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Be A Queen... Not A Princess...the crown is bigger!

 

Mirror, mirror...

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest one of all?”  Who could forget this stunning quote by the evil “Queen” step-mother of Snow White?  She called herself a queen, but was she one really?  According to our list of princess and queen qualities, it seems clear that there was truly a role reversal between the Queen step–mother and Snow White.

The Queen step-mother demanded her own way, was not patient or kind (dabbling with poisonous apples is not good), had a hard time being a step–mother, didn’t seem to have any friends (except the mirror until he angered her), was constantly seeking praise for herself, and lost faith and hope in life and her future.  Whereas, Snow White showed all of the truly “Queen” behaviors by caring more about others than herself (she even worried about the huntsman charged with the ghastly task of killing her), being remarkably patient and kind, rejoicing whenever good happened (she exuded goodness which can only come from God), embracing her role as a daughter, delighting in being a good friend (even with the animals), and keeping faith and hope as she endured.

What is even more remarkable about the Queen’s stunning quote is what her speech reveals about her thinking.  We know that she must have been so self–centered that she was blind to her own repetitiveness, her extreme quest for beauty, her competitiveness towards any perceived rival, her murderous ambition, and her cold cruel heart.  How sad that the good, long, hard look in the mirror did not produce disgust!  If only, when we look at our diminished selves, we would cry out to God, “Dear God, please change my heart.  Don’t leave me as I am!”  Thankfully, dear daughters, He does change those with willing hearts.  He changes us from the inside out.

1 Corinthians 13:11–13   NLT
It’s like this: When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child does.  But when I grew up, I put away childish things.  Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.  All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now.  There are three things that will endure – faith, hope, and love – and the greatest of these is love.

In our book, Be A Queen, Not A Princess, The Crown Is Bigger, we define the characteristics of a queen based, in part, on I Corinthians 13.

"A QUEEN DOES NOT DEMAND HER OWN WAY– She is acutely aware that she is not the only one with needs to consider.  She looks to the interests and concerns of others first.  She finds ways to serve others and genuinely enjoys being a blessing to those around her without expecting to be noticed.  She is an asset at church, school, and home."

 

Living as a mature, godly teen is being a queen; in the best way! It is a great blessing it is to look into a mirror to see the amazing beauty that God has developed from the inside out. Be A Queen!

 

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Be A Queen... Country Of One

 

Peace In Your Life

Imagine that you are on a gorgeous tropical island.  Do you feel the soft breeze and the warm sun on your face?  Do you smell the salty ocean air and the fragrant tropical flowers blooming nearby?  Sit down on the fine, white sandy beach.  The sand is soft and warm.  It tickles as it runs between your toes.  You hear the water lapping at the shore, gently swaying in and out from the crystal blue surf.  White bubbles foam on the wet sand just past your toes.  Ohhh, it’s peaceful here.  You could stay like this forever.

Peaceful, what is it and what does it mean?  Words that mean peaceful are quiet, serene, calm, still, undisturbed, tranquil, and untroubled.  Like joy, peace is a state of being.  It is not something a person can buy, order, schedule, or pluck out of the air.  I cannot go to the store and buy peace.  I cannot get some of my friend’s peace and use some for me.  Peace is a wonderful, lovely, relaxed, and personal state of being.

Peace is achieved through consistent choices that maintain reasonable order, priority, acceptance, and truth.  If I misplace my keys, my peace is disturbed and when I find them, I am relieved, and I have peace again.  If I take time to watch a TV show instead of doing my assignment, I will have to scramble to get the assignment done in time.  This rushing pressure robs me of peace.  If I cannot accept something and I won’t change how I feel about it, I will not have peace.  If I lie about something, I will worry about getting found out and I will not have peace.  Peace is that feeling of well–being and that everything is as right as it can be or needs to be.

Did you ever notice that when you first wake up in the morning, you have a few minutes before all of your memory is up and running?  Then, all of a sudden, you remember something about the day before that affects your sense of well–being.  It could be something good like, it’s a holiday, or it could be something bad like, you’re upset about someone.

