Monday, 20 November 2006

Dear Girls,

Emotional Purity — Part 1

A friend of mine wrote the following about emotional purity. What she says is brilliant:

Okay, I finally have a few minutes to sit down and share what’s on my heart regarding emotional purity. God has really taught me a lot in this area over the years. Many times the lessons have come from some hard circumstances, but they were always worth it.

One problem I’ve noticed in my life and in the lives of others in this area is that our tendency is to ignore any attractions we might have to the opposite sex. We tend to feel guilty, like it is wrong to have those attractions, and so our tendency is to stuff the feelings down inside and ignore that they’re there. We won’t admit it to ourselves or our parents, and thus we live our lives in insincerity.

The problem is, those feelings are bound to come out somehow. So rather than admitting the feelings to ourselves, our parents, and God, these feelings manifest themselves in immature ways. Usually by flirting or constantly talking about a certain guy every chance we get. They also come out by manipulating and contriving schemes to get the guy’s attention. We handle our feelings all wrong and it results in heartache.

Thus, I have found that attractions to the opposite sex are, in and of themselves, not sinful. We are not to be consumed with the idea that if we feel attracted to someone, we have failed in our spiritual walk with God. This only results in insincerity, deception, and a lack of focus on the love of God. So here is what I have found to be very freeing in this area of emotional purity:

Admit Your Feelings

Don’t try to pretend like they are not there. Recognize that you have an attraction. Any time we don’t admit feelings to ourselves it results in insincerity, which God hates.

Seek the Counsel of Your Authorities

Tell your parents or authorities how you feel and seek their counsel. I have found in the past that my mom always offers a fresh perspective to any situation I may be in, and she always encourages me in the way I should go.

Refocus Your Attention on Worshipping God

Worshipping God means loving Him with all our hearts, submitting to Him with our will, and knowing Him with our minds. Scripturally, there is absolutely nothing that matters more than worshipping God. We should be consumed with this and constantly live with an attitude of worship. When Christ comes again to set up His kingdom, all we will want do is worship. At that point we will be worshipping Him in the fullness that God intends for us to. (Revelation 7:15-17). But now, if we have accepted Christ, He lives in us so we are able to have a foretaste of the glorious time of worship that is to come (Colossians 1:27).

To me, the most relevant Biblical example of this is Abraham. In Genesis 15, God calls Abraham to feast upon His glory when He exclaims, "I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward." God was reminding Abraham of the first and greatest commandment, to love God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength (Matthew 22:37). He wanted Abraham to see that his treasure was not in his offspring, but rather in God Himself. The result was total submission to God. When it came time for God to ask Abraham to sacrifice Isaac on the altar, Abraham was ready. Why? Because he saw that God was his reward and because he was willing to do whatever it took to be in fellowship with God.

This is the same thing God is calling us to in our guy-girl relationships. He wants us to fall in love with Him. He wants us to be so consumed with Him that we are willing to count all things as loss that we might gain Christ (Philippians 3:7-11). He wants to see, not marriage or a certain person, but Him as our exceeding great reward. Unless we are totally satisfied in Him alone, we will not be content in our single years or our married years. We have to find that He is the only thing that will satisfy our lonely and hungry hearts. If we look for it in anything or anyone else, we will be utterly disappointed. In fact, the joy we receive from marriage should ultimately be because we are seeking God together with our husbands — that we are exalting and magnifying His name together (Psalm 34:3). This should be the driving force behind all our horizontal fellowship, whether with a husband or friends. We have to learn that our ultimate purpose in life is to bring glory to God by fulfilling the greatest commandment — loving Him with our whole beings.

This is emotional purity.

My friend’s name is Mandy Bearden. She was 21 when she wrote this and enjoys working on the computer, playing her Celtic harp and being with little children.

Heather Paulsen has written a great book on this subject called Emotional Purity. I sell this book and have it on special currently at NZD$20 including postage. For those of you in the USA, you can buy it for USD$12.00 plus postage from www.visionforum.com. This is a great book to share with your brothers, discuss with your parents and give to your friends.

