The Set-Apart Life

Once again, I have read an inspiring Ludy book and want to write about it. In fact, you may be reading many of these Ludy posts in the near future, as I'm currently working my way through many of their books. This past week, I completed Authentic Beauty: The Shaping of a Set-Apart Young Woman by Leslie Ludy.

One of Eric and Leslie's main themes is living a set-apart life. That is, a life primarily set-apart for God, and also for your future spouse. They offer no form of casual, comfortable, or compromising Christianity because truly the Christian life has much more substance than that. What they offer is far from easy, but if you search Scripture, you will see that it is nothing short of what Christ Himself put forth.

What does it mean to live a life that is set-apart? I don't think there's a short, one sentence answer for this question, and to be quite honest, I'm not sure exactly how to accurately define it. It's a life all about truly knowing your Prince, not just knowing about Him. It's about cultivating a deep and intimate relationship with the Lover of your soul. It's not about fitting Jesus into your life, but building your entire life around Him, where He is at the very core of every aspect of your life. It's about creating an inner sanctuary for Him and protecting it. It's about a lifestyle that is lily white.

Creating that inner sanctuary, that place for intimacy with your Prince, can be a painful cleansing process. It means taking out a lot of trash and removing anything and everything that hinders that deep relationship with God. And sometimes, you may find it has to be done on a regular basis. All sinful habits and activities have to go. Anything that demands our time, love and attention above God and takes our focus off of Christ must be rooted out. This is part of what it means to live a life set-apart for God.

Yes, cultivating a more intimate relationship with our Prince can be difficult and it takes time (I'm speaking from experience), but it is so worth it. Take adequate time on a daily basis to spend in the Word and in prayer. Take delight in Him by maintaining a quiet heart and a spirit of worship, communing with God even while accomplishing your everyday tasks. You don't have to limit your relationship with God to your quiet time in the morning.

This life is also about being set apart for your future husband. As young women, it is so easy to be consumed with being noticed by the opposite sex and it's easy to strive for that attention we long for. But God has a much greater plan for our lives, and if we give Him the pen, He will write a love story far beyond what we could ever dream.

Part of His amazing plan for our lives is keeping ourselves for our future spouse and that means so much more than the simple "save-sex-for-marriage" mentality that many Christians put forth. It means keeping our hearts, minds, emotions, and body for the man you marry. It means living a life that honours him, even if you haven't even met him yet. And yes, this is often very hard to do, but it will save us a lot of pain and heartache and make it so much more beautiful in the end.

For me, one of the most difficult aspects of this is maintaining pure thoughts. It's so easy to allow ourselves to entertain fantasies that may seem perfectly harmless, especially since nobody has to know that they're there. (I'm also almost certain that if there was one aspect of your life that you were most afraid of being exposed, it would be your thought life.) It's easy to leave unchecked, but it is something we must strive to keep pure. When temptations or impure thoughts come to mind, we must choose to shut them out immediately. Even in this, we can do a lot to honour our future spouses.

Even if you haven't kept yourself pure, or maybe you have suffered from sexual abuse, know that God is forgiving and can bring healing to your life. He can take your broken life, your shattered heart and create something beautiful out of it. He can give you a fresh, lily white start and you too can experience a beautiful God-written love story.

If you haven't read Authentic Beauty, I would strongly encourage you to do so. I would however, advise caution with younger girls (as Leslie also does in her introduction) because of a lot of mature content and details. I have the updated and expanded edition, which is really great because it includes a "Studying Manhood" portion by Eric where he talks about the making of Warrior Poets and it is fantastic! I would also recommend Leslie's book Set-Apart Femininity, which I have previously read.

My desire is that you too would be challenged to be a set-apart young woman and live for the glory of the Lord.

Cultivating Your Prayer Life

So I'm finally here to put up a real post, if you can call it that. My life has been a little bittersweet lately, filled with many joys, but it has also been laced with sorrows and difficulties. But even so, I can say it has certainly been strengthening my prayer life. I'm going to attempt to put some of my recent thoughts into something coherent.

