True Love

^{First Corinthians Thrirteen
1} If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. ³ If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;^a]">[a] but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud ⁵ or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. ⁶ It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ⁷ Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

⁸ Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages^b]">[b] and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! ⁹ Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! ¹⁰ But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless.

¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. ¹² Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.^c]">[c] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

¹³ Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

Did you read all of that? It's really important...However, if you didn't, I want to especially highlight and point out verses 4-7 and the last one, 13. There is sooo much that you can take from that passage, but today, with Christmas coming up, I want to stress one specific point about love. Agape love: it is the unconditional love of God that He exampled when He sent His one and only Son to earth to die on the cross for us. This sort of love calls for us to love one another without care for what anybody has to offer us. Even if people don't seem to like you, you are called to love them. They can trash you, talk behind your back, ignore you, or even beat up on you, but love them anyways...Forgive them of all their wrongs, help them through their misunderstandings, their issues, serve them, call them out on things we know they did incorrectly, guide them, influence them, gift them....Just love them. Plain and simple, as Jesus loves the church, and as God loves His creation. This is no easy task, but it is a challenge that God has charged us with, and is all that he asks us to offer: to Him, your family, and all of his creation. If nothing else, give agape love this Christmas, this month, this (and next) year, and throughout this, YOUR life....I Love you!

For Real
~ Kiana

A Charge to Young Women By Bryan Davis

A Charge to Young Women
By Bryan Davis
She is born with a passion to uplift, empower, and support. She is the mainstay and sail
for the captain’s ship. She is the heat in the warrior’s resolve and the salve that heals his wounds.
She is the heart that pumps vitality to every joint and sinew. Yes, she is a woman.
Every girl in existence has been lovingly fashioned—from her caring and sensitive brain,
to her tender and compassionate hands, to her tireless feet—to be a pillar of strength and resolve.
While she might not be a warrior who draws a sword, she is the healer who strengthens the
warrior’s hands and heart. Without her, every weapon would drop in futility, every muscular arm
would wilt, and every pair of tired legs would shuffle home in defeat, for the heart that drives the
warrior forward has stopped beating.
Some young women choose to take up the sword themselves, to step out alone in the
midst of darkness to carry a lantern to the lost, to battle oppression and bring relief to the abused
and neglected, or to transport life-giving supplies to the destitute wherever they may be. Their
partner is the Spirit of Christ, and their sword is His word. They must know Him well if they
hope to shine His light and pierce the darkness without the help of an intimate human partner.
Speak the truth. Live the truth. Be the truth. Never let the faithless ones persuade you to
abandon any of those three principles. Remember that you are an oracle of fire, as is every
faithful follower of our Lord. For all true disciples possess the pure silver, purged of all dross,
and the fire of God’s love burns within, an everlasting flame that others, even those who merely
give lip-service to the truth, will never comprehend until you are able to pass along that fire from
heart to heart.
Many girls will choose to partner with another in this pursuit, hoping to be the light, the
energy, and the drive that pulses within the breast of another. Yet, some never discover what it
means to be such a heart. They never learn the secret of the captain’s sail or the recipe of the
healing salve. Why? Because they listen to a counterfeit call, a trumpet blaring a falsehood—that
their beauty is a lure to capture rather than an inspiration to set free. The inner desire to help and
support becomes a lust to take and own. The hope to hear words of affirmation that she has been
a good and faithful helpmate transforms into a hopeless search for eyes that admire and lips that
speak words of appreciation for her outward appearance rather than for the beauty of her soul.
And such a search never ends in true satisfaction.
You, however, are listening to your creator’s call, a gentle voice within that whispers
reminders of how you were really fashioned, to be a woman of virtue, of inner beauty, of
priceless value. The trumpet announces your need to strut, expose, and seduce, while the inner
voice sings of ways to dress your soul in virtue—to feed the hungry, cover those laid bare, infuse
encouragement into the hearts of the downtrodden, and nurture the victims of poverty, disease,
and abandonment.
As a young woman of virtue, you understand what will happen if you heed the trumpet’s
call to lure with flesh and flair. You will draw attention, but from whom? Someone who values
face and form but not the heart. He will take, use, and abuse. His desire is for his own benefit,
because what his eyes perceive is a girl who offers to fulfill the cravings of his body, and he
responds, not with love, but with lust for his own satisfaction. And when your flower of youth
fades, he will not perceive value in your soul, and you will never achieve the holy union of hearts
for which you were created.
If you listen to the creator’s call, you will suffer temporary loss. When you pour out
compassion and pity instead of skin and superficiality, you will be considered old-fashioned, out- of-touch, a prude. Yet, within the fair bosom you are saving for a true warrior, you will be
nurturing a heart of unspoiled beauty, for it has not been taken at a cheap price. It has not been
hardened by a wolf who captures, abuses, and leaves. And with such a heart, you will be able to
reach out and be the captain’s sail, the warrior’s reason for drawing his sword, and the soothing
salve for hearts less whole than your own.
The heart of a woman is more precious than pearls, and a man of worth sees it as a
priceless treasure. He knows that she is the energy that drives his purpose, and without her, the
pursuit of his vision for God’s purpose will be sluggish indeed. For the honor of taking that heart
to join with him in fulfilling that vision, he will give his life, his heart, and his soul. The woman
who has prepared her heart for that adventure will never regret the small price she paid. Scorn
fades, and satisfaction blossoms. Contempt crumbles to dust, and contentment rises in its place.
Ridicule is forgotten, while refreshment of the soul lives for as long as the heart pumps its life-
giving energy.
Whether you take up the sword yourself or choose to unite with a warrior, now is the time
to live according to this standard. It might seem that you are walking the path alone, yet, you are
never alone. The One who planted the heart within you will never leave your side, and He will
continue to sing the song that fashioned you as a woman of virtue. Listen. It is there. You will
have to tune out the surrounding noise, but the sounds of love and virtue will never be silenced,
if only you know the Singer and His song.

