The qualities of a good friend--or the lack thereof in a bad friend

Wow, I'm doing good, ain't I?? I've posted now for 3 weeks in a row! :D ;)

So today, I'm talking about friends. This is another lesson from our Sunday School class, so I can't claim this all as my own, but I thought it would be a good post.

Jumping right in. Proverbs 13:20 says: Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

This verse clearly says that if we hang out with wise people, the result is that we will become wise. If we hang out with foolish people, we will suffer harm. There is no middle ground here, a friend is either one or the other.


Lets see what Proverbs 22:24-25 says: Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.

In this verse, there is a progression. First, you are just a companion of this man. Then you start to learn his ways. And then you become entangled in a snare.    If you think about it, a snare works by luring unsuspecting animals into them. So, most of the time, we might be unsuspecting of the effects of the person we are hanging out with. We need to be vigilant and watchful, and not choose our friends if they will have a negative effect on us.

It is obvious from these verses that our friends have an effect on us.

Where do we see some examples of this in the Bible? Samson and Delilah in Judges 14-16. Samson married Delilah--a Philistine. She influenced him negatively, and slowly but surely, caused him to disobey God and break the covenant he had made with God. He suffered greatly because of his poor choice.    There is the example of God telling Israel not to make a pact with a foreign nation, because God knew they would have a negative effect on His people. We are told in the Bible that Israel disobeyed God, made a pact with this nation, and learned idol worship from them. Countless times they did this, and they were given into the hands of their enemies as a result of their sinful actions and disobedient, rebellious, poor choices.    There is the example of Solomon, the wisest man in history. He married foreign women who influenced him for evil, causing him to reject the One true God and follow after the gods of his wives. You can read of this in 1 Kings 11.

Proverbs 27:9 : Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.

Earnest--sincere, genuine, helpful in guidance and advice in the ways of God.  This is a quality of a good friend. One who is willing to genuinely point you back to God.

Romans 12:2 : Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern  what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Those who know Christ are transformed by His word and can discern what is good and bad.


So we see that our friends influence us, for evil or for good. But how do we choose a good friend? What are the qualities of a godly friend?  Well, lets see.

Romans 12:10 says this: Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.  

Quality #1. Love one another.

Romans 15:14: I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.

Quality #2. Instruct one another.

2 Corinthians 13:11: Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

Quality #3. Comfort one another.  If you read the verse above in the context of the chapter, you will see that it is in the context of restoration. This friend is not a person who comforts you in your sin and only tells you what you want to hear. That is not a good friend, and is one to be warned against.

Galatians 5:13: For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Quality #4. Serve one another.   A good friend will look past themselves and their own gain. They will serve with a sincere heart that desires the best for the other.

Galatians 6:2: Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Quality #5. Bear one another's burdens.   To bear means to divide the load between you, to assist them in carrying their burden.

Ephesians 4:32: Be kind to one another, forgiving one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Quality #6. Be kind to one another, and forgive one another.    Again, this is not selfishness. This friend is not looking to their own interest.

Colossians 3:9: Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with it's practices.

Quality #7. Do not lie to one another.   If a friend is a good, sincere one, they will not be lying about others, lying about you, or trying to deceive you.

1 Thessalonians 5:11: Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Quality #8. Encourage and build up one another.    This doesn't mean that we agree with the foolish. We encourage one another and build one another up in Christ and His ways.

1 Thessalonians 5:15: See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.

Quality #9. Do good to one another.   How do we know what good is? If we are believers in Christ, we have the Holy Spirit in us, and He will help us know what good to do in a situation.  There are two good things that are always appropriate for any situation, however. That is 1). Point them to Christ, and 2). Pray for them.  

James 5:9: Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.

Quality #10.  Do not grumble against one another.  You know what's in a friend's heart if they are continually grumbling about this or that.

James 5:16: Therefor, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Quality #11. Pray for one another.  This is one of the best things you can for a friend and they can do for you.

