I believe that as a child of God , I am holy and dearly loved, a holy priesthood to spread the knowlege of knowing HIM. I believe that I am the bride of Christ. I believe that I am the apple of HIS eye. I believe that HE is always good, and always at work in my best interest to look more like HIS son, in character. I could go on..and yes each one mentioned above is scriptural…and to all believers..all part of our identity in Christ. Knowing these things is one thing(and important for me to know), but believing them with my heart is another thing completely. This is where the battle of the mind takes place. It is critical to my walk to be careful what I take into my mind, it is critical that I don’t take part in things that are not praiseworthy. Not because I am “holier than thou”, because I want Jesus to be what you see in me, and not me at all. If I take part in crude joking, to the non-believer there will be no Jesus shining through it. If I gossip about someone else…again no Jesus in that.
Michelle has an awesome post up right now on Guarding the Heart, and it is exactly what God has been talking to me about the last couple of weeks. If you haven’t read it, go and read.
My goal that I am pressing on … is to be more like Jesus, a pic of Ephesians, I John, and to be the bride in Revelations ready for her bridegroom-and overcomer. Peace.
ponderings of a princess... 
Keeping our minds and thoughts captive seems to be a losing battle at times.
Casting crowns has a good lyric in the song Slow Fade :
“Be careful little eyes what you see
It’s the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the strings”
Let’s press on together shall we 😉
praise- hubs-we shall 😉 (to infinity and beyond!) 😆
praise – when i saw them preform in concert last month i had heard that song for the first time. it was my favorite. hands down!
darla – well written! the crude joking part pops out at me right now…thinking of my post yesterday…i hope you got my email about that. i believe no harm was intended, even though harm was done. which makes me sad. it was almost like a fill in friday banter. some of the weirdest, potentially crudest, things are said there too, but with no harm or ill will.
with that said…i totally agree with your post here!
In order not to retype my thoughts…
http://cpk3.wordpress.com/2008/05/19/our-imperfetion/
We are imperfect but meant for perfection…
Love ya sis…
ck- thank you for that link. That is where i at, and where i want to stay..it is my choice. It may be alittle late in making it, but I am stil making it.
Tam- this post was not directed at you or your post. This is part of what I have been studying up on the last couple weeks, and God is doing a work in my heart. So with that said..I am teaching this in the fall…and God always seems to give me something that I need to learn as well as teach.
hey, i didnt think it was directed at me. i said it reminded me of the post is all.
i think it is a great post and glad yo wrote it!
A very good post daughter Darla. We all need to safeguard our minds that we become that Christian witness that Christ intended. Our minds can become the devils playground if we are not careful.
I agree with Papa that we need to guard our thoughts so that we don’t fall into the trap of thinking, or acting, in an immoral manner towards our neighbors.
My focus is on the people I share my world with. It is far to easy to lose this focus and act with disrespect towards others. This does take a disciplined mind, and sometimes I do lose lose that discipline. It is something I expect to keep working on for the rest of my life.
Papa, and ED thanks for the wisdom..compared to you two, I am a novice at disciplining my mind..but I am working on it 😉
I had to think and pray before I responded to this post and I am still praying as I write. Praying that God would reveal Himself through the words He is asking me to share and that there would be healing and deliverance as a result of them.
Darla~We are holy and set apart in His eyes. We are called to righteousness and to be ambassadors to Him. I appreciate the wisdom you shared and the committment and seriousness with which you serve Him. We do need to focus on the purpose that He has called us to and spend our time wisely on that purpose, however, we also have to be mindful of allowing the enemy to hold us captive in that focus. Not sure if I’m articulating myself but sometimes the enemy uses the very mind and heart we have for Christ and holds us captive in that; no room for error, mountains of guilt when there is error, harboring unforgiveness for others who make errors and ultimately, leaning on our own strength and wisdom to reach that perfected state of righteousness verses allowing God to work that in and through us.
