Obedience today means God's guidance in tomorrow

 

"Let us not make the mistake of directing our energies toward what is not today's business.  

The best preparation for the future is always the conscientious carrying out of what is given us today.  

Does it make sense to pray for guidance about the future if we are not obeying in the thing that lies before us today?  

How many momentous events in Scripture depended on one person's seemingly small act of obedience!  

Rest assured: Do what God tells you to do now, and, depend on it, you will be shown what to do next." 

~Elisabeth Elliot, excerpts from Quest for Love, chapter 20

~Breanna

Modesty and Obedience Collide!!

Here is someone that is seeking to light her world!  Posted on one of our favorite sites www.club31women.com

(Little disclaimer:  We probably would not agree with everything Ms. Jasmine deems as modest, but I was so blessed by her heart and desire to obey the Lord. She is obviously much more modest than she use to be.  We are all a work in progress!  Her heart and each of our hearts to obey is the key thing!)

The Day My Love for Fashion Collided with God’s Call to Modesty

It all started in the spring of 2014.

I had recently rededicated myself to Christ and was committed to living a life fully submitted to Him.

One afternoon I was rummaging through my closet in search of something to wear. I reached for one of my cropped tops when God spoke a word to me, that at the time, I’d rather have not heard.

As clear as day, God said, “Throw your revealing clothes away.”    

Out of my commitment to being obedient, I grabbed a trash bag, and less than willingly began to remove every questionable piece of clothing from my wardrobe. I tried negotiating with God to keep my short shorts, but He just wasn’t having it. 

Shortly after this incident, God spoke another word to me.

A little back story – I had worked in the fashion industry for about five years at this point and held a managerial position at a rapidly growing company. I had the opportunity to travel all over the world and work in places like Paris, London, and New York.  

I had always dreamed of starting my own business within the industry; however, my ideas didn’t necessarily do anything positive for the Kingdom. The concept promoted an edgy, rebellious attitude, encouraging women to show more skin in the name of “empowerment.” 

But God – being the humorous God that He is – completely shifted my desires and pressed on my heart that He wanted me to start a modest clothing company. 

When I thought of modest clothing companies, the image that immediately came to mind was layers and layers of fabric draped in very unflattering ways. I wouldn’t necessarily pair the words “modest clothing company” and “fashionable” together.

But maybe that’s why God gave me this vision. Could it be that He saw a niche in the market that He needed me to fulfill?

Soon I began to realize that His plan was deeper than just the fashion, He had a message. 

See, all my life I was taught by culture and the media that revealing more of my body would make me feel beautiful, confident, and get me the man of my dreams. 

Oh, the lies the enemy would love us to believe!

Dressing the way that I did only resulted in getting me the wrong kind of attention, and it hindered me from possessing the true confidence that can only be found in Christ.

The scary thing is that I know I’m not the only woman being fed this lie. The culture is becoming more and more hypersexualized by the second, and with the increasing popularity of social media, the “sex sells” image is constantly being pushed in our faces.

I want to reinvent the way the world thinks about modesty. 

I want to inspire this generation of women not to conform to what the world defines as “cool”, but to realize that there is nothing more liberating than unapologetically living to glorify God in every aspect of our lives, including our clothing.

In the fall of 2015, by faith, and with the help of the unarguable nudging of the Holy Spirit,I left my job in the secular fashion industry and have been hard at work turning my passion into purpose with Gracemade, a faith-driven lifestyle brand where faith and fashion coexist. 

Gracemade: Reinventing modesty

My vision is to provide a fashion-forward alternative to dowdy modest apparel and to show women that they can still express their personal style while honoring their faith.

It’s not only a clothing line; it’s also a community.

A community that empowers women to be all that God has created them to be. 

Jasmine Rennie is the founder of faith-driven fashion startup, Gracemade. She has a passion for inspiring women to fulfill their God-given purpose, and to live boldly and fearlessly in faith. Jasmine is based in Southern California and is obsessed with Jesus, design, and all things food related. 

