Today's Bible Verse

"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His contenance upon you, and give you peace."

~Numbers 6:24-26(NKJV)

Today's Bible Verse

Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His Word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who abides in Him ought himself to walk just as He walked.

~1 John 2:3-6(NKJV)

Dear readers,

I wanted to inform you all that while I'm in Indiana(this is a scheduled post!), I more than likely will not have computer access. Therefore, if you leave a comment or send me an e-mail and I do not respond to you for a week, or if you're comment doesn't show up on my blog for a week, it's not because I'm ignoring you! It's simply because I am void of internet access.

Thank you for understanding!

Before I close, I would like to ask all of you to please pray for safe travels for us.

Many blessings to you all!

Comments and E-mails

I have received MANY comments and e-mails today on the subject of homemaking, etc. I've posted and responded to as many as possible. I wanted to respond to all before I leave on my vacation early tomorrow morning, but I'm finding out that this simply isn't possible! Therefore, please understand that the reason your comments have not shown up yet/the reason I've not responded is because I've simply run out of time, with trying to respond to these, pack, clean the house, etc. etc. Thank you for understanding. I'm really very sorry for the wait, but please know that I will get to each and every one of your comments and e-mails when I get back from Indiana. Thank you so very much for your wonderful patience. :)

Many blessings,

Rebekah

Please Pray!

I just came across this heart-wrenching article on the tragedy that just struck the Stephen Curtis Chapman family.

I'm saddened beyond words, and my heart goes out to this poor family-especially the oldest son.

Please pray for this family, that the Lord would comfort them and give them the peace that passes all understanding. Thank you for praying for them! I'm sure they covet your loving prayers.

Trip Info

We will be leaving early tomorrow morning to travel up to Indiana to visit my precious great-grandparents. I'm so excited, and this family vacation is such a rich blessing every time we go on it. We will be returning on June 1st. I will be taking lots of pictures that I will post along with all the other pics that have not yet been posted.

I will be typing us some posts and will take advantage of Blogger's new feature, and will schedule them to be posted while I'm gone. Be sure to be on the lookout for those!

May you all have a blessed weekend, dear readers!

Introducing......

.......the new up and coming 6-part article series on the subject of Stay-at-Home Daughterhood!

The 6 articles you will be reading are:

1. Stay-at-Home Daughterhood: The Biblical Case

2. Why Stay-at-Home Daughterhood is So Important to God, and Why the Feminists Thus Want to Destroy it

3.Refuting the Myths: Answering the Nay-Sayers of Stay-at-Home Daughterhood

4. Dealing With Difficulties(subjects covered will be: what if my family's not supportive?, what if my family needs extra money?, etc.

5. What's a Girl to Do?(discussing how the stay-at-home daughter can fill her time to the glory of God)

6. The Top 50 Reasons Why it's Such a Blessing to be a Stay-at-Home Daughter

And possible bonus(if this series generates a lot of input and questions):

7. Answering the Questions Raised by the Doctrine of Stay-at-Home Daughterhood

I'm so excited about this new article series! It will take a lot of work, but I'm so ready for it. The first article is almost finished(I have 2 paragraphs left, and then I need to edit it), and it's been such an amazing article to write. As I set out to write it, I wasn't prepared for all the numerous Scripture passages the Lord would lead me to. It's really been a blessing to write this article and to discover just how important stay-at-home daughterhood is to the Lord. I pray that this series will be a tremendous blessing to you, and that the Lord would use it in a mighty way to change the convictions of many and to encourage stay-at-home daughters!

May the Lord richly bless you all!

~The 12 Pillars of Biblical Womanhood~

The 12 Pillars of Biblical Womanhood

by Scott Brown

1. An Image Bearer ~Genesis 1:26-27

2. A Woman Not a Man ~Genesis 2:21-23

3. A Disciple ~Deuteronomy 6:7

4. A Member of the Church ~Acts 2:49

5. A Demonstration of Unfading Beauty ~1 Peter 3:4

6. A Helpmeet ~Genesis 2:18

7. A Trustful and Submissive Wife ~Ephesians 5:22

8. A Keeper at Home ~Titus 2:5

9. A Domestic Entrepreneur ~Proverbs 31:10-31

10. A Fruitful Bearer of Children ~Genesis 1:28

11. A Teacher of the Next Generation ~Ephesians 6:1-3

12. A Godly Mentor ~Titus 2:3-5

Question and Answer Week: Response #8

I received the following question yesterday morning.

Rebekah, tell me where did the whole "stay-at-home daughter" thing come from? who introduced it to you? and can you back up this notion with scripture?

~Anonymous

Anonymous,

Hello! Thank you for your great question. Yes, I can indeed back it up with numerous Scripture passages-in fact, that's what I'm doing right now! I'm currently writing an article(the first in a 5part series on this very subject) entitled Stay-At-Home Daughterhood: A Biblical Case. It's a really long article, and I'm so excited about it! I pray that it will be a blessing to all who visit this blog.

The whole "stay-at-home daughterhood thing" came directly from the Scriptures alone. In fact, that was normative prior to radical feminism! Feminism has changed the way we all think(even Christians have been drastically changed by it, sadly), and so now, when we're presented with a Biblical doctrine we tend to kick against it and claim that that surely couldn't be found in the Scriptures anywhere. We need a HUGE change in our thinking! It's high time we stopped conforming to this sinful, God-hating world, and instead transformed our minds!

I was first introduced with the concept of stay-at-home daughterhood through a book I read at the end of 2006/beginning of 2007. I was shocked when I read this part of the book, because I'm ashamed to say, I had no idea this was taught in the Scriptures! I was very feministic in my thinking(and thus, very anti-God and anti-Scripture), and so was so unfamiliar with the Scriptures that I had no idea this sort of idea was contained there. To make sure the authors of this book were actually right and knew what they were talking about, I set out on a deep study of the Word, to "see whether these things be so." I was determined to "rightly divide the Word of truth" and to "test all things; hold fast what is good." I was simply amazed at the end of my study! I had come across even more Scripture passages supporting this idea than the authors had even referenced! I repented before the Lord for not knowing His Word, and for going against what it so clearly teaches. It is now my goal in life to teach the Scriptures(especially on the subject of Biblical daughterhood, womanhood and femininity), to refute feminism by exposing its true history and foundations, etc.

May you have a blessed day, Anonymous! Thank you again for your question, and should you have anymore, please don't hesitate to let me know!

In Christ alone,

Rebekah

Question and Answer Week: Response #7

I received the following question for Q&A Week:

1)I would like to know what your views are on women working outside the home? Do you think it is a sin?

If your answer is it is not, it is something between the Lord and the individual, I have no more questions.

On the other hand, if your answer is yes, do you on principle refuse to go to female doctors, nurses, grocery store checkout ladies, bank tellers, and the 1000 different arenas women are working in today's world?

~AnneK

Hello, AnneK! Thank you for your great question. It's funny you should ask this right now, because I was just in a lengthy debate over on another blog on this very subject! :)

I'm afraid you're going to have to wait for my full answer and all the whys behind it, because I'm currently gathering all my thoughts and Scriptures for a lengthy article on this very subject, that I will be posting here on my blog in the near future. I hope you don't mind the wait; thank you for your patience!

I'll just provide you with my short answer now, and ask that you return for the rest of it, along with the Scriptures that back me up in my upcoming article. Basically, yes, I believe that it is a sin for Christian women to not be homemakers, for they are explicitly commanded to be so, and disobeying our Lord's commands is sin. I will be answering all the arguements I get from people who disagree with me, in my upcoming article, and will also be answering the question: what about single moms and older women?

No, I do not refuse to go to female nurses, etc. One thing we have to understand is that very sadly, the majority of women in the workforce are not Christians(simply because the plain truth and sad fact is that most people are not Christians). Therefore, it's not a sin for them to be in the workforce(although they would greatly benefit from following the Lord's commands that are issued to Christians). Also, going to female doctors, etc., provides us with a great mission field! If we were to refuse to go to female doctors and other females in the workforce, we would be shunning many non-Christians who need the Good News, and we would not have the mission field that we would be blessed with if we did go to these women.

