A friend of mine gave me permission to share a wonderful story about her experience with God’s provision, and that’s going to be the topic of this post.
Before we dive into the story, meditate for a moment on Philippians 4:19, keeping in mind that this verse isn’t merely a feel-good, fuzzy phrase. It’s a promise from a powerful Almighty God that wants you to have His best. For the sake of the story and privacy, we will name my friend Zee. Zee had just moved to her new home in another state, and she was already having a rough time in other spots in her life. To make things worse, her car broke down while out and about. As she would put it, she fussed and yelled at God for allowing these things to happen, but then something incredible happened; She was still for a moment, and seemed to hear the voice of God in the wind and trees. That still, small voice; isn’t that neat? Zee stopped and realized that she needed to trust God instead of fussing and complaining, so she continued to listen. God Himself came to her that day and spoke to her through the wind and trees, “Would I leave you with nothing? You have two milk jugs full of water in the back of your car, and it will be more than enough for your radiator until you can find a car shop.” So you see, when you stop and trust in God, He will help you. He will do as He promised. Go back to Philippians 4:19 and put yourself into that equation. He said He’d supply all YOUR needs. He’s concerned about YOU. The God of the universe cares about YOU. He could provide for His tens of thousands of angels, and not pay attention to the lowly humans on earth, but He loves you. But also pay attention again; it says that He will supply your NEEDS; not what you THINK you need. Zee must have thought she wanted a new car, but that’s not what she NEEDED. God provided her with the water she needed for the radiator until she could get the car fixed. I hope this was a blessing to someone today. As always, feel free to share any of my posts, and leave comments or suggestions!
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Every young lady deserves to look and feel good, but not everyone is able to pull off a smokey eye and a bold lip. So I am here to give you three tips on maintaining a beautiful, flawless face without all the hassle of modern beauty tricks of the trade.
1) Drink water. I know it's cliche` but seriously, listen to me. Water is so good for you and your skin. Water should be the first thing you reach for in the mornings before that Starbucks latte or the Keurig pod. Not only does it keep you "regular", but it also keeps you hydrated and it just all around gives you a good mood boost, especially if you're not a morning person. Note: If you don't like the taste of plain water, you can make fruit-infused water or get a water flavor tube at the store. 2) Moisturize. Even if you are oily or acne-prone, you still need to moisturize. A lot of that oil is dehydrating your skin, and stripping it of the essentials. Acne is also a sign of dehydration in some cases. Get a moisturizer suited for your skin type and you'll never go wrong. It's a bonus if you find one with SPF. 3) Go "au naturale". Alright, so maybe you do want to wear makeup, but you don't want to spend two hours blending a foundation; I get it. But there are other alternatives. Tinted moisturizers are great because they are sheer and have skincare benefits. Sometimes you can find a good tinted SPF (which by the way is extremely important). The drugstore and convenience stores always have basic palettes for the eyes, and all you need is a pretty nude shade for your lips and you're good to go. If you can't splurge on a blush, just pinch your cheeks and you'll have a natural color to your cheeks. If you have any other tips you'd like to share, feel free to leave them down below. As always, please share on social media and tell someone about SGAB! Until next time! Patricia (Blog Author) I am excited to bring you something brand new to the blog. The series will be called "Tough Questions". I will post biblical answers and principles as these questions come along.
The series that I started on the 7 I Ams of Jesus has been cancelled as of now, but it will be back soon. Now on to the study. People often ask me “When someone gets saved, why doesn’t God just take them to heaven right then and there?”, or phrased similarly. If we read the Bible, we see that the Christian life isn’t just about kneeling at an altar and saying the sinner’s prayer; God has a bigger plan in mind. Reference – John 17:14-19 If we back up and look at the context of John 17, we see that Jesus is dividing His prayers into categories. Verses 1-5 show that Jesus was asking the Father to help Him be a loyal example to His followers. Jesus first prays for Himself, and then he moves on to pray for the disciples themselves. The first reason that the Bible gives for today’s tough question, is that God wants us to be a peculiar people. He wants us to glorify Him in the midst of a terrible world. Just recently, a tragedy occurred in one of England’s major cities, and many Christians came together to help these people. What are they doing? They are glorifying the Father. They are fulfilling the plan that God laid out from the very beginning. The second reason is revealed to us in today’s Scripture highlighted above. When we are saved, God wants us to tell as many people as we can about Him, and to share the gospel with the world. What a terrible God He would be if he would have taken us to heaven one by one, without allowing us to tell our friends and families about the love of Jesus. Verse 18 closes us out with the first mention of the Great Commission. Jesus was sending out His followers soon, and He wanted them to be prepared. How can we apply this to modern times? How can we try to apply what we’ve learned today? We can start by asking God to help us be the role model for a lost and dying world. We can look for opportunities to glorify Him, and we can simply share the gospel. Even a smile makes all the difference in the world. God bless you, and until next time…love everyone. Patricia (Blog Author) Please feel free to share any of my blog posts and tell your friends about it! I would love to hear your thoughts! I'd also like to make a shout-out to the new member of the SGAB team. She is going to be my editor and proofreader, so thank you to Vivian for helping me out! “Remember who you are. Don’t compromise for anyone, for any reason. You are a child of the Almighty God. Live that truth.” –Lysa Terkeurst
Sometimes when we hear beauticians and makeup artist use beauty jargon, we get a little lost. Trust me, I've been there. Below is a wonderful article in the form of a slideshow that gives some great examples of what some of those terms mean, and how you can apply it to your regular beauty routine.
