Time On Tuesday

Time - we all have it.  We all use it.  We all waste it.  We all get the same amount of it every day, too.

Today, I don't want to take too much of your time :)  The food for thought I want to direct us towards is this: do we spend our time on purpose, or do we habitually waste it without even realizing it?

There are definitely times that I get to the end of a day and realize I have wasted more time than spent it...such days I do regret.  But, God graciously gives us one more day at a time, another chance to use the time He has given us for good.  Another chance to do better.  He's pretty patient like that.

"Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." ~ Ephesians 5:16

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Bible Reading: Proverbs 30

Musical Monday

Some people say "I can't sing, so I don't".  That's actually something we hear a lot these days.

...but did you know that singing is something God commands us to do?

"Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing." ~Psalm 100:2

That is just one of many times this command is found in Scripture.  If God commanded us to sing, don't you think He has given each of us the capability to do so?  God never asks us to do something that we aren't able to do.  Though each person sounds different than the next, singing is something that none of us can just exempt ourselves from because "we can't sing".

Singing is also a sign of spirituality.  The music and songs you like to sing speak of what is going in your heart.

Here's a tip in considering which guy you will marry someday: observe him (without his knowledge, haha) in church.  Does he sing during the congregational singing?  Is he just barely mumbling the words, or is he truly singing from his heart to the LORD?  If singing is unimportant to him, that's a telltale sign that other things God cares about are unimportant to him, too.

Just some fun facts to consider about singing today :)

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Bible Reading: Proverbs 29

Fearful Friday

When we hear the words "fear" or "fearful", we think of scary things --- things like spiders, lizards, snakes, frogs....yeah, awful creatures!  There's also things like fear of heights, drowning, getting lost, and so on.  Eventually we might talk about that kind of fear, for the Bible does have a lot to say about it.  However, right now I want to talk about a different kind of fear:

the fear of the LORD.

This, too, is mentioned all throughout the Bible.  We hear it said often in church that we should "fear God" or have "fear of the LORD".  But once again, sometimes the basics are overlooked and we're left wondering...what IS fear of the LORD, and why is it so important that I have it?

In high school I did an elective on the book of Proverbs (a book of the Bible that talks much about fear of the LORD), and then in college I took a class called "Fear of the LORD".  The fear of the LORD is also something my dad preaches often about, so between these three things, my eyes were really opened to look to God in a whole different, more proper way.  It is a way that I still stumble in sometimes, but I get back up to learn more and more just how important it is to live in the fear of the LORD.

First, let's see what God's definition of this term is - we can find it in Proverbs 1:7 - "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction."  Another definition God gives is in Proverbs 9:10 - "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding."

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Bible Reading: Proverbs 26

Therefore Thursday

Bro. Price is my Sunday School teacher - and I feel so blessed to be in his class!  He has such a love for God and His Word, and he also has so many years of experience of living life.  Something he has mentioned a few times recently is the word "therefore" in the Bible.  His way of explaining the word always makes me smile...he says, "Whenever you see 'therefore' in the Bible, see what is is there for!"  The word "therefore" is not a word we use commonly in today's society; so, I thought it would be fun for us to do a little word study together on this word!

For starters, I found that "therefore" is found in 1,220 verses in the Bible. WHOA!  So, today's challenge is: comment with a verse that you've found the word "therefore" in.  Try to type out a different verse than the person before you!

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Bible Reading: Proverbs 25 (my favorite chapter of Proverbs :) )

Walking On Wednesday

Our journey from salvation to Heaven is called our "walk".  It's pretty amazing to see how much God has to say about our walk in His Word.  This tells me that He cares how we walk in this world!

One verse that speaks of our walk is Ephesians 4:1 - "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called."  That word "vocation" means what you do - like, Pastor Stockton is a pastor.  Kayla is a lifeguard.  And so on!  However, obviously God is not referring to our earthly jobs...He is asking us to walk worthy of what He has called us to do: very simply put, He has called us to be a witness for Jesus Christ.