These are some of the Biblical qualities of a friend and brother or sister in Christ. Do the people that we hang out with and surround ourself with have these qualities? Are they influencing us for bad, or for good? Do we hang out with them because they are good influences on us and will do what they can to point us to Christ, or do we hang out with them just because they are fun to hang out with, even if they may have some really ungodly qualities--maybe no godly qualities at all?  

Secondarily, what kind of influence are you having on your friends?  Are you being a good, godly friend who does not look out for your own gain and interest, but rather for the good of others and the honoring of God?   It is easy to think, in this context, that we can hang out with people who have bad qualities--a person given to anger, a rebellious friend, etc.--because we can change them. It is true that we can have an influence on them, and we should be aware of that and seek to influence them for good. However, who we hang out with, also influences us.  The change is often subtle and we don't really realize it at first. So we also need to be aware of their influence on us. We may be able to befriend them to a degree and have a positive influence on them, but we need to be careful about how much time we spend with them.


What do you think about these things? What are some other qualities of a good friend that you can think of?

I hope you have a wonderful day!
Jewels 

Self-Esteem and the Bible

Hola mis amigos!   Well whadda ya know, I'm back within a week! Isn't that a surprise?

In Sunday school this morning, our teacher taught a really good lesson that I thought I would share with you.

Say you have two people. The first one looks in the mirror and says, "Oh, I'm so good-looking. I'm so athletic and talented, too. It's no wonder that everyone wants to be my friend; it's no wonder that I'm so popular. I'm just all around wonderful."

The second person looks in the mirror and says, "Oh, these braces make me look awful. It's no wonder that no one wants to be my friend. Even if I did have a friend I wouldn't know what to say to them. I never know what to say to people."

These two people have a few things in common, but I'll only mention one. Though their perceptions are different, they are both looking at themselves. There is a problem here, though. They are measuring based off of how they see themselves, and what they believe others think about them.  This is dealing with something called self-esteem.   Here's a formal definition: Self-esteem: confidence in one's own worth or abilities; self-respect.   
The person in our first example has a high self-esteem. The person in our second example has a low self-esteem.  Our world today tells us that we need to think highly of ourself, we need to have a high regard for our character and abilities. 'Our self-esteem comes from within,' they say, 'and is not dependent on others around us.' Even some so-called-pastors preach this fake gospel: that all we need to do is think highly of ourself and not let others determine what we think, we just need lots of confidence in ourself and then everything will go good and we will get what we want and be happy. It doesn't work that way, guys, just saying.

So this is what the world is telling us. As Christians, is this the way we should view ourselves?    No. We need to look at the truth of the Bible. We need to see ourselves through God's eyes, with His perception.

Genesis 1:26-27 says this: 'Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image ['our' meaning the Trinity--God, three in one], in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female, he created them.'
Truth number one: I have been created by God in His Image.    Because of this, you are more valuable than rocks, than animals, than galaxies--humans are of more value than anything else God has created, because He created us alone in His Image, and nothing else.  This also says that we do not determine our worth. Neither do the people around us.  It is God who has determined our worth by creating us in His Image. This also tells us that our worth is not based on our physical abilities or appearances. Because every human being has been created in the Image of God, that means that our worth is in God, and the fastest runner in the world is just as valuable as the person who cannot run at all. This means that the little baby inside a mothers womb, is of equal value as you and I despite their size and form, because they are made in the Image of God, and no one has a right to destroy them, any more than they do to kill the human being that is walking in front of them.

With this truth revealed, it is easy to think that, because we are His Image bearers, we are on an equal plane with God. Is this your thought process? Read on.

Acts 17:24-25 says: 'The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything. Rather, He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.'
Truth number two: I am totally dependent on God for everything.   For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? This is what 1 Corinthians 4:7 says. All we have is given to us by God. Therefore, even though we are made in His Image, we are not God.  There is no ground for boasting, here. There is no room for confidence in ourselves, or thinking highly of ourselves, as if we could give ourselves anything. Here is a quote from A.W. Pink: He who cannot do what he will and perform all his pleasure cannot be God.

