for the girls...

hi ladies! i've had this on my heart for a while and GUYS, if you're reading this feel free to add words of encouragement. this isnt about self praise, this isnt about being sexist, its not about controversy. this thread is something i've had on my heart fora little while now. it just so happens that 11:30pm midweek is the first opportunity i have in a long time to make this into reality, and im not going to let the time whisk away on disclaimers. Girls, women of God, you need to know just how valuable you are in the eyes of God. this single post is titled: "the principles woman"The Principles woman knows what time it is, and she understands exactly what she deserves. She knows who she is in the eyes of God and understands her worth. She is firmly committed to not living beneath her privelage. She sees herself seated in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6) with a rich inheritance. She will not allow herself to be mishandled by anyone. Her position is not something she proclaims but everything about her actions and the way she carries herself says it. This woman understands that her price is far above rubies. She knows that she is a valuable jewel. She has got it going on in every way. Her head is togetehr, her heart is together, her spirit is together, and she has developed and is actively using her gifts. she is a person who draws others to her because she ahs somehting that everyone wants, she has a certain joy that shines out of her life, that comes from being comfortable with whom she is. A Principals Woman knows the promises of God concerning her and keeps them close to ehr heart. She will not settle for anything less than God's best for herself and whenever opposition comes her way, she lets god fight her battles.A Principals Woman is a well-kept lady. She keeps herself reserved for those things that are deserving of her attention. She does not get distracted or caught up in things that are not udifying or uplifting to her and those in her world. She keeps her affections closely guarded. She understands she must keep her heart with all diligence.A Principals Woman sours above negativity and other peoples trivial opinions. She knows where she is going and what she wants. in addition, she does not land until she sees her destination and gets clearance from God.A Principals Woman is quite comfortable flying solo: she knows she is never really alone. She only wants a rightly qualified co-pilot to fill the seat beside her...

I was in the US Navy, and this is just further evidence as to why so many shipmates who sailed WESTPACs found Aussie wives!You go, girl...Of course, the official reason was that Oz men treated them so badly that a US sailor appeared as Cortez to them. :-P Great stuff, thx!

i'll be posting more for encouragement even as it says in Ephesians 4:29: "do not let any unwholesome talk coem out of your mouths, only what is good for building others up that it may benefit those who listen"and i find, as i look to put that into practise in every area of my life, God gives me revelations through which this this verse resounds. i also strongly suggest that there be a real thread for the good encouragement of the men of this site, that they have a thread to hear what they are to God and what God's adoring eyes see in them. also, you know that story of jesus' where he taks about people bidding the person in 'lack of.....' a blessing but infact do nothing to even give God an avenue to work through, like, saying to a starving man, oh i pray you get fed, but withholding from him bread when you're in the position to give... the same principal here i believe when we allow God to minister to broken and hurting men and women but telling them what God sees in them, not what God despises in them. because at the root of every human heart eternity is written, and we all long for that love that only God can give us, only, th rest of us who deny that, are just a bit to calloused to feel so. so, through this thread i pray God blesses you. but like i said, its been on my heart for a little while now. ok...Lots of Love. and God Bless you! -Arbustum

[font=Courier]Amen![/font] [font=Courier]Well Done [/font][font=Courier]You have put it into words.[/font][font=Courier]Glory to God in the Highest![/font][font=Courier]ellie[/font] :-) :-) :-D :-P