The Triumph of Our Faith

"Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts. And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hands"

- 2 Kings 3:16-18 -

To human thinking it was simply impossible, but nothing is hard for God. Without a sound or sign, from sources invisible and apparently impossible, the floods came stealing in all night long; and when the morning dawned, those ditches were flooded with the crystal waters, and reflecting the rays of the morning sun from the red hills of Edom.
Our unbelief is always wanting some outward sign. The religion of many is largely sensational, and they are not satisfied of its genuineness without manifestations, etc.; but the greatest triumph of faith is to be still and know that He is God.
The great victory of faith is to stand before some impassable Red Sea, and hear the Master say, "Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord," and "Go forward!" As we step out without any sign or sound--not a wave-splash--and wetting our very feet as we take the first step into its waters, still marching on we shall see the sea divide and the pathway open through the very midst of the waters.
If we have seen the miraculous workings of God in some marvelous case of healing or some extraordinary providential deliverance, I am sure the thing that has impressed us most has been the quietness with which it was all done, the absence of everything spectacular and sensational, and the utter sense of nothingness which came to us as we stood in the presence of this mighty God and felt how easy, it was for Him to do it all without the faintest effort on His part or the slightest help on ours.
It is not the part of faith to question, but to obey. The ditches were made, and the water came pouring in from some supernatural source. What a lesson for our faith!
Are you craving a spiritual blessing? Open the trenches, and God will fill them. And this, too, in the most unexpected places and in the most unexpected ways. Oh, for that faith that can act by faith and not by sight, and expect God to work although we see no wind or rain.
--A. B. Simpson
- Streams in the Desert, Vol.1, December 7th
~Brittany

A few thoughts on waiting...

Waiting means “Steadfastness, that is holding on; patience, that is holding back; expectancy, that is holding the face up; obedience, that is holding one’s self in readiness to go or do; listening, that is holding quiet and still so as to hear.” 

~S. D. Gordon

“I do know that Waiting on God requires

the willingness to bear uncertainty,

to carry within oneself the unanswered question,

lifting the heart to God about it whenever it intrudes upon one’s thoughts.”

~Elisabeth Elliot

~Breanna

Patience, Waiting, Obedience

When the cloud tarried... then the children of Israel... journeyed not (Num. 9:19).

This was the supreme test of obedience. It was comparatively easy to strike tents, when the fleecy folds of the cloud were slowly gathering from off the Tabernacle, and it floated majestically before the host. Change is always delightful; and there was excitement and interest in the route, the scenery, and the locality of the next halting-place. But, ah, the tarrying.

Then, however uninviting and sultry the location, however trying to flesh and blood, however irksome to the impatient disposition, however perilously exposed to danger -- there was no option but to remain encamped.

The Psalmist says, "I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry." And what He did for the Old Testament saints He will do for believers throughout all ages. Still God often keeps us waiting. Face to face with threatening foes, in the midst of alarms, encircled by perils, beneath the impending rock. May we not go? Is it not time to strike our tents? Have we not suffered to the point of utter collapse? May we not exchange the glare and heat for green pastures and still waters?

There is no answer. The cloud tarries, and we must remain, though sure of manna, rock-water, shelter, and defense. God never keeps us at post without assuring us of His presence, and sending us daily supplies.

Wait, young man, do not be in a hurry to make a change! Minister, remain at your post! Until the cloud clearly moves, you must tarry. Wait, then, thy Lord's good pleasure! He will be in plenty of time!
--Daily Devotional Commentary

An hour of waiting!
Yet there seems such need
To reach that spot sublime!
I long to reach them--but I long far more
To trust HIS time!
"Sit still, my daughter"--
Yet the heathen die,
They perish while I stay!
I long to reach them--but I long far more
To trust HIS way!
'Tis good to get,
'Tis good indeed to give!
Yet is it better still--
O'er breadth, thro' length, down length, up height,
To trust HIS will!
--F. M. N.

Streams in the Desert - November 1, by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
~Brittany

Exposé of Psalms 119:97-105

I was blessed and challenged by this exposé written by a family friend of ours.