Lets see what 1 Corinthians 10:31 says: 'So wether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.'
Truth number three: I have been created to glorify God.    This is my purpose in life: to point back to Him.  Glorify means to assign to God due honor and respect. To demonstrate His greatness and worth and point it back to Him. To make much of Him. To honor Him.  We exist for God, not God, for us. He should be the center of our universe.

Romans 3:23 says this: 'For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.'
Truth number four: I have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.    Our purpose in life is to glorify God, yet we fall short of that glory. We are totally imperfect. We, as God's Image bearers, are supposed to reflect Him, yet most often we reflect ourself. We think about ourselves the most. We are supposed to put God at the center of our universe, yet most of the time we put ourself at the center of our universe.    We fall short of God's glory.

Romans 6:23: 'For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.'
Truth number five: I deserve God's condemnation.     It's simple. The wages of sin is death, it says that right here. The online definition of sin is this: Sin: An immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law. We just saw a moment ago in 1 Corinthians 10:31, that God commands us to glorify Him in everything that we do. Have you been successful in that? I sure haven't, and I'm pretty sure you've 'transgressed against that Divine Law', too. By definition, we deserve God's condemnation--spiritual death.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That's what Romans 5:6-8 says. This is the Good News, guys. We deserve condemnation. But Jesus Christ, our only hope, died for us to take the penalty for sin from us, and rose from the dead to declare that it was complete and justice satisfied. Our value is in Christ.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation. Old things have passed away, behold all things have become new-1 Corinthians 5:17.  A new self is the reality of anyone who is in Christ. Our value is in the person of Christ.

What were the two people in our beginning examples missing? In three letters: God. More specifically, they were measuring themselves based on their own perception, and the perception of those around them, rather than measuring themselves through God's eyes and through the truths that His word tells us. They are both of equal value because each of them were made in the Image of God, and have been so loved that God left His throne above and came to earth to die for each of them. One of them is not more valued because he/she is is more popular and good-looking and talented, and the other not less valuable because he/she has braces and is socially awkward.

Is this the way you see yourself? Perhaps you are guilty of all or part of what the person in each scenario was thinking about themselves. I am guilty of it. It was a challenge to me, today, to hear these truths, to see myself as having worth because of the fact that God created me in His Image, and yet be shown the side that leaves no room for my ugly pride in the facts that I am dependent on God for everything, my purpose is to glorify Him, yet I fall short of that purpose and deserve God's condemnation. But, that, again, Christ has died for me, releasing me from His just condemnation.
You see, it's all God.  Everything points back to Him. I can't go around boasting about myself, because I am of equal value as everyone else--no more valuable--and at the same time, I can't go around getting down on myself and saying I am worthless, because I was created in God's Image, and am just as valuable as everyone else--no less. I can't go around boasting about my goodness and righteousness or talents, because first of all, I have failed my purpose in life, and second of all, because everything I am able to do, is given to me by God Himself.  I have failed my purpose in life, but, glory to God! He has redeemed me and given me a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.  You see, all glory has to go back to Him. I can take no credit, and I can't live my life in pride. Hopefully this mindset would lead to a life of sincere service to Him.

It still amazes me every time I can see an individual snowflake like this. I mean, the things are SO tiny, and yet God created each of them so distinct and unique from each other!

Tomorrow when we wake up, lets start our day by looking to the Creator, not the creation.

Blessings,
Jewels <3

Open your eyes, the harvest is ripe!