Thank you so much for your question, AnneK! If you should have anymore questions, please don't hesitate to let me know-I love answering my reader's inquiries! :)

Have a blessed day,

Rebekah Ann

Question and Answer Week: Response #6(the first 5 were posted during last time's Q&A Week)

I recently received the following question for Q&A Week:

As you may know many christian families are against romance novels for their children because they might get children thinking about marriage and romance to soon. However, tell me what's the difference between a romance novel and a Disney movie? Disney movies promote romance and marriage so does that mean that we're no longer allowed to let children watch classic Disney movies?

~Anonymous

Hi, anonymous! That's a really great question, and I'm glad you asked it.

Well, for one thing, I don't think the main reason that Christian families are against romance novels is because they get their children thinking about marriage in and of itself too fast(although that may be the case for some, because the fact is that some parents, even Christian ones, don't believe that marriage is very good or something their children should be preparing for), but rather because these books get their children thinking about the physical and emotional aspects of marriage and romance far too early. These books breed impurity and discontentment and thus should not be read by any Christians, let alone children. These kinds of books get a child thinking that his/her spouse will be perfect, and they make adult readers wish that their spouses were more like the characters in the book. This is just one of the reasons why it is highly dangerous for people to read these oftentimes filthy books.

With Disney movies it's a little different. There are some Disney movies that I'm heavily against, because they make witchcraft look cute, teach children things that are heavily contrary to Scripture, etc. But the ones we have in focus now are ones such as Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, and Sleeping Beauty. I don't tend to find anything all that wrong with these particular movies. Some may disagree with me(and if my readers are among those, I encourage you to please leave me a comment explaining why-I may be missing something ;)), but this is my own personal opinion. In fact, I think there are some very good lessons taught in the above mentioned Disney children's movies. First of all, the young ladies in each of these movies is not pining away, waiting for Prince Charming to come. Rather, she's busy about some task, whether it be serving others, learning new things, etc. This is something that many young girls today need to learn. They should be preparing for and saving themselves for their future Prince Charmings, but should not be wasting their time pining away for him. Also, marriage is praised in these movies, and is seen as a good thing. The movie Cinderella teaches us selflessness. Also, Prince Charming comes and rescues his princess. Prince Charming is seen as a strong man who is the protector of his wife-he is the one out fighting for her, protecting her from those who would desire to hurt her, etc. These are very good, Biblical teachings.

In conclusion, one of the huge differences between the romance novels and Disney movies is that in the romance novels, impurity is praised and fills every page, whereas it isn't present in the Disney movies. Romance novels teach many bad things and are worthless, whereas the specific Disney movies mention above teach many good life lessons.

Thank you again so much for your great question, Anonymous! If you ever have anymore questions, please don't hesitate to let me know-I'd be happy to answer them for you!

The Return of Question and Answer Week

A few months ago, I came up with the idea to host Question and Answer Week, where my dear readers could contact me and ask me any question(s) they wanted-on anything from my favorite food, to what I think regarding different aspects of Biblical womanhood, Biblical daughterhood and Biblical femininity, to inquiries as to homemaking tips, advice on being a faithful daughter and sibling, etc. etc. I was amazed by the huge response and outpouring of inquiries, and was so thrilled to answer each and every one of the great questions I received. It is for this reason that I'm please to announce:

The Return of Question and Answer Week!

Please e-mail me(or leave me a comment) with any questions you may have. I will answer them in interview style, and will post the questions and answers here on my blog.

So, now without further ado, start the questions coming!! :)

Many pictures coming soon!!!

I wanted to let you all know that I will be posting my long-awaited pictures soon. Pics from the Vision Forum Father/Daughter Retreat, the Puritan Family Reformation Conference, recent random family pictures, and pictures that I will take tonight at our church fellowship will all be posted very soon, so please be on the lookout for those!

Also, I'm still currently working on many articles to post on here, and I'm looking into the possibility of making podcasts! I know you all are anxious to start reading those articles, so please pray that the Lord would be gracious and would provide me with the words He wants me to say. I'm also seeking the Lord's guidance over my idea of possibly having my devotionals published! I also have a couple other ministry ideas up my sleeve, that I can't wait to share with you all very, very shortly! :)

Much will be going on here at By His Grace and For His Glory(especially with summer just around the corner), so you won't want to miss a single thing!

I must sign off for now, but before I go, I wanted to let you know that I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to e-mail me (living_for_my_Lords_glory@hotmail.com) or leave me a comment at any time! Another thing I am currently in the process of doing is answering all the many questions, comments and e-mails I've received! If you are one of the people who has sent me an e-mail/question/comment that I have not yet responded to, please be patient. You are all on my mind, and I'm striving to get to each and every e-mail and question as time permits. :)

May you all have a blessed day!

~Numbers 6:24-26

Home Safely! :)

I just wanted to quickly post, to let you all know that we're home safely from the wonderful Puritan Family Reformation Conference!! :) We were so blessed by this outstanding weekend. More info to come soon!

I have to sign off for now, as we're very busy with unpacking, finishing up school for this school year, etc., but I'll fill all of you in asap! :)

Puritan Family Reformation Conference!!!

We're really busy right now, trying to do school work, pack, and get everything situated for our mini-trip this weekend. I'm SO excited and pleased to announce that we will be attending the Puritan Family Reformation Conference this weekend, presented by Vision Forum and Scott Brown. The conference will be held from Friday, May 9th through Sunday, May 11th in Wake Forest, North Carolina. Please click the above link for more information about this great conference(also be sure to take a peak at the titles of the messages that we will be blessed with this weekend). Also, please click here to watch a video promo for the conference! I'm so excited about this conference, and feel so very, very blessed by the Lord to be able to attend it. It will be so refreshing and encouraging to be around likeminded families, and will be so wonderful to be edified and exhorted in the Word. I'm also really looking forward to learning the history of the family life of many of the puritans, such as Matthew Henry. This weekend will be such a rich blessing. I will be taking pictures that will be posted(along with photos from the father/daughter retreat and the baby shower I mentioned a couple weeks ago) this coming week.

We will be leaving early tomorrow afternoon(as soon as Daddy gets off work) to drive(for about 7 1/2 hours) to Wake Forest, North Carolina. Please pray for safe travel, that the Lord would have His hand on the conference attendees to bless them and keep them safe, that the Lord would teach us all what He wants us to learn and live out, and that we would all come away with a renewed, invigorated Biblical vision for victorious Christian family life. We will be driving back on Sunday afternoon(and will not get home until very late at night!), so please pray that we will have safe travels on the way back, as well. Thank you for your prayers, and I will let you know all about the conference when we return. :)

By the way, Blogger has a new feature that allows blog authors to write up posts that can be scheduled to be posted at a time in the future. If I have time(I'll try my hardest), I will write up a special post for you all that will be posted sometime this weekend while I'm gone, so be on the lookout for that! :)

May the Lord richly bless you this coming weekend, and may all you mothers have a blessed and joyous Mother's Day with your little blessings! :)

Daily Bible Verse

My lips shall utter praise, for You teach me Your statutes. My tongue shall speak of Your word,for all Your commandments are righteousness.

~Psalm 119:171-172(NKJV)

Please refer to the new blog schedule, so that you can know what to expect here on this blog!

1st Devotional!

I'm trying to get back on track with my blogging, while at the same time, write, edit and rewrite many, many articles for this site. Therefore, I find that it would be most convenient for me to (for the next few days) post(on devotional days) some of my old devotionals. That way, those of you that didn't get to read those when they were first posted can read them now, and doing this will provide me with much more needed time to write my long articles! :) Thank you for understanding! So, without further adeiu, I want to present to you the first ever devotional that I wrote for this blog. I pray that it blesses, convicts, edifies, and encourages you in your walk with our wonderful Lord!

Devotional #1! :)

Yay!

