The Perfect Balance

Greetings dear friends! I hope all are well; we were blessed with rain last night, something which we haven’t had in a very long time!! It was a pleasant sight to see rain puddles this morning! :o)

We all know that flowers need water and sunshine to live--but in perfect balance. When plants receive too much sun they begin to dry and die early. Likewise, if plants receive too much water they also to die. But if plants do not have enough sunshine or water they will wither up. The perfect balance of the warming sun and life-giving water is needed for plants to thrive. Isn’t it neat that Jesus Christ is both light and water to us?

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12

“I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.” John 12:46

“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. John 3:19”

“Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? . . .

Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”  

John 4:9-11, 14

God is our perfect and faithful Father. He is never out of balance. So often we humans go to the extreme right or left, but Jesus and his ways are straight and true. He is life; He is our sun and water! Now, let us go out and grow in the love of Jesus Christ!

Have a blessed day! 

Frannie

Picture Credit: This painting (which I absolutely love!) is titled, “Old Woman Watering Flowers.” It was painted by Gerard Dou in 1665 A.D. You can find it at this link: http://www.museumsyndicate.com/item.php?item=1690

The Favorites Tag

Greetings friends!

K from Butterfly Dreams! tagged me today and I just want to say thank you! May the Lord bless your 100th post and may your future posts bring glory to Him!!

(1) What is your favorite color? Hm. . .yellow.

(2) Do you like Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate best? Milk chocolate please! :o)
(3) What is your favorite food? Well, I enjoy most things sweet and made of bread, but my favorite meal is Momma’s meatloaf and green bean casserole.
(4) Favorite website? Well, I’m not sure. I enjoy a lot of different websites. Can I say my blog? That may sound bad, but what I mean is that I love seeing my work (my creative heart just sings when I begin working on my blog) and being able to connect with other Christian girls. I also like to see their favorite sites!
(5) Do you like wearing girly colors better or more plain colors? Girly colors. I so feel that God made us girls to be exactly that. . .girls! However, I do want to say that we must be modest in all we do!
(6) Who is your favorite singer between, Rebecca St. James, Casting Crowns, Third Day, or PureNRG? Well, I don’t listen to these groups very often , but I would pick Casting Crowns. They do have several good songs! 
(7) 3 favorite animals? Lions, kittens, and hmm. . . sharks.
(8) Fruit salad or regular salad? Pass the fruit salad please!

(9) Reading blogs or writing blogs? Writing blogs.
(10) The Apothecary's Daughter or Indian Captive? I haven’t read either!
(11) What is your favorite cake, Chocolate, German chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, or carrot? It depends on the cake (there are oh so many!), but I would say German Chocolate.
(12) Favorite movie? At this moment? Sense and Sensibility.
(13) Who is your favorite actor/actress? I don’t have one.
(14) Gummy bears or Gummy worms? Gummy Worms! (With sour dust on top!)

Well thank you K! May you all have a lovely night!

Frannie

A Diamond of God

Lately, Jesus has been showing me how much He loves me, how He desires to be in charge of my life, and all the areas He can and should control. He is so good, I tell you! Earlier today I was watching a Christian show titled, “Nature Speaks.” I have only seen it a few times, but it truly is an encouraging and edifying show. Today, the speaker was correlating diamonds and the Christian life. I really enjoyed his following points:

1. Diamonds are valued because of their ability to reflect light. Just as a diamond reflects light, so we should reflect the Light of the world, Jesus.   

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16

When Jesus Christ enters a persons life, light comes and illuminates every dark and secretive corner of the heart. While this examining light hurts for awhile, it is much better to let Jesus clean out every sinful crevice and create peace and joy in your heart, than to go through life full of shame and guilt, eventually lifting your eyes in hell.

 

2. Finally, diamonds are highly valued due to their rarity. Likewise, a genuine Christian who truly has an intimate relationship with God is a rare thing.