Well, hello there!  Thought I ditched the blog? Nope, not quite :D

"Don't you have a saying, 'It's four months until harvest'?  I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest." This is what Jesus said to His disciples just after His encounter with the Woman at the Well. You know, where He, a Jew, met a Samaritan outcast woman at a well in Samaria, and told her 'all that ever she did.'  While she was gone, telling the townspeople about this Man who called Himself the Christ who was now at the well, the disciples urged Jesus to eat, and He told them that He had food that His disciples didn't know about.  "My food," Jesus says, "Is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work." That's when he asks them about their saying and tells them that the fields are already ripe for harvest. Of course, we interpret this to not mean a physical harvest of crops, as in Jesus saying, "Open your eyes and look! That wheat field over there is ready for harvest!" Or "The olives in that grove can be harvested today!" But rather a 'harvest of the souls', you might say. That sounds kind of strange; I just made it up. But I mean, as far as I understand it, Jesus is talking about a spiritual harvest.    

He says later, (this recorded in Matthew 9:37-38) "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest."   You see, He's talking about the spiritual harvest, the bringing of souls into His Kingdom.  He is saying that there are plenty of souls around us, ready to hear His glorious gospel, and be saved. But there is not enough workers to harvest those souls and every day, people are dying without hearing about Him.    

Of course, this is a lesson to us, a reminder that we should be doing what we can now, by God's grace, to advance His Kingdom--that there are opportunities, and people longing, needing, waiting to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we need to take those opportunities to share the gospel as God directs us.   

Now, here's a different thought, though. This is something that hit me some time ago as I was reading this verse.  Think about this: As young people (and maybe you're not young; that's fine),  sometimes we tend to think, 'Oh, I'll get serious about my faith when I'm older.' Or, 'I'll be so faithful to God when I grow up, but now...well, it's okay to be a little slack now,' or 'I'll follow God's lead when I get older.'    Do you ever, even subtly, think like this?  I have before.  It's kind of what our culture tells us, too.  Nowadays, people don't expect the younger generations to be responsible or leaders or mature. And they brush off that disturbing fact with the thought, 'Oh, they're just young. Let them enjoy the pleasures of youth while they can.'    But what if we took John 4:35, the "Don't you have a saying?" verse, and thought about it like this: 'Don't you say you don't need to do it until you get older? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest-the time to do it is now.'   

 What if we said, "Yes, the world says, and Satan tells me, that I can wait until I'm older to be serious about what God tells me to do--after all, I am just a youngin. But Jesus says that the time to live and be serious is now, so I'm going to follow Him now."    God's commands are not just for adults. His commands are for all Christians, young and old alike. We do not need to wait to do what He says, or draw close to Him, or be a leader, or serve His Body. We do not need to wait until we are older to be an example through our words and deeds. We do not need to wait until we are older to proclaim His gospel.  The harvest is ready now. It may be too late later.

Jewels

Haaappy New Year!!

Hey everyone! I'm back! (I just thought I'd sneak in another post here before 2017).

HAAAPPPY NEW YEAR!!
I hope your 2016 was filled with plenty of growth, memories, adventures and blessings, and that your 2017 will be even more so--in fact I hope it's your best year yet <3
I hope that you can look back on this year and see God's hand at work, see His faithfulness, see His blessings and love poured upon you even when you didn't see it then, and I hope you can go into this next year with confidence that He will do it again, and look forward to the new adventure He will take you on--or a new chapter of your current adventure, anyway :D

Thanks for reading my blog even though I seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth for a few months :D (actually, I didn't, I was just really busy.)

I know I say this every time, but I hope to get some more posts out there soon if possible. Did you realize that while I was gone, this blog had it's one year anniversary? Like, whaaaat?

Anyway, again, Happy 2016 past and Happy 2017 current! May the Lord's blessings be poured on you this year <3

Jewels <3

Allison's Giveaway

Hello everyone!
I just discovered Allison's blog, a farm girl's life. And I just saw that she is having a giveaway to celebrate 1190 followers! [that's a lot, ain't it? :) ]
Here it is:

I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE IT, GUYSSSS! 1,000 FOLLOWERS! EXCEPT BECAUSE I TOOK SO LONG TO POST THIS, NOW IT’S 1,190 FOLLOWERS!!! OH MY GOODNESSSSSSSS! Just think… before being featured on WordPress Discover, I had
150 followers. That’s really pretty great! And now…. *GASP* It’s simply amazing.

