Posted by: the warrioress | April 23, 2012

Love Is Not a Fight

 Love is not a fight.

When Jesus Christ is the foundation of your love, relationship, or marriage, it changes everything. 

Learn how to love — the Jesus Way. 

Love Is Not a Fight

(Warren  Barfield) 

Love is not a place
To come and go as we please

Fireproof (film)

Fireproof (film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s a house we enter in
And then commit to never leave
So lock the door behind you
Throw away the key
We’ll work it out together
Let it bring us to our knees

Love is a shelter in a raging storm
Love is peace in the middle of a war
If we try to leave may God send angels to guard the door
No, love is not a fight but it’s something worth fighting for

To some, love is a word that they can fall into
But when they’re falling out
Keeping that word is hard to do

Love is a shelter in a raging storm
Love is peace in the middle of a war
If we try to leave may God send angels to guard the door
No, love is not a fight but it’s something worth fighting for

Love will come to save us, if we’ll only call
He will ask nothing from us, but demand we give our all

Love is a shelter in a raging storm
Love is peace in the middle of a war
If we try to leave may God send angels to guard the door
No, love is not a fight but it’s something worth fighting for

I would fight for you, would you fight for me?
It’s worth fighting for. 


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Caleb Holt (Cameron) screaming at his wife, Ca...

Caleb Holt (Cameron) screaming at his wife, Catherine (Bethea) early in the film. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Posted by: the warrioress | April 21, 2012

God School

Loving God is a wonderful way to live.

No matter what happens, I rarely feel alone, worried, or afraid. I always know in the back of my mind that He is watching over me. I always know He has a plan for my life; all I have to do to fulfill it  is to stick close to Him and do the next right thing. I can trust His Holy Spirit to guide me about what that will be. 

Despite already being saved and believing in God, I didn’t live my life as a devout Christian in the past. Once I  begin really trying to live my life as a follower of Jesus Christ, according to the bible, I began to  grow spiritually. This hasn’t meant that I haven’t still made mistakes or used bad judgment; I can still react the way I did before meeting Jesus Christ, but I am under the tutorship of the Holy Spirit now. I am made aware when I am out of the will of God, if I choose to listen to that inward nudge in the right direction.

Sometimes I feel as if I am attempting to get a degree in following  Christ.  This God-school of life has been the most interesting of all of my many educational endeavors thus far; these classes have meant the most. I want to succeed and receive a 4.0 (A) from God at the end of all of this.

Learning to be who God wants me to be is an all-consuming passion for me now. I know that when God is finished, I will be the best mother, friend, sister, and person that I can possibly be in my life. I will truly know how to love the way that He desires me to love.  I will be at my most fruitful for Him. I will be the happiest I can ever be, because only God knows the real, true desires of my heart. And He wants these for me. He knows what will make me the happiest.

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Posted by: the warrioress | April 18, 2012

Enemy Mine

God has shown me a lot lately;  it’s heavy-duty enlightenment too. It’s enlightenment that I actually prayed about and requested an answer about, because I’ve struggled terribly with something.  Well, I have finally received an answer and it’s been pretty timely too, which is always nice.

I asked God to help me with an intense resentment I’ve had about someone whom I have disliked and felt competitive toward for a while now. Basically, I’ve disliked a particular woman I know because she has been as passionate as I am about sharing her belief system; but from my perspective, her belief system is moving people closer to hell and away from Jesus Christ, which is the opposite of what I see my belief system attempting to do. I’ve viewed this woman as an enemy of God and of myself, because of her sheer fervor in her preachings. These preachings of hers are mostly anti-religious, anti-theist and consist of a lot of new age, power of positive thinking type psycho-babble. Her distaste for the God of the bible has been and is tangible.

Then there’s that she’s just arrogant at times and probably a lot of other things that aren’t coming to mind now. The point of all of this is that I don’t really know why I have disliked her so, but I have. What’s strange is that at one time I really liked and admired her a lot, but that was before; that was before she started attempting to spread her anti-Christian message in competition with me spreading mine. The war was on at that point and it has been one heck of a fierce battle between the two of us, let me tell you.  She will never admit it, but we’ve both bloodied one another, spiritually & emotionally speaking.  As I review the thing in my mind now, I’m ashamed of what I didn’t see until early afternoon today. How could I have missed this?