I don't have much time at the moment, but wanted to sign in real quick and leave you all with some updates. Praise be to the Lord-I am feeling so much better! I'm on antibiotics right now, and for the first time in a week, I'm actually enjoying more of what is actually a good night's sleep! I'm by no means completely 100% yet, but how wonderful the Lord is! I'm getting more sleep and am not dreading the time when night comes anymore, because I'm actually able to fall asleep and stay asleep longer. Due to my sinus infection and all it brings with it, I had been unable to fall asleep for about an hour, and would then only sleep about 2 hours at a time, with numerous breaks in between my sleep. It was horrible! But the Lord is so merciful, and I'm feeling a lot better. I hope to be fully fine within the next couple days.

Our second living room is still being "refurnished". More pics and updates about that soon!

I'm writing up a daily schedule for myself, where I'll actually be able to get up really early, get everything done, have plenty of time for writing for my blog, be able to dedicate much time to my education, etc. Due to my lack of schedule, I had found myself getting up around 9, drifting from this subject in my homeschooling to that subject, never really feeling like I got a whole, whole lot done, do to the fact that my blog/ministry time was almost nonexistant lately. So, I will be beginning this new schedule on Monday, and this blog will have a LOT of more time and work dedicated to it, while still allowing me to accomplish all the other tons of things I need to do in a day. :) Having this schedule will be so wonderful. I'm really excited! More info on my schedule, etc. will be coming soon!

I must get off now, but will be on either tomorrow or Saturday. And on Monday, this blog will be able to abide by the blog schedule I posted about a month or 2 ago! :)

Have a blessed night, dear readers,

Rebekah

Updates

Oh, dear readers, so much has happened lately that I've been unable to do much of anything on the computer(i.e. I haven't been able to post on my blog, views other people's blogs, etc). I've had a sinus infection for the past week resulting in headaches, etc. etc., Mama hasn't been feeling well, I've had so much school work, I'm preparing for a conference coming up at our church by coordinating different resources we'll be buying for the resource table, sending lots of e-mails to members of our church and companies we'll be purchasing resources from, etc. Also, we're(as I type) having a family from our church install laminate(hardwood look-a-like) flooring in our second living room. We had to move out all the furniture(including the computer), books, carpet, carpet padding, etc. etc. out from the room in order to prepare for today-the day the new flooring is being laid. This is what has been keeping me away from the blog. Thank you all so, so much for understanding, for asking about me, for worrying about me( but remember-the Bible says don't worry!! ;)), and for sticking by me even though it seems that I've been abandoning you this past week. I'm really looking forward to the very(Lord willing) near future when everything will get back to normal. I have SO many article and devotional ideas running in my head that I'm SO thankful to God for and so excited about. Unless the Lord wills that something else happen, I should be getting back to my normal(only more involved with many more posts) blog schedule very, very soon.

Thank you all for sticking by me and for being so interested in my blog and me even though I've been bobarded with many things lately. :)

The Lord is good and His will is good, and everything that happens is planned by Him-including this sickness, etc. :) So, I'm excited about getting everything back to normal soon, but am also excited that everything's going according to His perfect plan. :)

May the Lord richly bless you all until I post again(which should be tomorrow, Wednesday or Thursday for sure).

Just Checking In.......

No, I've not forgotten about you all, nor have I forgotten to post about the wonderful retreat. :) I've been very busy with my schoolwork and with finishing up a crocheted baby blanket I'm working on for a baby shower I'm going to tomorrow. Pictures from the retreat will probably be posted today or tomorrow; Monday at the very, very latest!! Keep on looking out for those and for my coverage of the wonderful 2008 Vision Forum Father and Daughter Descipleship Retreat! :)

Hello!

Hello, all! I just have a few minutes to check in with you all, but I wanted to let you know that we returned home safely from the retreat. It was wonderful!!!!

I'm looking forward to sharing with all of you the pictures I took, as well as sharing with you how the retreat was, and what a blessing it was. I must go tackle some of my school work right now, but will come back on here with coverage of the retreat as soon as possible! :)

I'll be leaving for the retreat in just a few minutes. It'll take us 3 hours to drive down there to where it's held in Georgia. Please pray for our safety, that the fathers and daughters would grow closer together, and that the Lord would teach us all want He wants us to learn.

Thank you for your prayers!

I'll be taking pics that I'll post on either Monday or Tuesday.

Have a blessed weekend, dear readers!

Thank you!!

Dear readers,

I want to thank you all so much for the sweet words of comfort you left me in regards to losing my sweet little Cocoa. Your kindness blessed me so much, and helped me to get through this time of sadness. You are all such wonderful friends, and I want you to know what a blessing your sweet comments were to me! I thank the Lord for all of you; each one of you is so dear to me, and your loving words of sympathy really cheered me up quite a bit. Thank you all so, so much!!

In Christian love,

Rebekah Ann

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I published a post the other day on the subject of the upcoming Vision Forum Father/Daugther Retreat. In case some of you had not seen it, please check out that link. And, for those of you who may not have seen my question on that other post, here it is again: are any of you going? If so, maybe we could meet! :) Have you ever been before?

Daily Bible Verse

Hear, my son, and be wise; and guide your heart in the way. Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old. My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.

~Proverbs 23:19,22,26(NKJV)

Tribute to my precious little Cocoa

There are some outside cats that we feed. One of them, Reese's (named so because of her chocolate and peanut butter coloring) had her first litter of kittens last year at the end of May. One of her babies, Cocoa(named because she looks exactly like her Mama, and was predominately brown with some orange markings and an absolutely adorable orange foot and leg) was found by us yesterday in the road. She had gotten run over and was obviously instantly killed. I cried and cried in my room last night as I watched out my window as Mama and Daddy buried her in our backyard. Needless to say, yesterday was a horrible day for me. Little Cocoa had been brought to us from the woods by her Mama at a time in her young life when she was already scared of people. It took a lot of patience and a great deal of time, but I finally got her tamed, and after working with her for so long, we had developed a very special bond. Whenever I would open the door to step outside, she would back away a bit because she was still a little timid. But once she discovered that it was me, and I called her to me, she would immediately walk over. I would pick her up and she would start purring profusely; she'd always gaze up into my eyes or give me a little kiss on the cheek. She was a really sweet little girl. The following is a tribute to my sweet little baby, Cocoa, who will be in my heart forever and ever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cocoa

May 2007 to April 6th or 7th, 2008

In our eyes, your life was far too short, my sweet girl. But in the Lord's eyes, everything in your little life went according to His perfect will and plan. At times, I feel like screaming out to God, "Why did you take her so soon?! She was such a joy to me!". But then I have to step back and look on the bright side-you brought such joy to us, you had a happy little life, and you suffered from no pain or fright when you died. For that, I will be eternally thankful to my merciful Father.

Your life was so short-only 10 1/2 months-but those were such joyous months! :) I so enjoyed the time I spent with you. You were so recognizable by your little orange leg, sweet girl. :) Your cute little perfectly circular eyes used to look up at me with a look of love as I held you. You brought me such joy, and you will be in my heart forever and ever! I miss you terribly, and wish you were still here with us. A part of me almost believes that as soon as I open the front door, you'll come running. I know that isn't the case, though, and I know that I'll never be able to hold my little sweetie again. Just know how much I love you! I'm crying as I type this, sweetie, because I just love and miss you so much. I would give anything to be able to hold you again just once. I miss being able to cuddle you. A part of you will always live on in your Mama-whenever I look at her, your look-alike, I'll think of you with fond and joyous memories, but also with a heavy heart. I love you so, so much, sweet baby, and I will always carry a picture of you in my mind forever and ever. Thank you for blessing my life so richly like you did while you were here with us. Thank you, God, for those few short months that I had with her.

I miss you, sweet girl, but will never forget you!! Everyday, I'll look in our back yard at your little burial spot and will remember all the joy you brought to me. I love you, little Cocoa.

"The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

~Job 1:21b

Daily Bible Verse

Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

~Psalm 90:1-2(NKJV)

Great Devotional by the late Mr. Charles Haddon Spurgeon

I was planning on posting one of my own devotionals today, but when I came across this devotional in this book written by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, I just had to share it with all of you.

