bodies God gave us, not showing them off to get approval. It's like if a recovering alcoholic was walking past a bar, and although there wasn't a sign that said, "PLEASE COME IN AND FALL INTO SIN!", the door wasn't locked either. When a woman dresses immodestly, it's not that there is a sign on her forehead saying "Please, struggle with lust because of what I'm wearing," but she's not making it very hard for him to turn away either. As Christian women, we need to help our brothers in Christ, not make them dread spending time with us for fear of falling.
     There is no specific "this is modest and this is immodest" manual, but there are certain truths we should be living by. Modesty is about the true character of the woman - there should be a mirror to reflect the heart because that is where true beauty is to be found. 
     So you've read all this, and you're probably wondering, WHERE IS THAT ONE SIMPLE TRUTH? Well, here it is. A WOMAN MUST HAVE HER HEART CHANGED, BEFORE HER CLOTHES EVER WILL. My dear friends, it is so important that we use our bodies to honor God, not to bring unneeded attention to ourselves in a negative way. When you dress modestly, you show respect to your Heavenly Father, AND TO YOURSELF. It's about the heart of a virtuous woman. It may be hard, but it IS possible to live modestly in an immodest world. 

      Stay excellent!

Peace, Be Still

     I'm currently studying through the book of Mark, and last night I noticed something pretty cool at the end of chapter 4. The last 4 verses say,
          "And he (Jesus) was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked them, and said unto the sea, "Peace, be still." And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, "Why are ye so fearful? how is that ye have no faith?" And they feared exceedingly and said one to another, what manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
    In the verses right before we see that they were on a ship, and a horrible storm was beating down upon them. In studying this chapter, I found that there are 4 lessons that we can learn from these 4 verses. 

    1. The God who calmed their storm, can still our storms too.

Our trials and struggles in life often parallel to storms and tempests, and although the disciples were experiencing a real storm with water, it relates quite a bit to the storms in our lives. I feel like sometimes it's so easy to judge the disciples here. Like, Jesus is right there, you can SEE Him! But we have that same assurance of Jesus' presence, yet our faith lacks too. They saw Jesus yet they doubted His capability to fix the problem. Amidst their doubt, He calmed the waves just by speaking, and they were in awe of Him. I find it totally incredible that this is the same God that we serve daily. He looks out for His children, and we trust in that.

  2. Don't accuse God of not caring.

The disciples say, "Carest thou not that we perish?" They're upset that Jesus is laying there asleep instead of watching out for them. You see, sometimes we as Christians ask God the same question. "Do you not see that I'm hurt? Why aren't you doing anything about this?" We think that just because God isn't actively calming the storms right when we want Him too, that He must not care enough. It's clear from so many scriptures that Jesus DOES care, more than we could ever comprehend. One of my favourite chapters in the Bible is Psalm 139, and verses 17-18 say, "How precious also are thy thoughts toward me, O God, how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand..." I don't know about you, but I've never taken a handful of sand and counted each little grain, and I have no intentions of doing so. God thinks precious thoughts toward us, so never accuse Him of not caring just because you can't see His calming hand.

   3. Don't let fear rock your faith. 

God sometimes chooses His best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction. When storms come up in life, don't fear. We can see Jesus right there, and we can rest in the knowledge that He has it under control. When we fret and worry about being injured by the waves, we are telling Jesus that we don't think He is able enough to protect us. Don't let the fear take precedence over the overwhelming calm that can come with faith in the one who created you.

   4. We are safe in Jesus' hands no matter what.

You could imagine that the disciples were probably pretty confused at the fact that Jesus was asleep, during the storm, laying on a pillow no less! But Jesus was just as much in control asleep as He was awake. We are always safe in God, just like they were. He is very much in control no matter what, and I think that we can see the contrast of Jesus and the disciples' faith by the fact that Jesus was sound asleep while the disciples were panicking. Even if He doesn't wake up and calm the storm, we can still be safe in Him. I don't know about you, but there's no place I'd rather be.

 I love that calm assurance that we can have in knowing that we can trust God no matter what. When He says, "Peace, be still," the storms don't fight back. He has the whole world in His hands, and that's something that we can have total confidence in.

Stay excellent!

