Continue in Prayer

Hello.  My name is Natasha Marie. Every once in a great while, I post here.

I believe when last I posted, I promised a 2nd part to my Hidden in My Heart post...which was in last July.

*cringe*

I am still planning on sharing that someday (really! I am:) but for now...

 

This morning's devotion in Morning and Evening (by Charles H. Spurgeon) seemed written just for me.

Here's a short excerpt...

"If thou be a child of God, thou wilt seek thy Father's face, and live in thy Father's love.  Pray that this year thou mayst be holy, humble, zealous, and patient; have closer communion with Christ, and enter oftener into the banqueting-house of His love.  Pray that thou mayst be an example and a blessing unto others, and that thou mayst live more to the glory of thy Master.  The motto for this year must be, "Continue in prayer."

It tied in so perfectly to my goal for this year!  Don't you just love it when that happens?

Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;

Walk in wisdom towards them that are without, redeeming the time.

Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

Colossians 4: 2,5 & 6

I do take this for my motto.

Do your Siblings Know You Love Them?

Brother, or Lover?

How do you view guys? Do you see them as a Brother (in Christ) or a Lover?
It's an easy thing to slip into doing the second one, as seeing each guy around our age, a potential 'lover'.
I want us to be honest with ourselves, even when it's painful. Let us ask ourselves this question, and give ourselves a true answer. You don't have to share it with anyone else, besides God, of course, but it's important to know where your motives come from.
When we're walking through a store, and we see a guy that we think is not so bad looking, do we see him as someone we could 'have a crush on' or a brother in Christ?
I, just like the next gal, don't always catch myself to think of every guy as a brother in Christ. And that's where it needs to start. We need to first see every man as a brother in Christ, and if God desires something more to become of it, than it will, but we are then comforted with the knowledge that he was first our brother in Christ, and we held no impure notions about him.
By our own will we cannot just switch our thinking. It's not going to happen just like *that*. It is going to have to come from the Lord. Our strength comes from the Lord, and this is also considered a strength we need, in my opinion.
Today we treat our emotions, and feelings toward the opposite sex as if they are nothing, really. They don't matter that much, do they? But they do. This is a area we need to be daily praying about and for. We need to hand over the key to our King, and let Him guard our hearts and emotions how He desires to. It isn't up to us alone. But through Jesus Christ our King. He will take care of us, and steer our thoughts to Him, if we let Him. And it will be something that we have to work on too, because Satan wants our minds pulled away from the Lord. But "You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." which is found in Isaiah :)
Next time you look at a guy, ask God to let you see him how the Lord sees him. Let's surrender all to God, and count it gain.

Just to inform you...

I realize I haven't posted like I said I would be doing, but don't worry! I am getting a post ready, that I should hopefully have posted in a day or two!
God's blessing be upon you!

There's a new site, you might want to check out...

Hello gals!
A reader of this blog, has asked the LOV writers to share about a site that she and her friend have started, by the Lord's prompting. The link is:
http://unfadingelegance.blogspot.com/

I checked it out myself, and it looks like a very nice and helpful site! I encourage, and ask you all to just take a minute and stop by! Thank you :)

Don't Walk Away

In this life, this spiritual battle, we mustn't and indeed cannot walk away. The Lord calls us to be holy servants to Him, to live a life fully devoted to Him. And if we are to do that, we can't walk away when the going gets tough. But, as I've found out, it's easy to walk away without even realizing it. In fact, 'walking away' can simply mean, not giving God all our focus - not all our time. I'll admit, I 'walked away' recently. Something or someone [ =)] was getting a lot of my time, focus, and thoughts. I fear that this something or someone was taking more importance in my life. I had to repent for it. I had to get down on my knees and ask for His forgiveness. Every time we fall, God is always right there to pick us up again. What a wonderful, and grace-filled God He is! Satan has really been pulling at me lately - as well as some close acquaintance. But God can pull even harder if we let Him. Don't walk away from Him, try with all your might to stay on track. Even when the evil one whispers many lovely-sounding things in your ear.
Pray for that holy armour of God. He will grant it to us, His children.