Strengthening your prayer life is one of those things that just isn't easy. But then again a lot of things really worth having aren't easy to get. Sometimes the best things in life require the most fighting and prayer is one of them. It often takes time and a lot of effort; there is no easy formula to a stronger prayer life. I discovered this when I read Eric and Leslie Ludy's book Wrestling Prayer: A Passionate Communion with God. There is no easy 5 step formula. It takes work but it's something worth fighting for.

There are times in life when there are things on my heart that I can't bring to anybody else. There are griefs and burdens that I can't handle on my own and I can only turn to God in prayer. He knows and even when words cannot express what I'm feeling, He's listening. In the past, whenever difficulty would come my way, I would first turn to a friend. In trials, I always wanted to confide in my friends often before I even went before God. Now I don't do that easily anymore, but have rather pleaded with God in prayer and have found Him to be faithful all the time. No matter what happens, I can trust Him and be completely honest with Him.

As I recently read through the Gospels, one of the things I noticed was how Jesus went up to the mountain to pray. It's interesting to see that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, spent so much time in prayer. Often at the end of a long day serving and teaching others, He would go up to the mountain to pray. Why the mountain? Was it simply because there was nowhere else to go? Was that the only place where people would leave Him alone? (If you have any thoughts on this, please share them with me.) Whatever the case was, He spent an incredible amount of time communing with the Father and I have a feeling there were many nights where He got little to no sleep. Even the last night of His life before He was crucified He spent agonizing in prayer.

Another aspect of prayer that I have been learning is boldness. Hebrews 4:16 tells us to "come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Philippians 4:6 says "in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." The scary part though about exercising boldness is that God answers and sometimes I'm not ready when He does.

Prayer is also often difficult because sometimes when God answers it hurts. This is especially true if you pray for God's cleansing in your life. His goal is to make us more like Christ and the purification process can often get very painful.

But overall, I have come to discover that prayer and a passionate communion with God is something worth fighting for. What compels a man to do anything to win the heart of and be with the woman he loves? What compels a man to sell everything he has to purchase one pearl of great price? What compelled Christ to come and suffer and die for mankind? Because in the end, each man knows that the price is more than worth it.

God bless!

Cadia Magazine

This isn't a real post, but some awesome info. Cadia Magazine is releasing their first issue in a few weeks and I'm excited about it. If you haven't heard of Cadia, it's an online magazine for Christian girls put together by Christian girls, sent directly to your email. It will be featuring some great stuff, including a Leslie Ludy interview in the May/June issue. I encourage all you girls to check it out and subscribe. It will be a blessing to your Christian life.

(I know my blogging has been lagging behind again. Please bear with me.)

Distracted by God

This past week, I have been reminded once again about what really matters in life. As many of us grieved the loss of a young man, I have been unable to focus well on the tasks around me. I'm distracted by thoughts of a grieving family and the same prayers of comfort and peace again and again. I'm thankful for God who cares, who's arms are always open and ready to hold those who are hurting.

I sit down with a book, but my mind is somewhere else and I absorb little that I read. I pace around as I listen to soft music thinking and praying. I whisper comforting lyrics to myself and as a prayer to those who are hurting. I'm unable to concentrate on the work I have to do but rather find myself confused and unsure of what to do next. I wonder "What if it had happened to me, had been my brother?" My only word for how I feel is distracted.

An interesting thought came to me this morning. Distracted by God. This life has us distracted by so many things that we have very few moments in our day where we allow ourselves to focus on God, and even then, we're distracted by something else. What if we took just half our time that we generally spend focusing on other things and focused on God instead, spending time in prayer and communion with Him? How different wouldn't our lives be if we were rather distracted by God?

I've been reminded again of Clayton McDonald who went home to be with the Lord a year ago after being diagnosed with leukemia for the fourth time. His message is one that inspires, challenges and makes me cry every time I listen to it. If you haven't heard of him, I would strongly encourage to watch these videos:

Clayton McDonald

Clayton's Story

Look to God in times of trial. He gives strength to go on and comfort for the hurting.