O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.
Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.
I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.
I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.
How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through thy precepts I get understanding : therefore I hate every false way.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Psalms 105:97-105

Do you truly love the law of the Lord? Does your heart beat after him as the deer after the water? Does he consume your thoughts? Do you delight yourself in him as a young man delights himself in his new wife? Do you spend time with God the way you spend time with your favorite hobby or pastime?
Sadly, if you and I are honest, we do not. The psalmist says he delights himself in God's precepts. Truthfully, it is sad to say but, we do not have Christ and his law as our first love. He does not reign supreme in our lives as he ought.
 The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, do you fear your God? Sure I know that the word can also mean reverence but should you not stand in awe and be amazed that the hands that hold the universe were nailed to a tree for you? For your sin, and for mine. The voice so terrible as to make the Hebrew people shrink back in terror at mount Sinai, the God of glory thundereth!!! That same voice calls gently and softly to each of us with a love that will not let us go. The righteous Judge of all the earth who's eye never sleepeth and who's hand is never slack, the God who destroys nations, raises kings and throws down others is the same who has redeemed and ransomed us from sin. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Yet, to the repentant he has promised to in no wise cast them out when they come. This is the God I fear.
The wisdom of God brings us understanding. Knowledge puffeth up. Having knowledge is not having wisdom. Without wisdom there is no understanding and without understanding, knowledge is useless. The reason why the verses above say that, “Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. “ is because that God's law teaches us three things. One, what evil looks like. Two, what its consequences are. Three, the way of escape.
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” In this world of sin and darkness the light of Christ is a dire necessity. And as the allegory so blatantly presents the Word of God should guide our every step. As in a room that is dark save a single light we must be close to the light to be able to perceive detail so must we be close to the Word of God to discern truth.
Let us serve our master well because of the price he has paid for us and because he deserves our love and obedience. “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Romans 6:16
Jesus says to each of us, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Let him be your guide, follow him into green pasture, feed on his word, and take every thought captive to the Word of God.

- Thomas Smith -

~Brittany

Each thing is beautiful in its season,

but not otherwise.

We must take care to know our place,

take it, and keep it.

We must minister as the Spirit has given us ability.

Our Lord Jesus taught us not to covet the high places.

Far from us be an envious, ambitious spirit,

let us feel the force of the Master's command,

and so as He bids us,

keeping rank with the rest of the host.

-Charles Spurgeon-

-Evening Meditation for July 18th

~Brittany

What is guiding you??? or are you drifting???

As I turned on my laptop on this morning, my post-it notes came up on my screen and I began rereading some of the quotes that I have placed on there.  When I checked the blog later on to see if the girls had posted anything, I read the devotion that Brittany had posted earlier from Spurgeon on being separate and thought this quote went perfectly with it.  :-)  

"People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; We drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; We drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated?" - D A Carson

"People around you desperately need living examples

of Christian love, and you can be that example.

Love is the first fruit the Holy Spirit wants to produce and grow in your life (Gal. 5:22).

Don't resist His gentle prodding;

respond in obedience to the Spirit's leading to love as Christ loved."

-- Alexander Strauch --

"But the fact remains that the place in which we find ourselves 

is the very place in which the Master desires us to live our life!

There is no haphazard in God's world.

God leads every one of His children by the right way.

He knows where and under what influences, each particular life will ripen best."

-- J.R. Miller --

"Fulfillment is not a goal to achieve,
but always a by-product of sacrifice."
-- Elisabeth Elliot --

~Brittany

"The man that believes will obey; failure to obey is convincing proof that there is not true faith present. To attempt the impossible God must give faith or there will be none, and He gives faith to the obedient heart only. Where real repentance is, there is obedience; for repentance is not only sorrow for past failures and sins, it is a determination to begin now to do the will of God as He reveals it to us."  - A. W. Tozer

This quote really hit home with me tonight.  Oh to have enough faith to obey in what seems the impossible!  My heart's cry is, "Lord, I believe!  Help Thou mine unbelief!"
~Brittany