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The Great Pearl

Matthew 13:45-46

"Again the kingdom of heaven is like a man who is a dealer in search of fine and precious pearls, who, on finding a single pearl of great price, went and sold all he had and bought it." (AMP)

The formation of a natural pearl begins when a foreign substance slips into the oyster between the mantle and the shell, which irritate­s the mantle. It's kind of like the oyster getting a splinter. The oyster's natural reaction is to cover up that irritant to protect itself. The man­tle covers the irritant with layers of the same nacre substance that is used to create the shell. This eventually forms a pearl.

Other interesting facts of the pearl:

-  The pearl is formed from all types of junk.  Pieces of sand, bone fragments from dead fish, etc.

- After irritant lodges itself inside the oyster, it can take the creature up to 3 years to produce the pearl.

-  The pearl grows hidden inside the oyster under the water, where no one can see it happen.

-  One of the outstanding qualities of the pearl is its ability to reflect light.  The luster of a pearl, or the lack thereof, can dramatically affect its value!

#word

God, may the pearl that you want to form in us be without hindrance and as much as possible that we will let You to determine the amount of irritants in our lives (even when that irritant is ourselves). Let Your steadfast love and Word be that mantle which cover those irritants. It is easier said than done, but at the end of the day, may the pearl reflect Your light and be of great value to those who do not know You...and they too, will see the pearl of great price and sell all that they have.

Source: http://www.sermonnotebook.org/new%20testament/Matt%2013_45-46.htm

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I am going to listen to God’s opinion of me, and let Him reprogram me until His loving estimate of me becomes a part of my life, right down to my innermost feelings.

David A. Seamands

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United Pursuit - Hidden (ft. Will Reagan)

I want to seek you first I want to love you more I want to give you the honor you deserve So I bow before you I am overcome by the beauty of this perfect love

Now I am hidden In the safety of your love I trust your heart and your intentions Trust you completely I’m listening intently You’ll guide me through these many shadows

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Keeping Christ at the center

(for all ladies out there - whether you are single, attached, or married)

by Leslie Ludy

| July 1, 2013

If you’ve read any of my books, you know that my message is all about making Christ the focus of your entire existence.  This principle isn’t just to be lived out in theory – but in practical, day-to-day life. I can honestly say that making Christ my first love was the reason that my love story with Eric worked. Over the years I’ve seen many young Christians attempt to build a God-honoring relationship without a vibrant walk with Christ backing it up. Every time, it falls apart. Without an active, daily, living, breathing, passionate relationship with Christ, it’s nothing more than human wisdom and human effort attempting to reach the heights of Heavenly romance. Without the power of Christ’s Spirit, it simply can’t be done. When I think about the early days of my love story with Eric, I don’t just remember the wonder of falling in love and the beauty of discovering Eric’s heart. Rather, I vividly remember falling in love with Jesus Christ and basking in the beauty of a romance with Him – a romance that was enhanced, not diminished, by my love story with Eric.  

When my relationship with Eric began, everyone expected us to start living out the typical “boyfriend/girlfriend” pattern – becoming completely preoccupied with each other, spending every waking moment of our spare time together, expressing our physical affection for each other, and letting the focus of our thoughts and conversation be about our passionate feelings for each other. But we knew that God wanted something different for us. He wanted to remain at the center of our relationship – not just in theory, but in reality. We realized that if we started focusing on our feelings for each other rather than our mutual passion for Christ, we would push Him to the outside of our romance. So we entrusted our emotions to God. We asked Him to guard our hearts and not unlock passion for each other until the proper time.  

In the meantime, we agreed to keep our conversation, focus, and energy centered upon Jesus Christ and not each other. To most people, it seemed strange. Here we were, a young couple in a serious relationship with the intention of getting married someday – and we didn’t even act like we were dating. We didn’t hold hands. We didn’t kiss. We didn’t sit close together on the couch and whisper into each other’s ear. We didn’t have long, ardent phone conversations. We didn’t talk about our feelings for each other. We didn’t say “I love you.” People who hadn’t been directly told that there was something between us often didn’t even realize we were a couple. We didn’t spend time cuddling or gazing into each other’s eyes.