She wrote something early this morning on her blog. It was a post explaining what she’s been through in her life and how what she’s suffered and endured have essentially contributed to and created her perspective and philosophy of life. What she described that she had endured was intense and horrific. I empathized greatly with her plight and felt sad for what she shared that she has been through.  At the end of reading her words, I could certainly see why she is passionate about what she’s been clinging to, philosophy-wise.  I could also see that what she believes is as important to her as what I believe is to me. It’s important to her that she share it with others, even if I don’t happen to approve of or believe in what she’s sharing — even if her beliefs go directly against everything that mine stand for, that I believe in.

What I suddenly realized is that this woman has as much right to share and be passionate about what she feels has changed her life as I do. Who am I to begrudge her this or to turn what has brought her happiness and peace into a personal affront to me and my own beliefs? Why and how did this whole mess have to become such an unspoken, ugly competition between the two of us anyway?

I wish I knew….

It must be some awful weakness within me, some insecurity, and obviously something ugly that Christ needs to remove that has contributed to this problem between me and her. As I now see my part in this whole mess, I will never understand why Jesus Christ and God want to even bother with me. I am really something sometimes. I’m about as undeserving of God’s love and mercy as one can get. And sometimes I’m just really dense, like in this particular case; I miss the blatant obvious!

But never mind all of that…this post isn’t about that and me flogging myself over my flaws and challenges.  God showed me, through her words, what I needed to see so that I could understand her better and love her for who she is, not who I think she should be. Talk about some insight!

Whatever she does about God, the salvation of Jesus Christ, and her choices in life are between her and God; it’s really not my business. If I’m sincerely concerned, I should simply be praying for her, not secretly and even not so secretly hating on her and condemning her, wishing the worst upon her when she irritates me with her anti-religious zeal. I need to remember that she’s who she is because of what she’s gone through. God can reach anyone at any time when they are ready in the way that they need to personally be reached out to.  I can only share what I have shared with her before and then it’s all entirely up to her, but regardless of what she does,  I need to see her the way that Jesus Christ sees her, the way that my Father in Heaven sees her. I need to love her the way that they do.

Wow.. imagine that.

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Posted by: the warrioress | April 17, 2012

Hurt

Get Hurt

Get Hurt (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of the hardest things to do in the world is admit when I’ve been hurt and hurt bad, emotionally. It is very humbling to admit to being hurt, especially by one’s enemies, or whatever we call those who don’t like us very much. It’s especially hurtful when those whom we love hurt or disappoint us.

It’s very freeing, however, to be really honest and just admit when we are hurt;  I think we can actually heal then. Trying to put on a brave front and pretend that we don’t have any feelings, when our feelings have really been badly hurt, only causes an inward rage and makes the hurt inside fester and grow; it really can grow to a boiling point. This is dangerous because when that happens, we have people going off the deep end and shooting up schools etc.

Hurts

Hurts (Photo credit: darkmavis)

There is something infinitely rewarding that allows healing and acceptance when we just come clean and tell the world that people were successful in hurting us, which is exactly what their intent was. They don’t have to change when we take this action. We can simply look at them and their meanness and feel honest-to-goodness love for them and pity. We can see their flaws, weakness of character, and all the ways in which they need to change. We can sympathize. We can forgive at that point.

All that counts in this world is that we change, that we don’t allow our hurt to turn into rage and bitterness, and that we sincerely forgive those who hurt us.

I’m working on all of this. It’s an on going spiritual process and a tough lesson to learn. It requires insight and a willingness to be vulnerable and experience humility. I’ve never cared much for humility. Jesus Christ and God seem to like to teach me about it a lot though. Go figure…heh heh.  

🙂

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Posted by: the warrioress | April 15, 2012

Turtle Time

Well, it’s officially spring again, and today and yesterday I’ve been able to do something that I wasn’t able to do for nearly two years. Every since I seriously injured my right leg and ankle, breaking it when I took a tumble on my kitchen tile, I’ve been pretty much incapacitated. Even now, it’s slow going. The good news is, though, that I’m finally back into a tennis shoe and am using a cane, and thus this means that I am walking again!  I’m not using a wheelchair anymore or a walker.

backyard pond

backyard pond (Photo credit: massdistraction)

So, yesterday, I ventured out to the back of my little property and studied the unfortunate stagnating pond and waterfall that have been shut down since my unfortunate spill. The pond is surrounded by a large, completely fenced in habitat that I refer to as “Reptile Riviera.” It was built by two loving, generous friends of mine, who know my animal fixation. They agreed that my two turtle friends needed an outdoor pond so that they would be truly blissful, and so that I could sit by the waterfall on the benches and watch them swim in all of their great delight.

A Red-Eared Slider turtle, keeping defensive w...