This is by Bryan Davis, my all time favorite author, who generously allowed me to post it here. I think that it makes so many wonderful points! I leave it to you to take these words for their literal meaning, or spiritual, or metaphorical. (Also, Mr. Davis wrote "A Charge to Young Men" as well.)

I'm Staying Pure...Forever!

Today, I was listening to my Bible teacher, and he made an amazing point about purity. I thought I'd share it: People always say that they will stay pure until marriage. Now, what's wrong with that? Lots... Think about it, if you only stay pure until marriage, what is your marriage going to be like? Are you going to cheat on your husband, or do you want him to cheat on you? I hope not.
Marriage itself is from God, and anything from God is originally pure. That doesn't mean that we as humans can't make it corrupt, it only means that if we keep ourselves pure for God, ourselves, and our future husbands, (and if the guys do their part in keeping themselves pure) then we'll have a truly pure marriage.
So, you want to stay pure after marriage too, right? Make it part of your vow to remain pure forever. Say that you are staying pure, not just until marriage, but always. This will glorify God, be a gift and promise to your husband and yourself, and reflect God for others.

For Real
~Kiana

Hearts of Clay

• Have you ever sculpted something with clay? It seems hard as a rock once it is finished drying, but in reality, it is oh so easy to crack, and chip, and break. Put it in the wrong hands, and your precious masterpiece could be scattered and ruined! Sure, you can remould it, but it will never be the same, and there will pieces missing. Would you allow other people to continue to handle your creation, and risk having it destroyed again, or even chance a third time? Unless you are incredibly senseless, the answer is No! No more would you allow somebody to steal your masterpiece, but you would guard it carefully. However, you would easily be persuaded to give it to the One who who would take incredible care of it until you found the perfect person you wished to gift it to. Then, when you found that perfect someone who will appreciate your work and cherish it, they can admire it in it's entirety.

• The same is true for a gift from the Maker. A gift that he handled and crafted so delicately, and fashioned to be so amazing, beautiful, precious, and magnificent: Your Heart! Protect, treasure, and care for your heart the same way that you would a famous masterpiece. For your heart, is the Master's Piece!

For Real,
Kiana

Number of abortions per year: Approximately 42 Million
Number of abortions per day: Approximately 115,000
"...And yet no one cries out to Me." {Hosea 7:7b}
Pray: Don't consult anybody else - just God. Only He can change these statistics.

King David's Prayer

Alright, Corina made an excellent point about prayer, and I found a funny little side note to it. Do you know about King David? Famous king of Israel that had a special relationship with God. A big part of that relationship was his relization that He could go to God with everything, just like Cory said. So here is the verse, where King David literally prayed: "Slap my enemies in the face!" Psalm 3:7 I can't get over the fact that the great warrior king of Israel, simply asked God to slap his enemies in the face! It's funny, but also illustrates the point Corina was making. We can come to God in everything.
~Kiana

Prayer ~ By Corina

First of all. I LOVE the books Kia just posted! I am in 'complete agreement' as Kia was with my blog. My personal favorites are: Diary Of A Teenage Girl, Christy Miller Series, and Authentic Beauty! Good picks Kiana!

Ok so now that you know how Kia and I feel about purity, I think I'm going to change gears and talk about a more spiritual topic. Prayer. This is something that has been a huge part of my life recently. I've learned that God doesn't care how small the request is. He doesn't care how often you ask Him for something. He doesn't care if you beg for something as small as a good grade, a safe car trip, or a fun vacation. He WANTS you to do that! In fact the Bible even has scripture about it! 

Success:     Genesis 24:12 - Then he prayed, "O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.

Immediate Response: Genesis 25:21 - Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.

Strength: Nehemiah 6:9 - They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, "Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed." But I prayed, "Now strengthen my hands."

Fear: Genesis 32:11 - Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children.

