A Christian Woman's Beauty Regime

An elderly woman, with a beautiful complextion, was asked what kind of cosmetic she used. Replying, she offered this prescription: "I use truth for my lips; for my voice, prayer. For my eyes I use pity;for my hands, charity. For my figure I use uprightness and for my heart love. This perscription can be filled without expense, and the supply will be increased with continued use."

Heaven's Grocery Store

Here is a poem that was in Florence Boulevard Church of Christ's Bulletin, and since women are the ones who usually do the grocery shopping I thought it was pretty relevant.

-Linzee

Heaven's Grocery Store.

I was walking down life's highway a long time ago.

One day I saw a sign that read, "Heaven's Grocery Store".

As I got a little closer the door came open wide.

and when I came to myself I was standing inside.

I saw a host of Angels, they were standing everywhere.

One handed me a blanked and said, "My Child shop with care".

Everything a Christian needs is in that grocery store,

and all you can't carry, come back the next day for more.

First, I got some Patience,Love was in the same row.

Further down was Understanding, needed everywhere you go.

I got a box or two of Wisdom, a bag or two of Faith,

I just couldn't miss the Holy Ghost, it was all over the place.

I stopped to get some Strength and Courage to help me run this

race,but then my blanket was getting full, and I remembered I

needed Grace.I didn't forget Salvation, which like the others was

free,so I tried to get enough of that to save both you and me.

Then I started to the counter to pay my grocery bill,

for I thought I had everything to do my master's will.

As I went up the aisle, I saw Prayer and had to put it in.

for I knew when I stepped outside, I would run right into sin.

Peace and Joy were plentiful, they were on the last shelf.

Song and Praises were hanging near, so i just helped myself.

Then I said to the Angel, "How much do I owe?"

The Angel smiled and said, "Just take them everywhere you go."

Again, I politely asked "How much do I really owe?"

The Angel smiled again and said, "My Child, Jesus Paid Your Bill

A Long Time Ago."

BE A REBEL!!

What is a rebel??? Dictionary.com defines the word rebel to be a person who resists any authority, control, or tradition. Well, we have a lot of those in today's day and age don't we?!? People who refuse to fall into the definition of "normal" and "orderly." But when most of us think of a rebel we think of a teenager who runs away from home, or some huge pop star who says certain things that just should not be said on the radio, television, or just plain anywhere. And although those people are Rebels in their own sinful way, our friend Jesus was too a rebel when He was alive. When Jesus began his ministry, He was the scandal of that day and age. Everything that the Jews had been taught was being thrown in their face and their world was becoming topsy-turvy. In that day and age, the Jews looked to the Pharisees and Sadducees for spiritual guidance. But when Jesus came along, he not only shunned the outrageous practices of the Pharisees and Sadducees, but he taught new and different things to the Jews. All their life Jews were taught "an eye for an eye", but Jesus taught them to forgive and forget. (Matthew 5:38)The men had been taught to treat their women like property, but Jesus made women a man's equal. (Ephesians 5:33)The Jews were taught to stay away from Gentiles and sinners, but Jesus befriended them and ministered to them.(John 4) Jews were instructed to rest on the Sabbath day, but Jesus healed the sick. (Matt. 12: 9-14) Jesus didn't do what society thought was right at the time. He rebelled against the socials graces and only did His Father's will. I would say that Jesus was the ultimate rebel. He was a rebel for God. Because of His rebellion, you and I can be saved from our sins. Because of His rebellion, you and I have a hope of one day joining Him in heaven. But having said all of that, we too can be rebellious for God and our Savior Jesus Christ. How can we do that?!? Well the choice is really up to you. But fitting in is not an option. A rebel never fits in. Show people that Christ lives in you. Be a servant to others, spread the gospel, stand up for what is right, forgive others, talk to someone you wouldn't regularly talk to. But never fit in with the world. (2 Cor. 6:14) Be a rebel.

-Linzee

Sisters in Christ.

This past week I have been thinking about friends. Especially our girlfriends. I truly believe that our sisters in Christ will help us in our daily walk. We will experience sorrow, pain, joy, and laughter,but with Christian friends and God on our sides there will be no reason in the world to worry about today, tomorrow, or the feature. Keep your friends close.

-Linzee

Sister's (of the Kingdom)

Our friendships build a fortress;

a haven for our souls...

we share our trials and triumphs,

our hopes, our dreams, our goals.

We are "sisters" for the Kingdom

blessed with God’s eternal light...

determined to walk straighter,

loving Him, with all our might.

We serve Him with conviction,

striving hard to be our best...

as we rise to every challenge,

we welcome every test.

We are women of tomorrow

we are "sisters" of today...

we stand in faith together

knowing "God will make a way".