Instead, we encouraged each other to pursue more of Christ. We read Christian biographies and talked about how they impacted our lives. We shared stories of how God was working in our lives and what He was teaching us. We prayed for each other. We prayed together for people in our lives. We shared Scripture with each other. We supported each other in the individual ministry steps God challenged us to take. We joined our church community and family in doing outreaches. Eric spent several months away at missionary school  - we talked on the phone about once a week and wrote each other letters of spiritual encouragement (this was before the days of email and cell phones, if you can believe it!)

I am well aware that the way Eric and I built our relationship seems out-dated, restrictive and unromantic to many. But I want to tell you unequivocally that it was like a dream-come-true. Just think about what makes a Jane Austen romance so appealing. It’s the slow, delicate process of one heart opening to another. In old-fashioned love stories you don’t carelessly fling your mind, emotions, and body upon someone the moment that they say they like you. In fairy tales, you don’t go from zero to sixty in seconds. Rather, you savor each conversation, carefully weigh each word, and patiently wait months or years before you finally win the priceless treasure of the other person’s heart. Modern romances are sadly lacking in the dignity, nobility, and honor that was prevalent in the days of “knights and fair maidens.” The only way to gain the dignity and nobility that our feminine hearts crave is to carefully protect the sacred things, no matter how strange or old-fashioned they might seem.

Instead of spending mindless hours on the phone with Eric every night, I waited with eager anticipation for his once-a-week call from the payphone outside his missionary school. Every word was savored. We didn’t waste time talking about meaningless things. We cherished every moment and counted every conversation as significant. It was a thousand times more special and romantic because we only talked once a week. Instead of exchanging quick, shallow emails every day, we took the time to write long, thoughtful letters to each other. I still love to look through the box of letters that we wrote to each other during those years. It reminds me of a Jane Austen novel. I look at the carefully scripted, thoughtful words and remember the delicate way our hearts opened to each other. It was a thousand times more romantic and dignified than mindless emails or text messages.

This is not to say that you can’t have the “Jane Austen magic” if you choose to use email or cell phones in your love story! The principle that makes the fairy-tale spirit come alive is keeping sacred things sacred. Rather than allowing your communication with the other person to be careless and haphazard, allow God’s Spirit to make every conversation, letter, email and phone-call purposeful, thoughtful, and Christ-centered.

Because we were committed to keeping Jesus Christ at the center of our conversations, phone calls, and letters, we were able to build a strong spiritual foundation for our relationship. All too many love stories that start out with a spiritual focus speedily shift to an emotion-led whirlwind. Once you allow your emotions to lead the way, spiritual things quickly get squeezed into the background. But when you build your communication and interaction around the things of God, your hearts are knit together in Him. As you draw closer to Christ, you naturally draw closer to each other – but in a healthy, beautiful, Christ-led process rather than a lightening-speed human-led emotional roller coaster ride. As you make decisions about how to build your romance, don’t take your cues from the rest of the world.  Just because other “Christian” relationships look a certain way doesn’t mean yours should. As I said, when Eric and I built our relationship, it appeared strange, extreme, unnecessary, and even legalistic to others. But as we followed the lead of God’s Spirit rather than the trends of culture, we found a taste of Heaven on earth.  

Don’t be afraid of putting physical distance between yourself and your future husband. People often feel a pressure to be together on a continual basis during a blossoming romance – thinking that it might “fall apart” if they are not around each other twenty-four seven. But if God wants your relationship to stay together, it will remain strong no matter how many miles, months or years separate you from each other. I believe that being geographically separated from Eric during the majority of our love story was a huge factor in keeping our focus on Christ rather than each other, and in keeping the “magic and mystery” alive throughout the entire process. Take some time to prayerfully consider putting distance between you and your significant other in order to cultivate a Spirit-led, Christ-focused love story. It’s a great way to freshly surrender the relationship back to Christ and make sure that He is always honored above your human emotions and desires.