A Red-Eared Slider turtle, keeping defensive with only the nostrils and the eyes above the water surface. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Well, yesterday, my child and I went about draining the pond and attempting to scoop out the mess of dead leaves and rotting mulch that had found its way into the pond. We drained the pond nearly all the way down, up to the pump, and then refilled it. I de-chlorinated it and applied another pond chemical that makes the water healthier, and then we went and got the turtles out of their indoor winter pond. They come inside into this indoor pond when it gets cold, usually about late October and then they go back outside in late April.

Turtles

Turtles (Photo credit: blumpy)

Lucky and Redlet have not been outside in nearly two years, though, because of my leg, so they looked around inside of the habitat as if they were dreaming; I could see that it seemed rather surreal to them and that they weren’t quite sure they wouldn’t be snatched back into the indoor pond again. Redlet headed to the fence to peer out, but Lucky, the biggest turtle, headed right to the pond, toward the waterfall. She’s the size of a large dinner plate and is an aquatic River Cooter. I just adore her.

She was run over on a nearby highway and was nearly dead when I stopped my truck and rescued her. I nursed her back to health, but the top of her shell was broken off so she will always have to stay in captivity. Little Redlet arrived in the yard about a year later. He was so tiny, I was afraid I would run over him with the riding mower, so I went ahead and introduced him to Lucky. The two of them seem to love one another, so it’s been pretty cool.

A Suwannee River Cooter.

A Suwannee River Cooter. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Anyway, these turtles are both in the pond by now, and they are happy! The sun is shining, the water is about 72.5 degrees F. They are swimming and diving, and the waterfall is running merrily, making a lovely splashing sound. I sit myself, sunning, on one of the benches, studying them silently. I was secretly relieved that they were doing what turtles love to do, out where they belong again, where they can bask in the sun to their heart’s delight. I felt like such a good turtle-mom. There’s nothing quite like sitting by my pond and thinking, daydreaming, or just watching my babies swim, knowing they are happy in their element.  

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Posted by: the warrioress | April 11, 2012

Blogger Awards – by the Procrastinator

 

The following bloggers have been so kind as to nominate me for these fine awards over the last few months. Unfortunately, I have done nothing about it and these awards have stacked up. I am ever-so-grateful to these friends of mine for thinking of me and feeling as if I’m worthy of these awards. God bless each one of you!

The Struggler’s Handbook — Liebster Blog Award

Loopyloo, “Patricia” who does “My Blog” – Versatile Blogger Award and the Sunshine Award

Cathy from “Did Jesus have a facebook” the LOL award and the Genuine Blogger Award

Mikey, who does the blog “Have a Dream” — the Sunshine award

Zendictive nominated me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award!

Now what can I say about each one of these wonderful writers?

I can say a lot!! And I will!

The Struggler’s Handbook written by The Struggler, is one of the more down-to-earth, sincere, authentic blogs I’ve come across. He’s my kind of blogger in that he tells it like it is and doesn’t pull any punches. He’s straight up about himself, his life, and his struggles with faith. He makes me feel better about my own struggles, so I love to read him. Stop by and visit his wonderful blog.

Loopyloo, “Patricia” who does “My Blog” is a delightful conservative blogger who knows how to make a beginning blogger feel good! She’s been so unbelievably kind to me and always makes me feel like she enjoys what I write. She writes very informative opinion pieces and shares inspiring vids and thoughtful text about the bible, spirituality, and religion in general. She loves a little politics mixed in with her faith and is a most definite READ for all of us.

Cathy from “Did Jesus have a facebook”  this lady is a hoot! This is one of the most honest people! She is totally straight up and will move you to your core with her wonderful, witty writings on a variety of topics from family, to faith, to politics, to what’s going on in her home and her daily living experiences. Cathy makes me smile and I find my head bobbling up and down as I relate to each and everything she seems to write; it’s just amazing! A definite MUST if you haven’t visited her yet.

Mikey, who does the blog “Have a Dream” This guy, Michael, is a sweetheart who isn’t afraid to keep us all on the straight and narrow by making sure we’re not just sitting around getting comfy in our ruts 😉 He will get you moving and thinking about what you’re doing in your life. I love his work because it picks me up and demands that I not get too settled in and become worthless to the world.  Thanks for all your hard work, Mikey! 

Zendictive blogs sort of an ongoing inspirational teaching series through story form, and the stories appear to have important moral principles behind them. They are inspiring and make you think about yourself, your life, and the way you interact with others. I love her easygoing style and way of sharing her stories. Zen is a gentle, loving person who I would like to be more like. Thanks, Zen.