Recently, that happened to me (Michele).  I woke up and was feeling pretty happy for a few minutes, and then I remembered something that was troubling me from the day before.  Then, I thought to myself, “It’s too bad that I let that trouble carry over from the previous day.”  Too bad indeed.  The key word is, “let”.  I let that happen; I left the matter from the previous day unresolved.  I made that choice.  First I prayed (order), then I soon realized that the matter was not important enough (priority), I could not change what happened but I could change how I felt about it (acceptance), and I knew that it would work out (truth), so I claimed back my peace!

To live in a peaceful state of being, we must consistently choose to maintain reasonable order, priority, acceptance and truth in our lives.  Consider the “Serenity Prayer” written in the late 1930’s by Reinhold Niebuhr.  Can you identify order, priority, acceptance and truth in the prayer excerpt?

The Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Amen.

We have much to do with choosing our state of being.  When we choose to believe in Jesus, we have chosen His order in our lives.  Did you know that God holds all things in the universe together with just His word?

Hebrews 1:3   NLT
The Son reflects God's own glory, and everything about Him represents God exactly.  He sustains the universe by the mighty power of His command.

Colossians 1:16–17   NIV
For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him.  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

It is comforting to know that the entire universe and everything in it, is under God’s command.  For us to enjoy peace, we need to choose to believe what God says.  The Lord promises that when we have Jesus in our hearts, our minds will be protected and we will know peace.  However, without Him, we are lost. Make a decision to start every day in peace, God's perfect peace!

 

 

 

 

 

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Be A Queen... Time To Rule!

 

Why We Listen To The Bible

Did you know that many people are unaware of just how we came to have the Bible we have today?  An understanding of how the Bible came to be, can expand our knowledge of God and show us how He chooses to speak to us today.  It makes it clear that we need to believe God, not the world, to live a great life. 

 

The writing which eventually was gathered together and came to be known as “The Holy Bible” has 66 books that were written over a period of 1500 years by more than 40 different authors living on 3 different continents (Asia, Africa and Europe), and in three different languages. This was in a time before typewriters, computers, phones, and media.  While the text itself was penned by the hands of various authors, the ultimate divine origin of the Scripture is testified to numerous times within the text itself and has been repeatedly confirmed throughout history with integrity, reliability, unity and consistency throughout.  Isn’t that amazing?

 

2 Tim 3:16-17 NIV
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

 

It is commonly thought that BC stands for "before Christ" and AD stands for "after death." This is only half correct. How could the year 1 B.C. have been "before Christ" and 1 A.D. been "after death"? BC does stand for "before Christ." AD actually stands for the Latin phrase "anno domini" which means "in the year of our Lord."  The birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Christ are the "turning points" in world history. It is fitting, therefore, that Jesus Christ is the separation of "old" and "new." BC was "before Christ" and since His birth, we have been living "in the year of our Lord."  Here is a list of the God-inspired authors and the approximate years they wrote their parts of the Bible. 

 

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy = Moses - 1400 B.C.
Joshua = Joshua - 1350 B.C.
Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel = Samuel / Nathan / Gad - 1000 - 900 B.C.
1 Kings, 2 Kings = Jeremiah - 600 B.C.
1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah = Ezra - 450 B.C.
Esther = Mordecai - 400 B.C.
Job = Moses - 1400 B.C.
Psalms = several different authors, mostly David - 1000 - 400 B.C.
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon = Solomon - 900 B.C.
Isaiah = Isaiah - 700 B.C.
Jeremiah, Lamentations = Jeremiah - 600 B.C.
Ezekiel = Ezekiel - 550 B.C.
Daniel = Daniel - 550 B.C.
Hosea = Hosea - 750 B.C.
Joel = Joel - 850 B.C.
Amos = Amos - 750 B.C.
Obadiah = Obadiah - 600 B.C.
Jonah = Jonah - 700 B.C.
Micah = Micah - 700 B.C.
Nahum = Nahum - 650 B.C.
Habakkuk = Habakkuk - 600 B.C.
Zephaniah = Zephaniah - 650 B.C.
Haggai = Haggai - 520 B.C.
Zechariah = Zechariah - 500 B.C.
Malachi = Malachi - 430 B.C.
Matthew = Matthew - A.D. 55
Mark = John Mark - A.D. 50
Luke = Luke - A.D. 60
John = John - A.D. 90
Acts = Luke - A.D. 65
Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon = Paul - A.D. 50-70
Hebrews = unknown, best guesses are Paul, Luke, Barnabas, or Apollos - 65 A.D.
James = James - A.D. 45
1 Peter, 2 Peter = Peter - A.D. 60
1 John, 2 John, 3 John = John - A.D. 90
Jude = Jude - A.D. 60
Revelation = John - A.D. 90