Why God Deserves More Than Leftovers

   
     I'm no hater of left overs. I love to pull out the last of the spaghetti from last night's dinner, throw some cheese on it and eat it for tonight's dinner. Or that cold pizza for breakfast? I'm a huge fan. But there are times when left overs just aren't appropriate. It would be a huge deal if the president of the United States showed up at our house for dinner - we wouldn't pull out the various containers in our fridge and throw them together to feed the honored guest. We would go out of our way to serve him the best of the best. It's the same thing with God. Although we don't serve the Lord a steaming meal on a dining room table, we do serve Him every day with our hearts and minds. Are we giving Him the left overs, what we haven't used at the end of the day? Or are we going out of our way to give Him a feast, something He is worthy of?
     God wants us to daily crucify ourselves, and surrender to Him. For I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith. (Galatians 2:20) It's clear that we need check ourselves each day to be sure that we are not following our flesh. After we are saved, we will always be saved, our salvation is not in question, but our fellowship with the Lord is dependent on our desire to walk in His word and desire to know Him more. If we are giving Him only the left overs of our minds at the end of the day, how are we going to truly have a sustaining relationship with Him? In a relationship, communication is required. If a husband doesn't want a really unhappy wife, he will listen to her. We have a Creator whose ears never get tired; there will never be a moment where He doesn't want to hear from us.
     It's so important to be on "talking terms" with Jesus throughout each and every day. We are so blessed to have access to Him 24/7, so why don't we utilize that? He wants to hear from us, and have that personal relationship. We shouldn't be giving other things more attention and love than we give God. When we only give Him the left over time before our head hits the pillow, what are we conveying about our priorities? Are other people and things more important to us than He is? One source said it like this, "...some people treat God like the Salvation Army is to many people. After we can't sell or give away our used merchandise then we truck it to the Salvation Army. God really shouldn't be an after thought, but rather we should give Him our best time, money and talents. What can we give to offer respect and thanks to God?" God is the most precious thing in my life, and I know that I want to give him more than just my left overs. His mercies are new and fresh every morning, and He has given me His word for my daily nourishment. He deserves from me a submissive heart desiring to know Him and understand Him. He wants me to develop an adoration and a desire to constantly be in fellowship with Him. 
     This is something God has really been working on in my life - making it my number one priority to make HIM my number one priority. So that's my challenge for you today. Will you give God the best of all that you have, or will you only serve Him the left overs?

                                                                                    Stay excellent!

  

Turn the World Upside Down

     When big things happen in our society, whether it's the birth of a royal baby, or a devestating earthquake, it shakes the world. We hear about it all over the place. It affects people and motivates them toward change. I was recently listening to a lecture and the pastor gave us a challenge - to turn the world upside down with the gospel. Back in Jesus' time, most people probably had heard about Jesus and His miracles, but only a few got to really know Him on a personal and intimate level. But we are so blessed to be living in the Church age, where we can have 24/7 access to God, we can go bodly to His throne. We are endwelt with the Holy Spirit at the time of salvation, and we have the completed Word of God. There has never been and will never be a time where we don't have the presence of God in our lives. There are so many amazing benefits we have today as being children of God. There is a lost and dying world right outside my dorm room, and I have the message of hope that could offer them an eternity with Jesus. WHY ISN'T THE GOSPEL TURNING THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN?

      It's no secret that the United States is in a downward decline - not only socially and economically but what used to be a moral country founded on Christian pricipal is becoming more corrupted as the days go by. If you have questions on the beliefs of our founding fathers, go ahead and check out http://www.history.org/almanack/life/politics/giveme.cfm. Benjamin Franklin said this, "As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals and his religion, as he left them to us, is the best the world ever saw, or is likely to see;" It is so clear that the very men who founded this country and made it to be the great nation that it is, accredited their success and their liberty to GOD. Why then, I ask, do we simply sit here and allow our society to intimidate us into believing that our message of salvation isn't worth sharing?

     Things like celebrities getting pregnant or divorced won't matter in eternity. Who cares if that big sports team won whatever big sports event, when there is a lost world out there? People are dying every second with no hope, not knowing where they will spend eternity. People don't like to think about the "afterlife" because the here and now seems so glorious and romantic. It is our job, Christians, to get out there and BODLY share the message of truth. Jesus Christ came as a perfect baby to suffer the cross, be beaten and marred beyond human recognition, for you, and He rose again on the third day. There is nothing we can do to get us into Heaven, and there's nothing we can do to lose the salvation we have. This simple gospel message is true whether someone believes it or not, denying Jesus doesn't make Him any less real. So I ask, what are you afraid of? When people reject the gospel, they are rejecting Jesus, not His messenger. 
     It's time we as Christians get up and turn the world upside down for Christ, before we lose the freedom to do so. Look at men like the Apostle Paul, who truly did go through horrible persecution that we may never face because of the gospel. We are not in jail and we are not being stoned. We may have to suffer a bad look or a rude curse word, but that's nothing in comparison to His struggles as a servant of Jesus. It takes 3 seconds to hand the cashier a tract and give them the message of hope for eternity, and less than a minute to quote to someone Ephesians 2:8-9. So I ask you, are you willing to turn the world upside down for the cause of Christ?

                                                                            Stay excellent!