Hello dear sisters,my name is Mary and i have been a passive participant on this site for I guess, quite a while now, content to listen and learn; occasionally adding something, but I am not really a writer -- anyway, this has disquieted my spirit and I have to say that I must disagree strongly on this point you are trying to make,arbustum. I believe that your intentions are great, wonderful even for the edification of all of the sisters- but I believe you are mistaken on the correctness of your doctrine.Let us consider the verses of 1 Corinthians 1:27-28:27”but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, “the despised things? Yes, we are seated in the heavenly places- yes, we are LOVED by the Lord, yes, we are chosen and we are worth MUCH in the eyes of the Lord! Praise His holy name for that! But, dear sister, we are to have a humble and a contrite spirit Psalm 51:17 tells us that:"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise" Oh praise the Lord to have a humble heart before the Lord.Thomas A Kempis put it so beautifully when he wrote his book called "The Imitation of Christ""God hast chosen the poor and humble and the despised of this world for Thyself(1 Cor. 1:27,28)for Thy familiar friends and household. Witnesses are Thy apostles, and yet they lived in the world without complaint (1 Thess. 2:10). so humble and simple, without all malice and deceit, that they even rejoiced to suffer reproaches for Thy name (Acts 5:41) and what the world abhors, they embraced with great affection."Also,....."....That he would as willingly be the least, as another would wish to be the greatest. And he would be as peaceable and contented in the last place as in the first; as willing to be a despised castaway, of no name or great report, as to be preferred in honor before others, and to be greater in the world than they. For Thy will and the love of Thy honor ought to surpass all things, and to comfort him more, and please him better, than all the benefits which he either has received or can receive."Yes, like I said, a lot of these things that were said in the article are true, but we really need to look at them in a different light- looking towards the Glory of our precious Lord and not our own. Let us always remember that the Lord Himself is our inheritance and our desperate need to keep our eyes on the Lord and not on ourselves and our ownwants and desires. Yes, we women of God know exactly where we are going- to be with our Lord in Heaven- but let us always keep in mind that 17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. (Psalm 51:17)I'm sorry, but this article seems very disjointed-this woman lets the Lord fight her battles, but she has got "it goin' on?" Was our Lord cut of that prideful cloth? I don't believe He was. It makes sense, but it doesn't- some things are precious and true but then it turns almost satanic in nature! I don't want to offend you arbustum, but this is really hard to read each time I go back to it. Our Lord Jesus was humble and meek- we can't forget the Beatitudes and that they are our rules for living- I mean, don't we want to be blessed? Let's wake up to reality and stop living this "I've got it goin' on sister" mentality. I really would suggest reading the book "the Imitation of Christ" by Thomas A Kempis and also read the autobiography of Jeanne Guyon a 17th century French woman. (now there is a role model!) But most of all, I would meditate on the blessed Example of Jesus. How did He live? how did His disciples live- we must never let pride sneak in and ruin us.May the Lord bless each of you dear sisters,Mary

i love people.