 “God wants you, God wants me to develop an intimate relationship with Him. A relationship that is so rare, hard to find in this world. And as we grow spiritually we will discover some rare qualities in our lives that make us stand out and shine brilliantly as diamonds for Christ.” The speaker went on to describe some of those rare, but lovely qualities. “One of those rare qualities is meekness. This is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the Bible. When we think about Moses, the Bible says that he was the meekest who ever lived. But being meek does not mean you are weak, does not mean you are a doormat where people walk on you all the time. But being meek simply means you are in control of your emotions. You do not allow how you feel cloud your judgment and your actions. To be meek is to have incredible restraint of revenge and complete surrender to the will of God. To be meek is a hard thing because we have grown up  in a world that tells us ‘Go out and be what you want to be. You can be anything you want to be. If it feels right it must be right, if it smells right it must be right, if it tastes good it must be good.’ We have grown up in a world that has conditioned us to act based on our feelings.”

  (Hold it. . . Stop! Do you mean that I act on my feelings? Surely not. . .it must be some one else you’re talking about) :)  I have long denied that the “Feel Good” philosophy has had any influence on my life. But as I watched this show I realized that almost EVERYTHING I do is based on my feelings! I clean house based on my feelings. I order my McDonalds coffee (and extra fries) based on my feelings. I even choose my outfits according to my fickle feelings! Even worse, I choose to obey my parents and God based on my feelings! How shameful this is! I do love the Lord and I do desire to obey Him (as long as it does not hurt me). But the moment I feel any self-restraint or pain, well oops! there goes my self-control and Christian ideals! Again I say, how shameful that I should behave this way.

I am so thankful that Jesus allowed me to see this problem in my life. Recently, I had been wondering why my Christian life kept going up, down, and sometimes right of the tracks.  I believe part of that (or most of it) was due to my “feel good” habit I had fallen into. Dear friends, let us seek God’s holy will in our lives in everything!! His way alone brings peace and real joy; willfulness (sin) only brings captivity and death. Let us lay aside our ever-changing feelings and obey God with our whole hearts!! :)

 

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” Galatians 5:22-25

Finally, I would like to end this long post with two definitions from Webster’s 1828 dictionary (ohh! I just love this dictionary!).

~~~

“Temperance”

1. Moderation; particularly, habitual moderation in regard to the indulgence of the natural appetites and passions; restrained or moderate indulgence; as temperance in eating and drinking; temperance in the indulgence of joy or mirth. Temperance in eating and drinking is opposed to gluttony and drunkenness, and in other indulgences, to excess.

2. Patience; calmness; sedateness; moderation of passion.

He calm'd his wrath with goodly temperance. [Unusual.]

~~~

“Meekness”

Softness of temper; mildness; gentleness; forbearance under injuries and provocations.

1. In an evangelical sense, humility; resignation; submission to the divine will, without murmuring or peevishness; opposed to pride, arrogance and refractoriness. Gal.5.

I beseech you by the meekness of Christ. 1 Cor.10.