I Apologize...

Hello girls :)
I'm very sorry for the lack of posts on here of late! I haven't had much spare time to write anything, and therefore the blog is not very up-to-date on posts.
But I will try to get some more things written to post very soon, and hopefully, God-willing LOV will be 'back to normal' so-to-speak :)
May God bless your day!

Devotion

Why are we here, but to serve You? Yes, to serve You with our whole heart joyfully. Unto You, not unto men, I serve You, O God, my fortress. Let me never be ashamed.

Take a moment today, and devote yourself to the Lord. Give Him your time, and your full devotion. You won't regret it!

God bless your day!

Proverbs

This following bit is from my 'prayer' journal, that God gave me one day. I hope it blesses you!


"Whoever hides hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool." --Proverbs 10:18

Proverbs is such a wise book, filled with wise things.
I'm reading through Proverbs at the moment, and this verse stuck out to me. Lets first discuss the first part. Whoever hides hatred has lying lips. Satan has us over look this verse and it's meaning. e all know hatred is a horrid thing, but we still hide it, thinking that if no one knows our hatred about something, it can't be as bad. So without thinking, we often hide our hatred. But this is just as horrid in God's eyes. We need to completely do away with hatred, so that there is no hidden hatred either. Daily we have to relinquish any hard-feelings/hatred we might be holding. Give it to Him, and turn away from the sin.
I know hatred is a strong word, and so maybe we don't think we hold all that much hatred. But any form of bitterness and/or anger is the beginning of hatred. I know that I personally need to work on giving it up to God, for He is the only One who can take it.
Now, to the second part. Whoever spreads slander is a fool.
This part also convicted me. Slander is the same as gossip. That means we are all fools. I know I gossip from time to time. Thinking about it sickens me. How many letters have I, and others spread gossip in? How much of our conversations are filled with slandering? Too many. If it is abominable to the Lord, it should be abominable to me too. I need to come to despise gossip and slander as He does, so I don't fall prey to it. And of course I'll need to give it to God daily, as well. We're human, and have a sinful nature. But with God's help - with God's everything, not just help - we can stand against the devil and his deceitful ways.
Stop waiting for something to change, and help God fight this war.

"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed to good confession in the presence of many witnesses." -- 1 Timothy 6:12

weekend worship::I'm With You

 

weekend worship:: in the valley

Hidden in My Heart {Part 1}

            Accurately memorizing verses, chapters, and even whole books of the Bible, is how God’s Word becomes hidden in our hearts.  Why should we hide His Word in our hearts?  That we may be better witnesses, able to wield the Sword of the Lord with skill.

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.  Psalm 119:11

            How wonderful it is to have a verse pop into your head when you’re about to give into temptation.  If you have a specific problem in one area of your life, than memorizing a verse that is applicable to that problem will really help you to resist temptation.

Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.   Psalm 119:133 

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:   2 Timothy 3:16 

            Everyone has a different way of studying and memorizing verses.  I have found that saying it out loud is the best way for me.  Putting a verse to music is also an excellent way to memorize the Bible.  My mom used to do that with my brother and I.  We’d pick a verse to memorize, and then come up with a happy little tune to go with it.  It was fun, and we learned the verse much faster than we normally would have.

Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.   Titus 2:15 

I encourage you to pick a verse, a chapter, or even a whole book, and memorize it.  A good place to start might be one of the gospels, or perhaps one of the Psalms, or one of Paul’s letters, like Titus.  Don’t be discouraged if it seems hard at first, or if it seems like you’ll never be able to memorize an entire book.  The more you exercise your brain, the easier it will be to memorize long passages of scripture.

In Part 2 of Hidden in My Heart, we'll take a look at how to use our Sword when under spiritual attack.

Giveaway!

     The great part about this giveaway is that you are all winners!

Yep! You read it right!