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and will all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

~Mark 12:30

Suggested further reading: 2 John 1-6

We are bound to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Thus, we deduce that we are to love God supremely. Thou art to love thy wife, O husband. Those canst not love her too much except in one case, if thou shouldst love her before God, and prefer her pleasure to the pleasure of the Most High. Then wouldst thou be an idolater. Child! Thou art to love thy parents; thou canst not love him too much who begot thee, not her too much who brought thee forth; but remember, there is one law that doth override that. Thou art to love thy God more than they father or thy mother. He demands thy first and thy highest affection: thou art to love him "with all they heart". We are allowed to love our relatives:we are taught to do so. He that does not love his own family is worse than a heathen man and a publican. But we are not to lovethe dearest object of our hearts so much as we love God. You may erect little thrones for those whom you rightly love; but God's throne must be a glorious high throne; you may set them upon the steps, but God must sit on the very seat itself. He is to be enthroned, the royal One within your heart, the king of your affections. Have you kept this commandment? I know I have not; I must plead guilty before God; I must cast myself before him, and acknowledge my transgression. But nevertheless, there standeth the commandment-"Thou shalt love God with all thy heart" that is, thou shalt love Him supremely.

For meditation: The Lord Jesus Christ practiced what He preached(Matthew 10:37,38). His Heavenly Father's house came first, but he was obedient in His earthly parents' house(Luke 2:48-51); His Heavenly Father's will came first(Matthew 26:39), but even while He was carrying it out, His earthly mother's wellbeing was upon His heart(John 19:26-27). We love our families, our fellow-believers and the lost ones best, when we love and obey God first.

2008 Vision Forum Father and Daughter Discipleship Retreat!!

I attended the Vision Forum Father and Daughter Retreat with my father for the first time last year. It was a weekend filled with life-changing, convicting, edifying, encouraging messages, walks in the beautiful Callaway Gardens, a Victorian high tea, games and a picnic on a large, beautiful field, an ice-cream social, and blessed fellowship with likeminded fathers and daughters. Needless to say, it was one of the best weekends of my life! The Lord used it to bring my father and me even closer together, and we had such a wonderful, wonderful time together learning from God's Word, making new friends, and enjoying the beauty of nature.

Well, the time of year for the retreat is here again already!! That's so hard to believe. It seems like just a few months ago we were preparing for last year's retreat. I'm so excited about this year's retreat!! :) I can't wait to meet with the dear Botkin sisters, Mr. Phillips, Mr. Botkin, and Mr. Brown again. I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing my friends from last year there, and I can't wait to make new friends! I'm so looking forward to soaking in the wisdom and truth from the great speeches, I'm looking forward to dressing as a Victorian lady for the high tea, and I'm so excited that my dear friend from church, Kelsey, will be attending this year with her father. As you can tell, I'm just really looking forward to the retreat! :) I think I'm looking forward to it even more this year than I was last year, if that's possible. :)

The retreat this year will be held at the beautiful Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia again, from Friday, April 11th thru Sunday, April 13th. For more info, please click here!

So, dear ladies, are any of you attending this great retreat this year? If so, maybe we can meet up!!! :) Have you or someone you know attended this retreat? If you won't be attending this year I highly encourage you to attend next year! :)

Great Devotional by the late Mr. Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Charles Haddon Spurgeon was an outstanding preacher who lived in the 1800s. He was nicknamed the Prince of Preachers, and he was indeed that! If you are unfamiliar with Mr. Spurgeon, I highly recommend that you purchase some of his books or sermons. Your soul will be fed and nourished by the convicting yet encouraging words of this amazing man.

The following devotional of his is actually an excerpt from one of his sermons. It's taken from the book 365 Days with Spurgeon Vol. 1. This book is "a unique collection of 365 daily readings from sermons preached by Charles Haddon Spurgeon from his New Park Street Pulpit. I recommend that each of you purchase this book and the other 2 volumes that go along with it. Your life will forever be changed! You will grow closer to the Lord, and after reading just a few of Mr. Spurgeons writings, you will be amazed by how much stronger your faith is.
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Everywhere and Yet Forgotten

"Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind."

~Job 12:9-10

Suggested further reading: Deut. 8:11-20

This forgetfulness of God is growing upon this perverse generation. Time was, in the old puritanic days, when every shower of rain was seen to come from heaven, when every ray of sunshine was blessed, and God was thanked for having given fair weather to ingather the fruits of the harvest. Then, men talked of God as doing everything. But in our days where is our God? We have the laws of matter. Alas! Alas! That names with little meaning should have destroyed our memory of the Eternal One. We talk now of phenomena, and of the chain of events, as if all things happened by machinery; as if the world were a huge clock which had been wound up in eternity, and continued to work without a present God. Nay, not only our philosophers, but even our poets rant in the same way. They sing of the works of nature. But who is that fair goddess, Nature? Is she a heathen deity, or what? Do we not act as if we were ashamed of our God, or as if His name had become obsolete? Go abroad wherever you may, you hear little said concerning Him who made the heavens, and who formed the earth and the sea; but everything is nature, and the laws of motion and of matter. And do not Christians often use words which would lead you to suppose that they believed in the old goddess, Luck, or rested in that equally false deity, Fortune, or tremnled before the demon of Misfortune? Oh for the day when God shall be seen, and little else beside! Better, my brethren, that philosophical discoveries were lost, than that God should be concealed behind them. Better that our poets had ceased to write, and that all their flaming words were buried with their ashes, than that they should serve as a cloud before the face of the eternal Creator.

For meditation: When men replace Father God be mother nature, God leaves them to behave in ways which are unnatural and opposed to their false new deity(Romans 1:21-27).

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Convicting, wasn't it? How guilty we Christians always are of saying to people, "Good luck!" or "Oh, I'm so lucky!" What a horrible witness! We need to erase the word luck from our vocabulary! Instead of saying "Good luck", how about saying, "May the Lord bless you!" Instead of saying, "Oh, I'm so lucky!", how about saying, "Oh, the Lord has blessed me far more than I could ever deserve!". We need to begin taking those worldly sayings from our vocabulary, and begin replacing them with words and phrases that glorify God and bring others to Him.

My pastor often reminds us that we're only one sentence away from witnessing to someone. You can be in the middle of a conversation with a person, and you're always only one sentence away from speaking about the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And that brings me to my next point. So often, we say to people, "God bless you!", thinking that somehow we've just witnessed to that person. What a false idea! The Devil is not scared by us saying "God bless you" to someone! No one is saved or brought closer to Christ by us saying that. The word "God" doesn't offend anyone or bring anyone to salvation. People like Oprah use the word God all the time but are lost as can be. Oprah has said things like "God is whoever you want it to be." Therefore, it becomes obvious that mentioning the word God to someone doesn't really do all that much or help bring them to Christ. The term God means a thousand different things to different people. We need to begin speaking of Christ Jesus. If we don't speak about Him, then our witnessing isn't any good. We're bringing no one to salvation unless we consistantly speak of Jesus Christ- the only Savior there is, without Whom, all go to Hell rather than Heaven. We need to begin adding the words Jesus Christ to our everyday conversations with people. I encourage you to do that this coming week. The more you do so, the more natural it will become. And remember, dear readers: you're only 1 sentence away from spreading the Gospel! :)

Rich blessings to you all!

P.S. I want to hear about all of your witnessing experiences this coming week! Do what I've prescribed above, and then come back and let me know how it went!

Daily Bible Verse

The wise woman builds her home, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands.

~Proverbs 14:1(NKJV)

Spring is in the Air!

Ladies(and gents), let this post serve as your devotional today. I encourage you to read the first few verses of Ephesians chapter 2. Meditate on its words, and remember all that our loving, merciful Savior has done for you! I don't know what the weather is like right now where you are, but spring is in the air here in southern Tennessee, and I'm quite excited about it! :) Winter has a beauty all its own, but there comes a time when one gets tired of all the cold weather!