8 Terms And Definitions In The Beauty Industry I hope you can find some of these helpful! - Patricia (blog author) The book of Romans is a treasure trove of practical living for Christians. In chapter 12, it not only applies to how we treat our fellow Christians, but we can see that Paul is trying to get through to us that how we treat an ungodly generation is extremely important.
Reference: Romans 12:9-21 Take a look at verse 16. Paul reminds us that humility is key. Nobody likes a proud, boastful church-goer. They don't like someone that threatens to beat them upside the head with a four pound Bible. Sometimes we have to get down to their level; yep, sometimes God will tell us to sit in that ditch with the drunk. Sometimes He will tell us to talk to the prostitute on the side of the road. But that seems controversial to the rest of the Word doesn't it? Not really. We can associate with these people without being involved with their lifestyle. That's how we get through to them. God hates pride, and a holier-than-thou attitude is a big no-no. Verses 17 and 19 go hand in hand. If you see that an unbelieving world is seemingly treating you differently, and abusing you, don't try to go out of your way and get revenge. Don't try to tell them they'll regret it on judgment day. Our Scripture says to let go and let God. I know it's a cliche` statement, but it's biblical. God says that vengeance is His, and His alone. 18 and 20 is where we start to get a little more practical. Ever heard of the phrase "kill 'em with kindness"? How we live and act in front of an unsaved person says a lot about our faith. Why would anyone want to be a part of a church full of selfish, prideful, and arrogant members? Verses 9-15 tell us how to treat these people and how to love them. Give what's necessary, including to the saints. If that means letting go of your pew for a family of five, you better do it. Stop being lazy. The KJV says to not be slothful. That's some pretty strong language, and God means it! It's important that we do it as unto the Lord. Paul closes out with verse 21. Too many Christians overwhelm themselves with bad news and the latest church scandals. Too many of them are focused on the evil in this world. It says to not be overcome with evil. Do not let the devil get any credit. Don't focus on what he's doing. Keep your eyes on God. "...overcome evil with good." If you ever find yourself doing the exact opposite of what God is telling you to do, pray and ask God to forgive you, and to give you the strength to do what needs to be done. The only rulebook you go by is His Word. Until next time... Patricia (Blog Author) In the gospels, Jesus commands us to be perfect, just as God Himself is perfect. But many times we fail to remember that perfect means to be complete. It doesn't always mean that we'll get everything right or not sin. Today's post is my humorous perspective on trying to be a perfect Christian, but still has a serious lesson to learn.
1) I fall asleep when I pray at night. I've come across many Christians that do the same thing. When I do my evening prayers (usually laying in bed), I end up drifting off to sleep and never finish my petition to God for a job within a 5 mile radius. But hey, what better way to fall asleep than to talk to the Shepherd? It's much more appealing than counting sheep anyways. 2) I procrastinate on Bible study. What would you rather do; get up for your daily coffee or spend fifteen minutes reading a passage in the book of Jeremiah? If you're telling the truth, you'd probably go for the coffee, and trust me, I do too. But what if we could take that cup of coffee and enjoy a refreshing word from the book of Psalms? 3) I get frustrated with people that don't want to hear the gospel. Seriously, have you ever come across someone so stubborn and hard-set in their worldly ways? Sometimes I just want to beat them upside the head with a five pound Bible, but that's not the Christian way. I pray for them, unless I fall asleep. 4) My mind wanders during a church service. While a business meeting is taking place, my mind often drifts to the Sunday evening meal, or what needs to be done Monday morning. I've caught myself making to-do lists! I have to remind myself to make those lists on Saturday nights, so I have more time to focus on what the preacher says the next day. 5) I feel like taking on a Saturday, but Sunday mornings, forget it. How is it that we have enough energy to go run millions of errands on a Saturday, but the moment the alarm rings on Sunday morning, we press snooze three times, fight with the family to get ready, and we spill coffee all over the freshly cleaned floor? Anger-inducing just thinking about it! So what are your Christian flops that you encounter? Have you done any of the above? We all go through storms. Some of us more intense than others, but it's inevitable. But the Bible gives us six principles in knowing how to deal with the storms that come our way.
The Scripture is in Mark 4:35-41. The first thing that we need to recognize is that Jesus is in the ship with you. These verses tell us that Jesus said "let US pass", meaning you're not alone in this. Jesus has not left us helpless or hopeless. As I said earlier, storms of life are inevitable. Jesus Himself in the book of John said "in this world you will have trouble..." I think of the waves in verse 37 as the battles we go through. These waves can symbolize fear, doubt, anxiety, depression, and even other things like poor finances or bad health. In verse 38, there is a powerful lesson to be learned here. Sometimes we do question God's motivates. I've seen the greatest and most faithful Christians in my life question "why me God?". Doesn't He care? - My children are out of line - I can't pay my bills - The anxiety is getting worse - The doctor had a bad report Now we get to the good part. Remember earlier when Jesus said that we would most certainly have trouble? Well, the next part of that verse says that He has overcome the world. We have to remember, in verse 39, that Jesus has power over ALL things. He's waiting on you to call upon Him. Another lesson is to be learned in verse 40. Sometimes God will rebuke our lack of faith. We put our faith in government, spouses, and doctors, but why not God? Verse 41 closes it out for us. We just need to recognize that God is in charge. No matter what comes our way, Jesus can step out of our ship of life and say to our hearts, "Peace, be still". |
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