Often love stories that begin as God-scripted fairy tales can morph into human-led emotional flings. This happens whenever Jesus Christ is removed from His rightful position as the first and foremost love of your life. Be on guard against losing your own individual relationship with Christ as your love story is unfolding. While it’s certainly important to think and pray about your love story, don’t allow all of your thoughts, journal entries and prayers to center around the guy you are falling in love with. Rather, cultivate your individual intimacy with Christ – apart from the relationship that is forming. Meditate upon His character, listen to His voice, study His Word, and make plenty of time for heartfelt worship. As young women, it’s easy to transfer our affection for Christ onto our future husband--to lose our spiritual vitality as we become caught up in the drama and emotion of a human romance. But unless Jesus Christ remains our first love, we will always be looking to a mere human to meet the deepest needs in our heart – and we’ll always be disappointed, because they are needs that only Christ can meet.  

Your romance with Christ is not supposed to be a “stand in” until you finally meet the man you’ll marry. Rather, your romance with Christ is meant to be the lifelong passion of your heart and soul. Your earthly love story should pale in comparison to your love story with Christ – not just during your single years, but every day for the rest of your life. And if it ever comes down to a choice between Christ and your future husband – Jesus Christ must always come first. In my book Set Apart Femininity I wrote about one of my heroes, Sabina Wurmbrand, who was willing to be separated from her husband and son for ten years, suffering unspeakable tortures and heartache, in order to protect the name of Christ. Sabina loved her husband – but she loved Jesus Christ more. This is what it means, in practical terms, to make our King the first and foremost love of our heart. He tells us:

If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:26)

A God-scripted earthy love story is a beautiful thing. But if it ever usurps Christ’s position in your heart and life, it becomes an “idol” that must be removed. Nothing is worth sacrificing our relationship with the true Lover of our soul.

Even now, after many years of marriage to Eric, I must constantly remember that my husband is not to be the focal point of my existence – Jesus Christ is.  Eric is not to be the one who brings the deepest fulfillment, comfort, security, and joy to my soul – Jesus Christ is. To keep our marriage alive and beautiful – both of us must vigilantly guard our individual romance with Christ.  When He is at the center, everything else falls perfectly into place.

https://setapartgirl.com/magazine/article/07-1-13/building-god-written-love-story

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They were never hurried; they did comparatively few things, and these not necessarily striking or important; and they troubled very little about their influence. Yet they always seemed to hit the mark; every bit of their life told; their simplest actions had a distinction, an exquisiteness which suggested the artist. The reason is not far to seek. Their sainthood lay in their habit of referring the smallest actions to God. They lived in God; they acted from a pure motive of love towards God. They were as free from self-regard as from slavery to the good opinion of others.

Bridget Herman (Excerpt From: MacDonald, Gordon. “Ordering Your Private World)

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We need to let go of our intellectual idea of worship and realize there is more to worship than a sermon; we have to let go of our evangelistic notion of worship and reckon with the fact that worship is not primarily directed toward the sinners who need to be converted; we must let go of our entertainment expectations and remind ourselves that we are not in church to watch a Christian variety show. We have gathered together in worship to be met by God the Almighty. God, the Creator of the universe, the One who sustains our lives, our Redeemer and King, is present through proclamation and remembrance. He wants to communicate to us, to penetrate our inner self, to take up residence within us. And, as we go through the experience of meeting with him in this mystical moment of public worship, we are to respond. But response is not just singing a hymn, not just saying a creed, not just saying a prayer. Response, from the very beginning of worship to the end, must be a powerful inner experience of actually being in the presence of God. When we sing a hymn or say a confession or prayer, we are not singing or saying words, but expressing a feeling, bringing our souls, truly responding and communicating to the living and active presence of a loving and merciful God.