I think it’s important to remember that even though we are made right through Him, we are still a work in progress and that even in our holiness, we will not be perfected until His return. In remembering that, we can humble ourselves to understand our humanness and to allow others, especially unbelievers, to know that being a Christian does not take away our humanness completely but replaces it daily, bit by bit [“from glory to glory to glory”]. Too many unbelievers find it difficult to interact with Christians because somehow they received the impression that Christians think they’re perfect. We have to be mindful of falling in that category. Yes, it’s important to think on things that are noble and pure and praise worthy. Yes, it’s important to spend our time doing things for God’s glory. Yes, it’s important to allow His Spirit to lead us into righteous living. But it’s also important to acknowledge that we are fallen people in a fallen world and that living in the world subjects us to things of the world [be it gossipping, crude joking, cursing, unforgiveness, jealousy, stealing, lying etc] and we are not completely Spirit to be exempt from every single thing of the world while we’re here. I’m not justifying our unrighteousness; I’m saying that we have to stop trying to perfect it on our own. That’s too much responsibility. If we could avoid things of the world on our own, Jesus didn’t need to die. We need to seek Him, His righteousness, and then everything shall be added. In the process of seeking Him, we will fall, we will say the occasional crude joke, we will laugh at someone for their physical appearance, we will tell a white lie or three, we will say a curse word by accident, we will hurt someone’s feelings and we will disobey God, but as long as we’re humble and acknowledge our humanness, we will always be able to turn back to God because He gave us that awesome privilege and strength when we first accepted Him into our lives.
I love your heart. I love how much you love the Lord. I love how you are desperate for Him, to be like Him, to do what He has called you to do. Continue to seek Him. Continue to press on towards the higher prize. Continue to allow Him to make you right. But also allow yourself to be human. He doesn’t expect any less of you. Forgive yourself when you fall and forgive others when they fall. Take His purpose seriously but don’t allow legalism to control where the Spirit wants to take you and how He wants to take you there. I am praying for you during this time and am always available should you have any specific prayer requests.
To anyone who’ll “listen”~My Spirit is really heavy with the division I have been sensing in the blog atmosphere as of late. I haven’t been around much since Daddy’s death and I really don’t feel I’m in a position to comment on any individual situation/post/comment but God has really put on my heart that a house divided against itself shall not stand. We as a [blogging] body of Christ are a family, therefore, we are a house. At such a time as this, we cannot be divided. The power of our testimonies, praise reports, witness of God’s grace, mercy, healing and deliverence, supercedes any contention, misunderstanding, argument and personal offenses. Let us not easily fall into the enemy’s trap. Let us not easily offend or be easily offended. Let us not walk away from the importance of love and truth in our relationships with each other. Let us hold steadfast to what we have in common: our love and faith in Jesus Christ.
I love you all. I’m sorry this is so long. I’m sorry I haven’t been around as much as I should have been. Thank you for praying for me during this time. Please continue praying for me as I pray for you.
Faith
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen.”
{Hebrews 11 v 1}.
For faith is believing in things that we cannot see. Now we must believe that what we have prayed for will soon manifest in our lives, for by faith we will truly receive.
Yet some people say, “ but it’s not easy and you don’t know what I am going through,” well, that is true, but it still doesn’t change the fact that Jesus said, “ All things are possible to them that believe,” and we must live by faith.
It is worth hoping and believing for things in our lives to change, it really does not matter what people say, or what we feel, for God said, “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God”. {1 Corinthians 3 v 19}.
cornishevangelist.wordpress.com
EVANGELIST BILLY BOLITHO
http://www.evangelistbillybolitho.blogspot.com
Thanks Billy, i haven’t seen you around lately.
GCH- i am not as you are percieving me, I am not a divider, and I am not unforgiving..that I am not sure where you got that. But as for taking my walk with GOd seriously..AMEN, and as for wanting to lay down my idols..AMEN…and as for desiring all HE has for me..YES I do.I am not pushing my thoughts on anyone..I love you wish you would email me. been missing you.
