I saw this video several months ago on youtube. I went back to find it tonight because I needed to see it again.
As I said in a recent post, I suffer from depression. I often feel so alone when this depression comes into my life. This skit serves as a reminder to me that I am not alone. That Jesus’ heart breaks when I am depressed and don’t reach out to him. He never leaves me.
I know this is a small blog post, but just felt the need to share this. God Bless!
Now that I have a following, I am a bit afraid to open myself up to this topic: Mental Illness. I feel I must today because it is laying on my heart heavily and I feel I need to be transparent to my readers so they can see my person-hood, my vulnerability.
I suffer from mental illness. I have bipolar disorder (schizo-affective disorder to be specific). I also suffer from daily panic attacks. I take prescribed medication. There, I said it. Hopefully my vulnerability didn’t scare you off. I often struggle with wanting to please people and keep this hidden (a sin I am very well aware of-wanting to please man).
The question that always makes me wonder, though, is what does my Father in heaven think of my mental illness and what does his word say about it? Often, my illness leads me into sin. This is not to say that I am using it as an excuse, but more a reason and I try very hard to be self aware and correcting in my behavior. This not only helps me grow as a person, but as a Christian.
The Bible says, in 2 Timothy 1:7, “For I have not given you a spirit of fear, but of one of love and sound mind.”
I often repeat this to myself on my tough days because I often do not view myself as having a sound mind. I wonder, sometimes, why does God say I have a “sound mind”, when medically speaking, I do not? I have yet to answer that question or find the answer to that question, completely, but I know when I reach out to him, he gives me the sound mind I am looking for in the moment.
I wonder, and honestly sometimes even feel anger at God. Why does he choose not to heal me from it? I know God has a plan for me. I know he does; this is written deep in my soul. I just have to cling to the knowledge of this and know that HE IS and He knows what he is doing.
The good thing is, God knows my heart. He knows my struggles and He is always there to comfort me. His word says so.
Psalm 34:17-20
When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.
I have been suffering from a bout of depression as of late. I have called out to God and the Son and I have felt their presence. I will continue to do so.
I often wonder where my liking of purses and my Love of God has a balance in my life. Does my being a “bag hag” take away from my closeness with God or is it innocent? Does it make me materialistic? I think the answers can always be found in prayer and in the Bible (of course!).
In Proverbs 31:30 it states, “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord should be praised
What does this mean exactly?
Since materialism is defined as the preoccupation of material things, rather than things or an intellectual or spiritual nature, I guess it would depend on how far I take my love of purses. Do I obtain my purses in morally wrong ways or skip out on opportunities God has for me to obtain them? In other words, would I spend my money I should be tithing on a purse? Why am I buying a purse? Is it to simply compliment attire I have or is it something deeper, like a “need” for material things?
What does my outward beauty portray to the world? Is it that I am a loving, kind, God fearing person or is it that I am about labels and that I may be unapproachable?
I think when deciding if our outward beauty is pleasing to God, we need to look at our motives behind it. Are we trying to please the world? Do I chase after beauty because I think it will fulfill me? No amount of beauty will ever fulfill a person, because God has designed us to not be fulfilled by anything but HIM. If I am chasing after purses and outward beauty as a way to find fulfillment, I will be sorely disappointed.
I need to keep in mind that my Father in heaven loves me for who I am, not the way I look or what newest fashions I have. I will never look more beautiful in his eyes no matter what I wear. It is almost always about motivation as to what is sinful and what is not. I have to look at my own heart. Am I do this because I am trying to be beautiful and gain the world’s approval? (I see nothing wrong with wanting to “fit in” as long as that is not your number one concern in life on this earth)
As with anything you are questioning if it is sinful in nature, ask God and read his word.
Remember:
1 Peter 3:3-4 “…Your unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit is great in God’s sight”
I often struggle to step out for God. It can be so scary to do things that are maybe out of our personal element or comfort zone. I make up all kinds of excuses why what God wants me to do will not work. I say “I don’t have the money.” “I don’t have the time.” “God couldn’t possibly want me to do that.” and on and on. The bottom line though, is God would not be asking me to do it if he didn’t have a plan. He wouldn’t be asking me to do it if he wasn’t going to help provide a way to do it, either by placing people in my life to help me do it or provide the resources. I need to start praying to God to give me the strength to be Obedient. Our holy father asks us to be obedient.