Blessed Spring Life

Life during this month has been nothing short of interesting. It has been full of joyful delight and anticipation. However, it has also been accompanied by a cold/cough that doesn't want to go away and concerns about life. It seems to be much in tune with the weather; some days we enjoy radiant, warm sunshine while others bring to us cold winds and rain.

My life could at present be described as an array of loose puzzle pieces, waiting to be fit together into a beautiful masterpiece. (I feel that God does want to make a beautiful masterpiece of my life.) They just seem to be having a difficult time finding each other.

I'm excited about getting some more hours at my job. I'm looking forward to doing some extra stuff on the side, like improving my writing skills and hopefully planting some flowers and a vegetable garden soon. I'm excited about the prospect of being able to get out more, cleaning up the yard, going for walks, taking out my bike and just enjoying new life. Along with all that, a car has also been on my mind a lot lately and I've been looking around at many different possibilities. All in its own good time, I suppose.

As for my bookshelf, I've been able to enjoy some more reading lately. Last week, I read Wrestling Prayer by Eric and Leslie Ludy. If you feel as I do, strengthening your devotional and prayer life can be very difficult. This book is a great help to get motivated and serious about your prayer life. It takes time and work, but in the end I believe I will be able to say it's more than worth it and I will eagerly long for more. If you don't know about Eric and Leslie Ludy, I strongly encourage you to check them out here. I'm really blessed by their books and teaching. If you desire more in your Christian life than you currently have, they can help you grab a hold of it.

I'm also finishing up Life on the Edge: A Young Adult's Guide to a Meaningful Life by Dr. James Dobson. After that comes Alex and Brett Harris' newest book Start Here. I try to balance spiritual growth and fiction to get more variety, so I also started reading The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, which, believe it or not, I have never read before. And if you haven't noticed, I keep a book list on the side here which I regularly add to as I read stuff. If you have questions about anything, please just drop a comment.

I often can't help but wonder what will be next in my life, but I can only take it one day at a time and seek wisdom from God. I have to faithfully do the work I have in front of me and seek to make an impact right where I am.

Often as a young person, I'm filled with dreams of changing the world and making a difference. But you don't have to go to a different country or start some huge movement or anything to do that, although it's wonderful if you can. Sometimes, it's in the little things right where you are. Often just an encouraging word or smile can go a long way. My eyes were opened to this awhile ago when I watched the movie A Greater Yes, which tells the story of Amy Newhouse, also something I recommend. It will challenge you to reach out to those around you and make a difference right where you are. And yes, it's Rebelutionary.

These are just a few of the things on my mind lately. I hope that the things I write will be a blessing and encourage you in your walk with the Lord. Blessings!

Kitchen Inspiration

If you're somebody who cooks a lot, you may very well know that often you're in terrible need of some inspiration. Sometimes you just get stuck. Even flipping through cookbooks doesn't help. So, today I will introduce you to something new. It's a wonderful website called Tammy'sRecipes.com.

What I really like about this site is the way recipes are organized and the fact that there are pictures, ratings and reviews of everything, and there's new items being added regularly. It also features a blog where she shares kitchen tips, menu planning, fun she has in the kitchen with her children and much more. I've been able to try some recipes and have been very pleased with a lot the results. It's definitely worth checking out.

I do apologize for my lack of blogging lately. I hope to get some more in depth posts up soon. Until then, God bless!

Being God's Watchmen

As I've been reading through Ezekiel, I see a recurring theme that shows what we as Christians are called to do. That is, to be a watchman, as Ezekiel was called to be a watchman for Israel. God speaks on this matter in both Ezekiel 3:16-21 and again in Ezekiel 33:1-9. Ezekiel was supposed to speak God's words to the people and warn the wicked of their iniquity. If he failed to warn them and they died in their iniquity, their blood was upon him. If he warned them and they continued in their iniquity and died in it, his soul was delivered.

So Ezekiel was the watchman for Israel. He would stand guard and give warning if there was danger. If he failed to do his job, the consequences were great.