this next excerpt is taken out of a book called:"the transformation of the inner man" by john and paula sandford.this book provides the basic curriculum used in Elijah house ministries all over the world. i have been reading this book over the last few days and the things said in this book within 14 pages so far have provided so much revelation and biblical soundness that the quote i'll type in here has the potential to change your life forever. so, if you're going to base your response on opinion, instead of council, then i suggest you read on, because this will change your perspective if and when you let it. im not trying to prove any points, or win any kudos, im most definately not trying to embarrass people in their walk with God. and if you feel threaterned like that then i suggest you read this book because it will free you up from the confines of your human limits. and if you didnt understand what i just ment there, ask. a pm is just one click away! and thanks ellie. you're beautiful. we all need to realise that God loves us enough to want to try to ease us of the sinful nature, goodness, atleast God's driven out of love to do something about it and by golly did he! did you stop to think about that? we repulse him... but when your kids walk onto the new persian rug that cost you a couple of grand covered head to toe in mud your first instinct is to want them to GET OFF THE RUG AND INTO THE BATH TO CLEAN UP! hey, kids are terrors sometimes, but we're God's kids. be thankful he's willing to clean us up again and again instead of turning around and saying: "oh why bother, they're only going to get dirty again anyway" so back to the quote in this book... ok... "sanctification is not a process of removing each spot of corrupt practices until the whole nature shines as something beautiful (as i had thought). Far from knowing ourselves to be perfectly formed, we know ourselves to be perfectly corrupted and have come to rest about that in Jesus...the result of such comprehension of total depravity is that His nature overshines and glories through all our brokenness. Jesus became not only the perfect sacrifice for our sins. he bacame like us in every respect.(Hebrews 2:17). He took on himself our nature (Hebrews 2:14-16). since the fall of adam and eve, sin is our very nature. That is what jesus became and what he died for. His was not merely a physical death on the cross. Having become our sin, in all that He was, he died in all that he was -heart, mind, soul, and body. It is from that fullness of death that Jesus raises us to be new creatures. (2 Corinthians 5:17)Nevertheless, a danger remains: we may forget that underneath the shiny, new paint of jesus, the rust of our own corruption waits to reassert itself if we turn away from Him. We would like to feel after all that we are pretty good people. To be sure, we did some awful things. But Jesus paid the price for that, and now we can be the 'good guys' God created us to be. Not that way, folks! You can't peel it off and get down to the good. the whole thing got corrupted, and now it's 'leave it there, and put on Him' (Colossians 3) That is how we have the new nature, by wearing it."they raise and interesting point dont they.ever read Ephesians 6:10-18 and decided you really desperately wanted to put it into practise... yeah we wear our salvation every day, and we represent it when we step out and associate with Jesus and are associated with Jesus. but being brutally honest with yourself, and this is a serious and harsh revelation that keeps coming to me from time to time... forget being ashamed of knowing the father, do you lead a life that makes the father dissapointed to know you represent him? how well to you really want to strive to get closer to him? what are your motives... if that comes as a conviction, then, so be it/Amen. what they've written in this book ties in with asking for things from God and praying itself, it ties in with the armor of God and spiritual warfare, it ties in with salvation and humanity's hope. goodness, it even ties in with our emotions. the next time i post one of these it should be based on the difference between opinion and council.hey i love you girls cos you're God's girls, you're my sisters and you're a blessing! ellie i love your precious broken heart. you're such a gem a priceless princess. God's heart melts with love for you from the moment you set your head on the pillow and rest to the sheer joy in his heart when he sees you wake, to the tears he cries when you cry your heart out, to the ecstatic pleasure of seeing you laugh and smile and delight in life, ohh he loves you! and then as you settle down after finishing in his provision-blessed day in your life, he smiles out of love for you. he cant wait for you to really do life in true freedom. the freedom that comes from the restoration only he can give. so take it and chew that cud, because he wants you to get a full on revelation of his thoughts for you which vastly outnumber the grains of sand on the entire earth, all that in a fleeting second. this is the God that made perfect the things which last seconds, so how much more elaborate and precious to God do you think you are!love yas lots.Arbustum (vineyard with many trees)

i just want to bless you girls with one last thing and its a letter titled "handpicked" and it really melts your heart as it re-phrases bible verses into a piece that sounds like God were giving you his opinion of you...HANDPICKEDI made her... She is different. She's unique. With love i formed her in her mother's womb; i fashioned her with grreat joy! i remember with pleasure the day i created her. (psalm 139:13-15)I love her smile. i love her ways. i love to hear her laugh and the silly things she says and does. she gives me great pleasure, this is how i made her...(psalm 139:17)I made her pretty, not beautiful, because i knew here heart and i knew she would be in vain. i wanted her to search out her heart, and learn that it would be me in her that would make her beautiful... and it would be i who would draw her friends to her. (1 Peter 3:1-5)I made her in such a way that she would need me. i made her a little more lonesome than she'd like to be... only becuase i needed her to learn and depend on me... I know her heart... i know if i had not made her like this she would go ehr chosen way and forget me... her creator. (Psalm 62:5-8)i have given her many good and happy things because i love her (psalm 84:11, Romans 8:23)Because i love her, i have seen her heart broken, and tears she has cried alone, i cried with her, and had a broken heart too (psalm 56:8)Many times she has stumbled and fallen alone, only becuase she would not hold my hand. So many lessons she has learnt the hard way becuase she would not listen to my voice... (Isaiah 53:6)So many tiems i have set back and watched her go her merry way alone, only to watch her return to my arms sad and broken (isaiah 62:6) And now she is mine again!... I made her and i bought her... becuase i love her (Romans 5:8)I have to reshape and remould her... to renew her to what i planned for her to be... it has not been easy for her or for me... (jeremiah 29:11)I want her to be conformed to MY image...THIS HIGH GOAL I HAVE SET FOR HER BECAUSE I LOVE HER. (2 Cornthians 2:14)