Still around Daria ,God bless you in JESUS
Morning Darla. I do not perceive you as a divider or unforgiving. That part of my post was addressed to anyone who was willing to read it. My spirit was heavy and God asked me to write what I did, specifically in my comment to this post. My intention was not to offend, to attack, to pinpoint, or accuse but if any of my comment came across that way, I apologize. I will email soon; things have been hard but God is good and is still in the blessing business, praise God. Have a wonderful and blesed day in Him. Love you.
Darla – I love your heart, I love your insight! See you soon –
GCH – Your insight with your life experiences are what we bloggers need. Thank you!
as I read this, I too thought of the song “Slow Fade”…
Darla, I just love you and continue to be challenged by your heart. Keep pressing on, but at the same time, press in to Him too!
Love you girl,
steph.
Steph- I think you spoke a word to me. That is exactly what HE is saying to me, and I am pressing in to HIM. Following sometimes is not easy, but the alternative is really no choice to me. I love you too!
GCH- love you girl , and honestly you can speak truth to me anytime..I love it..and I recieve it. thanks
Crude humor stick out to me too, I’m guilty of laughing & posting about completely absurd things. 😳
selena- all I can think of reading your comment is the “squash” and girl I still laugh about that..not that I could explain why it is so funny to me..It just is…so yea…I am guilty too …
Hey, Darla!!! I went away for my 25th Wedding Anniversary. It was wonderful. Phat is wonderful. An amazing man!!!
Thanks for the link. Wow.
We sure do seem to be saying so much of the same things. Pressing on…keeping a watch over our souls. I know I’m secure in Him but as Revelation says:
“Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. ~Rev. 19:7-8
I do want my robe to be ready to wear, not spotted and wrinkled so that I am ashamed at His coming. I know I will NEVE
😳
Hit submit too soon….
NEVER be perfect, but I am told to walk worthy of the gospel. I want to be ready to see Him and get the “well done” comment. Really. Is that bad?
Somehow I think people think it is…not working for salvation, but desiring to move from glory to glory and we are told take an active part in that washing.
We have been saved to DO good works…am I preaching again???
I’ll stop now.
Love you, Princess!
thank you Michelle! I think just in the light of being called a bride says there is preparation involved. No bride comes to her wedding and on the way just picks something up to wear, and doesn’t brush her hair yet alone make it a beautiful as possible, she certainly bathes and trys to smell wonderful…preparation for the bridegroom, she will never look more beautiful to HIM than the day she presents herself to him..prepared, and all for HIM. We can’t work our way into heaven, but we sure can prepare ourselves for the Groom, coming on a white horse…tattooed with “Faithful and True”, Oh how I want to be a bride that is ready for HIM when HE comes…beaming and not looking for a place to hide..but jumping up and down that HE has come.
When I was studying Revelations, I looked into the ancient Jewish customs on weddings… the bride was betrothed…and she didn’t know the time or date of the wedding…all she knew was to be ready..and when the groom had finished her home that he built, he would come for her, and a parade would form following him as he got to her home. SO I think that is what HE means to be ready…just like the bride in ancient jewish custom. Beautiful!! Motivated by love..the betrothed gets ready for her groom. Love you too!
I love that teaching of the bride. Remember the parable about keeping oil in their lamps?
It was Kay Arthur who taught about keeping our robes clean. I’ve never forgot it. That we are given white robes, His robe of righteousness, at salvation but that we can get it dirty. That we are to keep it without spot/blemish – to be ready for the bridegroom to come. I think it’s the same as the feet washing after having had a bath. Yes, we’re clean, but we certainly are not perfect. We do need to wash our robes with the water of the word and allow His Holy Spirit to convict us of any wrongdoing. From glory to glory to glory.
I think it’s a beautiful picture of sanctification.
Hope you’re getting some good sleep. Maybe we can talk tomorrow.
I ♥ u! Awesome stuff…
Hi Darla, I love your encouragement to grow in our understanding of our identity in Christ. God’s been taking me back to my foundations in this area recently, so this has been a blessing, love B.