How seriously do we as Christians take our jobs? Are we being watchmen for God? Are we warning people of their sin and sharing the Gospel with them? If we had the responsibility Ezekiel did and our failure came with the same consequences, how many deaths would we be responsible for?

I won't lie about it. I have a very difficult time sharing the Gospel with people. I lack the courage to approach people and speak to them of the condition of their souls. But if I took God seriously, I would have much more work to do.

In Ezekiel 34, God speaks against the shepherds of Israel. The shepherds fed themselves well, but they failed to feed to sheep. They weren't doing their jobs. Here's what God says in verses 4-6:

"The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them."

Would God have to say the same thing about us? Jesus commanded us to do the very things these shepherds failed to do, to strengthen the weak, heal the sick and seek out the lost. Very often however, we turn away. Or how often do we look down condemningly on others, even other Christians? We often exercise harshness more than gentleness and as a result many people are scattered and have become food for the wild beasts of the world.

Because the shepherds of Israel didn't seek out the lost sheep, God said He would do it and He established a covenant of peace. In Ezekiel 34:31 He said "And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord GOD."

Are you being God's watchman?

Stand for Truth

The last few weeks have caused me to do a lot of thinking and a lot of praying about my life. I'm experiencing the Lord's cleansing in my life, and although it's a painful process, I know it's one that will result in growth. It has also caused me to look forward and pray that the Lord would give me a work to do, to have a meaningful life, that I would be able to make a difference with my life.

Yesterday, I heard yet again, a much needed message in my church. It showed me once again how far morality in our society has fallen. It's being overrun by the idea of "moral relativism" that says there is no absolute truth, nothing is black and white but rather gray, there's no real right or wrong, and people have to be tolerant of everything. It seeks to destroy all standards and the scary part is, the church is largely be sucked in by this deception.

We once lived in a society where leaders had a faith in God and upheld good moral principles. We once lived in a society that respected the sanctity of marriage and life. We once lived in a society where love was a choice and an action, not merely an emotion. We once lived in a society where men would boldly stand up for what was good and right and stand against evil.

What has it come to? We live in a land where homosexuality is accepted and the sanctity of marriage and the family has been destroyed. Babies are being killed everyday by the thousands. Men can boldly stand up and strategically plan and carry out great evil, despite the consequences, but are too cowardly to stand up for what is good, right and true for fear their reputation may be tainted. And sadly, many of us Christians are those cowards.

It has reminded me of a few books I would strongly recommend:
The Bravehearted Gospel by Eric Ludy
In His Steps by Charles Sheldon
Unfashionable: Making a Difference in the World by Being Different by Tullian Tchividjian

I am currently in the middle of reading In His Steps and it has challenged me to evaluate my Christian life. I have found myself to be very weak. How far am I willing to go? What am I willing to sacrifice? Am I willing to live in absolute obedience, no matter what the cost? These are difficult questions to answer but to be answered they must.

I'm very thankful for God's faithfulness and I know these are steps toward maturity in Christ. I know that He will provide the strength to stand up. May He ignite a passion in every one of us to live radical lives for the glory of God.

True Beauty

Last week I had the privilege of reading Leslie Ludy's newest book, The Lost Art of True Beauty. As I started, I thought I was digging into a book for single girls on beauty, but what I actually had on my hands was a book about so many aspects of life that I think many girls and women could benefit from.

As a young women, it's so easy to lose focus. It takes literally no effort; it just happens. My eyes have been reopened to this by reading this book. As a young woman, we are called to reflect the glory and beauty of our Lord Jesus but it's so easy to be distracted by the things of this world and our personal desires.

In our modern world, we hear more about feminism than femininity. We are bombarded with messages about our looks, body and sex appeal but we rarely hear messages about a pure, sweet, godly and feminine beauty. Leslie brings us back to this in her book The Lost Art of True Beauty. She shows us what this means and how to live it out. It's truly a breath of fresh air.

A concept that is really promoted by our culture and the modern church is self-esteem, self-worth and feeling good about and serving yourself. Pamper yourself. You deserve it. The problem with this is the focus is on self and that's not in line with the Word of God. We are actually called to deny ourselves and pour ourselves out in love and service to the Lord and others. It not about us and our selfish desires. It's all about Him.