 

The individual writers, at the time of writing, had no idea that others were also writing parts that would be combined into the Book we now know as the Bible. Anyone who studies the Bible will find remarkable structural and mathematical patterns threaded through it with detail and symmetry that could not possibly be due to chance or fraud especially when you consider how the authors lived so far apart in geography, time, and history.

There is no other book like the living Word of God. The vague, and usually mistaken, predictions of people like Jeanne Dixon, Nostradamus (a 16th century writer), Edgar Cayce (a “psychic” in the early 1900s), and others like them are not on the same level at all, and neither are other religious books such as the Koran, the Confucian Analects, and similar religious writings. Followers and hoaxers have made up plausible explanations of these works, but they are proven as false by the historic and scientific communities. Only the Bible holds true over the test of time.

 

The Bible is unique in its effect on individual people and on world history. It is the all-time best seller, appealing both to hearts and minds, favored by at least some in every race or nation or tribe to which it has gone. No other book has ever held such universal appeal nor produced such lasting effects.

 

One final evidence of truth about the Bible is found in the testimony of those who have believed it. Multitudes of people, past and present, have found from personal experience that its promises are true, its counsel is sound, its commands and restrictions are wise, and its wonderful message of salvation meets every need for all time and eternity.

 

WHY NOT DEAR ABBY?

Who hasn’t heard of Dear Abby in movies, television and print? Why don't we just open up the newspaper to her column and follow that? The most widely syndicated newspaper columnist in the world, Abby commands a client list of about 1,400 newspapers worldwide, and a daily readership of more than 110 million people.

 

Abby receives more than 10,000 letters and e-mails per week. More than 80 percent of the correspondence she receives comes from readers between 18 and 49. The majority of the rest comes from people under 18. She offers common sense solutions to everyday problems.  She is an entertainer.  Her column helps people with problems and sells lots of newspapers.

 

Abby began working at age 14 under the tutelage of her mother, who founded the Dear Abby column. As a young girl, Abby answered letters from other teens under the training and supervision of her mother. In 1987, Abby assumed all the writing responsibilities for Dear Abby.

 

Abby is one of only three laypersons ever to be granted a prestigious Life Consultant membership in the Group for Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP), an organization of nationally respected psychiatrists dedicated to shaping psychiatric thinking, public programs and clinical practice in mental health.

 

Remember, psychiatrists and psychologists are educated and well informed professionals, but they are limited to their educations and exposures. They are just human, can have personal biases, and sometimes don’t know the whole story in a situation. They have to work with what they have in front of them.

 

WHY NOT FORTUNE COOKIES?

Fortune cookies probably didn’t arrive on Asian shores until 1993 – and they weren't much of a hit. However, the cookies and their Confucius-inspired sayings have been a staple of Chinese-American dinners since World War II. While the cookie’s origins aren’t an ancient secret, some mystery surrounds exactly who invented the fortune dessert.

 

One theory asserts that a Japanese immigrant named Makoto Hagiwara created the cookies around 1915. Hagiwara was the landscaper and caretaker of the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, where he served the cookies with tea. At some point, nearby Chinese restaurants discovered the fortune cookies and added them as dessert.

