Lessons From Nature

1.All that was needed for existence would have been yours without the flowers and birds, but God was not content to provide what would suffice for mere existence. He has filled earth and air and sky with glimpses of beauty to tell you of His loving thought for you. The beauty of all created things is but a gleam from the shining of His glory. If He has lavished such infinite skill upon the things of nature, 96 for your happiness and joy, can you doubt that He will give you every needed blessing?"-TMB,pp96,97

2.Consider, says Jesus, how the lilies grow; how, springing from the cold, dark earth, or from the mud of the river bed, the plants unfold in loveliness and fragrance. Who would dream of the possibilities of beauty in the rough brown bulb of the lily? But when the life of God, hidden therein, unfolds at His call in the rain and the sunshine, men marvel at the vision of grace and loveliness. Even so will the life of God unfold in every human soul that will yield itself to the ministry of His grace, which, free as the rain and the sunshine, comes with its benediction to all. It is the word of God that creates the flowers, and the same word will produce in you the graces of His Spirit.-TMB,p.97

#inward_beauty
#virtue

3.God’s law is the law of love. He has surrounded you with beauty to teach you that you are not placed on earth merely to delve for self, to dig and build, to toil and spin, but to make life bright and joyous and beautiful with the love of Christ—like the flowers, to gladden other lives by the ministry of love.-TMB,p97

Reblogged:Women's Rights and Abortion

I know
I just couldn't stop from sharing this
Beautiful

Source:http://nomgqibelonono.blogspot.co.za/2014/08/womens-rights-and-abortion.html

"So before Agfjdnsjebsknsis jsvskbeknd jbsksneke Birth control there was an actual presentation on Women's Rights and Abortion, here's what I said: 

I'll start at the beginning, Genesis 1:1. “In the beginning God…” fast forward to verse 26, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…” He then commissions man to be fruitful and multiply. In Genesis chapter 2 we see that God for the very first time in all His creation says something is not good. “It is not good for man to be alone…” because how will he be fruitful and multiply right?

So God then brings in this suitable helper who Adam calls Woman, she is created equal to him (taken from his side) she will serve humankind differently but her role is necessary. The scripture then says “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united with his WIFE, and they become one flesh.” So basically a man should only ever be united to his WIFE, become one flesh with his WIFE – not any Sarah, Jane or Ntombikayise he meets.

I'll fast forward again to the fall. To cut the long story short, Eve is deceived by the serpent which results in the serpent (who is the enemy) and humankind being cursed.

The curse proclaimed against the enemy is this:

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel. “

I believe this is where the entire issue starts; there is a war on women. Hell is bent on destroying the woman. We see it time and again in our world history, the rights of women being debated, women oppressed and treated as less than.

The war has intensified in recent years through a direct attack on the offspring of women, the fruit of her womb, through abortion. The enemy, whose head is supposed to be crushed to death by this offspring, wins the fight against the offspring before it even starts. The enemy is working overtime to ensure that his head is not crushed – because should the fight actually take place the most damage he can do is to just bruise the heel. It’s still a good fight for this Offspring if given a chance to live.

Again, just like in the Garden, women have been deceived to think that they can actually decide who lives or dies.

There are two camps that exist in this “abortion debate”:

Pro-life: which essentially says, life has begun let it grow and take its full course. Pretty simple…

Pro-choice: basically says that it’s the woman’s body therefore she has a choice as to whether or not she wants to have an abortion. In other words, will she carry this pregnancy to term?

I want to stay on this pro-choice issue because it’s an important aspect of the woman’s rights. It seems to me that there is a distortion as towhen exactly the “choice” starts and ends.

Ann B Ross says “I certainly supported a woman's right to choose, but to my mind the time to choose was before, not after the fact.”

The freedom to choose starts at the very beginning, the woman has the right to choose whether or not she will partake in life forming activities. In other words, is she going to partake in sex, with a man (who must, in the correct order of things, ACTUALLY be her husband!)

Once a woman makes that choice (which she has every right to make) she must realise that there is a high chance of conception – because when a mama egg meets a papa sperm life begins. We as women were created, as suitable helpers to husbands, to host and nurture the life in the womb. We have menstrual cycles to evidence that our bodies are ready to host and carry life. It’s an automated process – which we hardly have any control over.