-unknown

DORCAS

The featured lady that I want to talk about is the lovely and caring Dorcas. Dorcas lived in the city of Joppa around the Mediterranean coast. "Being a seacoast city, Joppa saw numerous husbands and fathers depart into dangers of perilous waters. Many men never returned from the sea, and they left behind bereaved and destitute widows and orphans." (woman's study Bible) It is very likely that Dorcas came into contact with these certain women and children. In Acts 9:36 it says that "This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did." And because of these good works, many people were very well acquainted with Dorcas, and knew what an honorable woman she was. But around the time that the disciples and Peter were in the region, Dorcas died. Dorcas' "grieving friends prepared her body for burial, then sent two men to the nearby city of Lydda to fetch the apostle Peter." When Peter came to the house that Dorcas' body was being prepared, her loved ones cried to Peter and showed him the tunics and garments that Dorcas made them while she was still living. Peter then ordered everyone to leave the room and then raised Dorcas from the dead. "Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows he presented her alive"(Acts 9:41). So what can we learn from Ms. Dorcas? Well, I think that one very important lesson we can learn from her is the importance of doing good works. Having faith in the Lord God is very important. But doing good works for the Lord is another way of showing God our love and devotion for him. In James 1:22 it says "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only." I recently helped out with Florence Blvd. Church of Christ's vacation bible school. And one of the many classic song we sung was "This little light of mine." And a small part of that song says, "This little, light of mine I'm going to let it shine, let it shine all the time, let it shine." As Christians, we should not only let our light shine through our faith, attitudes, prayer, and thanksgiving, but also by our actions and good works towards others. In. James 1: 27 it says "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit the orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." Ms. Dorcas obviously did just that. Her charitable, selfless deeds not only helped those who were in need, but more importantly glorified God to the highest. In Proverbs 31:20 describes a virtuous woman as "stretching out her hand to the poor and reachers out her hand to the needy." All in all we can shine our Christian "lights" out to the world by our charitable deeds and good works. Let your light shine.



http://youtu.be/CVeB7ACVgO0



-Linzee-

THE WIDOW WITH TWO MITES!!

We can take an incredible lesson from the woman who gave two mites. In Mark 12:41-44 Jesus and His disciples "sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury." As Jesus was watching He noticed the rich putting much into the treasury. But then, this poor widow woman went to give her treasury contribution and put in only two mites. When Jesus saw this woman and the contribution that she made, "He called the disciples to Himself and saying to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury;for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood."" When growing up I always heard the story of this poor widow when discussing how one's attitude should be when giving back to the church. Certainly, we should have a very selfless attitude when contributing back to the church. God has given us so much,(James 1:17) it is very important that we show thanks and gratitude when the collection plate is passed around on Sunday morning. But what other lessons can we learn from this special woman?!? Well, I think that we can apply this to our spiritual life in general. I discussed earlier in a post about never looking back to our old life of sin when we become Christians. Well, not only should we not look back, but we should give the Christian life all that we have within us. All of our time and effort should be spent glorifying God and His Son. We should be giving God and Jesus everything that we have. Whether it be our time, money, family,or our friends, we should give our ALL in doing what God wants us to do. After all, He did such an amazing thing for all of us. Also, consider the amount of faith this great woman had to have had to put in her whole livelihood and know that God was going to provide everything that she was going to need. That takes tremendous faith. This woman's love of God was great. Let's show God that He is great and loved by giving Him our ALL.

This story is also found in Luke 21:1-4

-Linzee

Mary-Mother of Jesus

What can I say about Mary that hasn't already been said?!? Well, for the past couple of months at Florence Blvd. Church of Christ we have been discussing women in the Bible as well and the subject of Mary was one that interested me the most. In the particular Bible lesson that I had, my teacher Ken McKinnon went over three major myths that some have about Mary and the Biblical evidence that tells us that those myths are certainly not true.

Mary Myth #1. Mary is the "Mother of God."
In today's day and age, there are many in this world who believe that Mary is lifted up to a God-like status, and since she gave birth to one of the three parts of the Trinity ,she is therefore the "Mother of God." They believe that since she gave birth to the Son, she acts as an intercessor for us. However, the Bible tells us completely different. In 1 Timothy 2:5-6 is tells us, "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time." Romans 8:34 says,"Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died-more than that, who was raised-who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us." All in all, Mary is not an intercessor for us, Jesus Christ is.

Mary Myth #2. Mary is the "Perpetual Virgin"
Many also believe that Mary was a "perpetual virgin." (virgin for the rest of her life). This too is also a big misconception. In Matthew 13:55-56 it says,"Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? where then did this man get all these things?" Mary did not give birth to only Jesus. Jesus had half brothers and sisters as well. It was not until 533 A.D. that the second Council of Constantinople(part VI) declared that Mary was an "ever-virgin".(perpetual virgin) The Bible most certainly contradicts such beliefs. Mary was able to and did have children with Joseph after she gave birth to Jesus.

Mary Myth #3. Mary lived sinless life.
Finally, many believe that since Mary was "God-like." That she was also a sinless being. However, Mary indeed was not sinless. In Romans 3:23 it says "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." In Galatians 3:22 it says,"But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe." As sinners today we needed Jesus to die on the cross so that we might be saved, and even Mary, Jesus mother needed Jesus in the very same way. The only person who was ever sinless on this world is Jesus Christ himself. In 1 Peter 2:22 it says "He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth." Jesus was perfect, and Mary needed His precious sacrifice just as much as the rest of us. All in all Mary was just as much of a regular person as you and I.

Now that we have busted a couple of myths about Mary, it is important to recognize the tremendous qualities that she possessed. Mary accepted God's role for her in tremendous and humbling ways, In that day and age, the pregnancy of Mary would have been the community scandal. Even though the people around her gossiped about her and scoffed her, she kept the Word of the Lord in her heart and did just as God told her to do. This takes a tremendous amount of faith. Another important aspect of Mary's, was her ability to be humble. Twice in the book of Luke it says that Mary, "kept all these things and pondered them in her heart." or she "kept all these sayings in her heart." (Luke 2:19 and Luke 2:51). Mary intently listened to Jesus and His teachings and learned from what He was saying. This takes a great amount of humility and meekness. Ultimately, Mary was obedient. She did just as God told her to do and was faithful to Jesus until the very end. Mary is definitely a woman to learn lessons from.