What does that have to do with walking?  Well, in future Wednesdays we'll look at the way we walk, where we walk, why we walk, when we walk, with whom we walk...finding out what God has to say each step of the way :) (pun not originally intended, but I kept it in because it made me laugh :D )

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Bible Reading: Proverbs 24

Happy Birthday to Bentley! 

Transformation Tuesday

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Romans 12:2

Most of us have grown up in church.  We have heard this verse preached about dozens of times, and have probably even memorized it for school or for some church event.

The word I want you to zero in on today, though, is "transformed" - what does it mean? - 

"Something that is dramatically or thoroughly changed for the better"

Once again, because most of us have grown up in church, we might not have a point in our life that we saw that huge "transformation moment" like some people do.  Some people have stories of living in wickedness for years but then suddenly turning their life around when they came to Christ.  Most of us don't have stories like that because we've been in church since we were babies, and many of us were saved when we were young children.

So how does being transformed apply to us?

Ask yourself: Right now, right where I am, right at this age - is my life constantly in a state of transformation?  And I constantly changing to become more like Jesus?

God wouldn't exhort us to be transformed if we didn't need transformation.  So, let us trust God that we have things in our hearts and lives that still need transformed.

We'll talk more about this in future Tuesdays! 

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Bible Reading: Proverbs 23

Mindful Monday

Mindful Mondays are going to be for things that we may do or may not do out of habit...those that we don't really think about, but perhaps should.  Today, I'd like to talk about something very simple - prayer!

In a public setting - whether that be church, a family gathering, or at a restaurant - why do you think we bow our heads, close our eyes, and fold our hands when we pray?  Even though God does not say that we must pray this way, it is the understood way we (should) conduct ourselves when praying with others.  Why is this?

Bowing our heads, closing our eyes, and folding our hands:

- keeps us from getting distracted by the 101 things going on around us (because unfortunately, most people do not reverence prayer the way God wishes they would!)

- shows reverence for the prayer we are saying or listening to

- helps us focus on what we are saying or what is being said in the prayer

- keeps us from fidgeting with our clothes, whispering to our neighbor, etc

When you pray alone, these things do not really apply (though you might find them helpful in focusing properly!).  However, in a group setting, maintaining reverence and concentration shows those around us that we recognize how sacred prayer is.  If we have a habit of looking around, closing up our Bibles and checking our phones, or finishing up our story to our friend during the prayer, these types of actions only show how little we care about talking to God.

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Bible Reading: Proverbs 22

Faith-Works Friday

"...the just shall live by faith..."..."...without faith it is impossible to please him..."..."By faith Abraham..."..."For by grace are ye saved through faith..."

We've all grown up hearing about faith.  If not from our parents, we hear about faith from our pastor on Sundays and Wednesdays.  We see the word "faith" in the Bible all the time.  We sing songs in church about it, like "Faith is the Victory."

But what does faith really mean?

The Bible answers this question for us in Hebrews 11:1 - "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Webster's Dictionary defines faith for us as "complete trust or confidence in something."

We'll talk more about faith in future Faith-Works Fridays.  But today, what is your definition of faith?  Comment with your answer!  

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Bible Reading: Proverbs 19

Thoughtful Thursday

"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." ~ Proverbs 4:23

Would you be able to say that you are a thoughtful person?  I don't really mean someone that is always thinking of others, although that is an important part of thoughtfulness!  I am talking more about being thoughtful of how we choose to live life:

• thoughtful of the entertainment we enjoy
• thoughtful of where we go
• thoughtful of our testimony before the world
• thoughtful of how we use the 24 hours God gives us
• thoughtful of how we speak to authority
• thoughtful of what we think of God

Today's culture teaches us to focus on the here and the now, with no thought of the consequences today's choices may have on tomorrow's outcome.  However, our world would be more like God desired it to be if we would just stop and think twice before doing what we do!

So, today's exhortation: think twice! :)

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Bible Reading: Proverbs 18

Wisdom On Wednesday

Have you noticed that I've chosen Proverbs for the blog's daily Bible reading (I hope so!) ? I didn't choose that book because it's an "easy read"...I chose it because it is packed with all sorts of things that we need for our daily life.  These things are what God calls "wisdom".  A couple weeks back I started listening to a sermon series on the book of Proverbs; the pastor preaching said that when he and his wife first got married, they read the book of Proverbs aloud to each other seventy-two times - seventy-two times!  Wow!