An example of infringement of the women’s right to choose is the issue with the KZN municipality that is forcing girls to take contraceptive injections in order to avoid pregnancy while they are studying. The right for a woman to choose is being taken away in that situation; they are treating her fertility as some kind of illness that needs to be managed. In the society that we live in, should it not be the girl’s choice as to whether or not she should have sex with a man? This is her first choice right? But it is treated as irrelevant in this matter.

The KZN matter is an actual choice issue; but this is where the pro-choice movement gets it wrong. The woman’s right to choose starts way before the fact and it ends where the choices of another human being start. Once conception has taken place, there is another human being involved whose rights and life should be protected – no matter what. The pro-choice advocates at their very core are actually infringing on another person’s right to LIFE. This person, who is not fully developed yet, cannot speak for themselves, cannot march to defend their right to life.

There is also the rape issue…

What then of a woman who was not given a choice but was horrifically violated and a child was conceived through this act of violence? Yes, that’s a different situation, a different circumstance of conception, but the fact still remains that there is an innocent life that now becomes part of the equation.

I love how Lila Rose of Live Action puts it, she acknowledges that rape is horrific and that the rapist must be held accountable by the law and that the ends of justice must take their course. The victim of rape should be allowed to heal in her community, but abortion does not un-rape a woman. Abortion would simply add more violence to that act of rape, because now innocent blood is shed.

Rebecca Kiessling, who was conceived in rape, asks this question, “Should I have received the death penalty for the crimes of my father?”

Is it fair to you if you receive the punishment, because your father did something wrong in his past?

On that note of fathers, it seems to me that there is an absence of the male in the “choice” that needs to be made. Like Adam seems to have been absent or silent during Eve and the serpent’s exchange, men seem to leave it to the woman to decide whether or not to keep the baby. Like Eve, women are left wide open to deception and children are not protected by their fathers because men don't take their positions and take responsibility for their part in conception. 

It all just feels like a vicious cycle that is bent on destroying the family, the family that God commissioned to rule the earth and have dominion over it. Mothers and fathers don't play their roles as intended by God. Children, future world changers, are killed before they can even take their first breath. Fathers are absent. Mothers are either killing their offspring or not actually BEING mothers because they have to balance between being mom and dad as single parents.  I’d say the enemy has ensured that those who are in fact made in God’s image and likeness do not rule over this earth and subdue it as we should.

***END***

If you have had an abortion please know that there is forgiveness in Jesus Christ and total redemption of what was lost. Speak to someone about it, go for inner healing because the Lord wants to heal the broken parts of you. He wants you to also forgive yourself and live free of guilt and shame. Your Redeemer lives. 

BLOG ALERT: UPCOMING PROJECT

Greetings friends,

Remember the manhood section we planned to add to the blog?

Scratch that.

We decided to dedicate an entire book for that including the womanhood section.

Authors

(I, the blogger)

(Babalo Vala)

Keep us in your prayers,

I might be off here for a long while (personal preparation etc)




Much love,

Mercy

Devotional Thought:Helplessness,Sinfulness & Dependency

 Carnal nature is about self-sufficiency among other things. It hates feeling weak, being corrected or being in a position where it has to submit. I see it in me. I see it everyday. Carnal nature hates vulnerability!There's so much struggle in admitting that you are not okay--even when it's from a loved one. Self will tell you: "Don't burden others, keep quiet, don't talk about your struggles--they have theirs. You don't dare open your heart,they don't have to know your defects. Keep it together. ".

And as I continue with my Christian journey, there's this struggle whenever I sin towards God or make a mistake.( This behavior also manifests itself in other relationships too). Instead of wanting to run to Him, I want to hide. That's how heavy sin is. The same reaction that made Adam and Eve cover themselves and hide is active even in our age.I'd be there feeling disappointed at  myself and I'd be there telling myself: I can't believe I did this to God. I promise not to do it again; while forgetting that in me I do not even possess the strength to honor God. 

But God is faithful: He's  really helping me see my brokenness, insufficiency, hopelessness apart from Him. He's been teaching me that, at my lowest,when I'm broken and unmade, that's exactly then that He would have me come to Him. After all, there's nothing I can do for myself in this state. This is a lesson God is impressing, though human nature keeps telling me I must do something to merit God's favor. But on the contrary, Christ has already did the meriting for me--I just need to come. That's always the first step. So the statements below have been melting my heart in ways I cannot comprehend.