The beauty of spring is everywhere! To me, spring is such a special time of the year-a time when the Lord richly blesses the earth with abundant new life. Pear trees are budding out beautiful little white flowers, cats are birthing new frisky, furry little kittens, cherry blossoms are showing forth their pink and white lacy flowers, fawns and lambs are being introduced to the big, wide world for the first time, and birds are singing joyfully in the trees, happy(just as I am) that the frigid weather is gone for the most part, and that the Lord has blessed us with warmer days and new precious life everywhere we look. p>

You know, when I think about how the Lord is bringing new life to the world this time of year, I often think of our spiritual lives. We were dead in trespasses and sins and were much like those barren, withered pear trees are during the winter. But then, something miraculous happened! The Lord saved us and gave us new life, just as He does with those pear trees at the beginning of spring. We are now white as snow and those pear trees are now adorned with beautiful, new pure white little flowers!

Yes, spring is indeed a special time of the year!

What is the weather like where you live, dear readers? Are there traces of spring in the air yet? What does spring mean to you? What's your favorite aspect of this season?

To all my treasured blog readers: I Apologize!!!

Ladies (and any gents who may be here),

I deeply apologize for not posting on here for 2 weeks!! I cannot believe it's been so long since I've been on here. You have no idea how very sorry I am for not posting in such a long while. Life has been crazy lately- our days have been filled to the brim with much activity, that has left us buzzing here and there, trying to get everything done that we need to! Needless to say, that has not been possible these past 2 weeks, and one of the things that did not get attended to was this blog. :( I'm so, so sorry! I hope that you all have not given up on me. ;) Please know that I've been thinking about all of you during these past weeks. I may not have been online, but I did not at all forget about you or this blog, which mean the world to me.

So, what have I been doing these past weeks that's kept me so unbelievably busy? Well, these past 2 weeks has been packed with(just to name a few) family time, Easter, lots of school work(for the handful of those who may not know, I'm homeschooled and love it!), much studying for tests in biology and geometry, reading and studying in-depth theology and history books, and planning out, writing, rewriting, editing and polishing many, many articles for this blog. The Lord has given me SO many ideas for numerous blog articles that I believe the women(and young girls) of this century are in desperate need of. Just some of the article titles that you will be seeing here in the near future are: 1.The True History of Feminism, 2.Feminism's Destructiveness, 3.Making Your Home a Haven(tips for young girls and married women alike), 4.Stay-At-Home Daughterhood: A Biblical Principle?, 5.Is it a Sin to not be a Homemaker?(revised and heavily updated), 6.The Burden of the Double Curse: How Feminism is Enslaving and Battering Women, 7.The Curse of Women Rulers(updated with much more Scriptural commentary), 8.How the Lord and His Word Raise Women Up and Extol Them, 9.An in-depth Scriptural Defense of Male Leadership and Female Submission(this article will not only show that these two roles are Biblical, but will also reveal why it is such a blessing to be a woman! Women have a special priviledge of imitating Christ in a way that men do not have), 10. Feminism: Is it really pro-woman or is it enslavement?. These are just some of the many articles that will be posted here in the near future. Others include answers to questions I've recently received from my readers, many more uplifting and encouraging devotionals, quotes from famous men and women in history, excerpts from books, posts on my family life, recipes, and much, much more!! This blog will soon be flooded with articles, so it might have been a good thing that I was gone for so long-that way you could enjoy some rest and relaxation before the numerous articles come. :)

Please refer to my new blog schedule so that you can see what sort of articles and posts to expect when. I've missed you all terribly and pray that you will please forgive me for my absense. I never ever meant to leave you for that long(especially without notice!). Please accept my heartfelt apology, and know that it's so great to be back with you all!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter celebration. This Easter was a very special one for me, and it brought be even closer to my precious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I would love to hear how your celebration went, so be sure to drop me a comment or e-mail! :)

A special note to all of those dear blog readers who recently sent me an e-mail or left me a comment: thank you so much!! Your input and inquiries as to how I was doing and where I was greatly blessed me! Thank you all so much! I will be responding to each and every one of your comments and e-mails as soon as is at all possible.

Once again, I deeply apologize for not being on here in so long. Thank you all for understanding and for being so gracious! May the Lord richly bless you all!

With warmest wishes and love through Christ,

Rebekah Ann

Feminism's Hate towards Women

The following is an article that I came across a few weeks ago, written by Virginia Haussegger, an ABC TV news presenter. It's entitled The Sin of our Feminist Mothers and shows in a painfully clear manner that feminism is not pro-woman in the least.

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The Sin of our Feminist Mothers

A few years ago, in my mid-30s, had I heard Malcolm Turnbull pontificate about the need to encourage Australians to marry younger and have more children ("The crisis is fertility, not ageing"), I would have thumped him.

How dare he - a rich father of two, with perfect wife and perfect life - presume for a moment to tell women, thriving at the peak of our careers, that we should stop, marry, and procreate. The sheer audacity of it.

Yet another male conspiracy, a conservative attempt to dump women out of the workplace and back into the home. A neat male arrangement: a good woman to run the household, and a workplace less cluttered with female competition.

A win-win for patriarchy. And precisely the kind of society I was schooled against.

As we worked our way through high school and university in the '70s and early '80s, girls like me listened to our mothers, our trailblazing feminist teachers, and the outspoken women who demanded a better deal for all women. They paved the way for us to have rich careers.

They anointed us and encouraged us to take it all. We had the right to be editors, paediatricians, engineers, premiers, executive producers, High Court judges, CEOs etc. We were brought up to believe that the world was ours. We could be and do whatever we pleased.

Feminism's hard-fought battles had borne fruit. And it was ours for the taking.

Or so we thought - until the lie of super "you-can-have-it-all" feminism hits home, in a very personal and emotional way.

We are the ones, now in our late 30s and early 40s, who are suddenly sitting before a sheepish doctor listening to the words: "Well, I'm sorry, but you may have left your run too late. Women at your age find it very difficult to get pregnant naturally, and unfortunately the success rate of IVF for a 39-year-old is around one in five - and dropping. In another 12 months you'll only have a 6 per cent chance of having a baby. So given all the effort and expense, do you really want to go through with this? Why don't you go home and think it through? But don't leave it too long - your clock is ticking." Then he adds for comic value, "And don't forget, the battery is running low!"

For those of us who listened to our feminist foremothers' encouragement; waved the purple scarves at their rallies; read about and applauded the likes of Anne Summers, Kate Jennings, Wendy McCarthy, Jocelyn Scutt, Morag Fraser, Joan Kirner, Elizabeth Proust etc (all strong examples of successful working women); for those of us who took all that on board and forged ahead, crashed through barriers and carved out good, successful and even some brilliant careers; we're now left - many of us at least - as premature "empty nesters".

We're alone, childless, many of us partnerless, or drifting along in "permanent temporariness", as sociologist Zygmunt Bauman so aptly put it in a recent Age article by Anne Manne to describe the somewhat ambiguous, uncommitted type of relationship that seems to dominate among childless, professional couples in their 30s and 40s.

The point is that while encouraging women in the '70s and '80s to reach for the sky, none of our purple-clad, feminist mothers thought to tell us the truth about the biological clock. Our biological clock. The one that would eventually reach exploding point inside us.

Maybe they didn't think to tell us, because they never heard the clock's screaming chime. They were all married and pregnant by their mid-20s. They so desperately didn't want the same for us.

And none of our mothers thought to warn us that we would need to stop, take time out and learn to nurture our partnerships and relationships. Or if they did, we were running too fast to hear it.

For those of us that did marry, marriage was perhaps akin to an accessory. And in our high-disposable-income lives, accessories pass their use-by date, and are thoughtlessly tossed aside. Frankly, the dominant message was to not let our man, or any man for that matter, get in the way of career and our own personal progress.

The end result: here we are, supposedly "having it all" as we edge 40; excellent education; good qualifications; great jobs; fast-moving careers; good incomes; and many of us own the trendy little inner-city pad we live in. It's a nice caffe-latte kind of life, really.

But the truth is - for me at least - the career is no longer a challenge, the lifestyle trappings are joyless (the latest Collette Dinnigan frock looks pretty silly on a near-40-year-old), and the point of it all seems, well, pointless.