Thank you all soooooo, so much! You guys are one of my top favorite parts of blogging. ♥ I’ve met Clara, Grace, Hayley, K. A., Misty, Rebekah, Josie and so many more lovely girls through blogging. I love you! ♥

In celebration of this momentous moment in my blog’s life, I’m hosting a giveaway (in case you haven’t noticed).

» The Prize «

 The prize will include two things:

1. A miniature garden kit to make a garden similar to this one. This includes the following:

• 1 glass terrarium globe
• A mini-bag of soft, green, dried moss
• A mini-bag of blue glass pebbles
• 3 clay succulents (made by me)
• 1 clay mushroom (made by me)
• 1 shiny, marbled clay stone (made by me)
• Plus a few other tidbits I might throw in

2. Your choice of one of the following coupons for my Etsy shop:

• 30% off any item
• Free shipping on any item

» How to Enter «

• If you are under 18, please get a parent’s permission before entering this giveaway.
• I will need your email address and/or your address so I can notify you and give you the prizes. But of course I will NOT share either of those – they’re safe with me.
• To enter, comment saying you would like to enter (well duh), and include a bible verse, quote, or riddle (or all of the above) that you like.
• NOTE: This giveaway is only open to my readers living in the United States. I’m so sorry about that, but shipping gets complicated (not to mention expensive) otherwise.

» To Collect Extra Entries… «

• Take my survey to collect one extra entry – but please take it only if you actually read my blog or it won’t help me much. (By the way, this is a new survey, so none of you have taken it yet as far as I know.)
• Share this post on Pinterest or social media to collect one extra entry. (NOTE: You may share this post as many times as you like, but you still will only get one extra entry.)
• Share any other post from my blog on Pinterest or social media to get one extra entry. Please pick a post you actually like instead of randomly sharing any post. (Again, only the first share will give you an extra entry, but I’m ecstatic if you want to share more! )

»When Will This Giveaway Close?«

• This giveaway will close October 28th at 12:00 am, ET. You have only two weeks!
• On October the 29th I will announce the winner. I’ll also add the bible verse, quote, or riddle they included with their entry, as well as my favorites from the rest of the participants – just to add a little extra fun.

AAAAHHH THIS IS SO EXCITING! Thank you guys once again for reading my blog. ♥

What do you think? I say, go check it out! Of course the entering happens on Allison's blog, so go check it out:   https://afarmgirlslife.wordpress.com/2016/10/14/1000-followers-giveaway/comment-page-1/#comment-8562 And hurry up because the giveaway ends soon!

Guys, I'm SOOO close to being done with another real post! (Why does it take me so long to finish and publish one? Procrastination! Okay, it's also attributed to busy life. But also procrastination.) Anyway, hopefully you'll be seeing another post soon and very soon!

Blessings,

Jewels <3

Christ's suffering

And I'm back again! 

When you think of Christ and what He did for us on the cross, what do you think of? Usually the suffering He went through, the pain and agony He suffered on our behalf. But don't you usually focus on the physical pain of the cross? The physical torture that He endured? There are many other people who have suffered this physical pain, so what makes Christ's suffering so different, aside from the fact that He was undeserving of it? 

In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus Christ cried out to His Father, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt." And, "O my Father, if this cup many not pass away from me, except I drink it, Thy will be done." 
In essence, "Father if there is any other way than the cross, let it be done that way." What was it that Christ was dreading? Was it the physical pain that was coming? Was it the shame, shock, and humiliation that the death on a criminal's cross was designed to bring? I am quite sure that He was dreading that to and extent--He was fully God, yet fully human, and it is natural for a human to not look forward to pain and suffering. But there was something different that He was dreading. Experiencing the punishment of sin. What is the punishment of sin? The wrath of God. The turning of the face of God from extending the arm of mercy. The inflicting of an eternity of His full judgement. If Jesus Christ was taking the punishment of all of our sin upon His shoulders, this is what He must experience.