1.Jesus loves to have us come to him, just as we are,—sinful, helpless, dependent.---Gospel Workers, 414

2.If we come to God, feeling helpless and dependent, as we really are, and in humble, trusting faith make known our wants to Him whose knowledge is infinite, who sees everything in creation, and who governs everything by His will and word, He can and will attend to our cry, and will let light shine into our hearts. Through sincere prayer we are brought into connection with the mind of the Infinite. We may have no remarkable evidence at the time that the face of our Redeemer is bending over us in compassion and love, but this is even so. We may not feel His visible touch, but His hand is upon us in love and pitying tenderness.—(Steps to Christ, 97.)

3.Some seem to feel that they must be on probation and must prove to the Lord that they are reformed, before they can claim his blessing. But these dear souls may claim the blessing even now. They must have his grace, the Spirit of Christ, to help their infirmities, or they cannot form a Christian character. Jesus loves to have us come to him, just as we are,—sinful, helpless, dependent. -GW,p.414

4.Let no one here feel that his case is hopeless; for it is not. You may see that you are sinful and undone; but it is just on this account that you need a Saviour. If you have sins to confess, lose no time. These moments are golden. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” [1 John 1:9.] Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled; for Jesus has promised it. Precious Saviour! his arms are open to receive us, and his great heart of love is waiting to bless us.-GW,pp.413,414

5.We must learn in the school of Christ. Nothing but his righteousness can entitle us to one of the blessings of the covenant of grace. We have long desired and tried to obtain these blessings, but have not received them, because we have cherished the idea that we could do something to make ourselves worthy of them. We have not looked away from ourselves, believing that Jesus is a living Saviour. We must not think that our own grace and merits will save us; the grace of Christ is our only hope of salvation. Through his prophet the Lord promises, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” [Isaiah 55:7.] We must believe the naked promise, and not accept feeling for faith. When we trust God fully, when we rely upon the merits of Jesus as a sin-pardoning, Saviour, we shall receive all the help that we can desire.-GW,p.412

6.We look to self, as though we had power to save ourselves; but Jesus died for us because we are helpless to do this. In him is our hope, our justification, our righteousness. We should not despond, and fear that we have no Saviour, or that he has no thoughts of mercy toward us. At this very time he is carrying on his work in our behalf, inviting us to come to him in our helplessness, and be saved. We dishonor him by our unbelief. It is astonishing how we treat our very best Friend, how little confidence we repose in him who is able to save to the uttermost, and who has given us every evidence of his great love.-GW,p.412 

Devotional Thought:Behold The Lamb and Be Cleansed

 

Are you burdened with a list of your sins? Has your Christian journey been a roller-coaster, instead of an upward journey with continual victory? Do you find that you have true, godly motives, with no fruits? Are you confessing the same sin over and over again; not because you have not forsaken it, but because you are haunted by images of yourself partaking in it? Are you living in fear- fear that you may be beyond God’s grace and it might be that, your experience was just a hoax? Are you fearful that you may go back to your ways? Have you reached a point where you don’t even cast your cares on Him? Are you so scared that, you’ve disappointed God on countless occasions that you’re tempted to let go of the free gift of salvation?

I can relate. I’ve been there. Still going through it. BUT THERE IS HOPE in our hopelessness.

Here’s the promise: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. -1 John 1:9

 

All we need to do is to confess. We need not to cleanse ourselves; we need not to bring blood to make atonement for our sins. We need not a lump sum to purchase forgiveness. We need not an earthly priest to confess on our behalf. The condition is only one, to confess, and with the condition is the free gift of forgiveness and cleansing from ALL unrighteousness. Not that our confession commends us, but the One who calls us to confess loves us and has given Christ for the ‘propitiation for our sins’ (1 John 4:10).

Moreover, He is faithful and just. In our unfaithfulness, He remains faithful. And only on this premise we lay hold on the promise.

 

“God requires that we confess our sins, and humble our hearts before him; but at the same time we should have confidence in him as a tender Father, who will not forsake those who put their trust in him. Many of us walk by sight, and not by faith. We believe the things that are seen, but do not appreciate the precious promises given us in God's word; and yet we cannot dishonor God more decidedly than by showing that we distrust what he says, and question whether the Lord is in earnest with us or is deceiving us.”- Gospel Workers, E.G. White, p.411

 

“God does not give us up because of our sins. We may make mistakes, and grieve his Spirit; but when we repent, and come to him with contrite hearts, he will not turn us away.’’- Gospel Workers, E.G. White, p.411

 

Through the eyes of faith, lay hold on this promise: Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Even our sins!