~*~*~*~*~*~ 

And now for the ten things about me that you never really wanted to know and probably didn’t know! 

A couple years ago, I built an outdoor turtle pond for my turtle rescues (2) named Lucky & Little Redlet.

I have a 2005 candy apple red Ford Explorer Sport Trac Pick Up that I adore! And they aren’t making them anymore, so I’ll hang onto to this one as long as I can! 

I’m going to keep Vicki, the newest stray puppy, addition to our ark/family. I’m not very good at foster-parenting, obviously. ha ha.

I really honestly like animals more than most people, but there are exceptions to this rule, and I have God to thank for this.

I often wonder if I will survive my young daughter’s teen age years. They are just starting. (sigh)

I don’t feel that I do “this Christian thing” too well, to be absolutely honest with you, but I really love God quite deeply. No lie.

The bible absolutely delights and intrigues me.

My favorite Blue Bell Ice Cream flavor is “Banana Pudding.” 

I am a very silly, mischievous person in real time with those who know me well, whom I trust.  With the rest, I’m actually pretty shy.

WordPress.com means the world to me, as do all of you who read me, like, and comment on my blogs.  I just hope what I write blesses and helps somebody somewhere, some of the time. 

-o-o-o-o-o-o- 

The Latest Group of Bloggers Who are Deserving of an Award:

These people have blessed me with their writings and I love them lots! They are newer bloggers with less than 200 followers, who have caught my attention, who I rarely want to miss reading:

 5 G’s and a Cup of Joe  – This is a blog by Regular Joe, who is exceedingly wise and funny, who has a lot of good things to say.  Joe, I want to bless you with the Very Inspiring Blogger Award.

The 1 saved by grace –  The lady’s blog is terrific and I’ve been learning a lot from her through reading her as often as I’m able. She knows the word well. She deserves the Genuine Blogger Award.

Everyone Has a Story – Bird is a beautiful writer who will leave you wanting more. She, too, has been teaching me so much of late. I will gift her with the Liebster Blog Award.

Ed Christian’s World – Ed  is one of a kind and someone I am growing close to through his superb Christian advice on how to live this life. He and his wife are lovely people and he is very wise. I recommend stopping by and getting to know this man’s writings. I want to gift Ed with the Sunshine Award because he has really been making me feel good lately. God bless him.

Epignosis Ministeries – This is good stuff. He knows the bible and is a Christian apologist who really helps me out when I want to deeply meditate on the bible and the teachings within. I like his style! He deserves the Versatile Blogger Award.

Lame Housewife –  This wonderful woman’s writings puzzle me at times and worry me a little because she hits to close to the core of who I am and sometimes that’s not so good. lol.  The great thing, though, is that she makes me take a deep look at my walk with Christ. And she keeps me humble. Thanks, Ms. Lame. God bless you. You get the LOL Award because you are teaching me to laugh at myself and my character flaws. 

Last but definitely not least:

Robbie “Rambo” Judkins Robbie is a great guy who has a biker ministry and the best part of his blogs are that he is down to earth, no frills, and a simple good Christian man who doesn’t bs around. If you want good, practical teaching, visit Robbie! He’s also my friend, he and his wife. Robbie, you get the Genuine Blogger Award.

Now friends, if you’re all smart, (unlike me), you won’t put this off, and you’ll share ten intriguing, fun things about yourself with all of us, put the award on your blog, link back to me with your thanks, and send out your five or more nominees for what you were so happily gifted with.   And I hope you’re more organized than I am! 😉 Blessings, bloggers. 

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Posted by: the warrioress | April 8, 2012

Easter Evening

Jesus has risen. He is ressurected. He is alive.

This is just a facet of the good news that we share with those who are still perishing. Dr. Charles Stanley has been a good and faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ for many, many years. His words of wisdom are valuable and precious, thus I thought I would share today’s Easter message with you, if you were unable to view it.

He ministers out of Georgia and offers a lot of sound truth and important perspective on living the life of the Christian, for believers and unbelievers alike. I hope you enjoy his teaching as much I did.

God bless you and may the rest of your Easter be peaceful and happy.

If you’re on a mobile device, click HERE to view the video.

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Posted by: the warrioress | April 7, 2012

Jesus is Alive!