On the cross, Jesus suffered all of these things--the wrath of God, the turning of His face from extending the arm of mercy, the inflicting of an eternity of God's full judgement--the equivalent, of what the necessary punishment was for the sin of all human beings--along with the physical pain and torture that comes with death on a cross, all in just a few hours. Imagine an eternity's worth of judgement for every sinner in the entire world, past present and future, being inflicted on you in the span of just a few hours?  When He cried in agony, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" He was experiencing God the righteous Judge. Someone mentioned that up until that point, Jesus had always spoken of God as His Father. Now, He refers to Him instead as God.  He is experiencing the wrath of a holy and just God. 

But isn't this cruel? you ask.  God the Father willingly and actively delivered up His only begotten Son to endure the punishment of sin.  Cruel? Yes, that's what first comes to my mind when I think about this.  But lets step back and consider the situation from both perspectives--that of the Father, and that of the Son.

Think of the Father. His only begotten Son, a Son who is perfect, whom He loves more that you and I could ever imagine. He loves Him more that Abraham loved Isaac. More than Rebecca loved Jacob. More than Jacob loved Joseph and Benjamin. More than even Mary could have loved her own Son, Jesus in the flesh. We don't have the capacity to love as the Father loves. We simply don't. And God the Father loved His Son more than anything. I think it's safe to assume it grieved Him to think about delivering up His Son to be crucified and to endure the torment of His own righteous and just fury that was destined for all the inhabitants of the world because of their sin. If you had a child that you loved as much as He, it would be by no means an easy or simple thing to deliver up that child to be hurt and shamed and humiliated. It would likely be the hardest thing you ever did in your life. Your heart would cry in love, 'No! don't let it be!' But because God the Father had someone else in mind--filthy, rebellious, disobedient, wicked, evil little sinners called You and Me--because He loved those filthy little sinners so much, He was willing to do it. He loved You and Me so much, rebellious and sinful and wicked as we are, that He couldn't bear to see us have to endure the punishment that we deserved, so, being a Righteous Judge who cannot leave sin unpunished, He made a plan to relieve that debt. The payment of the debt included the inflicting of God's wrath on a perfect, sinless person, and that person was Jesus Christ. It was the only way. And God the Father was willing, on our behalf, to deliver up His only Son whom He loved, to be the payment for our sin, to endure the full torment of His wrath in place of us. So that we don't have to experience that righteous wrath and fury that we deserve. 

Now, let's think about the Son's perspective. After considering the perspective of the Father, it makes it a little easier to understand, but it would still seem cruel if the Father delivered up His Son without His Son's consent or agreement to the plan. "Easy for the Father to do," we think. "He's not the one experiencing the pain." What if Christ didn't want to endure the punishment of our sins? I am quite sure that He didn't want to, either. I am quite sure that He thought of the punishment with extreme dread and trepidation. No one in their right minds would enjoy that wrath of God. Would it be safe to say, even though He is God and not merely human, that God the Son did not look forward to being the payment for our sins? Yet He, too had someone else in mind. Those filthy, rebellious, disobedient, wicked, evil little sinners called You and I. And because He saw us even while we were still in rebellion and sin, and He loved us so much that He couldn't bear to see us wretches experience the wrath of His holy and just Father, He willingly gave Himself up to the Father, to be delivered up, taken from His glory and relocated to a filthy, wicked earth, to live among and be rejected and mocked and shamed and spit upon and persecuted by the filthy little wretches He had come to save, all His life, to go to the cross and be mocked and shamed and spit upon and beat some more,  and then experience the torment of the full wrath of God as punishment for, not His sins, but the sins of all the people of the world, people who even now spit upon Him and laid the whip to His sides and nailed His hands to the cross and mocked Him and placed a crown of thorns upon His head and tore His clothes from Him. He was dying for these people. Not because we deserve His love and forgiveness by ANY MEANS WHATSOEVER. We deserve the  full wrath of God, inflicted upon us for an eternity of eternities. But because He loved us. Don't ask me why. There isn't an answer. He simply loved us with the love He has that is unexplainable. 