May we introduce to you a free book:

 NO LONGER A SLUMDOG

by K.P.Yohannan

from the back of the book:

Asia’s Children Tell Their Stories in No Longer a Slumdog

“He would lock me in a small room with the animals. Days turned into weeks, and my stomach would growl. He never gave me enough to eat,” said Nadish. “Weeks turned into months, and my body would ache. The work was hard, and there was never enough time to rest. Months turned into years, and I began to think that this would never end.”

 But through a miraculous event, Nadish found his way back into the loving embrace of his mother. Dr. K.P. Yohannan’s newest book, No Longer a Slumdog, unveils the true-life accounts of many of South Asia’s children, like Nadish. The message hits hard. He speaks of “winds of change” and a powerful move of God.

The children’s stories tell of going from a life of heartache and poverty to finding joy, laughter and a bright future. Despite the affliction these children face, Yohannan shows us there’s opportunity for change as many find new life in God‘s redeeming love.

No Longer a Slumdog inspires faith that a better tomorrow is truly possible.

This is a book that every American should read! Spend a few hours in an slum town by reading this book and your life will be changed!Especially great for those who are interested in mission work!

CLICK HERE to order your free copy of No Longer A Slumdog!

(free shipping,too!)

http://www.nolongeraslumdog.org/

Do not withhold it.

"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so. Do not say to your neighbor, 'Go, and come back, and tomorrow I will give it,' when you have it with you."
  --Proverbs 3:27-28

God has given each of us the power to reach out to people and help them in whatever way the Lord directs us to do. When a brother or sister in Christ is in need of anything, whether that be food, clothing, or simply just godly fellowship and/or council, if you have it, do not withhold it from them.
If we shut the door on a neighbor, we are shutting the door on Jesus Christ Himself. He gives the power to reach out to others and help them, and so by not helping them, we are not only shutting the door on Christ, we are shunning His gift! Do not be the one to shun the gift. But be the one to accept and share.
You could do a world of good, if you only accept.

Pretty Feet --- Guest Post by Schlyer

The ladies in my family like to keep their toenails polished and maintained. All of my friends do too. We paint our toenails all the colors of the rainbow. I grew up painting my great grandmothers toenails and to this very day when I see her they are always polished. It is not just my family and friends. America likes pretty feet. Watching commercials will further prove this. We have the Ped-Egg which removes dry skin and Dr.Scholl's has a variety of gel pads to take pressure off of the feet and prevent corns and bunions. We have a 20 billion-dollar a year manicure/nail care industry in the United States. The Bible describes beautiful feet to us in Romans 10:

"14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!"

For our feet to be truly beautiful in God's eyes we have to spread the good news and tell others about Him. In Biblical times, lots of traveling was done by foot and many of Jesus' disciples' feet were likely to be cracked, split, and have an array of other issues. In God's eyes their feet would look a whole lot better than many of our "polished piggies" right now because they constantly made their feet into tools for spreading His word. Use today to take the first step (no pun intended) towards making your feet a little more beautiful and share God's word with someone.

--Schy

http://southernschy.blogspot.com/

weekend worship::Father's love letter

The Hairbrush-Beth Moore

when you are feeling discontent...

^She knows nothing else. Not even that Jesus loves her.^



weekend worship::the gospel

"While the World is Mortal."

A few weeks ago, as I was praying, the Lord strung a few verses together, little pieces, and this is how it came out:

"Take your eyes from looking at worthless things, and keep your eyes and mind on things above, not on things earthly. For above is the prize and here on earth is the race.
Set aside the sins and traps that so easily ensnare us, for we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses. Let us not tarry and fall short of the prize. For the prize indeed is eternal, while the world is mortal."

Sisters, please, let us keep our mind focused on the prize! Let us run this race on earth with all endurance, looking forward to that Day!
Don't tire from the race. For it is a race set before us by our heavenly Father. If He designed for us to run this race, then we must run it with all joy and dedication. Jesus Christ is running right along side us. Is this not cause for joy enough? Remember why we are here: to the glory of God. Share His word, His love, give Him the glory forever and ever. Amen.