Meekness is a grace which Jesus alone inculcated, and which no ancient philosopher seems to have understood or recommended.

~~~

Dear friends, thank you for hanging in during this long post. . . these topics means a lot to me!! :o)

May the LORD bless your weekend!

Frannie

P.S. I found these truthful definitions of meekness and temperance at:  http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/search/word,meekness

Closer to Jesus

   Greetings friends! I hope all is well  with you.  Today was such a lovely day; the Lord lovingly allowed the leaves to change what seems overnight into bright and lively oranges, yellows, and reds. . .truly, I am in love with this season! :o) I am thoroughly enjoying sweaters, harvest candles, slippers, and coffee and praise Jesus Christ for allowing such a nice season!
Earlier today I found a very neat website-  http://www.godlychristianmusic.com/FreeChristianSongsHome.aspx . This site has many songs by sung by Christians that you can listen to while on the computer. It is a really great tool! I’ve been listening to Abigail Miller, a lovely Christian singer. Many of her songs encouraged and challenged me, but “Compel Them” was one of the best.  If you would like to listen to the actual song, please go to this link.  May you be richly blessed!

The king had planned a wedding feast,
To honor his dear Son.
He sent his men to tell the honored guests
The time had come.
But the foolish men made light of it
And went, each one, his way,
And the king was told, "There are no guests
To bless this wedding day.

The king, in anger, sent his men--
"Go out into the streets,
And call the lost, the blind, the
dumb, the lame with broken feet,
And still when this was done,
the servant said, "Yet there is room."
The king replied, "Go out once more--
Compel them all to come."

Chorus: Compel them, compel them to come in.
Far too long they have wandered in the darkness of their sin.
There is rest at my table,
There is peace and joy within,
So compel them, compel them, compel them to come in.

And now the King of Heaven
plans the Supper of the Lamb.
We have a special
invitation from the Great I AM.
He bids us go to every creature,
Spread the Gospel word,
Go out into the highways to the ones
Who've never heard.

Oh, the highways and hedges are
so filled with lost and blind,
He said, "Go and bring as many
as ye find!"

Chorus
End (interlude) -- "compel them to come in…"

I so enjoyed this song because it reminded me of God’s love for the broken, wounded, fallen, and lost. It also reminded me of the job God has given every Christian—to go and preach the gospel to every creature. Truly our Lord is a good God!

“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse [your] hands, [ye] sinners; and purify [your] hearts, [ye] double minded.” James 4:8

To: My Sister’s Boyfriend

Greetings my dear sisters {and brothers} in Christ! I hope this finds you all well and growing in the peace, power, and love of our Lord Jesus Christ—He is a good and wonderful Lord!

Recently, I found out that I had a male reader. . .but not any male reader. .  .the boyfriend of my beloved and only sister. I could only smile with approval when I found out he read my blog and I could only chuckle when I heard him ask, “SO what’s up with all of this ‘dear sister’ stuff? What about your brethren?!” Hehe! I started Authentic Virtue hoping to find fellowship with like-minded Christian girls and also to be a blessing to my fellow sisters in Christ. I have had experience with delicate and special female topics and I have had experience with being a daughter of the Heavenly King, so why not combine the two? I never thought of having male readers. .  .I know so very little about them! :o) But Tom is right; Christian men are my brothers in Christ and it is my job to also be a blessing to them in a godly way. While I primarily write with girls in mind, I do hope to be a blessing to my brothers.

So, in honor of Tom opening my eyes to the “other side of the isle,” I would like to thank him for the ways he has been blessing our home lately. Perhaps this “thank you” can also encourage my fellow sisters in Christ to seek God’s highest concerning young men? And while seeking God’s highest, let us prepare ourselves and make ourselves worthy of a God-seeking young man. Furthermore, may we be able to accept God’s will, whether that be marriage or not, all the while preparing ourselves for our heavenly groom.  

 

TO: Mr. Tom--

Thank you for making my sister feel like a princess, thank you for making her cry tears of joy instead of tears of pain, thank you for reading your Bible daily, thank you for honoring your father’s wishes, thank you for being a good listener, thank you for seeking good relationships in your family, thank you for seeking a career, thank you for dancing with my sister, thank you for caring for the elderly, thank you for leaving your past and looking to Christ for your future, thank you for patiently dealing with a silly family, thank you for being friendly, thank you for praying for our family, thank you for having an excellent work ethic, thank you for reading my blog :) , thank you for showing my sister that there are men who truly love the Lord, thank you for being good natured, thank you for striving for godliness, thank you for honoring God’s call in my sister’s life, thank you for patiently dealing with a hurt family, thank you for befriending my brother, thank you for being courteous, thank you for praying with my sister.

Finally, thank you for loving and obeying Christ; that alone is the biggest blessing you could ever share with any one.

May the Lord bless your day!

Frannie