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.

LOT'S WIFE

The story of Lot and his disobedient wife is very much an infamous one. Sodom and Gomorrah were two wicked cities. The cities were so wicked that the Lord wished to destroy them. But Abraham reasoned with the Lord and asked him saying, "Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?" Abraham asked the Lord this because Lot, Abraham's brother, resided in the city of Sodom. The Lord then answered Abraham saying ,"If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes."But the Lord could not find fifty. Abraham then asked the Lord for the same request except only to find forty-five righteous within the city. But the Lord could not find forty-five. This downward cycle continued until Abraham asked the Lord to save the city if only ten righteous were found. But yet again, not even 10 righteous souls were found in the city. Then, two angels of the Lord came to Lot by night and instructed him to take his family out of Sodom.The two angels explained to Lot that they were instructed to destroy the two cities because of the sin that both of the cities had were exceedingly great. Early in the morning Lot took his family and left the city of Sodom. The angels of the Lord instructed Lot "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains lest you be destroyed." Lot did just as the angels instructed him to do and set off away from the two cities. But Lot's wife did not take the word of the Lord seriously. As she was traveling away from the two cities with her family, Lot's wife looked back on the city where she once lived and immediately became a pillar of salt.
How can the story of Lot's wife help us today. Well it's quite simple. Lot's wife could have been saved if only she obeyed what the Lord said. The same goes for us! The Lord tells us we can be saved ."Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."Acts 2:38. But the Lord also says that if we do not obey Him we will also be condemned. "Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Another important lesson we can get from Lot's wife is the lesson of true repentance. Lot's wife had salvation in her midst but turned and looked back at the sinful life that she was once a part of. As Christians we must be different. We must totally leave the sinful life that we had before we were baptized, and live the Christian life that Jesus sets before us. Looking back should never be an option. We must press forward to the ultimate prize, and that of course is HEAVEN.

-Linzee.

HANNAH

Hannah is personally one of my favorite women to study about in the Bible. And each time that I have read her story I learn something that I can apply to my daily walks of life. Hannah was one of the two wives of Elkanah. Unfortunately for Hannah, the Lord shut her womb and she was not able to have children. Depressed by not being able to bear a child, Hannah went to the place of worship in Shiloh and made a vow to the Lord that if He gave her a son, she would in return "give him to the Lord all the days of his life." After she prayed her honest and sincere prayer, Hannah went away and returned to Ramah with her family. The Lord remembered Hannah and her prayer, and gave her a son.Hannah named him Samuel. Soon after, Hannah did just as she told the Lord that she would do. When she returned to the place of worship in Shiloh, she gave her son to the Lord. It was there that Hannah prayed to the Lord one of the most beautiful prayers of thanksgiving and praise. (1 Samuel 2:1-10)So what do we get from Ms. Hannah? Well I think that one of the most important lessons we can get from Hannah is thankfulness. Hannah did not seem to cease to give thanks to God for the blessing of a son. She gave complete credit to where credit was most certainly due. And what can we be thankful for today?!? Well everything of course. Anyone who is reading this has been blessed beyond belief physically. However the greatest gift that we have been blessed with is the spiritual gift of his Son Jesus Christ. The gift of salvation is definately the greatest gift one could ever have. 2 Corinthians 9:15 "Thanks be to God for His incredible gift!" And it truly is incredible. Continue to be thankful, God showers us with blessings.

THE SYRO-PHOENICIAN (CANAANITE) WOMAN

Although we do not know the name of the Syro-Phoenician woman, her faith is what she is most known for. By the time Jesus made his way to the region of Tyre and Sidon, his reputation and miraculous works were well known. However, as my Women's Study Bible states, "few in Tyre and Sidon would cross cultural and religious lines to approach Jesus." The Jews of that day and age did not associate themselves with Gentiles, or Canaanites, and it certainly was not good social etiquite for a woman to approach a group of men as she did. But this particular woman broke all of the religious and social barriers. The Syro-Pheonician(Canaanite) woman met Jesus and his disciples in the street and called out to Jesus to heal her severely demon-possessed daughter. And of course being who she was, the disciples were quick to get rid of her. In my opinion, it seems that the disciples were more concerned about how this woman would effect their reputation rather than the service they could have done for her and her soul. However, Jesus knew the woman's heart and could see her great faith. This woman believed in the name and works of Jesus before seeing any miraculous works. This woman believed in Him and his might before he preached anything. This is the faith that Jesus seeks from us everyday. In Hebrews 11:1 it says "Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." The Syro-Phoenician woman believed before she had ever seen. We as Christians should have the same attitude. Another point that one can get from this is not look past the social barriers of today's day and age and look at the person's soul instead. "Red and yellow, black and white, we are precious in His sight", really does sum up how Jesus views everyone in the world. As Christians, we too should look past how people look or what they do in their spare time, and see the soul that is underneath it all. That is really what matters the most.