 Easter symbolizes the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. It is memorable because a miracle occurred and Jesus Christ has overcome. He is alive! Despite His murder by crucifixion and subsequent death, Christ rose from the dead on the third day, eventually ascending to the right hand of the Father/God.
This is also metaphorical for what happens to us when we find the Lord Jesus Christ and essentially “die”  to our old selves and our sins.  Our old sinful man is our past and we rise from the dead too, figuratively-speaking. We are thus “born again,” a new creature in Jesus Christ, our sins wiped clean.
We are able to experience this because of the suffering and death that Jesus Christ endured for us. He did this so that we too might live holy, through Him, and His selfless action on the cross; that He rose again and conquered even death is what we celebrate on Easter Sunday.

The apostle Paul tells us:

Their are thousands of artworks created in the...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Now brothers, I want to clarify for you the gospel I proclaimed to you; you received it and have taken your stand on it. You are also saved by it, if you hold to the message I proclaimed to you—unless you believed for no purpose. For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then He appeared to over 500 brothers at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one abnormally born, He also appeared to me. (1 Cor. 15:1-8) 

We have this word and witness of the apostle Paul that Jesus rose again; that this is the gospel that we, as Christians, are being sent out into the world to share and proclaim to those who are dying, who may not know, or who may not believe.
Luke 19:10 reads, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

 Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

So what does this have to do with you? What does something that happened this many years ago have to do with us, today? Start by watching the following video and making a decision to believe. Everything changes after you turn to Him, even if you have initial doubt at first. Reaching out to Him, and attempting to seek God with a sincere, whole heart, brings God to you. Jesus will be waiting. Just reach out to Him.

 http://youtu.be/WkjgJq8ti_Y

 What must I do to be saved?

God’s simple plan of salvation

May your Easter Sunday be a most blessed event and may you come to know our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and God the Father. 

What must I do to be saved?

God’s simple plan of salvation 

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Posted by: the warrioress | April 6, 2012

+ Lead me to the Cross +

The Runaway

I was very young when I found Him

I had no idea who He was or what He did for me and you

All I know is that He heard my cry and covered me like a protective blanket

He brought me to shelter and loving arms where I learned more about Him

A foundation was developed

It was created upon rock, not sand

I turned to it as I grew into an adult

Christ never let me down nor did He ever abandon me

Like the prodigal son, I went my own way

It was years before I came home

When I returned, He was waiting for me as if I had never left

He welcomed me back with open arms; I was forgiven 

Thus began my formal theological education

He fed me on milk until I was ready for meat

I slowly came to understand that I live to please Him

Because there’s nothing I want more than to please Him

So I am growing, maturing, and learning what “devout” means

I still sin

I still fail

I still fall short

But He loves me anyway

He led me to the cross and now I lead you there

…Just click this, please…

http://youtu.be/WMJox5-K5jU

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Posted by: the warrioress | April 4, 2012

Tormenting the Christian

The Temptation of Christ, 1854

One of the devil’s favorite things to do to me the last few years is to attempt to torment me through a variety of interesting ways.  When this happens, I feel as if I am under attack spiritually, plain and simple. Sometimes I’m not at all surprised by these attacks but other times, I’m left reeling a bit. His abilities to know which buttons to push are uncanny.

He uses various circumstances and even sometimes people to try to get to me. The fairly sinister  dialogue is repetitive and goes something like this:

(devil) “You know you’re not really a Christian; everyone knows you’re just a wannabe. Anyone who knows about your past (sins) knows you’re just a phony. People will find out about your past and then what? They’ll know you’re not a real Christian..”

and

(devil) “You like to pretend that you’re such a good christian, but you can’t live up to real christian principles.  You’re just a liar and no one respects you. Some good Christian you are!”

and

(devil) “You don’t measure up to the biblical disciples or to the other real Christians. You’re not good enough. Look at how you fail daily compared to this one or that one…You’re just not good enough and God doesn’t really love you! God is repulsed by you.”

and it continues on with more of the same….

I’ll be honest. There have been moments where I’ve been stressed, worried, or simply exhausted and these kinds of mental and emotional attacks have played havoc with me on some level that I might not have even been consciously aware of.  I’m beginning to recognize this kind of mental dialogue though and the purposes of the dialogue. 

The devil wants to shut me down, stop my testimony for Christ, and disable me any way he can. He wants to steal my joy, confidence, and faith in my salvation. He wants to eat my lunch through crippling my belief and trust in my relationship with God the Father, Himself. If he is successful in getting me to believe, (even for an instant), any of the crap he loves telling me, he’s got me off-balance and out of commission and thus, out of the will of the Father. He’s got me stewing in my misery and essentially has me castrated and castigated. I’m no longer effective for Christ and so he wins. Another Christian silenced and doubting himself.

I was doing some reading about this kind of thing and stumbled across an amazing, informative writing about this HERE. The writing was called “The Satan Whisperers.”

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