Each chapter of Proverbs has so many things we can learn, that it is wise (no pun intended! :) for us to regularly refresh our minds with those truths.  If you don't read the Bible regularly, Proverbs is a good book to start with to get in the habit.  If you have not yet ever read the entire book of Proverbs, start today!  

In future "Wisdom on Wednesdays", we will look more closely at things like the layout of Proverbs, characters in Proverbs, and key words in Proverbs.

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Bible Reading: Proverbs 17

Tongue-Talk Tuesday

This summer I heard an interesting sermon on the tongue.  In our "Tongue-Talk Tuesdays" I want to share some of what I learned in that sermon.

The Bible says "Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." ~ Colossians 4:6.  Think about your speech - the words you say, the jokes you make, the things you love to talk about.  Would someone be able to say that your speech is gracious?  That it causes others to look to Christ?  That it marks you as a Christian?

Remember when Bro. David Corn was here...he mentioned more than once about our mind being in the gutter.  Is your speech in the gutter?  That's where the world's speech is, but the world does not know any better.  We do, though!

As you progress through this week, think twice before opening your mouth... 

...is what I am about to say going to be gracious?

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Bible Reading: Proverbs 16

Modesty Monday

You all gave me some great feedback on the Modesty Survey last week.  It was good for me to hear what is on your heart.  I will take the time to answer all of your questions; please know it may be a few months before I actually finish answering everything!  Also, I will not answer every question with this blog - I may even answer some of your questions one on one...Starbucks, anyone? :)

Today, though, is Modesty Monday.  Why is modesty such a hot topic in our Christian society today? Why does it seem to bother us so much?  Why does it cause so much drama in our hearts?

Part of the reason, I believe, is that somewhere in the past few decades, the older generation stopped teaching the younger generation what modesty is all about.  More of us might care about dressing for the LORD if we knew why it was so important.  God takes modesty very seriously, but so many Christians today seem to completely ignore those parts of the Bible.  It's really sad.

I know that we live in a hard day for "dressing right".  However, as much as God talks about our dress in His Word, I am pretty sure dressing right has always been an issue.  I think the pressure just feels higher today because walking around half-naked is very acceptable in our culture.  Even most Christians follow suit.

Today, girls, I want to give you this thought about modesty: have you ever realized that God commands modesty because it is a protection for us?

Here are just a few ways modesty protects us:

- It protects us from being violated with a man's eyes

- It identifies Who we follow

- Proper, feminine, and flattering modesty demands respect

- It protects our nakedness, that part of us that God designed specifically for our husbands alone

Can you think of any other ways modesty is a protection for us?

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Bible Reading: Proverbs 15

Feminine Friday

Bible Reading: Proverbs 12

Thankful Thursday

Bible Reading: Proverbs 11

Wonderful Wednesday

Bible Reading: Proverbs 10

Tribulation Tuesday

Bible Reading: Proverbs 9

Musical Monday

Hey girls!  I know we have had a LONG break from our blog ministry - and for that, I apologize.  Over the summer I tried to figure out how to do the blog through our church's webpage, but to no avail.  I decided I did not want to wait any longer to get back to our blog, though - so here is a brand-new, Beautiful Girlhood blog, with a few key purposes:

1. To help us with Bible reading accountability.

2. To challenge us in our individual walks with Christ.

3. To provide an online spot for discussion on topics our hearts wonder about.

Bear with me as I figure all this out :)  For the rest of September, I will be posting Monday-Friday, and each day will have a theme.  I will also post a suggested Bible reading passage for the day.  I will want to hear what you think about my game-plan for the blog!

I encourage you girls to comment each day when you have read your Bible; getting in to the habit of telling someone we read our Bible will eventually make reading our Bible something we never forget to do.  I will be commenting, so I hope you will, too!  I would also love to see you commenting with your thoughts on the day's theme.

Thus, to start off this week, check out the picture below:

Bible Reading: Proverbs 8