I am childless and I am angry. Angry that I was so foolish to take the word of my feminist mothers as gospel. Angry that I was daft enough to believe female fulfilment came with a leather briefcase.

It was wrong. And Malcolm Turnbull has a point.

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*edited very slightly due to some inappropriate words.

Friday's Devotional: On Prayer

But the prayer of the upright is His delight.

~Proverbs 15:8a(NKJV)

Are you delighting the Lord as you should be, as His child? The prayer of you, His upright servant, is His delight. Are you praying to your Father as often as you should be? I'm preaching to myself every bit as much as I am to you. I'm ashamed to say that I often find myself rushing here and there through the course of each very busy day, not even taking the time to enjoy a deep and intimate conversation with my Savior, the lover of my soul. How sinful and shameful that is! I should desire to speak with Him above anyone else! He's the One who I'd been consistantly sinning against. He's the One I had been the rebellious enemy of-the One whose soul I was grieving because of my unrighteousness. Yet He came down, out of immense love for me that I can't begin to comprehend, to willingly endure the most agonizing, traumatizing, excrutiating death that anyone could possibly go through. Yet He spoke not a word of anger or malice through the whole ordeal. And here I am, not even taking the time to speak with Him?! How that must grieve Him! How that must sadden Him to know that His daughter, who He died for so that He might save and spend eternity with her, isn't even speaking to Him everyday all day as she should be!

Are you guilty of this sin as well? There is hope, dear sister! Repent of this sin and then set aside a special portion of each day to be dedicated to close communion with the Lord. Not only will this delight your Savior, but you will also be filled with much peace and joy yourself!

There's something I want to point our about this verse. It says that the prayers of the upright are a delight to Him. This means that the prayers of those who are not upright or righteous are not delightful to Him whatsoever. This is because the person who is chained in unrighteousness doesn't have a heart and soul yielded completely to His will. This person's prayers, therefore, will be rebellious in nature, selfish, and unpleasing to the Lord. So, if you've found yourself giving into temptation a lot lately, repent of those sins! After you've done so, your prayers will once again be a blessed delight to your merciful Savior!

Announcing: New Blog Schedule!

Hello, ladies! I promised you yesterday that I would post a blog announcement today. Well, here it is! :) I have written up a new blog schedule, that will be in effect as of Monday, March 17th, 2008. This schedule, which reveals what types of posts will appear on which days, goes as follows:

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Mondays- Devotional, "Meal Mondays" recipe

Tuesdays- Daily Bible Verse, posts on daily life(i.e. pictures and stories of my home life, etc.)

Wednesdays- Devotional, Essays in response to questions received, posts on recommended links, books, movies, etc.

Thursdays- Daily Bible Verse, Articles on Biblical daughterhood, Tips on homemaking, etc.(less controversial issues)

Fridays- Devotional, Articles on hot button, controversial topics such as feminism, Biblical femininity, Biblical daughterhood, and Biblical womanhood, education, etc. (on occasional Fridays, the above mentioned type of article will not be posted. In its place will appear excerpts from books, quotes, a blog announcement, etc.)

Saturdays- Daily Bible Verse

Sundays- No posts published (this would be a great opportunity for you to go back and read older posts, that you may have missed!)

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The sorts of posts I mentioned will not all be posted on the mentioned days every single week. In other words, on some Thursdays, for instance, nothing but a daily Bible verse will be posted. But if there's a homemaking tip I want to share, then it will appear on my blog on a Thursday. Does what I'm saying make sense? Am I explaining this well? :)

There will be days when I publish types of posts that weren't specifically mentioned in this schedule, but for the most part, this schedule will be adhered to.

As you can see, there's not really a day that you'll want to miss out on accessing this blog! Important, edifying, encouraging, life-changing posts will be published every day.

It is my prayer that through this new schedule, By His Grace and For His Glory will be able to meet its full potential, and will be able to glorify the Lord all the more.

Now, I have a request to make! :) It's my desire that the message of this blog reach far out into the world, encouraging, strengthening, and edifying as many people as possible. I want to ask you to please help me in this mission by spreading the word about this blog! Tell your friends, family, and fellow church members about it, make a post about it on your blog, link to it on your site, etc. I want to issue forth a huge and very grateful thank you in advance for doing this for me, that the Word of the Lord might be spread!! :) May the Lord richly bless you, my dear and treasured readers!

Daily Bible Verse

The earth, O Lord, is full of Your mercy; teach me your statutes.

~Psalm 119:64(NJKV)

Is this your prayer, dear ladies? I truly hope that it is!

Wednesday's Devotional

A good man obtains favor from the Lord.

~Proverbs 12:2a(NKJV)

This Scripture makes it clear that a good person obtains favor from the Lord. From this, we are able to deduce the following: a wicked person finds no favor in the sight of God Almighty. So, what constitutes a good person? Well, it's evident that this verse is in no way teaching that God only saves good people, for there's no such thing as a good person! All have fallen short of the glory of God. So, it's clear that the favor a good person finds in God's eyes is not the same thing as salvation!

So, we come again to the question: what is a good person? A "good person" is someone who has been saved by God's miraculous grace, has been justified and sanctified, and who has been made righteous through the death of Christ. Because faith without works is dead, it becomes clear that the good person who finds favor in God's eyes is the Christian who lives according to God's Word-by always obeying His commands, living in the manner that is set forth in Scripture, and by imitating Christ in all areas of life. It is only the Christian who obeys the Lord's every command that finds favor in the sight of God. No one else can find favor in God's sight, for all others are enemies of God(as we all were before the Lord graciously saved us) on whom the wrath of God rests. Now, this is not to say that the Christian will never disobey God's Word. Christians are not perfect and will at times disobey God's commands. But a true Christian's life will be characterized by joyful, unquestioning obedience to Christ and His Word. For the person who has favor in the sight of God, disobedience of the Bible causes immense shame, guilt, and sadness. If you want to be a righteous person, a person who finds favor in God's holy sight, then become learned in the Scriptures, and strive to make daily obedience a characteristic of your life.

Are you a person who, without a doubt, has favor in God's eyes? The book of James commands us to diligently examine ourselves to see if we be in the faith. Examine yourself, dear lady, to see if you are truly a peson who has found favor in the Lord's eyes.

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Please make sure you come back tomorrow, for an important blog announcement!

Daily Bible Verse

Beginning tomorrow, I will be returning to my normal blog schedule, I assure you! :) Thank you so much for your patience. These past few days have been filled to the brim with activity. I'm currently working on many new articles, some responses to questions I've recently received, etc. etc., so please be on the lookout for those! :) I will also soon be responding to all the ccomments I've received in the past few days. In the meantime, may the following verse richly bless you all!

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.

~Psalm 134:14(NKJV)

Daily Bible Verse

Hello, dear ladies! I pray that all of you had a truly wonderful weekend. I'm terribly sorry for not posting a devotional today(this day has gone by way too fast and has been filled with much activity!). I haven't even been able to respond to all of the many comments I've received recently(a big thank you to all who have commented in the past few days!!). I'm sorry for my lack of blog time today; thank you so much for understanding!!

I will praise you, O Lord, among the peoples, and I will sing praises to You among the nations. For Your mercy is great above the heavens, and Your truth reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and Your glory above all the earth.

~Psalm 108:3-5(NKJV)

"Feminism in an Attack Against Femininity"

The following is a very true and thought-provoking essay on the subject of feminism written by Robert Lewis Dabney(March 5, 1820-January 3, 1898). The wisdom with which he speaks in this essay is nothing short of amazing. In his day, the "Women's Rights Movement" was just beginning to arise. Nonetheless, in each of his essays on feminism, he correctly prophesied what would happen if feminism continued to grow without being quenched. His "prophecies" have sadly come true and our nation is falling apart at the seems and is being destroyed because of feminism. Our country is now anything but what our Christian Founding Fathers designed and planned for it to be due to the wide-spread belittlement of Christian principles. Here is just one of the many essays wise Mr. Dabney wrote on the subject of feminism:

"Feminism in an Attack Against Femininity"

It would not be hard to show, did space permit, that this movement on the part of these women is as suicidal as it is mischievous. Its certain result will be the re-enslavement of women, not under the Scriptural bonds of marriage, but under the yoke of literal corporeal force.