Worship is a Verb, by Robert Webber 

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What I go through when I am deciding to buy a phone. Non-stop comparison. Non-stop (+) vs (-). Non-stop. But ultimately...budget comes first haha. Just for fun :)

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He covers the heavens with clouds, provides rain for the earth, and makes the grass grow in mountain pastures. He gives food to the wild animals and feeds the young ravens when they cry. He takes no pleasure in the strength of a horse or in human might. No, the lord ’s delight is in those who fear Him, those who put their hope in His unfailing love (Psalm 147:8-11).

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I want to know you, Lord.

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Sometimes we can feel frustrated because we feel a sense of destiny and calling and yet don't know what to do about it. Be encouraged that the journey is always more exciting than the destination. It is the journey that makes the destination worth it. Allow God to work His perfect work in you. Time is not a limitation to Him, only our will and heart.

Birthday Note from a dear friend, 2014. 

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With fear and trembling

Philippians 2:12

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,

FEAR (G5401)

Fear, dread, terror

Reverential fear - of God, as a controlling motive of the life, in matters spiritual and moral, not a mere “fear” of His power and righteous retribution, but a wholesome dread of displeasing Him, a “fear” which banishes the terror that shrinks from His presence (Romans 8:15), and which influences the disposition and attitude of one whose circumstances are guided by trust in God, through the indwelling Spirit of God (a comprehensive phrase: the reverential “fear” of God will inspire a constant carefulness in dealing with others in His “fear).

TREMBLING (G5156)

A trembling or quaking with fear.

With fear and trembling, used to describe the anxiety of one who distrusts his ability completely to meet all requirement, but religiously does his utmost to fulfil his duty.

Matthew 7:21-23English Standard Version (ESV)

I Never Knew You

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

W.O.W

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Divine timing and a friendship forged by His hands. Thank You Jesus for the 3 months! It's not the end... It's only the beginning :") You'll be missed my dear friend but I know we will meet again. Remember, God has a plan for you.

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God is willing to walk the earth again incarnate in us.

Eugenia Price,  Early Will I Seek Thee

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Great is the mystery of godliness

“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.”  1 Timothy 3:16

...The heavy whip is brought down with full force again and again across Jesus’ shoulders, back, and legs.

At first the thongs cut through the skin only. Then, as the blows continue, they cut deeper into the subcutaneous tissues, producing first an oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin, and finally spurting arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying muscles.  The small balls of lead first produce large, deep bruises which are broken open by subsequent blows. Finally the skin of the back is hanging in long ribbons and the entire area is an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue. When it is determined by the centurion in charge that the prisoner is near death, the beating is finally stopped.  The half-fainting Jesus is then untied and allowed to slump to the stone pavement, wet with His own blood. 

- Dr C. Truman Davis, a study on crucifixion from a medical perspective

“He was despised and rejected - a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weakness he carried; it was our sorrows that weighted him down. And we though his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so that we could be whole. He was whipped so that we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s path’s to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. 

He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave... “ Isaiah 53:3-9 (NLT)

“For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”, who, when He was revile, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness - by whose strips you were healed.” 1 Peter 2:21-24

"Since, therefore [these His] children share in flesh and blood [in the physical nature of human beings], He [Himself] in a similar manner partook of the same [nature], that by [going through] death He might bring to nought and make no effect him who had the power of death - that is, the devil.” Hebrews 2:14 (AMP)

Why would this Almighty God reach out to man...to the point where He would become flesh Himself to reveal to us His love? What made Him limit himself to the faith of us? 

Indeed, great is this mystery.  His love for us is beyond comprehension.

Thank You Jesus...

He once walked on earth. Now again. In us. 

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In every season, Your praise will ever be on my lips. 

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Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.

- Deuteronomy 31:16 (MSG)

You make me brave. 

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One who truly loves God will not be offended by His correction.

(via loveroflanguages)