A Crown, A Kingdom, and A Throne

We each have a crown to gain. In Revelation 3:11 it clearly says, “Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.” This means that if we are faithful then we will receive a crown of righteousness which no one can take away from us. “Wow that's great, but I really don't think that will ever happen to me, I'm too sinful and have made too many mistakes,” you might say. Well now is the time to accept God's love and grace and begin to live a life for Him! If you don't start now what will become of you? Where will you end up? Trusting in God's strength to supply you is key. Without Him we have nothing to stand on. The world is like shifting sand and other people may fail us but God never fails. Don't think that you have to try to be perfect and righteous all on your own, I've tried that and it doesn't work. Instead now I rest on the Lord's promise, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Once you put your trust in Jesus, He will never let you go. There are people in the last days (read Revelation to understand more about this) who will go to God with the works they have done of their own merit and He will say to them, “Depart from me I never knew you.” We want to be those God knows and will reward for doing His Will. The only way to know God's will is to pray and read His Word, the Bible.
He also has a kingdom to give us. “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: ” (Matthew 25:34) We as children of God are entitled to this kingdom our Father has prepared to us, but before we can rule in this kingdom we need to mature in life with the Lord. It is like a child of a billionaire, the child rightfully owns everything of his father's but the father wants him to become mature and wise before giving him the inheritance otherwise everything would be lost. The child wouldn't know what to do with the father's billions, this is why the father teaches the child and skillfully parents him until he is fully mature and ready to gain the inheritance.
The third element we will inherit is a throne, once we become mature sons and daughters of God he will give us a throne in His kingdom. This means we will have authority over the nations and rule over them in the coming age. Revelation 3:21 “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
Now is the time, my friends! We must grow and mature in life so that we can reign with the Lord in Eternity.

The Importance of Being Baptized

      As you have probably read in one of my previous posts, I am a baptized believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Why is it so important to be baptized? Well here's why! Baptism symbolizes the death and burial of the old man and resurrection in newness of life in Jesus. “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” Romans 6:4.
      Who in the Bible got baptized you might wonder? Many people! John the Baptist baptized Jesus and then a dove representing the Holy Spirit came down from heaven and landed on Him (John 1:33). Lydia in the book of Acts was baptized with her whole house once she believed in the Lord (Acts 16:14-15). The Ethiopian Eunich was also baptized by Philip (Acts 8:36-38). There are many more accounts of baptisms in the Bible, these are just a few examples. 

      Some Christians believe that you can only be sprinkled with water and that is baptism, others believe in baptizing infants, and even others believe in baptism by immersion only after someone declares that Jesus is their Savior from their sins. I'm of the persuasion to believe in the final way of baptism – immersion. The reason I believe this is in the Greek, the word “baptism” actually means to be submerged in water according to Strong's Concordance of the Bible. It also paints a picture of having the old man buried and then resurrecting in newness of life with Christ. You may differ in your opinion but you are entitled to that! I don't condemn anyone for believing in a different form of baptism. My main concern is that you believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and that you become a baptized believer because that indicates to other believers, the world, and the hosts of angels that you are a child of the Living God. 

      One testimony I can relate to is that of Charles Spurgeon, a famous preacher. He compared his baptism to “crossing the Rubicon or burning the boats. No retreat was possible after that nor have I ever wanted to go back to the world from which I came out.” -- Spurgeon at his best, comp. Tom Carter (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1988) 20.

      I would encourage you, as a believer in Jesus Christ to be baptized by some elders in the church body which is local to you so that you can declare to the world that you have been saved by Jesus precious blood and now you walk in newness of life!
      “As believers we must never take baptism for granted, it's not only a responsibility, but also an icredible priviledge.” – Hank Hanegraaff

      Please feel free to comment on this post or write to me if you have any questions. Thanks for reading! God bless!

The Virtuous Woman of Proverbs 31

In this post I'd like to go into some details about the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31. The first thing that stands out to me about this woman is she is always busy! She's not “eating the bread of idleness” as another Proverb warns against. This doesn't mean we all have to become Miss or Misses Domesticated Perfectionist in order to be a virtuous woman. It does however mean, we shouldn't have time to do things like gossip or backbite. 
 
Another thing I notice about her is that even though she might have gone through struggles, she was an overcomer! We women can be overcomers today too because we are created for something better than anything this world has to offer. As it says in Revelations 12:11, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” This goes to show that our speech goes a long way into making or breaking our testimony. We might struggle in the area of arguing too much or gossiping but we can trust in the Lord's mercy and forgiveness. In Him we can be confident that there is nothing that can hold us back from overcoming any obstacle that stands in our way. 

Also the virtuous woman had a husband and children that praised her for how honorable she was. How nice would that be to have people actually recognize you for your honorable behavior! 

In the past I believe I had some misconceptions about the virtuous woman, I tended to believe that I had to be domesticated and prim and proper to be virtuous. I also thought I had to have a picture-perfect life to be virtuous, but that's not true either! Now I have learned that I can be a testimony in the workplace and be virtuous by my speech as well as my actions in that environment. Also in the church I can serve and at home I can build a healthy relationship with my husband. Sometimes we're led to believe that we have to compete with others for the top position of being more virtuous than someone else or more holy or more conservative than the next person. That's not true! We are all made different and God has created each of us for a purpose! That purpose is to serve Him, by serving and loving others. 

The world also has it's own interpretation of what we as women should be and look like, which sometimes can cause us to be confused and frustrated. In the world the perfect woman has excellent external features and is usually bold and proud. The Bible teaches though that appearance isn't everything, although it is important, don't get me wrong here. External is important but Eternal is what really counts! Focus on the future my friends, which includes your eternal home in heaven.

I like what Peter says in 1 Peter 5:5 “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for 'God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble. '” The first thing we should remember is to have love and humility, not be bold and proud. This doesn't mean you shouldn't have an opinion and stand for it, but there is a fine line as to how to present that. I have at least found this true in my own life.

The virtuous woman is also a good financial manager. She goes to great pains to make sure her family is provided for and even clothes her family in scarlet, a very rich material. Recently my husband and I have learned some valuable lessons in money management including how to have an emergency fund and get rid of debt. This has helped us have less contentions and we've been able to save and tithe more than we ever had been able to before. I'd suggest listening to the podcasts available from Dave Ramsey as he has some excellent pointers on how to manage money. 
 
So these are some of my thoughts on the virtuous woman, I may write more on this topic at some point but for now please feel free to comment or contact me with any questions or yes even suggestions! Thanks for reading and God bless you in your walk with Him!