Social grace and etiquette are key to displaying true beauty. Leslie gets right down to good manners and intelligent conversation skills, something we lack far more often than we realize. She also speaks of being socially sensitive. Instead of being manipulative or controlling in social settings, reach out to those who are lonely or left out and treat guy friends with respect.

One thing I greatly appreciated about this book is that Leslie emphasizes balance and cautions against extremes. While she tells girls not to obsess over their looks and flaunt their bodies, she shows us that we don't have to dress in a drab, completely unfashionable manner either. She encourages readers to dress in a modest, feminine, classy, elegant and dignified manner. She provides great tips and advice concerning clothing, hair, makeup, posture and the way you carry yourself. This makes the book practical.

Leslie goes into so many different things, I couldn't possibly cover them all. She even covers homemaking and hospitality, providing again great practical tips. There's so much stuff that not only single girls, but married women would benefit from as well.

This is a Rebelutionary, do hard things kind of book that I would highly recommend to all girls. Also, check out the author on her website, SetApartGirl.com. May you also be blessed as I have been blessed.

Judgment for Christians

I've thought about doing a post on this subject for awhile. However, I knew I would risk some negative feedback as to my idea of what judgment for Christians will be, or rather, not be. I'm now ready to take that risk and put into words what I've been thinking through for quite some time now. I don't generally dig into doctrinal issues but this is something that's been on my mind for far too long. I'm aware that I may still be wrong. I can't push aside that possibility, but I would rather err on this side then the one I've been on for so long.

Over the past years, I've adopted a really dreadful idea of judgment. I can't point exactly to where it comes from because it certainly has come from a variety of sources. I also know that I'm not the only one with the wrong conception because I've heard other Christians speak of it the same way.

I had this idea that when I died, I would come before God and be judged for everything I had ever done. I would have to hang my head in shame and weep as every wicked thought and deed was exposed for all to know. Instead of being excited for Christ's return, it's something that I've actually often really feared, simply because of this dreadful judgment. And after all that scum and muck is revealed, I probably wouldn't even want to enter into heaven. That sounds pretty bad, doesn't it?

Now, I'm sure many people have scripture to back their idea of what judgment will be for Christians, but after thinking, studying and really grieving over this matter for awhile, I've come to the conclusion that the above idea is false. If the above idea were to be true, then Christ died in vain and I'm not really forgiven. If that's true, then all of what we believe about salvation and what Christ accomplished on the cross is just one big falsehood. We have been offered nothing more than a temporary or false pardoning only to give us the assurance of eternal life.

Why is that? Because God says so many times in His Word that our sins are forgiven, He doesn't remember them, they are as far as the east if from the west, cast to the bottom of the ocean, washed away, blotted out. If the above idea of judgment for Christians is true, then all these statements in the Bible must not be true.

Think of it this way. Say somebody has wronged or offended you. They have humbly asked for your forgiveness which you have graciously extended to them and you move on with life. At the end of his life though, you sit down across from him and say "Now let's get this straight!" at which point you begin to list off all his offenses and wrongdoings after which you say "Go in peace!"

No, no, no! That would be absolutely absurd! You don't forgive somebody and then one day pull out a huge long list of all their sins! That's why I must conclude that according to scripture and my idea of who God is and what He has done, and even just plain reason, I will not have to shamefully stand before Him one day as everything is exposed for all to see.

Now, in that I'm not saying that coming before God is any small thing. I think we may just fall down on our faces in reverence, awe, and fear of our God, Creator, Lord, Saviour and King. I don't know exactly what will happen when we come before throne of God, but I want to be able to approach in joy, not in dreadful fear. I don't want to dread the return of Christ, but rather rejoice in it. I don't want to go before Him as a judge, but as my Redeemer and Friend.

The truth is, we're going to a wedding, the marriage supper of the Lamb and Jesus Christ is eagerly awaiting the day when the Father tells Him to go and collect His bride. And I can say I'm looking forward to the day when I can see the face of God!