The woman who will calmly review the condition of her sex in other ages and countries will feel that her wisdom is to "let will enough alone." Physically, the female is the "weaker vessel." This world is a hard and selfish scene where the weaker goes to the wall. Under all other civilizations and all other religions than ours woman has experienced this fate to the full; her condition has been that of a slave to the male-sometimes a petted slave, but yet a slave.

In Christian and European society alone has she ever attained the place of man's social equal, and received the homage and honor due from magnanimity to her sex and her feebleness. And her enviable lot among us has resulted from two cases: the Christian religion and the legislation founded upon it by feudal chivalry.

How insane then is it for her to spurn these two bulwarks of defense, to defy and repudiate the divine authority of that Bible which has been her redemption , and to revolutionize the whole spirit of the English common law touching woman's sphere and rights? She is thus spurning the only protectors her sex has ever found, and provoking a contest in which she must inevitably be overwhelmed.

Casting away that dependence and femininity which are her true strength, the "strong-minded woman" persists in thrusting herself into competition with man as his equal. But for contest she is not his equal; the male is the stonger animal. As man's rival, she is pitiful inferior, a sorry she-mannikin. It is when she brings her wealth of affection, her self-devotion, her sympathy, her tact, her grace, her subtle intuition, her attractions, her appealing weakness, and places them in the scale with man's rugged strength and plodding endurance, with his steady logic, his hardihood and muscle, and his exemption from the disabling infirmities of her sex, that he delights to admit her full equality and to do glad homage to her as the crown of his kind. All this vantageground the "Women's Rights women" madly throw away, and provoke that collision for which nature itself has disqualified them, they insist upon taking precisely a man's chances; well, they will meet precisely the fate of a weak man among strong ones.

A recent incident on a railroad train justly illustrates the result. A solitary female entered a car where every seat was occupied, and the conductor closed the door upon her and departed. She looked in vain for a seat, and at last appealed to an elderly man near her to know if he would not "surrender his seat to a lady." He, it seems, was somewhat a humorist, and answered: "I will surrender it cheerfully, Madam, as I always do, but will beg leave first to ask a civil question. Are you an advocate of the modern theory of women's rights?" Bridling up with intense energy, she replied, "Yes, sir, emphatically; I let you know that it is my glory to be devoted to that noble cause." "Very well, Madam," said he, "then the case is altered:You may stand up like the rest of us men, until you can get a seat for yourself."

This was exact poetic justice; and it foreshadows precisely the fate of their unnatural pretensions. Men will treat them as they treat each other; it will be "every man for himself; and the devil take the hindmost." There will be of course a Semiramis or a Queen Bess here and there who will hold her own; but the general rule will be that the "weaker vessels" will succumb; and the society which will emerge from this experiment will present woman in the position which she has always held among savages, that of domestic drudge to the stronger animal. Instead of being what He makes her, one with her husband, queen of his home, reigning with gentle scepter of love over her modest, secluded domain, and in its pure and sacred retirement performing the noblest work done on this earth, that of molding infant minds to honor and piety, she will reappear from this ill-starred competition defeated and despised, tolerated only to satiate the passion, to amuse the idleness, to do the drugery, and to receive the curses and blows of her barbarized masters.

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*the above essay is an excerpt from the booklet: Robert Lewis Dabney: The Prophet Speaks. In this book, this very wise man speaks out on subjects such as government schools, politics, the family, and feminism. He correctly prophesied regarding how government schools and feminism would destroy our country. This is a fascinating book that I very highly recommend! It is available through http://www.visionforum.com/ and is edited by Douglas W. Phillips, Esq., President of Vison Forum Inc.

Devotional on 1 Timothy 2:11

Let the women learn...

~1 Timothy 2:11(NKJV)

I'll be conducting a devotional series on the rest of this passage at some point in the near future. For today, I just wanted to focus on the beautiful words that begin this verse in 1 Timothy.

"Let the women learn." This sentence may not seem so amazing to you, but these 4 little words contain such a treasure! Feminists and feminism-minded women try to tell us that God pushed women down and belittled them when He commanded them to be homemakers, to submit to their husbands, to abstain from being pastors or elders, etc. Nothing at all could be further from the truth! At the time in which this passage of Scripture was written, Jewish society was a horrible place for a woman to live. The Jewish men used to recite a prayer every morning that went like this: "Thank you, God, that I'm not a slave, a pig, or a woman." Women were viewed(as they still are in Muslim society) as things, as second class citizens, etc. Now when Jesus came on the scene, He was viewed as a liberal(today, of course, He's often viewed as too conservative-go figure! :))! He spoke to women, ministered to them, blessed them, began friendships with them, healed them, liften them up, and respected them. The Jews of His day thought He was crazy! Here was the Messiah elevating women(yes, I understand that many Jews did not view Him as the Messiah)! He treated women as exactly what they were: special people, that were equal with men, yet had different roles than men.

In Jewish society at the time when 1 Timothy 2:11 was first penned, women were oftentimes not allowed to learn much of anything. Other Jews allowed women to learn, but didn't see a woman's education as very important, so they certainly didn't encourage it. And then comes a command from our Lord: "Let the women learn!" It was important to our Lord that women learn, that they be fully and highly educated. The Lord saw this as a very important thing, and viewed learning as a woman's responsibility! He believed that women need to be educated, and so He left us with this command: let the women learn!

So, the next time you come across someone who tries to lead you astray by telling you that Jesus hated and belittled women, you point them to this verse and reveal to them that that simply is not the case!

Devotional on 1 Timothy 2:9-10 part 4

In like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel with propriety and moderation; not in braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing,but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works.

~1 Timothy 2:9-10(NKJV)

Through this devotional study, we've discovered that Christian women are to be adorned with modest apparel. But verse 10 teaches that Christian ladies are also to be adorned with good works and are to be clothed in righteousness.

Proverbs 31:30, " Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised." A Christian lady's true beauty does not come from braided hair, fine and expensive clothing, or pearls and gold(which will all pass away). Her true beauty comes from within-when her inner chastity, discreetness, virtue and fear of the Lord shine through, it is then that she is truly beautiful.

A Christian lady is not beautiful in God's eyes because she has perfect clothes or a perfect hairdo. Rather, her beauty that the Lord is enthralled with comes from her heart that has been purified, sanctified, refined by fire, and cleansed by His work in her life. 1 Peter 3:3 says, "Do not let your adornment be merely outward-arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel-rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God."

If you want to be truly beautiful, then clothe yourself with righteousness, a meek and quiet spirit, and good works. It is only when you've acquired these characteristics that your're truly beautiful. No apparel, hairdo, makeup, or jewelry can make you attractive if you aren't filled with godliness and purity. A Christian lady is only beautiful when she's adorned in modest apparel, righteousness, and good works.

Ladies, begin cultivating in yourself the characteristics that will make you a truly beautiful lady!

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I hope this devotional series has been a blessing to you! Now, it's up to you to share what you've learned in this series with those around you! Be a beautiful, salty shining light for your Lord!

Devotional on 1 Timothy 2:9-10 part 3

...but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works.

~1 Timothy 2:10(NKJV)

In the first two parts of our devotional series on 1 Timothy 2:9-10, we discovered what modest clothing really is. It became clear that not only is modest clothing not tight or revealing, but it's also not gaudy, overdone or loud. This also refers to any ornamentation that may be worn-it must not be worn in excessive amounts and our appearance must not be overdone.