For the Greater Glory of God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

Genevieve Smith

Issacharian Daughter

Notes:

I have sent this email to girls who have embraced a vision of victorious daughterhood as well as those who may be thinking about doing so (and even to some girls who may just like some encouragement regarding different areas of home life). Some of the girls are in the USA. Most are in New Zealand. You are welcome to forward this email on to others so long as you do so in its entirety. If you do not want to receive these emails please just send a return email to me stating that fact. If you know of other girls who would be encouraged by receiving these emails, feel free to forward the email to them or send me their email address.

Update on Betheder Modest Clothing

I now have a website up for Betheder Modest Clothing. http://www.freewebs.com/betheder/ I am slowly working on adding to the site, as well as getting a few pre-made items sewn, and available for sale.

At the moment, on the home-page, I have a web-poll as I would like to know what kinds of modest clothing everyone would most like to find available!

I do hope to be able to sell modest clothing for other girls wishing to sew modest clothing… I am yet to put any info about this on the website, but if anyone wants to be involved in this, please e-mail me! Also if you wish to be included in a mailing list for Betheder Modest Clothing, please e-mail me. bethederjoy-modestclothing@yahoo.com.au

Finally, if you know of anyone who is looking for modest clothing, please tell them about Betheder Modest Clothing!

Monday, 13 November 2006

Dear Girls,

Issacharian Daughters

In the previous newsletter an older woman shared how she learned to submit to her husband not just outwardly but also in her heart. A key part of the change in her life was encapsulated in this sentence:

As time progressed, I found myself thinking of times when my husband would have wanted me to wash my hands, and even though he hadn’t asked, I began to be obedient to what I knew was his will.

I would like to encourage all of us to study our fathers and mothers (or our husbands if we are married). Here is what I mean: Learn your father’s likes and dislikes. Listen to his instruction. Find out what his standards are. Observe how he behaves in various situations. Discover his will. Then use this knowledge to guide your behaviour.

When out shopping for clothing, you can now be guided by what you know your Dad would like or not like.

When your friends invite you somewhere, you can make a decision based on the certain knowledge of what your Dad would want you to do.

When you are thinking of reading a certain book or watching a certain movie, knowing your Dad’s standards will guide you as to whether to read it or watch it or not.

Studying somebody like this is a great deal of fun. It brings me such pleasure to think how much my Dad will like the garment I have just designed or to think how proud of me he will be when I tell him about the book I have just read, because I know he would approve of the garment or book. Surprising him with meals I know he will like or learning to make a dessert I know he enjoys is very gratifying. Coming up with schemes to please Dad is just plain ole fun!

Apart from the fun of it, there is another benefit: being guided by the will of our parents will keep us safe! It will strengthen us in times of temptation when we are away from our parents. Proverbs emphasizes the importance of listening to parents over and over again in such passages as: 

My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding;… Then you will understand the fear of the LORD,  And find the knowledge of God. Proverbs 2v1-5

Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, And give attention to know understanding; For I give you good doctrine: Do not forsake my law. When I was my father’s son, Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother, He also taught me, and said to me: “Let your heart retain my words; Keep my commands, and live”. Proverbs 4v1-4

My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh. Proverbs 4v20-22

So let’s remember to always ask, “What would my Dad (or Mum) want me to do?” or “Would this please him?” or “Would it bring him joy?”

For the Greater Glory of God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

Genevieve Smith

Issacharian Daughter

Notes:

I have sent this email to girls who have embraced a vision of victorious daughterhood as well as those who may be thinking about doing so (and even to some girls who may just like some encouragement regarding different areas of home life). Some of the girls are in the USA. Most are in New Zealand. You are welcome to forward this email on to others so long as you do so in its entirety. If you do not want to receive these emails please just send a return email to me stating that fact. If you know of other girls who would be encouraged by receiving these emails, feel free to forward the email to them or send me their email address.

Monday, 6 November 2006

Dear Girls,

Issacharian Daughters

Earlier this year I organised a Titus 2 party. I invited a number of older women and younger women to a dinner and discussion on the loving our husbands aspect of Titus 2v3-5. The older women came and taught and exhorted us younger women on this subject. It was a wonderful evening. One lady could not come but wrote something out to encourage us younger ladies. She is the mother of one of the girls who receives this email newsletter and agreed to let me include what she wrote in this Issacharian Daughters Newsletter. I am thrilled to be able to share it with you — some great teaching on loving our husbands and being submissive to them. From the North Island of New Zealand she writes:

It is in giving up ourselves that we gain so much more. How true are the words from Matthew 10v39, “He that loses his life for My sake shall find it.”