You see, God wants us to pray to Him about anything and everything. And I've only recently realized this fact. I've always thought that if I pestered God too much He'd just ignore me, or my prayers wouldn't mean as much. But once I realized just how much He loved me, and wanted to be a part of my every fiber and being, it became easier to just keep Him in the mix of everything that was going on. I find myself now just constantly in a conversation with God. And I know that I have His attention and that He wants to hear me. So yeah. I really wanted to share this because of how big of a part of my life prayer is. And I really hope (or more like pray!) that prayer gets to be a special part of your relationship with our Divine Creator.

~Corina <><

Awesome Books!

Okay, so does anybody read? I have some amazing books that I think everybody should read. Well, girls anyway. . . Besides the Bible.
The serious life changing ones:

1. Authentic Beauty ~by Leslie Ludy
2. Answering the Guy Questions ~by Leslie Ludy
3. Basically anything by Leslie Ludy ~LoL!
4. The Prayer of Jabez for Teens ~by Bruce Wilkinson

The fantasy ones that are just good clean reads:

1. The Dragons in Our Midst Series ~by Bryan Davis
2. The Oracles of Fire Series ~by Bryan Davis
3. Echoes from the Edge ~by Bryan Davis
   
4. The Diary of a Teenage Girl Series~by Melody Carlson
5. Christy Miller Series ~by Robin Jones Gunn

So these are a few books that I think would be good reads for anytime, but especially summer. Sitting around and being bored is NOT a option for this summer. Please, even if you don't read them during the your break, I'm sure that you will thoroughly enjoy all of these books!

Not Quite the Same...

Though I agree with most of the fundamentals of Corina's views on purity, I actually have more of a strict view on it. I pretty much agree with everything she has put, but I also believe that dating isn't for me - ever. I just won't; I believe that God has given everybody an arranged marriage, so I'll just stick to waiting for Him to let me meet my future husband. Now I admit, not everyone is suited to not date. However, I do believe that everyone has been issued the charge to remain pure physically, spiritually, and emotionally - God leave no indefinites on the subject of purity. But back to the not dating thing, it's also a big commitment, but I think it will so much better to have a BEST FRIEND than a BOYFRIEND. I also am not going to hold any guy's hand until I'm engaged to him. (Like the girl in the charm bracelet story.) It was actually an old Jewish tradition that virgin girls did not ever touch a man's hands. There are three things that keep me from ever even thinking of backing down: 1) I made an oath to God, myself, and my future husband to stay pure mentally, physically, and spiritually, 2) I want to be able to look my husband in the eyes with complete assurance that I have kept every side of my oath, and 3) I just can't get over how sweet it will make my wedding day and how perfect it will be. My name literally means "gateway to purity" in a middle eastern language and I intend to make God, purity, love, and loyalty the center of my marriage one day.

Purity by Corina

Hey Guys! It's Corina! I am so excited that Kiana posted these last three blogs on here! Let's all give a hand to Kia! *clap clap* *clap clap* (hehe) 

Ok so now that I've said all that (and probably embarrassed Kiana (sorry girl) ) let me tell you about what I'll be doing.

I've been trying to figure out where I fit into this blog and what I should be putting into it, and I think I've decided. I think I'm going to just blog about topics. I have a blog that I already do this on, but it's more about JUST me. And on this blog I'm going to be blogging about OUR world :) if that makes any sense. 

SO! Alright, right now I'm going to blog about my beliefs on purity. Now I can't speak completely for Covy, Dapherz, and Kia, because I have some pretty harsh opinions that I'm not sure they know about yet. So I'm just going to be blogging from my stand point, and if they want to talk about it from their vantage point they will :)

Purity is a hard thing these days. What with the music we listen to, all the way down to the friends we hang out with, we are bombarded with the pressure to lose virginity. And I don't just mean sexually. I mean mentally and what we feel in our hearts. Have you ever heard the verse that goes "Create in me a clean heart, O God"? It's from the Psalms. And I find myself begging God to cleanse my heart, pretty much day after day. I'm not going to lie. It's stinkin' HARD to keep a pure heart. Especially for someone like me who has SO much love to give. But that's exactly why I do it. Because I know I wouldn't be able to handle the pressures of dating. I wouldn't be able to say no to, myself first of all, but also to my boyfriend. So I just avoid it. I'm not saying that's the best way to do it. Because it's probably not.. but it's my way. 

I also have a purity ring. It's not your typical promise ring though. At least, not to me. Because my purity vow is to not only stay a virgin, but to also not kiss any guy but him on my wedding day. To not date until I'm totally ready to be married. And to keep a pure mind and heart for him, so that on our wedding day, when I give him my heart, he can be proud to hold it. I know, corny, but oh well. 

My slogan or motto if you will, is Dance With God and He'll Let The Perfect Man Step In... and I truly believe it.

So I tell you this my sisters, there is hope. I've met some really special guys recently, and they're definitely prince material ;)

Have hope! Dance with our Lord, and let Jesus be your prince for now. No need to keep kissing frogs :)