*Edit below*I don't have time to go into it this morning, but may I humbly say that it is not about us, it's about HIM. We don't need anymore self esteem boosters, we need God-esteem boosters. Mary is right, there is alot that rings true in these writings, but just enough self centeredness and humanism to make it go awry.Yes, it is nice to know that we are loved and special- that should be obvious by the fact that Jesus humbled Himself to become like one of us, died for us and that we are still standing and breathing on this earth- even though we fall short every single day- that is love. We don't need more reminders that we are special, we need more reminders that God is EVERYTHING and we are but nothing. Yet, He has chosen to look on us with compassion. Awesome!I don't want to sound like I think I know it all. I do not. But I do know that I used to believe that I needed to read/hear this kind of self-esteem encouragement. It worked for awhile, it made me feel better temporarily, but it never changed my heart for good. It didn't help me to become less so that He could be ALL in me. If we want lasting change (whether it be emotioanlly, spiritually, etc....) then we need to decrease and He needs to increase in us. It is HIM we want people to see, not a pumped up, smiling version of us."Humility is the sense of entire nothingness, which comes when we see how truly God is ALL..." -Andrew Murray (Humility)"Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls." -Jesus (Mat.11:29)May the Lord's ways and words find their way into our hearts. May we become less of us and more of Him.In Him, Chaninedit: I do appreciate the fact that you are trying to encourage the ladies. please don't get me wrong about this. It is a wonderful thing to encourage. :)

a while ago someone gave me a copy of something called: I am a "Kept" woman. I'd like to share it here and I hope I am not posting on the wrong thread... forgive me if I am...I Am a "Kept" Woman (King James Version)You see, there were a few times when I thought I would lose my mind, but God kept me sane. Isaiah 26:33Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.There were times when I thought I could go no longer, but the Lord kept me moving. Genesis 28:1515And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.At times, I've wanted to lash out at those whom I felt had done me wrong, but the Lord kept my mouth shut. Psalm 131How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? 2How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? 3Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; 4Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved. 5But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. 6I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.Some times, I think the money just isn't enough, but God has helped me to keep the lights on, the water on, the car paid, the house paid, etc... Matthew 6:25-3425Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.When I thought I would fall, He kept me up.When I thought I was weak, He kept me strong! 1 Peter 5:77Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Matthew 11:28-3028Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.I could go on and on and on, but I'm sure you hear me!Praise the Lord and pass the filet mignon!!I'm blessed to be "KEPT"Are you... or do you know a "kept" woman?Thank you arbustum for this thread... you are a blessing!

I thought this quote is useful as well:Jesus said, 'I have come to give you life, life to the full'...Paul had a full life: stonings, rejection, betrayal, persecution....(Ray Comfort)Another issue he and Kirk Cameron bring up in their Way of the Master series, the gospel of "God's wonderful plan" falls into disrepair when placed under situations like: "If you were to speak to the workers in the World Trade Center about Christ on the Sept. 10, 2001 (just before 9/11), would you tell them 'God has a wonderful plan for your life?'"We need to follow Christ's example of using the law to address sin (Matt.5:17-48), and then cry out with Him and all the prophets(Jer. 25:4,5) , "Repent, or you shall likewise perish" (Luke 13:3)Yes, we have hope and promises, but let us not forget that the whole purpose of us being here is the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19, 20)Just thought I'd present another angle. God bless all of you.

Three words: Corrie Ten Boom

She has got it going on in every way. Her head is togetehr,Except for once a month when she goes stark raving bonkers!

Here is something encouraging for girls/women whether younger or older : Leslie Ludy's "Authentic Beauty". It's not only a wonderful book, but also a wonderful website.www.authenticgirl.comHer and her husband Eric have written "When Dreams Come True", "When God Writes Your Love Story", "When God Writes Your LIFE Story" (excellent!), His book for men: "God's Gift to Women" is so needed today for this generation!!!!!A few things on her site that are wonderful: her downloads on "Inner Sanctuary", her writings on a God Scripted Life, on Self-pity, etc...By the way, they have a site together called: www.whenGodwrites.com - where the guys can also find the same downloads called "Preparing for Covenant".edit: woops, i think it is www.ericandleslie.com. whenGodwrites.com doesn't work for me anymore.Both of the Preparing for Covenant and Inner Sanctuary are the same and are meant to clean out years of residue from "self's" rule.This is a couple who God has purposed for this next generation- to introduce purity, Godliness and surrender into young people's lives.In Him, Chanin