 

Another cookie creation story also takes place in California. A Chinese immigrant named David Jung of Los Angeles claimed he invented the fortune cookie in 1918. Jung gave the cookies, which carried Bible verses inside, to the unemployed as inspiration. He later started the Hong Kong Noodle Company and sold fortune cookies.

 

Today, most fortune cookies are made by a factory in Queens, New York, a fact that makes this classic an actual fortune, a little less likely.  Fun dessert… but would I bet my life on fortune cookie?  Hmmm…

 

 

WHAT ABOUT… HOROSCOPES, CRYSTAL BALLS, TEA LEAVES, OR FORTUNE TELLERS?

Michele’s husband, Hal, conducted an experiment when he was a high school senior for his psychology class.  Hal and his friend, Pat, wanted to see if fortune tellers, palm readers, and card readers could really tell the future.  They hypothesized that “psychic” readings were based upon nonverbal clues observed about the customer, responses to questions, and common assumptions. They predicted that the “psychic” used observation to start a line of questioning, the customer responded either confirming or disconfirming the guesses, and then formed the guesses into statements that sound like telling the future.

 

For example, a middle-aged woman comes into the shop holding a Kleenex in one hand and her purse dangling a key ring with a recent picture of a young couple in wedding attire. It doesn’t take a lot of deduction to figure that she is there because the young couple is either her son or daughter, and a spouse.  She has been crying, so they could be breaking up or they can’t have children or something similar.  A few leading questions sounding like statements, “I am sensing great worry about distance (?)…there is barrenness(?).” Wait for it…the woman responds, “Yes, yes, how did you know!?  My daughter…she wants a baby….” You get the idea.

 

So, Hal and Pat decided to pay a visit to each of these people whose shops are classically in the seediest part of town and present themselves under false pretenses to see if the nonverbal clues they gave would inform the “psychic” readings.  Hal, who I had been dating for over a year, pretended that he was really shy and awkward with girls by dressing geeky-shirt buttoned to the top button, pant legs a little short, a stiff posture, and a slight stutter.  Pat, who dated plenty of girls, dressed similarly, only glanced to make eye contact, and acted embarrassed when he spoke. 

 

They took turns getting their fortunes told at each place and all of their “readings” reflected the “boy wants to meet girl” theme with future predictions that love would come one day but they would have to wait… a while.  No one suspected the truth that they were each quite socially capable and actively dating.  They proved their hypothesis and did a great job on their ENTERTAINING report and presentation!

 

Besides visiting the seedy shop, now people can contact “psychics” on the phone or the internet.  You have to wonder who it is you are getting advice from--probably from people working at home in their bathrobes! 

They are entertaining, but often their advice is too general and ambiguous. Their hunches are not specifically designed for just for you! And they are nothing more than mere guesses; definitely NOT prophetic.

 

THE BIBLE IS GOD'S LIVING WORD

Yes, it is a living-breathing, super-natural book designed specifically for you and your circumstances.  Think of it as a telephone straight to God for listening and responding. 

 

The Bible is how God answers your questions in human words.  Any day or any time, you can simply ask questions or share your concerns straight with God.  Pray for answers to your pressing questions, then open your Bible or use a concordance for your topic, read the page and think on it!  Somewhere on that page is an answer or something relevant to what you have asked.  Sometimes it leads you to another page for more details or addresses a need that you weren’t even aware of and then you will have the satisfying "Ah-ha" moment you were seeking.  Try it, it works! 

 

Another way to hear from God is through the preached Word--sermons!  Did you know that He is delivering a particular message to you that way, every week?  Listen closely to the sermon next Sunday.  Something will leap out at you when you are listening that is said just for you.  The Holy Spirit will make sure you hear the sermon speak to you.  Pray about what you have learned and do what you have been given direction to do from the Word in your life. 

 

The Word of God is the only source that is inscribed by the finger of God. Find out what God wants to say to you every day!

 

 

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