I come from a rebellious and self-centred background. Years of my marriage had been spent in outward submission while inwardly my heart was in rebellion. My seething pride robbed my actions of any virtue in God’s eyes. God doesn’t look at the outward appearance of submission, He looks at the heart. The Lord had been trying to teach me this in many areas of my life — the importance of heart attitude — when it all came together for me in the small matter of hand washing.

My husband is a fastidious hand washer, and I grew up in a family where such things weren’t an issue at all. For many years I would be offended when he asked me if I’d washed my hands or my feet (I go barefoot a lot). I would do lipservice to his wishes. When he asked me to wash I’d let a drop or two of water fall on my hands so they appeared to be damp, and showed evidence of having been washed despite not being the case. Why my pride held up over such a foolish matter I still cannot comprehend.

God began to reveal to me the deceitfulness of my heart. I found myself being convicted to be fully obedient rather than deceitful when my husband asked if I’d washed my hands. As time progressed I found myself thinking of times when my husband would have wanted me to wash my hands and even though he hadn’t asked I began to be obedient to what I knew was his will. Such a small area of my life and yet one which I firmly retained my will over. It has not been so difficult to resolve the bigger issues as the smaller ones in my particular walk. I seem to have struggled more with those sins that are seemingly insignificant, that no-one really notices.

My humble exhortation to you ladies (both wed and not yet wed) would be this: learn to yield every area of your heart to the Lordship of Christ. Seek to be faithful to Him even in the small things. Practice yielding your will, dying to self and practicing submission with the authorities in your life be it your husband, earthly father or perhaps brothers. I have found practicing these things to be much more testing than nodding agreement to the principle. Being submissive to a fallible human whom the Lord has placed in authority over me is a test of my obedience to the Lord’s command on my life. The faithfulness we exercise in this area is a reflection of the love we give our heavenly Lord and our earthly lord and husband.

The softening of my heart which has occurred as I have learnt to truly submit to my husband’s authority has been beautiful. The hard shell of protecting myself and my right to choose my own actions has broken. As a result of this I have found living water from the Lord afresh after many years of desert. Yet again I find that the purposes of God are for good in all things that He brings into our paths and if we will only trust Him and be faithful in our calling, He will direct our paths.

What an excellent exhortation for us girls!

For the Greater Glory of God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

Genevieve Smith

Issacharian Daughter

Notes:

I have sent this email to girls who have embraced a vision of victorious daughterhood as well as those who may be thinking about doing so (and even to some girls who may just like some encouragement regarding different areas of home life). Some of the girls are in the USA. Most are in New Zealand. You are welcome to forward this email on to others so long as you do so in its entirety. If you do not want to receive these emails please just send a return email to me stating that fact. If you know of other girls who would be encouraged by receiving these emails, feel free to forward the email to them or send me their email address.

Monday, 30 October 2006

Dear Girls,

Totally like whatever, you know? Part 2

The words we use and how we use our voices both say a lot about us. Have you seen girls who look lovely—they have taken care with their clothing, faces and hair—but when they start to speak they shatter the picture of beauty they had created with their harsh and grating or crude or low class manner of speaking? When we think of glorifying God as women and presenting an image of beautiful, virtuous womanhood we need to think of our clothing and our hair and our faces (makeup and expression) and also of our voices and our bearing and how we carry ourselves and act.

Have you seen the old movie Singing in the Rain? It is set at the time when talkies were just beginning to be made and is about an actress seeking to make the transition from silent movies to the talkies. She had been a very popular actress in silent movies. She was attractive and dramatic. But as soon as she began to talk the director realised he had a problem. Her voice was awful. It was whiny and high-pitched. Audiences just laughed at her. She was no longer the romantic heroine. Now she was just scorned. Her voice broke the illusion the costumes, set and lighting were all trying to create. So the director came up with a brilliant idea. He found a lady with a truly beautiful, soothing, gentle voice and had her speak while the other lady acted. The movie shows clearly how important our voices are.

I recently bought a book called Ethel Cotton’s Course in Conversation. It is a book which teaches you how to use your voice and points out things you should think about when speaking. It concentrates on four aspects of our voice in conversation:

· The ideas and topics we can bring into conversation. The book helps you compile lots of interesting things to include in conversation so that you can engage in and enjoy the high adventure of conversing with others.

