jueves, septiembre 20, 2007
Another season
Well, jovenes (or maybe just Grace because it seems like you are the only one who checks this blog), now Nessy is in Virginia, Ivory is in Kirkland, and Dahlia is leaving for Kirkland soon. We will each be posting about our lives this year on our respective blogs. There are links to each of our blogs on the right side of this page. And we'll be praying for you, Grace, and for the rest of the jovenes. Please pray for us also! If any of you have blogs, myspaces, livejournals, facebooks, etcetera that you'll be updating regularly this year, please let us know so we can all keep in touch. BYE, and God bless you all!
viernes, agosto 31, 2007
Anuncio!
Sunday, September 16th, is declared a jovenes-run service.
Grace, Talia, Eunice, Diana, Jacqueline, Dorian, Saira, Yvette, Gaby, Deicy, Dahlia, Ivory, Geovanna, Jennifer, Isaac, Gonzalo, Carlos, Elias, Adam, and anybody else who is willing:
you are asked to prepare a song, poem, verse, or word to share with the congregation on that day! Woohoo! Who's ready? (By the way, sorry to everybody whose names I misspelled and everybody I forgot to mention. If I forgot to write down your name, that doesn't mean you're off the hook! Muahaha!!!)
viernes, agosto 10, 2007
martes, julio 31, 2007
sábado, abril 07, 2007
Purity
“and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” –James 1:27
What is purity in the eyes of God? We can look at the word “purity” in many different ways. For example, in a relationship seminar we might end by committing to remain pure, but how deep does this commitment go? Does this level of purity simply mean that we will choose to maintain sexual purity until marriage or does it go further than this? What about kissing someone? What about guarding and protecting our hearts? What about exposing our feelings to someone before the time is right? (…not to awaken love until the time is right – Song of Songs 2:7)
The bible tells us in James 1:27 that “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” I want to focus on the last part of that verse: “and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” What is it to keep ourselves unstained by the world? It is to live a lifestyle of purity (pure and undefiled religion). But then we have to define what purity is. First of all, by nature, we are not pure. Our human nature is full of evil. This evil can be found in our movies, in our television, in our stores, on our internet, but where it all starts is in our hearts and who we choose to follow: our desires or those of God. We are sinners in a need of a Savior, and can only be made pure by committing ourselves to Christ.
Job was a man that wanted to live a pure and undefiled life. He saw that he was a sinner and nothing without God. This realization led him to make this commitment: “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust upon a young woman.” (Job 31:1 NLT) This is a commitment of purity. It is a commitment of guarding and protecting what we let our eyes see (through television, movies, the internet, etc). Daniel was another man that knew that the human nature is evil. Therefore, out of his desire to be committed to a pure and holy God, Daniel made this commitment: “But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank;” (Daniel 1:8 NASB) Here we see purity in a different light. Daniel wanted to keep his physical body undefiled from the foods which he consumed. His focus was on God and on being obedient to God.
These are two examples of men that chose to keep themselves unstained by this world. It began with them realizing that they were sinners and needed a Savior. They chose to be obedient to God and maintain a level of purity that their world did not practice. In our world today, there is much evil; the same evil that Job and Daniel faced. Are we willing to live a high level of purity? To commit ourselves to live a pure and undefiled religion by keeping ourselves unstained by this world?
*Feel free to leave comments, questions, or thoughts about what has been posted above. Your thoughts are valuable!
What is purity in the eyes of God? We can look at the word “purity” in many different ways. For example, in a relationship seminar we might end by committing to remain pure, but how deep does this commitment go? Does this level of purity simply mean that we will choose to maintain sexual purity until marriage or does it go further than this? What about kissing someone? What about guarding and protecting our hearts? What about exposing our feelings to someone before the time is right? (…not to awaken love until the time is right – Song of Songs 2:7)
The bible tells us in James 1:27 that “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” I want to focus on the last part of that verse: “and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” What is it to keep ourselves unstained by the world? It is to live a lifestyle of purity (pure and undefiled religion). But then we have to define what purity is. First of all, by nature, we are not pure. Our human nature is full of evil. This evil can be found in our movies, in our television, in our stores, on our internet, but where it all starts is in our hearts and who we choose to follow: our desires or those of God. We are sinners in a need of a Savior, and can only be made pure by committing ourselves to Christ.
Job was a man that wanted to live a pure and undefiled life. He saw that he was a sinner and nothing without God. This realization led him to make this commitment: “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust upon a young woman.” (Job 31:1 NLT) This is a commitment of purity. It is a commitment of guarding and protecting what we let our eyes see (through television, movies, the internet, etc). Daniel was another man that knew that the human nature is evil. Therefore, out of his desire to be committed to a pure and holy God, Daniel made this commitment: “But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank;” (Daniel 1:8 NASB) Here we see purity in a different light. Daniel wanted to keep his physical body undefiled from the foods which he consumed. His focus was on God and on being obedient to God.
These are two examples of men that chose to keep themselves unstained by this world. It began with them realizing that they were sinners and needed a Savior. They chose to be obedient to God and maintain a level of purity that their world did not practice. In our world today, there is much evil; the same evil that Job and Daniel faced. Are we willing to live a high level of purity? To commit ourselves to live a pure and undefiled religion by keeping ourselves unstained by this world?
*Feel free to leave comments, questions, or thoughts about what has been posted above. Your thoughts are valuable!
jueves, marzo 29, 2007
Wills
And shall I pray Thee change Thy will, my Father,
Until it be according to mine?
But, no, Lord, no, that never shall be, rather
I pray Thee blend my human will with Thine
~Amy Carmichael
sábado, marzo 03, 2007
Prayer
"Do not have your concert first, and then tune your instrument afterwards. Begin the day with the Word of God and prayer, and get first of all into harmony with Him.” -- Hudson Taylor
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