My church, River of Life, has really started to open my eyes to the desires of my Father in heaven for my obedience. I wanted to share a video from my church, featuring my new friend, Shannon. She bravely talks about this kind of obedience.
What has God been asking you to do that you are making excuses for? I know I have a whole list I need to work on.
Blessings!
You can follow River Of Life on facebook, here https://www.facebook.com/rolmt
I always hated my freckles. I used to actually pray they would disappear! As an adult, I have actually learned to like them. They keep me young looking and add character to my face.
I have them everywhere! You can even see them through my tattoos!
No one in my immediate family has as many freckles as me and I am the only one with blue eyes.
I used to look in the mirror and hate what I see. Don’t get me wrong, I still have ..”UGH! I am sooooo ugly!” days, but I am learning that God made me with a plan in mind and he made me so perfect in HIS eyes and that is quite a compliment if you ask me!
Psalm 139:14
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
So, I will continue to try to not look for my flaws in the mirror as I see them and start to try looking at myself the way God sees me.
I have started this journey on modesty beginning with my head-cover. But in doing so, I have wondered what did Paul mean when he said that women should not adorn themselves with jewels or braided hair?
Are Christian women to look plain and not enhance our outer beauty? What if our husband prefers it or even likes it when we wear makeup or jewelry?
First Timothy 2:9-10 tells us, “I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.”
Does that mean we are to wear potato sacks and never wear anything of beauty and no make up? (Oh boy am I in trouble! I love my perfectly filled in eyebrows and wild makeup styles!)
I don’t believe that is what he was talking about. I believe he was talking about reminding ourselves the REASONS we do these things. Do we do them to entice men (not our husband of course..we want to entice him!) or draw too much attention to ourselves?Do we have low self esteem and so we dress up to make ourselves feel better (not entirely bad, but if your image is all you have..welllll)
Peter reminds us (1 Peter 3:3-5) that our INNER beauty should be at the forefront.
Today, I am making a promise to myself to nurture and pamper that inner me 
I have been asked that a few times haha
Mostly online, but I thought I would explain anyway
I wear a headcover for spiritual reasons. I am a Christian.
HUH?!
Yes, I am a Christian who headcovers.
There are a few reasons I do this. First and foremost, I do it to please God and be obidient to his desires for me.
I am a submissive wife, or as some refer to it, a “Biblical Submissive”. The wearing of the head-cover symbolizes my submission to my Husband and to God.
I came across doing this because I had been struggling with staying submissive the way I was desiring to do so. I was making snappy comments towards my husband, nagging, protesting and being nasty towards him. I was not showing him reverence, I was being a hard to deal with person all in the name of protest. I feel my behavior was unwarranted as my husband treats me well and I believe God calls me to submit to my husband and let him be the leader in our home.
So I started praying.I prayed that God would show me a way to keep a reminder to be submissive. He led me to 1 Corinthians 11:2 where it talks about women covering.
“On Covering the Head in Worship
2 I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you. 3 But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man,[a] and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. 5 But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved. 6 For if a woman does not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head.
7 A man ought not to cover his head,[b] since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. 8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; 9 neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10 It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own[c] head, because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12 For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.
13 Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, 15 but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. 16 If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God. “
Since the bible also says “Pray without ceasing” and I do pray during the day often, I figure I should be prepared 
Now, I do not think every woman should cover. I do not think I am better than another because I do. What I do know is this: Each of us has a personal relationship with our Father in Heaven and in my relationship, he asked me to cover, to teach me obedience and to have a physical reminder to be submissive to my Husband.
You may be wondering, “But that verse talks about hair, not a physical cloth, doesn’t it?”
For some women, yes, but again, for me, I do believe God has asked me to cover.
If you have any questions,feel free to leave them in the comments, but I ask that you be respectful
Here are some pictures of me with “that thing” on my head
If you are a Christian woman on facebook, I have made a facebook page that is a spin-off of this blog!
Please “Like” the page
Click HERE instead of on picture
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Saved-By-Grace/235752136509046
Hi! I'm Christine! Click my picture to hear more about me!