· The vocabulary we use. Ethel Cotton teaches those using her course how to root out clichés and commonly used words such as those in the poem from the last newsletter(totally, like, whatever, you know?) and how to replace these with our own sayings and personalized vocabulary.

· The tone in our voice. We can train ourselves to avoid speaking in a nasal, emotionless, sarcastic, irritating way and learn to speak in a melodic, comforting, sweet and mellow way.

· Our diction. The book contains exercises to help us speak clearly and to enunciate each of our words.

You can get the book from amazon.com.

Let us think about the conversational topics, vocabulary, tone and diction we have and try to glorify God through edifying topics, a sterling vocabulary, a sweet tone and clear diction!

For the Greater Glory of God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

Genevieve Smith

Issacharian Daughter

Monday, 23 October 2006

Dear Girls,

Totally like whatever, you know? Part 1

In case you hadn’t noticed,
it has somehow become uncool
to sound like you know what you’re talking about?
Or believe strongly in what you’re saying?
Invisible question marks and parenthetical (you know?)’s
have been attaching themselves to the ends of our sentences?
Even when those sentences aren’t, like, questions? You know?

Declarative sentences – so-called
because they used to, like, DECLARE things to be true
as opposed to other things which were, like, not –
have been infected by a totally hip
and tragically cool interrogative tone? You know?
Like, don’t think I’m uncool just because I’ve noticed this;
this is just like the word on the street, you know?
It’s like what I’ve heard?
I have nothing personally invested in my own opinions, okay?
I’m just inviting you to join me in my uncertainty?

What has happened to our conviction?
Where are the limbs out on which we once walked?
Have they been, like, chopped down
with the rest of the rain forest?
Or do we have, like, nothing to say?
Has society become so, like, totally . . .
I mean absolutely . . . You know?
That we’ve just gotten to the point where it’s just, like . . .
whatever!

And so actually our disarticulation . . . ness
is just a clever sort of . . . thing
to disguise the fact that we’ve become
the most aggressively inarticulate generation
to come along since . . .
you know, a long, long time ago!

I entreat you, I implore you, I exhort you,
I challenge you: To speak with conviction.
To say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks
the determination with which you believe it.
Because contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker,
it is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY.
You have to speak with it, too.

By Taylor Mali

Why do you suppose (as the poem says) there is pressure out there against saying what you believe or declaring something or speaking with conviction?

If you speak with conviction you are declaring that you believe something to be true. This makes a lot of people uncomfortable because they don’t want to believe that there is any truth. If there is they would have to believe it. They’d rather just believe that we can each make up our own truths which would mean that we couldn’t speak strongly about our own truths since everyone was entitled to create truths for themselves. There is a belief out there like this. It is called relativism and comes from rejecting God.

As a Christian I believe in God. I speak with conviction about the things of God because I believe in the authority of Scripture. I believe that God is truth and that Scripture is true for all peoples, at all times, in all situations and that this is the case whether other people believe it or not.

Contrary to this pressure against speaking with certainty, how does God tell us to talk? What does the Bible say about the way we should speak?

And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Matthew 7v28-29

Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary says that “in New Testament times the scribes belonged to the sect of the Pharisees, who supplemented the ancient written law by their traditions (Matthew 23), thereby obscuring it and rendering it of none effect.” The scribes seemed to believe that they could make up their own truth. They didn’t speak with authority, and they were the public teachers at the time of Jesus’ ministry. No wonder the people were astonished at Jesus’ teaching. They weren’t used to hearing anyone speaking with authority. We should follow Jesus’ example and speak with authority: the authority of Scripture.

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” 2 Timothy 3:16

And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. 2 Timothy 2v24-26

If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4v11

As Christians, we are the only ones who can speak with authority, so let’s take advantage of this (!) remembering also to speak with gentleness and humility. We are the only ones who can speak with authority because we have the truth. That is to say, we speak with authority to the degree that what we say comes from Scripture, not simply because we are speaking as Christians. God’s Word, not ours, has authority. When we speak God’s Word, we speak with authority. So let us study Scripture so we can speak with increasing certainty and conviction the more we come to understand God’s Word.

For the Greater Glory of God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

Genevieve Smith

Issacharian Daughter