So, there. After considering both perspectives, what do you think now? God the Father did not give up His Son because He didn't love Him, He did it because He loved us SO much, that He was willing to deliver His Son up and inflict the judgement on Him, because there was no other way. Jesus Christ is the only perfect One who has ever lived and ever will live on this earth.  And God the Son wasn't forced to go to the cross; I'm sure He didn't look forward to it, but He did it because He also loved us SO much, that He was willing to deliver Himself up to the Father's hands to become the payment for our sins.  Does that make a difference in how we view Christ at the cross? 

"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" ~Romans 8:31-32 

*And, by 'all things', this verse does not mean a luxurious house and wealth and everything you could want.  Those are things material. This means things that are eternal. It means, if God has not even withheld His own Son, but has delivered Him up to be crucified, what else would He not do for us? It's like a boss saying to his employee, "We have decided that we want to bestow you with a great gift. We are going to pay for you to fly to any place in the world, no matter how expensive it is, and we are going to pay for all your expenses--your food and lodging and anything you would like to do or buy while you are there." And then, after expressing his gratitude over and over again, with tears of joy, the employee asks for a tissue and the boss denies it to him. If God has done so much as to give His own Son, is He not also going to provide for us our daily needs and be faithful to grow us into the likeness of His Son, be with us through everything and bring us home to glory when we have been laid to our rest? These things are trivial in comparison. Just wanted to clarify :)

Now, as you go about your day--or night for that matter--think of the suffering of Christ in a new light. Not just the physical pain He endured--the nail pierced hands and feet, the lashes, the crown of thorns, the shame, shock and humiliation. Think also of what He endured more than that. The torture of all the wrath of God designed for every sinner that ever lived, inflicted upon Him in a matter of three hours.  And He did that willingly. For you. You may not think that you are wicked. But you are. Trust me, you are. 

Blessings,

Julia <3

A tennis racket and baby chicks

Heyllo everyone!

Maybe you remember me saying in this post that Britt from Ranch Life Site has been hosting a challenge on her blog every month. Last month it was on Summer Skies, and this month it is on editing. So, here is what I am entering:

Before editing

After editing. 

What do you think of these? Do you think that the editing makes it a better looking picture?

We had five baby chicks just hatch, too! Four golden yellow--two of which have a brown spot on their head--and one black one with a little bit of yellowish-brown fuzz around it's face. They are really cute and fluffy :)

Here are some pictures--maybe not as good as they could be, because our camera is on vacation, but still, you get the picture ;^) :)

All of them together :) Does anyone else get a beautiful picture of adoption?

This is Hazelnut. It is the baby of the family. Well.....They're all babies, but he/she is the baby of the babies.

Hazelnut seems to have a large inclination to sleep :) 

This here is Lemon. She is second born.

These two are Dotty (on the left; Dotty on account of the little brown spot on his/her head; Dotty is also the firstborn), and Lemon (on the right).

The other one with the brown spot on it's head is named Zip, and the other all gold/yellow chick is named Sunshine.  Anyway, it's fun to be baby animal grandparents again :) While the actual hen, Bubblegum, did all the work of sitting on the eggs and keeping them the right temperature for 21 days, we were the ones that made sure her nest was secure of predators, and took her out to get some food and water every evening like she needed to--she couldn't quite seem to figure out how to get out of her cage thingy-ma-bobber. So we sort of feel like the grandparents to them or something. Twice duckling grandparents, now chick grandparents :) 

So, now you've seen our most recent farm additions. I hope you enjoyed seeing them as much as we love watching and holding them!

"Wise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction." ~Proverbs 10:14

Blessings,

Julia <3