Now we come to the part of the passage that reveals to us why Christian ladies must wear modest clothing: because that is the only type of adornment that is proper for godly women. Flip that around and it soon becomes clear that immodest clothing is not proper for women professing godliness. Yet, what is happening today? Countless girls and women are claiming to be Christians, but are adorning themselves with horribly immodest attire. Many see this and think, "Yeah, what a shame, but so what? It's not that big of a deal." Excuse me? Yes, it is a big deal! Don't ever underestimate just how sinful it is for professing Christians to go around dressing just like the world (or, in some cases dressed even worse than most of what the world wears!). This sort of behavior is causing God's Word to be blasphemed, is making Christians appear as hypocrites (which drives unbelievers away from church, for they don't want anything to do with hypocrisy or fakeness), and is telling the world that the "Christian God must not have any power to change people, because the 'Christians' appear to be just like the world". Christian females being immodestly clad is a huge problem we have in the church today, and don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise! Christians wearing the world's attire is a slap in the face of Almighty God, is an abomination to Him, and is a sin that must quickly be repented of and discarded, or we will soon face the Lord's judgment and displeasure for these actions. Lest we think that this is all "no big deal" and that this "doesn't really bother God", let's take a look at Isaiah 3! In this sad and eye-opening passage, we discover that the women of Israel and Judah were anything but modest! When I read this passage, I often think about our culture and wonder, "How long will it be until God does this to us? How long will it be until God shows us just how angry and sick immodesty makes Him?" Isaiah 3:16-26 says, "Moreover the Lord says: 'Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with outstretched necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, making a jingling with their feet, therefore the Lord will strike with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will uncover their secret parts. In that day the Lord will uncover their secret parts. In that day the Lord will take away the finery, the jingling anklets, the scarves, and the crescents, the pendants, the bracelets, and the veils; the headdresses, the leg ornaments, and the headbands, the perfume boxes, the charms, and the rings; the nose jewels, the festal apparel, and the mantles; the outer garments, the purses, and the mirrors; the fine linen, the turbans, and the robes. And so it shall be: instead of a sweet smell there will be a stench; instead of a sash, a rope; instead of well-set hair, baldness; instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty. Your men shall fall by the sword, and your mighty in the war. Her gates shall lament and mouren, and she being desolate shall sit on the ground." As you can see, immodesty is no little think in the sight of God Almighty. When people profess Him, but don't follow His commands, they will face punishment. Christians dressing immodestly is a serious thing in God's eyes, and so shall it be in ours!

Ladies, if you've been guilty of dressing immodestly, there is hope! 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Repent of your sin of immodesty, and turn from that sin. The Lord will give you the strength needed to never return again to immodesty. With Him, ALL things are indeed possible! :)

Question and Answer Sessions: Responses Part 5

I've so enjoyed receiving and answering all your questions, ladies! Please continue to send them to me(on any subjects), in interview style, and I would be more than happy to answer them!

I received the following questions from my dear friend from church, Hannah.

First of all thank you so much for your great questions, Hannah! If you have anymore, be sure to let me know! :)

What is your favorite story/character in the Bible?

I can only pick one?! lol I have many favorites.

My favorite stories would be the love story of Ruth and Boaz, the love story of Rebekah and Isaac, the parable of the sower, the amazing story of when our Lord did not condemn the adulterous woman, and the story of the sea storm, where the disciples are rebuked for being of little faith. The love stories I mentioned are so beautiful, and show that in reality, every single marriage is an arranged marriage-arranged by our all-loving and all-wise God. The parable of the sower encourages and strengthens me so much to teach God's Word more. The sower didn't know how or when the seed began to grow, but it did by God's grace. He just threw the Word and left the results up to the Lord. To me, that's so very encouraging, because I tend to worry and fret over whether or not the people I'm debating with will realize the Biblical truth of what I'm teaching or not. But, I don't have to worry! :) All I have to do is be faithful to teach God's Word, and leave the results completely in His hands! How refreshing is that! The story of when the Lord forgave the woman caught in adultery simply amazes me! What amazing, wondrous love our wonderful Lord has for us! Lastly, the story of the disciples and Jesus in a boat when the powerful storm arises convicts me every time I read it. I would often be rebuked by the Lord for being of little faith. Not only does this story convict me, but it also encourages me, because it shows that at all times, the Lord is completely trustworthy, and in control of all things.

As to my favorite Bible character, I would have to say Mary. Her unwavering and unquestioning faith in the Lord and willingness to do whatever He required of her absolutely amazes me! Because she was unmarried, she knew that she would be persecuted, ridiculed, looked down upon, made fun of, etc. for being with child. But she was a willing servant of Christ, and her example convicts me so much! I pray that the Lord would make me more like Mary.

Do you like my mother's famous no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies? ;)<p>

I love those! They are so good. Maybe you could bring those to the fellowship meal at church Sunday! :)

Your devotionals are great! Have you ever thought of putting them together as a book?

Thank you so much! That's very kind of you. :) I hope they're a blessing.

It's so funny that you should ask that, as I was talking to Mama about that very idea just a few weeks ago. That is something that I'm very seriously thinking about. If I did have them published, I would probably add study questions, application tips, etc. to the end of each one.

What do you think, ladies? Should I have my devotionals published? Is this something that you would be interested in purchasing? Please share your input!!

Devotional on 1 Timothy 2:9-10 part 2

...not in braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing.

~1 Timothy 2:9b (NKJV)

We are now on part 2 of our devotional study of 1 Timothy 2:9-10. In part 1, we discussed the huge importance of dressing modestly. Part 1 of this series showed that the true godly lady has no desire to draw attention to herself during church services(or at any other time, for that matter), but rather desires that all the attention be directed to the Lord. She wants the worship services to be about Him-not her.

Now we come to the second part of this verse. A lot of confusion arises when people read this part of the passage, because they begin to wonder whether or not it's a sin to braid your hair or to wear jewelry or nice clothing. Let me assure you once and for all: it's not! In fact, it would be sinful for us to not look our best-we are ambassadors for Christ, and so we need to show that we pay careful attention to how we present ourselves, for His glory.

Now to understand what the Bible is teaching on the subject of braiding your hair, we need to look to what is said in this verse after it speaks on braids, and we also must look to the culture in Ephesus at the time this was written, so that we can better understand what God's Word is truly teaching. During the time when this verse was first penned, women were attending church services with ribbons of gold weaved through their braids, as a way to show off and flaunt their wealth. That is what this verse is commanding against. Braided hair, pearls, nice clothing, and gold are all ok-as long as they're not worn in excess, or worn in such a way that you are flaunting what you have. The truly Biblical woman is not haughty or prideful- the Lord abhors pride and hautiness, and this includes hautiness of spirit, adornment, etc.

When we hear the word 'immodest' we tend to think only of clothing that is tight and revealing. But immodest clothing has a much farther range than just this. Gaudy, overdone, excessive, loud clothing and acessories are every bit as immodest as tight, revealing clothes are.

The bottom line about clothing and hair is this: our adornment is not to be tight, revealing, or gaudy and overdone. Jewelry is fine, providing that it's not worn in excess. Braids are beautiful and perfectly modest, providing that you don't adorn them throughout with pearls, gold, etc.

Be sure to return on Monday for part 3 of this series!

I've Been Tagged!

I've just been tagged by my friend Kathleen to do this game! :)

RULES:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here are my facts:

1. I skipped second grade.

2. I've had two surgeries: 1 to have my wisdom teeth(that weren't even through the gums yet) removed, and one to have a pin placed in the top of my femur bone after it slipped out of its socket in my hip.

3. I'm HORRIBLY afraid of spiders-I can't even go near them to kill them, because I'm afraid they're going to jump on me(I know-I'm a little strange, aren't I? :))

4. Green peas disgust me!

5. I've never had a cavity.

6. I've only been outside the US once, and that was when I went to Mexico.

7. I would love to go ski-diving(if I knew my parachute would open) and hang-gliding(if my landing was good!), but I'm scared to go bunjee jumping.

That was fun! :) Ok, ladies, now it's your turn to join in on the fun! The ladies I'm tagging are:

1. Anna S.

2. Anna Naomi and Miriam Rebekah over at Maidens of Worth

3. My sweet friends from church Hannah and Geneva over at The Heritage Sisters

4. Ella

5. Monika (since you don't have a blog, feel free to leave your answers in the comment section)

6. Jade and Autumn over at Handmaidens with a Mission

7. Allison

I'm looking forward to reading your answers!